BSR

I did the Red Lobster AYCE shrimp recently. It was $27, you have your choice of 6 preparations, 3 at first, more if you ask. The best by far was the crispy dragon shrimp, deep fried shrimp with Thai sweet chili sauce. The regular fried shrimp was good too. The other choices -- skewer, scampi, alfredo, coconut -- were meh. It was worth doing, once at least. Although the location I went to had a lobster tank (with just 3 lonely lobsters in it), pretty sure it's just for show because Red Lobster serves only previously cooked, then frozen & reheated lobster tails. But like @pubic_assistance said, the shrimp is just fine.

Perhaps not your intention, but like so many of your posts, that's how it reads ... just a little constructive criticism.

Are you aware you can write posts without so much nasty sarcasm? 🤡

Thanks for the news about Matthew Perry's cause of death. Since I don't keep up much with pop culture news, I probably would have missed it otherwise. I started watching Friends only because my best friend at work was into it. I usually stay away from comedies because something about most sitcoms doesn't click with me. But I'm glad I succumbed to "peer pressure" and got into the series because it gave me a lotta belly laughs. While we don't know the details of his will, those close to Perry say that he left a good amount to his foundation to help those with addictions. I hope that is indeed the case since he was genuinely so devoted to the cause during his life.

You missed the point of my post. I had no intention of starting a political discussion on immigration. I was making a broader statement about how residents of failing cities treat their fellow Americans like shit. When you defecate all over someone, like calling someone a racist simply because they disagree with you, don't expect hearts and flowers in return.

I'd like to know the consequences of this disaster. Even if no one was seriously hurt (no small miracle), I hope the city slaps the building owner with a substantial fine. I wonder where the tenants will go. It wasn't exactly a posh building. Finding a new place within their budgets will likely be a challenge.

I would phrase it differently. I think it's more that many Americans want big cities to deal with the consequences of their bad policies, for example, the millions of New Yorkers who (indirectly at least) voted in favor of open borders but are now angry that the city budget (especially in critical areas like police and education) is being slashed and native New Yorkers are being forced to make painful sacrifices because the city has had to divert so much $$ to care for migrants. When Texas and other border states said they were suffering from all the illegal immigration, sanctuary cities like NYC and Chicago didn't give a rat's ass. Pardon the schadenfreude now that NYCers & Chicagoans are suffering due to the policies they voted for. And as I mentioned before, residents of "enlightened" cities branded anyone who disagreed with their policies as racist. Now that these so-called enlightened policies have turned these cities into shitholes, don't expect any sympathy from those you wrongly smeared.

I don't what qualifies the Tunisian Culture Minister for having the final say on the issue. But I do know she is negotiating with Netflix for some of the shooting to be done in Tunisia. Politics, don'tcha know.

In 2019, 74% of students at Stuyvesant (NYC's top selective high school) were Asian, 53% were from low-income families. Maybe Stuyvesant parents won't achieve the American dream, but their kids will, even if they're growing up poor. Sure, it sucks to be low-income, even more so in a relentlessly expensive city like New York. But working a menial, low-paying job & living in a tiny sh*thole can be bearable if you see that your kids have a future. I couldn't find a statistic on how many Stuyvesant students grow up in 2-parent households. My guess is that it's far higher than the national & NYC averages simply because Asian-Americans have by far the lowest rate of out-of-wedlock births. If you grow up in a strong, stable household and have access to decent schools, the American dream is yours for the taking. Unfortunately, millions of kids nowadays grow up without either/or.

His Insta post gives off strong Kardashian vibes. Didn't one of the Kardashians fly her private jet somewhere nearby even though it would have been quicker to drive? Almost like deliberately wasting money was her way of showing off just how much money she had. This guy isn't quite that profligate, but he is squandering $thousands a month. Maybe that makes him supercool with other 20-somethings, inspiring envy, respect, and admiration while we uncool oldsters either worry about the kid or roll our eyes.

BBC's Strictly Come Dancing has a male-male pair that sparked some controversy, not because it's 2 men but because the celebrity is a trained dancer, albeit not in ballroom. Much of the show's appeal is seeing a nondancer's evolution from klutz to dance floor star. Anyway, forget the drama and enjoy this tango. It's fantastic!

That's what I don't understand about all this sis-boom-bah over inflation coming down. Sure, it's nice that prices have stopped rising (more or less), but everything at the supermarket is still a LOT more expensive than it was 2 years ago.

Did you arrive at that conclusion by means of one of those super-sciencey "studies" you're so fond of? Cite another one, pal.

Proud owner of a 2017 Toyota RAV. What does that say about me, Dr. Freud?

