#Christian Lopes

[todaysjewishholiday]

21 Tammuz 5784 (26-27 July 2024)

Shabbat shalom! Sabado bueno! Gut shabbes!

It is once again the most significant holiday in the Jewish calendar. Shabbat begins eighteen minutes before sunset on the twentieth of Tammuz and continues until full nightfall on the twenty second. May it be a day of rest and peace for all of us.

The parashat hashavua is Pinchas in Bamidbar, which contains the second census of the Israelites. It also contains the story of The daughters of Zelophechad, who petition for an adjustment of the laws of inheritance to account for families with no sons. The parsha shows HaShem adjusting the law in accordance with their request. Next, Yehoshua is chosen as Moshe’s successor and presented to the people. The parsha ends with instructions regarding korbanot to be offered on the major holidays, including the high holy days, which are described as being in the seventh month rather than the new year because the calendar is still counting from Nisan.

The twenty-first of Tammuz is also the yahrzeit of the Spanish martyr Don Lope de Vera y Alarcon, known at the end of his life by the self-chosen name Judah the Believer, who died at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition after six years of imprisonment and torture.

The mission of the church and crown to remove all Jews from the Iberian peninsula was doomed from the start for a number of reasons, chief among them that no matter how many Jews the Inquisitors hounded from Spanish and Portuguese shores, the very book on which they based their religion, the Christian Bible, was full of them. This is the flaw at the heart of all Christian antisemitism, for without us, their religion could never have come into being, and anybody who is exposed to Christianity through the Bible is also thereby exposed to the holiest texts of Judaism as well. And though Christian denominations have their own official interpretations of these texts, the words can speak for themselves to readers who decide to look for an understanding of their own.

This is what happened with Lope de Vera. Born into a Spanish noble family, he belonged to the class the Inquisition saw as the truest of all Spaniards. An academic prodigy, he entered the University of Salamanca at the age of fourteen, and due to a great aptitude with languages was soon fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew as well as Spanish. His study of the Tanakh in its original Hebrew led Lope, who had in all likelihood never met a living Jew, to privately reject Catholic teaching and identify with the faith and ritual practices described by the Torah. Lope made the mistake of describing his newfound convictions to his elder brother, who reported him to the Inquisition in a misguided effort to save his soul. For the next six years the young scholar was imprisoned, interrogated, and routinely tortured in an attempt to force him to recant. All these efforts only made him more certain of his decision to adopt the Jewish religion. He had no access to a Jewish community or any rabbi, and certainly was never able to complete halakhic conversion overseen by a beit din. But for simply professing his affection for the Jewish people and conviction that the messiah had not yet come and that the commandments of the Torah remained in effect, he was considered a profound threat to the very basis of Spanish Catholic society which had spent over a century convincing itself that there were no more Jews in Spain.

In prison, Lope performed a bris on himself, and refused all meat since it was not slaughtered in accordance with kosher laws. He took the name Judah the Believer in place of the name of his birth. After six years, his jailers despaired of all hope of persuading Lope to return to Catholic orthodoxy, and because freedom of conscience and religious association was anathema to the mission of the inquisitors, Lope de Vera y Alarcon was burned at the stake on the 21st of Tammuz 5404.

Before his death, Lope had prepared a written explanation of his journey from Catholicism to identification with the Jews of the Tanakh, as part of the meticulous records kept by the Inquisition of the “confessions” of its victims. This document was smuggled out of the Inquisition’s headquarters by a sympathizer with Lope’s persistence, and donated to a synagogue in Livorno. The Inquisition was unable to silence him, even in death.

[thankskenpenders]

There have been some interesting bits of Sonic-related news lately! This is the post where I comment on them.

Sonic Superstars

Finally! A new Sonic sidescroller! It's been too long.

Admittedly, in a perfect world, I would've wanted a Sonic Mania 2, but I'll take a 2.5D game with all new zones for sure, especially when the art direction for it looks this nice. And four-player co-op with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles AND Amy playable? Hell yeah. Also Fang is back, and there's a new funny little guy designed by Naoto Ohshima! Wow!

There's been some concern over how this will play, particularly after it was discovered it's being co-developed by Ohshima's company Arzest. They're perhaps best known for some mediocre Nintendo games like Yoshi's New Island, Hey! Pikmin, and the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic 2016, as well as, of course... co-production on Balan Wonderworld. The thing is, Arzest is very much one of those "silent collaborator" type companies. They're hired gun developers who do the grunt work on projects for other studios without being put in the spotlight. The quality of their games isn't really up to Arzest, who are presumably just doing whatever they're directed to do with whatever resources they're allotted. It's up to their publishers.

Based on the side-by-side physics comparisons that have been going around Twitter, it seems clear that SOMEONE on this project is invested in making Superstars play just like the classic games. I'm admittedly no Sonic physics purist, but the extended gameplay footage (with placeholder music from Sonic 4 Episode 2) looks spot on to me. Christian Whitehead also seems to know things about the game, stating that "the Mania physics were indeed fully translated to modern 3D." It seems that at the very least they consulted his previous work on this, regardless of whether or not he's actually involved.

But even if this ends up not being true, honestly, I'll take a new Sonic sidescroller that's "just okay" if it has all new zones, nice art direction, and good music. If Sonic 4 had checked those three boxes but played exactly the same, I would've been way more into it.

Really, it's the music that has me most concerned. Obviously we all love Jun Senoue, but hearing he's trying to do "classic-style" music again makes me worry that he's gonna bust out the fake Genesis synths. I'm actually a weirdo who likes the Classic Sonic stage themes in Forces, but those weren't by Senoue, whose otherwise very strong compositions were really hurt by the sound palette chosen for Sonic 4. Like many others, I'd prefer it if Superstars went for the new jack swing sound of Sonic Mania - and considering Tee Lopes is contributing, hopefully he's allowed to tap into that sound a little. But I'd be open to other styles, too. I just really don't think a game with HD visuals should be going for a fake 16-bit sound.

But yeah, overall, I'm looking forward to Superstars. I think we've needed something like this for a long time, and I'm glad they're finally doing it.

Sega union update

We don't have many details on this, but the newly forming Sega of America union, AEGIS-CWA, is facing resistance from management. Apparently some form of "anti-union campaign" (their wording) is underway, also described more worryingly as "relentless attempts at union busting." We unfortunately don't have more details right now, and it seems like no news outlets are doing anything with this story.

This behavior is unfortunately not surprising, even from a company that purports progressive values like Sega. Remember kids: corporations are not your friends.

In the face of this, the members of AEGIS-CWA are still trying to convince management to stay neutral with the help of their fan petition that raised over 4300 signatures. At the time of writing this, their first union election is also underway. I continue to wish them luck in their efforts. We're currently seeing a wave of unionization attempts the likes of which we've never seen before, and I have to hope that at least some of them stick. We need real change in the game industry, an industry where if you're able to stick around longer than ten years without burning out then you're one of the lucky ones.

Okay now time for the thing y'all really wanted me to comment on

Penders says he's leaving Twitter

Earlier this month, Penders announced: "Since Twitter is promoting anti-trans nonsense, I can’t in good conscience continue to be associated with it much longer."

He's certainly not wrong. Elon's been doubling down on his transphobic fearmongering, and Twitter's already weak moderation of hate speech has only gotten even weaker. (They quietly removed their rule against intentional misgendering in April.) But based on the date he tweeted this, I assume Ken was referring specifically to Elon promoting Matt Walsh's shit ass transphobic documentary, which Elon personally allowed to be hosted on Twitter in its entirety. I'd quit the site myself if it didn't feel necessary to promote my work and stay connected with my peers. (Both the furry community and the gamedev sphere are very much centered on Twitter.) Assuming Ken does actually leave in protest, hey, good on him.

There's been some surprise over the fact that he's apparently a trans ally, but for all his many flaws, Penders has always been your average baby boomer Democrat. Half his tweets are about hoping Trump goes to jail. He has many outdated views that he refuses to unpack (I am not going to devolve this post into a catalog of stupid shit he's tweeted), but he at least understands that "progressive" is a thing you should try to be. He's that uncle who you wouldn't go to for a nuanced view on queer identity, but like, he knows trans people exist and are discriminated against and that that's bad.

