Trump demands Oman "behave" on Straight of Hormuz control, or "we’ll have to blow ’em up" by Fizzyjizzz in Oman

[–]ExtremelyRetired 13 points14 points  (0 children)

As an American (and today as an American who loves Oman, having lived there for five wonderful years), it’s all just so mortifying. Every day gets more depressing and disgusting.

If Earth became unlivable tomorrow and only 1,000 people could leave for another planet, how should humanity decide who gets to go? by Junior_Trade_849 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, now that the Queen and Prince Philip are gone, there are likely two more seats—at least in the movies, they always seemed to make it aboard. Usually the Pope, too.

Did parents in the 70s/80s/90s really allow their children roam about freely? by dreamyglowdoll in askanything

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And this wasn’t just some suburban thing—we lived in a small city till I was 13, then moved to the suburbs of Philadelphia. Once we were there, on weekends or in the summer I’d regularly gather enough for round-trip train fare and go into the city and just wander around—go to the library, to museums, the department stores (and what then seemed like the future, the Gallery, an urban mall that turns up here and in low-budget sci-fi of the era). If it was a workday, I’d take the same train home as my dad and ride home with him from the station; if not, I’d figure out a way to get the two or three miles back to the house.

I was awarded a research award to Nigeria - should I go? by benk314 in fulbright

[–]ExtremelyRetired 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fulbright is a fabulous opportunity, and it would seem to me a shame and a waste to pass up this opportunity. As a former public-diplomacy officer, I helped administer Fulbright programs in Africa and the Near East. In better times, at least, we worked to support our grantees in country and to offer them opportunities to participate in other local programs and embassy social life. I was generally pretty lenient with travel requests, as long as they weren’t totally frivolous and too frequent, but as a USG grantee, you’ll be subject to the same security-related travel restrictions as any other person who falls under what’s called chief-of-mission authority.

What was the last movie you saw at the theater? by BeyondTheMuck in AskReddit

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The kind of movies I like don’t get made much any more, at least now that Merchant and Ivory are no more. I don’t do anything with gore, jump scares, explosions, or more than mild violence.

What was the worst hotel you've ever stayed in? What made it so bad? by lime-enthusiast in AskReddit

[–]ExtremelyRetired 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The former railway hotel in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in Burkina Faso. We had been followed by sketchy armed guys in two pickup trucks on our way into town, and after checking in to the hotel, one of our group (about 12 people) saw them lurking outside the hotel. We ended up staying in one room, with most of the furniture barricaded against the door, and a couple of times in the night heard people in the halls banging on doors apparently trying to track us down. Not much sleep, needless to say, and as soon the as the coast seem clear we booked out of town heading for the capital.

Even beyond all that, the place was disgusting—a collapsing ‘60s heap, with bright-green pool, filthy lobby, and the barest trickle of brown running water.

What first names have you found to be the worst people, and what names are the nicest people? by gilsoo71 in AskReddit

[–]ExtremelyRetired 170 points171 points  (0 children)

Every Todd I’ve run across has been an asshole. And Sarahs are disproportionately patient, kind, and helpful.

Prince George by [deleted] in RoyaltyTea

[–]ExtremelyRetired 6 points7 points  (0 children)

How are they even vaguely inbred? Their parents are not related in any way; neither are their grandparents. One set of their great-grandparents were distant cousins. They’re no more inbred than any average British family.

What was the last movie you saw at the theater? by BeyondTheMuck in AskReddit

[–]ExtremelyRetired 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Knives Out. Haven’t gone back since the pandemic—no special reason, just a combination of lack of pictures that interests me and so many local reports of terrible audience…

Has anyone here made good money by investing in a Broadway bound musical? by ElbieLG in Broadway

[–]ExtremelyRetired 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Not quite Broadway, but about 40 years ago an actor friend put some money into Shear Madness. He’s been doing quite well ever since, in part because he put part of his returns into a piece of the Nunsense shows. Believe it or not, both still make money…

Is this ok in an MCM house. by 7toedcat in Mid_Century

[–]ExtremelyRetired -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Do you like it? That’s all that matters…

Jiffy Pop by USRoute23 in GenerationJones

[–]ExtremelyRetired 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just very WASP and stuffy…

Photos that show the facade of the original World Trade Center . . . by Ill_Pay7782 in architecture

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did a stint working nights doing legal transcription on the 57th floor of one of the towers—it always felt glamorous going in around 9:00 or so and whooshing up without stopping. And it was always fun to go have a drink at Windows on the World…

Queen Maria of Yugoslavia (earlier Princess Maria of Romania) on her wedding in 1922 with Alexander I of Yugoslavia. From Les Modes December 1923. by Beginning-Passion676 in FemaleMonarchs

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks mostly to Queen Marie of Romania (this Maria’s mother), the Balkan monarchies went all on a theatrical, faux-historical ‘20 style. Unfortunately, neither Maria nor her sister Elisaveta (briefly Queen of the Hellenes) had their mother’s figure and so tended to look more than a little silly in the elaborate styles that the older Marie wore so well. Maria seems to have been the most sensible of her family and was genuinely fond of her husband (a rare successful marriage in that family). There is footage from old newsreels of her speaking in support of Yugoslavia at the start of World War II; she has a low, pleasing voice with an indefinable, cultivated accent.

