BSR

The priest's 10 inches is a gift from the divine and should never be put to waste. He should get some special exemption from his vow of chastity, like a papal indulgence or something.

What I've heard from my fellow Catholics is that priests, even ones not nearly as attractive as Padre Heriberto, often have to deal with parishioners who are attracted to them because they see the priest as kind, understanding, and good. Looking like he does, Padre Heriberto must have to beat them off with a stick, or something.

With just 1 week before Wimbledon starts, the only 2 withdrawals on the men's side (don't follow the women as closely) are Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, both injury-related. Zverev wrecked his ankle at Roland Garros, and Domi's wrist still isn't right, poor guy. On the women's side, the most notable name in the draw is 7-time champion Serena, who hasn't played since she withdrew from Wimbledon last year due to injury. Also, despite Rafa's chronic foot injury, he is planning to play. If you're halfway to the calendar year Grand Slam and your archrival in the Slam race is playing Wimbledon, you're going to play even if you need to be wheeled onto Centre Court. I haven't read anything about sponsors pulling out, but Wimbledon did increase prize money significantly, 15% more than last year and 6.2% more than 2019, the previous record-high year. That's a good sign that sponsors stayed put.

I always read the IMDB user reviews before starting a series, and the ones for The Kingdom were interesting. Viewers seemed to either love it or hate it, depending on whether or not they liked the series' condemnation of evangelicals. I loved the series, but didn't see it that way. Instead, I saw it as a study in how power and money corrupts. The pastor loses his soul as he stashes vaults of cash in the temple walls and lusts for the power of the presidency while his disciple, the dirt-poor Tadeo, lives a true and pure life. Controversy aside, the series is brilliant. An evangelical pastor drawn to politics is thrust into the spotlight when his running mate (for president, the pastor for VP) is murdered. It turns out to be a mistake since it's soon discovered that the assassin had intended to kill the pastor. The series exposes the sordid underbelly of the church and the equally sordid backroom deals of politicians as we learn why the pastor was targeted. The whole cast is good, but two performances really stand out. Chino Darín plays the pastor's son-in-law and right-hand man. It's a complicated role (can't say more than that, don't want to give away spoilers) in which Darín really shines. I was pleasantly surprised since he was totally wooden and awful in a series I saw him in 6 years ago (The Embassy). Maybe Chino decided to buckle down & hone his craft instead of living off his father's name (dad's a very famous actor). Even better was Diego Peretti, who plays the pastor. The cash hidden in the temple walls is just the tip of the iceberg of this guy's wrongdoing, yet he preaches the gospel as if he were living and breathing every word. In other words, yeah, the pastor's a nutjob. But to be able to play the role without sinking into parody or caricature is a helluva feat. The Kingdom isn't easy to watch. It presents a very dark and cynical view of human nature. If you're looking for something fun, skip this one. If you're in the mood for romance or comedy, run away as fast as you can. But if you know what to expect, the series is well-done and well worth watching.

Crapfest! I got all excited when I found Merli (the original series, not Sapere Aude) on RTVE, Spain's public TV channel, all 3 seasons available via the Internet. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered they had no subtitles or dubbing! The RTVE app has an icon for subtitles, but when the menu pops up, it's blank. So the series is available, but only in its original Catalan *grumblegrumble*

Valeria is supposedly a Spanish version of Sex and the City (just what I read, can't say since I've never seen SATC), with Valeria instead of Carrie and Madrid instead of NYC. Since expectations have a big impact on how much you end up liking something, I'm glad I read some IMDB reviews of the series beforehand. Yeesh, as user reviews warned, the protagonist is insufferably self-absorbed at times and insufferably angst-ridden all the time. That's the big annoyance. Minor ones as well: Valeria and her friends are always broke yet manage to live in big, beautiful apartments in Central Madrid, dress fabulously in new, smart outfits every episode, and go out for drinks, sushi, etc. every night. I had no idea being poor was so easy. That's the bad. The good is that all the other characters are terrific: interesting, funny, likable, and lovable. The male protagonist is played by the impossibly beautiful Maxi Iglesias, whose green eyes alone make the series worth watching. As a bonus, he took his clothes off almost as much as he did playing a male stripper in Toy Boy. The acting is all-around top-notch, much better than you'd expect from a fluffy series. And they shoot Madrid in a way that makes you want to move there forever. So far, 2 seasons of 8 40-minute episodes are available on Netflix. Valeria is definitely worth a binge. I'm looking forward to the 3rd and final season.

The trailer is pretty damn funny. Crossing my fingers that the movie lives up to its promise.

Spain's King Juan Carlos abdicated because of scandal, not health reasons. In 2012 he took an over-the-top elephant hunting trip to Botswana which cost twice what the average Spaniard made in a year. After getting injured, he had to fly back to Spain via private jet. The lavishness of the trip offended Spaniards who were still mired in the depths of the financial crash. Spaniards were even more offended when the King was caught awarding his son-in-law graft-laden contracts that fleeced the Spanish taxpayers for €50-100 million. The son-in-law went to prison. The King was spared that humiliation but abdicated and went into exile.