Of course, instead of just leaving Twitter, he's announced that he intends to leave by September 30th, after which point people will have to contact him via his website. The idea of someone scheduling a date four months in the future on which they're going to leave a social media platform in protest is very, very funny to me. I wonder if he has something planned for September that needs to happen first - like, you know, maybe finally releasing at least a portion of The Lara-Su Chronicles?

Lord knows when the hell we'll be able to read the first part of the comic, but in the near future you WILL be able to buy THIS on a t-shirt!

Wait did he change that one character from Anthony Mackie to Ernie Hudson???

Anyway, my one hope is just that even if he does leave Twitter, he doesn't delete his account. His tweets have long been one of my most important sources for behind the scenes info on Archie Sonic, even if you do have to take some of it with a grain of salt. Gallagher and Bollers are simply not going on Twitter and talking about this stuff on a regular basis like Ken does. With so many old forums and fan sites now gone, only partially preserved by the Wayback Machine, Ken deleting his Twitter would truly be the burning of the library of Alexandria for old Archie Sonic behind the scenes drama.

You know, assuming he actually does leave Twitter.

...

Aaaand that about does it for Sonic-related news lately, I think? Okay, back to my hiatus. I would still like to get back to updating sometime this year, but I'm still in recovery mode following SLARPG's launch, so I can't promise when that'll be. I appreciate everyone's continued patience!

[raayllum]

twice as many stars

summary: Sir Sparklepuff has thirty days to live. (He doesn’t know it, yet.)

a/n: i took sir sparklepuff and his existential horror story of a life far too seriously and cried. i hope you will too. also TWs for abusive relationships (hi Aaravos), dubious morality, character death, some on page violence, and elements of Christian religious trauma. :))

word count: 8.7k

Tomorrow when the farm boys find this freak of nature, they will wrap his body in newspaper and carry him to the museum.

But tonight he is alive and in the north field with his mother. It is a perfect summer evening: the moon rising over the orchard, the wind in the grass. And as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual. —Two Headed Calf by Laura Gilpin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sir Sparklepuff has thirty days to live.

(He doesn’t know it, yet.)

Or technically, he has twenty-nine, but he can’t count. His fingers are too long and too few to count, his eyes too busy blinking and taking in the wonder of the fascinating world around him with all his large, yellow rimmed gaze of possibility.

There are three creatures like him, one in black on her knees, one crouched by her in white, and one with something akin to his antenna atop a green head, and what can only be described as purpose-purpose-purpose tugs in his chest. Sir Sparklepuff twitches forward, standing and then loping forward on all preferable fours.

His mind is a scrambled synapses of information and snatches at sentience, and the world is so very big and wide and bright.

It is, he thinks, a deeper voice within his mind supplying the proper word, beautiful.

He hopes he will get to enjoy it.

read the rest on AO3

[momo-de-avis]

Do you have any favourite (PT) paintings?

Yes several

Cinco Artistas em Sintra (five artists in Sintra), João Cristino da Silva. Notice Pena in the far left corner, before the forest of Sintra was planted.

Santo António (Saint Anthony, above) and Auto Retrato (Self Portrait, below) by Aurélia de Souza

Celebrando o São Martinho (Celebrating Saint Martin, or the Drunkards, above) and Concerto de Amadores (Amateur Concert, below) by Columbano Bordalo Pinheiro (the second one is impressive to see live)

A Blusa Azul (the blue shirt), Adriano de Sousa Lopes

A Vida (Life) and Nocturno (nocturne), António Carneiro. First one is a massive triptych

Colheita - Ceifeiras (Lumiar) (harvest - reapers), de Silva Porto

One of my absolute favourites, I cannot describe the impact this painting had on me when I first saw it live. Mártir Cristão (Christian Martyr), by Joaquim Vitorino Ribeiro

As Promessas (Promises, above) and Leonor de Viseu (Leonor of Viseu, below), by José Malhoa

Nu (nude), Eduardo Viana

À Espera dos Barcos (waiting for fishingboats), Marques de Oliveira

Coty, Amadeu de Souza Cardoso, literally one of my favourite paintings in the entire world

Barco Desaparecido (missing ship), Sousa Pinto. You can tell I'm a slut for Realism by now, I hope

Just the ones at the top of my head tbh

[familyabolisher]

But Don Quixote’s names and actions hide a much bigger secret. Following Todorov, there is a double movement toward and away from the revelation. In the end, all that can be said is that the play of genre and narrative may point to a specific hidden mystery, one that deals with a clash of civilizations and the anxieties it causes the protagonist. This secret both complements and contrasts with the vision of a knight as a ghostly Charles V. Don Quixote as a new Charles is deprived of all power except that of the imagination as he rides through the genres. He personifies an emperor who upon abdication has become ‘the ghost of all power.’ While the emperor repeatedly walks the halls of the monastery thinking of his past achievements and hollow present, the knight rides through an impoverished Spain, seeking the power that Charles discarded, only to find visions less substantial than his emaciated body. It may be that his haunting is there to warn those who sympathize with the knight that the imperial pursuits of the narrative are flawed, that the secret must be revealed. Indeed, the narrative is filled with ghosts that haunt the text and the knight. We may recall that Derrida has fostered the study of what he calls ‘hauntology’ (1994, 10). I will use the ghostly in a different manner, seeking to glimpse at the mysteries that hide between worlds and between genres. In a sense, this study comes closer to Todorov’s view of the ghosts in Henry James, who are interpreted as part of the secret of narrative. While no one (except Sancho) really believes in Don Quixote’s ghosts, he does, creating a kind of hesitation in the novel that points to Todorov’s notion of the fantastic. But the ghosts in the novel are there to point to an absence, to that which is missing and cannot be fully recaptured: ‘the core of a story will often be an absence . . . and its quest will be the only possible presence’ (1977, 184). Although we are delighted by the permutations of Don Quixote’s quest, and we may even laugh at the ghostly appearances in the novel, there are secrets here that defy disclosure. As Todorov argues: ‘In order for this ever-absent cause to become present, it must be a ghost’ (1977, 154). Don Quixote is surrounded by the absent, by ghosts, as he unwittingly conceals the secrets of the narrative. But the novel makes his exploits even more mysterious. If Don Quixote stands for a ghostly Charles V, then what we have is a near impossibility – a ghost that is being haunted by other ghosts.

[…] Ghosts also have another important use: to whisper a secret from the past, an awful event that returns them to a world now alien to them. Two examples will suffice: Hamlet’s ghost comes to warn the prince of a terrible secret. We may read of a haunting similar to Shakespeare’s in a play ascribed to Lope de Vega, Dineros son calidad. These hollow beings impel the living to action. And this is precisely what happens in Don Quixote, although the ghosts’ whispers are never heard. Throughout part 1, we hear incessantly about ghosts. In chapter 17 the goings-on at the inn are attributes to Moorish ghosts; in chapter 19 a funeral procession in the night seems like a ghostly apparition; and in chapter 20 a clanging of chains make both Sancho and Don Quixote think they are in a ghost story. These ghosts that haunt Don Quixote could well be visions created by the excess of melancholy. Although this partially explains his imaginings, it says nothing of the secret they have come to reveal. This is the mystery that will never be told, preserving the essential absence as key to the text. At the same time, it is possible to build a theory overlaying absence; it is possible to trace the figures on the carpet, the whispers of the ghosts. These ghosts that pursue the ghostly knight are also ghosts of a Christian empire that seeks to subject and exorcise the other.

Frederick A. de Armas, 'Pillars of Genre, Ghosts of Empire: An Introduction,' from Don Quixote Among the Saracens: A Clash of Civilisations and Literary Genres

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: May 16, 2024

In his memoir Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens considered “why it is that anti-Semitism is so tenacious and so protean and so enduring”. Many of us in the west have grown complacent, assuming that the horrors of the Holocaust would prevent this ancient prejudice from re-emerging. But as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates, few of us can be in any doubt that antisemitism has once again goose-stepped into the spotlight.

Of course, criticism of the Israeli government and its military strategy is entirely legitimate. So too is our profound concern for the innocents of Gaza and the many thousands of non-combatants who are losing their lives. But there is no denying the explicit anti-Jewish hatred that has accompanied these discussions in certain quarters. Criticise Israel all you like, but don’t try to tell me that Monday night’s daubing of the Shoah memorial in Paris with handprints of red paint was anything other than antisemitic.

