ShyLurkerGuy

If this YouTube channel had more songs my slowold self knew (and more low impact ones like this), I might be tempted to start working out with some regularity for the first time in decades https://youtu.be/oBICadG9YLw

My father died last night. It was grocery day, so I headed out to Walmart for a late-night supply run. Before I left, my parents and I watched the first half-hour of America's Got Talent together, and laughed and cheered and enjoyed each other's company. I hugged them both before I left. No drama. No acrimony. Just a rare casual moment of the three of us being in sync. I'm grateful that's my final memory of the three of us. I know that not everyone experiences such a grace of fate at the point of an unexpected loss. I've hugged my dad a lot during the past several weeks since his two consecutive surgeries had him weak and in pain that prevented him from any amount of restorative sleep as well as impaired his ability to move about with the bodily autonomy he was used to. I hugged him during bouts of tears from the pain and his loss of bodily agency at 2…3…4…5am. His medical condition has been complex and deteriorating for years, though he fought stubbornly (and often against his own self interest) to keep a sense of controlled normal. But last night, it was all physically too much for his heart. There's no way to know if he felt it coming. I hope he didn't feel it. I hope that he drifted into a few living moments of much needed sleep before his heart failed. Heart failure was what the coroner concluded after speaking to the paramedics and reviewing my father's medical history. A local funeral home has him now. So many tough discussions I'm bracing for. I am grateful for our apartment neighbour across from our door who stayed up with my mom and me through the ordeal from the paramedics to the coroner to the funeral home attendants, and I am grateful that the police officers attending were kind and patient especially to my mom and her Alzheimer's dementia. Just before my mom drifted off to sleep, she didn't even remember being told that he died. She looked around and asked, "Your dad's not home yet?" and I simply replied, "No, not yet." to avoid loops of questions about his whereabouts. I have no idea how to handle conversations about his absence going forward. I haven't slept yet more than 45min in the last 24hrs. I almost don't want to, but "tomorrow" will come whether I sleep or not, and I need more rest than the time this situation will currently afford.

Maks is in Kyiv, was judging a dance comp, but his latest IG video (as I post this) seems to be from a designated shelter https://instagram.com/maksimc mods: I wasn’t sure which thread to post this in

This week on Big Brother Philippines, the challenge was … a Halloween Musical! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmunQWNhPOY

Damn. I had such cozy memories of those early SYTYCD years, but now… Sigh… Cringe… https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/break-the-floor-dance-company-sexual-harassment-allegations.html [ETA read without subscription]: https://outline.com/https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2021/break-the-floor-dance-company-sexual-harassment-allegations.html I would never have expected #MeToo allegations against high profile SYTYCD competition alumni. It’s not as if the LGBTQ+ community needed post–Kevin-Spacey throwbacks to predatory tropes of the previous century, Nick Lazzarini and Travis Wall. If COVID didn’t permanently cancel SYTYCD, these allegation regarding their S1 champ and S2 runner up might be the final nail in the series’ coffin as far as network execs might be concerned. I’m not holding out hope for exoneration since the article has accounts of multiple incidents from multiple alleged targets stretching back over a decade.

Hey all. Being the primary caregiver of my elderly parents this past year has been priority-shifting. Even if the pandemic hadn't hit, the level of challenge I've been dealing with would have probably lead to this exact same post. I hope to check-in from time-to-time, BUT I don't think I keep up with the fame whores anymore, whatever show. Maybe Survivor if it comes back. I miss TAR. But I really tried with this season of BB. My interest in the format was already waning with this spring's BBCAN. But I just can't with shallow fame whores anymore. They've become more of an annoyance than an entertaining escape. EVEN and most times ESPECIALLY the eye candy. I think I'm dealing with too much real life that my patience for the shallow social game play and drama is done. And even if fame whore behaviour wasn't grating on my frayed-on-real-life nerves, the format has gotten stale and boring for me. Even with the FINALLY upgraded challenge sets. Candidly, only live chat kept me watching for the longest time, but I'm not sure even live chat can overcome this perspective shift. In short, BB and BBCAN are no longer part of my indulgent TV "self-care" Outside this thread, I'll probably still post in General TV on occasion as I have energy in the midst of caregiving.

