229 Comments

  1. Bon Voyage, Juz.

    Today was the first look at next year’s MKR contestants,during the Melbourne Cup telecast. Anyone else see it? About twelve of them.

    • I figured it was an MKR ad, because my teeth were already grinding. It’s another cast of rude idiots who monologue at length about how great their culinary skills are, despite never have set foot in a kitchen before in their lives. The promo I saw on Facebook was advertising this year’s angry, aggressive team who are the self-proclaimed awesome chefs … which means they’ll go home first.

      And there’s only one Jordan Bruno, sniff … πŸ˜‰

    • I saw an ad last night. It seemed to be playing up the possibility that some, if not most, of the couples are again arrogant twats who think they are God’s gift to kitchens everywhere, while actually having the skills of a one-handed baboon.

      The show hasn’t even started and already I feel pissed off with it.

      Sigh.

  2. Vinaka, gice. Poor Mr Juz was stricken with tonsillitis just before arriving in Sydney so he is holed up in an airport hotel! We hope to see him here in Fiji tomorrow. Juz Jnr and I are having fun.

  3. Oh goodness poor Mr Juz!!

    Glad that u and junior juz are having a good time!

    Anyone watch First Dates? What a hoot!

  4. Bella, I love that you say, “Oh goodness” and “What a hoot”.
    It sounds like you have spent a lot of time with us old chooks. πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–

    • The frustrating thing about the whole business is that we can’t do anything about it. We’re not eligible to vote in American elections, we just have to sit back and watch this play out.

      I was chatting to a couple of American friends of mine late last week, but even they didn’t seem too concerned. Both of them were definitely more in Hillary’s camp (although one of them said, “I’m not fan of her. Every time she opens her mouth, it’s like Rita Repulsa”), and one of them was a black man. And even he didn’t seem too worried. The impression I got from both my friends was that Trump probably really doesn’t care about ruining the western world, he’s just big-noting himself and wants the feather in his cap of being president. He’s just really just in this for himself, and if he does actually make it, he’ll be told by his party to enjoy the fancy office while they actually make the important decisions.

      Hearing that (from someone who actually lives there) helped a little bit, but not much.

      You guys don’t know me that well, I confess. I find that I’m quite politically conservative on a lot of social issues (not all, but more than half), and I find the man a monster. If the election comes down to the lesser of two evils, then so be it. It’s better than the alternative.

      And I think, for me, the thing I don’t understand is how people twist themselves into logical knots trying to justify not only voting for him but defending him. I think that says bad things, not just about his supporters, but about everyone. This is what politics in the 21st century has become. This is vicious and selfish and indulgent and intolerant, but that’s just how we do things these days, and I think that’s a damning indictment on everybody, everywhere. Maybe he’s the leader of the western world that the western world *deserves*, you know? I think spite has had far more of an impact in people’s decisions than it should.

      You know, he brags about sexual assault (if I walked up to a straight guy and just started groping him, I’d be lucky if he didn’t try to kill me, right? And fair enough, because that’s really gross) and that doesn’t seem to be a deal-breaker. He admitted to never paying taxes, all the while complaining about how the last few administrations have screwed up the economy. The man’s so awful with money that he can’t keep a casino profitable (you know, casinos? The businesses that are designed to be pure profit?), and people want to trust him with a trillion-dollar economy? Meanwhile, his solution to social problems is to blame an ethnic group and decide to round them up and put them somewhere … how that’d go in Germany in the 1930s? Because it didn’t end well then, for anybody.

      But all of these things are small potatoes, apparently.

      It’s like, I don’t get it.

      But I feel like textbooks will be written for decades about the state of the world in the early 21st century, and the American election is the purest example of how fucked up planet Earth is, right now.

        • Heh. Funnily enough, there’s a new movie adaptation coming out next year (March, IIRC) that will have Elizabeth Banks as Rita. I adore Elizabeth Banks, but I don’t associate her with the idea of a threatening, villainous space witch. She’s such a great actress, though, so I’m really interested in seeing how she plays the part.

          Here’s the trailer.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba-0gO-T9UM

          The blond kid playing Jason is actually an Australian actor, Dacre Montgomery.

      • Agree with you totally, Windsong. The thing that is getting to me at the moment is all the (reasonably good) candidates who fell by the wayside in order to end up with two that the American people don’t actually want.

        I’m in no way an expert on American politics, but it seems to me that both parties, but especially the Republicans, will be making huge-scale policy changes. Surely they would never want to be in this position again – the laughing-stock of the western world?

  5. Continuing the discussion on a new line…
    I understand the anger that is driving Americans to Trump. If you drill down into American society, and hear some of the stories, you wouldn’t want to live there. It’s a basket case if you if you are disadvantaged or if something goes wrong for you. I had a client who was sent broke by the medical system – and he had insurance.
    I might consider not voting for either.
    But I lack sympathy for those that say they can’t vote for either so they are not going to vote at all. There is actually another party. The libertarian Party got over one million votes last election, and is growing.
    I suspect Americans are a bit like Australians in that superficially they seem to understand politics and the issues but deep down, they really don’t.
    It used to drive me to drink to listen to people say they voted for Rudd. Hey guys, unless you lived in his electorate, no, you didn’t. *head: desk: thunk*
    Even so, one of the Senators here in my electorate is openly and loudly anti gay marriage. but he was voted in because of his party, not his views (btw not Liberal). And people are surprised. What? You didn’t look?

    • Regardless of the idiocy of nominating Trump, both parties will need to look very carefully at the issues that gave Trump such traction. Much as some would like to just dismiss these people as uneducated, the things that they believe Trump was speaking honestly on, are real concerns for the ordinary people. There can be a tendency for educated people on one side of politics to think that the views of those they consider “uneducated” can be safely ignored.

      That was the Brexit mistake – the assumption that what the politically-active, highly educated people think, is representative of all people, when it isn’t. Those politically-active people need to lower their eyes a bit, and see what the ordinary person sees.

      If the Republicans can do that, and nominate someone with integrity who will address those issues, they should romp it in (in the future).

      • The exit polls are indicating that it is primarily white, uneducated white males voting for Trump, and then a bunch of other people.
        I suspect that that is the same issue in Britain.
        And, sympathetically, if I was a white, uneducated white male I would also be worried about the growth in educated women and the influx of migrants willing and capable of doing any job. But sadly for them, nothing can change the drift in demographics. Trump is not omnipotent.

        • Exactly that. Being a white, uneducated male doesn’t prevent you from having an opinion on things that affect your life, and doesn’t make that opinion invalid.

          On a side note, I’m really starting to hate the phrase “white, middle-class man”. Heard it used again today by the new indigenous politician. It is becoming pollie-speak for “we can dismiss this person’s opinion, because they aren’t part of a vocal minority”. BTW, I am not one, but I feel sorry for them as a demographic now.

