#Berlin Career College

[bspoquemagazine]

Berlin Summer University of the Arts 2025: Utopia

Das Internationales Workshop-Programm am UdK Berlin Career College startet unter dem Titel "Utopia" im Juni 2025. Die Anmeldung für die Sommerkurse ist ab sofort möglich.

Die Berlin Summer University of the Arts, angesiedelt am Berlin Career College der Universität der Künste Berlin, bietet auch im Jahr 2025 wieder ein breites Spektrum an Kursen in Bildender Kunst, Musik, Gestaltung und Darstellender Kunst sowie transdisziplinäre Formate – all das in einem internationalen Umfeld. Von Juni bis September lädt das vielfältige Programm aus über 30 Workshops dazu ein,…

[jcmarchi]

Professor Emeritus Peter Schiller, a pioneer researcher of the visual system, dies at 92

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/professor-emeritus-peter-schiller-a-pioneer-researcher-of-the-visual-system-dies-at-92/

Professor Emeritus Peter Schiller, a pioneer researcher of the visual system, dies at 92

Peter Schiller, professor emeritus in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and a member of the MIT faculty since 1964, died on Dec. 23, 2023. He was 92.

Born in Berlin to Hungarian parents in 1931, Schiller and his family returned to Budapest in 1934, where they endured World War II; in 1947 he moved to the United States with his father and stepmother. Schiller attended college at Duke University, where he was on the soccer and tennis teams and received his bachelor’s degree in 1955. He then went on to earn his PhD with Morton Weiner at Clark University, where he studied cortical involvement in visual masking. In 1962, he came to what was then the Department of Psychology at MIT for postdoctoral research. Schiller was appointed an assistant professor in 1964 and full professor in 1971. He was appointed to the Dorothy Poitras Chair for Medical Physiology in 1986 and retired in 2013.

“Peter Schiller was a towering figure in the field of visual neurophysiology,” says Mriganka Sur, the Newton Professor of Neuroscience. “He was one of the pioneers of experimental studies in nonhuman primates, and his laboratory, together with those of Emilio Bizzi and Ann Graybiel, established MIT as a leading center of research in brain mechanisms of visual and motor function.”

Recalls John Maunsell, the Albert D. Lasker Distinguished Service Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Chicago, who did postdoctoral research with Schiller, “Peter was the boldest experimentalist I��ve ever known. Once he engaged with a question, he was unintimidated by how exacting, intricate, or extensive the required experiments might be. Over the years he produced an impressive range of results that others viewed as beyond reach.” 

Schiller’s former PhD student Michael Stryker, the W.F. Ganong Professor of Physiology at the University of California at San Francisco, writes, “Schiller was merciless in his criticism of weakly supported conclusions, whether by students or by major figures in the field. He demanded good data, real measurements, no matter how hard they were to make.”

Schiller’s research spanned multiple areas. As a graduate student, he designed an apparatus, the five-field tachitoscope, that rigorously controlled the timing and sequence of images shown to each eye in order to study visual masking and the generation of optical illusions. With it, Schiller demonstrated that several well-known optical illusions are generated in the cortex of the brain rather than by processes in the peripheral visual system.

Seeking postdoctoral research, he turned to his father’s friend, Hans-Lukas Teuber, who had just accepted an offer to be founding head of the Department of Psychology at MIT. Schiller learned how to make single-unit electrophysiological recordings from the brains of awake animals, which added a new dimension to his studies of the circuitry and mechanisms of cortical processing in the visual system. Among other findings, he saw that brightness masking in the visual system was caused by interactions among retinal neurons, in contrast to the cortical mechanism of illusions.

In 1964, Schiller was appointed assistant professor. Soon after, he embarked on productive collaborations with Emilio Bizzi, who had just arrived in the Department of Psychology. Schiller and Bizzi, who is now an Institute Professor Emeritus, shared an interest in the neural control of movement; they set to work on the oculomotor system and how it guides saccades, the rapid eye movements that center objects of interest in the visual field. They quantified the firing patterns of motor neurons that generate saccadic eye movements; paired with studies of the superior colliculus, the brain center that guides saccades in primates, and the frontal eye fields of the cortex, they outlined a fundamental scheme for the control of saccades, in which one system identifies targets in the visual scene and another generates eye movements to direct the gaze toward the target.

Continuing his dissection of visual circuitry, Schiller and his colleagues traced the connections that two different types of retinal cells, known as parasol cells and midget cells, send from the retina to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus. They discovered that each cell type connects to a different area, and that this physical segregation reflects a functional difference: Midget cells process color and fine texture while parasol cells carry motion and depth information. He then turned to the ON and OFF channels of the visual system — channels originating in different types of retinal neurons: some which respond to the onset of light, others that respond to the offset of light, and others that respond to both on and off. Building on earlier work by others, and inspired by recent discoveries of ways to pharmacologically isolate ON and OFF systems, Schiller and several of his students extended the previous studies to primates and developed an explanation for the evolutionary benefit of what seems at first like a paradoxical system: that the ON/OFF system allows animals to perceive both increments and decrements in contrast and brightness more rapidly, a beneficial attribute if those shifts, for instance, represent the approach of a predator.

At the same time, the Schiller lab delved further into the role of various parts of the cortex in visual processing, especially the areas known as V4 and MT, later steps in visual processing pathways. Through single-neuron recordings and by making lesions in specific areas of the brain in the animals they studied, they revealed that area V4 has a major role in the selection of visual targets that are smaller or have lower contrast compared to other stimuli in a scene, an ability that, for example, helps an animal unmask a camouflaged predator or prey. Strikingly, he showed that many variations in images that are important for perception have a delayed influence on the responses of neurons in the primary visual cortex, indicating that they are produced by feedback from higher stages of visual processing.

Schiller’s many significant contributions to vision science were recognized with his election to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007, and, in his home country, he was made an honorary member of the Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, in 2008.

Schiller’s legacy is also evident in his students and trainees. Schiller counted more than 50 students and postdocs who passed through his lab in its 50 years. Four of his trainees have since been elected to the National Academy of Sciences: graduate students Larry Squire and Stryker, and postdocs Maunsell and Nikos Logothetis.

His mentorship also extended to faculty colleagues, recalls Picower professor of neuroscience Earl Miller: “He generously took me under his wing when I began at MIT, offering invaluable advice that steered me in the right direction. I will forever be grateful to him. His mentorship style was not coddling. It was direct and frank, just like Peter always was. I remember early in my nascent career when I was rattled by finding myself in a scientific disagreement with a senior investigator. Peter calmed me down, in his way. He said, ‘Don’t worry, controversy is great for a career.’ But he quickly added, ‘As long as you are right; otherwise, well …’

Schiller’s creative streak did not just influence his scientific thinking; he was an accomplished guitar and piano player, and he loved building complex and abstract sculptures, many of them constructed from angular pieces of colored glass. He is survived by his three children, David, Kyle, and Sarah, and five grandchildren. His wife, Ann Howell, died in 1999.

[mrs-stans]

Miami Film Fest: Sebastian Stan Set for Precious Gem Award and Live ‘Awards Chatter’ Pod

The Emmy nominee and Marvel alum is being celebrated for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice' and a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery in 'A Different Man.'

BY SCOTT FEINBERG

Sebastian Stan, a best actor contender this awards season for two performances that have brought him widespread acclaim — he plays a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice and a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery in A Different Man — will receive the Precious Gem Award at the Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival GEMS event, the fest announced on Monday.

Stan, 42, will be celebrated at an event that will kick off on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 5pm EST, at MDC Wolfson Auditorium in downtown Miami. To begin with, he will sit down with yours truly for a career-retrospective conversation that will be recorded for subsequent posting as an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. Then, the fest will present him with his award.

The Precious Gem Award is the festival’s signature award, reserved for “one-of-a-kind artists whose contributions to cinema are lasting and unforgettable.” Past recipients include Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz, Isabelle Huppert, Rita Moreno, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Patricia Clarkson.

