January 2020 Chit Chat

Happy 2020 everyone!!!  

"Moondance"    

HAPPY HAPPY 2020 TO YOU ALL AND YOURS.

KEEP WELL AND SAFE.  X X X

HAPPY HAPPY 2020 TO YOU ALL AND YOURS.

KEEP WELL AND SAFE.  X X X

Sorry for the duplication.  LOL.

Jo - Glad you're here, even in duplicate! Hope you're feeling well and having a wonderful holiday!

By the way, Ruben Nepales is also a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press and is tweeting about it at the moment...............

https://twitter.com/nepalesruben

Can someone address the in the room.  I did not watch the Golden Globe, I'm guessing George Clooney did not attend because of work.  Did anyone watch it? Is there news as to why George Clooney did not attend?

There wouldn't be any news of why he didn't attend, he never said he would be attending. Christoper would

have picked up his award and I think Grant would have picked up the other one. I think he was probably working in London.

Precisely, Annemarie. Not even Christopher Abbott who was nominated was attending.

Smokehouse also had another nominee, Kirsten Dunst. She was there.

George has said he hates these things anyway. There would have to be many more reasons for him to cross the pond than just one event

I've been following George Clooney since 2007 and this is the first awards show I've seen him miss. Thanks for the information.

heartlove wrote:I've been following George Clooney since 2007 and this is the first awards show I've seen him miss.  Thanks for the information.  

Then you don't follow him very closely. It's hardly the first. Not even close.

The last globes he attended was with Amal in 2015. The last oscars were in 2013 when he won for Argo. He rarely attends these awards shows.

Hey, Way2Old - Happy New Year! Hope it's getting off to a good start.

I did watch/listen to the Globes. Other than Ricky Gervaise (Whose opening monologue was pretty funny) the rest of the show was so-so. From the critics' lists I saw beforehand, George's projects didn't have much of a chance. I'm sure he knew that and didn't feel it was worth making the trip.

O.k., I guess I'll just have to do this the hard way.

For anyone having a bad day or who just wants to get away from reality for a few minutes , check these out:

           https://youtu.be/ZxtjCbKkfto

           https://youtu.be/5i5c6Uy1Kkc

Guaranteed to brighten your day. I dare you not to laugh!

You did it Lizzy. 

Thank you Lizzy  . The second one is unavailable.

You're welcome. I hope you got a laugh out of it, but I'm sorry the second one wasn't available. It's actually much funnier than the first.

These two guys are a great antidote to all the bad news that's come our way lately. Not only can they be really funny, but their music is a joy to listen to. Just google "Michael Ball & Alfie Boe" and watch some of their videos. Guaranteed to brighten your day, no matter how bad it is.

I just went back to check and the video plays for me. Try this:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i5c6Uy1KCc&list=RD1Fe3AB255RK&index=3

A whole bunch of their videos are posted on YouTube by by someone named Linda Wellington. If you want to see more you can check there.

Yes that one works they are very funny and I do love the music.

Hope it helped make your day a bit better.

I watched about half of the Golden Globes. It was ok. I wanted to see Tom Hanks receive his lifetime achievement award. I thought Ricky Gervais was crass. I know his shtick is to be provocative but IMHO a lot of his lines just came off as mean. I did see Kyle Chandler and Chris Abbott there. No George but not surprised. Abbott had pretty stiff competition in his category. Oh well. At least he was nominated.

I was thinking that maybe part of the problem for "Catch 22" was that it came out so long ago that it wasn't fresh in people's minds. They had so many shows to consider, many more recent, maybe they forgot about "Catch 22".

Aw hell, maybe they just didn't like the all vegan plant meal being served... fake scallops made with mushrooms, etc

Please! It's L.A.. Half of them live on weeds and water!

LizzyNY wrote:Please! It's L.A.. Half of them live on weeds and water!

Do you mean dandilions or cannibus???

Take your pick! For most of them it's probably both! It must be torture for them when they get the munchies. What to do, what to do ...to eat or not to eat ... how many ounces can I afford to gain?

Hello folks, just popping in to see how everyone's getting on. Hope you all had a good festive break?

