mnhtnbb

mnhtnbb's Journal

May 19, 2026

Outlander fans?

I came to Outlander prior to Season 7, so a few years ago. I was immediately grabbed from the first episode of the first season. Binge watched episode after episode. Loved it all: story, setting (Scotland!), acting, sets, costumes...it became my favorite all time series, which previously had been The West Wing. I checked the books out of the library, then bought my own copies. Can't count how many times I've rewatched seasons or individual episodes. I've read the books four times.
I went to Scotland last year. I admired Sam Heughan's acting ability so much, that I promised myself if he ever returned to the stage, I'd go see him. When he announced he was playing Macbeth, that did it for me. I set up my trip to Scotland to end with seeing him play Macbeth at the RSC in Stratford -upon-Avon last October. After I returned, it was announced that the RSC was going to hold a fundraiser the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, featuring a panel with Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Sam Heughan and Lia Williams (who played Lady M to Sam's Macbeth) to discuss the productions of Macbeth played 50 years apart by the actors at the RSC, theatre, life as actors. Donors at the premium level were invited to meet the actors at a reception. I went back for the event, and managed to score a ticket to see Macbeth for a second time, and that experience blew me away. It was the ultimate theatre experience of my life--except for being on stage myself--and it all happened because I had been so captivated by Outlander.

All that said, the Finale last week had me in tears from start to finish. I loved how much of the dialogue from Diana's book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, made it into the Finale. I am not a fan of the show created story line that Faith lived, and the elevation of Frances to granddaughter I find annoying. The writing of the Will, the scene with Claire and Jamie waking up to talk about the day and the bees, their last time making love in the tent before the battle, the battle itself, were all marvelous scenes, exquisitely acted. BUT then, the show deviated drastically from the book when Jamie was shot at Kings Mountain and how that subsequently played out. It makes no sense to me that they would have followed the canon of Diana's book for so many other scenes and then reduce Claire to an emotional, grieving wreck with no opportunity to use her medical knowledge and skills along with her blue light healing powers, to save Jamie from dying. It was very unsatisfying. I liked the Jamie as ghost footage and was not happy with the ambiguous ending, which has since been promoted by Matt Roberts, as well as Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe. I loved the clip of Diana post credits at a book signing of the original edition of the first book ( with all the Easter eggs). I had to watch the episode twice to see Claire open her eyes simultaneously with Jamie, and turn on close caption to understand they both gasp together. I had to watch five times to see the blue light between Claire and Jamie right before the ghost sequence. It smacks of ringing up the cash register on residuals for the writer--Matt Roberts-- to require fans to play the episode multiple times to catch all the details.

Anybody else a big fan? What did you think about the finale?

May 12, 2026

Wordle May 12 SPOILERS

Wordle 1,788 5/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨steal
🟨⬜⬜🟩⬜lurch
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩flick
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩block
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩clock

NY Times average 4.1 and Wordlebot in 4.

Every possible word after my second guess was a previously used answer! Definitely MCH!

May 10, 2026

Sunset this evening

April 29, 2026

Latest Scam Alert

Latest scam alert: a phone call claiming you've missed a Summons to Jury Duty. It shows as coming from a Private Number. I got one of these calls about half an hour ago. Seemed very strange--especially from a private number--and hung up when the original caller put me on hold to get her "Captain" from the Sheriff's Office, from which she was calling. While I was googling to see if this is a scam (it is to get money from you to pay a fine for not showing up) I received three more calls from the "private number", which I didn't answer. https://www.uscourts.gov/court-programs/jury-service/juror-scams

Good grief. What will the scammers think of next?

April 25, 2026

Does anyone still get the print edition of The New Yorker?

My youngest son's podcast about Raven--which I posted about previously

Cross posting from the African American forum: Harlem's African American Wax Museum Creator: Raven Chanticleer UPDATE - Democratic Underground Forums https://share.google/sNdJQbgedmL3cpCPT

-- is being highlighted by Sarah Larson in Goings On in the May 4, 2026 edition being released next Monday. I gave up my print edition some years ago and I'd dearly love to have a copy of this. Please DM me if you'd be willing to sell your copy to me.

April 14, 2026

APRIL PHOTO CONTEST Winners Thread is up in GD

Here it is:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221174573

Grumpy Old Guy took First Place so he is awarded the opportunity to choose the theme for the May Contest!

Thanks to all the photographers who entered! It was a FABULOUS collection of photos from all over the world!

April 14, 2026

APRIL PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS

Our theme for the contest this month was DU TRAVELS And, boy do we! We had a fabulous collection of photos submitted by photographers.

Without further ado

FIRST PLACE (with the right to choose the theme for the May Contest) goes to:

Church of the Good Shepherd, New Zealand by Grumpy Old Guy

SECOND PLACE goes to:

Dawn, Upper Yosemite Falls Trailhead by Mz Pip

THIRD PLACE goes to:

Midnight Sun, 12:08 AM, Norway by none other than also Mz Pip!

As Host, I am privileged to award Honorable Mention to a DU'er I had the privilege to meet--almost 10 years ago-- when we were both traveling in France and our itineraries happened to coincide in Strasbourg!

Josselin, Brittany, France... hiking by the chateau...with a friend. by CurtEastPoint

The other FINALISTS were:

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band In Minneapolis 3-3-26 by WIVoter

Crater Lake by markie

Gentoos in Antarctica by sinkingfeeling

Ice, Snow, Mountains and Penguins; Antarctica by edhopper

"Turkish Sunset" by bif

"Worcester Cathedral" by bif

Thanks again to all the photographers who entered the April Contest and to the members of DU who voted and shared their comments about each of the photos! We photographers really enjoy the chance to show our work to the DU community.

April 11, 2026

***APRIL PHOTO CONTEST FINALS are up in GD

It's a marvelous collection of photos!

Here's the FINALS thread:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221166557

Please keep it kicked!

April 11, 2026

APRIL PHOTO CONTEST FINALS

Here are our 10 FINALISTS for the APRIL PHOTO CONTEST. (Finalists were chosen as the top three from each preliminary thread, and then the next highest across all three threads.)

Our theme for the April Photo Contest is DU Travels. It is often said that travel allows people to broaden their horizons, to be exposed to customs and concepts beyond their 'home' circle.

Please choose your favorite!
Finals will run for 72 hours. The winner will choose the theme for the May contest.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band In Minneapolis 3-3-26