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Suze Orman can suck it! 

Ridley Scott Blames Apathetic Millennials For ‘The Last Duel’ Bombing?

Oh Fuck Independent News:

Where is the signed Ridley Scott petition?

Here is their bullshit ad free!

Maybe we, as a culture, don’t deserve good things. For years, we have lamented the creative inertia of the modern blockbuster – the over-abundance of vapid spectacle, CGI superheroes and “known IP” that has all but squeezed high-budget adult filmmaking out of the market entirely. So when a film like The Last Duel comes around, it should have been an oasis in the desert.

A medieval triptych directed by Ridley Scott, the film follows the real-life story of Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), two noblemen who dueled to the death in 14th-century France after Carrouges’s wife Marguerite (Jodie Comer) accuses Le Gris of rape.

The same events are told three times, with each of the film’s segments being introduced as “The truth according to [Carrouges/Le Gris/Marguerite]”. The film’s three stars are all terrific, with each turning in a carefully distinct performance. The duel itself is brutal, and utterly gripping. The script is deft in how it re-contextualizes events, neatly omitting scenes which could have corroborated or contradicted parts of other characters’ accounts.

There’s no equivocating about the sexual violence at its centre, though: in its moral message, The Last Duel is loud and unambiguous. And yet this quite brilliant, unapologetically adult-oriented film has recouped less than a third of its $100m (£75m) budget since its release in October. It’s one of the biggest flops of Scott’s career.

Those who championed the film have scrutinized the failure on social media, with many suggesting that Disney’s marketing campaign was at fault. (The Last Duel was greenlit by Fox before the studio merged with Disney in 2019; some claimed that the film’s adult subject matter would have been at odds with the Disney brand.) Too few people were informed of what the film was about, people claimed – or that it even existed at all. Speaking to Marc Maron on the WTF podcast this week, Scott stridently backed the studio, averring that Disney “did a fantastic promotion job”, and that “the bosses loved the movie”, despite his concerns that it was “not for them”. Instead, Scott pinned the blame squarely on millennials. “I think what it boils down to,” he said, “what we’ve got today, [are] the audiences who were brought up on cellphones. The millennia kids do not ever want to be taught anything unless you’re told it on a cellphone.”

There are plenty of holes to pick in this slightly incoherent notion; not least that “millennial” is not the byword for young, tech-addled poseur it used to be. The youngest millennials are nearly in their late twenties. The oldest are already 40. Millennial s are no longer your hipster nephew; they’re your cheugy aunt. What’s more, millennials have also been some of the loudest champions of The Last Duel on social media – if anything, they are exactly who this #MeToo-inflected film resonated most strongly with.

The real reasons for The Last Duel’s box office death are, in all probability, much more banal. There’s the pandemic, for one thing, from which the film industry has yet to fully recover. And, while it’s true that many people doubtless eschewed the cinema release to wait for its prompt arrival on Disney Plus (next week), medieval dramas aren’t exactly a booming genre right now. Plus, the film’s sexually violent subject matter was clearly going to put some people off.

Added to that, The Last Duel was rated “18” by the BBFC (“R” in the US) – something that tends to put a ceiling on any movie’s commercial viability. It was also released the same week as the latest instalment in the slasher franchise Halloween Kills and the Venom sequel. Then there’s the inescapable fact that No Time to Die arrived in cinemas just two weeks earlier and was still monopolizing screens everywhere; Dune came out one week later. The idea that a $100m epic from Scott and Damon would be unable to compel more than a couple of showings per day in a multiplex seems inconceivable, but given the competition, that was, in many places, the case.