I'm in the process of buying a house - what a bloody torturous process it is in the
UK! Anyway, should be doing exchange this week and completion next week, all being well. Then begins the project of doing it up the way I want it . . .

Sadly, I know nothing at all about George. Anyone want to fill me in?

Not much to tell. He's been so low-profile he's practically invisible. Supposedly finishing up his latest project at Shepperton Studios in London, but no sightings except for that Instagram post the other day.

Sigh. Remember the days when we used to get sightings of him almost every week? Now we can go a long time between any new news, it seems.

Oh, in case any of you were worrying, I've applied to renew this forum already.

Good luck with the new house. What a big step to take! Does this mean that you're back in the U.K. for good? (Someone told me that a non-citizen can't buy property in the U.K.. Is that true? Doesn't seem right to me.)

Is your new place anywhere near G&A in Sonning? Wouldn't it be great if you were neighbors? You might even bump into them in the pub. Just keep your camera at the ready, 'cause you know we'd all want to know all about it - and see the proof!

All silliness aside, it's good to have you back.

A woman of property, Katie! Excellent news!

(Lizzy. I think, but not sure, that you might have to be resident for a while - but  to be honest there are tons of foreign owners of property - and many of them own entire blocks of flats!)

Actually, I'm off to a house in Sonning Eye next door to somebody we know tomorrow - to a production at the Mill Theatre. I will wave at the trees!!

A very Happy New Year, Katie!

PAN - The residency requirement makes sense to me. I don't know if we have any restrictions on property ownership other than being able to pay for it - never thought about it - living in NYC as a poor working slob, owning property is really, really hard to afford.

What are you going to see? Maybe G&A will join you. He has said that they've enjoyed productions there before. Just keep your camera at the ready just in case. If they don't show up, wave to the trees for me, too!

Yep, Lizzy. I guess if I think about, George has managed to buy here - it may be that a marriage licence is more difficult to come buy! You have to be resident for more than 28 days and you have to give 28 days notice (if that makes sense)

Going to see their production of 'Singing in the Rain'. I've been going for years - it's a really tiny in the round theatre and somehow they manage to put on HUGE productions with a very small number of actors. Last year they did 'Guys and Dolls'! You also get yummy food for dinner as part of the ticket price. 

Last I heard George and Amal had donated money for the maintenance of the working mill which runs through the property.....

Hi Katie Happy New Year. Congratulations on getting your new house.

Pan wave for all of us .

The 28 day residency isn't too bad - just a month. I guess if you know you want to buy you could even give notice as soon as you get to the country, so you could buy as soon as you were eligible.

  The show sounds like fun. Is it totally indoors? I'm just wondering how they're going to handle the scene where Gene Kelly's character is actually singing in the rain. That scene is one of the highlights of the movie. Do they do scenery changes and all that? How do they manage to fit it all in? (I'm curious because I did several productions for work where we had limited space - not to mention resources! - and it was a real challenge to figure out the logistics.) We never tried to make it rain, though!

O.k. - I tried again (3X!!!!!) and have given up (AGAIN!!) so here goes... I found this yesterday and want to share with anyone who wants cheering up:

         https://youtu.be/LN-nEsmv9NE

Laughter is contagious, so this is a guaranteed giggle.

Thanks, Lizzy. The link works for me, but unfortunately my speakers don't so I can't hear it! Grrrrrrrr!

With house buying in the UK, so far as I know, if you've got enough money, then you can buy. I think the problems kick in if you need a mortgage, but I've not looked into it. Next step on the to do list for me: find a job!

Katie, so sorry . Is the problem with your computer's speakers or is it something in the transmission? If it isn't your computer maybe the links I posted yesterday to a couple of B&B's other videos will work for you. They're both really funny. Good luck!

Oh, it's just my computer having a funny five minutes and denying the existence of any speakers. It's old. It's tired. It probably needs brandy.

Don't we all?! If that doesn't work, try scotch. I find that usually works wonders!

(Whatever you do, DON'T use my mom's solution for every malfunctioning machine. "Whack it one! That'll fix it!" - Can't tell you how many things we've had to replace!)

Oh, come on! Nobody's got anything to say about Meghan and Harry's big decision? Nobody...? Nothin'?

