BSR

15 hours ago, samhexum said:

You can sleep like the dead at this short-term rental. 

A set of three macabre buildings in Worcestershire, England have gotten second lives as overnight lodgings. 

After buying the abandoned trifecta of spooky structures — a funeral home, a well house and a small church with an adjoining graveyard — owners Stuart and Victoria Dudley decided to maintain their ominous charm by converting them into vacation houses. 

Each is now available as a one-bedroom cottage, rentable for $220 a night. Inside the former funeral home, holidaymakers are treated to thematic decor including a line of coffins that read “Funeral Director” and embalming tables in the kitchen. 

unfortunately, U.S. funeral homes don't tend to be as old or as charming. so I don't think this will be a realistic path for others whose businesses are struggling.

The pictures of the rentals look beautiful and historic, not really spooky.

I just finished binging the original Merlí and loved it, even more than Sapere Aude.  First, some insight into the 2 series.  The original Merlí was made by the Catalan branch of TV3, one of Spain's big broadcast networks.  It was so popular in Catalunya that TV3 decided to dub it into Spanish (Spaniards hate subtitles) and release it nationally.  It was so popular in Spain that Netflix bought the rights to release it internationally.  Then it was so popular in South America (specifically Argentina, Chile, and Peru) that Netflix decided to make the sequel Sapere Aude.  The writer & showrunner Hector Lozano always planned for the original to run 3 seasons (40 episodes) and Sapere Aude to run for 2 (16 episodes).

I marvel that the original Merlí was so good despite its shoestring budget.  The quality of the scripts and the level of the actors are impressive as hell.  The high school students come off as real people, not TV characters like in some American teen-oriented series.  The show is lucky to have 2 charismatic protagonists -- Merlí Bergeron, the unconventional philosophy teacher, and Pol Rubio, his best student -- who really hook you in.  Pol's previously discussed sex appeal certainly helps as well.

If you want to catch the original Merlí on RTVE, best hurry because it's only available until Dec 14.  Fortunately, thanks to streaming, old TV shows never die.  They just sit around waiting to get picked up by Netflix/Hulu/etc.  If one of the streaming services does pick up the original Merlí, I highly recommend it.

PS:  I was probably the only one wondering, but the reason Pol's family is Spanish-speaking is to give some background for the family's dire financial straits.  Of course not all Spanish-only speakers in Catalunya are poor, but if you lack education or an exceptional skill, like Pol's father, you might struggle anywhere but all the more so as a non-Catalan speaker in Barcelona.

PPS:  the recent death of Angela Lansbury made me think about Maria Pujalte's old show Los misterios de Laura because Jessica Fletcher and Laura Lebrel are 2 peas in a pod.  The protagonist Laura is a police detective, not a writer, but the way she goes about solving whodunits will remind you a lot of Cabot Cove's most illustrious writer.  Again, if one of the streaming services ever picks up Los misterios de Laura, I highly recommend it.

20 hours ago, jeezifonly said:

The quality, quantity, and range of Lansbury’s work as an actor is matchless. Such a long, rich life that has left a strong impression on colleagues and audiences for decades, and her passing has gay theatre Twitter sharing all kinds of obscure clips and stories as tribute. Fabulous.

RIP to a great Dame, who knew that making an exit is often as important as making an entrance🍸💜

IMDb lists 112 acting credits for Angela Lansbury, every role under the sun, stretching from 1944 to a movie released this year.  I didn't know she was in such great films as Gaslight, National Velvet, and Dorian Gray (1945).  I admit that Murder She Wrote was a guilty pleasure of mine , but my favorite Angela Lansbury performances were in The Manchurian Candidate and Something for Everyone.  A truly great lady, a legend, R.I.P.

On 10/11/2022 at 7:42 AM, SirBillybob said:

Fake-ish news. Why current testimony is required is inane. The original FDA submission, in the public domain and which I read 22 months ago, made no claim regarding transmission. People wanted a rose garden so much that they believed it was promised. It wasn’t. We are essentially in a situation consistent with the early attempts at supportable evidence released 22 months ago. Some folks will go to the mat to justify a perception of being put-upon-pie Georgie-Peorgied. Show me where this victimization theme is evident in LMICs. Even if transmission claims were alluded to by entities extraneous to Pfizer/BNT they were subsumed within guidance that the salutary benefits of vaccination were solid in terms of attenuating poor CoV outcomes. An obsessional false dichotomy between disease reduction and transmission simply and sadly undergirds this victimization, undermining uptake and its irrefutable benefits. 

If Pfizer never claimed that the vaccine would reduce transmission, then why did Anthony Fauci say that we need people to get vaccinated "to break the chain of transmission"?