Social media has opened our eyes to the prevalence of such sentiments. The other day I posted a link to my Substack piece about the Eurovision Song Contest on that hellsite now known as X. My focus in the article was on the narcissism of the “non-binary” performers, but one feminist activist decided to make it all about Israel. Underneath my post, she added an image of Eden Golan, the Israeli entry to the competition, with bloodstains photoshopped onto her dress. She went on to dismiss the victims of the October 7 pogrom as “silly ravers” and to blame the massacre on the IDF. Whatever else one might say about such views, it is clearly evidence of a complete absence of basic humanity.

This is sadly not uncommon. Recently we have seen protesters openly supporting Hamas, or even praising its acts of barbarism. A new poll has found that 63% of students currently protesting at US universities have at least some sympathy for Hamas. There have been overtly antisemitic statements, and Jews have been harassed on campus. It has been reported that at Columbia University, one protester cried out “We are Hamas” while another shouted at a group of Jewish students: “The 7 October is about to be every fucking day for you. You ready?” These are the very people who have spent the last few years calling anyone who dissents even slightly from their worldview a “fascist”, and yet they are blind to actual fascism when it emerges within their own ranks.

All of this has taken me by surprise, which perhaps reveals the extent of my naivety. Antisemitism is nothing new, and has assumed myriad and outlandish forms over the centuries. Our own country has not been immune; Jews were deported from England in 1290, only to be readmitted in 1656. Before then, only those who had converted to Christianity were allowed to remain; specially, they were able to reside at the Domus Conversorum in London, established by Henry III in 1232. Anti-Jewish sentiments were reignited by a plot to poison Elizabeth I in 1594, which was blamed on her physician Roderigo Lopes, a Portuguese man of Jewish ancestry who was executed for treason. This is the context in which the forced conversion of Shylock at the end of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice ought to be understood.

Unpleasant myths about Jews have abounded throughout history, some of which still linger in Islamic regimes and the darker crannies of the internet where neo-Nazis gather to wallow in their bile. The poisoning of wells by Jews was thought to have initiated the Black Death epidemic in 1348. This notion was still pervasive by the time Christopher Marlowe wrote his play The Jew of Malta in 1589 (consider Barabas’s mass extermination of an entire convent of nuns by means of “a precious powder”, or his boastful claim: “Sometimes I go about and poison wells”).

The hate-filled fantasies didn’t end there. The seventeenth-century preacher Thomas Calvert speculated that male Jews menstruated and murdered Christian infants to replenish their blood. In a 1656 pamphlet addressing the question of readmission, the puritan polemicist William Prynne stated that “Jews almost every year crucify one child, to the injury and contumely of Jesus”.

Those who have been paying attention will have noticed new forms of these blood libels recurring online in recent months, with many activists claiming that Israel is specifically targeting children in the conflict. For whatever reason, many opponents of the war cannot resist veering into antisemitic tropes. Most examples are coming from those who identify as “left-wing” and “progressive”, which just goes to show how antisemitism is not specific to any one political mindset. Its tendency to rematerialise in unexpected guises means that we ought to be eternally vigilant. I had never been able to grasp how Holocaust denial could be so widespread in the face of such unequivocal evidence. But having heard so many denials of the October 7 massacre, including scepticism from prominent left-wing commentators over whether rapes actually took place, I can see that such revisionism is more common than I assumed.

The unique horror of the Holocaust shows us that human civilisation might at any point collapse into the abyss. In Anthony Burgess’s novel Earthly Powers, the narrator Ken Toomey witnesses the immediate aftermath at Buchenwald, what he describes at the “lowest point in human history”. His newfound sense of humankind’s capacity for evil leads him to conclude that we cannot possibly have been created by God. This is the essence of despair.

The novelist Mervyn Peake was one of the first to see Bergen-Belsen after its liberation by allied forces. He visited the camp in the role of a war artist, and what he saw there haunted him forever. His final novel Titus Alone is a fragmentary and bleak affair, a consequence partly of his degenerative illness, but also of his psychological need to reckon with the evil he had glimpsed. It appears in the novel in the form of the “factory”, a chilling place of shadows and death, where identical faces stare out of countless windows and macabre scientific experiments are conducted within its walls.

One of Peake’s sketches from Belsen depicts a young girl, looking directly at the artist as she lies dying from consumption.

As he drew the girl, Peake was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness and self-reproach. In the final stanza of his poem “The Consumptive. Belsen, 1945”, he tried to make sense of his feelings:

Her agony slides through me: am I glass That grief can find no grip Save for a moment when the quivering lip And the coughing weaker than the broken wing That, fluttering, shakes the life from a small bird Caught me as in a nightmare? Nightmares pass; The image blurs and the quick razor-edge Of anger dulls, and pity dulls. O God, That grief so glibly slides! The little badge On either cheek was gathered from her blood: Those coughs were her last words. They had no weight Save that through them was made articulate Earth’s desolation on the alien bed. Though I be glass, it shall not be betrayed, That last weak cough of her small, trembling head.

As Peake sketches the girl he struggles with the sheer futility of it all. He is troubled that his pity is fleeting, that even in the moment he is too focused on his task and not on the human being who lies dying before him. But is this really a lack of empathy, or a natural human reaction to the knowledge that there is nothing he can do to remedy the cruelties of the world?

The evil of the Holocaust serves as a reminder of what can happen when fascism prevails. We cannot afford to be complacent while antisemitism is on the rise and supposed progressives are cheering on those who openly wish to eliminate an entire race of people. If nothing else, we should do our utmost to ensure that the lessons of history are not forgotten.

[mote-historie]

The New Look, TV Series, AppleTV+

This emotionally thrilling series reveals the shocking story of how fashion icon Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and his contemporaries, including Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), Pierre Balmain (Thomas Poitevin), Lucien Lelong (John Malkovich) and Cristóbal Balenciaga (Nuno Lopes), navigated the horrors of World War II and launched modern fashion.

[nablah]

Sheep Eating Tigers: reflections on EDSA and Fuenteovejuna

[ID: a 15 page comic.

Page 1:  Sheep Eating Tigers: reflections on EDSA and Fuenteovejuna. 02.25.2023, ika-37 na anibersaryo ng People Power Revolution. The words are in circular form, with illustrations of wounded sheep licking at blood and a tiger with its intestines out surrounding the text. A spiral serves as the backdrop. Several newspapers detailing the EDSA revolution are placed on the bottom of the image.

Page 2:  1521: An European expedition arrives on a group of islands. (This line is crossed out) No that's a bit wrong. 11000-8000 BCE: The first sheep are domesticated by humans in Mesopotamia. In a sense, the history of sheep begins with Mesopotamia. In a sense, the history of the Philippines begins with Spain.

Page 3:  Over time sheep are bred and traded over large swathes of land to address a number of human needs: meat, milk, wool, skin, sacrifice. (A sheep skull is in the background) 6000-1000 BCE: Sheep are introduced and bred in Europe. Spain becomes particularly wealthy from the production and trade of merino wool.

Page 4:  Some facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): (what follows are screenshots from Wikipedia) Sheep are herbivorous animals sheep have a strong tendency to follow frequently thought of as unintelligent animals however, sheep are usually silent in pain peripheral vision may be greatly reduced by "wool blindness" little ability to defend themselves

Page 5:  The image is text interspersed with Wikipedia screenshots. More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries) Followers of Christianity are often referred to as a flock, with Christ as the Good Shepherd. 1521: An European expedition arrives on a group of islands.  Christianity is introduced to what we now call the Philippines. little ability to defend themselves 1521: Ferdinand Magellan attacks Lapulapu’s forces in a gesture of superiority (this is slashed) goodwill to Datu Zula. He is killed. Domestic sheep provide a wide array of raw materials 1564-1898: Spanish colonial era in the Philippines. Agriculture in the Philippines is used to supply tobacco, sugar, abaca, etc. for use and trade, most notably in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade.

Page 6:  1580 - 1681: Siglo de Oro or, the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque Literature. More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): little ability to defend themselves 1972: Ferdinand Marcos declares Martial Law in response to communism in the Philippines. Marks the period of the Philippine “Golden Age” and the “Tiger Economy”.     

Page 7:   More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): Sheep themselves may be a medium of trade in barter economies August 1898: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the Spanish and US governments, transferring ownership of some Spanish territories, including the Philippines, to the US. This marks the beginning of the American colonial era. In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led. December, 1898: A policy of “benevolent assimilation” is declared, putting the Philippines under American governance.