Nevertheless, it would be wrong to completely dismiss Scott’s millennial remark as simply an “old man yells at cloud” moment; perhaps there is some truth to the fact that younger generations aren’t buying what he’s selling. Some critics and social media commenters criticized the film’s depiction of rape, and questioned Scott’s prerogative to tell such a story (it’s worth noting that the film was written by Damon, Ben Affleck and Nicole Holofcener). I would argue that this is a specific kind of bad-faith reading of a film that is particularly prevalent among online millennials. In this case, it’s one that fails to properly acknowledge Holofcener’s contribution, and one that diminishes the progressive sensibility of Scott’s own oeuvre, which includes Alien and Thelma & Louise.

Yesterday saw the release of another film by Scott: the maximalist fashion biopic House of Gucci. Whether he knows it or not, it’s a film that’s got “millennial” written all over it, from the casting of Lady Gaga to the true-crime premise to the way that its mere trailer was immediately broken down and regurgitated into Twitter memes. Perhaps Scott’s got his finger on the Gen Y pulse more than he lets on. But when you make a film as good, and substantial as The Last Duel, and barely anyone goes to see it, you have a right to be annoyed. That’s the truth according to Ridley Scott.

Is it truth Ridley?

American Airlines! ATX Crew Sucks! Chicago Crew Sucks!

I thought paying first class was a win-win...

I pay double for a first class flight, knowing it was not really first-class but a reduced rate to help American Airlines keep afloat and I get some extra leg room.

But, I and the others who payed double for first-class quickly discovered we were on a list.

A list that made sure you were treated in a very specific way.

If you asked for a low carb meal, you were sure to get a high carb vegan, gluten -free cracker box meal.

Wanted a beer? They had only White Claw to offer.

After all we have been through, locked up for a year.... all I wanted to do was help, and the attitude I got from ATX American Airlines staff? 

Dicks! Total Dick behavior!

The only saving grace for American Airlines was Chicago - just kidding they sucked too.

Brilliant and sweet, and did not have an attitude stuck up their arse? Haha Ha Haaaa lol...fuck you, they totally did.

American Airlines knack for hiring the failures from every hospitality college is unprecedented. 

Someone needs to hire these pricks and glad it is not an animal shelter.

I am sorry you think my sadness is about the holidays

I can never make up for being the shitty Mother to you. But I would like to try and do not know how, so I have money and I want you to have every bit of it.

I. don't need anything in this fucking world except for one thing.... Your happiness.

I love you more than my own life.

please, grant me one wish...I will take care of your Grandmother, and take on her sinking ship, as long as you promise me, you will never get too close to her current. She will only drag you under.

never, ever will I stop looking over you and cherish the amazing person that you are.
XOXO MOM

, Not a goodbye letter Boo. Just a Xmas letter to pack away in an old LL Bean Jacket for the next gen to find and see how much love there was:) XOXO Mom

No matter where I move...

There I am to follow.

I may not have the house, the closets, or the attic, but they still have me.
Buried under twenty years of dust and dirt are the memories that creep in, every time I open that storage door.

The flood of dread that fills my soul is almost unbearable.
The very worst and the very best all packed tightly together in a 10 x 20 in a sad and dark area of town.
This year is harder than most. It was the year my house would have been paid off.
And I realize, I have been trying to start over for two decades now.
And now that it is finally moving into the light, I can't shake of the chill of the past.

Not even a bonfire constructed of all of that house held will burn bright or warm enough to escape.

But, at least I will never have to open that storage door again and feel like I am drowning in a cruel past.

Woodstock '99! WHAA UP!!!

HEY YEAH!!! Fuck NO, go fuck yourself! MIC DROP

PENN National stock is bullshit

All the news saying it is a buy is for retailers to bail out the institutions LOSSES before the End of Year! because Dave Portnoy is a bad fuck! I like the guy, love his pizza reviews, but?! Mm mm.....

Let's pay homage to the real villain, not that Dave is a boy scout!

Of course these girls were going to throw themselves at this rich, cute, pigeon toed dude...he is cute and super likeable.... they were hoping for the golden ticket, but instead they got the, "you are not worth more than a fun mutual consented lay" treatment.

And the Mom is angry and upset?