          • I’m white and middle-class, but I fail the usually-assumed “heterosexual” part of the deal. At any rate, I completely agree with you.

            And part of me (quite a big part, actually) can’t stop the thought, if the social-justice-warriors of the world hadn’t been so busy calling white straight men the cause of all the evils in the world, maybe those white straight men would’ve been far more likely to listen and participate in a dialogue?

            But you can’t call somebody a monster (for little to no reason) and then wonder why they don’t like you very much.

      • “Those politically-active people need to lower their eyes a bit, and see what the ordinary person sees.”

        Oh my gosh, that is the most perfect way of stating that, I’ve seen from anybody.

        Well put, Fijane.

  6. I am sitting here watching the election on tv. It is as slow as watching snails mate. What a shame it’s too early to drink.

    • Dave, I will if you will. Although it’s early days yet – maybe we should wait until, uh, lunchtime?

      Just heard that there has been a shooting at a polling place somewhere in California. How sad this whole election has been.

      • Supposedly this was unrelated to the election although no motive known right now. Shooting occurred in Azusa which does have a gang presence and probably more than one gang.

      • According to ABC 24 , the authorities are looking for a “heavily armed female shooter”. The way things are going at the minute, it could be Hillary herself.

        • A male suspect is dead and the info about female suspect may be incorrect. There may or may not be another shooter.

    • Sorry, Bob, for calling you by the wrong name.

      I went back to bed for a little while and have just turned the tv back on. Jesus, this is getting scary.

      • I know, I know. I am moving from denial to deep breathing. I spend my time turning the telly off and on, because I can’t watch but I have to know. I think it’s the equivalent of covering my eyes but peeking through my fingers. My stomach is tense.
        And no problems on the name.

  7. I don’t get how the counting is done before all the polls have closed. Wouldn’t this stop people in say Alaska where the polls don’t close til 5pm our time apparently, from voting at all? I’m glad at least that we wait here until all the votes are in.

    • It doesn’t make any sense and they shouldn’t start reporting until all of the polling places are closed in every state. I wonder if Hillary will state that the voting was rigged if she loses (which is what Trump was going to do πŸ™‚ )and right now it looks like it is going to be a Trump win. Don’t get how anyone could vote for him but maybe that is their way of showing that they are sick and tired of the way things have been handled by the U.S. govt.

    • Actually, the eastern states (Aus) starting counting and reporting back to the divisional offices as soon as the doors close at 6pm. So there is reporting of trends before WA closes the doors. It is usually after 8pm, though, before enough counting is done to send in any figures. And, of course, with compulsory voting, WA people have to turn up to vote even if they have heard snippets from the east coast.

      Re the US election, there was some comment by Anthony Green that he is allowed to predict because he is outside the US, but inside the US they are not allowed to because of the risk of voters not bothering. In this social media age, I don’t know how that makes a difference.

    • Further to the voting process, apparently in the US they call a lot of states based on exit polling, rather than actual vote counting. Seems a bit hit-and-miss to me, but presumably it has worked in the past, so they keep doing it. I would hate to see it done that way here.

  8. From a sociology point of view, the U.S. is not a unified (small u) country, like Australia, they are United (capital U) like the EU.
    When you remember that, it goes some way to making it easier to understand why they are so different from one side of the country to the other. And why they have such contradictory laws etc.
    Only a few things are unifying: such as the Supreme Court, the FBI, the metric system, the monetary system and the constitution.
    So, in a brief simplistic nutshell, each state is “sovereign” and wont be told what to do.
    It works and it doesn’t work.

  9. Watching the election results here at work.

    (a friend of mine who’s gay brother and his husband live in Florida came in at lunch-time, freaking out about the results, and saying that at least his brother will come back to live in Australia)

    Trump’s impressive lead is troubling, but hardly surprising.

    You know, maybe this is my inner optimist, but very few people get out of bed in the morning and say, “I’m going to be a monster today”. People are scared and angry and broke, and they’re voting for the guy who said, “Well I can fix all that for you.” He can’t, but he convincingly said that he could, and isn’t that politics?

    Like I said above, I also think that spite has played a huge part of this. I would bet a lot of money that a lot of votes for Trump were actually votes *against* Hillary.

    Heck, maybe the Aussie dollar will go up and we’ll get something worthwhile out of this? Just a thought.

    • Those poor people who believed him are going to be devastated when he doesn’t deliver any of his promises. He will blame someone else, of course.

      Stock markets around the world are in freefall. And the british/european ones haven’t even woken up yet.

  10. First, let’s hope the Republican Party can keep Donald in line.
    But (b) on the assumption that they can’t, maybe this will show everyone (I’m speaking internationally now) that sometimes you get what you deserve.
    A lot of those people who voted for Brexit are now surprised that the UK is actually exiting from the EU. *duh* and another group of them are surprised that the Britain is slowly disappearing down an abyss – exactly as they were told it would happen. Ireland either has to leave the UK or find a workaround because so much of their economy depends upon the EU.
    And we are not that much cleverer in Australia. We have a choice between a flip-flopping two-faced hypocritical wannabe or someone who is held hostage by all these competing factional groups, so we vote for Pauline. And now we are surprised that we won’t get gay marriage for another 3 years, exactly as we were told it would happen.

    • Small correction: Ireland is already EU and not member of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is.^^ (Sorry, have to put that straight being European and having lived in Ireland for a few years)
      And I do not believe that Northern Ireland will split from the UK and reunite with Ireland to stay in the EU. Neither will Scotland, even though Nicola Sturgeon was pushing for independence and so staying in the EU.

  11. And while I am ranting, I have enjoyed the coverage. What I don’t enjoy is that it is every channel. Could I not be given the opportunity to have a break and watch a cooking show? If one of these channels had put something else on, I am sure that they would make a killing in the ratings.

  12. Instead of moving forward America has now moved backwards. As for the Republican party keeping him in line I don’t think that is going to happen. It’s shocking that he won the nomination and even more shocking that he is about to win the election.

    • It does kind of feel like waking up in a dream (well, a nightmare, but you get what I mean).

      I keep thinking, is this actually real?

      Apparently so.

    • Well I suppose that’s something.
      Not necessarily good but I am assuming that means that if you smoke, you are not a criminal? And if you are sick, it can be used for medicinal purposes?
      I wonder if you are allowed to smoke and drive? And you can grow it in your backyard and sell it? Gives a new definition to home based work.
      My head is going to explode with questions.

