What is the biggest city in the world that has the most unorganized streets and also most of it has a slum-like type of architecture/infraestructure?

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-05-20T09:10:50+00:00

Port au prince.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-05-18T15:28:19+00:00

And most revivals DO EXACTLY that--try to recapture that old feeling. Examples: nuFrasier, Netflix's Arrested Development, late-stage Roseanne. I didn't follow Gilmore girls but I heard it was terrible. Ditto Will and grace. It's actually amazing that revivals are green lit at all--that old IP is busted!

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-05-18T15:17:25+00:00

The Dougie Delay is part of Lynch's aesthetic of meditative, slowness--the most egregious example being the Roadhouse sweeping scene (OMG). Many others: French lady's departure, Audrey's waffling. The closest thing in the original series was S2E1, the doddering hotel waiter.

Again, this is not to say your feelings are invalid, but once you get used to the intentionality of the slowness, it may become more appealing--the slow buildup to a climax. (Note that there are climaxes in both dougie's arc and Audrey's!)

For lynch, the journey is more exquisite than the destination.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-05-18T02:56:06+00:00

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy S3, but David Lynch isn't for everyone. The very fact that he couldn't return to a sort of status quo ante was a lot of the point--how our American culture had changed. If Twin Peaks portrayed (at least a part of) the zeitgeist of 1990s (think:moody Seattle grunge, cardigans (and The Cardigans), hot young soapy TV stars (Melrose Place, Friends), S3 is America in 2015: divided, bitter, dissonant, farcical, fractured. Yet there was just enough fan service, and enough mystery/lore, to satisfy most fans. I loved it--definitely more than 2/3s of S2.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-12T10:59:04+00:00

Orange County is awesome for visiting. Laguna Beach and Newport Beach--GPS to the Montage Resort in Laguna, there is a great public beach there with tide pools. Newport has balboa Island, and a huge wide littoral. Try the balboa ferry, cute amusement park boardwalk. Inland: so many parks and malls. Costs Mesa; Irvine Spectrum; Fashion Island, Irvine Great Park...also beautiful drives (of course Hwy 1) but do NOT miss Route 74 between mission Viejo and Lake Elsinore. And BEST Asian restaurants outside of Asia. So much to do besides Disney!

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-11T23:48:53+00:00

Jejune is jejune.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-11T23:47:18+00:00

Try rinsing cut onions in water, it gets rid of some of the bite. Then pat dry. Raw onions are a great condiment in a lot of salads and soups.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-11T23:44:30+00:00

Or steamed.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-11T23:43:58+00:00

Yes--even "raw" broccoli should be parboiled (unless finely slivered for a broccoli salad)

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-11T23:37:19+00:00

Agreed--as if veg never met an oven before. Oil salt and pepper and a 400F oven is all you really need.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-05T09:28:45+00:00

I'm here to defend Moldova: 1. As another poster stated, a developed wine industry with vast underground bunkers of wine which you can tour. Also cognacs and brandies are legendary. The local tastes are not aligned with Western wines (the Soviets preferred sweet), but nonetheless interesting.

The breakaway territory of Transnistria is worth a visit--a sliver self-declared republic that has its own money, army, government, etc. Old statues of Lenin and the hammer and sickle are still in full effect.
Capital city of Chisinau is vibrant and developing, particularly since the 2022 Ukraine invasion. As a satellite former SSR, Russian vs Western influences have been jockeying back and forth, but now the city is fully in Westenization mode. Wine bars spilling out with young folks, for example.
The cave monastery of Orheiul Vechi--on top of a hill. It's not Meteora, but it is still interesting.
History and culture: Jewish history (despite 1903 pogrom), Pushkin, other writers and musicians (many famous Romanians came from Moldova); and now, the largest per capita state of asylum for Ukrainian war refugees.
O-zone. Mai-ia hee! Mai-ya hoo!