“We are thrilled to honor Sebastian Stan with our prestigious Precious Gem Award to celebrate his impressive acting achievements, including his transformative performances in this year’s The Apprentice and A Different Man,” Lauren Cohen, the fest’s programming director, said in a statement. “We’re also excited to partner with The Hollywood Reporter to bring Scott Feinberg and the celebrated Awards Chatter podcast to Miami.”

Stan is perhaps best known for playing Bucky Barnes in seven beloved Marvel films: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Ant-Man (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019). He has also done additional standout work in films such as I, Tonya (2017), Destroyer (2018) and Dumb Money (2023), and received a Critics Choice Award nomination for the limited series Political Animals (2012) and an Emmy nomination for the limited series Pam & Tommy (2022).

For A Different Man, which he also exexcutive produced, he was awarded the Silver Bear for best leading performance at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.

This year’s Miami Film Festival GEMS event will run Oct. 30-Nov. 3.

[germanpostwarmodern]

Hermann Mattern (1902-71), without exaggeration, was Germany’s most important 20th century garden designer whose organic gardens were created alongside significant projects by e.g. Hans Scharoun. Mattern first worked for quite some time in nurseries (for plants) and later studied at the horticultural college of the Botanical Garden in Berlin-Dahlem. After graduating in 1927 he became head of the design department at Karl Foerster’s office in Potsdam-Bornim and quickly became known for taking up current developments in the field of garden design. Here he also met his later wife Herta Hammerbacher, herself a significant garden designer, and established the informal „Bornim Circle“, an important forum for the discussion of developments in garden design, plant breeding and also politics. Although Mattern wasn’t a particularly political person he sympathized with communism, just like his wife.

After the National Socialists came to power in 1933 these political leanings repeatedly caused him trouble: firstly because the regime classified him as „politically unsound“ and secondly because adversaries in the profession occasionally denounced him. But despite these repeated accusations Mattern fared well under the reign of the Nazis as he received significant commissions. Among these were the green areas alongside the Reichsautobahnen commissioned by the Organisation Todt, the private gardens of Albert Speer and Robert Ley and also his chief work, the 1939 Reichsgartenschau at the Killesberg in Stuttgart. In 1939 Mattern also became member of the NSDAP.

At this point Lars Hopstock’s new biography „Hermann Mattern - Idyll and Ideology“, recently published by Jovis Verlag, clarifies earlier and biased accounts provided by his widow Beate zur Nedden and his former student Vroni Heinrich: Mattern wasn’t an active opposition member but came to terms with the regime and advanced his career as the impressive list of works from the war years alone shows.

With this facts and source-based rebuttal of earlier accounts Hopstock doesn’t discount Mattern’s contribution to modern garden design but shows the ambiguity necessary to survive professionally in a totalitarian regime. At the same time he documents how Mattern advanced his idea of an organic modernism in garden architecture, even at the ideologically tainted Reichsgartenschau. Accordingly „Idyll and Ideology“ is a great achievement that based on the in-depth study of sources provides new insights into the life and work of an eminent garden designer. Wholeheartedly recommended!

[justforbooks]

David Soul, who has died aged 80, stormed to fame in the 1970s as half of the television “buddies” detective duo Starsky and Hutch, who careered across Los Angeles in their red and white Ford Gran Torino, over the roofs and bonnets of other cars, and through piles of cardboard boxes.

“When the Starsky and Hutch series was showing, police on patrol duty were adopting sunglasses and wearing their gloves with the cuffs turned down,” claimed Kenneth Oxford, a British chief constable. “They also started driving like bloody maniacs.” In south London, a council lowered a wall after fans of the tyre-squealing screen action used it as a launchpad to jump on to parked vehicles.

While Paul Michael Glaser played the streetwise, cardigan-wearing, junk food-eating Dave Starsky, Soul’s character, Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson, was the quieter, yoga-loving, healthy-eating one – two cool cops looking after each other as if they were brothers.

Over five series (1975-79), they patrolled a rough area populated by muggers, drug dealers, sex workers and pimps. They also fraternised with Huggy Bear (played by Antonio Fargas), a snazzily dressed, “jive-talking” informant with his own bar.

Soul traded on his newfound stardom to return to his first love, music. He recorded the ballads Don’t Give Up on Us (1976), a No 1 in the US and UK, and Silver Lady (1977), another British chart-topper.

His television career continued, but the starring roles rarely resonated beyond his homeland. An exception was the miniseries World War III (1982), in which he played an American cold war colonel trying to avert a nuclear holocaust. It also chimed with his political and social campaigning, which included supporting the anti-nuclear movement.

He took up the tempting offer to play Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1983), a five-part TV prequel to the film classic, in the role originally played by Humphrey Bogart, but it proved a flop.

Soul found renewed success – particularly on the West End stage – after moving to Britain in the 90s. He even hit the headlines beyond the review pages in the title role of Jerry Springer the Opera (Cambridge theatre, 2004-05), taking over from another American actor, Michael Brandon, as the “shock” talkshow host.

The BBC’s decision to screen Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s musical, complete with thousands of swear words, transvestites, tap-dancers dressed as Ku Klux Klan members and a nappy-wearing Jesus, received more than 60,000 complaints from viewers.

Soul simply relished the chance to fulfil his “dream to play in the birthplace of English-speaking theatre” after failing to “cut the mustard” when auditioning on Broadway.

He was born David Solberg in Chicago to June (nee Nelson), a teacher who had also performed as a singer, and Richard Solberg, a Lutheran minister of Norwegian descent. His father’s work as a representative of the Lutheran World Relief organisation during the reconstruction of Germany after the second world war meant the family moved to Berlin in 1949, returning to the US seven years later to live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where David attended Washington high school.

He then acted in plays while studying at Augustana College, before moving to Mexico with his family. Influenced by his father’s work, he initially had plans to join the diplomatic service, and learned Spanish and studied Latin American history. He was also taught to play the guitar by Mexican students.

After a year, he hitchhiked to the US, landed a job singing Mexican folk songs at a coffee shop in Minneapolis and set his sights on a career in music. He also gained some acting experience with the city’s Firehouse theatre company.

While talking with friends about the metaphorical masks people wear, he came up with the idea of wearing a real one while performing so that the music stood on its own merits, and billed himself “David Soul, the Covered Man”. The William Morris Agency signed him up after hearing a demo tape, and he soon had bookings. One was in The Merv Griffin Show on TV between 1966 and 1968, when he eventually dispensed with the mask. More significantly, a talent agent spotted his acting potential.

He had a regular role in Here Come the Brides (1968-70), a comedy western series set after the civil war, as Joshua Bolt, one of the brothers running a logging company in a male-dominated Seattle frontier town and importing marriageable women.

A guest star, Karen Carlson, became Soul’s second wife (1968-77), following the dissolution of his first marriage, to Mirriam “Mim” Russeth, in 1966, three years after their wedding.

Soul was then popping up all over American TV in guest roles himself, and had a short run in 1974 as Ted Warrick, the defence lawyer’s assistant, in Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, before wider fame came in Starsky and Hutch. By then, he was living in an “open” relationship with another actor, Lynne Marta. When he moved on to his third marriage, to Patti (nee Carnel, 1980-86), former wife of the 60s pop idol Bobby Sherman, he hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

In 1982, having already struck Patti several times, he returned home drunk one night following a day’s filming on Casablanca – which he correctly feared would bomb – and hit her repeatedly. He was arrested on a charge of misdemeanour battery, but a judge spared him jail on condition that he underwent therapy. Soul admitted to having a violent streak and, although he and Patti were reunited, the marriage was soon over.

He kept working, landing starring roles as Roy Champion in the cattle ranch soap-style drama The Yellow Rose (1983-84), the private eye of the title in the TV movie Harry’s Hong Kong (1987), and “Wes” Grayson, leading an FBI forensics team, in Unsub (1989), but his star was on the wane. Another marriage, to Julia Nickson (1987-1993), also failed, before he had a relationship with the actor-singer Alexa Hamilton.

