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mindwideopen · 4 years ago

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Bert.... is mad.

Look at bert’s head! It’s about to explode with fury. He’s soooo mad! Oh no.... Bert, will have..... your.... ass..... No. because Bert would never do that. Bert is a loving guy, but he’s reached his limit, as a lot of us do from time to time. Bert gave Ernie ALL of his power. He allowed ernies antics to affect him negatively. What Ernie did? Who knows. Probably swindled Bert out of the bigger piece of pizza, and more grape drink. He does that a lot...

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Or maybe he drank all Bert’s ice cream soda when all he wanted was plain seltzer,

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or he probably annoyed Bert by playing tag with him, when he was trying to read.

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Ernie is a bit inconsiderate like that, or, Ernie is needy, and wants attention from Bert, and Bert is into his own thing, Either way, Ernie doesn’t mean to act like a mindless, thoughtless Turkey culo. He wants love, like we all do. Unfortunately, it’s coming off really inconsideratly. Sometimes, when it’s not you that’s the one being annoyed, it can be hilarious. But let’s put ourselves in each of their positions for a minute...

Bert, does NOT look happy. He looks mad, yes, but also, hurt, upset, not appreciated, not understood, not cared for. Bert, is a perpetual victim of Ernie’s naughty business. Bert can also tend to like things the way he likes them. Kinda an immobile, guy. Maybe a guy that takes himself too seriously, too sensitive, with no sense of humor. BUT, regardless, Bert deserves love, and respect, and consideration even though Ernie doesn’t always show it in the way Bert appreciates. Does that mean Ernie doesn’t love Bert? Not sure. Are they in a serious codependent relationship of abuse? Could be. Or are they in a mutual friendship that somehow works for the both of them? It all depends on your perception.

Let’s take in Ernie for a bit. Ernie, is a purveyor of glad tidings, fun and joy. On the flip side, Ernie has a ton of energy, and doesn’t flow outside of his own desires in the moment very well. Some would say, “Ohhhh... That Ernie... all he cares about is fun, and play, and singing, and dancing, and his rubber ducky, and he’s messy, and carefree, and doesn’t listen to Bert at all. What an Turkey culo!! But Ernie does care about how he, and others like Bert, feel. And he wants to break Bert out of his comfort zone, and have a little fun with his best friend. How you view them, is irrelevant to them, but means everything to you. Because they are not affected by you in the least. They’re muppets. But the energy that they bring up in you, is very very real.

Ernie and Bert are facets of these 2 men: Jim Henson, who played Ernie, and Frank Oz, who still maybe I dunno, periodically plays Bert. But, they created these characters. And they evolved over time, both the characters, and the men.

I heard an interview where frank oz was discussing the character of Bert. At first, bert was a conundrum. He was boring. But frank oz, in his genius, made boring, fun! Well, Bert may be boring, but he loves it! He is the single most boring guy in the world, and loves what he loves; bottle caps, and pigeons named Bernice, and paper clips, and plain soda water. Bert celebrates his boringness to the hilt! I used to not get Bert at all when I was a kid. Bert?! You’re into boring....everything! But now that I’m older, I finally appreciate Bert, and his love of the mundane, cause he’s so into it. And frank and Jim, got it too, and they shared it with me, and all the other kids my age and beyond. Celebrate people not just for their similarities, but their differences too. And if you don’t celebrate their differences, at the very least accept the person, and love them anyway.

Ernie gives Bert a serious headache. So he cares for him, and makes sure he has his hot water bottle (still not quite sure what that does...) But no one can say Ernie doesn’t care, or they can, but they��d be wrong to me, because Ernie, in his own selfish jerk way to some, cares a lot. And I sometimes appreciate him for it. Bert resigns himself to it a lot too, cause after all, both of these characters come from a place of love, and devotion to one another.

But regardless of what I think of either, and much like gayle king of I dunno, and Oprah Winfrey, a Winfrey, they’re best friends. And isn’t it better to be friends, then not? Well, don’t ask me, cause I have none...

George Carlin: Kari, you, are seriously, one of the most ridiculous people I have ever not met personally. You have friends, you just walk away from everyone cause they don’t show up for you the way you’d like. I only know that, because you’re writing me, so I have an insight others don’t, because you cut everyone out. At least with Ernie and Bert, Bert gets pissed, and Ernie knows about it.

Bert in the year 2020: It’s been 50 plus years of ernie’s crazy behavior, and I feel the following: n for numb, b for beaten down, a for aggravated, and n again, for no more...

Ernie in the year 2020: bert, how many times do we have to go through this, Bert? I love you like a brother and friend, and I never want to upset you, ever, Bert. You’re special to me. I’ve learned that over time. You’re my best buddy, Bert! Just like rubber ducky, only you do all the shopping, and cleaning, and the dishes and laundry.

Bert: Er——niiie! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You are not responsible for anything! We are both 7, 8, 9 or 10 years old! When are you going to chip in and do your share in this friendship?! All you do is give me grief, Ernie! Grief!

Oscar the grouch: sounds like my kind of guy!!!

Bert: um, youve known him for 50 plus years!

Oscar: well, I didn’t know that about him! I love hate it!

Bert: ok, anyway, Ernie, if you keep doing the same things that make me angry over and over again, how is that changing? I don’t trust you, or believe you. Your words do not match your actions. Aaaagh! I don’t know what to think...

Mr. hooper: maybe I can help. You see boys, this is a classic case of the bullshit that I don’t have to deal with anymore because I am dead.

Bert: um, mr. hooper, you’re not allowed to talk like that on Sesame Street. I’m only 10 years old and I live alone with Ernie, unsupervised, which is bad enough. I don’t think we’re supposed to hear such talk.

Mr. hooper: We’re not on Sesame Street right now, we’re in Kari’s blog, so it’s fine, cause she’s the one swearing, not me, as I, am dead, as I/she stated above. Alight, boys, what I’m trying to say is this; can you please, for once and for all, be more considerate of one another’s feelings and maybe just maybe get back to the love? I’m over all this bickering.

Ernie: yeah Bert, I was trying to tell you that...

Bert: yeah Ernie, but at some point you have to back up your words with the proper actions. How many times have I told you that?! And you ignore me!

The count von count: 7 zillion, 345 trillion, 8 million, 32 times Bert has told you, Ernie, about that! Ah ah ahhhhhhh! (Lightening strikes)

Ernie: you’ve got a point there, Bert. Ok, I’ll show you, by giving you, the bigger piece of pizza once and awhile, and leaving your seltzer, plain, and allowing you to read in peace. Cause I support you bert, and I care.

