August chit chat

Did anyone else see the CBS Sunday Morning interview with George today? It was filmed back in November while he was still in LA and it didn't contain anything new, but it was fun to see him.

Mm, I think it's somewhere on here, Lizzy.......

Probably. It's a nice interview but nothing new. It was just a surprise to see it when he isn't out promoting something.

I finally had the chance and took the time to watch the first three seasons of 'The Handmaid's Tale'. It really shocked and also thrilled by this story and how it was made.

Did anyone else watch it?

I started to, and it's superb Attwood stuff - but really really dystopian.......

Tried a couple of times but just couldn't get into it. I guess real life is awful enough.

Lizzy,

you're right, the reality is frightening but I see it as an escape from reality. 
And I do like complex stories without logical failures.

Carol - I like complex stories as well but lately I've been trying to stay away from anything too "dark". I'd rather watch a musical  or something upbeat like a talent competition or a travel show or anything that doesn't remind me of current affairs. It's too depressing.

Lizzy,

I hadn't been able to watch 'The Handmaid's Tale' last year because life seemed to be ffightening enough. We had - and still have - really good concerts shown on TV. I discovered a channel with classic music which I really enjoyed, and another channel showed lots of concerts from Baloise Session - which I had never heard of although Bale (or Basel) is just across the Swiss border.
My husbynd started watching endless episodes of 'Navy CIS', and we both watched a lot of 'Rizzoli and Isles', 'Crossing Jordan etc. But at some point we both had the feeling we had watched all episodes before, it got boring after a while.
We also watched 'Blacklist' fof a while but at some point lost interest. And we watched more docus about other countries, history, science etc.

But I'm really looking forward to watch season four of 'The Handmaid's Tale'.

Carol - We've been watching a lot of the same tv programs. As a matter of fact, I'm watching Rizzoli & Isles right now! (I think I've probably seen all the episodes of that and the other shows you mentioned a gazillion times!)

I watch a lot of things on YouTube instead of tv. There was a lovely travel show called "Wonderful Wales", and now there's one about Cornwall that I want to see. There are also concerts of musical theater stars like Ramin Karimloo and full productions of musicals and dramas. Some days I fall down the YouTube rabbit hole for hours. I'm trying not to get into anything too heavy. As I said before, life's stressful enough. I hope you enjoy "The Handmaid's Tale".

I've been absolutely mesmerised by the 4th season of The Handmaid's Tale, and really excited that a 5th season has been commissioned.  

There was a really jarring moment when reality and entertainment blended when, during the season's final show on British TV, it was announced that the Taliban had taken Kabul.

Has anyone seen Sarah Millican in concert? I think she must be the funniest woman on the planet. I'd love to see her in person, but as usual I'm on the wrong side of the pond.

How is everyone in New York and New Jersey??

PAN - Thanks for asking. My neighborhood got lots of rain, but no flooding as we're not too close to the water and apparently our streets have pretty good drainage. I don't know how Annemarie's neighborhood fared, but from what I saw Manhattan seemed to get the worst of it. (As far as NY is concerned - I know NJ got hit really hard, too - possibly worse than NY.)

It's ironic that there were more deaths in our area from the after-effects of the storm than there were in the Gulf areas that took a direct hit from the storm at full strength.

Yesterday and today were absolutely gorgeous. I guess Mother Nature decided to take pity on us.

Lizzy, so glad all is well with you and your neighborhood 
after the storm. Hope Annemarie didn’t have any problems. Wow!  What a mess Ida caused.  In the DC area it was mostly lots of rain and some flooding.  But nothing like NYC and NJ.  

I agree. It was shocking that the Northeast had more deaths from the downgraded tropical storm than the category 4 Hurricane Ida.  Though Louisiana is far worse off  than we are.  Widespread power outages, flooded neighborhoods and temps hovering around 100 degrees.  Who knows how long before people can get back to some semblance of normal.

Donnamarie - Glad you're o.k.. I can only imagine how awful it is for the people living along the Gulf. Hot as hell, no power, no clean water for many, and having to negotiate flooded neighborhoods and the debris of destroyed properties. And it isn't as if it never happened before. It happens all the time! Every year they go through the same routine of wondering how many storms will hit and how strong they will be. I don't know how they do it - or why. I could never live in that part of the country.

Hi, guys! What have I missed - besides, apparently, the decision not to move into September?

     Never even noticed!!! I guess we're all trying to hold on to summer just a little longer. You haven't missed much unless you count fires and floods as news. How's it going where you are? Everything ok?

Extended periods of daily rain, thunderstorms, localized flooding - you know, the climate change auxiliary menu. And the heat won't go away. I, for one, am not trying to hang on to summer. I'm ready for some new autumnal miseries to complain about, as if millions of others don't have it worse.

It's really sad that the few states that would offer some respite from the natural weather disasters are full of Republicans.

I was about to say "Come on up to NYC", because my neighborhood came through the last storm pretty well and the weather since then has been glorious! (I forgot about half of Manhattan being under water!  I guess that's what happens when you come from the not-so-fancy outer boroughs!) I haven't set foot in Manhattan for over a year and didn't miss it until the theaters started to reopen this month. Waiting to hear that the subways are safer before going back.

Lizzy, my daughter was in NYC last weekend to visit a friend in Astoria.  She even rode the subway which shocked me.  But she got to where she was going.  No problems.  She and her friend went to a Broadway show.  She had a great time. All masked up with vaccine card in hand!

Donnamarie - I'm glad she had a good time. What show did she see? How did she like it? Was it a full house or were there empty seats? I hope the place was packed!

Riding the subway is relatively safe and getting better now that more people are going back to work in the city. It's just that the problems are so random that makes me a bit anxious - especially as my ride to Manhattan takes about an hour and in off-hours the train isn't too full. I know a lot of my hesitancy is because for over a year I haven't really been out of my neighborhood. It's time to put on my big girl pants and get out there!

Yes I agree Lizzy.  Just got to take the plunge!

My daughter saw ‘Waitress’.  It was a packed house and everyone was following the rules.  She really loved the show.  She saw it in DC too a few years ago.

Donnamarie - That's one of the shows on my list, along with about a dozen others. Now Andrew Lloyd Weber announced that he wants to bring "Cinderella" to Broadway next year. If Carrie Hope Fletcher comes with it I'll be sleeping in the street for tickets.