      • Medical marijuana was legal for a while in CA but now if you are over 21 you can purchase marijuana for recreational purposes. Don’t know if you can grow it in your backyard or not. Not sure about smoking & driving but think that would be equal to drinking and driving so probably not. I think a lot of people in CA will be smoking after the results of the election. πŸ˜‰
        I am surprised that women would vote for Trump. I read an article about women supporting Trump and one of them said she was voting for him to ensure a good future for her granddaughters. I think she’s been smoking something. πŸ™‚

  13. I am stunned that any woman voted for him.
    Although I have been told that there is a real disconnect between what we think about sexual assault and what Americans think. I am told there is still a real victim blaming culture there.
    I suppose the good news is that it shows how far we have come?

  14. I am watching that lying, divisive fuckwit give his phony conciliatory speech and I want to throw up.

    Now I’m going to stop screaming at the tv and go get royally drunk.

    God help the USA and god help us all.

  15. I can’t listen or watch any more so I found Masterchef Professionals on the ‘net and am watching that.
    BTW, the Ku Klux Klan newspaper endorsed Trump. I’m amazed that there are Blacks and Hispanics who support him.

    • I think, living overseas, we never really got much of a sense of how many people *despised* Hillary. Trump was a walking headline (for all the wrong reasons, but at least we could see what a vile human being he is). But Hillary is really, really hated, by apparently lots and lots of people.

      I heard the statistic on the radio this morning, that although white male voters didn’t care for her much, even amongst white female voters, the support between Trump and Hillary was split 50/50. That was the demographic that were *supposed* to be supporting her, and she could only swing half of them. It wasn’t that they were giving him a free pass (particularly with all the awful things he’s said), but somehow, they still saw him as the *lesser* evil. I find that staggering, but y’know, he won.

      And I imagine that, living overseas, we just weren’t getting any of that at all.

      • If she had beenup against anyone else, I wouldn’t have voted for her. Not due to corruption allegations (of which nothing has been proved despite the label that Trump pinned on her) but purely because I don’t think she was right for the job. But compared to Trump, she was a saint.

        Really, really wish that Obama could stay, he has been brilliant. Vaguely hoping that fate will intervene between now and January.

  16. Hereafter known as the White Trash House.

    A truly awful result for humanity.

    And screw you Ch 10 for bumping Bold And The Beautiful for that maggot.

  17. The sky is crying here – in buckets.
    I have turned off the television and I am watching cat videos on utube. It’s not helping.

    • It was slow, so Woolif gave up, but I didn’t mind the 1st episode. I think it needed to be slow paced for that setting. It reminded me slightly of outlander.

    • I have it recorded, Daisy, so I will be interested to see. The trailer looked very dark. I gather that it is a famous book, somewhere, but I had never heard of it.

      • It is a very good book. Worth reading. My Dad used to call books like these “bodice rippers”. I suspect that’s not a pc term anymore.

  18. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I am trying not to read or watch any politics for the next couple of days but it’s like an addiction. I will try to stop but I think it’s a 10 step process.
    Here’s a chart. I don’t know how much credibility it has but I found it really interesting.

    • I read that the voting turnout wasn’t as much as they expected. Hillary did win the popular vote. Some states very close and surprised there was no request for a recount. Protests across USA with shouts of “Not my President.”

      Still don’t understand how most woman could vote for a Trump-Pence ticket.

      • Those stats are similar to what I’ve read. Agreed – how could any woman or person in a minority group vote Trump? He did a great job at tapping into the seething resentment of the white lower and middle class. Also shows how delusional the Democrats were in picking “tainted” Hillary as their candidate as someone so completely unsuitable as Trump was able to defeat her.

        • Before the election, the press said Trump makes Hillary looks good and sure to win.

          The people has spoken. They want the real issues to be dealt with and they want to be heard.

        • The Project interviewed a woman from New Hampshire (a US state in the north-east IIRC) who was pro-Trump, and Carrie actually asked her, “as a woman, how could you vote for that man?”

          And this woman (who was intelligent and well-spoken and obviously educated) said that New Hampshire had a huge drug problem (she’d had to bury her brother because of his addiction, same with a friend of hers and that person’s daughter), and at a rally, either her or one of her friends had told Trump about this, and he’d actually said, “I didn’t know this was such a huge deal, but I’m going to look into this.”

          While it’s very tempting to write the whole thing off as an exercise in racism and sexism, to me, that right there is why he won. People are fed up with being ignored (much like here in Australia, with more and more people turning away from the two main parties), and they’re tired of empty words that don’t do a thing to solve their actual real problems. And that’s why people forgave and/or overlooked his worst moments (all twenty thousand of them). Now, we know that he can’t click his fingers and solve anything, but he convinced people that he was listening to them.

          And here we are. That’s my take on it.

        • If you read up on Bill Clinton and Hillary, and look into their background, associates, what happened to Clinton Foundation money, the dodgy sources for campaign funding such as Saudi Arabia, Bill Clinto getting a gift of $1million from Quatar but not declaring, Huma Abedin’s dubious connections, and several allegations of sexual assault made on Bill, including connections to the same underage sex racket that Prince Andrew has been linked to…I think Bart Simpson could have said, “Hi carumba” and beaten Hillary Clinton. The magically disappearing emails, then Huma saying she didn’t know how they got on her computer…the magically vanishing fbi investigation. Too many smoking guns. Still, I was surprised by the result. I thought the crook would win.

          • BUT then we have Trump who never disclosed his tax reports, who outsourced some of his businesses to foreign countries and who never paid people for work they did. He is a racist and a sexist who wants to overturn pro choice and his V.P. does not believe in equal rights for women, wants to overturn pro choice, is VERY anti gay. The Ku Klux Klan newspaper endorsed Trump.
            It’s sad that there weren’t just two intelligent and honest candidates running against one another.

            As for Trump listening and being believable, he told his followers that he would repeal Obamacare and now he is backpedaling on that stating that he would keep it but amend it. Typical politician so whomever says that he is not an experienced politician should rethink that. He is a BSer and that pretty much equates to most politicians.

      • The outcome of the 2016 presidential election will be picked over for the next few months( even years to come). It was always going to be a tough ask for Hillary as a Democrat to win this election (as no party post WWII with the exception of Regan-Bush has won a third term).

        What can be said in the immediate aftermath 1) Trump winning was not entirely unexpected looking at the betting market. The volume of money was with Hillary but the number of bets was with Trump. This pattern was previously seen with Brexit.
        2) The media utterly failed. As Hamish McDonald observed US media is concentrated with elites in New York and Washington DC so there was a profound disconnect with middle America and much of the coverage of Trump and his supporters was ‘sneering’. The media never saw beyond the stereotype or took Trump’s candidacy seriously until it was too late. We believe the phrase that is been bantered about is the Left took Trump literally, his supporters seriously.
        3.The progressive Left and the primacy of identity politics and obsession with ‘white privilege’ ignored fundamental and very real class issues. The immediate experience of people in the rust-belt states did not reflect national economic data. There was no pick-up in the economy post GFC. People were tired of being branded racists, xenophobic, etc. There is no place for poor white people in the progressive Left’s collective. (It also didn’t help that Hillary uttered the words ‘deplorable’ to describe them).
        3.DNC-What were they thinking? In the year (or should that be years) of the anti-establishment candidate was Hillary really the best candidate? The elimination of Jeb! early from the Republican preselection and the serious challenge posed by Bernie Sanders should have sent a warning to DNC.
        4. The email scandal & FBI. It fed into the Clinton conspiracy.

