#Cuban co-productions

[notesonfilm1]

Thinking Aloud About Film: Stronger Than Love/ Más fuerte que el amor (Cuba/ Mexico, Tulio Demicheli, 1955)

Another fascinating film showing on MUBI; part of the ‘Spectacle Every Day: The Many Seasons of Mexican Cinema’ program; a lurid and very entertaining melodrama; interesting to compare with its contemporary Hollywood variant but perhaps best seen as an example of Spanish speaking transnational cinema. The director Tulio Demicheli is from Argentina, Jorge Mistral is Spanish, Miroslava originates…

[beardedmrbean]

Growing evidence makes this clearer by the day: Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) does not help American institutions attain progress or profit.

It’s time for all institutions to get back to their basic duties and stop pushing extreme agendas on the American people. This is especially important for American corporations that have a fiduciary obligation to make decisions in the best financial interests of their shareholders.

A growing chorus of Americans recognizes the acute challenges of DEI. Even the co-founder and CEO of a prominent DEI consulting firm laments assuming the role of “moral authority” on the subject and regrets labeling people who disagree with DEI as “bad” people.

The controversy over DEI has also captured the attention of two well-known businessmen, Mark Cuban and Bill Ackman, both of whom have engaged in a tense exchange on X, formerly Twitter.

Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and star of “Shark Tank,” wrote, “Diversity—means you expand the possible pool of candidates as widely as you can. Once you have identified the candidates, you hire the person you believe is the best.”

“That’s exactly what I thought until I did the work,” said Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management and Democrat mega-donor. “I encourage you to do the same and revert. DEI is not about diversity, equity or inclusion. Trust me. I fell for the same trap you did.”

In the same post, Ackman explained that DEI is “a political advocacy movement on behalf of certain groups that are deemed oppressed under DEI’s own methodology.”

In simplest terms, what Ackman and others critical of DEI have identified is the inherently flawed nature of the ideology. By insisting that our institutions are irredeemable and cannot escape past wrongs or that people groups should be divided into two camps — oppressed and oppressor — the adherents of DEI are compelled to use the levers of those very same institutions to manipulate outcomes based on identity rather than merit. 

This conduct is dangerous when you consider its effects on our economy and our public corporations.

Good business is ultimately about producing a good product, not pushing an agenda. DEI unnecessarily complicates that winning American formula. Rather than focus on improving production and goods, companies are now choosing to divert resources and attention to internal race and identity-based policies that neither improve return on investment to shareholders nor result in better products for consumers. 

Corporations adopting policies that prioritize social engineering over corporate responsibility do not serve the interests of all Americans. Instead, they appease the extreme desires of a few, thereby eroding confidence in the ability and competency of our institutions. 

It is neither profitable for businesses nor sustainable for the American people.

Along the same lines, those in the financial services industry must understand that fiduciaries must have a single-minded purpose in the returns on their beneficiaries’ investments.

State and federal law have long recognized fiduciary duties for those who manage other people’s money. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act, for example, demands that a fiduciary “discharge that person’s duties with respect to the plan solely in the interests of the participants and beneficiaries, for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries …”

As attorney general of Kentucky, I was one of 22 state attorneys general who signed a letter warning financial services companies that they may be violating their fiduciary responsibility to shareholders by agreeing to radical activism in their environmental proposals. I also issued a legal opinion outlining why government-sponsored racial discrimination and so-called “stakeholder capitalism” was unlawful.

We’ve collectively witnessed some of the consequences of extreme ideology taking priority over responsible corporate governance. After Bud Light’s infamous foray into the culture wars, its sales collapsed, forcing one of its executives to step down. We’ve also seen prominent fund managers like Vanguard drop ESG-driven investments — another ideological blunder at the corporate level — because they have not been profitable and have exposed their investors to greater losses.

DEI objectives have moved some of our business so far from their purpose that even those on the left like Ackman are compelled to speak out, underscoring that the adverse reaction to DEI is not a partisan issue. 

Most Americans want our corporate institutions to move away from extreme ideologies. It’s time to return to the American formula of producing great products and services, not pushing agendas.

Daniel Cameron is the former attorney general of Kentucky and the current CEO of the 1792 Exchange.

[lboogie1906]

Juano G. “Juano” Hernández (July 19, 1896 - July 17, 1970) Hollywood’s first Afro-Latino actor, was a polylingual self-educated Puerto Rican stage and film actor who was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico to a father from San Juan and a mother from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He lived in both Puerto Rico and Brazil growing up.

In 1914, he made his silent picture debut as an actor in The Life of General Villa. He appeared in a Rio de Janeiro circus as an acrobat. He co-starred in radio’s first all-Black soap opera, We Love and Learn. He was in the chorus of the show Showboat on Broadway and Strange Fruits.

He portrayed the only Latino character, “Gomez, the Cuban racketeer,” in Oscar Micheaux’s controversial film, Girl from Chicago. It was Micheaux’s first “talkie” film. He portrayed a police officer in Harlem Is Heaven.

In 1949, He played Lucas Beauchamp, a Mississippi Black farmer accused of killing a white neighbor in the film adaptation of Intruder in the Dust. His performance garnered His first and only nomination for a Golden Globe award for “New Star of the Year.”

In 1950, he was cast in the western, Stars In My Crown. He appeared in the drama Young Man With a Horn. In 1958, he was cast in Machete. He appeared in two films, the Nat King Cole biopic St. Louis Blues and The Mark of the Hawk. This was followed by The Alfred Hitchcock Presents production of the Ambrose Bierce short story An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge in 1959, where he was a principal actor.

His last movies were in 1969 and 1970 respectively. He was in The Extraordinary Seaman, followed by They Call Me Mister Tibbs!

He was posthumously honored at Paseo de la Fama in San Juan. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[singeratlarge]

MY SONG OF THE WEEK: “Night Garden” https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/night-garden-featuring-mike-garson-beyondo I was playing cruise ship gigs and a bass line kept flowing out of me. Every time I played this groove, musicians would start jamming, people would start dancing… It turned into this psychedelic Cuban-jazzified pop song. Latin and Caribbean music is animated and easeful to me, rhythmically and harmonically, making me feel I’m moving with confidence no matter what’s going on in the world. My lyrics were inspired after reading an airline magazine article by Lee May, a journalist from Atlanta who was passionate about gardening. His wonderful words about “plant life that blooms at only night” left an impression. As to the lyrics, Donald Fagen says he chooses words because they suit the shape of his mouth and the lure of a melody—words flow and find their own meaning. That was my approach: Like winding tendrils, words and melody twined into “a song novelette” about a pair of lovers heading south of the border, on the lam because of an unspecified crime. 

 

The music bed was recorded in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Williamsport PA (final mix by Xavier Francis). It features the brilliant drum/trumpet/co-production work of Eric Biondo (a.k.a. Beyondo) + magnificent piano by Mike Garson, a composer-artist in his own right but also known as David Bowie’s longtime keyboardist. 

https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/night-garden-featuring-mike-garson-beyondo

 

#nightgarden #gardening #flowers #davidbowie #mikegarson #leemay #atlanta #journalist #caribbean #latin #cuba #mexico #psychedelic #piano #exotica #ericbiondo #beyondo #trumpet #donaldfagen #steelydan #airline #cruiseship #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #dance #brianwilson #smile #beachboys #kokomo 

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

The first Crosby, Stills & Nash album was good. It showcased the tight harmonies and floaty melodies that the three superstars could produce when put together. But the addition of Neil Young to the group was the catalyst that elevated their second album to new heights. The tight harmonies remain, and many songs have the same lighthearted floatiness, but the album is now tempered by Young's melancholy. Hits like Teach Your Children and Our House still carries that corny optimism and that's good, it gives the album variety. But it's the edgier tracks, Almost Cut My Hair, Woodstock, and Country Girl that make the album stand apart from it's contemporaries.

Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

Compared to other Wu Tang solo albums Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is the most dedicated to the kayfabe of inner city gangsta attitudes. The album has a loose concept based around the idea of pulling off one more heist before retiring and this lends it cohesiveness. Ghostface Killah is notably featured on nearly every track and I'm not gonna complain. Any two members of Wu Tang Clan have incredible chemistry but Rakwon and Ghost are completely in sync on this album. RZA must be shouted out as usual bringing in his punchiest, most aggressive beats mixed with his signature piano and a touch of string to suggest film music. It should also be noted that Criminology is the best Wu Tang song period. Ghost and Raekwon are showing off their GOAT status with the lyricism, flow, and speed and RZA has given them his best beat ever.

TLC - CrazySexyCool

With one of their members in rehab and tensions running high within the group it's hard to imagine that TLC would pull off one of the best albums of the 90s. But with CrazySexyCool they managed to reinvent themselves as a serious and sensual R&B group with strong hip hop overtones. They also earned a cast of promising guests including production by Sean Combs and Phife Dawg and features by Andre 3000 and Busta Rhymes. Unfortunately due to being in rehab Left-Eye only has a couple of verses on the album, but they are all winners. It's an album that it funky with deep bass grooves but drums that are very danceable. And the beats have to be deep and powerful to match T-Boz and Chili's rich full voices. It cannot be overstated how incredible TLCs vocals are. It's the perfect album for blasting from your car stereo in 94.

Oasis - Definitely Maybe

I don't think I'd go so far as to say Oasis is a good band, but this is at least their best record. Imagine is The Stone Roses second album had been far less disappointing than the one we got but still a little disappointing. That's Definitely Maybe. Oasis' greatest flaw will always be in their production. No band puts out flatter less interesting mixes than Oasis. I'm actually impressed at how they get worse with each album. Definitely Maybe suffers from a lot of the same problems, mainly that it's over compressed and everything is sitting in the exact same place in the mix causing every instrument to vie for your attention with equal weight at all times. It makes it hard to know what you are hearing sometimes. I hate it. But at least this album is aiming for a shoegazey kind of sound so it sometimes works. It's a kind of enjoyable album. I wouldn't ask someone to turn it off.

Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Listen imma have to be real, I cannot review this album. Not really. It's too personal. like do I recommend Either/Or? Yes. Top ten album for me personally. See the things Elliott Smith says and the way he says them resonate with me in a way that I'm not really always comfortable with. He, like myself, struggled with ADHD and chronic depression so the vibe I get of disconnect, dispassion is too relatable. Sometimes depression takes the form of detachment from things that are supposed to be enjoyable and Either/Or plays in that emotional space a lot. This album sees me. There is emotional sincerity and fragility here that cuts me to the core and hurts me. But like, I've stewed on these songs for a long time. I've gone back to them repeatedly and torn them apart to get as much out of them as possible. I have no idea what you might get out of them on a first listen. I guess in all the emotional uncertainty it's worth noting that the album ends on a positive note. Say Yes, where the singer does not expect his love to be reciprocated but it is. Where his depression tells him that he is unlovable but he wakes up to a world where he is loved anyway.

[docpiplup]

@asongofstarkandtargaryen There's a couple of comics and films I wanted to post something about them some time ago, so here they are

Black is Beltza is a duology of comics, the first one was published in 2014 and the second in 2022, and they have been adapted into two Basque animated films recently in 2018 and 2022, Black is Beltza and Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa.

One of the main things of the comics are the sociopolitical environment of the places and the period the films are set in, for example the first one is set in the 60's mainly in New York and the sequel is set in the 80's and among other places, in Pamplona.

Black is Beltza (2018)

October 1965. The Pamplona troupe of giants, a typical image of the San Fermín festivities, is invited to parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. But not everyone will be able to leave: due to racial discrimination, the North American authorities prohibit the participation of the two black giants. Based on this real event, "Black is Beltza" tells the story of Manex, the waiter in charge of carrying one of the giants. Headed for a long and unexpected journey, Manex will witness key events in history: the racial riots resulting from the assassination of Malcolm X, the eccentricities of the characters in The Factory, the alliance between the Cuban secret services and the Black Panthers, and the proto-hippie psychedelia of early music festivals.

Duration: 87 min.

Script: Harkaitz Cano, Fermín Muguruza, Eduard Solà (Comic: Fermín Muguruza, Harkaitz Cano, Jorge Alderete)

Animation Companies: ETB, Setmàgic Audiovisual, Talka Records & Films

Cast

Unax Ugalde: Manex

Isaach de Bankolé: Wilson Clever

Iseo: Amanda Tamaya

Sergi López: Warren Philips

Ramón Agirre: Xebero

Jorge Perugorria: Sargento Bravo

Angelo Moore: Rudy

María de Medeiros: Amira

Emma Suárez: Laia

Oscar Jaenada: Che Guevara

Rossy de Palma: Ruth Abransom

Ramón Barea: Ramiro

Hamid Krim: Yassim

Guillermo Toledo: Teniente Muñoz

Ander Lipus: guardia civil

Josean Bengoetxea: Juanpe, Pancho Villa

Lenval Brown: Jimmy

Valeria Maldonado: Esperanza

Sergio Arau: Juan Rulfo

Jorge Ferrera: Eliseo

Giancarlo Ruiz: Tin-Tan, Smithy, Sergei Titov

Josh Kun: Dwayne

Ray Fernández: Cte. Antonovich

Victor Navarrete: Guerrillero 1

Iban Rusiñol: Laurent

Exprai: Pedro del Taller, Hernán Cortés

Márgenes Dermer: azafata

Ramón Zumitrenko: Sf dentista

Stuart Casson: Otis Redding, Emory Douglas

KO the Knockout: Ben Cauley

Sistaeyeire: Angela Davis

Dratzo Gomex: policía fronteriza I

Marieder Iriart: Iman

Mariam Bachir: Amal

Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa (2022)

Ainhoa ​​was born by a miracle in La Paz (Bolivia) after the death, in a parapolice attack, of her mother Amanda. She grew up in Cuba and in 1988, at the age of 21, she traveled to the Basque Country to see the land of his father Manex. In the middle of the repressive conflict, she meets Josune, a committed journalist, and her gang of friends. When one of them dies of a heroin overdose, Ainhoa ​​and Josune set out on an initiation journey that will take them through Lebanon, Afghanistan and the city of Marseille. These are the last years of the Cold War and both will delve into the dark world of drug trafficking networks and their close ties to political plots.

Direction: Fermin Muguruza

Duration: 86 min.

Script: Fermín Muguruza, Isa Campo, Harkaitz Cano (Comic: Fermín Muguruza)

Music: Maite Arrotajauregi

Photography: Animation, Mariona Omedes

Companies: Co-production Spain-Argentina; Talka Records & Films

Cast

Maria Cruickshank: Ainhoa

Itziar Ituño: Josune

Manex Fuchs: Hamid

Antonio de la Torre: Rafael

Darko Peric: Igor

Ariadna Gil: Isabelle

Eneko Sagardoy: Diego

Mikel Losada: Mikel

Ramón Agirre: Xebero

Miren Gaztañaga: Amatxi Tere

Maite Larburu Iman

Ximun Fuchs: Jean-Pierre

Gorka Otxoa: Iñigo Kortatu

Fermín Muguruza: Fermin Kortatu

Jon Plazaola: Javier Salutregi

Peio Berteretxe: Didier

Maryse Urruty: Armineh

Isidro: Isidro

Joseba Sarrionandia: Martin

Maria Forni: Yady

Iban Rusiñol: Commisaire Marcel

Natalia Abu-sharar: off Sabra y Shatila

Moraysys Silva: Tania

Maykel García Cardo: Felix The Cat

Bruno Coscia: Arthur

Maria Amolategui: Amaia Apaolaza

Papet-J: Chef Chérif

[llpodcast]

(Literary License Podcast)

Scarface (1932)

​

Scarface (also known as Scarface: The Shame of the Nation and The Shame of a Nation) is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Hawks and Howard Hughes. The screenplay, by Ben Hecht, is based loosely on the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail which was inspired by Al Capone. The film stars Paul Muni as Italian immigrant gangster Antonio "Tony" Camonte, a gangster who violently rises through the Chicago gangland, with a supporting cast that includes George Raft and Boris Karloff. Camonte's rise to power dovetails with his relentless pursuit of his boss's mistress while his own sister pursues his best hitman. In an overt tie to the life of Capone, one scene depicts a version of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.  After Hughes purchased the rights to Trail's novel, Hughes quickly selected Hawks to direct and Hecht to write the film's screenplay. Beginning in January 1931, Hecht wrote the script over an eleven-day period. Scarface was produced before the introduction of the Production Code in 1934, which enforced regulations on film content. However, the Hays Code, a more lenient precursor, called for major alterations, including a prologue condemning gangsters, an alternate ending to more clearly reprehend Camonte, and the alternative title The Shame of a Nation. The censors believed the film glorified violence and crime. These changes delayed the film by a year, though some showings retained the original ending. Modern showings of the film have the original ending, though some DVD releases also include the alternate ending as a feature; these versions maintain the changes Hughes and Hawks were required to make for approval by the Hays Office. No completely unaltered version is known to exist.