Okay, I'll start: Good for them. That took guts. I wish them all the peace and happiness they seek.

Totally agree Way2. First I heard this story I thought it must have taken a lot of guts for Harry to make this move. He made a smart decision to consider the future of his wife and son first. I think his mother, Diana would be really proud.

I hope everything works out for them. Harry has talked about giving up royal life so now he has put that in motion.

I'm a bit confused about the super-negative reaction in the U.K.. I thought , from what Meghan & Harry said, that they'd be splitting their time between the U.K. and North America and would still be fulfilling at least some of their charitable and royal obligations. What does it actually mean, that they are  stepping away from being senior royals? How does that impact the rest of the family?

 I also read that the royal family was supportive and wanted to help them make the changes they wanted to make. Could all the negativity be because of the way the news was released?

(O.k., Way2 - enough for a start?  )

Right.

Well most of the public here believe that their that their behaviour has been high handed and selfish - they receive a huge amount in public funds to represent the country and all of their security and the millions of dollars paid for their new homes refurb comes out of peoples' taxes. Their public statements, having just rescinded all their public duties for 'a six week 
break ' which they have also been paid for and Meghan's firing of 

numerous permanent staff has not gone well as a newbie joining the family. Their announcement that they'd like to continue living on the Royal Estate free of charge and would also like to maintain their 24 hour permanent British police security around whilst not being on duty also surprised and most people are shocked by their sense of entitlement

Let's see what happens - I have wondered if she has been suffering from post-natal depression, but many have pointed out that Harry is in her thrall. One thing I have noticed is that in interviews she has the unfortunate habit of finishing Harry's sentences for him. She is certainly not backwards in coming forwards and is often seen telling him off!

At this moment she's popped back to Canada to collect Archie and was seen without her wedding ring.........

Wow! There's a lot more to this than I thought. I didn't realize they wanted to continue getting so many taxpayer-funded perks at the same time  that they're pulling away from their royal duties.

Over here, from what I've seen, they're playing up the psychological damage Diana's death did to Harry and how he doesn't want to see his wife treated the same way. Also, I don't know if it's because she's an American or just because we don't have a royal family, but there seems to be a lot more sympathy for them here. "Since he can't be king, what difference does it make as long as they're happy?" kind of thing.

I wonder why she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. Anyway, I suppose it will work itself out over time.

In the newspapers that haven't had much media access to them (ie: the tabloids), there's a big push on the idea that it's all Meghan's doing and she's completely changed Harry, who apparently no longer has any will of his own.  Not sure if that narrative is caused by racism, sexism or just plain pique at not getting enough royal exclusives to sell their rags.  Possibly all three.

My thoughts is that this started a few years back when there was a revival of the "who's Harry's real father?" scandal with that picture of James Gilbey and Harry from the same angle.  I think that may have brought home to Harry that he's effectively another of the 'useless royals' and the family doesn't massively worry about him.  I think that had William wanted to marry a divorced, non-church of England, bi-racial, American, woman older than him, the royal family would have had a complete meltdown, but when Harry did it, it was more 'Oh go on then, you're never going to be king so it doesn't matter what you do as long as the photos turn out nicely'.    

The lives of the royals are very proscribed, but that's not suited him and he's realised that he can push the boundaries because he's not one of the important royals (from the point of view of succession, which is the only view that matters), so now he's pushing.

Hopefully he'll find the happiness and freedom he's looking for.  Good luck to the both of them in making a reasonable living, however, without selling out the royal connection.  

PAN - I keep reading that they're expecting to keep living rent-free in Windsor, and expect full protection etc free of charge, but that wasn't mentioned or even touched on in their official statement. Do you know if they've actually said this, or if it's been confirmed by the palace, or is it just speculation?

I have been following the Windsors since Diana days. The thing that always interests me is the courtiers who wheel so much control over each major player the Queen , William and Charles. It goes back to both Diana and Sarah these people were in control and it was never a happy story for any of them. I think Harry realized he couldn't win and got his wife and child out of that mess.
I read this is from the reporter in Africa who I actually believe more than anything coming from Buckingham palace.
He stated that Harry and Meghan have said they can take everything titles house and money if that's how the royal family wants it.