    • Don’t be sorry, Bob. I have the same addiction and read every newspaper today, watched Obama’s and the concession speeches, and generally immersed myself in the horror that is sociopath Trump as president-elect of the US. That is truly frightening and deserves some notice and thought, I think, even though none of us live there and don’t have to live under his presidency.

      Commentators today are saying his hate-spewing was probably electioneering and he doesn’t really think that way. And pigs might fly. Maybe Trump will have an epiphany, realise he doesn’t have any qualifications to be in that office and decide to concede to Hillary. Again, airborne pork.

      And, Malcolm, your speed at crawling up Trump’s butt makes me want to slap you.

      • To be fair, our pollies don’t have a choice. You can see the pursed lips as they have to say “we will work with him”. Theresa May had the same fixed smile, as she tried to convince us. Feel sorry for her – she’s got the double whammy, brexit and trump.

        • I agree with this point in particular. Given how hard it is to say sorry to my nearest and dearest after a fight, how hard must it be to say congratulations to someone as crass as this. You couldn’t pay me enough to be a politician.

    • My fiend way back at school in the 70’s went to the Adelaide airport to meet Jethro Tull’s singer Ian Anderson and got his autograph. Widely voted then in UK as the “rock star you’d least like your daughter to marry”

      Jethro Tull live , fantastic , I’ve seen them perform the song daisy posted here. Always a concert highlight. The album has achieved mythical status but great records came out every week then and not even Mr Trump can make that great again.

      The Rolling Stones refused to meet Trump and Jagger has already tweeted some displeasure at their music being used at Trump rallies. He used Queen’s music without approval , too.

      What is really embarrassing is Turnbull, $horten ,and world leaders lining up to crawl up Donald’s khyber. Fail. They all delighted in bagging him in recent months. Now they’re eating $hit.

  19. As I am reading more and more of the analysis of the demographics, I am becoming less and less surprised. The analysts in general terms are starting to agree that what the Americans heard when Trump said “Let’s make America great again” was let’s make the blacks slaves again, the Latinos our maids and gardeners for minimal wages, keep the gays out of the armed forces, and Muslims are scary and can I please say what I want about whomever I want. And thats why the vast majority of whites voted for him. Nothing to do with not being heard on jobs and welfare and Obamacare.
    I am told that we really don’t understand the depth and breadth of racism that exists in America. I have to take their word for that.

    • Racism, sexism, classism, seems everyone wants to blame some other group for their problems. We aren’t blame-free here, but, damn, America, you got nasty this time. And will reap what you sowed.

      • That first sentence in that comment is really stupid and I don’t know where that came from. I am so sorry for that momentary lapse into what I learned (and have since unlearned I thought) as a child.

  20. I hope they don’t reap what they sow. We will all suffer so I hope they can work it out. Failure is not to our advantage. Maybe there are some countries that would like the US to plummet into a massive depression now, but that would probably mean a lot of other countries going down too.

    • I hope you are right, but I can’t help but feel that regardless of specific events, America’s place as the “world leader” will be gone, and I fear which country will rise in it’s place.

    • I hope they don’t reap what they sow because the majority of voters did not sow this. Clinton won the popular vote AND they are still counting votes in CA. It’s the antiquated electoral college that is a big part of the problem, IMHO. How can Trump get all the electoral votes in a state where she got 48% of the vote and he got 49% of the vote and this was repeated in more than one state. This is not representative of the voters.
      In fact the distribution of electorates is not representative of the state population or specifically the number of registered voters in states. The number of electoral votes, for example, in CA should be higher.
      I thought this map creating 50 new states with equal populations so that electoral votes could be equal was interesting:
      http://fakeisthenewreal.org/reform/

      • I’m with you. Same when people say things like “(fill in any country) deserves what they get” because most people are just subject to decisions of leaders they may not have elected, or who have broken election promises.

        • When Obama won the 2012 election via electoral votes and at one point it seemed that Romney won the popular vote (Obama wound up winning both) Trump went on a Twitter tirade. Two of his tweets were:
          “He /Obama/ lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country.” and
          “More votes equals a loss…revolution.”
          He’s not tweeting that now.

    • Ha ha. On topic.
      My brother was the AC fan with School’s Out and Billion Dollar Babies. He was more of the heavy metal fan of the family.

  21. The election was on here but I hadn’t been watching.. came in close to the end and my eyes opened wide and laughter spewed out. I was shocked! I really didn’t think Trump would win.

    I had always felt America was screwed either way. Hillary is no good, fake and didn’t seem to offer much, then there’s Trump who.. well, is *kinda* crazy… But he was offering change. People weren’t happy with Obama and him not doing much so this is what happens. I, too, have no idea how EITHER of these two were the last standing..

    I would have to say I am generally pretty neutral, neither left or right but definitely more on the conservative side and I can understand some of the things that Trump promises to be appealing. I am no expert on America and their politics but again can understand their desire for change, although Trump’s promises for the most part were too extreme for my taste. You can’t generalise whole groups.

    What I find the most annoying, though, and really doesn’t help anybody, is how smug I find the left to be. I watch the James Corden show regularly and the crap he spews at times is just useless. Same with a lot of leftie celebrities. I get they have Trump on one side, but Hillary?? These “love is all we need” types support Hillary?? It doesn’t make any sense to me in this case knowing what she gets up to.. Any kind, actually loving person would of course want a world where we all get along but we need to live in the real world and know that is most likely never going to happen, as harsh as that sounds. We should all respect and be kind to each other, and do the best we can, but realise that there are those out there who are not going to feel the same and unfortunately just throwing the world open won’t solve it.. but that’s just my opinion.

    The backlash from lots of celebrities and Hillary supporters is sick. Hanging effigies of Trump is just going way too far. I am also tired of this #notmypresident thing and those saying “we didn’t vote for this” because, well, the majority did. I am no Trump fan by any means, but if the tables were turned, how would all these people react if the Trump supporters acted the same?? Why is it ok for the Hillary supporters to act in hate now, the same “hate” they are constantly protesting against. I think it is those that claim to be the most educated, enlightened, open-minded, loving, etc that, at times, need to actually open their minds and consider something outside of their own opinion for a change. I am sure there are many educated Trump supporters out there who many not like the man, but voted for him for a key reason like the example given above by Windsong.