Page 8:  More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): animals that prey on sheep include but are not limited to: felines, birds of prey, and feral hogs. Three images of a governor general, a president, and a family portrait follow, faces covered by red dots and figures outlined in red. A screenshot also reads "In the English language, to call someone a sheep or ovine may allude that they are timid and easily led."

Page 9: 1619: Lope de Vega publishes Fuenteovejuna (trans. “The Sheep’s Fountain”), a play detailing an uprising in 1476: The villagers of Fuenteovejuna rise up against oppression and kill the local feudal lord. When investigated, the collective response given is “Fuenteovejuna did it.” February 22-25, 1986 "The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines." Below the snippet, the line "little ability to defend themselves" is repeated. 

Page 10: The two previous snippets on Fuenteovejuna is repeated. January 17-20 2001 The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced EDSA Two or EDSA Dos), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001 which peacefully overthrew the government of Joseph Estrada, the thirteenth president of the Philippines. Following allegations of corruption against Estrada and his subsequent investigation by Congress, impeachment proceedings against the president were opened on January 16. The decision by several senators not to examine a letter which would purportedly prove Estrada's guilt sparked large protests at the EDSA Shrine in Metro Manila, and calls for Estrada's resignation. Below the snippet, the line "little ability to defend themselves" is repeated

Page 11: More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): Approximately 540 million sheep are slaughtered each year. A sum from 1972 to 2023 follows, interspersed with the line "little ability to defend themselves". The numbers are: 77, 556, 294, 3257, 1205, 1959, 3658, 35000, 70000, 117000000. A line reads "Pass your paper. You will never finish counting."

Page 12:  More facts about domesticated sheep (Ovis aries): little ability to defend themselves 1972: Ferdinand Marcos declares Martial Law in response to communism in the Philippines. February 22-25, 1986: The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of civil resistance against regime violence and electoral fraud. The nonviolent revolution led to the departure of Ferdinand Marcos, the end of his 20-year dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the Philippines. The line "little ability to defend themselves is repeated. animals that prey on sheep include but are not limited to: felines, birds of prey, and feral hogs. May 25, 2022 The son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos is declared president elect of the Republic of the Philippines amidst protests.

Page 13:  1619: Lope de Vega publishes Fuenteovejuna (trans. “The Sheep’s Fountain”), a play detailing an uprising in 1476: The villagers of Fuenteovejuna rise up against oppression and kill the local feudal lord. When investigated, the collective response given is “Fuenteovejuna did it.” Below, two handwritten speech text: How long does this play last? How many people can you sacrifice?

Page 14:  Handwritten: How long will you remember? is reflected by How long will you forget? A road with the name Epifanio de los Santos Avenue is drawn below. Below both is another handwritten text: How long will you forget? reflected by How long will you remember?

Page 15:  Text: Based on your reading of Isaiah 11:6, heaven is paradise for? A handwritten note reads: Tick only one. Three checkboxes follow, one for sheep, one for tiger, one for the one who eats. Pen marks dot the checkboxes. Text under reads “Pass your paper. The play is about to start.” The artist signature is in the corner. /end ID]

[movienized-com]

The New Look

The New Look (Serie 2024) #BenMendelsohn #JulietteBinoche #MaisieWilliams #JohnMalkovich #EmilyMortimer #ClaesBang Mehr auf:

Serie Jahr: 2024- (Januar) Genre: Biografie / Drama / History Hauptrollen: Ben Mendelsohn, Juliette Binoche, Maisie Williams, John Malkovich, Emily Mortimer, Claes Bang, Hugo Becker, Alexis Loizon, Thomas Poitevin, Zabou Breitman, Jodie Ruth-Forest, Yahli Cohen, Glenn Close, Nuno Lopes … Serienbeschreibung: Paris, während der Besetzung der Nazis im Zweiten Weltkrieg: Christian Dior (Ben…

[dustedmagazine]

Armbruster — Can I Sit Here (Dear Life)

Violinist Conor Armbruster has shifted gears on Can I Sit Here. His previous release, Masses, reveled in the generous acoustics of an acoustic violin in a church sanctuary. On his latest for Dear Life, Can I Sit Here, the recording of an electric violin is close-miked and in mono, with many of the tracks using lots of distortion. Some electric violins have a number of extra strings that allow the performer to access a wider registral compass. That is certainly the case here. There is more use of drones too, as well as sounds inspired by heavy post-rock and even metal.

The leadoff track, “I’m Really Trying to Catch Up With You Soon,” bridges the gap between Masses and Can I Sit Here, with repetitions of organ-like sonorities wafting in the high register. Eventually, a thunderous, sustained bass register line enters as do treble register rock solos. The ostinato persists, creating a piece that, if only it had drums, would sound every bit like a piece by Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Indeed, in places one wishes that percussion, even electronic percussion, was incorporated.

“Playground” has a distorted repeating chord progression that registrally unfolds into a bold, bracing textural environment. It is nearly two thirds of the way through the piece that a rollicking solo is added. Shrieking “bird calls” arrive, as does dynamic intensity, the conclusion abandoning the chord progression for a sustained dissonant high note. In “Playground,” Mogwai seems like a touchstone. In fact, one could readily hear Armbruster touring in support of some of the aforementioned ensembles, heating up the crowd with searing strings.

“No Other News” features a constantly pulsating high note juxtaposed with bass strings in a wayward melody. The piece breaks into triplets against dovetailing melodies. Partway through, the ostinato from “Playground” makes a brief appearance, followed by bent bass notes and glissandos against the upper drone. It concludes with another repeated note in the low register and a swath of chords. “Lament” remains a chordal ostinato for most of its duration, until it goes sideways in a downward bend. “Thank You for Putting These Feelings Into Words” follows closely upon, with repeated spacy riffs providing the mood of a sci-fi soundtrack. Perhaps the catchiest among selections is “Tell the Crowd,” with a loping repeating bass-line and a solo that combines Americana and experimental music. “Can’t Wait To Be Chillin’” closes the album with a seven-minute work in which the violinist takes his time, with another bass ostinato and an alto register solo dovetailing alongside it. It is only near the end of the piece that Armbruster moves from a clean sound to distorted chordal slides. The close is a fragmented version of the ostinato, gradually fading.

The technical underpinning of Armbruster’s music is impressively assured and the sounds he explores are consistently interesting. Can I Sit Here makes me eager to hear what surprises he has up his sleeve for the future.

Christian Carey

[awardseason]

21st Annual Visual Effects Society Awards — Film Winners

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature Avatar: The Way of Water – Richard Baneham, Walter Garcia, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, JD Schwalm — WINNER Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Christian Mänz, Olly Young, Benjamin Loch, Stephane Naze, Alistair Williams Jurassic World: Dominion – David Vickery, Ann Podlozny, Jance Rubinchik, Dan Snape, Paul Corbould The Batman – Dan Lemmon, Bryan Searing, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, Dominic Tuohy Top Gun: Maverick – Ryan Tudhope, Paul Molles, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, Scott Fisher

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature Death on the Nile – George Murphy, Claudia Dehmel, Mathieu Raynault, Jonathan Bowen, David Watkins I Wanna Dance With Somebody – Paul Norris, Tim Field, Don Libby, Andrew Simmonds The Fabelmans – Pablo Helman, Jennifer Mizener, Cernogorods Aleksei, Jeff Kalmus, Mark Hawker The Gray Man – Swen Gilberg, Viet Luu, Bryan Grill, Cliff Welsh, Michael Meinardus The Pale Blue Eye – Jake Braver, Catherine Farrell, Tim Van Horn, Scott Pritchard, Jeremy Hays Thirteen Lives – Jason Billington, Thomas Horton, Denis Baudin, Michael Harrison, Brian Cox — WINNER

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Aaron Weintraub, Jeffrey Schaper, Cameron Carson, Emma Gorbey, Mad God, Chris Morley, Phil Tippett, Ken Rogerson, Tom Gibbons — WINNER Strange World – Steve Goldberg, Laurie Au, Mark Hammel, Mehrdad Isvandi The Bad Guys– Pierre Perifel, Damon Ross, Matt Baer, JP Sans The Sea Beast – Joshua Beveridge, Christian Hejnal, Stirling Duguid, Spencer Lueders Turning Red – Domee Shi, Lindsey Collins, Danielle Feinberg, Dave Hale

