BSR

Recently retired Janko Tipsarevic

I hadn't moved to Las Vegas yet, but my next door neighbor (who was working at the Mirage at the time) tells me no, they didn't close.

You are not alone. The hotel/casinos on the Las Vegas Strip have never closed, until now. I haven't been there but have seen video: the normal bumper-to-bumper traffic and throngs of tourists on the sidewalks have disappeared, not a single car & empty sidewalks now. When I see the images, I think the same thing: this feels like some dystopian science fiction.

The binging continues. In my initial post, I forgot about "High Seas." Not that it was forgettable; I liked it quite a bit. It's an old-school murder mystery set aboard an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic, like a Castillian Agatha Christie novel. Great sets & costumes, the Spanish have a flair for period dramas. I also raced through "Money Heist," a crime drama about a criminal gang that takes the Royal Mint of Spain by force, holding all the employees hostage so that they can print the money (€2.4 billion) & run. I understand why it's the most popular non-English language series on Netflix: intriguing characters, sophisticated plot lines, and nail-biting suspense. The show was so successful that Netflix extended it for another go-round. For their second act, the gang regroups to pull off another heist, to rob the gold stored in the Bank of Spain. Super-entertaining, it's my favorite of the series I've watched so far. I also saw a series I had previously never heard of, "Victim Number Eight," a crime drama about an alleged jihadist attack in Bilbao that leaves eight dead. The twist is that it wasn't a terrorist attack, but a murder made to look like one. It's a damn good storyline, enhanced by a smokin' hot actor playing the poor guy framed for the "terrorism." As a bonus, they have a scene in which the protagonist and his equally hot best friend are full-frontal naked, totally gratuitous nudity but I ain't complaining.

I'm not bothered by this idiot's behavior nearly as much as I am disturbed that his thousands of social media followers think this idiot is somehow cool, funny, or edgy.

Of those "young & healthy," how many have a history of smoking, cannabis, or vaping? It will take a while for all the facts to emerge from the chaos, but my bet is that many of those under 60 and without comorbidities will show a history of some behavior that caused lung damage.

It's very generous of Pornhub, but why did Pornhub have 50,000 surgical masks in the first place? PS: the article says that Pornhub Premium is free for the next 30 days, but I just checked & it looks like they're offering just a free week for now. [MEDIA=twitter]1242524175278968833[/MEDIA]

[MEDIA=twitter]1241344810486726660[/MEDIA]

Even though I live alone, I'm a die-hard Costco shopper. I've figured out how to make the bulk quantities work for me. My freezer is packed! Although I don't eat much bread or butter, both items freeze remarkably well. I eat huge servings of veggies as a part of my normal diet, so their bulk quantities of spinach, tomatoes, etc. are actually manageable for me. Sometimes I'll split purchases with a family member or friend. IMO, Costco's quality is notably superior to the supermarkets, and the price difference makes my jaw drop. For example, 4 pounds of butter at Costco is $9.98 whereas 1 pound at the local supermarket is $5.99! When I occasionally have to buy something at the regular supermarket, I get so bummed, LOL.

These Spanish uniforms are beyond sexy ...

A restaurant in Chicago has come up with a brilliant promotion: a free roll of toilet paper with every takeout or delivery order. Business is booming!

I watched Toy Boy in its original Spanish, but out of curiosity, I watched a couple of scenes with English dubbing. Eek! It was awful!! Rather, it was even more awful. I also watched some bits with English subtitles. As is so often the case, I thought the translations were a bit off. I assume the same translations were used for the dubbing dialogue. In any case, none of us are watching Toy Boy for the scripts & dialogue. The series' roaring success on Netflix seems to have caught the industry by surprise, but the good news for us guilty-pleasure fans is that renewal is looking more & more likely. The producers know what made the show something of a phenomenon: the beauty & glamour of Marbella, the cheesey-good dance numbers, and smokin' hot guys showing a lot of skin. Sh*t, I'm hoping for a second season just way too much *buriesheadinshame*

As a kid, I used to watch reruns of The Twilight Zone because I thought it was a cool show, which it was. I couldn't admit it at the time, but I was also drawn in by Rod Serling's hunkiness and ubersexy voice.