Soul’s career was revived when in 1995 the theatre producer Bill Kenwright was looking for an American to star in the comedy thriller Catch Me If You Can on tour in Britain. He played Corban, a newlywed whose wife goes missing. There were other tours and Soul was in the West End as Hank in The Dead Monkey (Whitehall, now Trafalgar, theatre, 1998), Chandler Tate in Alan Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential (Lyric, 1999-2000) and Mack in Mack & Mabel (Criterion, 2006).

In between, he had one-off roles on British television, including as a locum surgeon in two episodes of Holby City (2001 and 2002), a Boston detective helping to investigate his wife’s murder in Dalziel and Pascoe (2004) and a criminology lecturer in Inspector Lewis (2012). Soul and Glaser had cameos in the 2004 film spoof Starsky & Hutch, alongside Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch. In the same year, Soul was granted British citizenship.

He is survived by his fifth wife, Helen (nee Snell), whom he married in 2010, and five sons and a daughter.

🔔 David Soul (David Richard Solberg), actor and singer, born 28 August 1943; died 4 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[princess-of-the-corner]

What, Chloé with a baby? I need deets. I did this one a ways back and it was lots of fun. (was more grounded though. Supers had/did exist but were mostly retired)

Chloé in that one had taken over Style Queen. Audrey crawled into a bottle and Chloé found missed meetings/emails/calls. Audrey was letting it all fall apart. Chloé basically did a double major throughout college while also self teaching in business and fashion, while also commiting fraud on a grand scale pretending to be her own mother for business dealings. Pumping Audrey full of coffee for meetings etc. When Audrey emptied the bottle for the last time Chloé inherited it all(she wrote the will herself)

Kid came around because she was still extremely isolated, her only 'relationships' were one night long when the loneliness became too much. She closed a show in Berlin and he say down beside her, he was nice... And that was it.

She was using protection. She got to joke fatalisticly that Audrey Jr. Was a true 1%er.

Absolute OOF and while that's interesting we're going far more wholesome!

We're yoinking a bit from the Miraculous Justice plotline but sticking it in closer-to-canon where we have superheroes and such.

So Season 5, Andre abandons Chloé in favor of Zoé and sends her off with Audrey. Chloé is very fucked up about it especially as I'm writing it in a less 'oh she went full backslide evil' way and more of a 'she chose her family's safety after Ladybug 'abandoned' her, and this is how they repay her??' way.

Anyway. Chloé works to fix her shit and leaves Audrey as soon as she's legally able to. Goes to law school even and gets her own career. While also working on healing from her trauma.

At some point when she's healed enough that she decides she wants a kid. Over time she'd made some friends so one of them (who we keep joking about how he's Just Some Dude™) helps out with that.

Somehow Chloé and her kid end up back in Paris, and ofc the kid ends up befriending one of the Adrienette kids

[naturally-dazed]

This is Rana, Mahmoud's older sister; She already hauled ass to berlin Windenburg after dropping out of college when her DJ career started taking off, she introduced her brother to the whole scene when he was a teenager since he'd tag along for her shows and now he's planning on moving to live with her over there at some point (she never agreed to this, it's just a fact she's learned to accept lol)

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 9

Saturday bank holiday: Are banks open or closed this Saturday, November 9, 2024? 

1870 – Magnus Enckell (d.1925) was a Finnish painter. Enckell was born in Hamina, a small town in eastern Finland, the son of a priest. He was the youngest of six sons.

In 1889, at the age of 19, he began his artistic studies in Helsinki, at the Drawing School of the Finnish Art Association. In 1891 he went to Paris for the first time. There he was drawn to the Symbolist movement, and was influenced by the painter Pierre Puvis de Chavannes as well as Symbolist literature.

Enckell was homosexual, as seems indicated in some erotic portraits which were quite uninhibited for their time. As Routledge's "Who's who in gay and lesbian history" puts it, "His love affairs with men have not been denied ... Enckell's naked men and boys are openly erotic and sensual."

The Awakening

In 1894 and 1895 Enckell traveled to Milan, Florence, Ravenna, Siena and Venice, where his inner conflicts were reflected in his art. In 1898 he taught himself fresco and tempera techniques in Florence, by studying the work of Masaccio and Fra Angelico.

The years in Italy gave his work a greater range of colors and a more optimistic foundation. In the first years of the twentieth century, under the influence of Post Impressionism, he developed a brighter, more colorful palette. An example of this is the series, The Bathers, in dark, lively colors. Together with Verner Thomé and Ellen Thesleff, Enckell founded the group 'Septem', in which artists who shared his beliefs came together.

In 1907 Enckell executed the commission for the altarpiece of Tampere Cathedral. The fresco, more than 10 meters wide and 4 meters high, shows, in subdued colors, the resurrection of people of all races. In the middle of the painting two men walk hand in hand.

From 1901 onwards Enckell spent many summers on Suursaari Island, where he painted his "Boys on the Shore" (1910). He organised exhibitions of Finnish art in Berlin (1903) and Paris (1908), and of French and Belgian art in Helsinki (1904). He chaired the Finnish Arts Association from 1915 to 1918, and was elected a member of the Fine Art Academy of Finland in 1922.

Enckell died in Stockholm in 1925. His funeral was a national event. He was buried in his native village in Finland.

1902 – Anthony Asquith (d.1968) was a leading English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on The Winslow Boy (1948) and The Browning Version (1951), among other adaptations. His other notable films include Pygmalion (1938), French Without Tears (1940), The Way to the Stars (1945), and a 1952 adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

Born in London, he was the son of H. H. Asquith, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the First World War, and Margot Asquith who was responsible for 'Puffin' as his family nickname. He was educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford.

The film industry was viewed as disreputable when Asquith was young, and according to the actor Jonathan Cecil, a family friend, Asquith entered his profession in order to escape his background. At the end of the 1920s he began his career with the direction of four silent films the last of which, A Cottage on Dartmoor established his reputation with its meticulous and often emotionally moving frame composition.

He was a longtime friend and colleague of Terence Rattigan—they collaborated on ten films— and producer Anatole de Grunwald.

Asquith, an alcoholic, was a charming, gentle man and a closeted homosexual who never married. Asquith died from lymphoma at the age of 65.

1905 – Roger Edens (d.1970) was a Hollywood composer, arranger and associate producer, and is considered one of the major creative figures in Arthur Freed's musical film production unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the "golden era of Hollywood".

Edens was born in Hillsboro, Texas. He worked as a piano accompanist for ballroom dancers before going to work as a musical conductor on Broadway. He went to Hollywood in 1932 along with his protege Ethel Merman, writing and arranging her material for her films at Paramount. In 1935, he joined MGM as a musical supervisor and occasional composer and arranger, notably of music for Judy Garland. He also appeared on screen opposite Eleanor Powell in a cameo in Broadway Melody of 1936.Arthur Freed, producer of musicals at MGM, was impressed by Edens and in the early 1940s made Edens associate producer. His film unit made dozens of popular and extremely successful musical films in the 1940s and into the 1950s, including Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949), Show Boat (1951), An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and The Band Wagon (1953).

Edens is considered to be an important creative musical figure from the end of the 1930s until the beginning of the 1960s. His career at MGM allowed him to work with the top musical performers including the young Judy Garland, of whom he was the original trainer and overseer, and a lifelong friend. He wrote special material for Garland, including the famous Dear Mr Gable - You Made Me Love You (1937), Our love affair (1940) for Strike up the Band - that received an Oscar nomination for best song of that year - and the music for the "Born in a Trunk" sequence in A Star Is Born (1954). Edens was responsible for writing It's A Great Day for the Irish to showcase Garland's powerhouse voice in 1940. This became one of Garland's biggest hits and an Irish-American anthem played by military and marching bands every St. Patrick's Day world over. He also produced a number of films after the mid-1950s and wrote special material for Garland's Palace Theatre debut in 1951 and for her London Palladium concerts the same year.