​

Scarface (1983)

 Scarface is a 1983 American crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone. Loosely based on the 1929 novel of the same name and serving as a loose remake of the 1932 film, it tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino), who arrives penniless in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and becomes a powerful and extremely homicidal drug lord. The film co-stars Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Robert Loggia. De Palma dedicated this version of Scarface to the writers of the original film, Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht.  Pacino became interested in a remake of the 1932 version after seeing it, and he and producer Martin Bregman began to develop it. Sidney Lumet was initially hired to direct the film but was replaced by De Palma, who hired Stone to write the script. Filming took place from November 1982 to May 1983, in Los Angeles and Miami. The film's soundtrack was composed by Giorgio Moroder. Scarface premiered in New York City on December 1, 1983, and was released on December 9, 1983, by Universal Pictures. The film grossed $45 million at the domestic box office and $66 million worldwide. Initial critical reception was negative due to its excessive violence, profanity, and graphic drug usage. Some Cuban expatriates in Miami objected to the film's portrayal of Cubans as criminals

 Opening Credits; Introduction (.37); Background History (31.40); Scarface (1932) Film Trailer (34.25); The Original (37.00); Let's Rate (1:18.47); Amazing Design Advertisement (1:23.06);  Introducing a Remake (1:24.18); Scarface (1983)  Film Trailer (1:26.21); The Remake (1:29.35); How Many Stars (2:32.14); End Credits (2:49.03); Closing Credits (2:50.36)

 Opening Credits– Epidemic Sound – copyright 2021. All rights reserved

 Closing Credits:  Gangsta Paradise by Coolio featuring LV.  Taken from the album Gangsta Paradise, I am LV.  Copyright 1995 Tommy Boy/Warner Brothers/MCA Records

​

Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast. 

 All rights reserved.  Used with Kind Permission.

 All songs available through Amazon Music.

[menswearbrand]

Elevate Your Festive Look: A Guide to Stylish Men's Ethnic and Fusion Wear

When it comes to festive and celebratory occasions, the perfect outfit can make all the difference. Whether you’re gearing up for a wedding, a festival, or a casual party, finding the right blend of comfort and style is key. From festive kurtas for men to trendy printed co-ord sets, here’s your ultimate guide to looking sharp for every occasion.

1. Festive Kurtas for Men: A Timeless Essential

Festivals are incomplete without traditional attire, and kurtas are the backbone of ethnic dressing. Modern festive kurtas come in various styles, from embroidered kurtas for men featuring intricate threadwork to mirror work kurtas, adding a touch of sparkle. Opt for breathable fabrics like cotton or silk blends to stay comfortable yet stylish during long celebrations.

2. Mirror Work Kurtas: Shimmer in Style

The charm of men's mirror work kurtas lies in their ability to fuse tradition with a modern aesthetic. Perfect for sangeets and evening festivities, these kurtas often feature reflective embellishments that glimmer under lights, making you the center of attention. Pair one with classic ethnic pyjamas or slim-fit trousers for a contemporary vibe.

3. Chikankari and Lakhnavi Kurtas: Heritage Meets Elegance

If subtle sophistication is your style, look no further than chikankari kurtas for men or the classic Lakhnavi kurta for men. These timeless pieces are perfect for day events and pre-wedding ceremonies, offering intricate craftsmanship and breathable comfort. Pair these kurtas with mojris and a pastel stole for an authentic royal look.

4. Sequin Kurtas for Men: Glam Up Your Evening Attire

For occasions that call for a bold statement, sequin kurtas for men are a show-stopper. Perfect for cocktail events or festive parties, these kurtas combine traditional cuts with dazzling sequins for a high-fashion appeal. Team them up with contrasting churidars or tapered trousers for a head-turning outfit.

5. Beyond Ethnic: Fusion and Casual Wear

Ethnic wear is evolving, blending with modern fashion to offer stylish alternatives like co-ords and shirts.

Half Sleeves Party ShirtsIf you're heading to a casual get-together, half sleeves party shirts in vibrant prints or Cuban collars are your go-to choice. Pair them with chinos or jeans for a laid-back yet polished look.

Printed Co-Ord Sets for MenFor the fashion-forward, printed co-ord sets offer a coordinated ensemble that’s perfect for beachside parties or casual brunches. Their seamless style and eye-catching patterns ensure you’ll stand out effortlessly.

6. Borrowed Style: Boyfriend Shirts for Women

Ethnic and fusion wear isn’t just for men; trends like boyfriend shirts for women allow a playful and stylish way to borrow from men's wardrobes. These oversized shirts make for chic casual wear when paired with skinny jeans or shorts.

7. Ethnic Pyjamas: The Perfect Pairing

No festive look is complete without the right bottoms. Ethnic pyjamas, whether straight-cut or churidar, offer unmatched comfort and versatility. They complement a wide range of kurtas, from minimalist chikankari to heavily embroidered ones.

Conclusion

From elegant embroidered kurtas to bold sequin designs, festive wear for men has come a long way in offering diverse styles. Whether you’re dressing up for a traditional event or a modern party, the right outfit can enhance your confidence and leave a lasting impression. Explore these styles to redefine your festive wardrobe and make every occasion memorable!

Would you like me to tailor this blog to specific products or occasions?