    I have no idea what’s going to happen.. I hope he doesn’t actually build a wall.. and hopefully.. hopefully there are some positive changes but I’m not holding my breath. I had no idea how many middle grounders like myself would possibly choose in this horrible election and am still shocked by the result.

    Great comment from the article that LP posted:

    “So many whiners still looking for an answer and still unwilling to accept that their candidate was flawed as well. I’m am not defending Trump at all. He’s not a good person. But it seems to me some of you need to get out more, watch some news stations that don’t agree with your politics, read some articles that don’t agree with your politics. And try to do so with an open mind. People are sick and tired of others looking down on them and labeling them every ist, ism and phobe in the book at the drop of a hat. I would assume many of you are from the party of tolerance, maybe you should try walking the walk.”

    Sorry for the rant.. waiting for bed time and I think I’ve surpassed it now.

    • Great comment in that quote. It is probably the essence of the rebellion against the left.

      I think issues of morality were part of this. People who support loosening of moral values tend to present themselves as “progressive” and are quite dismissive of those with opposing views, using all those ism, ist and phobe statements. I imagine that there is a proportion of Americans who are somewhat alarmed by the path that their country has chosen to take.

      Unfortunately, some of these people have not been able to see that Trump will have no hope of achieving any of the changes he campaigned on, and that he will soon be shackled by the parliamentary system.

      • Of all the comments here, these resonated most to me as an Australian.
        We have been very cavalier here in Australia in dismissing people for having views not supported by the popular media – like being against gay marriage and those that wanted the plebiscite.
        Even though I am in the ‘for’ camp, I was looking forward to the discussions. I have a lot of friends who are on the fence and who could go either way. What upsets them the most is the assumption that if they are against then there must be something wrong with them – and the assumption that this is all a done deal. Nothing makes them go bug-eyed more than someone saying ‘Let’s just take it to parliament and just vote and get it over and done with’.
        And yet I know that most of them would happily go with the majority if a plebiscite went that way.
        I know it sounds contradictory, but the end result is that they are now against both parties (and the Greens- aren’t we all). And maybe voting for Pauline? Not that they would tell me that.
        But I think your comment above about loosening morals and where we are headed as a nation may have relevance.
        Its hard to have a minority view but we need to be more inclusive before Pauline becomes Prime Minister.

        • The reason I said Eliza was bold is because there is a climate of aggression toward those who don’t agree, on any topic. Mainstream media seems to contribute to this. Maybe it has always been that way and I just didn’t notice before. Mainstream media, our govt and the so called left seem to mostly concur on the hot topics and the so called right or conservatives seem to have become the new outsiders or anti establisment. There has been aggressive clashes and violence when ‘left’ and ‘right’ groups are on the streets. People just don’t seem to want to engage in listening to each other respectfully. So everyone grips their own opinion and the divide deepens.
          There a big and important issues buried under the pile of hostility that might get resolved if people didn’t resort to their basic instinct to club someone. πŸ˜†

        • Agree, there are too many horrible words being thrown around these days. It does not lend to healthy discussion at all but fear of being cast off as something you are not. Sure, there are still people out there who are those things and these issues seem to run deep in the USA but those who throw those words around need to be careful as they are alienating and hurtful. I will never forget years ago I was watching The Morning Show on Channel 7 and they had Rebecca Wilson on. Such tragic news about her passing but I will never forget her comments. They were discussing gay marriage and she came out firing that anyone who does not agree is a “redneck” and whatever other derogatory name under the sun she could come up with. It did not lend to discussion and had someone on the against side said anything so judgemental they would have been reprimanded or fired. I am not going to get into the whole topic, but neither side should be able to be rude or judgemental during discussion.

          Agree, Fijane, Trump’s promises are not realistic and quite frankly, many are too extreme in my opinion but definitely agree that it was a rebellion towards the left that led to this.

          • What these people (like Rebecca in your example) don’t seem to realise is that by doing this, you don’t change their viewpoints. All you do is drive them underground. When you get called names for holding a certain view, eventually you decide that it is not worth sticking your neck out anymore. You stop expressing your view, but it doesn’t change. And then when you have the opportunity to vote, then your original viewpoint is expressed.

            So when the media or strong lobby-groups can no longer hear the dissenting voices, they assume that the tide of public opinion is now with them. They then proclaim that “the majority of people think this”. And then they are shocked (at voting times) because they genuinely thought that by belittling and name-calling, they had turned people’s views around.

        • Ha ha. You don’t have to. You can take your pants off, bark like a dog and dance the macarena in the street. It’s kerrazy town in the USA. You could even write a song about it.

  22. First, sorry for the wall of text. And my bias. πŸ˜‰

    As stated before, Hillary won by popular vote, but the Electoral College was trending towards Trump, so that was what lost it for the Democrats. I get why people are upset and shouting: This is not MY president By popular votes, Hillary had roughly 200k more than Trump. By most other democratic systems, she would have won.
    I never understood the need of the Electoral College and this should have been disbanded AGES ago. It is not fully representative of the voters’ opinion.

    That being said, the Democrats fucked it up way early in the election race. Even though many people in US call Obama the worst president ever, he wasn’t the worst. But he stood infront of a clusterfuck, a country that basically missed out on lots of progress (healthcare anyone???). He tried to change it, got often stalled by Senate/Congress. And funnily enough right before Obama came lots of Americans called George W. Bush the worst president ever. And even though I always thought he was a fucking dimwit, he was not the worst president either. πŸ˜‰

    So, what went wrong? Actually the downright blatant favouritism regarding Hillary in the race for the Democrats’ nominee. Bernie Sanders gave her a run for her money. The people liked him and trusted him, but everyone knew, the Democrats want Hillary. And no one else. That was the first big rift in my opinion. Voters felt ignored as the Democrats forced Hillary on them.
    The next problem was that people simply didn’t like her. I remember being a teenage girl and reading up stuff about the scandal and the try to impeach Bill Clinton. Hillary stood by him, people disliked her. Then all the stories regarding corruption. Does not bode well with Americans.

    And then there is Trump. Seemingly kind of a laughing stock, but smart enough to trigger his voters with the correct phrasing. To even trigger people who were undecided. He was the symbolic middle finger to the establishment. Towards both parties actually. He said apparently what was on his mind. He divided the country and earned the profit. People who were undecided got spoonfed with Hillary’s corruption, the FBI investigation, the things that went on during her husband’s presidency. Her failures as a Secretary of State. All those little things worked wonders.

    We, the “more educated people”, the leftists and liberals, the media, we considered Trump being a dimwit, a laughing stock. And that actually just helped in the end for undecided voters and his supporters to basically rule for the underdog. There is nothing more popular with Americans than the good old “underdog succeeds” story lines. And that simply happened with Trump. They did not care about him being super rich, not paying taxes. Grabbing women by the pussy.