Bert: that’s great Ernie! I do too! And I’ll make time to play tag with you more, and spend time the way we like to do, together.

Mr. hooper: word(s).

Scene.

George Carlin: Kari, did you her all that?

Kari: yes. Oh man. I’ve been read by Ernie and Bert. Ok, my intention for writing on my blog is not to hurt anyone at all with my POV, but to be honest about my feelings, in love. I try not to be a mean passive aggressive person. I sometimes can be, but I’m trying to clean up my side of the street with that. And I do feel like I am friendless, but it’s because I’m hurt, and don’t feel loved or appreciated sometimes. That’s what it all comes down to, really.

Carlin: ok, clearly you need some time to sort this out. So I’ll leave us with this. I love you. You are a very kind, imaginative woman, who cares about people. I will allow you to sit in hurt as long as you need to. Just know that anytime you’re ready to join the world again, I’ll be there to support you. Some of these people are gone for good, and that’s ok, but some still care, and may want to work it out when the time comes. You’ll see when you’re ready.

Kari: thanks George. I love you too. And I will go and get a piece of almond Kringle now, cause I love O & H kringles (1) a lot, and give you the bigger piece!

Carlin: gee, thanks, as you will be the one ingesting it for the both of us. Better make it a sliver.

Kari: ok.

Scene.

Carlin: oh, and Kari, one more thing...

Kari: what?

Carlin: friends are better, when shared. And by cutting people out, you’re not sharing you. Just sayin...

Kari: no Kringle for you!

Carlin: fine. I’ll keep our girlish figure in tact...

Kari: fine! The whole Kringle for you!

Carlin: she’s maaaaddd...

Cookie Monster: this has been monster-piece theater... good bye! Me eat all the Kringle now, then all her cookies, cause she upset, and she won’t eat anything, so it no go to waste! I love her, so I help!

Kari: I ate ALL the Kringle!

Cookie Monster: noooooooooooo...... (shakes furry blue paw in the air)

Scene scene scene.

(1):,credit for my discovery of the o & h bakery and the Kringle itself goes to my friend Bonnie, who i believe now hates my guts. ❤️

#sesame street #Ernie #Bert #Cookie Monster #jim henson #frank oz #loveyourself #lovematters #relationships #relationship #talkin to myself #talk it out #no #oh no #self reflection #selfawareness #mind wide open #kari keillor #Youtube

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silkygoldmilkweed · 7 years ago

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Everything Is SanSan, SanSan Is Everything, 1/? - “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”

This might be one of a series.

This is basically a “subtweet” post which is part designed to make myself feel better bc the negativity from a fellow Tumblr person I admire bummed me and partly because I think my show-only vantage point actually could be valuable in thinking about the story and the characters we all love.

OK. So. I’ve noticed some aggressive SanSan/GOT pessimism around here lately, which I totally accept especially if your fandom started with the book series. The book story is subtle and much more romantic than show-only SanSan. But as a show-only, I feel bound to defend the romance embedded in the series, because I think it is absolutely there, just presented in different terms than the books.

The book series gives SanSan the gift of Sansa’s internal experience.

For my money, one of the reasons (one but not the only) GRRM made Sansa a POV character is because it amused him greatly to try to explain the fierce, unstable, dangerous, strong Hound from the extremely unreliable POV of a dreamy, gentle, ultravulnerable, isolated, young, romantic-minded little girl, Sansa Stark.

ANYWAY. On the show we don’t get to know Sansa’s thinking, or anyone’s thinking for that matter: We can see only the actions of the characters.

On the show, Sansa is forever passive and susceptible, and Sandor’s POV is opaque, clouded by both his own recalcitrance and emotional challenges and by the fact that GRRM keeps him deliberately to the side.

(I personally believe Sandor is one of the four most important characters in the story. Jon, Dany, Sansa, Sandor are my power quad; more on that later).

So. Camera’s POV. It’s different than the internal POV of the books, but it is also a gift in that we get new insights to the same material because of the different story medium.

We can learn a lot about the endgame from how the show cuts the stories into individual episodes, each with a theme. We can learn a lot from how the stories braid together within an episode: What scene leads into what other scene? Which themes are reflected widely, and which get brief treatment? Which phrases of dialogue and which musical refrains are repeated?

For my money, the show uses minor and disposable characters to reflect back on the grand themes of the show, even when the main characters who will ultimately carry out the related plots are sidelined.

So.

Let’s just say, hypothetically, that the main theme of the story is “the things I do for love” and the main characters of A Song of Ice and Fire are Sandor and Sansa (”he is the prince who was promised and his is the song of ice and fire”), whereas the main characters of “A/The Game of Thrones” are Jon and Dany.

Let’s concede, for the purposes of argument, that GRRM and D&D are bound and determined to hide the SanSan for the nearly the duration of the story, for two reasons: (1) plot twists and surprises make for good drama, (2) Sandor x baby!Sansa as a pairing is legitimately illegal child pornography and every kind of creepiness, which all of them well know and strongly oppose. And that was GRRM’s point all along: Drogo is a barbarian who buys the little girl and rapes her and puts a baby in her and doesn’t think twice about it, and Sandor Clegane is a good man who puts his selfish desire to fuck her bloody second to his sworn duty to protect her and keep her safe and do the same for all her family (Arya). (I will go to my grave swearing that they aged up Dany, Jon, Robb, Theon and not the others–including Joff and Tommen–because there was simply no way to write their sex lives out of the story; therefore they had to be played by adults or the story collapsed.)

FORBIDDEN LOVE OF SANDOR AND SANSA get two seasons of setup just so they’ve actually met each other and had a couple of common experiences (arguably only one the two seasons has any meaningful interaction between them as a “pairing” of any kind) and then there is very very little to no TEXT ABOUT THEIR PAIRING for five years. (There are, however, many missed connections, several suggestive images and symbols of their relationship, and the incontrovertible fact that the Hound never even looks at another woman after Sansa and that Sansa fears or loathes every man who crosses her path after the Hound, and that they are both objectively lonely for the duration of seasons three through seven.)

The five years and the weak first two years are understandably alarming to book readers. It is, indeed, thin gruel compared to the books, but I don’t think the SanSan is eliminated from the show, not one bit.

QUESTION: How do you possibly tell the story of this epic fucked-up love without putting any evidence of epic unrequited inappropriate unrequited passion and love onscreen until the very end of the story when it is finally the future and it’s OK for our lovers to finally consummate their “marriage” and express their feelings physically? This is a dilemma, guys.

ANSWER: You gotta use the SUBTEXT. You bury the exposition and narration of the epic love in other stories, so that long after all the characters in those other characters are dead and buried, you still have the assertions that support your ideas about the role of love in human life.