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Polaire in Pauline à Paris (1902) by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: French postcard by Phototypie Pierre Coltman, Paris. Photo: Manuel. Publicity still for the stage production Claudine à Paris by Willy. French singer and actress Polaire (1874-1939) had a career in the entertainment industry which stretched from the early 1890s to the mid-1930s, and encompassed the range from music-hall singer to stage and film actress. Her most successful period professionally was from the mid-1890s to the beginning of the First World War. Polaire was a French singer and actress, born Émilie Marie Bouchaud on May 14, 1874 in Agha (Algeria). According to her memoirs she was one of eleven children of whom only four survived – and eventually only two, Émilie and her brother Edmond. When her father died of typhoid her mother temporarily placed the children under the care of Polaire’s grandmother in Algiers. In 1891, at age 17 she came to Paris to join her brother Edmond who performed there in the café-concerts under the name of Dufleuve. She had already sung in cafes in Algiers and continued on this path, eventually becoming a popular music-hall singer and dancer, performing e.g. the French version of Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay: Tha ma ra boum di hé - her greatest success, already from the start. She became a big name and was e.g. portrayed by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the magazine Le Rire in 1895. Not only her singing and dancing qualities were remarkable, Polaire also distinguished herself by her particular physique, having an exceptional wasp waist, at a time when women tortured themselves with tight corsets to refine their waist. After a first failed attempt to conquer New York as singer, Polaire returned to Paris where she expanded her range with prose theatre as well. She managed to get the role of Claudine in Colette’s play Claudine à Paris, performed at the Bouffes-Parisiens in 1902 and again performed in the US in 1910. This time she was a big hit in the US and came back loaded with money. Her obtaining of the part of Claudine was not so easy, Polaire writes in her memoirs, as Willy at the time reclaimed the rights of Colette’s novels, and didn’t consider this music-hall singer as fit for this serious part. But a dashing and headstrong Polaire managed to convince Willy in person that she was Claudine, so she got the part. Claudine à Paris was performed some 120 times in France, with great success. Colette herself was very satisfied about the result. Willy even managed to exploit the success by a whole line of merchandising. Afterwards Polaire would consider him her substitute father. From 1909, Polaire appeared in several film roles. After two films at Pathé frères, Moines et guerriers (Nuns and warriors, Julien Clément) and La tournée des grand-ducs (The Grandduke’s Tour, Léonce Perret 1910) – in the latter she aptly played a dancer - she went to Germany to play a Cuban lady in Zouza (Reinhard Bruck, 1911), in which future film director Richard Oswald was one of her co-stars. Back in France she acted again at Pathé in Le visiteur (The Visitor, Albert Capellani, René Leprince, 1911), but she mostly was active at the Éclair film company between 1911 and 1914, starting with Le poison de l’humanité (The Poison of Humanity, Émile Chautard, Victorin Jasset, 1911). From 1912 to 1914 she did a series of six films with then young and upcoming film director Maurice Tourneur, working for Éclair: Les gaîtés de l'escadron (The Funny Regiment, 1913), based on the novel by Georges Courteline; Le dernier pardon (1913), a comedy written by Gyp; La dame de Monsoreau (1913), after Dumas père; Le Friquet (1914), after Gyp and with Polaire in the title role; Soeurette (The Sparrow, 1914); and the mystery film Monsieur Lecoq (1914), after Émile Gaboriau. Her copartners in these films were often Maurice de Féraudy, Charles Krauss, Henry Roussel and Renée Sylvaire. Le Friquet was restored by the Cinémath��que française in the mid-1990s and shown in international festivals It deals with a poor trapeze worker who loses her lover to a rich, immoral lady and then commits suicide during her trapeze act. It was based on a play Polaire had performed herself in 1904. NB IMDB mixes up things by not making a distinction between Polaire and Pauline Polaire. In the 1920s a younger actress named Giulietta Gozzi (1904-1986), niece of the Italian diva Hesperia (Olga Mambelli), performed under the name of Pauline Polaire in several Italian silent films with the forzuti such as Maciste and Saetta. Polaire became a wealthy lady with a house on the Champs-Elysées and a country house in the Var, Villa Claudine. Well into the 1920s she continued to gamble away huge fortunes. After World War I, Polaire dedicated herself primarily to the stage. During her career, she recorderd many of her songs as Tha ma ra boum di hé (her greatest success, already from the start), La Glu (based on a poem by Jean Richepin), Tchique tchique by Vincent Scotto, the telephone song Allo ! Chéri!, song with her partner Marjal, and she recited Charlotte prays to Our Lady by Jehan Rictus. Polaire died October 11, 1939 at age 65 in Champigny-sur-Marne (Val-de-Marne). "Mademoiselle Polaire" is cited by the Guinness Book of Records as co-holder (with the British Ethel Granger) of the thinnest waist of 33 cm. She herself says in her memoirs to have repeatedly circled her waist by a fake collar of the "normal size” of 41 or 42 cm. Polaire posed for various painters such as Antonio de La Gandara, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Leonetto Cappiello, Rupert Carabin and John / Juan Sala. The latter became in 1893 the portraitist of Parisian society. His life-sized portrait of Polaire (1910) was auctioned at Drouot's in Paris on 28 June 2016. Sources: English, French and Dutch Wikipedia, IMDB, deesk.pagesperso-orange.fr/polaire-1900/c_polaire_biograp..., www.dutempsdescerisesauxfeuillesmortes.net/fiches_bio/pol....

[unitedstatesofworld]

Delilah Fishburne: A Star Emerging from a Legendary Legacy

Delilah Fishburne, the daughter of acclaimed actors Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres is carving her own unique identity amidst the glamour and challenges of Hollywood. Born into a family renowned for their contributions to film and television, Delilah's life reflects a delicate balance between the allure of celebrity and the pursuit of personal growth. This article delves into her family background, upbringing, and budding interests, painting a vivid portrait of a young individual finding her path in the shadow of stardom.

Early Life and Family Background

Born on June 16, 2007, in Los Angeles, California, Delilah Fishburne is the product of two iconic figures in Hollywood. Her father, Laurence Fishburne, is celebrated for his versatile roles, notably in The Matrix trilogy, which earned him critical acclaim and awards, including an Oscar nomination. Her mother, Gina Torres, gained fame for her roles in Suits and Firefly, showcasing her talent across diverse genres.

Delilah’s heritage is as rich as her parents’ careers. She represents a blend of cultures, being African American through her father and Cuban through her mother. This unique background adds a layer of cultural depth to her identity, setting her apart in Hollywood's ever-evolving landscape.

A Family of Talent

Delilah’s family dynamics are further enriched by her two older half-siblings, Langston and Montana Fishburne, from Laurence Fishburne's previous marriage to actress Hajna O. Moss. Langston, born in 1987, has pursued acting, appearing in films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Montana, born in 1991, ventured into modeling and acting. Despite their diverse paths, the family shares a commitment to creativity and resilience.

Growing Up in the Spotlight

From a young age, Delilah has lived in the public eye, but her parents have been diligent in shielding her from undue media scrutiny. Their concerted efforts to provide a supportive and nurturing environment allowed Delilah to focus on her education and passions. Following their divorce in 2016 and its finalization in 2018, Laurence and Gina maintained a collaborative approach to parenting, ensuring that Delilah's well-being remained their priority.

Navigating Fame with Grace

Unlike many children of celebrities, Delilah has managed to maintain a low public profile. This intentional choice reflects her parents' commitment to allowing her to experience a semblance of normalcy. Her appearances at public events, such as the 75th Tony Awards and a film festival in June 2022, demonstrate her ease in the spotlight without overshadowing her individuality.

Interests and Education

Delilah’s love for the arts is evident in her active participation in school plays and her involvement in her school's gospel choir. These pursuits not only highlight her creative inclinations but also underscore her parents' emphasis on holistic development. Her education at top private schools has further provided her with opportunities to excel academically while nurturing her artistic talents.

Shaping Her Creative Path

Raised in a household steeped in creativity, Delilah has naturally gravitated toward theater and performance. Her exposure to her parents' careers has undoubtedly influenced her aspirations, yet she is determined to forge her path. Balancing her familial legacy with her ambitions, Delilah embodies resilience and creativity as she explores the entertainment world.

Influence of Her Parents

Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres have played pivotal roles in shaping Delilah's outlook on life and her approach to the challenges of fame. Their mutual respect and co-parenting efforts have fostered an environment of love and stability, enabling Delilah to thrive despite the pressures associated with her lineage.

A Supportive Foundation

Both Laurence and Gina have consistently supported Delilah’s endeavors, whether in academics or the arts. Their encouragement has helped her navigate the complexities of growing up in a famous family, empowering her to embrace her passions without succumbing to societal expectations.

Public Image and Media Perception

Though Delilah’s name often surfaces in connection with her illustrious parents, she has managed to cultivate a reserved public persona. This contrast with her siblings, who are more visible in the media, allows Delilah to maintain authenticity and focus on her growth. Her ability to balance public appearances with private development speaks volumes about her character and upbringing.

A Future in Entertainment?

Delilah’s occasional public appearances hint at her potential interest in the entertainment industry. Whether attending red-carpet events with her father or showcasing her talent in school productions, she exhibits a natural affinity for the arts. As she continues to explore her creative pursuits, the world watches with anticipation to see how she will make her mark.

Lessons from Her Parents' Careers

Growing up with parents who are both established actors has given Delilah unique insights into the entertainment industry. While this legacy presents opportunities, it also comes with the challenge of managing expectations and comparisons. Laurence and Gina's guidance has been instrumental in helping Delilah navigate these dynamics with poise.

Finding Her Identity

Despite the inevitable comparisons to her parents, Delilah is steadily building her identity. Her involvement in various artistic endeavors reflects her determination to be recognized for her talents rather than her lineage. This journey of self-discovery underscores her strength and individuality.

Conclusion

Delilah Fishburne’s story is one of growth, resilience, and creativity. Born into a family of exceptional talent, she is crafting her narrative while honoring her roots. With the unwavering support of her parents, Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres, Delilah continues to navigate the complexities of fame with grace and determination. As she matures, her journey promises to inspire others, proving that even in the shadow of stardom, one can shine brightly in their own right.

