Small Talk: The Quiver

[Mellowyellow]

oh @Kymmi you poor thing! *BIG BIG BIG huggles*

Be kind to yourself and stop expecting so much of yourself. You've been through a very traumatic experience, it's going to take a while to feel like your old self again! Not something you can shake off just like that.

Find whatever small joys you can and take it one day at a time! *More hugZ* 

[Mellowyellow]

@BkWurm1 I watched the season premiere of Lethal Weapon and have to admit I found the new guy pretty hot! hehe I know you think he has crazy eyes but he was so different to his American Pie days! I think aging has done wonders for him. Plus they didn't write him with the Riggs kind of crazy so it seems ok actually. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by Mellowyellow

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Which do you think is better: A show having a shorter run, but going out while still high quality, or having tons of seasons, but with a serious dip in quality later on? A smaller amount of really good episodes, or more episodes of varying degrees of good and suck? 

Definately shorter run and going out on a high.

I have a soft spot for Heart of Dixie. Aside from the whole "Wade cheats on Zoe" mess it was a good show and ended well. It never felt draggy even though it was overly perky and so odd at times. 

My chinese series used to be of a decent length (40ish eps) and I have noticed that the trend is now to have a bazillion episodes! Even though the chinese work on a model where they KNOW when the show will end, the long series are still draggy and repetitive, sometimes with rushed endings that just makes me want to slap production! 

I find with long winded shows by the end it almost feels like production is totally over it and just want to get rid of the damn thing.

Medium was ruined by too many season and also not knowing when it would end.

So yes in summary NO to long shows! 

[BkWurm1]

3 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Which do you think is better: A show having a shorter run, but going out while still high quality, or having tons of seasons, but with a serious dip in quality later on? A smaller amount of really good episodes, or more episodes of varying degrees of good and suck? 

Ideally, I want a long run with high quality.  I don't think a shorter run guarantees high quality so automatically limiting something isn't' IMO the automatic solution.  I think it's more about good planning and if you have that, you can go either long or short. 

The one thing about longer seasons and long runs is a show has more time to become what it can be.  If Arrow in its first season had only been like 8 episodes, you can be sure I wouldn't be watching.  It needed time to find itself.  And having more seasons lets it recover when it does take poor detours.  

I think what is more important than the question of long or short seasons or runs, is what is driving the show to keep going?  And does the desire to stay on the air come at the expense of what the audience has been tuning in to see?  I don't believe in keeping a show going just to keep a money train going.  And you can tell when the quality of the show no longer is a big factor in why it's still on and I always regret those seasons but I've also watched shows that were completely revitalized in their 9th and 10th season so I just can't say a long run is automatically a bad thing. 

Basically, I think it's time to bring it to a close when external factors get in the way of the show runner's vision before they badly compromise what the show is (like pivotal actors leaving or majorly slashed budgets)  But in the meantime, I'm willing to risk some up and down of quality to the episodes in exchange for lots of episodes.  I think the extra length most of the time sneaks in surprisingly great stuff that we otherwise wouldn't have had while even with a shorter run, there are always duds.    If I like it, I want more, not less.  Just as long as the ones in charge don't squeeze it dry.

Edited September 27, 2018 by BkWurm1

[KenyaJ]

@Kymmi, I'm so glad you're okay and I wish you a speedy recovery. Please put yourself first and listen to what your body needs as you heal. I had a kidney stone once 7 years ago, and it was the most painful experience of my life. I can't imagine going though all of that and developing sepsis on top of it. Sending you all the hugs right now!

[statsgirl]

@Kymmi how awful for you.  Take your time to get well on your own timetable.

[Mellowyellow]

On 9/25/2018 at 5:24 PM, lemotomato said:

The downside to living in the US is that we don't get all the different variations, just the traditional ones. I want to try the special edition Oreo mooncakes :P

I'm procrastinating while making my way through 1/2 a ham and nut mooncake when I remembered your post and decided to google the Oreo ones.

https://www.8days.sg/eatanddrink/newsandopening/oreo-mooncake-taste-test-nice-or-not-10649392

The look cool but taste is iffy it seems.