"Researchers ultimately theorized that the desire to own a pricey ride is linked to lower self-esteem." The study you cite is laughably unscientific. It proves nothing (note "theorized"). It certainly doesn't prove that men who own flashy cars have small penises, only that men who were misled to believe they were smaller than average showed a desire to buy a high-performance sports car. It's a helluva stretch between a momentary reaction or impulse to actually forking over six figures of your hard-earned money for a fast ride. In any case, even if the study's finding were accurate (debatable), it is at best a generalization, yet one that you leap to embrace. What other generalizations do you buy into: blacks have ________, Muslims are ________, immigrants do ________? Yikes! I can't imagine. You (rather desperately) believe a generalization, then back it up with pseudoscience, because you have some deep-seated hatred for men who own flashy cars. I'm not saying you seethe with this hatred nor that it consumes you, but a little hatred, yes. Just as you hate (on some level) people who are armed and (for some bizarre reason) Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos. Again, live and let live. Diversity and tolerance are a two-way street.

If you compare Johnsons' prices to other NYE celebrations, they're not that bad. Places charge insane amounts because they know plenty of people are willing to fork it over. If you saw what some cheese-fests are charging here in Las Vegas, you'd blanch.

* * * * * * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * * * * * * Birds of a feather, by that I'm referring to Pietro's wife Giulia, when she tells Pietro to go after Enea. All her life, she wanted Pietro to look at her the way Pietro looked at Enea during the dinner party. When she tells him to go, it is her act of love for Pietro, the husband who could never love her, at least not the way she wanted. No anger, no bitterness, no woman-scorned nastiness, she tells Pietro to go because that's what he needs to do. The scene really touched me. I watched the entire film only once (so far), but I've watched the last few minutes a few times: from the end of the dinner party, when Enea explains why the two lovers in his movie never met up again, to the pizza date that never was. When I do rewatch the whole thing, I'll try to figure out the why Enea sees Titti's ghost. I have a theory, but I really need to watch it again to be sure.

You lost me here. I was referring to children trapped in failing schools. Millions of kids have no choice about their education. Because they live at a certain address (chosen by their parents), they have to attend a certain school, no matter how horrible that school is. What bad life choices are those children guilty of?

If all 7 of you got degrees, I have to think that you grew up in at least a decent school district despite your father's financial mismanagement. Before we start attacking all kids & all parents, we need to remember that millions of American kids are trapped in horrible schools and horrible school districts. 40% of Baltimore high schools had zero students testing proficient in math. There must be some hard-working students, some good parents in those schools, but some schools are so bad that there's no hope for their students. Even if those who graduate show initiative and decide to go to college, they will be years behind where they need to be. Unfortunately, students who need remedial courses end up dropping out of college at a rate 74% higher than academically prepared students. Saddled with student loans yet no degree, college dropouts are massively f***ed. Baltimore is hardly alone. Plenty of cities have nightmarishly bad schools whose students graduate woefully unprepared for college and life, if they graduate at all. Maybe some will become entrepreneurs. Maybe some will beat all the odds and manage to finish college. But kids who don't figure a way out don't need a tongue-lashing or a motivational speech about the American dream. I also believe that the American dream is alive and well. But I also acknowledge that some Americans are shut out, through no fault of their own.

Yeah, too bad the security guard wasn't armed. He'd still be alive today, regardless of what weapon his attacker wielded.

Neither my 2 grandmothers nor my mother would ever do something as selfish as what those climate protesters did.

Where is the outcry for knife control?

If the climate protester was offended by all the f-bombs, tough sh*t. But if the Met patrons were offended by the salty language, then I agree -- the f-bombs were unnecessary. Did the protesters succeed in moving the needle on climate issues even 1 nanometer? No, of course not. In fact, this stunt probably hurt their cause. Unfortunately, they will never see that.

You are so easily triggered. Everything you dislike really sets you off: men who drive flashy cars, people who are armed, even this vapid photo shoot. I get passionate about a few issues, don't get me wrong. But a hissy fit over a Vogue photo shoot? Never. Hate less. Love more. You'll live longer.

A big thank you to @soloyo215 and all contributors to this thread because I made it a point to watch Nuovo Olimpo out of the countless items on my endless Netflix watch list thanks to all the enthusiastic recommendations here. I doubt I would have gotten around to it if I were left to my own devices. Wow, what a beautiful film: beautiful leads, beautiful Rome, and a beautiful (albeit bittersweet) ending. I started watching it a week ago but didn't get very far because I was so distracted by Enea & Pietro. Who da heck can read subtitles with such gorgeous men on screen?! With more focus and determination this time, I got into the groove of the subtitles and immersed myself in the tale, a simple story beautifully told.