[candy-floss-crazy]

There aren't a great deal of amusement ride manufacturers that started life building aeroplanes. The American Eyerly Aircraft CO. was initially set up to manufacturer training aids for pilots. The first was the curiously entitled 'Whiffle Hen', an airplane which only used two gallons of fuel per hour of flight. The craft derived it's name from a bird thought to be good luck that appeared in the Popeye cartoons, everyone thinks Popeye gained his strength from eating spinach, but in the early days he used to rub the whiffle hen instead. Lee Eyerly's dream was to make flight available to all classes, not just the rich. He was responsible for building Salem Airport, and ran a flight training school, as well as taking people up in his own plane at fairs and events. His second great invention was the Orientator, basically and airplane fuselage suspended between what looked like a giant tuning fork. The wind from the propellor streamed across the aircraft wings and surface controls and allowed the pilot to bank climb and roll, just like in a real aircraft but without the cost and danger associated. A few were sold (including four to the Cuban air force), but sales began to slow down. It was suggested by someone who remains unrecorded by history, that he take the device to a local funfair, or Midway as our American cousins refer to them. Allegedly he also sold rides in a real aeroplane that he flew, but soon noticed that the queue for the Orientator was far longer than for the real plane. That lighbulb moment saw the focus of his company switch to amusement ride manufacturing. The trainer was re christened the Acroplane and was sold purely as an amusement device. Line Of Amusement Rides This was just the beginning. The ride was quickly followed by the Loop-O-Plane, Roll-O-Plane, Spider, Fly-O-Plane, all designed to give people a taste of what it was like to fly, just at that period in history when Aviation was beginning to take off, excuse the pun. The Rock O Plane was invented in 1947, and the ride type still survives on many funfairs today. Some in the original style, others have been modified to create a slightly more thrilling and up to date ride. The Octopus Perhaps his most popular ride was the Octopus. Little seen nowadays on the modern fairground, there are still a few doing the vintage circuit at shows and rally's, but it is considered a bit tame for the modern generation of thrill seekers. The company continued in the business up until the mid 1980's. Sadly in 1988 at a Florida fair, an arm on an Octopus ride snapped. The arm was suffering from metal fatigue. The crack was paint covered and unnoticed by both the ride owner and the State inspector. A 17 year old girl died from head injuries. In the wake of the lawsuit that followed, the company closed its doors in 1990. The genesis of the Eyerly Aircraft Company was certainly unique as ride manufacturers go. Sources; Consumer Product Safety Commission https://www.cpsc.gov/manufacturer/eyerly-aircraft-company Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyerly_Aircraft_Company Lagoon History https://lagoonhistory.com/project/eyerly-aircraft/ Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/classic-carnival-rides-are-flight-simulators-in-disguise Read the full article

[ear-worthy]

Podcaster Profiles: Monique & Amy From Another F*cking Horror Podcast

Podcaster Profiles has a simple goal: highlight, spotlight, focus on: the indie podcasters who are the heart and soul of podcasting.

In each article, we’ll ask the person being profiled why they became involved in podcasting and how they became skilled. We'll review their public bio and ask them to tell us something not in it, including any passions other than podcasting and their future plans in podcasting and in life.

In this edition, we’re excited to profile Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon from Another F*cking Horror Podcast.

Before we begin, let me opine and say how much I admire Monique and Amy. They’re successful entrepreneurs, enterprising business people, wildly creative, and superb indie podcasters. Plus, their podcast alternately scares the shit out of me and makes me laugh

Another F*cking Horror Podcast launched on Halloween in 2020 and has already completed over 150 episodes. I love shows that bend or twist genres to their specific thematic premise, or, in this case, build a club sandwich of genres, with true-crime interacting with the supernatural, with a decadent dessert of satire and comedy.

Another Fcking Horror Podcast combines true crime and paranormal stories with comedy to create a unique listening experience. Each week, co-hosts Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon deliver a fun and expletive-filled spin on lesser-known true tales of murder, mayhem, and things that will leave you saying, “what the actual fck?”

The co-hosts definitely have a “peanut butter and jelly” type chemistry, and they play off each other nicely.

Co-host Monique Sanchez was born in Miami Beach to Cuban parents who dreamed of having a daughter who would one day marry a Cuban Catholic doctor and become a refined lady of high society. To the dismay of her mother, Monique eventually moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. For over a decade, the award-winning actress has appeared in various film, TV, and theater productions, including Law & Order and the hit Off-Broadway show and New York Times Critics Pick, Drunk Shakespeare, for which Stagebuddy called her performance “extraordinary.”

NOTE: Photo Credit For Monique & Amy: La Photographie

Amy Traydon was also born in Miami, but moved away when she was five and instead grew up in the middle-of-nowhere in north Florida surrounded by dogs, cats, chickens, ferrets, and a wild squirrel she befriended. She technically has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, but realized that spending the rest of her life stuck in a laboratory wasn’t for her. After working in sales at a tech company in NH, a brief stint as a DJ in NYC, and running a legal cannabis farm on a weird, little island off the coast of Seattle, she returned to New York to work in events where she eventually met Monique Sanchez, who introduced her to the glorious world of true crime and paranormal podcasts and suggested they start one of their own.

The co-hosts ask listeners: “Is it safe for work? Should you listen to it in the car with the kids? Fck no! It’s “Another Fcking Horror Podcast.”

I asked Monique and Amy: “I’ve read the public bios, and you met each other in NYC. But how and when? Starbuck’s? Arrested for loitering near Penn Station?”

“It was the summer of 2020,” Monique begins. “We were deep in the pandemic, especially in NYC. Prior to the madness, I was predominantly a theatre actor whose side gig was managing live, in-person events — so, when the world shut down, I was EPICALLY unemployed. Then the marketing company I work for offered me the opportunity to manage a month-long brand activation at a pop-up drive-in movie theatre (remember when drive-ins came back for a hot second?) Given that it was like the fourth job I had been offered that entire year, I jumped at the chance to do it. I was managing the activation and was going to have three production assistants working with me-all of whom I had never met. One of whom was Amy. Fun fact, the first day of the gig was July 9, which just so happens to also be Amy’s birthday!”

Amy’s recollection about how they met is similar: “We actually met on my birthday of all days! We had both worked freelance gigs for the same company for several years and had heard of each other but had never actually met before. Then in 2020, we were scheduled to work together on the same program for a month. We got to talking and immediately hit it off! On the first day, Monique mentioned that she was listening to a podcast on the history of the lobotomy and I immediately said (possibly yelled?), ‘You know the guy who invented the lobotomy won a Nobel Prize? I will never get over it!’ We realized that we were fascinated by all the same strange, slightly morbid things, immediately became best friends and spent the next month being obsessed with each other. I talked about her so much that my boyfriend (now fiancé) texted Monique at one point and told her to ‘get her own girlfriend.’ To which Monique responded ‘fight me for her.’ We’ve been best friends and psychic sisters ever since!”

We discussed their foray into podcasting, with Monique explaining: “Now, I’m the type of person who needs background noise to focus-and I find podcasts are great for that. And given that I’ve always had macabre tastes and morbid fascinations, the audio content I consume tends to be of the paranormal and true-crime ilk.”

“So, I was in the middle of Last Podcast on The Left’s multi-part series on the history of the lobotomy (I know-but it really is a fascinating series. The boys do a great job with it. Highly recommend them, if that’s your jam). I don’t remember if Amy, who at the time had never even listened to a podcast, asked me what I was listening to, or if I just volunteered that information to an unwilling participant. Either way, I told her what I was listening to and without skipping a beat, Amy goes, “You know the guy who invented the Lobotomy won a Nobel Prize?” and I was like WHERE THE F*CK HAVE YOU BEEN MY ENTIRE LIFE??? And the rest is history.”

When I asked about how the concept for the podcast evolved, Monique explained: “So, the job we were working on was the type of gig where you showed up, set everything up, and then had like four hours of down time before the event actually started. This drive-in was in the middle of nowhere in the Bronx so there wasn’t anywhere we could really go. So, we would just hang out and talk.”