[EmeraldArcher]

On 9/26/2018 at 9:46 PM, Kymmi said:

Kind of out of the blue, but I haven't been talking to my friends or Facebook about this and I'm still feeling so off.  I came down with a kidney stone a few weeks ago that turned to sepsis in a matter of 2 days.  I had an emergency surgery and was then in critical care.  The strange part of it was not realizing how sick I was.  I was released from the hospital after only a three days (likely too soon) and then came home and expected to be all better.  Not so.  I have been struggling with a lot of anxiety, sleeplessness, and a horrible loss of appetite (lost 25 lbs in 2 weeks, do not recommend).  I went back to work this Monday and could barely put in half a day, Tuesday too.  I have another surgery scheduled for Monday and went in and saw the team today, and they were all so shocked at how well I am doing.  I don't feel like I'm doing well.  I don't even feel like myself.  It was nice to get confirmation that I WILL get better.  But in the same vein, it's hard to hear how sick I was (caught early enough sepsis has a death rate of 30%, and it only goes up from there.)  I just want to go to sleep and wake up myself again.

Arrow better not disappoint me this season.  I NEED something good to happen.  :-/ 

@Kymmi, I'm so sorry to hear you've had such a rough time!  It's sounds scary and draining in every possible way.  I hope you have a good support system who can help you through this, and I'm sending you healing vibes for a swift and complete recovery and restoration of being yourself again!

[BunsenBurner]

I am currently sitting at the airport. I have been here 10 1/2  hours. My flight has been delayed 8 times. They are feeding us and giving us drinks. No one is complaining. It’s the weirdest thing. It’s so calm. 

[Kymmi]

1 hour ago, BunsenBurner said:

I am currently sitting at the airport. I have been here 10 1/2  hours. My flight has been delayed 8 times. They are feeding us and giving us drinks. No one is complaining. It’s the weirdest thing. It’s so calm. 

That's very strange - make sure they didn't put something in the food? LOL Fingers crossed you are on your way soon!

[statsgirl]

 @BunsenBurner, that sucks.  You must be really bored.  (But it's better than waiting on the plane.   At least you can walk around, get food, and go to the bathroom.  People have sued airlines for that.)

[Mellowyellow]

11 hours ago, BunsenBurner said:

I am currently sitting at the airport. I have been here 10 1/2  hours. My flight has been delayed 8 times. They are feeding us and giving us drinks. No one is complaining. It’s the weirdest thing. It’s so calm. 

Did you make it out in the end?

At least you don't have kiddos with you! Delayed flight with a kid (below 3yo) is my worst nightmare! 

***

We are going to visit the nation's capital tomorrow! 3 hours of driving!!! Have never gone on a driving holiday for that long! 

[BunsenBurner]

The trip took a total of 18 hours for a 4 hour flight. We only made it because 1/2 the plane was filled with several flight crews of other cancelled flights who wanted to get home. They fed us well  and we all ended up talking to each other. There was only one child age 9 who was starting to worry that we were not meant to fly because this was his first time flying.  We cheered when we were told to board and again when we landed. It was without a doubt the fastest I have landed at an international airport and gotten off a plane ever. The oddest trip ever. This  did not include the 3 1/2 hours of drive time to and from the airport. One I won’t soon forget. 

 

They cancelled all all the flights after us and booked those passengers on other fights that were at nearby airports. I tried but that’s how I found  out. 

Edited October 1, 2018 by BunsenBurner

[tennisgurl]

Weird. I once read a whole Discworld book in an airport because of a layover. Airports are weird places. 

[Mellowyellow]

I made it to Canberra and back! Surprisingly good food there even if there is not much to do there besides Floriade (annual flower show featuring tulips)! Took a pic with the Big Merino and a pic next to it's giant bum! That was the highlight of our trip. We have lots of BIG THINGS in Australia (Big Banana,Big Merino, Big Prawn, Big Pineapple, Big Beer Can...you get the idea) one of our goals is to visit all the big things as a family and get a pic with each. This is our first big thing pic!!!!!

***

On a completely unrelated note what is the TRASHIEST show you watch? Mine is  Hell's Kitchen. It's so trashy they had people pull off disguises this week (fakes beards, wigs etc) and I was  sitting there going "Ahh ok, cool." My standards are so low it cannot offend me in any way. 

***

PS random question but do you guys buy insurance for your new phones? Hubs cannot decided whether to cancel his Applecare or not. He bought it but keeps watching those youtube vids where they drop the phones and they don't really crack so he's thinking of cheaping out and cancelling it (can get full refund within 30 days).