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature  Avatar: The Way of Water: Kiri – Anneka Fris, Rebecca Louise Leybourne, Guillaume Francois, Jung-Rock Hwang — WINNER Beast: Lion – Alvise Avati, Bora Şahin, Chris McGaw, Krzysztof Boyoko Disney’s Pinocchio: Honest John – Christophe Paradis, Valentina Rosselli, Armita Khanlarpour, Kyoungmin Kim Slumberland: Pig – Fernando Lopes Herrera, Victor Dinis, Martine Chartrand, Lucie Martinetto

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Geppetto – Charles Greenfield, Peter Saunders, Shami Lang-Rinderspacher, Noel Estevez-Baker Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Pinocchio – Oliver Beale, Richard Pickersgill, Brian Leif Hansen, Kim Slate — WINNER Strange World: Splat – Leticia Gillett, Cameron Black, Dan Lipson, Louis Jones Turning Red: Panda Mei – Christopher Bolwyn, Ethan Dean, Bill Sheffler, Kureha Yokoo

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature Avatar: The Way of Water: Metkayina Village – Ryan Arcus, Lisa Hardisty, Paul Harris TaeHyoung David Kim Avatar: The Way of Water: The Reef – Jessica Cowley, Joe W. Churchill, Justin Stockton, Alex Nowotny — WINNER Jurassic World Dominion: Biosyn Valley – Steve Ellis, Steve Hardy, Thomas Dohlen, John Seru Slumberland: The Wondrous Cuban Hotel Dream – Daniël Dimitri Veder, Marc Austin, Pavan Rajesh Uppu, Casey Gorton

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: In the Stomach of a Sea Monster – Warren Lawtey, Anjum Sakharkar, Javier Gonzalez Alonso, Quinn Carvalho — WINNER Lightyear: T’Kani Prime Forest – Lenora Acidera, Amy Allen, Alyssa Minko, Jose L. Ramos Serrano Strange World: The Windy Jungle – Ki Jong Hong, Ryan Smith, Jesse Erickson, Benjamin Fiske The Sea Beast: The Hunting Ship – Yohan Bang, Enoch Ihde, Denil George Chundangal, John Wallace Wendell & Wild: The Scream Fair – Tom Proost, Nicholas Blake, Colin Babcock, Matthew Paul Albertus Cross

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project ABBA: Voyage – Pär M. Ekberg, John Galloway, Paolo Acri, Jose Burgos Avatar: The Way of Water – Richard Baneham, Dan Cox, Eric Reynolds, A.J Briones — WINNER Prehistoric Planet – Daniel Fotheringham, Krzysztof Szczepanski, Wei-Chuan Hsu, Claire Hill The Batman: Rain Soaked Car Chase – Dennis Yoo, Michael J. Hall, Jason Desjarlais, Ben Bigiel

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project Avatar: The Way of Water: The Sea Dragon – Sam Sharplin, Stephan Skorepa, Ian Baker, Guillaume Francois — WINNER The Sea Beast – Maxx Okazaki, Susan Kornfeld, Edward Lee, Doug Smith Top Gun: Maverick: F-14 Tomcat – Christian Peck, Klaudio Ladavac, Aram Jung, Peter Dominik Wendell & Wild: Dream Faire – Peter Dahmen, Paul Harrod, Nicholas Blake

Outstanding Effects Simulation in a Photoreal Feature Avatar: The Way of Water: Fire and Destruction – Miguel Perez Senent, Xavier Martin Ramirez, David Kirchner, Ole Geir Eidsheim Avatar: The Way of Water: Water Simulations – Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicolas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrian — WINNER Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: City Street Flooding – Matthew Hanger, Alexis Hall, Hang Yang, Mikel Zuloaga Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Jesse Parker Holmes, Grayden Solman, Toyokazu Hirai, Rob Richardson

Outstanding Effects Simulation in an Animated Feature Lightyear – Alexis Angelidis, Chris Chapman, Jung-Hyun Kim, Keith Klohn Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Derek Cheung, Michael Losure, Kiem Ching Ong, Jinguang Huang — WINNER Strange World – Deborah Carlson, Scott Townsend, Stuart Griese, Yasser Hamed The Sea Beast – Spencer Lueders, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Brian D. Casper, Joe Eckroat

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in Feature Avatar: The Way of Water: Landing Rockets Forest Destruction – Miguel Santana Da Silva, Hongfei Geng, Jonathan Moulin, Maria Corcho Avatar: The Way of Water: Water Integration – Sam Cole, Francois Sugny, Florian Schroeder, Jean Matthews — WINNER The Batman: Rainy Freeway Chase – Beck Veitch, Stephen Tong, Eva Snyder, Rachel E. Herbert Top Gun: Maverick – Saul Davide Galbiati, Jean-Frederic Veilleux, Felix B. Lafontaine, Cynthia Rodriguez del Castillo

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project Avatar: The Way of Water: Current Machine and Wave Pool – JD Schwalm, Richie Schwalm, Nick Rand, Robert Spurlock — WINNER Black Adam: Robotic Flight – JD Schwalm, Nick Rand, Andrew Hyde, Andy Robot, Mad God, Phil Tippett, Chris Morley, Webster Colcord, Johnny McLeod The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power “Adrift” Middle Earth Storm – Dean Clarke, Oliver Gee, Eliot Naimie, Mark Robson

Emerging Technology Award Avatar: The Way of Water: Depth Comp – Dejan Momcilovic, Tobias B. Schmidt, Benny Edlund, Joshua Hardgrave Avatar: The Way of Water: Facial System – Byungkuk Choi, Stephen Cullingford, Stuart Adcock, Marco Revelant Avatar: The Way of Water: Water Toolset – Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin, Steve Lesser, Sven Joel Wretborn, Douglas McHale — WINNER Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: 3D Printed Metal Armature – Richard Pickersgill, Glen Southern, Peter Saunders, Brian Leif Hansen Turning Red: Profile Mover and CurveNets – Kurt Fleischer, Fernando de Goes, Bill Sheffler

[kentuckyanarchist]

Songs of 2022

Year-end lists always seem doomed to become outdated. Am I really expected to have heard all the best songs of 2022 in 2022? It’s never going to work, they’ll seep through over the course of the following year or years. But giving it six weeks is better than nothing, so here we are in mid-late February.

1. Tomberlin, “Stoned”.

Stoned indeed: woozy, baffled, bodily undone.

2. Camp Cope, “Running with the Hurricane”.

Camp Cope perfected a bassy, blunt melancholy with How to Socialise & Make Friends; here they don’t so much break from that template as turn it to other—affirmative? aggressive?—purposes.

3. Caroline, “Good Morning (Red)”.

The year’s most something-new-on-every-listen song, its most capacious.

4. Christian Lee Hutson, “Age Difference”.

Lyric of the year: “Do my impression of John Malkovich critiquing food in prison / At first it isn’t funny, then it is, and then it isn’t.”

5. Big Thief, “Change”.

A panoply of possibilities on such a sprawling, immersive album by the absolute best in the game, but this most plaintive and stubborn lament just edges the rest.

6. Rachika Nayar ft. Maria BC, “Heaven Come Crashing”.

Sounds for the silentest disco.

7. The A’s, “Why I’m Grieving”.

A path not taken from an archive not delved-into; a peppy sad spurt of jolly heartbreak.

8. Black Country, New Road, “Snow Globes”.

I’m still not sure if this song’s about going mad, getting old, living through winter, all three, or none.

9. Arctic Monkeys, “Body Paint”.

Searching, insistent: like Alex Turner’s got you caught in a lie.

10. Stella Donnelly, “Cold”.

This could’ve been any of Stella Donnelly’s songs where the lilt of her voice is always dropping into conversationality, but this one, where she ends the conversation, full-stop, shuts me up the most.

11. Martha, “Irreversible Motion”.

So many of these songs are about little things, like the bones of the inner ear; this one maybe more than all the others.

12. Florist, “Red Bird Pt. 2 (Morning)”.

A delicate retrospective collage, a slow bashful loving appreciation, a puzzled amazed asking-why, a cautious comfort.

13. Aldous Harding, “Fever”.

Aldous Harding’s songs have this wonderful, dignified refusal to cohere; this one just lopes, or loafs, in and out of view.