So. Let’s take a look at a good example. Let’s do the episode “The Bear and the Maiden Fair,” which I picked because it has the line “Most men fuck like dogs,” which I consider an explicit reference to the topic of the Hound, Sansa and sexuality (as a tangible expression of love).

(See also: the earlier statement “The Dothraki take slaves like a hound takes a bitch,” as there are a lot of SanSan shadows cast by the Dany-Drogo relationship. I think Dany-Drogo is how George scratched his beauty-and-the-beast itch in the first book.)

“The Bear and the Maiden Fair” turns out to be what I consider to be an exceedingly clear case, not least because “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” is both a pretty clear restatement of George’s “the beast and the beauty” trope, not to mention the explicit nature of the song lyrics themselves.

So, if I rewatch the episode with the presumption that

Sandor and Sansa are the beating heart of the epic hero tale, a saga of ice and fire that will be sung for a thousand years

and with an assumption that the scenes featuring Sansa and Sandor themselves (the “text”) are just one way that D&D/GRRM can tell us their story, what subtext do we find? Let’s look.

LOVE STORY, ROBB-TALISA: Robb is a ginger!Stark who takes after Cat. He has many parallels with fellow king Jon–especially in the show–but he also has some subtler ties with Sansa that I think are not unimportant. (In re the Jon thing, I don’t think it’s a mistake that D&D replaced Jeyne Westerling with Talisa from Volantis, a “foreign whore” who speaks Valyrian–they were setting up the Jon-Dany parallels and problems years in advance.)

After they dispense with some political setup for the Red Wedding (sniff), Robb and Talisa start doing their newlywed thing under Cat’s critical eye and after a minute we cut to them enraptured with each other, enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking/sex on a pile of Northern furs. The love theme that was first played in season two, “I am hers, she is mine”, plays as they kiss. The title of this song is taken from the Westeros marriage vows, wherein the officiant also says, “I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one for eternity.” (This will be crucial when Stark blood and soul marriage and consciousness-merging through warging turn out to be the key to defeating the Night King.)

Robb: “If you don’t put some clothes on I can’t promise I won’t attack you again.”

The conflation of sex and combat is perfect George. The cock is the sword, and the sword is the cock.

The idea of losing your sexual prowess and being a “broken sword” comes up later in the episode in reference to Jaime (sword hand amputated) and Theon (rendered dickless by Ramsay), but Robb is very intact, very virile and an exemplar of a good man and good husband in this story, with his great weakness being…love. Love is the death of duty. He broke his oath to marry Talisa, and he pays with this life. But in these last days before his doom we see he has achieved reproductive success along with his battle victories. The seed is strong. The sword is powerful and hard and used correctly. Etc.

It’s not enough to have a strong sword OR a hard dick. You must have BOTH to win in George’s world. Walder Frey is reproductively successful but a coward. Stannis Baratheon is a true soldier, but he fails as a family man. Robb is winning on both fronts. George gives him that as a gift to honor him before he cuts him down at the Red Wedding.

And when, in due course, Talisa reveals that she is pregnant, she strangely asks, “Are you angry with me?” And Robb graciously and intensely replies, “Angry? You are my queen.” This is a throwaway line because we know the reign of Robb and Talisa is all but over.

But any good man’s beloved wife is his queen, regardless of whether or not she wears a crown. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you,” says good king Robb to his wife.

They are greedy and happy and good and doing all the right things, except they are cursed by the gods for oathbreaking, as we will see two episodes in the future.

LOVE STORY, JON-YGRITTE-OFELL: Here’s our boy Tormund with his timeless sex advice:

“Most men fuck like dogs. No grace. No skill. A few dozen thrusts and done. You need to be patient. Give her time. Your cock shouldn’t go her until she’s slick as a baby seal and then you go inside, but slowly. Don’t jam it in like you’re spearing a pig!”

This is great sex advice for Jonno and I’m sure Dany (and Ygritte) appreciate his diligent study. But it’s also about Sandor and Sansa and the audience. You need to be patient. Give her time to grow up. Your cock shouldn’t go near her until it’s winter and the she-wolf is in heat and wants it so badly she gets wet at the thought of you. And then still take it slow. Which he will, of course. Because season eight Sandor is a man. Seasons one through four Sandor was a dog. This is better articulated in the books, but it’s visible to some extent in the show as well. Dog!Sandor is an animal. But he re-emerges as a man, and as he gets closer and closer to Winterfell he becomes more and more of a prince, and more of brave Florian to Sansa’s Jonquil.

OK, so after Tormund, we start up with the Jon-Ygritte-Ofell love-triangle setup. In this situation, Jon is Joffrey, Ygritte is Sansa and Ofell is Sandor, which is a dark mirror which will totally fuck your head, but I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what George/D&D are playing with. You’re rooting for the opposite man in this scenario, compared to the original, which sounds like typical George. Go King Joffrey! Boo true knight Sandor!

Sidebar: I think the fact that Ygritte is a ginger is absolutely intentional and also a crucial part of Jon’s misidentification as the PTWP, but let’s just set that aside for the moment and see what else they’re serving up.

LOVE STORY, JON-YGRITTE-OFELL: This dialogue is Ygritte and Ofell, but read it with her as Sansa and him as Sandor and Jon as Joffrey and with my edits and tell me it’s not exactly about all the issues in the first act of the SanSan relationship. Sandor would never been this whiny externally but hell if he didn’t nurse some of this internally:

Sansa: “You’re jealous.” Sandor: “Of course I’m jealous. Should be with one of your own. Sansa: “And you’re one of my own? I’ve never heard a kind word from your mouth.” Sandor: “You would. If you were mine. I’d tell you that you’re beautiful, and fierce, and wild. I’d be good to you. You love him?” [Sansa nods.] Sandor: “’Cause he’s pretty? Is that it? You like his pretty hair and his pretty eyes? You think pretty’s going to make you happy? You won’t like pretty so much when you find out what he really is.”

* Of course I’m jealous. I think Sandor is beside himself with jealousy in season two but has no honorable recourse and hardly knows what to do he is so enraged by his own feelings, his own vulnerability and above all, Sansa’s abuse at the hands of her truly evil future husband. “Fuck the king” and his desertion at the Blackwater is the ultimate expression of this. Hell if Sandor is going to die fighting on behalf of his romantic rival when he just go straight to Sansa and offer to die on her behalf instead.

* Should be with one of your own. Sandor sees the wolf in her that no one else knows is there, not even her.

“Your father was a killer. Your brother is a killer. Your sons will be killers someday. You should be with one of your own: a killer, someone with wolf blood, like the family of killers with wolf blood that you were born into.”