How utterly Canadian: Despite the drama, the finale acrimony is quite minimal. Also, I can’t believe 2 parents made it into F4! Post-game, I doubt anyone beyond Jed and perhaps Ty will stay in touch with Beth whose entitled self finally got evicted before F4. I think I actually liked (or at least didn't despise) the rest of the jury. I even warmed up to Tera when she finally started to PLAY! I honestly couldn’t say which of the F2 was the bigger floater, though they both did ride coat tails long enough to pull game-consequential moves at the end. So I’m meh on Ty’s win. Glad that Keifer at least got Canada’s fave vote and prize. I think his presence was the most definitive aspect of the season.

Wait— WHUT?!? Kiefer survived eviction?!?!? If Kiefer wins it all, I'm not feeling sorry for anyone who voted to keep him.

So… double eviction since the previous post, including the invisible HoH Victoria. It's kind of impressive that she was able to deflect as long as she did past her successful targeted eviction, but she was the only candidate who fit the decisions made, and people actually independently managed to put things together just before the following eviction. I may be mistaken with my BB history (either CBS and Canada), but it feels like tonight was the first time I've seen such an amicable post-PoV-comp pre-PoV-ceremony backdoor plan reveal of a loyal alliance member to that ally. Honestly, it was the best possible move of given the opportunity. If they don't get Kiefer out this week, he has the game résumé to win it all. I don't think there's any way he's gonna turn it around before eviction night. On the one hand, he's got a good story— he wouldn't have been cast if he didn't. On the other hand, in the previous episode, he was in the DR after the double eviction saying he was ready to crush more BB dreams. In the end, it was the combo of having the best season résumé in his alliance while also being the socially naive fourth wheel connected to an admittedly weird 3-way bromance/showmance/former-showmance. Just waiting to see if Beth can pull the same on Jeb & Ty as she's whispered to various cameras over the past couple of weeks. So now it's a tight 3 vs a loose 3 (assuming Kief does go to jury). I'm still mostly meh over this season. The most abrasive hammies got taken out before jury. Of those left both in the house and on jury, I don't hate anyone (tho Beth and Terra annoy me more than the rest), but I don't particularly like anyone. At this point, just wondering how the dynamics of the remaining 6 work out.

This will probably the only good week of the season. The Invisible HoH was won by the best person to wield it. Victoria? Who knew? Her deflect-and-stay-under-the-radar game are … whoa! And somehow everyone still likes her and confesses stuff to her! And she managed to tease a "confession" to Kiefer, and just played it off as psyching him out! She's even been able to manage social pressure points and ego buttons to keep her noms post-veto comp! And there's so much "there's no way it's V" convos out of her earshot! Wow. If she manages to keep this secret past this week and makes her way to F2, she deserves to win. All that said, I highly doubt we'll get much more out the rest of this cast for the rest of the season.

Great Maker! I heard this in my head as a B5 opening credits prologue

Hey AVorlon! — Babylon 5 REMASTERED! In the original 4:3! https://www.comicsbeat.com/fandom-flames-babylon-5-remaster/ *but* no remastered movies yet. The remastered seasons apparently have been available for digital purchase on iTunes and Amazon as early as November 2020 prior to their HBO Max streaming debut. I really hope at least "The Gathering" and "In the Beginning" get remastered, too. The latter more so since the pilot movie was really jarring when I finally watched it well into several seasons of the regular series. I bought the complete DVD set when it finally went on sale, but the unnecessary letter-boxing of every CGI shots was awful. Apparently the live action was all shot widescreen, but WB wouldn't give them the budget to render the CGI in widescreen as well, and the original models were lost before the DVD sets were produced.