Monique continues: “We quickly discovered we were kindred spirits as our conversations often turned to true-crime and the supernatural, with me sharing my must-listen-to episodes of various true-crime podcasts and Amy sharing, despite her healthy skepticism, her deep desire to have some sort of alien/UFO sighting or encounter. They were the 2 topics we found ourselves naturally drawn to and discussing regularly. So why Sophie’s Choice it, when we can just talk about both? It is our show after-all. We can talk about whatever the f*ck we want.”

Then I ask how did you start the podcast four years ago? Technical knowledge? Recording space? Financing? Equipment?

Monique says: “We had one thing: Audacity. We didn’t have any sponsors or money. When I proposed making this podcast, the very next thing I said to Amy after she accepted was, ‘Also, I don’t know how to make a podcast.’ And the thing is, four years in, I still don’t. Amy is the brains of this entire operation. Despite also never having made a podcast, Amy was so eager to jump in and just figure it out. Her fiancé, Jonny, had recently bought recording equipment for some projects he was working on so it was with that that we recorded in her apartment in Bay Ridge. In addition to researching, writing, and recording a story every week, Amy is the one who edits and releases the episodes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, without Amy, there would be no Another F*cking Horror Podcast. I just scream into the void about murders and ghosts.

Amy recalls that, “Podcasting started out as something of a Covid ‘hobby.’ When Monique suggested starting one, I absolutely loved the idea! Getting to talk about all the weird, morbid things that fascinate me with my bff? Sign me the f*ck up! Fortunately, my fiancé had a bunch of equipment already, and we recorded our first episodes in my apartment in Brooklyn. I taught myself how to use editing software to produce our episodes but Monique is really the brains behind all our creative aspects. She came up with the name for the podcast and our sign-off, writes all our episode descriptions, and generally handles anything creative. “

Amy continues: “I designed our cover art and eventually our website. (But again, content-wise all Monique!) We do everything pretty much just the two of us and it’s very much a team effort. (Despite how much credit she likes to give me, lol.) She also handles our social media account which is something I am absolutely terrible at, so while she says there wouldn’t be a podcast without me, I always say, we wouldn’t have a podcast or the amazing community of fans we do without her! We’ve also had some help from friends along the way of course who gave us advice on how to improve our audio quality since our first episodes (thanks, Filip!) and gave us direction and kept us focused on the steps we needed to take to grow the podcast (I’m talking about you, Brad!) We’re still mostly self-financed but are also lucky enough to have been supported by all our wonderful fans’ contributions through Patreon. Link: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=117881536."

Monique talks about why she got into the acting and show business: “I grew up feeling deeply misunderstood. I’m a middle child, only daughter, first generation American of Cuban descent. That comes with a lot of baggage and a lot of opinions as to who I ‘should’ be: namely, a ‘lady.’ Someone who doesn’t rock the boat, doesn’t have big feelings or contradictory opinions, doesn’t like macabre things, and definitely doesn’t curse. But try as I might, I never felt that I aligned with that perceived ideal, so I spent a good portion of my life feeling out of place and that I was too much. So, I found refuge in film and TV. And it was in watching and falling in love with these other characters that I not only found an escape but also came to better understand myself. So, initially, I was drawn to acting because it gave me the opportunity to be someone else. Not only that, I quickly learned that on stage, I could not only express all the feelings and be as messy and imperfect as I wanted but that it was actually encouraged!”

When I ask Amy, “Is there anything you haven’t done? You’ve been a squirrel whisperer, chemist, crab farmer, event planner, and salesperson? How did these life experiences prepare you for the podcast?”

Amy thinks for a few seconds and replies: “Hmm…I haven’t been a cult leader yet, lol. But I’ve definitely had an eclectic mix of jobs in my life! I really enjoy learning new things and for me, the best way to do that is just to jump in and give it a try. I always approach every job as an opportunity to learn something, whether it’s a new skill or just something about myself (like dear god, I hate sales and don’t want to do that ever again.) But working in so many industries has given me a pretty diverse range of skills and knowledge and while I don’t know if any of it really helped with the podcast specifically, it did teach me that just because you don’t know how to do something yet, doesn’t mean you can’t! I’m constantly saying “we’ll figure it out!” because even if I don’t know how, someone out there does and fortunately, we live in a world where how-to blogs and YouTube tutorials are literally at the tips of our fingers, so it’s easier than ever to teach yourself how to do something you know nothing about.”

When I ask, “Where do you want the podcast to go?”

Monique doesn’t hesitate: “World domination. Obviously.”

Amy seconds that goal with more detail: “And this is why I love Monique! World domination would be pretty awesome but at the very least, we’d love to be able to do the podcast as our full-time jobs. It’s also a not-so secret dream of ours to be able to do our own Celebrity Ghost Stories type of show. We both watched it and were obsessed! In fact, one of the things we bonded over at first was our mutual love of the show. It’s off the air now, but it would be so much fun to be able to bring it back with new celebrities and all kinds of paranormal stories instead of just ghosts because I absolutely live for a celebrity alien story!”

Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon are the epitome of indie podcasters — wildly creative and innovative; hard-working; savvy business people; enterprising entrepreneurs, and a credit to the independent podcasting community.

*****************************************************

After four years of exploring the world’s most bizarre crimes and supernatural mysteries from their respective apt studios, hosts Monique Sanchez and Amy Traydon are ready to bring their unique blend of humor and horror to a live audience with its first-ever live event: “A Cute & Creepy Weekend with Another F*cking Horror Podcast from November 1–3, 2024 in Tarrytown, NY.

“We’re really looking forward to getting to interact with our fans in person and giving them the opportunity to finally meet each other! We’ve discovered this wonderful, supportive community of amazing people who are just as passionate about all things paranormal and true crime as we are, but we’ve never had the chance to all hang out together and share our interest in the macabre. With our Cute & Creepy Weekend, we have two whole days to get to know each other and have some fun, spooky adventures along the way,” said Amy.

Co-creator of the podcast, Monique added, “Amy and I have put a lot of thought and care into making our first live event the kind of spooky, once-in-a-lifetime experience that not only we ourselves would want to attend, but that our amazing listeners deserve. And we’re just so excited to share it with everyone!”

If you’ve never heard of this podcast, check out the show, and then consider attending their “Cute & Creepy Weekend” from November 1–3, 2024, in Tarrytown, NY.

The event will feature:

· 3 days/2 nights in a private luxury suite

· Aura Photography from Inner Light Aura

· An intimate welcome dinner in a Victorian Library

· A live séance held on the Day of The Dead by a psychic medium from New Orleans

· A private tour of the famed Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

· A spooky slumber party, complete with games, with your two hosts

· The first-ever live show of Another F*cking Horror Podcast

· And more

Tickets for “A Cute & Creepy Weekend with Another F*cking Horror Podcast” are on sale through the show’s website.

I’ll be there. Hope to see you and meet you there!

[back-and-totheleft]

"I don't assume I have any power"

Robert Downey Jnr, no stranger to nocturnal excess, once observed how an evening out with Oliver Stone was 'like pagan Rome, 26AD'. When I meet the director at lunchtime in a hotel room in Edinburgh he looks very much as if he is regretting just such a night-before. His eyes seem wary of the light; his big gap-toothed grin could equally be a wince; he reaches with some fervour for coffee.

In fact, Stone's fatigue is innocently explained. He has, he says, flown in the previous night from Bangkok where he has been scouting locations for his life of Alexander the Great, starring Colin Farrell, which goes into production next month. (Stone is not a man to shy away from the big subject: having made his obsessive epics on JFK and Nixon, there are not that many ways to up the stakes, but Alexander is possibly one.)

'We're doing the stage work in England,' he says, 'a lot of other stuff in Thailand and Morocco. It's a fast shoot. We have to do the whole thing in a hundred days. So it's going to be like an old-fashioned military machine.'

In the past year, Stone has had a good deal of first-hand experience of how just such an operation might work. He is in Edinburgh to launch the documentary film he has made about Castro's Cuba, Comandante, the result of an unprecedented three days of interviews with the dictator. The film was scheduled to be shown by the HBO network in America in May. 'But unfortunately,' Stone explains, apparently surprised, 'it got politicised by the Cuban American lobby in Miami. Millions of emails were sent to HBO. They really pounded it. And, of course,' he adds, 'Castro gave them some juice by arresting these dissidents in April.' HBO pulled the film.