* I’ve never heard a kind word from your mouth. We don’t know that Ofell is a dick to Ygritte, but it doesn’t matter and we also don’t care. This isn’t their story, not really. This scene exists to develop Ofell as a romantic adversary to Jon on one level, but we already know that Jon has the upper hand, because plot armor.

So this scene also serves as an exploration of what Sandor and Sansa might have said to each other in a parallel universe or in a continuation of their story after “Blackwater.” Partly because of circumstances, but moreso because the Hound is an emotional cripple, his courtship technique is AWFUL. I think he’s being warged, which is a cheat on her part (plus she’s totally artless and has no idea she’s doing anything), but I also think that regardless of how it started, the Hound is madly in love with Sansa Stark. Warged and madly in love with a virtual stranger are the same feelings, ultimately, which is George’s whole point.

You can’t help who you love.

Love’s this involuntary nightmare where you are taken over body and soul, consumed internally by your feelings for someone outside you. It is a fire on the inside and it burns. Poor Hound can’t handle any more burning circa King’s Landing, so he lashes out in anger at the girl he loves.

Sansa almost never hears a kind word from Sandor’s mouth, he’s always either yelling or indifferent or patronizing or glaring or sneering or otherwise making it very clear that he is not her friend. Except he is her only friend and he wants to be her husband, although even he doesn’t know that, not really. He doesn’t know how else to relate to her other than with fear and rage and lust. There is no reality he can conceive of in which they are a loving couple, in which he plays the fool to her cunt. It’s just impossible on every level, which of course is also absolutely intentional on George’s part.

George R.R. Martin gives Sansa and Sandor every obstacle described in the “course of true love never did run smooth” scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

We only get to see his feelings for her in King’s Landing in his actions toward her (he protects her as best he can and he tries to educate her and he is the only one who fights for her), but this hints at what they might have said to each other if they were able to speak about their feelings.

* You would. If you were mine. I’d tell you that you’re beautiful, and fierce, and wild. I’d be good to you. It always breaks my heart that inasmuch as Sandor thinks himself unworthy of the princess, he is also sure that he would be “good to her” if she gave him a chance, certainly relative to Joffrey, but I think also on his own terms if they were able to ever find a moment where they weren’t in terror for their lives. Finding this moment is the basis of every Blackwater AU in existence. But in the show the moment must be withheld until season 8.

If they don’t fuck us over, and I don’t think they will, seeing Sansa and Sandor flirt awkwardly and try to be good to each other, after so many years of suffering and abuse at the hands of bad men (Sansa) and wandering lost and homeless in the wilderness (Sandor), is sure to be one of the great delights of season eight.

Sansa and Sandor are beloved characters, Sophie and Rory are beloved actors, and even though the general audience doesn’t yet know they want those two to be happy together, once they get a hint of it they are going to lose their minds.

Also, a word about “beautiful and fierce and wild”: Circa season three, Sansa is mostly beautiful. But she has a fierceness to her. She stands up to Joffrey more than Sandor ever did until the Battle of the Blackwater. “It’s not my place to question princes,” says he. Meanwhile, she sasses the hell out of Joffrey for as long as she dares.

But I think beautiful and fierce and wild is mostly Sansa’s true future identity. She is a lady dire wolf. As a full-grown alpha female with her pack, she will be fierce in defense of her family (buh-bye Ramsay and Littlefinger) and wild given the chance (Sandor’s not going to know what hit him once she gets him in bed).

I think “beautiful and fierce and wild” is the Sansa equivalent of Sandor being “brave and gentle and strong.” They aren’t there yet in these early years. He’s not gentle. She’s not fierce. But what their soul marriage does, and what any good marriage does, is allows a couple to share character qualities and benefit from each other and be stronger together. She gentles him. He makes her fierce.

One half of the union gives the gift of her strength when the other half is dying alone in the wilderness. One half of the union sends his aggression and skill at self-preservation when the other is a prisoner being beaten into submission.

One heart, one soul, one flesh. I am yours and you are mine. I hereby seal these two souls.

In the mythological context of the show, the skinchanging is what does it. But George is really playing with the beauty of a good marriage.

* “Cause he’s pretty?” “what he really is” Joffrey was pretty. Sandor is ugly, and sensitive as hell about it. But Joffrey is a monster. And Sandor is a prince. This isn’t just D&D trolling Kit about his looks or Ofell correctly identifying Jon as a mole and a liar, this is about Sansa’s golden prince being a lie and Sandor’s scars hiding his nobility from the world.

Remember what I said about we are gifted with the camera’s POV for sharing SanSan information as subtext?

As Ygritte processes this courtship gesture by Ofell, the camera stays on her while Sansa begins speaking over her. GINGER!Sansa’s voice over GINGER!Ygritte’s face is how we are led into this crucial Sansa speech in a scene with Marge in King’s Landing. (Remember what I said about the camera’s revealing POV?!)

Sansa: "Growing up at Winterfell, all I wanted was to escape. To come here, to the capital. See the Southron knights in their painted armor and King’s Landing after dark, all those candles burning in all those windows. I’m stupid. I’m a stupid little girl with stupid dreams who never learns.” (The stupid dreams? That’s George thinking about the nature of foolish romantic love and the power of dreams. On a literal level, this ties in to a future reveal that Sansa wargs the Hound, allowing them to connect in dreams if not in reality. Her dreams matter. Her prayers matter. Her regret and wishes matter. She is a powerful witch whose potential is totally unfocused. Her dreams may be stupid, but they are powerful as hell. And it all ties back to Winterfell too, in some way that I don’t understand at all but that will no doubt be revealed in S8.)

The ginger link, the visual transition from one ginger woman to another, is crucial.

The Red Woman is a 5,000-year-old interpretation of a prophecy about the Warrior of Light who brings the Dawn. The warrior has a red woman: this much they know from their prophecies. But they don’t know the name of the warrior or the name of his wife, she whom he loved most in the world. It’s Sansa and Sandor, but the acolytes of R’hollor keep warping the details in a cosmic game of telephone. But they are sure about the red woman part, so sure that it’s an elemental part of their religion.

Melisandre, and every priestess of R’hollor who wears the ruby, is doing a Sansa Stark cosplay.

When Mel later tells Jon “You know nothing, Jon Snow,” quoting from Ygritte, she knows that because she has been looking into the flames and the Red God showed her a different, but related, red woman.