I go back & re-watch scenes of Omar & Ander because I just love the two actors, by far my favorite TV couple. I confess, I'm one of those idiots who screamed at the TV when they break up & one of them starts going out with another guy, "Nooooooo! you idiot! he's wrong for you!" as if these were real people or as if this fiction had anything to do with my life. But that's how wrapped up you get sometimes, even in a TV soap. I found a nice clip compilation of some Omander (the couple's handle on social media) scenes. The two actors really have a great chemistry.

I'm in the same boat. As much as I should love this show, I found it boring after a few episodes, just too repetitive.

I've read the same thing. One theory is that because vaping causes lung damage, albeit usually undetected because vapers are often young and otherwise healthy, vapers are far more likely to die if they catch the coronavirus. Since vaping is a relatively new phenomenon, we lack medical studies on its long-term effects. I'm convinced that vaping is not the safe alternative to cigarettes that people thought/hoped it would be.

Of course, stuff like toilet paper & canned goods will be consumed eventually even if it takes years. Some might never go through their garage full of hand sanitizer. But I have to think that people are over-buying perishable food as well, and much of it is just going to waste

With the mad rush on toilet paper, I have to think there are people who are storing a 2-year supply (at least) in their basement/garage/spare bedroom. Don't they feel an eensy bit silly hoarding that much TP?

I'm curious: did you watch it in Spanish no subtitles, in Spanish with subtitles, or dubbed into English? The framed stripper & his sugarmama were pretty awful as well, but yeah, the worst acting job of all was the lawyer. The same actress was also in Élite, a Netflix series I just finished binging, and she wasn't that bad. I think her lines were better written in Élite, which certainly helps.

With social distancing and all non-essential businesses shut down, I've been binge-watching like crazy, as are millions of other Americans. Since I signed up for Netflix, I've seen ... Toy Boy: I discussed this one in the other thread. Just awful, but I'll probably still watch Season 2 if they renew the series. Velvet Colección: the sequel to "Velvet," the greatest series of all time (imho), Spanish or English, at least the first two seasons. As much as I enjoyed seeing the old Velvet characters I know & love, the sequel falls miles short of the original. I did like the grand finale, however. The Cable Girls: the stories of 4 telephone operators, Madrid from 1928 to 1939. A great series, definitely worth watching. I raced through it and am on the edge of my seat waiting for Netflix to release the last 3 episodes. Élite: this one gets my biggest thumbs up. A murder mystery/drama set in a posh private high school in the Madrid outskirts. My big beef with the show, like so many teen dramas, is that the 20-something cast looks like they're in the 20s, not high school. But once you forgive them for that, the show is great soapy fun: cheesey-good melodrama, engaging characters, and a sexy cast not the least bit shy about showing skin. I loved the gay love story, Ander & Omar. Ander has a smokin' bod, and Omar's eyes just melt me. The actors have great chemistry, and you totally buy into them as a couple. I'm so glad they'll both be in Season 4. I doubt I'm the only one burning through Netflix. What series have you been binging? Any recommendations?

Unless you have as many kids as the Duggars, what on earth are you going to do with 5 gallons of milk?? It doesn't keep in the fridge for that long, and really, how much milk can you drink?

In Las Vegas, the Wynn and MGM casino hotels have all closed temporarily. No word yet on Caesars and other casinos on the Strip. The Strip casinos have never closed before, not for 9/11, the Great Recession, or any other reason. I don't think the Fremont Street casinos even closed for the World Wars (the Strip casinos were all built after WWII).

While Toy Boy's ratings during its broadcast run on Spain's Antena 3 were pretty weak, the series is enjoying a second life on Netflix. It's the number 9 most popular series on Netflix in the US, number 3 in Spain, and in the top 10 in many other countries. As awful as it was, I confess that I'm crossing my fingers for a Season 2. I just wanna see my sexy Germán as much as possible, wearing as little as possible.

I admire your perseverance. I made it as far as 0:18.

The difference between this new coronavirus and the annual flu is that the percentage of people infected who need immediate hospitalization and even ICU is much, much higher. Italy had just a couple of hundred cases two weeks ago, and now the entire Lombardy region's healthcare system has collapsed. Patients are being left in hallways or outright turned away because hospitals are beyond capacity. Doctors & nurses are working around the clock until they drop, sometimes literally. No, coronavirus is not an automatic death sentence. That kind of hysteria is not helpful. But it's not the annual flu either. It's more serious than that, and I fear our hospital system will soon be overwhelmed.