On 10/11/2022 at 7:42 AM, SirBillybob said:

Fake-ish news. Why current testimony is required is inane. The original FDA submission, in the public domain and which I read 22 months ago, made no claim regarding transmission. People wanted a rose garden so much that they believed it was promised. It wasn’t. We are essentially in a situation consistent with the early attempts at supportable evidence released 22 months ago. Some folks will go to the mat to justify a perception of being put-upon-pie Georgie-Peorgied. Show me where this victimization theme is evident in LMICs. Even if transmission claims were alluded to by entities extraneous to Pfizer/BNT they were subsumed within guidance that the salutary benefits of vaccination were solid in terms of attenuating poor CoV outcomes. An obsessional false dichotomy between disease reduction and transmission simply and sadly undergirds this victimization, undermining uptake and its irrefutable benefits. 

The entire justification for the vaccine mandates was that the vaccine prevented or at least reduced transmission.  Thousands of people were fired.  Every person who lost their job for refusing the vaccine must be reinstated and compensated.  Every politician, bureaucrat, and corporate executive who mandated vaccines must be held accountable.  Let the lawsuits begin.

My first day as a pizza maker.

I dont know who this woman is or what exactly her position is at Pfizer, but a Pfizer executive testified to EU Parliament that no prelaunch testing was done to prove that the vaccine reduced transmission, even though many were forced/pressured to get the vaxx because it purportedly stopped transmission. 

Here's one case where the guy didn't jump ...

1 hour ago, Becket said:

If it acts like a duck.......

Have enjoyed The Peabody and the ducks since childhood.  

I enjoyed the ducks as well during my one stay at the Peabody.  The entertainment was not the duck procession itself but the reaction of kids to the ducks.  Little kids giggle, scream, and jump up & down with delight while watching the ducks, and the whole scene is just adorable.

I think the Peabody ducks live a pretty good life.  The hotel staff does their best to take good care of them.  Whatever downside to their hotel life, it sure beats getting eaten by a fox or coyote.

7 hours ago, BnaC said:

“Brokeback Mountain” had huge mainstream success despite a clearly gay theme.  Good acting, good actors, good story, etc. 

If the response to this one is homophobia, then I’m guessing “Brokeback Mountain” would have been a flop too, Right?

Is it not possible that this movie had bad acting, bad actors, or a story that lacked widespread appeal?

I’m not sure what “Crazy Young Asians” has to do with anything, but I asked the question and you’ve not responded.   If it’s because it’s a Rom-Com, then the difference is appeal to women who are the primary buyers of rom-com themes…where “women” find the man of their dreams.  Hence- apples/oranges.  

A number of other gay-themed movies have done stellar box office:  Philadelphia, The Bird Cage, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman.  American moviegoers accept gay protagonists and gay stories just fine.  

But a gay rom-com is a different beast.  Straight women love rom-coms (and drag their husbands/boyfriends kicking & screaming) because they aspire to live the same romance as the female protagonist.  These moviegoers simply don't identify with a gay male protagonist.

I hesitate to talk about the big box office of Crazy Rich Asians because I haven't seen it, but I will say that regular comedy is far more universal than the romantic comedy genre.  You don't have to identify with Asian (or black or Jewish) characters of a comedy to get a good laugh.

16 hours ago, mike carey said:

Looks like $1.00 to me.

If those 2 hotties are selling kisses for just a buck, they're selling themselves awfully short.

8 hours ago, Peter Eater said:

Eichner is correct. Of course the movie-going public is homophobic. America is homophobic, so why should the American movie-going public be any different? 
As for needing to “identify with the lead” in order to succeed, that’s why you’re not in the movie business. You’ll be shocked to learn that I am not a crazy rich Asian.

 

Aberrations aside, as a general rule, yes, moviegoers do need to identify with the protagonist.  Straight women go to rom-coms with female protagonists to feel the thrill of falling in love; men see action/adventure movies with male leads to fantasize about feats of derring-do.  Exceptions of course, but the exceptions have to be particularly well done to hook in an audience.

By the way, I heard the marketing for Bros was $30 million, not $40m.  Still, an eye-popping marketing budget for a movie that cost only $22 million to make.  $30 million to make just $4.8 million in its opening weekend?  Oy.

I don't think America is a homophobic country.  Yes, some people here are homophobic, but as a general rule, no.  Of course, the Cult of Victimhood disagrees. 

How does he switch hands yet still maintain perfect balance?  That doesn't seem humanly possible, but he makes it look effortless. 