SANSA STARK, SEX OBJECT: The next two scenes deal explicitly with Sansa Stark as an object of desire and as a sexual being. But it’s not in relation to the Hound. It’s in relation to the Imp, a very different kind of beast. Marge gives her a lecture about having to learn her own sexual tastes, and that Tyrion’s kindness matters a great deal more than his body. Even though it is not ideal that Tyrion is a Lannister, he’s not the worst case scenario as far as men go. Still Sansa is clear that she doesn’t desire Tyrion. She wants something else.

Meanwhile, as Tyrion contemplates his marriage to Sansa and the prospect that any legitimate son of Sansa Stark’s would be a potential future Lord Paramount of the North (Robb still lives but the show/George and the Lannisters are already playing the game as if he’s been eliminated from the board). This is more about the question of reproductive success. If the woman you want or need to impregnate doesn’t want to open her legs for you, you either fail to procreate with her or you must take her by force.

True marriage, which is sacred to the gods, involves–no, requires–sexual intercourse.

And then Bronn and Tyrion appear to remind us that it’s too soon for Sansa to be considered in this light. “She’s a child.” “She’s a foot taller than you.” “She’s a tall child.”

“I don’t pay you to put evil notions in my head.” “You pay me to kill people who bother you. The evil notions come free.”

Sandor has “evil notions” about Sansa. Tyrion has “evil notions” about Sansa. That they do not act on them or even intimate them, is to their great credit and why we are able to view them as good guys in the series, despite their myriad other character flaws. (Tyrion does admit he wants Sansa, and Sandor’s look after she thanks him for saving him at the Bread Riots is raw desire, but neither of them ever even suggest anything improper to Sansa.) Littlefinger later not only acts on the evil notions but is also greatly interested in Sansa’s claim to the North, which also doesn’t much interest the Hound or the Imp.

Inasmuch as we will all eventually know and accept that SanSan are soulmates and will be retroactively livid that Sansa refused to go with Sandor at the Blackwater and be equally angry at him because he was too scared to kidnap her, and then be further enraged that the writers put her through unspeakable horrors that all could have been resolved if the Hound had been narratively “allowed” to claim Sansa at an early day, we are being reminded, it’s not time yet. Ned Stark’s promise of a match with someone brave gentle and strong was for someday, when you’re older. It’s not time yet. She’s still too young. She’s a tall child. It’s not time yet.

And then we get Arya hating Beric because he’s a liar (oathbreaker!), and lots of Braime love with more story beats about oaths and promises and protecting women, like all true knights do. And there’s some Shae-Tyrion nonsense, which I both never understand and never find believable. (Maybe those problems are related?)

The Hound appears for just one minute in this SanSan-heavy episode (yes, SanSan-heavy!), just long enough to snatch Arya before someone else can get her.

Oh, and he does find time to call her a wolf-girl so as to remind us that wolves and hounds are the same–but for the line between wild and tame.

Why does Sandor take Arya but not Sansa? It’s been said many times by writers wiser than I that the Blackwater scene is basically Sandor failing at the freefolk practice of wife-stealing. He proposes marriage, essentially, and she says no, which is reasonable because it is the worst marriage proposal of all time. Now, that it is a marriage proposal is not to say that he was going to carry her away for immediate wedding-night fucktime action.

I think the Hound knows better than anyone in the world that he is not allowed to touch Sansa Stark. He wouldn’t lay a finger on her except to help her. But metaphorically and subtextually, the moment is erotically loaded. The (future) fucking is implied. And so, because he is a true knight and a true gentleman and above all, truly madly in love with her, he is unable to be pragmatic about saving her from the Lannisters because the moment is too much about his own desire and his own emotional vulnerability to his beautiful princess. Her response to him means everything and when it’s a rejection he can’t bring himself to go on. He’s crushed.

So why does Arya get the full rescue treatment, albeit unbeknownst to Arya herself? Arya is different from Sansa in several ways: (1) She’s even younger, if not more vulnerable, (2) she is no other man’s woman, (3) he doesn’t want to fuck her. Arya’s not Sandor’s opposite number in a classic yin-yang masculine-feminine dynamic. She’s a spunky tomboy girl who is basically his mini-me. And since she’s all but an orphan, even if Cat isn’t yet quite dead, and since she belongs to no other man, she is the Hound’s for the taking. He has only the best of intentions toward her, although we don’t realize that at this point in the series. He essentially adopts her on the spot. He announces himself as her protector without saying as much and pledges his sword to her without making any such oaths. She doesn’t understand–and why would she?–so they are at loggerheads for months, but he has basically knelt before her and promised to serve her in perpetuity, and give his life for hers if need be. Why? Because she’s Sansa’s sister, and Sansa is his wife, and what’s Sansa’s is his and what’s his is Sansa’s. A good man protects his family. His whole family.

Or, in animal terms, he is a lone wolf who begins to form his own wolf pack by altruistically adopting a stray lone wolf pup. Unusual, although not unheard of in the animal kingdom, but not a terrible strategy for building up the strength of your pack. And as we know, “in winter, we must protect ourselves…the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.”

Anyway, then there’s some more Lannister drama and some Braime oathkeeping and devotion–this episode is maybe Jaime’s finest hour–and Myranda and Ramsay talk about Theon’s cock before they cut it off but I can’t bear to watch any Theon scenes so even if that scene is relevant I can’t tell you about because that shit is unbearable to watch.

And then there’s also some more Jon-Ygritte romance.

Jon: When a girl sees blood and collapses. Ygritte: Why would a girl collapse? Jon: Not all girls are like you. Ygritte: Girls see more blood than boys.

This hits so many story points at one time. “Fire and blood” are the Targaryen house words, which makes the dragons the perfect red herrings for the fact that fire and blood are also the crux of SanSan. The Targs are crucially important but they are also the cover story for all the epic love business between Sansa and Sandor. “Girls see more blood than boys” is about so much: (a) Sansa’s first flowering–blood on the mattress that Sandor witnesses that means that it’s time for Joffrey to begin raping Sansa, technically his betrothed but really Sandor’s wife and altogether an impossible situation. (b) Sandor himself attesting “I should have fucked her bloody” which is on one level an explicit rape threat but also a plaintive wish that he could be the one to “blood his sword” with her virgin blood. © “blood of my blood” (d) “She needed your blood.” (e) “I’m in this world a little while longer to…defend my blood.” (f) “Childbirth is a bloody business.”

Everything about the dynasties and names and clans and family and making babies is about blood. (”Family and honor–that’s all you lords and ladies ever talk about.”)