Before moving to California, Edens had been married to Martha LaPrelle, but they spent much time apart and eventually divorced.By the time he knew Judy Garland, he was living as a gay man. In the latter part of his life, Edens was in long-term relationship with screenwriter and playwright Leonard Gershe.

Edens died of cancer in Los Angeles, California on July 13, 1970.

1952 – John Megna (d.1995) was an American actor. His best known role is that of “Dill” in the film To Kill A Mockingbird.

John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone Park, Queens, New York, to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist, and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a half-brother of Connie Stevens and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie Fisher. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.

At age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser's Broadway musical Greenwillow. At 7, he starred in All the Way Home, an adaptation of James Agee's novel about the effect of a father's death on his family. This led to his being cast as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, the toothy young summer visitor in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird. The character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.

Megna appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s; he portrayed a near-blind child in the Naked City episode "A Horse Has a Big Head - Let Him Worry!", one of the "Onlies" in the "Miri" episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, Stephan in I Spy (1967), and Little Adam in the NASA-produced animated shorts The Big World of Little Adam.

His other film appearances include Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) with John Travolta, and Go Tell the Spartans (1978) with Burt Lancaster. He also acted in two car-chase films starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Hal Needham – Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) and The Cannonball Run (1981).

As an adult, he turned to directing plays. He was the founding director of L.A. Arts, a nonprofit theater group in Los Angeles. He later became a high school English teacher, and last taught at James Monroe High School in North Hills, California. He also taught Honors English at Hollenbeck Jr High in East Los Angeles.

Megna died from AIDS-related complications in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 42.

1953 – Steve Clark Hall is a retired United States Navy submarine officer and documentary film maker. He is the first openly gay senior U.S. Navy officer who is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

Steve Clark Hall was born in San Francisco, and attended high school in Eureka, California. He was nominated to the U.S. Naval Academy by Senator John V. Tunney of California. He graduated with honors in the Class of 1975 with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering and rowed all four years on the Navy Lightweight Crew team. After completing his 20-year career as a nuclear submariner, he retired from Naval Service and returned to his home in the Castro District of San Francisco.

Hall was one of 35 LGBT Naval Academy alumni who sought official recognition from the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association as the USNA Out Chapter. In July 2007, Hall began the Out of Annapolis Project which included a detailed study of the LGBT alumni of the Naval Academy. He produced and directed the documentary film Out of Annapolis, which opened at the SVA Theater in New York in June 2010.

In January 2009, after a front-page article in the Annapolis Capital brought significant awareness to the Out of Annapolis Project, Hall worked with LGBT alumni of the U.S. Military Academy to establish an association similar to USNA Out, Knights Out.

1959 – Donnie McClurkin, Jr. is an American gospel music singer and minister. He has won three Grammy awards, ten Stellar awards, two BET awards, two Soul Train awards, one Dove award and one NAACP Image award for his work.

McClurkin was born in Copiague, New York and raised in Amityville, both on Long Island. When he was eight years old, his two-year-old brother was hit and killed by a speeding driver. Soon after the loss, McClurkin experienced family turmoil due to the loss of his brother and shortly after became a victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his great uncle, and years after by his great uncle's son. So the young McClurkin found comfort in church and through an aunt who sang background vocals with gospel music musician Andraé Crouch. He formed the McClurkin Singers by the time he was a teenager.

He was hired as an associate minister at Marvin Winans' Perfecting Church in Detroit, in 1989. McClurkin served as an assistant to Winans for over a decade.

In 1991, a sharp pain and swelling, followed by internal bleeding led, he says, to a diagnosis of leukemia. The doctor suggested immediate treatment, but McClurkin, who was then 31, decided to take his own advice. "I tell people to believe that God will save you," he says, "[and] I had to turn around and practice the very thing that I preached."

He was ordained and sent out by Winans in 2001 to establish Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, where he is now Senior Pastor.

A friendship with a Warner Alliance executive resulted in his signing to the label for his 1996 self-titled LP, with producers Mark Kibble of Take 6, Cedric and Victor Caldwell plus Andraé Crouch. The disc, which featured the perennially popular "Stand," went gold shortly after being publicly lauded by Oprah Winfrey.

McClurkin, in 2002, told a Christian website that, due to the sexual abuse, he had "struggled" with homosexuality. He also said had rejected that lifestyle: "I've been through this and have experienced God's power to change my lifestyle. I am delivered and I know God can deliver others, too."

In 2013, McClurkin was "asked not to attend" a ceremony in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, in Washington, DC, in which he had been scheduled to appear as a featured performer. A spokesman for the city mayor stated "The Arts and Humanities Commission and Donnie McClurkin's management decided that it would be best for him to withdraw because the purpose of the event is to bring people together," but McClukin denied having agreed, stating the mayor had "uninvited me from a concert where I was supposed to headline."

1965 – Ryan Murphy is an American film and television screenwriter, director, and producer. He is best known for creating/co-creating the television series Popular, Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story, and The New Normal.

Murphy grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, in an Irish Catholic family.He attended Catholic school from first through eighth grade, and graduated from Warren Central High School (Indianapolis). After coming out as gay, he saw his first therapist, who found nothing wrong with him other than being "'too precocious for his own good.'" Murphy performed with a choir as a child, which would later inform his work on Glee.

Murphy is openly gay, and married to David Miller, a photographer. On December 24, 2012, Murphy and Miller welcomed their first child, a son via surrogate. In October 2014, they welcomed a second child into their family. Murphy was previously in a long-term relationship with director Bill Condon.

On January 20, 2012, it was announced that the next film Murphy would be directing is a screen adaptation by Larry Kramer of his Broadway play The Normal Heart, starring Mark Ruffalo, Alec Baldwin, Matt Bomer and Jim Parsons.

Murphy and Glee co-executive producer Ali Adler have created The New Normal, a half-hour comedy that "centers on a gay couple and the surrogate who will carry their child", and iired on NBC beginning in the fall of 2012. The series is based on Murphy's own experiences having a child via surrogate, with the main characters, Bryan and David, named for Ryan and his husband.

1994 – Collin Martin is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Loyal in the USL Championship. He has played for D.C. United and Minnesota United FC in Major League Soccer, and for Richmond Kickers and Hartford Athletic in the United Soccer League. He came out as gay in June 2018, making him at the time the only out man in any of the big five American sports leagues or any top-division professional men's national soccer leagues.

Born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, Martin joined the D.C. United Academy during the 2009–10 season as a 14-year-old in the under-16 category. In his second season with the u16s, Martin led the team in scoring with 13 goals while leading the side to finish top of its group in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Then, the next season, Martin was promoted to the under-18s where he led the team in scoring with 11 goals. He impressed the coaching staff enough that season to earn playing time with the D.C. United Reserves in MLS Reserve League action.

Martin then choose to attend Wake Forest University where he would play for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons soccer team for the 2012 season in which he scored one goal and registered six assists. At the end of the season, Martin earned All-ACC Freshman Team honors.

In February 2020, Martin was signed by San Diego Loyal for its inaugural season. During a home match against Phoenix Rising FC on September 30, 2020, Martin was the target of a homophobic slur by Phoenix midfielder Junior Flemmings during first-half stoppage time. Flemmings called him a "batty boy", a homophobic slur in his native Jamaica. After he went to the referee to report the incident, Martin was shown a red card that was later rescinded after the referee admitted he was confused. After Phoenix manager Rick Schantz declined to apologize and remove Flemmings, San Diego walked off the field and forfeited the match in protest. A week earlier, the Loyal had forfeited a match against the LA Galaxy II after a racial slur was used against one of their players. Flemmings was banned for six games and fined an undisclosed amount.