Edited October 2, 2018 by Mellowyellow

[SmallScreenDiva]

30 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

PS random question but do you guys buy insurance for your new phones? Hubs cannot decided whether to cancel his Applecare or not. He bought it but keeps watching those youtube vids where they drop the phones and they don't really crack so he's thinking of cheaping out and cancelling it (can get full refund within 30 days).

I always get AppleCare for my products. But the one time I forgot to get it I broke my phone after 3 months. Replacing it got costly. 

[BunsenBurner]

I see Amazon is going to produce the Wheel of Time series. Can’t wait I read every book.  The author died before finishing the series but there are enough to make a great show. I hope they don’t disappoint. 

[Delphi]

I never used to get insurance for my phones,  because oof the same reason.   But now that the backs are glass and the sides are glass,  I do.   They don't crack when you're trying to show how resistant they are,  awhile ago my phone cracked because it was in my back pocket at a bar.   I replaced it,  and it was fine... survived falling down the stairs but couldn't survive the plummet from my coffee table to a rug. Now I have insurance,  a case and a screen protector.   I'm not dealing with that again when a phone can cost $700.

[BkWurm1]

Instead of insurance, I buy the big, bulky, ugly case and then just never worry about it. My first case was about 60 bucks but the costs have come way down so even the knock offs do a pretty good job.  

[BkWurm1]

I used to watch Dancing with the Stars. Not so much trashy as SUPER cheesy though I haven't watched the last few seasons.  

I still watch The Flash, does that count?  ;)

The only Gordan Ramsey show I can stand even to briefly watch is the kid's edition.  He's too much an ass for me otherwise.  

Oh, here's a trashy show.  Ghost Adventures, a show on the Travel channel that's reminiscent of the style of the old SyFy show, Ghost Hunters, (go to a location, look around, document stuff) but where that show tried to debunk everything and approach most things calmly and systematically, this one is amped up to 11 and is the fakest thing I've ever seen.  It's hilariously bad as they id "orbs" flying that are clearly bugs or dust particles and hear sounds in the woods that no, can't possibly be an animal but must be some evil spirit,  and they have absurd devices that supposedly see tiny dancing skeletons (aka stick figures based on nothing as far as I can tell) and they at least pretend to take themselves SOOO seriously and everything is always some horrible crisis and it's all drama, drama, drama.  I seriously don't know why I watch but occasionally they have one episode after the other and suddenly I'll realize I've spent all afternoon watching, lol.  

[Kymmi]

4 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

On a completely unrelated note what is the TRASHIEST show you watch? Mine is  Hell's Kitchen. It's so trashy they had people pull off disguises this week (fakes beards, wigs etc) and I was  sitting there going "Ahh ok, cool." My standards are so low it cannot offend me in any way. 

I watch all of the 90 Day Fiance versions, and it's utter trash.  I also can't look away from any of the TLC shows around multiple babies.  

[Mellowyellow]

Thanks guys! He dropped his last phone into a lake (still in the lake likely as we could not retrieved it, it was a deep lake) and uses really fragile cases (so he can see the pretty phone) so AppleCare is probably a good idea! 

@BkWurm1 Twinnies! I buy a big bulky case too! Mine is like a wallet so you can't even get through to the phone cuz you have to go past all the credit cards and discount cards!

Haha must admit Hell's Kitchen makes The Flash look like an award winning show! But after years of listening to Ramsey scream at people about cooking scallops I am happy to report my scallops are always perfect. I can hear him screaming at me as I'm at the stove searing them.  

***

ETA: Got to love sellers from China. My very nice pair of jade earrings arrived this morning marked "Feng Shui stone sample". I did not have to pay a cent in tax and it cleared customs in a jiffy.

Contrast to the jewellery I buy from the US which was insured to the hilt and involved lots of hair pulling phone calls to customs to argue about what tax I need to pay. Sometimes I wonder if I should just risk it and not insure..........

Edited October 2, 2018 by Mellowyellow

[Mary0360]

Working my way through Downton Abbey. Mary cracking jokes upon learning Edith's boyfriend was killed by Hitler, then admitting she's sorry to hear he died even though she doesn't get what he saw in Edith before happily discussing her plans to go horse racing and flirt with men she's not really interested in while her sister looks ready to jump in the river, just shows what a delightful person she is. Oh and then tells her sister not to come because she spoils everything and getting pissy because Edith's mourning is taking attention away from her hair cut. I really don't understand why all the men full in love with Mary other then her obvious looks cause she doesn't have much else going on for her. I've got this icky feeling even Tom will end up in love with her. 