SIDEBAR. This (from the books) is Lady Barbrey (Ryswell) Dustin about Sansa’s martyred Uncle Brandon: “Brandon loved his sword. He loved to hone it. ‘I want it sharp enough to shave the hair from a woman’s cunt,’ he used to say. And how he loved to use it. ‘A bloody sword is a beautiful thing,’ he told me once.” “Brandon was never shy about taking what he wanted. I am old now, a dried-up thing, too long a widow, but I still remember the look of my maiden’s blood on his cock the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. It hurt, but it was a sweet pain.”

CROSSREFERENCE: “Any man dies with a clean sword, I’ll rape his fucking corpse.” I believe in the books this is a Gregor Clegane line, but they transferred it to Sandor in the show to put a finer point on the fact that the sword is the cock and the cock is the sword, but you must wield both equally well or you will be considered a failure of masculinity in the terms of George’s feudal Westeros.

As for the fire? That’s love. That’s passion. That’s the suffering. Sandor’s is the heart of fire, and he burns for Sansa Stark. He is the burnt prince. He is the burnt sword.

Anyway more Ygritte-Jon:

“You’re mine. And I’m yours. And if we die, we die, but first we’ll live.” “Yes. First we’ll live.”

There are the MARRIAGE VOWS AGAIN, even known to the Freefolk. “You’re mine and I’m yours.”

And then AGAIN, the love theme music rises, as it did for Robb and Talisa, but now for Ygritte and Jon. “I Am Hers, She Is Mine.” This is the main love theme on the show until Jonerys gets their own “Truth” years later.

Ygritte’s words are a variation on “Valar morghulis. Valar dohaeris.” All men must die. All men must serve. All women must die. All women must serve.

Perhaps the best case scenario for the feudalism and patriarchy of Westeros is that in an exceptionally rare circumstance, you actually get to serve someone you love. You get to devote yourself to someone you really love, and are not just bound to by fealty. That person might be a woman you love, or it might be a worthy, truly good king you actually wish to serve and die for.

Ygritte’s words are, of course, also a rationale for fucking before it’s too late to fuck. Robb and Talisa succeeded on those terms, at least. Ygritte and Jon pulled it off, as is articulated here.

And in this episode, emancipated libertine Margery Tyrell specifically encourages Sansa as to her sexual freedom and right to explore, in this episode: “We women get so few chances to try things before we’re old and gray.” I consider this a key part of the personal growth that grown Sansa will bring to her adult relationship with Sandor.

The days are passing quickly now. We fuck now or we may fuck never.

Finally, I’d like to offer a word from my girl Osha, a sage of the freefolk if ever there was one. She tells Bran (and Rickon??), Jojen, Meera and Hodor the story of her lost love.

“I had a man once. A good man…I was his. And he was mine. But one night [he] disappears. People said he left me. But I knew him. He’d never leave me. Not for long. I knew he’d come back. And he did.”

“I don’t know how I got the knife, but when I did, I stuck it deep into his heart, and he hardly seemed to notice. I had to burn our hut down, with him inside.” –Osha.

She’s talking about her husband Bruni who was turned into a wight by the Walkers.

She uses the language we’ve already heard related to marriage. “I was his. And he was mine.” This, too, is SanSan subtext.

“A good man.” –> This is Sandor, although we might not know it at this point. Years later, Beric says, “We need good men to help us,” and Sandor deflects, but by then we all know the truth that Sandor is, indeed, a good man.

“One night he disappears.” –> This is just the beginning of Sandor’s time away from Sansa. They have an incredibly long separation ahead of them, but at this point in season three we’re still closer to the night he left, the night of the Blackwater, than we are to his return. This harks back to a scene with Marge in ep one of season three where she talks to war orphans about how their fathers went away to fight in the war and never came back, and also Shae and Sansa talking the night of the Blackwater. Shae said, “Some of those boys will never come back” and Sansa said, “Joffrey will. The worst ones always do.” The good ones like Sandor seem to vanish off Planetos itself. She knows he wasn’t killed in the battle–he deserted–but he’s gone just the same.

“People said he left me. But I knew him. He’d never leave me. Not for long. I knew he’d come back. And he did.” –> Devotion. Trust. And promises to us, the audience, that they will be reunited someday.

And then the death imagery. It’s probably just imagery, but it hits all the SanSan. “I stuck it deep into his heart.” –> “That’s where the heart is. That’s how you kill a man.” “I had to burn our hut down, with him inside.” –> There’s your fire imagery. The fire frightens the Hound. The fire drives him out of the “home” he doesn’t share with Sansa in King’s Landing, but where at least they got to see each other, sometimes. Later, very similar language appears in the first scene with Sandor, Arya, the farmer and Sally. Arya explains the Hound’s gruffness by saying that their “hut burned down” while he was off fighting in the war, “and my mother with it.” Both are references, oblique though they may be, to the situation that drove Sandor away from Sansa and set in motion their long separation, which was nothing that Sandor would have planned or accepted had he been in his right mind, which had absolutely was not, for several reasons: fire fear, alcoholism, witch warging and Joffrey-adjacent derangement.

In conclusion, I think Game of Thrones is a historical romance, but Jonerys is the history, while SanSan is the romance. Jon and Dany’s journeys are vitally important, but it is Sandor and Sansa’s love that will give them more than a graveyard to rule over. Sandor and Sansa will bring the dawn and herald the spring that the Targaryens will use to bring prosperity and abundance back to all the people of Westeros.

Father, Mother –> Jon, Dany

Warrior, Maiden – Sandor, Sansa

Smith –> Tyrion

Stranger –> Arya

The absolute brilliance of George (and D&D, yes, them too) is that they’ve created a story that reads equally well on several levels. There’s the face value and the text, which is as intriguing as anything, and then there is the mythological, psychological and metaphorical subtext, which tells a different and even deeper story. They resonate together, they reflect each other, they all stand on their own and yet they are intimately connected.

I believe GOT/ASOIAF is truly a masterwork, and the layers upon layers of meaning are one reason why.

And I believe that SanSan is not just endgame as hell, people, it’s the whole darn ballgame.

#Sandor Clegane #Sansa Stark #sansan #sansa x sandor #sansa stark x sandor clegane #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #sansan meta #sansan ep analysis

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heavyarethecrowns · 7 years ago

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Royal Wedding Update: Schedule

So, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle released more details about their wedding, at St. George’s Chapel on May 19th. However, the news broke earlier than what Kensington Palace would have liked.

According to Charlie Proctor (@MonarchyUK), from The Royal Central, an Australian network broke the embargo, set at 12:01am.

On Twitter, Charlie Proctor said:

The story of this tweet: An Australian network broke tonight’s embargo by three hours. Shortly later, they deleted infringing material. I then tweeted this tweet as a passive-aggressive way of warning people not to break embargoes.