14. Meg Baird, “Will You Follow Me Home?”.

The way Meg Baird’s vocals stay half-submerged here is what gets me: “Will You Follow Me Home?” goes from lazy river to maelstrom without you quite noticing.

15. Brian Eno, “Making Gardens Out of Silence”.

If you ask me, “Making Gardens Out of Silence” is a panorama from the time after humans, built from salvage by whatever-comes-next.

16. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “SAGA”.

A lot of these songs express a specifically 2022 kind of bafflement. “SAGA” doesn’t know how to get past this condition either, but it’s pushing against the boundaries.

17. Lana Del Rey, “Watercolor Eyes”.

You think you know someone’s schtick, but they surprise you.

18. Black Belt Eagle Scout, “My Blood Runs Through This Land".

Alternating between wordlessness and breathlessness, either way keeping on building to something.

19. Jake Xerxes Fussell, “Love Farewell”.

Stoic and stolid, Jake Xerxes Fussell bets on metaphor but could’ve made do with just rumble, growl and twinkle.

20. Ezra Furman, “Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club”.

Secret-telling in movie-theatre darkness.

21. Let’s Eat Grandma, “Happy New Year”.

Let’s Eat Grandma have the saddest synths but this one’s rose-coloured.

22. Joshua Burnside, “Louis Mercier”.

Time-travel klezmer-pop that jostles you like a cobbled towpath.

23. Beth Orton, “Weather Alive”.

When talking songs become singing songs so sylphlike and effortless.

24. Sault, “Life We Rent but Love Is Free”.

Sounds like certain small parts of London, for certain small moments, on busy summer days in the past.

25. Bill Callahan, “Coyotes”.

One for slickrock and sagebrush, which are not without their romance.

26. Yard Act, “Tall Poppies”.

A self-consciously small story, a kitchen-sink drama, a talking head, no denouément.

27. Angel Olsen, “All the Good Times”.

A rhinestone widescreen production, a road movie on a soundstage.

28. Beach House, “Hurts to Love”.

Generationally speaking, the ending of Skins series 1 still packs a fair bit of a punch, so rewriting “Wild World” by Cat Stevens makes more sense than you’d think.

29. The 1975, “The 1975”.

Imagine taking “All My Friends” and making it about your cock and it’s still good; that takes rare talent.

30. Craig Finn, “Birthdays”.

Comforting because it really is nice to know there’s someone in this world who’s always known you, and comforting because it’s Craig Finn doing Craig Finn stuff with his big dumb Craig Finn voice.

31. Julia Jacklin, “Lydia Wears a Cross”.

A bodily song: knees, eyes, clothes, adornments.

32. Anaïs Mitchell, “On Your Way (Felix Song)”.

You get the sense Anaïs Mitchell finds nothing all that difficult—eulogising, philosophising, doing justice to a life, picking out the pithiest reminiscences, in just under three minutes she bowls it all over.

33. Billy Woods, “Pollo Rico”.

Intrusive thoughts, compulsion to repeat. A personal history of madness.

34. Bright Eyes, “Arc of Time (Time Code) (Companion Version)”.

This year Bright Eyes re-recorded some of the songs from the 2000s I love/hate the most. “Arc of Time” gets remade without the beats or the keys, but stays smart and wry and death stays on its mind. 

35. Fred again.., “Berwyn (all that i got is you)”.

Fred again..’s songs are urban explorations, entries to London’s subterrene.

36. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Spitting Off the Edge of the World”.

Cosmic.

37. The Big Moon, “Ladye Bay”.

Supersized, tectonic.

38. Drive-By Truckers, “The Driver”.

Grimy, grunting noir.

39. Ethel Cain, “American Teenager”.

D. H. Lawrence would’ve liked Ethel Cain and her Great American Hauntedness.

40. Girlpool, “Butterfly Bulletholes”.

Such a shame to lose Girlpool in 2022 but they were four or five bands in just two people, they gave us a lot.

41. The Beths, “Expert in a Dying Field”.

This one speaks for itself.

42. Nilüfer Yanya, “Shameless”.

Breathless, almost somehow fleshless, rattling ribcage xylophone.

43. Mesadorm, “Soap Opera”.

Skew-whiff boiler-hiss robot pop.

44. Porridge Radio, “Back to the Radio”.

Porridge Radio’s skills are in cacophony, cataclysm, crisis, ruination, disaster mismanagement.

45. Wet Leg, “Too Late Now”.

Every introspection needs a wise-crack or two.

46. Wilco, “Tired of Taking It Out on You”.

Aged 29, I had chickenpox recently; I recovered but it’s made looking in the mirror interesting, all these new small markings on the same face.

47. Plains, “Hurricane”.

The lyrics to “Hurricane” read like an apology, but Katie Crutchfield’s voice always sounds a little barbed to me; that’s what makes this work, I think.

48. Daniel Avery, “Higher”.

Frenetic travel in place.

49. Kevin Morby, “Bittersweet, TN”.

Kevin Morby hits all the requirements, he straight-A’s being a country singer.

50. Beabadoobee, “You’re Here That’s the Thing”.

In 2023 I resolve to continue to love silly rhymes, campfire rhythms, dewdrops and holding hands.

[singeratlarge]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to André 3000, Billy Adamson (The Searchers), Paul Bettany, Cilla Black, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jimmy Castor Bunch’s 1972 “Troglodyte” single, Özgür Çevik, John Cheever, Harlan Ellison, Mal Evans, Joseph Fiennes, Neil Finn, The Golden Gate Bridge (1937), Lou Gossett, Jr., Dasheille Hammett, Wild Bill Hickok, Tony Hillerman, Hubert Humphrey, Sean Kinney, Peter Knight (Steeleye Span), Christopher Lee, Ramsey Lewis, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Paul McCartney & Wings 1975 VENUS & MARS LP, Lee Meriweather, Thea Musgrave, music influencer Mondo Quinn, Vincent Price, Pete Sears, The Sex Pistols 1977 “God Save the Queen” single, Bud Shank, Siouxsie Sioux, Barry Vissell, my Most Excellent son-in-law Brian Walton, Blind Tom Wiggins, Don Williams, Herman Wouk, Chester Zardis, and renowned guitarist, singer-songwriter, spiritual apologist, human rights activist, and environmentalist Bruce Cockburn. He’s been at it a long time, with many awards and kudos to his name, but his music speaks louder than all of that—truly a man on a mission from God. His records have been in my life for many years, presenting me with intelligent spirituality and lyrical beauty that connects with the natural and the urban. Here’s a recent interview with Bruce to sum up his latest recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-nCfOUp6cU ...Meanwhile, HB BC—thank you for your volumes of music and service.

#brucecockburn #Canada #SanFrancisco #SanFranciscoLighthouse #christian #singersongwriter #activist

[brookston]

Holidays 9.10

Holidays

Alexandra Asteroid Day

Alpaca Day

Amerindian Heritage Day (Guyana)

Blame It On the Large Hadron Collider Day

Children’s Day (Honduras)

Crayfish Day (French Republic)

Dia del Nino (Children’s Day; Honduras)

Festival of the Poets (Japan)

Godsall Day (Day of Rest in Southern Outer Tibet)

Grandparents’ & Family Caregivers’ Day (Florida)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest (Gremlins)

Heritage Open Days begin (UK)

International Creepy Boston Dynamics Robotic Horse Day

International Gynaecological Awareness Day

International Make-Up Day

National Acid Attack Awareness Day (Nepal)

National American Indian/Alaska Native Hope for Life Day

National Anti-Junk Light Day

National Day (Gibraltar)

National Mamablogger Day (Netherlands)

National Sewerage Day (Japan)

National Stick a Fork Up Your Nose Day

910 Day

Old-Timers Day

Pandora Asteroid Day

Puyallup Fair begins (Washington)

St. George’s Caye Day (Belize)

Scape-Goat Day

Sew Be It Day (a.k.a. Sewing Machine Day)

Shower of Fish Day

Stop Junk Light Day

Swap Ideas Day

Take Goofy Pictures Day

Teacher's Day (China)

Top Up Day

White Balloon Day

World Suicide Prevention Day (UN)

X-Files Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Buy a Regular Drink Day