*INVISIBLE* HoH?!?!? ANONYMOUS no-public-blood-on-your-hands NOMS! NO BARFTASTIC "Who wants to see my HoH rooooooooom!" BIT! WHAAAAAAAAT? Wasted on this cast, unfortunately. gforce, I'd never speak that heresy loudly— though I'd definitely mutter it under my breath.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out the house, Josh the baiter who’s no master. So entertaining (not) that I’m calling the previous week “Solo: a Big Brother Canada Story” (and yet more pointless than that movie). No social game. No likeability for viewers to latch on to. I don’t even know why he auditioned or why production cast him. Like, I wouldn’t want to be left in the same room with him for a prolonged period of time. After 2 evictions, I can’t say I’m finding any of season 9’s cast compelling, even with the diverse representation, even if the trans influencer evicted week 1 had stayed. There’s just a generic sameness to the interactions after all these decades. And no one I’d consider eye candy. But they have a ball pit room… I find myself just watching for the comp builds.

So… Supernatural FINALLY ended. As someone who faithfully watched the first 5-season arc, I did appreciate the finale episode: just Sam and Dean and their ultimate fates after a run so long even Jensen Ackles' pretty face couldn't keep me watching. Raising the cosmic stakes just kept getting more ridiculous season after season… I didn't even make it through the season that jumped the Leviathan for me. I liked that they wrapped up the final cosmic arc in the penultimate episode. I especially really appreciated what a lot of fans on Twitter seemed to absolutely hate: the brothers' final fates were relatively mundane and human but (and the fuming fans seem to miss this) ultimately on their own terms (which was the underlying human theme the final cosmic arc) and in ways that their were completely consistent with who they've remained since season one. I even got misty-eyed. So, yeah, I don't hate the writers, and I don't hate that the only supporting cast cameo was not the one a lot of fans wanted to see. But as a viewer who popped in and out, especially for meta episodes like Scoobynatural, I got the closure I've been waiting for. The Dean-Castiel ’shippers need to get over it. I'm too old to get drawn into cynical writers' room gay-baiting. And the writers left it open to possibility even if it didn't get any acknowledgement whatsoever in the finale. I will say I do believe the way Misha played Castiel's final on-screen appearance was for the “Destiel” fans. — • Speaking of TV fantasy with cosmic stakes, I will say I enjoyed The Magicians as someone who didn't read the books. I enjoyed it more past the first season after which it became (for me) more of the Margot-and-Elliot show rather than the mopey-Quentin neurotic-Alice show— though the alternate Elliot-Quentin timeline was a real highlight for me. I guess I'd say the Magicians was to fantasy what Farscape was to sci-fi. • For all the narrative problems with Discovery, I must say I've gotten attached to several characters: Saru, Tilly, Stamets and Culver, Georgiou, and even new characters Adira and Gray. That Burnham is still a collection of stock narrative elements that hasn't managed a landing to stick is a waste of the actress's talent considering the range she's been given to play but with no satisfying narrative payoff. I'm enjoying season 3 more than the previous seasons now that it's been removed from it's pre-TOS setting to an era where it can become it's own thing the way TNG was. • Despite space orchids and space mechthulu, Picard did get me the most teary-eyed I've ever been over USB drives getting unplugged. • Beyond "baby Yoda," I'm really enjoying The Mandalorian, especially now that it's pulling Mando-lore from the animated Clone Wars and Rebels series into live action. • Anyone watching His Dark Materials? I haven't read the books, but I'm definitely liking the added depth than what was attempted with the Golden Compass movie. Lynn-Manuel Miranda annoys me, though. • On the shallow end, I watch CW's Pandora and The Outpost to vegetate. They don't seem to take themselves as super-seriously as The 100, which— oof, that series finale and its set-up episodes? Just: oof. • For December, I'm waiting on The Expanse and the Doctor Who Christmas episode.