7 hours ago, BuffaloKyle said:

It flopped at the box office this past weekend only earning $4.8 million. I'm not really surprised though. It's a tough movie to sell outside of the LGBTQ+ community. Billy Eichner took to twitter about it:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/bros-box-office-star-billy-eichner-decries-homophobia-after-dismal-opening/ar-AA12wxeS?OCID=ansmsnnews11

Yikes, the studio spent $40 million on marketing!  No wonder Billy Eichner is so upset by the opening weekend bomb.  I agree that the movie has limited appeal beyond gay men.  Straight women are the biggest audience for romantic comedies because they want to identify with the protagonist and enjoy the romance fantasy.  Since few will identify with a gay male lead, they won't bother to see Bros no matter how big the marketing budget.  It's not that the movie-going public is homophobic; it's that the studio execs simply lacked common sense.

4 hours ago, BuffaloKyle said:

It flopped at the box office this past weekend only earning $4.8 million. I'm not really surprised though. It's a tough movie to sell outside of the LGBTQ+ community. Billy Eichner took to twitter about it:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/bros-box-office-star-billy-eichner-decries-homophobia-after-dismal-opening/ar-AA12wxeS?OCID=ansmsnnews11

Back in 2005, Brokeback Mountain took in $83 million in the US and $178 million worldwide.  I'm not buying Billy Eichner's charge of homophobia for the movie's flop at the box office. 

Hopefully I have better luck with this one:

On 9/29/2022 at 9:31 AM, azdr0710 said:

Just checking if anybody else didn't receive pictures for this one. Looks like it could be funny. Thanks. 

Sorry, I can't recover the tweet.  It was a hamster running furiously on his exercise wheel for ~10 seconds, then lying down in the corner for a nap.

While not a bottom, I still think a nick cock is sine qua non.  Mind you, "nice" does not necessarily mean large, although decent girth is a must.  The nicest cock I've ever played with was ~5", decent girth, but what mattered most and made things so much fun was he stayed rock hard the whole damn time.  So my favorite cockhound experience was not with the biggest or longest, but the hardest.

38 minutes ago, samhexum said:

 

Things between the Mets and Marlins took a weird turn on Tuesday night.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the Marlins leading 6-3 at Citi Field, reliever Richard Bleier took the mound. The veteran quickly got Brandon Nimmo to ground out and Francisco Lindor to line out. Jeff McNeil singled, and then things got strange — very strange.

With Pete Alonso at bat, Bleier was charged with a balk — the first in his 303 career appearances — sending McNeil to second. A second balk sent the Mets infielder to third.

Two balks in the same at-bat was odd enough, but on the fifth pitch against Alonso, Bleier was once again called for a balk, scoring McNeil. According to Jerry Blevins on the SNY broadcast, Bleier may not have been bringing his hands to enough of a stop before throwing a pitch.

The final balk sent Miami manager Don Mattingly into a rage — possibly his last with the Marlins — causing him to state his case to the umpires before getting tossed.

 

Three balks in one at-bat?!  Most pitchers don't rack up three balks in a whole career.

Monday at 8 a.m.

Monday at noon.

Have you watched it?  I admit I am morbidly fascinated yet repulsed at the same time.

On 4/10/2022 at 9:14 PM, EVdude said:

Just binged Elite Season 5… still better than porn. 

Good news for Élite fans:  Season 6 will launch November 18!  The just-released promo could pass for softcore porn ...

5 hours ago, leeper said:

I am about half-way through Season 2 of Merli Sapere Aude.  Really like this show and and find the philosophy classes actually quite thought provoking.  Having seen Maria Pujalte, as the lawyer in Toy Boy and now as the alcoholic teacher makes me want to see more from her.  And course, Carlos Cuevas alone makes it worth watching.  He is also in the show Leonardo which is currently being broadcast on the CW network.  I just wish we had access to an English-captioned version of the original Merli.

RTVE (Spain's public TV network) just recently added Spanish captioning to the original Merli.  If you can read Spanish half-decently (and have a VPN), it's definitely worth watching.  I've never been one for twinks, but both Pol and Bruno were so damn cute as youngsters.  Don't worry, it's OK to lust after them since the actors were both (barely) legal at the time of shooting.

Maria Pujalte starred in a very popular series, Los misterios de Laura, the first Spanish series that Hollywood picked up and re-made into a series for American TV (starring Debra Messing and Josh Lucas).  Note that her daughter in Sapere Aude is named Laura, in a nod to her old show.

3 hours ago, WilliamM said:

To State the obvious, Serena is an American tennis player.

Yes, obviously, but note the fan support in the 2015 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon finals.  The Arthur Ashe and Centre Court crowds are rooting for Roger as passionately as they would any American/Brit.

I agree with @Charlie.  Had Roger also made the 2022 USO his farewell tournament, the commentators would have been so preoccupied with tributes and homages to the two retiring legends that the tennis public might have forgotten there was a Slam going on.