[eretzyisrael]

by Robert Spencer

The New York Times wants you to weep for the people of Gaza, and for what Hamas’ massacre of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, which Gazans cheered in large numbers, has brought upon them. In service of that goal, on Christmas Eve the Paper of Record ran a weepy piece by a prominent Gazan, someone who has witnessed the Israeli incursion firsthand. Did the Times give this plumb editorial space to a “moderate” Gazan, a known foe of the Hamas regime, one of those “innocent Palestinians” who have nothing, nothing whatsoever, to do with Hamas? Uh, not quite.

“I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble,” was written by Yahya R. Sarraj and published in the Times on Sunday. The Times identifies the author in terms that make him sound like an airy, inoffensive intellectual: “Dr. Sarraj is the mayor of Gaza City and a former rector of the University College of Applied Sciences there. He wrote from Gaza City.” 

Yahya R. Sarraj, you see, is no terrorist, he’s a mild-mannered professor. But what the Times doesn’t bother to remind its hapless readers about is the fact that Hamas controls Gaza, and no one can hold the position of being mayor of the largest city in the Gaza Strip without being either an active Hamas member or entirely sympathetic with the terror group’s outlook and goals. Sarraj even alludes to this matter-of-factly in his piece, writing: “One of my major goals after the Hamas administration appointed me mayor in 2019 was to improve the city’s seafront and foster the opening of small businesses along it to create jobs.”

Sarraj spends the bulk of his article doing his best to move the reader to rage against Israel. “As a teenager in the 1980s,” he says, “I watched the construction of the intricately designed Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center in Gaza City, named after one of Gaza’s greatest public figures, and its theater, grand hall, public library, printing press and cultural salon.” 

This place was so impressive that Sarraj says even Bill Clinton visited it while he was president; it was, in fact, “the gem of Gaza City,” and it meant a great deal to Sarraj personally: “Watching it being built inspired me to become an engineer, which led to a career as a professor and, in the footsteps of al-Shawa, as mayor of Gaza City. Now that gem is rubble. It was destroyed by Israeli bombardment.”

Sarraj claims that “Israel, which began its blockade of Gaza more than 16 years ago and has maintained what the United Nations and human rights groups call an ongoing occupation for far longer, is destroying life here.” Destroying life! Sixteen years ago, in 2007, the population of Gaza was 1,416,543, up from 1,022,207 in 1997. In 2023, it’s 2.2 million, 64% higher than it was in 2007. If the Israelis are “destroying life” in Gaza and even committing a genocide, as many have charged, they’re doing a remarkably ineffective job of it.

Sarraj laments: “Why can’t Palestinians be treated equally, like Israelis and all other peoples in the world? Why can’t we live in peace and have open borders and free trade?” He doesn’t offer any answers, so I will, as the answer is not elusive at all: if Palestinians would stop trying to murder Israeli civilians and destroy the state of Israel altogether, they could have all of that and more.

Why is the New York Times publishing Hamas propaganda? Because doing so is consistent with its longstanding editorial policies. Ninety years ago, on July 9, 1933, just over five months after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany and years after his virulent anti-Semitism and propensity for violence had become internationally known, the Times published a fawning puff piece on the Führer.

Pulitzer Prize-winning “journalist” Anne O’Hare McCormick traveled to Berlin to interview the new chancellor, and in his presence, she was starstruck: “At first sight,” McCormick gushed, “the dictator of Germany seems a rather shy and simple man, younger than one expects, more robust, taller. His sun-browned face is full and is the mobile face of an orator.” McCormick seemed to have a crush on the future butcher of Europe: “His eyes are almost the color the blue larkspur in a vase behind him, curiously childlike and candid. He appears untired and unworried. His voice is as quiet as his black tie and his double-breasted black suit.” 

Hitler, McCormick signaled to her readers, was reasonable and genuine: “He begins to speak slowly and solemnly but when he smiles — and he smiled frequently in the course of the interview — and especially when he loses himself and forgets his listener in a flood of speech, it is easy to see how he sways multitudes. Then he talks like a man possessed, indubitably sincere.” What’s more, “Herr Hitler has the sensitive hand of the artist.”

In the 29th paragraph of a 41-paragraph article, McCormick says that she asked him: “How about the Jews? At this stage how do you measure the gains and losses of your anti-Semetic [sic] policies?” Hitler answered, she said, with “extraordinary fluency,” and she records his answer – a tissue of victim-blaming and excuse-making – at considerable length. Later, she says, “Herr Hitler’s tension relaxed. He smiled his disarming smile.”

Little did Anne O’Hare McCormick realize, as Hitler’s blue larkspur eyes twinkled in her direction and his disarming smile made her heart flutter, that all these years later, the New York Times would not only be publishing puff pieces about authoritarian thugs, but giving them space to propagandize to their heart’s content.

[careermantradotorg]

Alliance University Bangalore: A Premier Institution for Higher Learning

Alliance University, located in the vibrant city of Bangalore, is one of India's leading private universities. Established with a vision to provide world-class education and foster academic excellence, Alliance University Bangalore has quickly become a hub for students aspiring to pursue a career in various fields, including management, engineering, law, and more. The university is recognized for its commitment to high academic standards, global exposure, and a strong emphasis on research.

Why Choose Alliance University Bangalore?

1. Top-Notch Academic Programs

Alliance University offers a diverse range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral programs across its faculties of Management, Engineering, Law, and Liberal Arts. Some of the flagship courses include:

MBA at Alliance School of Business, which is among the top B-Schools in India.

B.Tech and M.Tech programs at the Alliance College of Engineering and Design.

BA LLB (Hons.) and LLM programs at Alliance School of Law, known for their strong legal curriculum.

2. Highly Qualified Faculty

One of the distinguishing factors of Alliance University Bangalore is its team of distinguished faculty members, who bring a wealth of academic and industry experience. Many of the professors are alumni of prestigious institutions such as IITs, IIMs, and top global universities, offering students the opportunity to learn from the best.

3. State-of-the-Art Campus

The campus of Alliance University in Bangalore is an architectural marvel that provides an ideal learning environment. Spanning over 55 acres, the campus is equipped with modern facilities including:

Smart classrooms with advanced learning aids.

Well-stocked libraries with vast collections of books, journals, and digital resources.

Laboratories with the latest equipment for engineering and science students.

Dedicated moot courts and simulation centers for law students.

In addition, the university has a vibrant campus life with clubs, events, and sports facilities that allow students to maintain a well-balanced lifestyle.

4. Global Collaborations

Alliance University Bangalore has established collaborations with over 45 reputed international universities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. These partnerships enable students to participate in exchange programs, internships, and research projects with global exposure. Some partner institutions include:

Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany.

Royal Roads University, Canada.

Nanjing University, China.

Through these collaborations, students can gain international exposure, preparing them to thrive in a globalized world.

5. Impressive Placement Record

Alliance University Bangalore takes pride in its excellent placement record. The Career Advancement and Networking (CAN) Cell works tirelessly to ensure students are well-prepared to enter the job market. The university has strong industry ties, attracting some of the best recruiters from India and abroad. Top companies like Amazon, Google, KPMG, Deloitte, and Infosys have recruited from Alliance University. The placement process includes:

Pre-placement talks.

Internship opportunities.

Grooming sessions to enhance soft skills.

With an average salary package on the rise and top-tier firms participating in the recruitment process, Alliance University is an attractive option for students seeking a promising career.

6. Bangalore: The Ideal Study Location

Bangalore, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India, provides the perfect backdrop for higher education. The city's thriving economy, home to numerous startups, multinational corporations, and a vibrant tech industry, makes it a great place for internships and networking opportunities. Additionally, the pleasant climate, cosmopolitan culture, and diverse social scene make it an ideal location for students from across the globe.