    And that is what makes it even more difficult for many people to actually understand why he won. Racist. Sexist. How? Why?
    Because he said what lots of people thought.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/angela-merkel-germany-donald-trump-us-election-warning_uk_582313c5e4b020461a1e8713
    And this is so far the best statement I read from any country leader…

    In the end we really entered the Age of Populism. And we will see how that goes down in France in a few months and in Germany in September then. Too many right wingers and people are tired. And tired people tend to use their middle fingers and this is often used by right wing parties and they thrive from fear and anger. πŸ™ I do not want my home country being ruled by AfD. They are dangerous. Sometimes I feel that no one in this world actually learned from what happened in Germany 83 years ago. Seriously. No one. Not even us Germans.

    • I liked Merkel’s response. That was classy. And I reckon there’s steel behind it, too. If I was Turnbull (which, obviously, I’m not. Because if I was, the first thing I’d do is put through the same-sex marriage legislation. How else am I supposed to marry Jordan Bruno and help him on his road to nation-wide culinary success?), I’d be saying the exact same thing. “We look forward to working with him in the future, but …”

      The thing that strikes me about racism, that I think a lot of people can forget?

      This is nothing new. The Romans were having trouble integrating other cultures and peoples into the Roman Empire, and that was 2000 years ago. If there was an easy fix to that problem, someone would’ve figured it out by now. It’s an unfortunate fact of human nature that people are more comfortable around people who act and think like them. Fear of the unknown is a very deep part of the collective human consciousness, and I really don’t think there’s an easy way around that. But for all this, “evil white lower-class American” or “evil white Australia”, these problems are very human ones. The Middle East was a hotbed of chaos and death long before America needed oil, you know?

    • Well said, Zhee. Gosh, if we were all world leaders, solving all these problems would be easy. (LOL)

      Just one comment. I think that the Democrats had some good reasons for pushing Hillary – she certainly had the experience needed for the job, and they could reasonably assume that as soon as there was a half-way acceptable woman nominated then all the women would vote for her, just to get a woman president. Maybe there was some ageism (yet another ism!) there against Bernie Sanders.

      So, in contrast, their mistakes were;-
      1. ignoring the avalanche of bad publicity Hillary had attracted over a long time.
      2. assuming that women will vote for a person with the same reproductive apparatus, regardless of how they perceive that person. It should be a great achievement for feminism, that women felt quite comfortable with judging Hillary on her merits rather than her gender.
      3. assuming that the qualities that politically-engaged people value, like experience and economic management, are the qualities that ordinary people value.
      4. not realising that by ridiculing Trump, they were sending a message to his supporters that their views were also ridiculous.

      Looks like it is not just the Republicans who will need to take a hard look at their campaign strategies.

      • “2. assuming that women will vote for a person with the same reproductive apparatus, regardless of how they perceive that person. It should be a great achievement for feminism, that women felt quite comfortable with judging Hillary on her merits rather than her gender.”

        That is true. It’s just a shame who the alternative was … πŸ˜‰

        I still find it quite shocking, though. Obviously the plan was to have Hillary appeal to female voters, but less than half of white women actually voted for her. It’s like, how could they have not realised how divisive Hillary was, if her numbers were actually that bad?

        • I know it is especially unpopular to say in Europe, but I like Merkel and her approach regarding the refugee situation. Europe simply had the means to help, so we have to do it. Problem was that other European countries did not want to help in the same amount as Germany did. If the EU would have worked together properly there would not have been a term like “refugee crisis” being needed. After all, we are humans. We should do humanitarian deeds.
          Merkel is well-spoken and very intelligent and even though I despise her political party, she currently does the right thing. And thinking about the fact that a MINORITY in Germany wants her gone, is sickening. It is sickening because of the way they are trying to get rid of her. Because they use hatred and anger and fear to remove her. They are loud, they get a lot more attention than the MAJORITY of the Germans who stand behind her politics and decisions.

          I know it sounds pessimistic, but history has a tendency to repeat itself. If you go through the documented events, every now and then, humanity starts to devour itself in destruction. It feels like we are on the verge of this again. There are so many aggressors and so many wanna-be aggressors. I am worried by the political developments in Turkey. Erdogan worked towards abandoning the democracy in his country and is a full on dictator now. So has been Putin for years now.

          I just hope my fellow Germans will not raise their middle finger to the establishment and vote against AfD (this is only a small part why they are so fucking dangerous: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/03/the-new-star-of-germanys-far-right). I also hope that my French friends here won’t raise the middle finger and vote for Le Pen. She is a racist, her father is even worse.

          It could be avoided if politicians would finally start listening to the fears the people have. They don’t. And that is where all of those problems started. In the US, in France, in Germany, the Netherlands,…
          Ignoring your people is the worst you can do. That’s why populists often succeed. They pretend to listen, they pick on the big topics and make use of that fear People are rather simple, they want to feel safe. They want a job that pays for the roof over their heads, they want to raise their children. Hillary did not listen. And it cost her everything she had and was going for. This election in the US only repeated the Brexit. It starts already with us. Most of us might count into the educated class. And many of us already forgot about the people who do not have the same education level. Or who simply are not interested to maybe look beyond the rim of their plates. And the more we forget about them and ridicule the politician who actually recognizes the potential in those people, the more we push them over that rim – but into the wrong direction. Then things like Brexit work perfectly fine and we, the educated ones, are shocked that actually Trump and Brexit indeed happened.
          I just can hope we start listening more. All of us. That is basically the only way to prevent worse things from happening.

    • I just read up about their process and I do agree, it is odd and should be fixed.

      The US needs some massive changes in healthcare and education which are areas I will always lean left on. Who doesn’t benefit from these? It is bad what is currently starting to happen here in these areas too and reasons why I am not a Liberal (right) supporter but again we don’t have much option either.

      I think the continuous comments about liberals (left) being the “educated” ones does them no favours and is insulting. I don’t consider myself liberal but am by no means uneducated. I understand where the generalisation comes from with the working class who did not attend college/uni etc.

      I think we are in a time of the extreme left and right growing. For myself, both sides are getting further and further away from me that I feel like there must be more out there like myself that struggle to identify with either side. I believe there is danger on both sides and long for a time, if it comes, where there can be a move toward a middle ground. It is definitely scary that the rebellion to the left is pushing things too far right and no, we don’t need the horrendous attitudes of the past repeating but I also think the left needs to listen more to the middle man and be more accepting of views that may not totally line up with theirs, before they start labeling them.

      • So true, Eliza, I agree that the extremes are becoming more extreme. And like you, I tend to straddle both ideologies, being “liberal” on some issues and “conservative” on others.

        I had a good friend whose father was a long-term and well-loved Member of Parliament. The thing I learned from him is that there are good people entering (and in) politics, who do want to bring the extremes together, and work hard for the middle ground. Unfortunately, those very traits keep them down in the pecking-order. Because of their compassion, humanity and reason, they are trodden on by the ambitious and ruthless, who are the ones we end up seeing most of, in the media. It is sad.