Unfortunately, the tweet gained traction and I couldn’t explain myself before now because it would have given away the fact there was an embargo! Absolute nightmare and not as exciting as you might have liked!

00.01 embargoes are ridiculous & should be a thing of the past in the digital age. They solely exist to try and take advantage of the next day’s news cycle. The extra minute at midnight is for the benefit of crossing time zones so certain countries don’t break embargo early.

We should hold a public inquiry into the utterly pointless midnight embargoes. The clue is in the name ‘midnight’! It is the middle of the night, and I want to be in bed, not sitting around waiting to publish a news article which will only result us getting abused by readers.

Irony is, it’s often foreign media & amateur bloggers breaking embargoes, when, they don’t even have access to the Palace Press Office. Then, they have the cheek to brand it as an ‘exclusive’ when other media who are given access to privileged material are forced to sit on our hands.

I have to agree with Charlie Proctor, here. I do not understand the Palace embargoes. I mean I get the “security concerns” element of it. However, there is no security concern with this information getting released early. This just seemed to be more of a power play.

I also agree with Charlie, in that embargoes no longer work. With the digital age, foreign media and amateur bloggers break the embargoes; and there isn’t anything the Kensington Press Office can do about it. Kensington Palace, which seems to use embargoes more so than other palace press office, needs to really rework how they do things.

Although, my biggest hope is that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will get their own press office, away from Prince William and Kate Middleton. From my perspective, it only makes sense. If the monarchy is to continue, and Prince William does become King, then, Prince Harry will need to get his own team, eventually. So, why not put his own team together now?

He should no longer be responsible for Prince William and Kate Middleton getting good press. It is not one of his “duties” as fifth-in-line to the British throne.

Hopefully, Meghan will help him to see the light and they will slowly, but not so slowly, break away from the press pack Prince William set up.

CONSPIRACY THEORY:

The reason why The Royal Foundation is called, The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, is because advertently Prince William and Kate Middleton get credit for Prince Harry’s work. It’s all within the name.

SIDE NOTE: After Meghan joins The Royal Foundation, I hope they don’t call it: The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke of ______ and Duchess of ______.

SUBMITTED

#prince harry #meghan markle #harrywedding #submission

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altheaselmaisadoradarsey · 7 years ago

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My thoughts on Hamilton West End

Thoughts on Hamilton West End 21/12/17 (night after opening!)

(This is long as shit and very messy it's full of first impressions and random things I've remembered (mainly the funny bits ngl) all mixed up together I apologise but I needed to get it out somehow cos I'm not good at expressing emotions lol, also the words funny, excited and hyper are prolly overused i apologise)

Bearing in mind I have not seen the bway show and the creative team is largely the same so I'm sure I'll talk a Talk about thinks that are similar in both

Vic pal theatre is stunning it's just been renovated our seats were sick even though we were about half way up the upper circle we had a brilliant view of the stage and the stage still felt really close

On a vaguely related note I wore my 'AND PEGGY' baseball cap and 3 of the stewards said they liked it it was cute

Act 1

FIRST THINGS FIRST THE CHOREOGRAPHY WAS STUNNING. A mash up of hip hop, modern and ballet. How you even think if that I don't know. There was always SO MUCH going on and the energy was constant - wether they were synchronised doing the same thing or all doing something different from the Schuyler sisters on the high walkway or the ensemble doing lifts in pairs even or whatever it just made me wanna dance (lol bc I can't) I can't talk about it enough but I'll stop now because I'm not eloquent enough.

Burr - voice is really unique and it was kinda weird at first (may be due to being used to Leslie) but you got used to it and I think reall suited the character? His mannerisms and physicality were SO BURR. Also was really funny! All his little one liners were done really funny-ly and well thought out.

Before they had King George to do a little announcement about phones and I love it also meant I was ready for the dum dum dumdum bc I was super nervous (in a good way?)

A.ham (song) - ahh it's such a good intro. when burr first came on there was an orange yellow light behind him and it made a super long shadow onto the stage and it was p o w e r f u l.

When they all came to the front of the stage in a line I was so excited because I've been waiting for that moment for 2 years

I LOVED Jamel Westman as Ham he was sick. He's just come out of RADA how do you deal with taking on a part like that with such little experience whoa . I must say that I think I liked him a lot more in act 2 than act 1 he seemed a bit stiff in act 1 but that may have been be I'm used to Lin who I think played him more nerdy and hyper? Kinda. I love both but Westman was insane. Also had a really nice singing voice.

Angelica slated my entire being Rachel John is perfect for that part

George Washington had a husky singing voice and it suited him so well

KING GEORGE III is possibly my favourite character ever he's so funny and extra.

I don't think Michael Jibson had the best singing I've heard in that role (but like who can even sing that it's high to kudos to him for hitting those notes) his 'kill your friends and family' was hilarious he sang the up until 'and family' which he said really seriously and then he left a massive pause where he just stared at the audience. I giggled. On the last da da dadadaaa's he did a little shoulder wiggle which was funny too! There was a couple of points over the three songs where he held long notes for even longer than necessary which was good too

Now my friends went and saw it in previews a couple of weeks ago and said they didn't really like Rachel Ann Go as Eliza so I did go in expecting to not like her as much ( I trust my friends opinions) which obviously wasn't great and I tried to go in with an open mind but I kinda understand why you might not like her however overall I thought she was good and I liked her a lot more in act 2 than act 1. At first I felt she was almost too excitable and hyper which more of a Peggy thing (speaking of, Peggy was really grumpy and cute which was funny) although Eliza did become a lot more restrained throughout the show which I think was a good choice as it helped show age and I think was more Eliza anyway. I thought her Best of Wives and Best of Women was perfect though. He American ACCENT though was not great I hate to say it but it was very British a lot of the time and in the 'ohhh I do I do I do I dooo' bit in helpless she sounded cockney? I'm sorry how

AWE IN HELPLESS ANGELICA COULDN'T GET ELIZA'S VEIL ON IN TIME SHE TRIED LIKE TWICE AND IT JUST SLID RIGHT IFF I FELT SO BAD It wasn't super noticeable though and things are bound to go wrong

In story of tonight reprise when Lauren's goes I've seen wonders great and small they all looked at Laf bc he was really short it was funny

Most of Wait for it was really still which was nice as it gave a rest from the crazy continual movement and action from the last few scenes. Also Burr has a peng voice

Ten duel commandments was super intense ahh

YORKTOWN WAS SO EXCITING IVE SEEEN ALL GHE PROMOS FOR THAT SONG AND TO ACTUALLY SEE IT LIVE SO EXHILARATING Westman was a stern leader and it worked really well

You could just tell that the audience thought it was the end of act one but NOPE SIT DOWN WE STILL GOT MORE

Also cheer on "immigrants: we get the job done" was British and polite but still there and I was READY FOR IT

on 'I'm so blue' in What Comes Next? Kings George did a little frustrated stamp and the red light he was standing snapped to blue it was good

Dear theodosia was super cute Burr and Ham were in matching costumes but Burr's waistcoat was purple and Ham's was green

Laurens' death was SAD but Cleve September is PERFECT for that role

Felt the transition from Laurens' death to not stop was bit quick, like I needed to feel sad for longer, it just sort of went straight into not stop

NON-STOP DAMN after the treasury or state bit Ham's 'lEtS gO' was so exciteable loved it.

