DramatistDreamer

Oh quelle surprise at Kushner and Cohen falsifying documents to try to push tenants out of rent-regulated apartments. Kushner Companies and Michael Cohen Accused of Falsifying Building Permits to Push Out Tenants

How many mass shootings has Florida had in the last few years? In recent memory, there was The Pulse nightclub shooting, the Parkland School shooting, and now this. Yet you can bet that the same canned statements from their politicians will be uttered while we all wait and hope that the next inevitable shooting doesn't happen somewhere in this country. I'm so weary of this cycle. The only thing I want to hear at this point is that some legislative action will be taken to stem the tide of bloodshed. I'm tired of the talk. I myself am tired of talking and posting about this, knowing on a nationwide scale that nothing is being to prevent the next horrible event from occurring.

It made a lot of sense since both were taking courses at Oakdale University (Sierra was pre-med, Frannie was a psychology major) so they had reason to be in each other's orbit. I think one had even mentioned seeing the other around campus sometimes. Marland constructed brief, simple scenes that could be built upon. I don't know why we don't see that with today's soaps. The Casey Peretti character was built off of those types of simple exchanges. Also that same year, it was interesting to look back at how some simple, flirty exchanges between Barbara and Tonio would lead to a full-blown affair later on when Sierra and Tonio's marriage began to crater.

R.I.P. to Senator John McCain. Although I didn't agree with much of his politics and I won't forget that vote against recognition of a Martin Luther King Jr. national day, I do recognize his trying to undo a lot of the damaging rhetoric coming from his own political party, like when he tried to convince a hapless woman in that town hall to recognize Obama's humanity as well as his eligibility for the office of President of the United States. Also, that very dramatic moment on the floor of Congress where he gave the thumbs down to the repeal of the ACA a.k.a. Obamacare was memorable. I'm not fans of the McCains but I do empathize with just about anyone who has lost a loved one to such a dreadful disease. There is a strange symmetry to the fact that Sen. McCain died 9 years to the day that Senator Ted Kennedy died of the same disease. Has there been progress in the fight against these insidious diseases like cancer?

Also, didn't Beatrice get a surprise phone call from her mother Mary McCallaghan during her wedding reception at that Irish pub? That episode is up on You Tube, I saw it like last year.

My God, somebody wrote that into existence?!

Forcible touching, sexual abuse and harassment.

Capitol might have had a stronger case for staying on the air had they embraced more true to life stories, in addition to the convoluted stories about wealthy playboy Arab-ish sheiks falling in love with reporter/heroines. Fridays are always newsday dumps in trumpland (well these days, it's everyday, isn't it?)

People's rights to perform their civic duties are still having to be defended in 2018.

Farrow is alluding to one of the tech-related expenditures that Cohen made.

It's actually not just David Pecker, the chief content officer at A.M.I., Dylan Howard has also been granted immunity by federal prosecutors. “HOLY [!@#$%^&*], I THOUGHT PECKER WOULD BE THE LAST ONE TO TURN”: TRUMP’S NATIONAL ENQUIRER ALLIES ARE THE LATEST TO DEFECT

That was what they did to a lot of the male "leads" in the '00s.

Some don't even make that distinction. When you mention NY or CA, the first thing that many people think of is Coast. Then some, 'Coastal Elites'. It's weird to me because growing up on the East Coast, our dairy was always from farms in NY, NJ or CT. Consequently, federal prosecutors have granted immunity to Pecker (sorry but what a name!). Is now a good time to open those floodgates?

Yes, I heard about that lone holdout on the jury at the Manafort trial. Wonder what her reasons for not finding Manafort guilty on all eighteen counts? This almost (almost) makes me believe that, given all the facts (not alternative but real facts), the American people could actually make fair, judicious, even wise choices. The media didn't do their job in 2015-2016 though--instead of facts, they choice to present narrative. Instead of true comparison and contrast of the candidates, they choice to present a horse race, rife with sports analogies and false equivalencies. And instead of a deep examination of issues like the history of voter suppression (why were initiatives like early voting dismantled in 2016?), they chose to prattle on about supposed voter apathy and predictions that many voters would stay home (which became a self-fulfilling prophecy, although there were no genuine discussions of what barriers might have led to low turnout). Also, why is there no discussion on the fickle nature of SuperDelegates and how they could be ruining the Electoral system? Now, we're stuck with an elephantine jackass in the White House. Speaking of that elephantine jackass in the White House, his immigration and trade policies are forming a deadly mix with climate change (which his environmental policies will cause more of) and is causing a crisis for farmers in New York state. I mean literally deadly as some dairy farmers have resorted to suicide-- perhaps those who have not been able to sell their farms. Interesting fact: the majority of farms in New York state are family owned farms. Farmers are now selling their farms at 4x the rate they did in previous years. People forget that farms are not just located in "flyover country". Blame Trump’s Tariffs and the Weather. New York’s Farmers Do.

Just thinking of how incredible it was to have Aretha Franklin singing your show's theme song! I took this for granted back then but thinking about it now, it was a big deal! Speaking of ADW.

And these days this is what is considered to be a slow news day.

This is breathtaking.

Bernie Sanders' son Levy is running for office in New Hampshire and shouting to everyone that he is different from his father, he's his own man. Levi Sanders Is Not His Father. He Keeps Telling That to Voters.

That is Anne Sward who played Lyla. I do agree that pretty much every 50+ actress from ATWT has aged like fine wine. I think the actors had a nice chemistry even after it was clear that they were never going to be a couple (like when Bob and Kim were engaged). Bob and Lyla seemed more like friendly colleagues by then but they still had a kind of chemistry, albeit mostly platonic by then. The only time I can remember is at Bob's bachelor party, he was roasted by a fellow doctor who made fun of all Bob's failed relationships before Kim. Miranda and her infamous profession was mentioned.

More good news.

I haven't been able to see Qualifying at all since I don't subscribe to TC. Oh well. I've been getting to see the messy tournaments in New Haven and Winston-Salem.

I'm still in the process of reading but the race to catch up with Netflix is clearly for the big outfits that compete on that level. It's not so much the streaming platform itself that is very expensive, it's the content that will cost a lot of money. All those platforms that want to stream original content that can compete with the big budget Hollywood fare on the big screen. When Netflix was distributing independent films by indie filmmakers and streaming mostly classic films and second run TV series, the costs were very modest. Once Netflix made the push for original programming, not even so much for TV (although that has changed with the likes of Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris, not to mention Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock), things got a LOT more expensive. Although you can make the case that once the U.S. version of House of Cards became a hit, it drove Netflix into a much higher cost echelon and began the drive for original content in earnest. The smaller outfits are in no position to compete and so they don't. Acorn streaming service does very well streaming British based series that are produced by other outfits like the BBC, Channel 4, Thames, etc. It is subscriber based and charges a monthly fee at $4.99 per month, which is relatively modest by today's standards. Bounce TV is an interesting case study. It has a terrestrial TV channel that is antenna based yet they also have a website that streams their original programming. It is not subscriber based, so I assume that advertising plays a big role in their monetization. You can only stream their original programming, which is still not bad considering it's free. With a decent antenna, you can watch everything else. If an enterprising soap production company wanted to stream their classic series, The Bounce TV model seems like the most sensible one.