  23. Dear Zhee, A wall of text is forgiven when discussing sensitive topics. It’s too easy in a sound bite to offend, particularly when context is often required to understand someone else’s point of view.

  24. I swing between being an anarchist and pedantic law abiding. The older I get, the more I wonder at why large groups of people allow a small group of people control them. So whereas I always park legally and don’t throw litter, I would prefer to make the bigger decisions for myself and not have anyy Big Brother telling me what I can do or what to think.

  25. Good news, people. I am moving into the acceptance phase of my grief.
    At least in this whole mess, Hilary’s gender played only a very tiny, minor role. I wonder if that’s showing that America has come a long way in some issues or whether it was just irrelevant. I actually hope the latter.
    Perhaps the next step will be to acknowledge gender as a positive thing, rather than pretending it is something non-existent. The next woman running could learn a lot from Iceland.
    https://www.ted.com/talks/halla_tomasdottir_it_s_time_for_women_to_run_for_office

    • Nooooo. Oh no. I am so sad.
      In reversal mode. Moving back from acceptance to denial over the direction of the world. My favourite singer/songwriter evha.

    • 2016 claims another victim.

      Let’s just cancel 2016 and move straight on into 2017, at least for the sake of our seriously-endangered celebrities.

  26. Biggest hailstorm of all time in Adelade. Raining golf balls of ice. They hurt like buggery.

    Terrifying. Still happening. Deafening.

    • Seen nothing like this, Sandii.

      It was warm and sunny most of the day and half an hour ago it all turned to …

      It’s just stopped. Plenty of thunder and lightning, too. Iggy’s hiding. Sounds like machine gun fire on a galv roof.

      My garden survived it. I can’t believe it.

  27. Weird here, gone a bit cooler with some clouds. Got message from daughter working in Waymouth street, said she could hear the hail through the roof. She is on the third floor of a five story building. Said it was incredible. BOM site shows it heading here. Thanks for the warning!

    • Yes, Sandii, we all rushed to the window to look at the poor suckers caught in it. The hail was literally golf ball size. And my ceiling flooded again boohoo but not as badly as last time.

    • A jacket helps sometimes with some dogs. Iggy finds a cave under the tv and sweats it out. Holding him makes it worse.

  28. And here’s why we should keep compulsory voting.
    And thats my last word on the subject. That’s my political promise.

    • It’s okay. The media will run with this for days yet, it’s on 24 all the time with The Drum, Insiders etc. The analysts got it all wrong predicting the outcome and now are drowning viewers with post mortems.

      How many more times will I see the nauseating footage of Pauline Hanson necking the champers and riding Trump’s coat tails, hailing this a “revolution”?

    • If social media is any indictation, this will keep going for weeks.

      But anyway, you’re right.

      Of all those people who didn’t vote (which is slightly less than half the population, for crying out), how many of them are the ones protesting loudly, right now? Idiots. If you willingly choose to have no say in the process, you have zero right to complain about the outcome. I take voting very seriously, I always have. I actually enjoy it. We don’t get to do it that often, and a lot of people around the world don’t get the option at all.

      I don’t mind people talking about politics here, it’s just my FB newsfeed is a never-ending stream of really vicious and angry vitriol. I understand that my American friends have a plenty to actually be angry about at the moment, sure, it’s just a lot to be bombarded with, you know?

      • Here, here! If you don’t have your say, then don’t complain. I can’t believe so many don’t vote! It’s beyond me, too. So true, those of us who are able to vote shouldn’t take it for granted. I do wonder if it was all the certainty that Hillary would win that maybe people decided not to bother? Now they are in shock. I had a feeling that Hillary supporters/middle grounders may just choose to not bother but they had to know, surely, that the Trump supporters would be sure to get their votes in.

      • Compulsory voting is so so important to ensuring an election is as corruption-free as possible. There is just way too much temptation to bribe people to get to the booth.

        Going to a craft day today. We’ve made a rule that anyone who mentions the election has to make coffee for everyone. Suspect that I might be the tea lady for the day!

    • Well, if that’s your political promise, Bob, it can be broken many times.

      Have a look at the photo of Obama and Trump after their meeting at the White House. In a week without many laughs, seeing that made me burst out laughing. They’re shaking hands, both have pursed lips. Trump is not making eye contact, and Obama, usually the most gracious of men, able to hide his feelings when necessary, is looking at Trump as though he is something nasty Barack found on his shoe.

      Thank you, Mr. President, for giving me a lighthearted moment in an otherwise crappy week.

        • How could he? Knowing that all he fought for will be gone within a year or so? Republicans have the Senate and Congress and always the majority.
          One can really only hope that the Democrats learn from it and change their approach and realize they HAVE to listen to their people. Even the little hillbilly living in a trailer park. They all have a voice. Some of them showed the middle finger and voted for Trump. Most of them most likely didn’t even bother to vote… Not voting is a lost voice and benefits those who pose threats to democracy.

        • He is such a role model for all leaders. Gracious in every situation, and always says the right thing. IMO, the best president in living memory.

    • It has always been around 50% of the people who vote.

      Also even if it is compulsory voting, doesnt mean you get a valid vote. It could be spoilt votes.

      Agree that if people didnt bother to vote, they have no right to complain. Wonder how many of those protesters actually voted

    • Some candidates are missing from that list, Bob. Jill Stein was running as the green party. Johnson, libertarian. There are states with additional candidates: workers’ world, constitutional party, independent and more.
      The sad fact, though, is that almost 50% of registered voters did not vote. I’m guessing that people just didn’t feel that they could vote for either of the candidates so they just stayed home.

      • In my opinion, not voting is the same as voting for who ever gets in.
        Like, if I ask someone what they would like for dinner, and they say, you pick. Then they are actually saying, I support and will enjoy anything you choose because I trust your taste.
        And many a fight has been had and won over that very point.

        • Not voting is irresponsible and lazy. Don’t like any of the candidates…then find something good about one of them and vote or write somebody in because that option is available. These people will probably complain and they have no right to do that since they didn’t exercise their right to vote.

  29. On a cheerier note, I couldn’t resist these vintage silk chiffons from 3Ciana. I will save them for my grand daughters.

  30. I watched Poldark last night and quite enjoyed it. I am enjoying Jamaica Inn too, although I think I guessed early in ep 2 who the top bad guy is. We’ll see.

    • I’ve still got these to watch. I don’t get the tv/pvr until master 17 has watched the NFL. And considering this is the episode with the “incident” I want to be able to concentrate on it without interruption. I’m enjoying the sense of anticipation, though.