The irony of this is, Stone suggests, straightfaced, that he was not at all trying to make anything 'political'. 'I mean, I ask him a few questions. But it was a broad picture of a strong man, a comandante. I wanted to ask him his feelings about life and death, about the future, about globalisation, philosophy rather than politics…'

The best moments of their encounter offer little human insights, as Stone's neurotic camera dwells on the detail of Castro's life: the dictator's boots with a Nike logo, the exercise regime he undergoes in his office, keeping in shape, at 75, for his people; his coy admission of having enjoyed Titanic and Gladiator and how Sophia Loren was his pin-up. Sometimes, too, Stone's bluff line of questioning works. 'Everyone seems to like you, Fidel. Why don't you hold an election?'

Often though, Stone's film threatens to take its place alongside the key sycophantic interviews of our times, Clive James on Barbra Streisand, say, or Tony Benn on Saddam Hussein. In part this seems a technical fault. The intimacy Stone is afforded by the use of digital cameras does not sit well with his love of bold gesture and grand emotion; he struggles with subtlety and contradiction and wit. Damien Hirst, oddly, once said that 'Oliver Stone had no irony, and I applaud him for that'. That lack is very much to the fore in Comandante.

Stone the interviewer is predictably anxious to be a co-star, sporting a dictator's moustache, and stranded somewhere between acolyte and best buddy. Much of the fascination of Comandante thus comes from his increasingly clumsy efforts to establish a kind of locker-room banter with Castro.

At one point Stone, with a leery grin, offers to break the American blockade by smuggling Castro some Viagra (as if, we are invited to understand, either man would ever require it?). In a limo, Stone becomes Ruby Wax and starts rummaging through the stuff on the back seat. Inevitably, he comes up with a gun. 'Do you still know how to use it, Fidel?' he wonders, his arm around the older man's shoulder. Just for a moment Castro looks tempted to remind himself.

Despite appearances, the pair had met only once before, in 1989 at the Havana film festival, which featured Salvador, Stone's first film. 'I thought he was a charming man,' he recalls, 'and a movie star, no question about it. The hard part of Comandante was cutting. We could have used almost anything from the 30 hours of film. I was amazed at his inner strength. His morality. He really believes in a dream. It's like Don Quixote.'

And is he as naive as Quixote at times, too?

'No, he reads voluminously. He reads the internet, he reads books, he loves writers, he's friends with [Gabriel García] Márquez. He's an introspective man. He talks about the terrible effects of global warming…'

And he also would have sanctioned a nuclear war…

'He had a good life, but he chose a hard path, and he has stuck with it. Stayed in power. The truth is, it seems to me, the people like him.'

In conversation, as in his work, Stone is not inclined to shades of grey. In the film he happily lets Castro get away with his assertion that Cuba is the 'most democratic country on earth' and explain how he has furthered the cause of gay liberation (Castro expelled many gays, along with 'other scum' in 1980, and they are not allowed to join his party). I wonder whether Stone decided not to press him on these issues because he thought it important simply to give Castro a platform?

'Whether he is in denial or not, my job is not to judge the veracity of his answers,' Stone says. 'My job is to try to open him up, really like a movie director tries to open up an actor. If you see deception, it is up to you. If you see him lying about torture or about gays, then that is up to you. I did not see it, but I present it for you to judge.'

He suggests there are some freedoms in Cuba that are not enjoyed in America, the freedom to see his film for a start. Could he work there, live there, do a Hemingway?

'No,' he says, with slightly belligerent illogic, 'because I was raised in the North, in North America. But if I grew up in Cuba I would grow up healthy, with an education, no doubt a foreign language, whereas if I grew up in Honduras or Guatemala I would probably get sick, likely die before I was three. I'd be scared shitless of government troops coming through and taking my mom and dad out and saying, "Who did you vote for in the last election?"'

But Castro has been in a position to create proper democracy?

'The people in these places do not care about elections,' Stone says. 'They care about good water and healthcare. The things of life. The things that Iraq for example needs now. No one there is wondering about voting, they want electric ity and sanitation. That's what matters.'

It would be fair to say that Stone, the Vietnam veteran, has never run away from a controversy. (Rather, he's prepared to fly half way around the world to promote one.) Comandante, of course, offers him another chance to expose some raw nerves at home, and for good measure he has just completed a similar film about Yasser Arafat. These are the latest chapters in a career in which he has spent Oscar night with Mexico's Zapatista guerrillas and been sued for responsibility in the murders committed in America by a young pair of teenage lovers who had stayed up all night watching his film Natural Born Killers. (The case was thrown out, but the film, a glamorously violent 'attack' on glamorised violence, struggled to recover.)

Though he is reluctant to say so, Stone's element is this kind of scandal. It allows him to indulge his maverick self-image. In some respects he proves, according to Michael Douglas (who won an Oscar in his film Wall Street) 'that in Hollywood you can be an artist and a capitalist at the same time', though Stone's critics would dispute the first description and he would take exception to the latter.

For a while, at least, he seemed to have understood the trick of making powerful issue-led films (Salvador, Born on the Fourth of July) that also appealed to the box office. (Platoon, his 'anti-establishment' Vietnam film, made $160 million.) He says he sees all of his films as coming out of the same place. 'I work from a need to dramatise what I see in the world around me,' he says, a vision that typically involves an element of megalomania, a dose of paranoia, and a liberated relationship with historical fact.

Are his insights about Castro feeding into his idea of Alexander the Great?

'Being with a world leader, seeing him work, has given me more insight into power, certainly. It is interesting to feel it, that power. The thing about these people, be it JFK or Nixon or Castro, is that the things that they are dealing with are the things we all deal with except on a much grander scale. I mean Nixon's government, it seemed to me, was a result of his childhood demons. Castro had a very happy childhood. And that seems to be the root of his sense of morality. He has married just one time; he may have many other children, but he has stayed true to that idea of marriage.'

In this (arguable) propriety, Stone has suggested, Castro reminded him of his late father, Louis. If he were making a film of his own life - and perhaps all his films are that to a degree - you are left in little doubt that his father would figure centrally in it. Louis was a successful Wall Street broker; the family had Jewish roots, a fact which Oliver was told to deny because of his father's fears of persecution. Pointedly, Stone dedicated both Nixon , his study in paranoia, and Wall Street , his morality play on greed, to his father (whose evening Scotch Oliver once laced with LSD); the films could be seen, in turn, as a working through of his own demons.

Despite his apparent obsession with powerful men, though, Stone does not believe that he is in thrall to power himself, still less trying to force the world to fit his idea of it. 'I don't for one second assume I have any power,' he says. 'I can make a movie that has an effect on the world, like JFK say. But real power is something you build on, can hold on to. In movies you start over every fucking time. I am concerned about power, but I have no power.'

I quote to him something his wife once said - 'I don't think Oliver could make a movie without being completely in love with the main character' - and wonder if that applied to Castro?

'To a degree,' he says. 'But that does not mean that I would be in love with a dictator if I did not admire him. I mean I'm not going to fall for Saddam Hussein. But I would try to humanise him. Nixon was the greatest liar of all. But I tried to humanise him. We should not get into the Hollywood thing of always having a sympathetic hero, because it undermines drama. Can we really say we like Oedipus? Or Lear? But they make great drama. America sentimentalises drama.'

There must, given his engagement in the here and now, be a temptation to bring his own American vision up to date? Has he thought about doing an Iraq film, or an al-Qaeda film?

'Well, I think a terrorist film would be an important thing to do,' he says, 'but you know even Comandante can't get on the air in America. The British are much more independent-minded: you see that in this inquiry that is going on. In America it is much more easy to float a stupid idea - you know, Iraq is the source of the 9/11 attacks - and people in the main will buy into that without questioning it too much.'

The great challenge for someone like him, in this environment is, he says, to stay true to himself. He hopes that, in 20 years' time, at 75, he will still stand for something, like Castro. 'It is very hard to maintain a vision and a voice. Nobody wants singular statements.'