I dont know if lane-splitting is legal in neighboring Nevada or if the police just let it go, but lane-splitters are rampant here in Las Vegas. It makes my heart skip a beat or several whenever a motorcyclist flies past me between lanes. I really wish it were illegal everywhere.

Yikes! That sounds scary. When you say "truck," do you mean a pickup, or ...

Gawd, how I hate virtue-signaling. FIFA signaled its virtue by sanctioning the Mexican team for its fans' homophobic taunts yet knowingly, willingly, and all too gladly gave the World Cup to a country where being gay is a crime. I can only imagine the mountain of cash that Qatar paid FIFA to ignore the nation's profound homophobia. Don't pretend to care about LGBT rights when the only thing you really care about is money. Dozens of Qatari hotels are refusing to admit LGBT guests or are telling them to avoid looking or acting gay. Did FIFA honestly think sh*t like this wouldn't happen? What else do you expect from a country that makes homosexuality a crime?! I dont know if it's possible to strip Qatar of the World Cup and relocate it to another country. Logistically I doubt it's a problem (World Cup starts Nov 21). A number of European countries have the facilities and hotel capacity to stage the mega-event, plus would burst with joy at the chance to do so. The hitch is that FIFA would have to forfeit the container ship of cash Qatar gave them. If forced to choose between money and LGBT rights, the virtue-signallers in FIFA would take maybe a nanosecond to decide.

Some heavy-duty pickups have an option of a 30-gallon tank. Bad enough when gas was $2.50. $170.88 to fill up? Yikes!!

High Seas came out with a third season, although much shorter than the first 2, just 6 40-minute episodes. Without a doubt, Season 3 starts with the stupidest premise in the history of TV, exponentially stupider than the Evil Twin: the bad guy (gal, actually) has cosmetic surgery to look like the good gal, and kidnaps the good gal so she can carry out the evil master plan. The surgery is so good even her own sister falls for it (yeah, right). And whaddya know, after just a couple of attempts, she manages to nail down the kidnapped good gal's voice (again, yeah right). OK, once you get past the preposterous premise, it isn't bad. Typical scheming villains trying to carry out their dastardly plot while the heroes save the world, or at least the ocean liner. The first 2 seasons of High Seas were a lot better, but the 3rd was entertaining enough. The show gets docked a star for having a super-handsome lead with a great body but never takes even his shirt off. Come on this is Netflix, not the Royal Shakespeare Company. Whatever pretense you come up with for getting the guy's clothes off will be nothing compared to the cosmetic-surgery silliness.

I can't believe Tommy Paul is already 25. It feels like just yesterday (2015) that he won the Roland Garros boys title.

Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud

Ugh, I picked 2 duds in a row. I chose a Netflix miniseries Someone Has To Die mostly for Carmen Maura, long time muse of director Pedro Almodóvar. It's called a miniseries, but it's really just a 2h15m movie divided up in 3 parts. The principal theme is the repression of Franco's dictatorship in 1950s Spain, particularly hard for the gay son of a wealthy Spanish family. The movie was filled with ugly characters doing ugly things to each other, which made for a thoroughly unpleasant viewing experience. Skip past this one.

What is it about Rafa and Roland Garros? He had poor preparation and a foot injury in the lead--up to RG, yet he comes up with some elite tennis to beat an in-form Novak. The semifinal is no cakewalk either since Zverev is playing well. If Rafa makes it to the final, it should be Slam #22, even with Marin Cilic playing like it's 2014 all over again.

I watched Ingobernable on Netflix (28 40-minute episodes). Great premise: the First Lady of Mexico is about to divorce her husband. On the night she's about to leave, they fight, she's knocked unconscious, the president is murdered, and she's framed for the crime. Unfortunately, too many plot twists and turns, some preposterous shootouts, and some really bad acting (the daughter was the worst) manage to ruin a great start. Worst of all, they ended Season 2 with a helluva cliffhanger, but since the series wasn't renewed for Season 3, you're left hanging. With so much else to watch on Netflix, don't bother with this one.

I don't think that's petty. Far from it, I think the phone-fixated person is quite rude. If he warns me ahead of time that his boss or a client might call and he has to take the call, a scenario like that, of course I'll understand. But if his phone is so much more interesting than I am, I'll do him a favor and never bore him again.

You could bring a really powerful flashlight with you to Thermas, but that might kill the mood.

Nope, I've never been a straight guy.

"Cocky" has only 5 letters. "C**cky" has 6. Yikes, I hope he wasn't implying the escort was ...

I was pre-teen, but Sam Elliott in "Lifeguard." All the boys in my grade school were abuzz over the girl in the green bikini, but I only had eyes for the beary hairy lifeguard.