Conclusion

Alliance University Bangalore is a prestigious institution that stands out for its academic excellence, global collaborations, and strong placement opportunities. Whether you're looking to pursue business, engineering, law, or liberal arts, Alliance University offers a world-class education that will equip you with the skills needed to succeed in today's competitive world.

[renegade0897]

Sorry.

But I simply cannot support a driver with a childish bitchy immature attitude and one who says "you gotta have respect" for a Constitution-violating woman hating dictatorial manbaby in the making.

I also simply cannot stand him in this phase where he's all "look at me I'm performing better in F1 so I'm number 1. Fuck you I'm big now don't mess with me" type of vibe. This is literally white America college fratboy bully-type attitudes and I specifically remember the last time I encountered a fratboy like this in college he had a bloody nose and a broken left arm.

Yeah, bite me oh wise slut fans of his. Yeah, I SAID IT. You guys are so fucking beholden to him like toxic bitches you defend him like fucking Berlin in April 1945 over the smallest drips of stupidity he lets out. He's using his fans' cult-like loyalty to gain sympathy and generate rage among them so he can use that rage and spill it over the other drivers who get in his way of being "number 1."

Look at it this way, his fans are worse than MAGA. Anyways, he just said "you gotta respect" so why bother?

Immaturity will be your downfall asswipe, I hope it does. Because I thought you had potential, possibly a worthy successor to Sir Lewis. But no, with that kind of attitude, you're looking at career suicide at best.

[rabbitechoes]

a lot of big tracks to close out the month!!! some letdowns, but plenty of heaters!!! i think i prefer this new weekly format for these posts, but we shall see how it holds up once my college stuff starts again ...

to see last week's post, click here!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"Hog Calling Contest" - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

◇ released: July 23, 2024 ◇ featured on Flight b741 (not yet released) ◇ genres: southern rock, boogie rock, rockabilly

King Gizzard have released another fun single from their upcoming album soon. They're really putting some twang into their music and the results are pretty enjoyable. Maybe a bit too silly in some areas, the hog calling wasn't necessary although I guess it fits the name of the song. Looking forward to this one, should be a fun listen!! I plan on doing a quick binge of their recent albums to be prepared for this one also!

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"Long Dark Night" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

◇ released: July 23, 2024 ◇ featured on Wild God (not yet released) ◇ genres: singer-songwriter, chamber folk

I somehow keep forgetting that we're getting a new Bad Seeds album next month. This new single is great, as the other singles have been as well, and I couldn't be more excited for this record. Cave sounds like he hasn't heard a new song in at least 30 years, but he still manages to keep making songs that have a fresh energy to them. They use tools of old, but his words carry these songs to new heights. The run they've been on since Push the Sky Away in 2013 has been one of the strongest of their careers, up there with their heyday through the late 80s into the 90s. It seems as though with Wild God, that will remain to be true. One of my most anticipated records of the year.

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"Berlin Nightmare" | "One More Time" - SOPHIE

◇ released: July 23, 2024 | July 24, 2024 ◇ featured on SOPHIE (not yet released) ◇ genres: tech house, acid house | ambient trance, UK bass

These new SOPHIE songs have proven to be quite polarizing which I guess was bound to happen. No one wants to dislike these songs, but also the bar is set incredibly high. It's obvious this upcoming posthumous release will be focused on the pop side of her career, which is fine. I enjoyed both her dips into experimental and pop music - I mean, the two often coalesced, but I fear these new songs veer too heavily from from the experimentation that made SOPHIE such a unique artist. "Berlin Nightmare" is a crunchy house track that doesn't feel as unleashed as it should be and "One More Time" is a subdued ambient trance track that rules when it finally kicks into high gear, but it's kind of too little too late. I want to unabashedly love these new tracks - mainly these two songs, "Reason Why" was pretty great - but they're just not doing all that much for me. Still, I guess I'm glad we're getting a project like this that will hopefully provide further proof that SOPHIE was one of our generation's most defining artists.

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"GHOST" - LSDXOXO feat. Kelela

◇ released: July 23, 2024 ◇ featured on DOGMA (not yet released) ◇ genres: trap, alternative r&b

I have no idea who LSDXOXO is, but I've been on a big Kelela kick recently so I figured I would give this song a try. This is kind of rough. The beat is sort of toothless and the overly sexual lyrics are delivered with a lack of charisma that makes it boring and kind of gross. Kelela's vocal touches aren't even enough to salvage it. Skip this!

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"Imminent Redemption" - Jane's Addiction

◇ released: July 24, 2024 ◇ genres: alternative rock, alternative metal

This is the first new Jane's Addiction song with the band's original lineup in over 30 years and unfortunately it falls into a lot of the pitfalls older rock bands fall into when trying to modernize their sound. Granted, I've never been the biggest fan of the band. Maybe this is exhilarating for some, but I fail to hear anything special or noteworthy in "Imminent Redemption." Hope the fans are happy!

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"Chicken" - Pixies

◇ released: July 24, 2024 ◇ featured on The Night the Zombies Came (not yet released) �� genre: alternative rock

I've heard what I can only describe as "horror stories" about the Pixies newer material and how painfully average it all is. I've never been brave enough to venture into it, I don't want to sully my love for the band from their earlier seminal records, that is ... until now. "Chicken" sure is a song. It's fine. It's got a very subdued groove I guess. It's ok, I don't know. Am I still breathing?

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"New in Town" - Thurston Moore

◇ released: July 24, 2024 ◇ featured on Flow Critical Lucidity (not yet released) ◇ genre: post-rock

It looks like Sonic Youth fans are eating good this year because just months after Kim Gordon's insane new album The Collective, we're getting a new album from Thurston Moore. "New in Town" was released on Moore's 66th birthday and it recalls the excitement of a music scene that is bustling with exciting sounds - namely Washington D.C. in the 1980s and 1990s with bands like Minor Threat, Fugazi, and Bad Brains. Sonically, this is weird, but a lot more of what you might expect from Moore. It's a decent little song, but not one that matches the excitement and freshness it seems to be reminiscing on.

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"Fly" - Mura Masa feat. Cherish

◇ released: July 24, 2024 ◇ featured on Curve 1 (not yet released) ◇ genres: contemporary r&b, dance-pop

I've never done a listen to Mura Masa's music proper, but he has shown up on some good albums over the years - namely yeule's incredible album softscars from last year as well as PinkPantheress' recent work. Unfortunately, "Fly" isn't doing too much for me. It's well-crafted and well-produced, but it doesn't leave too much of a lasting impression. Your mileage may vary though.

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"Irish Goodbye" - Kacey Musgraves

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ featured on Deeper Well: Deeper into the Well (not yet released) ◇ genres: folk pop, singer-songwriter

Kacey Musgraves is releasing a deluxe edition of her most recent album Deeper Well and "Irish Goodbye" is one of the new tracks included. It's very pleasant which was my take on the bulk of the original album. These songs aren't adventurous or interesting, they're just pleasant on the ears. If you liked Deeper Well, I'm sure there will be plenty of love here.

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"Lucky" - Halsey

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ genre: alt-pop

It seems like Halsey is gearing up for a new album coming soon and these songs detail her struggles with her health and motherhood, which I commend her for being open about, but "Lucky" just misses the mark for me. Her last album was her strongest work to date, featuring her best material and most interesting production - courtesy of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This new song sees her delving into that contemporary alt-pop sound that it seems like everyone is doing. Her lyrics are unique to her, but these sounds are tired.

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"Guy For That" - Post Malone feat. Luke Combs

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ featured on F-1 Trillion (not yet released) ◇ genre: country pop

We got another new single from Post Malone's upcoming country album and I genuinely have nothing new to say about this one. My critiques for all of these songs have been the same. Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring, boring.

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"Hate Me" - Lil Yachty & ian

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ genres: new york drill, southern hip hop

So you're telling me Lil Yachty trash-talked the hip hop world after his mediocre detour into psychedelic rock, only to return and collaborate with this culture vulture who deliberately makes everything look like a joke. Sure, man. This song sucks, but we all knew that. The video is kind of cool though, if you listen on mute.