Stone is pessimistic about his prospects of getting his own singular statements financed because he believes these attitudes are hardening. 'There's a danger,' he says, 'that we are turning into a giant lynch mob, you know, that mentality. The greatest film to be made at the moment would be a version of The Ox-Bow Incident, that Henry Fonda movie. A movie about hanging three people in a cowboy town. That blind vigilantism is what you see everywhere in America now, in the media, in the people. America wants to see Schwarzenegger wiping up the baddies. They wanted vengeance for 9/11. They wanted to kill Arabs. That was why Bush got away with it. It was a lie, that war, and as Goebbels I think said, the bigger the lie, the more they will believe it.'

However much you think that phrase could happily sum up the director's career, Stone is one of the few Americans prepared, eager, to say that the reaction to 11 September was 'disproportionate and hysterical'. What we need, he says, is a Costa-Gavras to come along and make a big film about terrorism and imperialism. Part of him certainly wishes he could do it but he believes there 'would be so much pre-judgment of it, no one would want to go near it'.

Instead, Stone is looking forward to finding some contemporary resonance in Alexander the Great's imperial progress. Baz Luhrmann is making a film about Alexander too (with Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead) and you imagine the pair will offer, if nothing else, a compelling contrast in style: Stone's polemical realism against Luhrmann's insistent light-footedness.

Stone says, of course, that there is no element of competition, though it is hard to imagine him not relishing it. The only thing he admits to be racing against is the script. 'You could tell any number of stories about Alexander because he is such a powerful character. But we are going to make an attempt at one. It's a big-budget movie, but of course,' he says, grinning, 'I will be shooting it like a guerrilla, I guess.' He likes that idea. 'No rest for one hundred days!' For a moment, the prospect seems to wake him up.

-Tim Adams, "Oliver's One Man Army," The Observer, Aug 31 2003

[coineagle]

Mark Cuban Criticizes Gary Gensler’s Crypto Regulations: Notes Bureaucracy as the Real Issue

Key Points

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda urges for clearer crypto asset disclosure rules.

Mark Cuban and Ethereum co-founder criticize SEC’s vague crypto regulations.

SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda has advocated for explicit guidelines for crypto asset disclosures.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, alongside Ethereum’s co-founder, has publicly criticized Chair Gensler’s management of cryptocurrency regulations.

Mark Cuban’s Critique

Cuban took to social media to express his discontent, stating that the problem lies not with crypto companies unwilling to register, but with the incompatibility of existing regulations with the unique characteristics of cryptocurrencies.

His comments were in response to a statement made by Mark Uyeda, who on June 1st, stressed the need for “re-registration for Index-Linked Annuities & Registered Market-Value Adjustment Annuities.”

Alexander Grieve, Government Affairs Lead at Paradigm, found this noteworthy because Uyeda called for updating form S-1 to better accommodate cryptocurrency’s unique traits.

SEC’s Stance on Cryptocurrency

S-1 forms, or ‘Registration Statements,’ are submitted by potential issuers such as asset managers like BlackRock and VanEck. These forms provide details about the funds’ structure, management, and operations of the proposed ETF product.

The recent criticisms towards Gensler highlight how the SEC has been examining various crypto firms on regulatory grounds, but has not yet provided clarity in the crypto space.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, also shared Cuban’s perspective. He emphasized the challenges in crypto regulation, particularly in the US, where companies attempting to be transparent with their customers often find themselves categorized as ‘a security.’

Impact on Upcoming Elections

Cuban has previously voiced his concerns over Gensler’s actions, suggesting they could negatively affect President Joe Biden’s chances in the upcoming elections. As the US presidential election approaches, it remains to be seen whether the SEC will provide clarity on crypto regulations, as this could potentially influence President Biden’s 2024 election prospects.

[singeratlarge]

SONG OF THE WEEK: “Night Garden” https://johnnyjblairsingeratlarge.bandcamp.com/track/night-garden-3 

I was playing cruise ship gigs and a bass line kept flowing out of me. Every time I played this groove, musicians would start jamming, people would start dancing… It turned into this psychedelic Cuban-jazzified pop song. Latin and Caribbean music is animated and easeful to me, rhythmically and harmonically, making me feel I’m moving with confidence no matter what’s going on in the world. My lyrics were inspired after reading an airline magazine article by Lee May, a journalist from Atlanta who was passionate about gardening. His wonderful words about “plant life that blooms at only night” left an impression. As to the lyrics, Donald Fagen says he chooses words because they suit the shape of his mouth and the lure of a melody—words flow and find their own meaning. That was my approach: Like winding tendrils, words and melody twined into “a song novelette” about a pair of lovers heading south of the border, on the lam because of an unspecified crime.

The music bed was recorded in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Williamsport PA (final mix by Xavier Francis). It features the brilliant drum/trumpet/co-production work of Eric Biondo (a.k.a. Beyondo) + magnificent piano by Mike Garson, a composer-artist in his own right but also known as David Bowie’s longtime keyboardist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KanYucaQUk

#nightgarden #gardening #flowers #davidbowie #mikegarson #leemay #atlanta #journalist #caribbean #latin #cuba #mexico #psychedelic #piano #exotica #ericbiondo #beyondo #trumpet #donaldfagen #steelydan #airline #cruiseship #johnnyjblair #singeratlarge #dance #brianwilson #smile #beachboys #kokomo

[bravenewolympus--hq]

𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝝂𝒆𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒂𝒘. this character is neutral (or affiliated with the minotaur network, but is not a ranked member). suggested faces — please note, this character must be 35+ years old. lotte verbeek; bryce dallas howard; christina hendricks; amy adams; kate walsh; rachel mcadams; rebecca ferguson; tiffani amber thiessen; sutton foster.

◈ please note: the mun writing persephone has a strong preference that demeter be a sister of persephone rather than mother, due to the age of persephone (35). open to adopted siblings. If biological, fc must be at minimum hispanic but preferably cuban.

suggested occupations. horticulturist or landscape designer; owner of a green house, plant or tree nursery; farmer and activist, organizing a farmer co-op, weekly farmers market, or community gardens; nutritionist; baker and owner of a bakery specializing in bread products (and poppyseed bagels).

◈ alternatively, if involved in the minotaur network: a chemist employed by the minotaur (whether willingly and directly, or by way of shell companies that own their laboratory), synthesizing the opiate-based drug called ambrosia.

𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏. 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.

ʙʀᴀᴠᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʟʏᴍᴘᴜꜱ : ᴀ 21+ ᴍᴏᴅᴇʀɴ ɢʀᴇᴇᴋ ᴍʏᴛʜᴏʟᴏɢʏ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏʀᴅ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏ. athens, new york: an island city, all trees and marble, glass and steel and highrises set against an ocean skyline. bustling and loud, crowded, but not without a bizarre sense that it must have sprung up overnight, somehow, when surely it must have always been here, no? on a clear night, you might even be able to see the lights of its more famous cousin, new york city, across the water…if you squint hard enough. it may not get as much attention as the shiny apple across the hudson, but those not so blinded by the lights must certainly have been coming here for years. is there something in the water here, too? no one leaves, not in any meaningful way anyway. feels like it has a special way of pulling you back in, if you try. they, that is anyone who was anyone or paid even an iota of attention to the evening news, called him the minotaur. the media does love a catchy nom de guerre, doesn’t it? sells newspapers like hotcakes in the morning. ambrosia, whether it’s the latest designer drug trend or the latest pestilence sweeping the streets of athens, just depends on how tightly you clutch your pearls on sundays. must infuriate the police, don’t it? that without fail, by the time they arrive to any crime scene at all, all that’s left is the heap of little cream-coloured business cards, the red lines of a labyrinthine logo more taunting than they are helpful. between an epidemic of pearlescent powder, neatly parceled out in small plastic baggies, a tide of crimson bull graffiti, casinos and bordellos and the nightlife (oh my!), it’s no small wonder they call this an atlantic sin city. it’s a vice eat dog world, ain’t it? and anyone who calls athens home is just living in it. powerless, with no memory of their past lives, what's a god gotta do to survive?