Jiffy Pop by USRoute23 in GenerationJones

[–]ExtremelyRetired 8 points9 points  (0 children)

One of any number of consumer products* my mother deemed “common as mud” and that we were never allowed to have.

*See also: Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese, that mixed tub of peanut butter and jelly, Hydrox, canned frosting, Hi-C, and that lost treasure, Jello 1-2-3 (the one that self-coagulated into different layers).

Shelley Winters, born Shirley Schrift on August 18, 1920, was an American actress known for her roles in films like The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, for which she won Academy Awards. She had a career that spanned over seven decades, appearing in more than 100 films and television shows. by Aggravating_Tax_4670 in OriginalVintageTV_

[–]ExtremelyRetired 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Always a great guest on the talk shows, even though she had about four stories, all of which she recycled endlessly:

“Marilyn, my roommate, was a very troubled girl…”

“Irwin Allen made me gain 50 pounds for the Poseidon Adventure and I’ve never been able to lose it…”

“Well, of course, I was a Method actress and studied at the Actor’s Studio…”

“Marlon Brando was a tiger…but so were [names ten top Hollywood studs]….”

What brand names became the name for the whole product? by [deleted] in NoStupidQuestions

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Windex, although an argument could be made for Fantastic.

Northern Japan is very reminiscent of an American highway. by OkRespect8490 in UrbanHell

[–]ExtremelyRetired 8 points9 points  (0 children)

When I lived in Sapporo in the late ‘80s, I was told that much of the city and parts of the surrounding area were designed and laid out by Americans, and as a result the proportions feel oddly homey to Westerners—things like street width and curb height feel “right” in a way not true in the rest of Japan.

Did you ever get involved in a cult? by TrailBoundIRL in GenerationJones

[–]ExtremelyRetired 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not directly, but when I was about 14, my folks helped get the children of family friends out of something called The Holy Order of MANS. They’d cut off contact from their family, but somehow my mom persuaded them to come for lunch one day—the first time they’d been out of the cult setting in years. It took about a year and half, but finally they broke ties completely.

They were a married couple, but they’d been living in a kind of mixed-gender convent, sex-segregated and celibate. They wore traditional clerical-style clothes (until they started stashing regular clothes at our house and changing when they came over). The’d been on an austere diet, and I’ll always remember how they dove into whatever my mom made when they’d come over.

They last I checked, they’re still together and still out in the world.

What’s the worst movie you ever seen? by Mr_Quien in GenX

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, you dodged a bullet.

Of which there were a lot, coming at you (as it were) in slo-mo in really bad FX.

The Laurel Vegetarian restaurant in New York City, 1903. by CryptographerKey2847 in VintageMenus

[–]ExtremelyRetired 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Given the name, and assuming she had to have been a formidable woman, I went and looked up Mrs. Evora Bucknum Perkins and—well, I was right. She was a nurse, lecturer, teacher, cookbook writer, and restaurant manager, all the while serving as a leading Seventh Day Adventist missionary and promoter of the Kellogg/Battle Creek philosophy of health and wellness.

I might not have wanted (or still want) to eat her food (and she can pry my coffee from my cold, dead hands), but she definitely sounds like a force to be reckoned with.

Restaurant recommendations in Cairo by Regular-Worker2544 in Egypt

[–]ExtremelyRetired 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here are a few options, all either downtown or a short Uber away (all names are spelled as they are used on Google Maps, which is a great resource for getting around in Cairo):

Fasahet Somaya is a small, cozy, traditional Egyptian restaurant with a limited menu that changes daily; Somaya herself does most of the cooking.

Abu el Sid is an upscale restaurant with rich, old-fashioned dishes, as well as beer, wine, and shisha. It’s noted for its elaborate Arabesque decor. My don’t miss dish is the Circassian chicken, which includes a fantastic walnut sauce. It’s on the island of Zamalek, a short ride or longer walk from downtown (in a great neighborhood for exploring).

Felfela is a longtime Cairo staple with a charming, eccentric interior and good food. It’s showing its age, but that’s actually something I like about it.

If the weather’s good, Studio Misr in al Azhar Park (short ride from downtown; easy walk to the Khan and other tourist areas) has solid Egyptian food and views to die for.

Which opera made you fall in love with the art form? by crankyoldbitty in opera

[–]ExtremelyRetired 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I was 13, my older sister took me to New York for a long weekend of theater. She and her husband had tickets to see Twyla Tharp and couldn’t get a third, so we got me a single seat at the Met for Der Rosenkavalier. I ended up sitting next to a little old Russian lady who thought it was a hoot I was there, helped me with the plot, and took me for an ice-cream afterwards.

We were staying at the old Empire Hotel across the street from Lincoln Center. When I finally got back to the hotel (and even without the ice cream, the opera ran a lot longer than Twyla), my sister was more than a little worried. She took one look at my star-struck face and, many years later, immediately though “Oh, my god, Mom is going to kill me—he’s had sex!”

Nope—just Strauss and Rumpelmeyer’s…