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"One Wish" - Ravyn Lenae feat. Childish Gambino

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ featured on Bird's Eye (not yet released) ◇ genres: contemporary r&b, neo-soul

I really enjoyed Ravyn Lenae's debut album Hypnos, but I just kind of lost touch of her since then. She has a new album on the way soon and a few singles have come out for it, namely this collab with Childish Gambino. This is a nice, sleek neo-soul cut that's very easy on the ears. Lenae has really come into her own as a vocalist too, she's easily the star of the show. Definitely gonna try to give Bird's Eye a listen.

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"Lonely Road" - mgk & Jelly Roll

◇ released: July 26, 2024 ◇ genres: country pop, emo rap

It's like Jelly Roll has blackmail on the dudes who make the worst music so he can land these shitty features left and right. My take on "Lonely Road," AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!!!

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"Kobe" | "Big Dog" - Kevin Abstract

◇ released: July 26, 2024 | July 29, 2024 ◇ featured on Glue (not yet released) ◇ genres: alternative r&b | pop rap

Kevin Abstract's supposedly long-awaited new project Glue is being released single-by-single on his Soundcloud. These songs are fine, but they just lack the enthusiasm present in his best work - he's been lacking that for a long time. "Kobe" creeps along without really grabbing you and while "Big Dog" has much more flair, it still leaves a lot on the table. The second verse is pretty great though and the most I've enjoyed a Kevin track since his features on Quadeca's new album ... wait look who features on this song!! Maybe Quadeca just brings out the best in him.

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"All You Children" - Jamie xx feat. The Avalanches

◇ released: July 30, 2024 ◇ featured on In Waves (not yet released) ◇ genre: tech house

I've been on a huge Jamie xx kick this month. I finally dove into In Colours as well as his We're New Here remix album with Gil Scott-Heron and I've firmly come to the conclusion that he's one of music's best active producers. This song with electronic legends The Avalanches is a great time. Built around a sample of a poem from Nikki Giovanni urging the listener to dance. It's infectious, it just makes you want to move. I can't wait for this album.

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"Flash in the Pan" | "Dream Sequence" - Jane Remover

◇ released: July 31, 2024 ◇ genres: alternative r&b, indietronica, emo rap

Jane Remover's two new songs go in a much different direction from Census Designated, but it's for the best I think. These songs rock. Some of the most energetic tracks from her, despite the heartbroken nature of the lyrics. One of my gripes with her last album was that the songs just didn't grab me enough, they often bled into the background, but that is not the case with these tracks. Apparently these songs are one-offs, but I do hope we hear more like this from Jane in the future. Loving these songs.

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"Tunnel Vision" - Magdalena Bay

◇ released: July 31, 2024 ◇ featured on Imaginal Disk (not yet released) ◇ genres: progressive pop, synthpop

We got another amazing song from Magdalena Bay to close out this month. "Tunnel Vision" is one of their wildest songs yet. Blending the surreal lyrical themes with even crazier instrumentation. It tricks you for the bulk of the song into thinking it's just a serene synthpop track before throwing you into this crazy prog-rock breakdown towards the end. Definitely not where I expected the song to go, but it rocks. I can't wait to give this a listen next month, perhaps my most anticipated album of the year right now.

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"I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All" - Father John Misty

◇ released: July 31, 2024 (or maybe July 13, 2024 idk who cares) ◇ featured on Greatish Hits: I Followed My Dreams and My Dreams Said to Crawl ◇ genres: indie rock, disco, piano rock

This new 8-minute single from Father John Misty is weird. Blending piano rock and subtle disco elements over his fantastical lyricism is a recipe for ... confusion. I don't love this song, but I definitely don't hate it. It's got a silly charm to it, I never thought I wanted to hear Mr. Tillman over a disco groove, but I guess I did. Curious to hear where he takes this sound - maybe nowehere given it's the only new track on his new greatest hits compilation. I've rarely been let down by him over the years, he's one of my favorite modern songwriters. Hell, this song is growing on me more and more too ... y'know what, this rules. Can't wait to hear more Western wandering traveler disco from him in the future.

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"Never Meant" - Iron and Wine

◇ released: July 31, 2024 ◇ featured on American Football (Covers) (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie folk, psychedelic folk

American Football were teasing something on social media for a little bit and many, including myself, assumed we were finally going to get LP4, but that isn't the case. Instead, we're getting an anniversary edition of their seminal debut record alongside a covers album. Iron and Wine had the duty of covering the iconic "Never Mean." This is fine, it's just a folk rendition of the song. Very pleasant, but I don't think I'll ever reach for this one over the original. Cautiously optimistic about this covers record - maybe some of these covers will wow me!!

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading :3

psssst. i made a discord server called COSMIACORD ... if u wanna join and have fun, talk about music, play fortnite, or whatever here's the invite :3 https://discord.gg/rsHMenTU

[jcmarchi]

John Buttrick, celebrated pianist and former director of music at MIT, dies at 88

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/john-buttrick-celebrated-pianist-and-former-director-of-music-at-mit-dies-at-88/

John Buttrick, celebrated pianist and former director of music at MIT, dies at 88

John LaBoiteaux Buttrick, a former professor in MIT’s Music and Theater Arts Section and prize-winning pianist, died in late November, 2023, in Zurich, Switzerland. He was 88.

Buttrick joined the humanities faculty at MIT in 1966, where he lectured and taught as a professor of humanities and music. He served as the head of MIT’s music section from 1967 to 1976. He taught introduction to music subjects as part of the humanities requirement and was, according to colleague and MIT professor Marcus Thompson, “very popular.” 

Buttrick was born Dec. 15, 1934. He grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and Nantucket, Massachusetts. He spent a year at Haverford College before later earning a BS in 1957 and an MS in 1959 from the Juilliard School of Music. He completed additional graduate work at Brandeis University. During his personal and professional career, he studied piano with Isidor Philipp, Rudolf Serkin, and Beveridge Webster. 

One of Buttrick’s first professional outings was as a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival. 

Beginning in 1961 he toured major European cities performing in recitals and as a soloist with symphony orchestras. Critics from news organizations in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Zurich lauded his “technical and musical prowess and his communicative gift.” He also toured with orchestras and groups across the United States and Europe for most of his life. 

During his tenure at MIT, Buttrick performed numerous solo recitals in Kresge Auditorium, favoring Beethoven. He was also a soloist with the MIT Symphony Orchestra on a national tour to several major American cities. The tour was hosted by the MIT Alumni Association and conducted by Professor Emeritus David Epstein.

An article in Time magazine reported that, under Buttrick’s leadership, MIT saw its music faculty more than double to 13 and oversaw the increasing popularity of its music courses; two-thirds of the 1973 sophomore class enrolled in them. The Institute’s student orchestra, under Buttrick’s direction, regularly sold out the Kresge Auditorium.

Buttrick, alongside MIT students, was also featured in a weekly radio program, “After Dinner,” which was broadcast on station WGBH in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The program featured “informal, four-handed playing of pieces by Mozart and Schubert.” 

He was frequently featured in chamber music presentations on MIT’s campus accompanied by other prominent artists like French flutist and Marlboro School of Music co-founder Louis Moyse, son of the famous flutist Marcel Moyse.

Buttrick was passionate about his musical forebears, particularly Beethoven. The liner notes Buttrick wrote for his 1983 album — “Ludwig von Beethoven: Klaviersonate Nr. 30 E-Dur, Op. 109 – Klaviersonate Nr. 31 As-Dur, Op. 110” — released in Switzerland on the label Jecklin Musikhaus, described Beethoven’s sounds as “melodic shapes and figurations” and “rounder and more undulant.”

Buttrick recorded several other albums of music by Franz Schubert, Ferruccio Busoni, Joseph Haydn, Max Reger, Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, L.van Beethoven, César Franck, and Frédéric Chopin. His favorite composers were Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, and Chopin.