      • I am very curious now about the incident and will try and watch the episodes of Poldark that I have missed.
        I saw “Arrival”. It was interesting. A cerebral sci-fi rather than an action shoot ’em up one. Some of it, though, was convoluted. I overheard one of the women sitting next to me tell her friend that she didn’t understand what was going on. I understood it but wasn’t impressed by it. I’m still waiting for a great new sci-fi movie.

        • Smythe, the incident was “No. No”, for about 2 seconds, then “Yes. Yes. Yes”. Remember the old song, “Your lips tell me no no, but there’s yes, yes in your eyes”? Didn’t those old stories usually invove a dark, handsome character who took his woman, and she liked it.
          I guess the best way to send a very clear “no” message is to put your hair in curlers, eat a vegemite sandwich so your breath stinks, grow a moustache, and say, “Be careful of my herpes down there”.

        • Thanks on The Arrival. I was in two minds about seeing it but will now give it a miss.
          There are lots of movies on at the moment (what with the Italian, British and German FF) and I’d rather not waste my time on something so-so.

          • Mr Juz saw Arrival and thought it was ok but not brilliant (not enough aliens for his taste, apparently).

          • Bob, you might enjoy Arrival. It isn’t an action packed sci-fi but a cerebral one. Enjoyable but not one of the best sci-fi films I have ever seen. Parts of the film needed a bit more information. However, it’s one of those that when you leave the theatre you want to discuss it. If you are looking for an action packed shoot em up sci fi this isn’t it but if you are looking for more of a thought provoking sci fi this might fit the bill.

            BTW, if you have any movie recommendations (foreign or not) would appreciate that.

          • Thanks. I might give it a go. I remember Liviathan, one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen but it stays with me to this day. I highly recommend it if you can handle it.
            If you like your weather cold and your body count high, you could try In Order of Disappearance on SBS.
            At the opposite end of the spectrum, Golden Years was good. Nothing cerebral about either of these but both are fun.
            The Italian FF was disappointing this year.

          • Thanks Bob. I’ll check out the movies you listed.
            I’m hoping to go see “Fantastic Beasts” this weekend.

          • Smythe, let us know how Fantastic Beasts goes!

            Bob, I quite liked Dr Strange but I do love Marvel movies so I think you’d need to like the “formula” to enjoy it. I think it could have gone weirder and longer with a bit more story added in here and there. Some of the visuals were really cool but it didn’t hold up as much for me as many others on the second viewing but I do recommend on the big screen! Benedict Cumberbatch is good.

          • I saw Dr. Strange, too. Wonder how it is in 3D. I thought it was a fun movie. Better than some of the Marvel movies that have been released recently, IMHO.

          • I saw it in 3D, Smythe because I figured if there’s a movie to see in 3D it’s this one! The scene that was the best, of course, was the big fight with the whole city shape shifting so I don’t regret the 3D like some movies! The rest of the movie I don’t think the 3D made a difference.

            Agree, it was fun. I wished it was a tad longer! It’s not in my top 5 though. I’d maybe rank it around 8th favourite.

    • Thanks, Dave. I do love his music. πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’– It was at a great time in my life when I first was introduced to Leon Russel; high school.

    • I’m of two minds about Doctor Strange. I liked it, and I really liked the humour (and Tilda Swanton is love), but I thought it was pretty average. Nothing really grabbed me about it, it was entertaining way to kill a couple of hours, but there wasn’t much else to it. To be fair, it had a hard job coming out immediately after “Civil War” (which I thought was amazing), but I didn’t completely love it.

      I am looking forward to the new Harry Potter movie that doesn’t actually have Harry Potter in it. I’d organised to go with some friends on Friday, but I’m in kind of one of those, “I’d rather just be by myself” moods at the moment.

      • Oh I posted about this above. I agree with you about Doctor Strange. I’m a big Marvel movies fan and as much as I enjoyed the cinema experience seeing it and the cool visuals, I agree that it was a little average at the end of the day. I was hoping it would be weirder. I watched it a second time and it just doesn’t hold up as well as the CA movies or Guardians or Avengers 1 or Iron Man 1 or even Thor and Ant-Man for that matter. I am excited to see Doctor Strange as part of the Avengers though! I loved Ant-Man in Civil War, such a fun addition. I am hoping my expectations for Guardians 2 isn’t too high.. it makes me nervous hahahaha

        • I really felt like, for Doctor Strange, the visual effects just got out-of-control. Y’know, when the special effects department took priority over the actual story, I think that’s a bad thing. All that stuff about the mirror dimension (that magic users can twist and warp)? There was no real point to any of that, it was just there to show off the SFX budget. The sequence with Strange running through NYC as it twisted and buckled around him … it was so hard to care about (or even notice) the protagonists because all these crazy visuals were on the screen. It just felt, to me, like too much focus was on using CGI to tell the story, as opposed to the actual narrative.

          As said, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t as good as I would’ve liked.

          • Yeahhh I kinda know what you mean. I liked the effects but yes, definitely, the story could have been stronger and I think that is why, when I watched it again, it didn’t compare to the others like Winter Soldier, Avengers and Guardians, which I can watch 20 times. Like they thought if it looked good enough, they could get away with not so much story. Sure, we got through his “origin story” but we *got through it* rather than being engrossed in it.

            I always say how I would improve a movie and for me, I think that AGAIN they were missing more depth to the antagonist. He’s better than that stupid dark elf Malakeith or however you spell it but no “baddie” ever compares to Loki in depth for obvious reasons but they could improve them more so you actually feel like there is a threat, not just “oohh no here is another disgruntled guy to take down”. Anyway, I felt like it could have started out with more about Kaecilius, they told us why, how etc he was doing what he was doing but I prefer to also see if the time permits and it did, in my opinion. There also seemed to be a jump in the part where Wong was telling Strange how he’d have to fight blah blah then all of a sudden LONDON HAS FALLEN! I don’t know, but I felt there was a weird jump there, could just be me. I agree, I walked out happy but wanting more which is good in one way, bad in another. Again, I think he’ll be a really interesting addition to the bigger story. I also can’t wait for the Black Panther movie. I hope they take a more serious tone with that too like my favourite, Winter Soldier.

            Anyway, I could ramble all day.. better get back to stuff.

          • No, the Black Panther movie is the one I’m *really* hanging out for, I think that’s gonna be brilliant.

            I’m not sure what else is coming out next year. Thor 3? Spider-Man?

          • I think so too. The character really impressed me in CW.

            Guardians 2 early in the year then Spider-Man Homecoming mid year and Thor 3 at the end of the year.

  31. Did anyone watch that Cheap Weddings show tonight? One couple had a Battlestar Galactica themed wedding on a paddle steamer. I was disappointed the bride still wore a traditional gown and not a Starbuck black tank top and khaki pants. The narrator kept making Stark Trek puns in the voice over – not cool!

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