Caramel Cheesecake Day

International Canned Cocktail Day

International Port Day

International Vegan Butterbeeer Day

National Hot Dog Day [also 3.30 & mid-July]

National TV Dinner Day

Independence & Related Days

Gibraltar National Day (Referendum of 1967)

Juclandia (Declared; 2001) [unrecognized]

Schwanensee (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

2nd Tuesday in September

Firearm Suicide Prevention Day [2nd Tuesday]

National Ants on a Log Day [2nd Tuesday]

Table Tennis Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Target Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tater Tot Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tomato Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Trivia Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Two For Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 10 (2nd Full Week of September)

National Suicide Prevention Week (thru 9.16) [Week of 9.10]

Festivals Beginning September 10, 2024

Harvest Music Festival (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Husker Harvest Days (Grand Island, Nebraska) [thru 9.12]

National Heirloom Exposition (Ventura, California) [thru 9.12]

Patrick County Agricultural Fair (Stuart, Virginia) [thru 9.14]

Potato Bowl USA (Grand Forks, North Dakota) [thru 9.14]

Feast Days

Albatross Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Alexander Crummell (Episcopal Church)

Aubert (Christian; Saint)

Beryl Cook (Artology)

Beaverinne (Muppetism)

Carl Van Doren (Writerism)

Chico Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Chuseok (Korean Harvest Festival) [15th Day of 8th Lunar Moon]

Edmund James Peck (Anglican Church of Canada)

Finian of Moville (a.k.a. Winin; Christian; Saint)

Ganesh Chaturthi (Hinduism)

Georgia Douglas Johnson (Writerism)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest (Gremlins; Shamanism)

Incense to Bring Clarity of Mind Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Israel Abramofsky (Artology)

Karma Puja (Jharkhand, India)

Lope de Vega (Positivist; Saint)

Lorenzo Homar (Artology)

Marian Keyes (Writerism)

Marianne von Werefkin (Artology)

Mary Oliver (Writerism)

Media Aestas VIII (Pagan)

Nemesianus, Felix, Lucius, another Felix, Litteus, Polianus, Victor, Jader, and Dativus, Bishops and their companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Nicholas of Tolentino (Christian; Saint)

Pulcheria (Christian; Saint)

Salvius, Bishop of Albi (Christian; Saint)

Theodard of Maastricht (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Tsugi, Charles Spinola, and Great Martyrs of Nagasaki (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fatal Day (Pagan) [18 of 24]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [23 of 30]

Premieres

Blue of Noon, by Georges Bataille (Novel; 1935)

Bullwinkle Takes the Wheel or The Bum Steer (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 212; 1963)

Brand New Day (a.k.a. Bran New Day; Film; 2010)

Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu, by Osamu Tezuka (Graphic Novel; 1972)

Cracked Ice (WB MM Cartoon; 1938)

Dollars and Sense (Money Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1994)

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV Series; 1990)

Gunsmoke (TV Show; 1955)

Hellraiser (Film; 1987)

It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (TV Series’ 1986)

Good Old Boys, by Randy Newman (Album; 1974)

The Joy Luck Club (Film; 1993)

King Neptune (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

The Lone Ranger (Animated Filmation TV Series; 1966)

My Little Pony (Animated TV Series; 2010)

Nightmare Alley,by William Lindsay Gresham (Novel; 1946)

The Orville (TV Series; 2017)

Our Song, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2007)

Pluto’s Fledgling (Disney Cartoon; 1948)

The Saint’s Getaway, by Leslie Charteris (Novel; 1933) [Saint #10]

Scooby-Doo! And the Spooky Scarecrow (WB Animated Film; 2013)

Smells Like Teen Spirit, by Nirvana (Song; 1991)

Southern Rhythm (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

The Spirit of Seventy Sex (Adult Film; 1976)

Symphony No. 2, by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (Single Movement Symphony; 1950)

Test for Echo, by Rush (Album; 1996)

Thunderstruck, by AC/DC (Song; 1990)

The Tick (Animated TV Series; 1994)

Topsy Turvy or Emit Yvrut Yspot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 211; 1963)

True Romance (Film; 1993)

2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke (Novel; 1968)

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking’ About Him?) (Documentary Film; 2010)

The X-Files (TV Series; 1993)

You’re Too Careless with Your Kisses! (WB MM Cartoon; 1932)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Diethard, Isabella, Nikolaus (Austria)

Izabela, Nikola, Sebastijan (Croatia)

Irma (Czech Republic)

Buchardt (Denmark)

Lembe, Lembi, Lemme, Lemmi (Estonia)

Kaleva, Kalevi (Finland)

Inès (France)

Carlo, Diethard, Isabella, Niels (Germany)

Ersatz, Erastos, Kilmentini, Klimis, Minodora, Mitrodora, Nymfodora, Poulcgeria (Greece)

Hunor, Nikolett (Hungary)

Nicola (Italy)

Albertīne, Jausma (Latvia)

Girmintė, Konstancija, Kostė, Mikalojus, Tautgirdas (Lithuania)

Tor, Tord (Norway)

Aldona, Łukasz, Mikołaj, Mścibor, Pulcheria (Poland)

Oleg (Slovakia)

Nicolás (Spain)

Tord, Turid (Sweden)

Anabel, Annabel, Annabella, Annabelle, Arnie, Arnold, Arnolda, Arnoldo, Porter, Pulcheria (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 254 of 2024; 112 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 10 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 8 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 7 Elul 5784

Islamic: 6 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 14 Gold; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 28 August 2024

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 2 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Guillem de Castro]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 83 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 20 of 32)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.10

Holidays

Alexandra Asteroid Day

Alpaca Day

Amerindian Heritage Day (Guyana)

Blame It On the Large Hadron Collider Day

Children’s Day (Honduras)

Crayfish Day (French Republic)

Dia del Nino (Children’s Day; Honduras)

Festival of the Poets (Japan)

Godsall Day (Day of Rest in Southern Outer Tibet)

Grandparents’ & Family Caregivers’ Day (Florida)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest (Gremlins)

Heritage Open Days begin (UK)

International Creepy Boston Dynamics Robotic Horse Day

International Gynaecological Awareness Day

International Make-Up Day

National Acid Attack Awareness Day (Nepal)

National American Indian/Alaska Native Hope for Life Day

National Anti-Junk Light Day

National Day (Gibraltar)

National Mamablogger Day (Netherlands)

National Sewerage Day (Japan)

National Stick a Fork Up Your Nose Day

910 Day

Old-Timers Day

Pandora Asteroid Day

Puyallup Fair begins (Washington)

St. George’s Caye Day (Belize)

Scape-Goat Day

Sew Be It Day (a.k.a. Sewing Machine Day)

Shower of Fish Day

Stop Junk Light Day

Swap Ideas Day

Take Goofy Pictures Day

Teacher's Day (China)

Top Up Day

White Balloon Day

World Suicide Prevention Day (UN)

X-Files Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Buy a Regular Drink Day

Caramel Cheesecake Day

International Canned Cocktail Day

International Port Day

International Vegan Butterbeeer Day

National Hot Dog Day [also 3.30 & mid-July]

National TV Dinner Day

Independence & Related Days

Gibraltar National Day (Referendum of 1967)

Juclandia (Declared; 2001) [unrecognized]

Schwanensee (Declared; 2011) [unrecognized]

2nd Tuesday in September

Firearm Suicide Prevention Day [2nd Tuesday]

National Ants on a Log Day [2nd Tuesday]

Table Tennis Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Target Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tater Tot Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tomato Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Trivia Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Two For Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 10 (2nd Full Week of September)

National Suicide Prevention Week (thru 9.16) [Week of 9.10]

Festivals Beginning September 10, 2024

Harvest Music Festival (Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Husker Harvest Days (Grand Island, Nebraska) [thru 9.12]

National Heirloom Exposition (Ventura, California) [thru 9.12]

Patrick County Agricultural Fair (Stuart, Virginia) [thru 9.14]

Potato Bowl USA (Grand Forks, North Dakota) [thru 9.14]

Feast Days

Albatross Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)

Alexander Crummell (Episcopal Church)

Aubert (Christian; Saint)

Beryl Cook (Artology)

Beaverinne (Muppetism)

Carl Van Doren (Writerism)

Chico Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Chuseok (Korean Harvest Festival) [15th Day of 8th Lunar Moon]

Edmund James Peck (Anglican Church of Canada)