 

Thomas getting electro shock therapy and poisoning himself to stop being gay is like the saddest thing ever. He and Edith better end up with amazing boyfriends by the end of the series. 

[BkWurm1]

6 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

Working my way through Downton Abbey. Mary cracking jokes upon learning Edith's boyfriend was killed by Hitler, then admitting she's sorry to hear he died even though she doesn't get what he saw in Edith before happily discussing her plans to go horse racing and flirt with men she's not really interested in while her sister looks ready to jump in the river, just shows what a delightful person she is. Oh and then tells her sister not to come because she spoils everything and getting pissy because Edith's mourning is taking attention away from her hair cut. I really don't understand why all the men full in love with Mary other then her obvious looks cause she doesn't have much else going on for her. I've got this icky feeling even Tom will end up in love with her. 

 

Thomas getting electro shock therapy and poisoning himself to stop being gay is like the saddest thing ever. He and Edith better end up with amazing boyfriends by the end of the series. 

I want to spoil things but I won't.  Though if you really want to know about Tom and Mary, let me know and I'll say something general about it.  But yes.  Mary is awful.  Edith isn't perfect but Mary has this childish cruel streak toward Edith that is just messed up even when we see that for other people, she can be mature and unselfish. 

Thomas is such a complex character.  He's so totally the villain early on and I don't think it's a spoiler to say they don't give him a personality transplant so he never totally stops being a jerk on some levels but he becomes OUR jerk along the way if that makes sense.   Which after so many seasons of loving to hate him, I was shocked when I just started loving him, lol.  

I will say that overall in the end, I think Edith got the most interesting storyline and growth for her character out of nearly everyone. As you can guess, I was an Edith fan, lol.  Even when she was messing up.  

Edited October 4, 2018 by BkWurm1

[statsgirl]

What I find astounding is that Mary was based on Julian Fellowes wife. I ended up fast forwarding through so much of the show because I couldn't stand Mary and the preference her parents and grandmother seemed to have for her. "Entitled" doesn't even begin to describe it.

Whenever Edith got the tiniest bit of happiness, there was Mary eager to spoil it for her.

Edited October 4, 2018 by statsgirl

[Mary0360]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I couldn't stand Mary and the preference her parents and grandmother seemed to have for her. "Entitled" doesn't even begin to describe it.

This reminds me of Robert saying the prospect of Edith looking after him in his old age was ghastly. Like seriously no wonder Edith is so desperate for marriage if that's her only way out of that house and away from those people. 

 

I'll admit the Marigold thing makes me a little uncomfortable because it's cruel to Mrs Drew, who could be forgiven for thinking she was raising her husbands illegitimate child, and shows how the rich family still think they have devine right to order about their poor tenants. 

 

But I kind of forgive Edith of that to an extent because of the place she was put in and the fact that her Aunt and Grandmother basically came up with a plan to take the child away from Edith without considering what Edith wants or needs or whether she's in the right headspace to even know what she needs. They gave the impression to me that they were far more interested in protecting the family's reputation and Edith's reputation then they were in supporting Edith. She was in some respects as powerless as the Drews. I wish she'd gone to Cora first because I feel Cora would have handled it in a way that would have avoided the Drews getting involved. 

[statsgirl]

Edith's family seems to have made a habit of arranging things for her without considering her wants or needs.  She was left at the altar in the most humiliating manner because her father and grandmother decided that Strallan was too old for her. Better to leave her an old maid and the lowest ranking member of the family than have her own household with an older husband.

Really, I hated how the show treated Edith through most of the series.

I felt sorry for Mrs. Drew but if she hadn't freaked out and refused Edith any access to Marigold, Edith would probably have continued with just visiting.  Mrs. Drew wasn't an entirely stable parent.

Edited October 5, 2018 by statsgirl

[tennisgurl]

Hocus Pocus is on, and oh my God I love it so much. Halloween is prime time for me, I am so excited! So many movies, apple and pumpkin related foods, and spoooooky decorations! All that spookiness makes my heart happy.