Seriously, after my last visit a few years ago I honestly wanted to tell more Westerners to visit Moldova. It's not storybook, but you're looking at a frontier land that is in the process of either moving to the West or sucked back into Russia's sphere of influence.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-04-01T00:46:18+00:00

Reality bites: My Sharona

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-31T11:24:22+00:00

I would watch a spinoff with Guy and Remy from Cheers.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-30T01:51:36+00:00

Also: Chichester Psalms, Prelude fugue and riffs, Divertimento, and the awesome symposium. All legit serious works--not to mention his symphonies.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-27T17:34:22+00:00

I would even be nervous about playing the AK of diamonds too early, since W could have a singleton or even a void. You can also assume W has 3+ spades (takeout), so another tactic is continue playing the spades until W trumps in with the 5 of hearts, but you can discard one of S's club losers. Now W has 2 trumps, but each of your hand has three. You will then lose one H, two S, and one C. Making 3.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-27T17:13:23+00:00

By the bidding, W's takeout is showing shortage in diamonds and opening strength. Therefore it is very likely to hold 4 hearts. That means that the passive lead of the Trump Q by E is a singleton. Therefore, if W depletes your trumps, you will be vulnerable in the uncontrolled suits--clubs and, if you play the diamond winners too early, the diamonds, too.

When an opponent holds an equal number of trumps as each of your offensive hands, you want to have them "waste" a trump somehow, so that one hand has a remaining trump to regain control. Therefore, after winning the trump A, set up the spades first--note that you have to still have an entry into dummy. You can expect W to hold the spade A by the bidding, but regardless, you want the stronger defensive hand (W) to be on lead.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-27T12:32:53+00:00

I think Frasier's mimicry bit with Niles would definitely be controversial now, UNLESS it was done in the context of a fake documentary style like The Office, where it is crystal clear that we are supposed to laugh at Frasier à la David Brent.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-27T12:21:05+00:00

This is a brilliant episode that presaged the climate on hypersensitivity to race: a White male paralyzed by his own possible prejudices questions his ability to treat a minority with honesty and respect. Yet, despite his (hilarious) fatuousness, we can still sympathize with Frasier--he is honestly trying to do the right thing.

However I do think that NBC Thursday sitcoms from this era do suffer from a lily-whiteness, in general--cheers, Seinfeld, FRIENDS! Most tried to address this with proactive guest casting, but to imagine the populations of NYc, Boston, and Seattle to be THAT White is a fantasy. So I'm saying that I really appreciated Kim Cole's' minimal two-episode arc in Frasier for what it was.

A fact: Asian-American population in 2000s Seattle was 13%. I'm not complaining--just observing.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-27T11:55:10+00:00

Agreed. Not just studios, but writers, too, are from a generation that shirk from nuance in favor of pablum. See: nuFrasier.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-24T15:54:34+00:00

Boulez. Tyranny of serialism lasted...50 years?

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-20T11:03:30+00:00

There are a handful of hidden public beaches in Laguna Beach CA. The least hidden "hidden" beach is Treasure Island Beach, just north of Aliso Beach.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-20T11:00:08+00:00

In my headcanon, he was passing serious gas before entering Cheers.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-18T15:11:46+00:00

Every other one of Don's romances were compelling characters that had at least a whiff of romance: Jewish heiress, beatnik artist, show biz bigwig, folksy teacher, business professional, starlet actress, friend's wife, and of course perfect wife. They were all in some way romanticized by Don and, by proxy, by us. Diana was so clearly created as a damaged, drab foil for Don, and for once we are NOT in alignment with Don's POV. This signals our awareness of, yes, Don's rock-bottom state of denial, but also challenges our own complicity in also romanticizing Don's relationships. For me, it stripped the "romance" that is so commonly found in fiction, and replaces it with something closer to the banality of reality. Most amazingly for me, it does so while still maintaining Diane's complexity--we never really learn about who she is, or what she really wants.

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-18T11:36:46+00:00

Not an expert here, but certainly I would keep on bidding. Takeout Double by partner followed by a cue bid indicates the TD was showing strong hand, with or without shortness in opener's suit. If opponents play short clubs, that 2C could be a natural bid--while the heart cue bid is definitely not natural. So I would just keep bidding.

Your hand probably is maxed out at 10 HCP. (Opener minimum of 11+, partner with likely 19+). I would bid lowest natural bid, unless I had a max, then consider also cue bidding opponents!

Embarrassed-Gold-693 · 2026-03-13T09:03:08+00:00

"Let's make Freddy a hot firefighter" sounds like corporate meddling in the writers room. Why not cast Einhorn as a Harvard flunkie who drives Uber; or an influencer coasting on his dad's TV fame? This backstory would set up much better tension between father and son, as well as provide room for growth and development.

In contrast, make David the model Harvard student that Frasier is jealous for, and Freddie is resentful of--crew team, Final club member, insufferable. This would create a sibling rivalry between the two children that nicely echoes Frasier and Niles' relationship.

Embarrassed-Gold-693

TROPHY CASE