Finian of Moville (a.k.a. Winin; Christian; Saint)

Ganesh Chaturthi (Hinduism)

Georgia Douglas Johnson (Writerism)

Harvest Home Nibbling Contest (Gremlins; Shamanism)

Incense to Bring Clarity of Mind Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Israel Abramofsky (Artology)

Karma Puja (Jharkhand, India)

Lope de Vega (Positivist; Saint)

Lorenzo Homar (Artology)

Marian Keyes (Writerism)

Marianne von Werefkin (Artology)

Mary Oliver (Writerism)

Media Aestas VIII (Pagan)

Nemesianus, Felix, Lucius, another Felix, Litteus, Polianus, Victor, Jader, and Dativus, Bishops and their companions (Christian; Martyrs)

Nicholas of Tolentino (Christian; Saint)

Pulcheria (Christian; Saint)

Salvius, Bishop of Albi (Christian; Saint)

Theodard of Maastricht (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Tsugi, Charles Spinola, and Great Martyrs of Nagasaki (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fatal Day (Pagan) [18 of 24]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unglückstage (Unlucky Day; Pennsylvania Dutch) [23 of 30]

Premieres

Blue of Noon, by Georges Bataille (Novel; 1935)

Bullwinkle Takes the Wheel or The Bum Steer (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 212; 1963)

Brand New Day (a.k.a. Bran New Day; Film; 2010)

Buddha, Vol. 1: Kapilavastu, by Osamu Tezuka (Graphic Novel; 1972)

Cracked Ice (WB MM Cartoon; 1938)

Dollars and Sense (Money Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1994)

Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (TV Series; 1990)

Gunsmoke (TV Show; 1955)

Hellraiser (Film; 1987)

It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (TV Series’ 1986)

Good Old Boys, by Randy Newman (Album; 1974)

The Joy Luck Club (Film; 1993)

King Neptune (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

The Lone Ranger (Animated Filmation TV Series; 1966)

My Little Pony (Animated TV Series; 2010)

Nightmare Alley,by William Lindsay Gresham (Novel; 1946)

The Orville (TV Series; 2017)

Our Song, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2007)

Pluto’s Fledgling (Disney Cartoon; 1948)

The Saint’s Getaway, by Leslie Charteris (Novel; 1933) [Saint #10]

Scooby-Doo! And the Spooky Scarecrow (WB Animated Film; 2013)

Smells Like Teen Spirit, by Nirvana (Song; 1991)

Southern Rhythm (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1932)

The Spirit of Seventy Sex (Adult Film; 1976)

Symphony No. 2, by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (Single Movement Symphony; 1950)

Test for Echo, by Rush (Album; 1996)

Thunderstruck, by AC/DC (Song; 1990)

The Tick (Animated TV Series; 1994)

Topsy Turvy or Emit Yvrut Yspot (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 211; 1963)

True Romance (Film; 1993)

2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke (Novel; 1968)

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking’ About Him?) (Documentary Film; 2010)

The X-Files (TV Series; 1993)

You’re Too Careless with Your Kisses! (WB MM Cartoon; 1932)

Today’s Name Days

Carlo, Diethard, Isabella, Nikolaus (Austria)

Izabela, Nikola, Sebastijan (Croatia)

Irma (Czech Republic)

Buchardt (Denmark)

Lembe, Lembi, Lemme, Lemmi (Estonia)

Kaleva, Kalevi (Finland)

Inès (France)

Carlo, Diethard, Isabella, Niels (Germany)

Ersatz, Erastos, Kilmentini, Klimis, Minodora, Mitrodora, Nymfodora, Poulcgeria (Greece)

Hunor, Nikolett (Hungary)

Nicola (Italy)

Albertīne, Jausma (Latvia)

Girmintė, Konstancija, Kostė, Mikalojus, Tautgirdas (Lithuania)

Tor, Tord (Norway)

Aldona, Łukasz, Mikołaj, Mścibor, Pulcheria (Poland)

Oleg (Slovakia)

Nicolás (Spain)

Tord, Turid (Sweden)

Anabel, Annabel, Annabella, Annabelle, Arnie, Arnold, Arnolda, Arnoldo, Porter, Pulcheria (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 254 of 2024; 112 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 10 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 8 (Ding-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 7 Elul 5784

Islamic: 6 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 14 Gold; Sevenday [14 of 30]

Julian: 28 August 2024

Moon: 50%: 1st Quarter

Positivist: 2 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Guillem de Castro]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 83 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 20 of 32)

[dan6085]

### The History of the Spanish Language

The Spanish language, also known as Castilian, is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 460 million native speakers. Its history is rich and complex, spanning over two millennia and encompassing a myriad of cultural and political influences. From its roots in the Iberian Peninsula to its spread across the globe, the evolution of Spanish reflects the broader historical currents that have shaped the societies where it is spoken.

#### Origins and Early Development

The story of the Spanish language begins with the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BCE. The Romans brought Latin, the language of the empire, which gradually replaced the various indigenous languages spoken by the Celtiberians, Basques, and other groups. This form of Latin, known as Vulgar Latin, was the common speech of the Roman soldiers, settlers, and merchants, and it evolved differently in each region of the empire.

As the Roman Empire declined in the 5th century CE, the Iberian Peninsula saw the arrival of Germanic tribes, notably the Visigoths, who established their own kingdom. Despite their influence, the Visigoths adopted Latin and contributed relatively few words to the developing Romance languages of the region.

#### The Influence of Arabic

A significant turning point in the history of Spanish occurred in 711 CE, when the Moors, Muslim invaders from North Africa, conquered much of the Iberian Peninsula. For nearly 800 years, Arabic was a dominant cultural and linguistic force in the region, especially in areas under Muslim rule. This period, known as Al-Andalus, saw a flourishing of science, philosophy, and the arts, with Arabic serving as a lingua franca among scholars.

The influence of Arabic on Spanish was profound, with thousands of words related to science, agriculture, architecture, and everyday life entering the language. Words such as "almohada" (pillow), "aceituna" (olive), and "azúcar" (sugar) are just a few examples of the Arabic legacy in Spanish vocabulary.

#### The Reconquista and the Rise of Castilian

The gradual Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula, known as the Reconquista, began in the 8th century and culminated in 1492 with the fall of Granada. During this period, the various Romance dialects spoken by the Christian kingdoms began to coalesce into distinct languages. Castilian, the dialect of the Kingdom of Castile, emerged as the most influential due to the political and military power of Castile.

The consolidation of Castilian was furthered by King Alfonso X of Castile (reigned 1252-1284), who promoted its use in legal, administrative, and literary contexts. Alfonso's court produced numerous works in Castilian, helping to standardize the language and establish it as a vehicle for high culture and official matters.

#### The Golden Age and the Global Spread

The year 1492 was pivotal not only for the Reconquista but also for the Spanish language, as it marked the beginning of Spain's global expansion. Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas initiated a period of exploration and colonization, during which Spanish was spread to vast new territories. The language took root in the Americas, becoming the dominant language from Mexico to Argentina.

The 16th and 17th centuries, known as the Siglo de Oro (Golden Age), were a period of great cultural and literary achievement in Spain. This era produced some of the greatest works in Spanish literature, including Miguel de Cervantes's "Don Quixote," which is considered one of the most important novels in world literature. The works of poets like Garcilaso de la Vega and playwrights like Lope de Vega further enriched the language and solidified its literary prestige.

#### Modern Developments

The Spanish language continued to evolve in the centuries following the Golden Age, influenced by various political, social, and cultural changes. The creation of the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Española) in 1713 aimed to preserve the purity of the language and regulate its use. The Academy's dictionary and grammar rules have played a significant role in standardizing Spanish.

In the modern era, Spanish has diversified into numerous dialects and regional varieties, particularly in Latin America. While these varieties differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, and some grammatical structures, mutual intelligibility remains high among speakers from different regions.

Today, Spanish is an official language in 21 countries and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. It is a language of global commerce, culture, and communication, with a significant presence in the United States and growing influence in other parts of the world.

#### Conclusion

The history of the Spanish language is a testament to its resilience and adaptability. From its Latin roots and the profound impact of Arabic to its rise as a global language through exploration and colonization, Spanish has continually evolved while maintaining a rich cultural heritage. As it moves further into the 21st century, Spanish remains a dynamic and influential language, bridging continents and cultures with its expressive power.