[Mellowyellow]

12 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Hocus Pocus is on, and oh my God I love it so much. Halloween is prime time for me, I am so excited! So many movies, apple and pumpkin related foods, and spoooooky decorations! All that spookiness makes my heart happy.

You'd get along with my sister so well. It's her fav time of the year and we're Aussie so we shouldn't even be celebrating it! 

For years no one celebrated with her but after I birthed the kid she now has a Halloween friend.

This is what they did to my house last weekend. 

There is sooo much more but you get the idea! 

 

[tennisgurl]

@Mellowyellow those are such cute decorations! Maybe one day your sister can visit the States in October, its Halloween everywhere! Its such a fun holiday. You get to dress up and eat candy and look for ghosts and all kinds of cool stuff! And if your a grown up, you get an excuse to drink a lot of pumpkin beers :) 

[Delphi]

Pro tip,  pumpkin spice coffee with whiskey is a game changer on crisp mornings/ evenings. 

[Mary0360]

Isis the dog's death on Downton was sadder then Matthew Crawley's death. Just ask Robert who looked sadder over his dog then any death on the show yet. 

[Mellowyellow]

@tennisgurl I must tell her about pumpkin beer! She'll love the sound of that! She eats a hideous pumpkin pie (I find the stuff so awful) every year and has a pumpkin soft serve and this awful smelling pumpkin spiced tea that we forbid her to bring over (it stinks of spice).

She also watches every kind of Halloween cooking show! I am her hero this week because I found a Halloween Chopped episode and Halloween Baking Championships.

***

@Mary0360 I think a beloved pet's death can be much sadder than a human's death so it doesn't surprise me. It's almost the one year anniversary of my beloved boy's passing and only in the last two months have I've stopped crying about him every week or so. I was able to walk along our old route last week without having a complete meltdown so...progress. I've never mourned anyone this way, not even my late FIL whom I loved very much. 

I'd say it's the closest thing I can imagine to a broken heart.

[Mary0360]

2 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

 

***

@Mary0360 I think a beloved pet's death can be much sadder than a human's death so it doesn't surprise me. It's almost the one year anniversary of my beloved boy's passing and only in the last two months have I've stopped crying about him every week or so. I was able to walk along our old route last week without having a complete meltdown so...progress. I've never mourned anyone this way, not even my late FIL whom I loved very much. 

I'd say it's the closest thing I can imagine to a broken heart.

I get that. When my dog got fixed, afterwards she was very very sulky and wouldn't go near me or let me pat her. I think I cried more over that and seeing her so upset then I have anything in my life that I remember haha. 

[bijoux]

I admit to actually getting Mary and Edith’s relationships in the early seasons. It made sense since they were so different, yet trapped in that house and in each other’s proximity due to the way their world was set up. Plus, they were each other’s direct competition when it came to spreading out, which was marriage. You had Edith resenting Mary for being prettier and more popular, and Mary being constantly pissed off for being denied rights she would have been given had she been born a man. But, I expected their relationship to grow and move towards the territory wwhere Violet and Isobel resided. Those two could get frustrated as hell with each other and snipe back and forth, but they also developed respect and had each other’s back. Instead, Mary and Edith hit a stall and were constantly replaying the same scenario. And this was true for truly a lot of things. Anna and Bates’ constant drama and incarceration is the first to come to mind.

In the end, I gave up, I want to say after season 3? The one where for some reason it became imperative to find Mary a new husband stat, and I could never figure out why. She was mourning Matthew, set up for life as the mother to the heir and in charge of running the estate, something she had always wanted and seemed to enjoy. There were no dead Turks in her recent past, so I couldn’t understand the reset to S1.

[BkWurm1]

19 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

Isis the dog's death on Downton was sadder then Matthew Crawley's death. Just ask Robert who looked sadder over his dog then any death on the show yet. 

 

16 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

 

@Mary0360 I think a beloved pet's death can be much sadder than a human's death so it doesn't surprise me. It's almost the one year anniversary of my beloved boy's passing and only in the last two months have I've stopped crying about him every week or so. I was able to walk along our old route last week without having a complete meltdown so...progress. I've never mourned anyone this way, not even my late FIL whom I loved very much. 

I'd say it's the closest thing I can imagine to a broken heart.

