DramatistDreamer

Honestly, I’m trying to do everything in my power to maintain some kind of equilibrium. Seeing the names, faces and ages of those poor people who were massacred in that Buffalo supermarket makes me feel…I can’t even describe how it makes me feel. I am just sad and angry and tired of all of this. And I have no interest in or tolerance for the wave of stupid and unproductive comments that will inevitably emerge in the days to come.

At the very least it seems unethical to sell someone else’s work for profit. I would be pissed if someone filmed one of my plays and then tried to sell it. Honestly, I would rather someone post it on social media than try to sell it for their personal profit. Sony/Y&R, P&G and all the rest could prevent this by doing what B&B is doing by uploading episodes and specials on a dedicated YouTube channel.

I am not “up” on copyright law but is it legal to sell copyrighted material that the seller technically has no intellectual property rights to? I am aware that there are “trade and swap” networks for classic soaps and I am also aware that people sell videos on the QT but is it actually legal?

Aww. Best wishes to them for a healthy newborn.

The sweeping scope of COVID-19 and the devastation that continues in its wake. Sadly, it seems like vital lessons have yet to be grasped fully. https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/how-the-u-s-lost-1-million-people-to-covid-19/

I just got my issue of Variety magazine and Venus is on my cover! ❤️ There are different covers featuring different women. As much as I like Kim Catrall, I had to go with Venus. I forgot how tall Variety magazine is, the cover is like poster art! A “For Your Consideration” ad from Lifetime/A&E featuring Janet Jackson is on the outside binding too. I love this issue already!

Eek, that looks like Randy Quaid (see National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation). Very unbalanced man. Google him, if you dare.😟

It hasn’t been publicly stated whether it was the bullet from the gun of Israeli or Palestinian forces that killed Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist, but the scenes from the funeral are so disturbing. There were reports of some mourners chanting nationalist slogans but this made me think of countless Black policemen and policewomen who have had to protect Klansmen and neo-Nazis at their marches and rallies. Surely there must have been a better way to bury this woman with dignity. https://news.yahoo.com/un-ambassador-deeply-distressed-over-203152005.html

Looking at photos of Colleen Dion, her “Felicia” and Ronn Moss’ “Ridge” look as much like siblings as any of the Forrester siblings. They were clearly meant to have the same exact parents. One can always debate the “nature vs. nurture” factor when looking at the earliest episodes where the show was clearly trying to highlight the similarities between Ridge and Eric, but the Felicia factor really makes it odd and incongruent that the show chose to undo those obvious biological ties between Ridge and Eric and Ridge and his siblings. Looking at these early seasons, it is especially regrettable to consider what will take place decades later.

How many grandchildren do Eric and Stephanie have? Is Felicia’s son Dino their sole biological grandchild?

And I don’t buy his rationale for pulling back either. Anyone who has spent time on Twitter and has paid even a modicum of attention over the past 6-7 years knows Twitter, as well as many other social media platforms has problems with spam and bots and/or trolls. I suspect that Musk wants to avoid dealing with the harassment issues, knowing that most brands will not pay to be on and identified with a platform where harassment, as well as spam and troll armies run rampant.

Just after Twitter launched a firing spree among upper management yesterday. So much instability at this company now due to the narcissism of a megalomaniac.

Rafa fans appear to be rooting for Casper Ruud today. Lol

The German industrial and manufacturing corporate behemoth is leaving Russia. People are mocking them for taking so long to leave but it probably took some time to wrap things up when a company has been in a country for 170 years.

Interesting. Having not seen the match myself, it makes me wonder where Rafa’s game and fitness is at this time. No reflection on Denis who has beaten him before.

There is a video with Diane Sawyer and Ashley Judd from a GMA interview posted on Yahoo’s homepage. The grief from Ashley is palpable. Yesterday, the mother of Cheslie Kryst spoke about the waves of grief that wash over her after a day when she feels like she could be alright. You can just feel how much these women are trying to cope the best way they can. It is illuminating. And painful. By the way, that interview with Kryst’s mother was from CBS Mornings.

I think the Banbury Cross/Frannie and Sabrina storyline was very well done, especially since it played out on two continents. It was intricately plotted and deftly executed and had the benefit of some of As The World Turns’ key talent at that time: Julianne Moore, Don Hastings, Kathryn Hays and Larry Brygmann and it unfolded in such a way that other characters/actors got absorbed into the storyline once the truth got out, which reverberated for months. Sketchy British accents from some of the actors aside, this storyline was one of the most memorable to me. It’s easy to forget that the beginnings of the story began to bubble in November of 1986 and the story unfolded through the winter of 1986-early 1987 and the repercussions went through 1987 all the way to 1988 with Frannie and Seth’s broken engagement. Meanwhile, other stories were not only happening but running hot.

Oof, clearly I missed the action in Rome. When I finally dump Twitter for good in a couple weeks, I am going to miss the easy access to these videos and the easy ability to share them.

Frontline on PBS should do a documentary on this topic. It has reminded me of how insidious it was that the NAACP actually once defended these tobacco companies crafting their campaigns to target the Black community. https://tobacco21.org/how-the-tobacco-industry-hooked-black-smokers-on-menthols/

Another confirmation put in motion by VP Harris after a 50/50 split in the Senate. This confirmation also gives the majority to the Democrats in the FTC.

Greed and waste comes in all forms, in all industries, sadly.

Oh, I meant the overall concept of super couples in soaps general. I haven’t even looked at B&B that closely to assess it. I do remember those sparkling ads that used to run during CBS Daytime in ‘87, in late January and throughout February before B&B debuted in March of that year and it was clear that they were promoting Ridge and Caroline in particular, as the “Golden Couple”. Do you remember those promos? It was pretty rude that they aired them during Capitol, lol. The idea of promoting your soap based on couples, which is what many soaps did, after the success of Luke and Laura on GH, was always going to be a double-edged sword on shows that increasingly relied on shifting romantic relationships to keep the drama going. But being specific to B&B, the over-reliance on romantic triangles always annoyed me somewhat.

It’s also the analysis and discussion that I prefer to engage in. I like to look at specific aspects of the writing and production, as well as performance. JMO but I am a believer that, just as the “supercouple” idea seemed like a good idea initially, before turning corrosive, I do believe that the aspect of Stan culture has had a similar effect, especially when the producers, execs and writers whose work isn’t strong enough to both absorb and withstand intrusive and destabilizing influence let stans dictate what ultimately appears onscreen. ‘It’s refreshing to strip away all of those marginal aspects from the equation and look at what’s vital to the storytelling.

I love this for her! I love watching the moves Venus, Serena and Naomi having each been making, especially over the last year and a half. Very meaningful moves.

So appreciate your analysis. The bloviating that often comes with discussion of soap characters on SM usually takes me right out of any discussions. Yours is the kind of discussion I can get into.