Buttrick believed in music’s power to heal people. A former student of Joseph Pilates, Buttrick  healed after suffering significant injuries to his hand, arm, and shoulder. Later, he came to practice movement therapy, helping clients avoid surgery using alternative therapies.

While living in America, he was active on Nantucket and a member of the Congregational Church, where many passersby could hear him practicing the piano any given weekday.

In 1985, John relocated to Zurich, where he continued to teach, perform, and engage in the arts. While in Zurich, he met and later married Irene Buttrick. He officially took leave of his MIT position in 1988.

Buttrick is survived by his children, Miriam, David, Simon, and Michael; five grandchildren; ex-wife and caregiver Irene; brothers Daniel Drake and Hoyt Drake; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

[girlactionfigure]

Young Nuremberg Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz

His slogan was “law not war.”

Benjamin Ferencz was an investigator of Nazi war crimes who served as chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials and later dedicated his life to fostering world peace.

Born in Hungary in 1920, Ben immigrated to the U.S. with his family as an infant to escape anti-Jewish persecution. They settled in the lower east side of New York. Ben attended City College of NY, where he studied criminal law. He was an exceptional student and had such a high score on the final exam that he won a full scholarship to Harvard Law School. He graduated in 1943 and joined the US Army, where he served in an anti-aircraft artillery unit.

After the war ended in 1945, Ben was transferred to General Patton’s headquarters and assigned to a team investigating war crimes. He visited concentration camps immediately after they were liberated, and wrote: “Indelibly seared into my memory are the scenes I witnessed while liberating these centers of death and destruction. Camps like Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Dachau are vividly imprinted in my mind’s eye. Even today, when I close my eyes, I witness a deadly vision I can never forget – the crematoria aglow with the fire of burning flesh, the mounds of emaciated corpses stacked like cordwood waiting to be burned… I had peered into Hell.”

Later that year, he was honorably discharged with rank of sergeant. He went back to NY to start his law career, but was soon recruited to prosecute top Nazis for war crimes in the famous Nuremberg trials. Ben traveled to Germany and started interviewing Jewish survivors in Displaced Persons Camps. He told the Washington Post about the strange and disturbing post-war atmosphere, “Someone who was not there could never really grasp how unreal the situation was… I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?” He continued, “You know how I got witness statements? I’d go into a village where, say, an American pilot had parachuted and been beaten to death and line everyone up against the wall. Then I’d say, ‘Anyone who lies will be shot on the spot.’ It never occurred to me that statements taken under duress would be invalid.”

Ben had a lot to learn; the Nuremberg prosecution was his first criminal case! He went to Berlin with fifty researchers tasked with searching through every German office and archive. They uncovered a vast trove of evidence against the Nazis. Perhaps the most shocking was the revelation that many members of the German elite were integrally involved in Nazi atrocities. Doctors, lawyers, judges, professors, and business moguls were active participants in the genocide of the Jews.

At 27 years old, Ben Ferencz became Chief Prosecutor for the United States in the Einsatzgruppen Case, which the Associated Press called “the biggest murder trial in history.” Twenty-two men were on trial for murdering one million people.

All of the defendants were convicted and thirteen received the death penalty. Afterwards, Ben said, “Nuremberg taught me that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task. And I also learned that if we did not devote ourselves to developing effective world law, the same cruel mentality that made the Holocaust possible might one day destroy the entire human race.”

Ben devoted his life to the cause of world peace and wrote several books about how to achieve it. He was essential in the establishment of the International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ben’s slogan is “law not war.” After a long and full life, Ben died at age 103 in April 2023.

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[opera-ghosts]

Dramatic Soprano Elisabeth Ohms was born on 17 May 1888 in Arnheim in The Netherlands. Her interest in music was evident at an early age, when she began studying violin and piano playing. She did not turn to singing until she was 28, getting her training at the conservatory in Amsterdam and in Frankfurt am Main. Her first engagement was at the Stadttheater in Mainz, but after just two years she joined the company of the Munich State Opera, where she remained for two decades. With Munich as a base, she went on extensive guest tours all over the world. One of her admirers was Arturo Toscanini, under whom she sang Kundry and Isolde in 1927 and 1929 at La Scala in Milan; another was Richard Strauss, who was especially enthusiastic about her Isolde. lt goes without saying that this fine Wagner soprano was heard in Bayreuth, too; Toscanini asked for her as Kundry when he conducted "Parsifal" for the first time there in 1931. Her appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in 1930 and 1931 were outstandingly successful. As an exception, she began with "Fidelio"; then came the Brünnhildes in the Ring, Ortrud and Venus, and finally, to crown her work there, Isolde. After these years of international successes, Elisabeth Ohm limited her sphere of activities to Munich, where she performed only rarely and ended her stage career in 1942. She then resided in Marquartstein, where she died on 16 October 1974. Gertrud Bindernagel was born on 11 January 1894 in Magdeburg. She studied at the conservatory in her home town and was only 17 when she was engaged by the local Stadttheater as a practical trainee. From 1913 to 1917 she continued her studies at the College of Music in Berlin. After finishing them she went to the opera house in Breslau, where she stayed until 1919. In 1919-20 she was with the Regensburg Stadttheater. From 1921 to 1927 she was a member of the company of the Berlin State Opera, where she scored enormous successes in a repertoire ranging from Nedda in "I pagliacci" to Isolde. From 1927 on, Gertrud Bindemagel was heard mainly at the Städtische Oper in Berlin; guest tours took her to Barcelona, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna and Mannheim. Following a performance of "Siegfried" at Berlin's Städtische Oper she was shot by her husband under the arcades of the opera hause. Domestic quarrels had led to the attack, from which she did not recover. She died of complications on 3 November 1932. Marta Fuchs, the celebrated high dramatic soprano of the 1930s and 40s, began her career as an alto in concerts. Born on 1 January 1898 in Stuttgart, she made her opera debut, after five years of concert work, at the Stadttheater in Aachen, still as an alto. Only in the course of her next engagement - with the Dresden State Opera beginning in 1930 - was her voice transformed into a high dramatic soprano. After 1935 she was also a member of the Berlin State Opera company and went on to become one of the most famous Wagner sopranos of the time. In 1933 she was already singing at the Bayreuth Festival, and until 1942 she was hailed by audiences there as Isolde, Kundry and especially Brünnhilde. In 1933 and 1935-37 she took part in Wagner performances in Amsterdam. In 1938 she sang Isolde at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris. In 1936 she was heard with the Dresden State Opera ensemble in London's Covent Garden as Donna Anna, the Marschallin in "Rosenkavalier", and Ariadne. In 1942 she was acclaimed at the Vienna State Opera. After 1945 Marta Fuchs lived in Stuttgart, giving only occasional guest performances and concerts. She died in Stuttgart on 22 September 1974. Anny Konetzni, bom on 12 February 1902 in Ungarisch-Weisskirchen, got her vocal training at the Vienna Conservatory, where her teacher was the renowned heroic tenor Erik Schmedes. Later she studied with Jacques Stückgold in Berlin. She began her singing career at the Vienna Volksoper (1925) with alto and mezzo roles, but the change to the big dramatic soprano parts was not long in coming.

[georgy1915]

Dean Cokinos (born c. 1968) is an American football coach. He has held assistant coaching or head coaching positions with UMass Boston, Austin Peay, West Alabama, Noris Rams, Munich Cowboys, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers, San Angelo Stampede, Nashville Kats, Tennessee Valley Vipers, Alabama Vipers, Georgia Force, Alabama Hammers, New Orleans VooDoo, Tampa Bay Storm, Washington Valor, and the Berlin Rebels.

College career

Cokinos attended University of Massachusetts Boston, where he was a running back for the Beacons.[1] He was a college teammate of Pat Sperduto, whom he later served under in Nashville.t