 

Mellow, either I've forgotten you'd lost your sweet boy or hadn't heard.  I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, BkWurm1 said:

 

Mellow, either I've forgotten you'd lost your sweet boy or hadn't heard.  I'm so sorry for your loss.

Thanks hun. I kinda went around for a year not really acknowledging his passing to anyone who wouldn't actually run into him so you definately didn't forget. ?

I'm gonna get there one day. He keeps telling me to move on in my dreams and to stop being sentimental (our relationship was mainly me being perky and super sentimental and him acting like he tolerated me but he really did love me best).

[Mellowyellow]

@tennisgurl more Halloween goodness from the children this week! They've started drinking out of their Halloween mugs too. I reckon they love halloween more than Christmas! 

***

Any jam makers out there?

I made mulberry jam but I used only 30% sugar. Jam is well sealed and well sterilised (I even boiled the sealed jam for a while before removing the entire jar) but because of the low sugar content should I keep it in the fridge or can I keep it in the pantry? 

Pic of a tiny portion of my harvest because I am proud of growing some of my own food! 

[bijoux]

Has anyone given All American a try? The pilot became available to me, so I gave it a shot and I'm undecided yet. I saw a critic characterized it as a cross between Friday Night Lights and The OC. I find myself agreeing with him, and finding that I'm completely uninterested in The OC parts of the show.

[BkWurm1]

11 hours ago, bijoux said:

Has anyone given All American a try? The pilot became available to me, so I gave it a shot and I'm undecided yet. I saw a critic characterized it as a cross between Friday Night Lights and The OC. I find myself agreeing with him, and finding that I'm completely uninterested in The OC parts of the show.

I watched.  I thought it was well done and yes, I also made the OC comparison but minus the humor or self-awareness (OC fan here). 

I'm going to watch it again next week to see what I think.  I liked the added twist that came out at the end and fish out of water kind of stories can be good but it may lean too much into heavy drama for my tastes in the end.  My issue is that I don't think it's going to be enough like the OC to interest me in the long run.

I mean yes, The OC had over the top soapiness at times but it also subverted a lot of expectations.  (Like the mean jock being revealed as actually a really stand up guy pretty much right away and the shallow rich girl BFF being a true blue friend)  And it held tight to its humor.  There's nothing funny in All American. Might still turn out to be a good show.  It is intense, but not sure if that's enough for the long haul.  Still, I'll watch a bit longer before i decide.  

[statsgirl]

17 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Any jam makers out there?

I made mulberry jam but I used only 30% sugar. Jam is well sealed and well sterilised (I even boiled the sealed jam for a while before removing the entire jar) but because of the low sugar content should I keep it in the fridge or can I keep it in the pantry? 

I make jam too with 25% sugar and no preservatives but I'm so paranoid, I keep it in the freezer so it doesn't grow science experiments.

[bijoux]

2 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

I watched.  I thought it was well done and yes, I also made the OC comparison but minus the humor or self-awareness (OC fan here). 

I'm going to watch it again next week to see what I think.  I liked the added twist that came out at the end and fish out of water kind of stories can be good but it may lean too much into heavy drama for my tastes in the end.  My issue is that I don't think it's going to be enough like the OC to interest me in the long run.

I mean yes, The OC had over the top soapiness at times but it also subverted a lot of expectations.  (Like the mean jock being revealed as actually a really stand up guy pretty much right away and the shallow rich girl BFF being a true blue friend)  And it held tight to its humor.  There's nothing funny in All American. Might still turn out to be a good show.  It is intense, but not sure if that's enough for the long haul.  Still, I'll watch a bit longer before i decide.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing The OC, it's just that those fish out of water parts were kind of too obvious and on the nose in this show. It's sort of an imitation of The OC there and I fpund that missing, not the original. I get Spencer's struggle, but no one from Beverly Hills kept my interest. Maybe the coach's daughter, but even that's still questionable. The other poor little rich girl seems like a character I've seen a million times and the guys from the team are very typical mean jocks in the pilot. 

The characters from Crenshaw are much more appealing IMO, Spencer's Mom and brother, and his BFF is great. I'm actually worried for Coop after the episode. 

[Delphi]

Just watched Titans and it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared.   In fact, i thought parts of it were quite good. 

And Netflix just vaguely cancelled Iron Fist which leaves me both saddened and kind of confused because I thought a third season was just kind of assured.   I wonder what this means for other marvel Netflix shows. 