Who the fuck do you think is the one who set her daughters up for this kind of fucking abuse?
Who taught her daughters that showing off their tits on insta and fuck the rich dude would get them more money than actually going to school and use their fucking brains to make something of themselves.

Not to be a hypocrite, I did it too.. hung out with older white rich dudes for travel and fun, but I always knew there was no future.
The dick in Cali? I always knew he looked down at me and he would never be my friend as much as I was his, but to this day... how fuck does a man do what the fuck he did to me and still call himself a man?

Will never, ever speak to him again, and he is second only to one that I can't wait to take a sledge hammer and smash the shit out of their grave stone!

I hate the fucking holidays!

I am so glad I have this little domain to pour out all my emotional crazy. It is my therapy and my piece of mind in a world of hell that I created for myself. But I am over it, anbd leaving this popsicle stand for a brighter future where my Mother is not part of it nor this crumbling piece of 8000 square ft shit hole of a house.

Ahh Adsense, fuck your content policy!

Content restrictions Sexual content Is content that:

contains nudity.

is sexually gratifying, sexually suggestive and/or intended to cause sexual arousal. Examples: Close-ups of breasts, buttocks, or crotches, sheer or see-through clothing, sexual body parts that are blurred, or censored images of men or women posing and/or undressing in a seductive manner

discusses sexual fetishes.

Examples: Voyeurism, role-playing, bondage, dominance and submission, sadomasochism

is about sexual entertainment.

Examples: Pornographic movie festivals, adult webcam services, strip clubs

promotes sexual merchandise.

Examples: Sex toys, personal lubricants, genital enhancement tools

facilitates affairs and/or sexual encounters.

Examples: Affair, swinger, hook up or fling dating

OK, blah the fucking blah, you sad fucking perverts looking for porn in the name of saving the internet! I don't use adsense. Go back to watching youporn and swiping right on bumble and tinder for catfishes that will never give you the time of day!

provides advice regarding sexual performance. Examples: Sex tips promotes sexual enhancement medications or supplements. Examples: Erectile dysfunction pills, libido boosting supplements Learn more about sexual content Shocking content Is content that: contains gruesome, graphic, or disgusting accounts or imagery. Examples: Blood, guts, gore, sexual fluids, human or animal waste, crime scene or accident photos depicts acts of violence. Examples: Accounts or images of shootings, explosions, or bombings; execution videos contains a significant amount of or prominently features obscene or profane language. Examples: Swear or curse words, variations and misspellings of profane language

The 1% Started Long Ago. And I lost Fighting Them!

I miss my Dad,

He was not full of panache but still charming; more subtle, so when he hugged you, or shook your hand, or gave you a compliment.... it was a big deal.

It meant something to everyone when my Dad gave them his approval. Everyone wanted it, including his daughters.

And he loved his family and was a big kid on holidays.

And then you had my Mother!

She loved her valium; got pregnant every time she thought my Dad was about to leave her; and so duh - hated she had to share her allowance for our school clothes, so yeah, while my sisters were OK with this, I decided I was not.

So it started with me packing a plush terry cloth robe from the Fox and Hound in Fredericksburg.

And that same fucking statement, " We can forgive you but we will never forget." 

Ok, seriously, I do not care, that was the best robe of my entire life and I had it for over 10 years!

So imagine how upset I am that my 'never had to work for anything in her life' mother is letting the estate my Father meticulously cared for, crumble to the fucking ground. 

The gardens are dying; the pool is empty;  the trees in the forest are falling; and the inside of the home is decaying.

I paid for new pool decking, the new washer and dryer, and give her $500 a month that she pisses away on gourmet German cold cuts she FedEx's from Wisconsin .

And I more than anyone will understand how much it will hurt her to hear she can't stay here any more. Because the only person who was willing to care for her and pay for the upkeep of this fucking Grey Gardens monstrosity, is ME, and I am not willing to lose me over her all consuming kingdom of hell.