[tennisgurl]

On 10/12/2018 at 3:15 AM, Mellowyellow said:

@tennisgurl more Halloween goodness from the children this week! They've started drinking out of their Halloween mugs too. I reckon they love halloween more than Christmas! 

 

Awwwww Halloween Lovers unite! If they need any suggestions for events, decorations, movies, or anything else Halloween, let me know :)

[tv echo]

I just finished reading a debut novel by a new author - After Mask by Matt Scheer (a kindle ebook on Amazon). Here's the book description:

Quote

Superheroes are real…or at least they were. The Enigmatic Mr. En once fought beside them. Now, Aaron Wise lives an ordinary life. But when the NYPD brings him in for questioning regarding the murder of his old colleague, a former superhuman called Savage, Mr. En realizes his crime fighting days may not be completely behind him.

As he insinuates himself into the investigation, another ex-superhero is found murdered under very similar circumstances. With a possible serial killer on the loose, Aaron Wise will need all of his talents, the resources of the NYPD, and the help of an old friend, to catch him before he kills again.

https://www.amazon.com/After-Mask-Mystery-Mysteries-Book-ebook/dp/B07J2XTPKL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539515198&sr=8-1&keywords=matt+scheer

I didn't know what to expect, but I ended up really liking it. I thought the book was well-written. It's like a blend of noir murder mystery and serious superhero story. It's written in the first person by the hero, Aaron Wise, a cynical ex-superhero who has an eidetic memory and who uses his Sherlockian-like skills to investigate the murder. In any event, it was good enough to make me want to read more books in this series (if more are written and published).

Edited October 14, 2018 by tv echo

[SleepDeprived]

Has anyone seen The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix? Because, OMG! It is such a good show! I haven't been as affected and emotional over a show as I was with this one in quite a while. I cried at least once in almost every episode. Heh. The acting is great and the direction and cinematography is superb. The character development is fantastic. It's really, really good! If you don't like horror, please don't let the title and trailers put you off. It is creepy in some parts and there are jump scares and it very much has supernatural aspects but it's, honestly, really a family drama that wonderfully shows the complexities of how the events in that house led to such grief, trauma, heartbreak, and fractured the Crain family as much as it did. I loved it.

[tennisgurl]

I've been thinking of checking out The Haunting of Hill House, I might just have to check it out! But with my regular shows, plus Halloween viewings, its hard to catch up with it all! The trailers look great though, and I love a good ghost story. 

Has anyone watched the short independent films Hulu put out this year under their Huluween label? I am watching a few now, and they're actually pretty good. I've watched The Rizzle twice, its a great combination of creepy and fun, just what a want in a short scary movie!

[BkWurm1]

I never really regularly watched the original Charmed but I'd seen enough episodes to be curious about a reboot.  It was not a well put together episode.  I swear there were chunks cut out that must have made it make more sense at times.  I didn't hate who was cast but also didn't love them.  They all were kind of meh and forgettable though again, I didn't actively dislike any of them at least.  There was a kind of forced rah, rah, sisters vibe to it that didn't ring true.  The kind of thing where they say something about it and then cue the fake laughter.  

I think the only unique thing I found about the show was the eldest sister trying to use science to understand and tackle witchcraft.  (Like when she used baking soda to vaporize the baddie)

I can't really get a feel for how other viewers would react.  Not positive if I'll give it another episode or not.  

[JamieLynn832002]

I made it a little past the half-hour mark then realized I was rooting for the apocalypse the whitelighter was talking about and changed the channel. It just didn't work for me at all.

[bijoux]

8 hours ago, SleepDeprived said:

Has anyone seen The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix? Because, OMG! It is such a good show! I haven't been as affected and emotional over a show as I was with this one in quite a while. I cried at least once in almost every episode. Heh. The acting is great and the direction and cinematography is superb. The character development is fantastic. It's really, really good! If you don't like horror, please don't let the title and trailers put you off. It is creepy in some parts and there are jump scares and it very much has supernatural aspects but it's, honestly, really a family drama that wonderfully shows the complexities of how the events in that house led to such grief, trauma, heartbreak, and fractured the Crain family as much as it did. I loved it.

No, but your recommendation is tempting me to do so. Mabe next weekend.