It will be unbearable, and devastating. And it will feel like someone ripped the very heart out of her soul, but after that ..it will only take a decade or so to get over it.

But it might not feel that harsh to her since she never once touched a nail, saved any money, worked her ass off to pay for her own place.

She was scooped up as a Kim Novak look-alike model to a Captain with a 57 convertible in Germany.

Like most European girls during the war, they played nice to marry and get out, but once they were state side, that niceness changed.

My Dad was not a pretty man, but my Mom was fucking outstanding - so she had him under her little pinky nail for his entire life, and when he showed more affection to his daughters -  she twisted that pinky nail into his heart and soul until he caved and eventually lost his loving daughters coming out to his car the moment he got home and giving him hugs and kisses

After years, it became us hiding behind the bed because she was going to start something before he got a few feet out of his car, and grow into a full on fight before he could reach the front door and put down his breifcase.

So I stand here as problem child and who fucked up!

I am a hypocrite, because I failed. When I had a tough time growing my company and about to lose the house I bought at 20 to save my baby boy from the toxic home I grew up, I let my Dad convince me it would be better if my son went to live them for a while. I should have known I was never going to get my baby boy after that. .

I FUCKED UP....BEYOND FORGIVENESS!!

SO I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN A SELF-INFLICTED HELL EVER SINCE! 

I am sure if you scaffold down the years of this blog, you will find the one where my pink house, the one for me and my baby boy were lost to a man much like my Mother. 

A Dance We Should Have Had

I am sorry you loved her so much and she was so horrible to you.  I am so sorry she beat you up and made you gang up on me when ever you showed love toward me.

Forever more, I knew your love and I always felt it behind her wall.

My gift to you Daddy.

The dance we never had. 

Love always. XOXO 

Tried to Go Cold Turkey on JULL and I was an Emotional Wreck

 Think JULL is safer than smoking? I beg to differ.

I have been using JULL to quit smoking, and it worked. I have not a had a cigarette in 2 years. Unfortunately, it does not stop your nicotine addiction. And actually makes it WORSE!

The problem with JULL is that it can be done all the time, whereas smoking you would have to take a break or go outside and typically I only smoked during cocktail hour.

But with JULL, I was using it the minute I woke up in the morning until I went to bed. It leaves no odor, or so I thought but actually you can smell the lingering nicotine oily residue in the air, on your hair, skin, bedding, etc...

I was buying one pack a week and that quickly rose to 2, and I had 3 sticks charged up ready to go if one died on me. Also, when drinking the pure nicotine would jolt my buzz into a full blown out slurry drunk. NOT COOL!

Then I began to notice the damage, of consuming straight nicotine non-stop,  to my hair, my skin, my scent. It left an oily residue on my hair; I would sweat and feel hot after vaping;  my skin began to age.

Fuck with my looks, and that is the end of that! So I went cold turkey. 

I threw out all my JULL sticks and called it quits. Within hours, I could feel myself wanting to cry. A day later, and I was full on depressed, and by the third day I was an emotional wreck weeping in the arms of my friendly neighborhood grocery stop store attendant.

I couldn't figure out my breakdown.. I was two weeks away from my holiday meltdown... but I decided to pick up a pack of American Spirits with a bottle of wine and although the cigarette tasted incredibly disgusting, I did feel calmer.

So last week I went outside and smoked a few puffs every time I felt overwhelmed and feeling much better now.

I will not buy another pack of cigarettes, this was a one time get me off JULL emergency.

Let's just say, I would tell anyone thinking JULL is cool...it really isn't once you are seriously hooked. 

The Blonde is smoke and vape free, but the craving for nicotine will be a tough road for awhile. But I notice, when the craving hits - it is short lived and a quick bit with your vibrator will get you through.

BTW, the Gillette fusion has been a rocket in my pocket for 10 years and still the best!

If you crash and burn on an aero, your family would jus think you liked a close shave:)

Little Blonde advice!