On angelicas as it about her husband they got to the don't forget to writteee part and Angelica got taken away on the revolve Eliza was put into her place it was SO CLEVER near the end the staircase came into the middle and Washington was on the top and it was I N T E N S E

Clapped a freaking lot at the end of act one

Act 2

Dad called jeferson 'purple rain prince guy'

Seriously though the purple velvet was A Look

SUCH AN CRAZY Jefferson! Did loads of dancing and jumping and twirls is was so funny how he would just suddenly go into it

Ham snaked Washington when going in for a handshake he fully cut him off

I'm Take A Break they changed "John Adams doesn't have a real job anyway" to "the Vice President is not a real job anyway" which I think was changed so it's clearer to the audience who they're talking about

The cabinet battles were fab like I said before Westman was a calmer Hamilton but was more realistic 'We will reconvene after a brief reset' was said really sweetly to the audience like nothing was going wrong it was funny

Before Say No To This my friend just whispered Owh Dear really quietly and honestly? Mood

Christine Allado did a super sultry voice which was strong but deffo works for Maria.

The room where it happens was sick!!!

At one point the whole stage was in red lighting except for a bright white box that Burr was in it was so cool. Also VOCALS in this were amazing The Riffs!!!!

Cleve September as Phillip was cute you could really see the age difference between 9 and 19

The vocals in One Last Time we great "George Washington's going homeeeee" had me shook

In I Know Him King George seemed really crazy and manically smiled on 'that poor man their going to eat him alive'

And the crazy laughs at the end was brilliantly MANIC

He didn't leave at the end of his song just sat lower stage right and danced to the beginning of The Adams Administration which was funny but what was even better was that half way through his little introduction Burr noticed the king watching a gave him a odd look and the king just did a hand wave to tell him to continue and kept shimmying

WESTMAN'S VOICE IN HURRICANE WAS BEAUTIFUL

REYNOLDS PAMPHLET WAS FUNNY RVEN THOUGH I FELT BAD JEFFERSON LOOKED SO HAPPY AMD THE SET LOOKED REALLY COOL WITH ALL THE PAPERD FLYINV AROUND HAM BUT I COULDN'T EVEN FOCUS ON ANGELICAS BiT BECAUSE I WAS BUSY LAUGHING AT KING GEORGE DANCING WITH THE CHORUS AND ADDING HIS ONE SHEET IF PAPER TO THE MESS

oh but I loved was when Angelica arrived and the ensemble too way her bags in one motion it was slick and I enjoyed it

Burn was nice but I think Rachelle Ann Go made it a bit too vibrato-y which became kind of annoying (also I kinda felt though the entire thing she was forcing a really classical voice which was nice but didn't really work) her voice is amazing though apart from that and I really felt the reserved sorta anger in the performance

Blow Is All Away was SAD I COULD HEAR EVERYONE ONE CRYING AROUND ME, good dying (lol) on September's part

I wasn't a fan of Eliza's scream/cry when Phillip died I'm not sure what it was I didn't like but her counting WITH him was PErFECT

It's Quiet Uptown is the saddest thing ever lemme tell you. I don't cry. I cannot remember the last time I cried, particularly not at normal sad things. I saw Les Mis two weeks ago and didn't even get tear-y, so you can imagine how freaking sad this song has to be to get me to almost cry. I had pretty watery eyes and one hell of a snotty nose. It was bad. The lines like 'the unimaginable' were the worst. If you thing the cast recording is sad just wait until you see it live

After Jefferson came in with "can we get back to politics" he said it like he was tired of all the sad personal stuff which was funny and the Madison came on saying please and his voice broke like he had been crying at It's Quiet Uptown as well which was funny and it provided some well needed comic relief

When ham said he was voting for Jefferson Jeff did his twirls and dances again which was great and burr looked SO MAD

Your Obedient Servant was passive aggressive af it was great. And the ensemble was doing like lighthearted ballet and around them which actually worked really well Line change from "weehawkin, dawn" to "New Jersey, dawn" I'm assuming cos they've mentioned New Jersey more so it was clearer? Idk

Like I already said Best if Wives And Best of Women was 10/10 perfect

Ok so the world was wide enough Giles Terra (Burr) didn't do The Line™ in a really emotional way he did IT angry bc let's be honest you don't wanna compete yourself to Leslie on that so I enjoyed the change. HAMS SPEACH WHEN HE GEST SHOT IS SO GOOD I COULD NOT DEAL WITH IT

Also the choreo when Burr says "they row job back across the Hudson" they did this cool rowing move next to Ham and with the revolve it looked like they were on a boat!

I thought Eliza was quite good in WLWDWTYS "the orphanage" is such a nice bit

The gasp at the end was not made clear however. I understand it as Eliza seeing the audience and realising that her work has come true and that the legacy continues right? I only know that bc I read it beforehand, I think it could have been made clearer by the house lights come if up slightly so the audience knows Eliza seeing us. Also the way the gasp/hand move was done it made it seam Eliza was about to go into some really stereotypical opera singing? I just think she could have referenced the audience more but it's a really cute idea that I like.

All the cast bowed at the same time it was so cute and important bc everyone put in so much effort and they all deserved to be together

Straight up standing ovation oc

The play out music at the end was a really jazzy mashup of the songs and if my brain had been fully functioning after the show I would remember what songs but it was sick and they did the classic bum bumbumbum bum bum bum! At the end and the red and white bulls eye lighting they had for the duels flashed it was sick

SPEAKING OF LIGHTING IT WAS INCREDIBLE

THERE WAS LIKE A LIGHTING CUE EVERY 3 SECONDS I DINT KNOW HOW THAY MANAGED IT BUT IT WAS ALL SO WELL THOUGHT OUT AND CLEVER LIKE THERE WAS LITTLE LIGHTS AROUND THE EDGES LIKE STREET GRATES THAT IF LIKE BURR WAS IN ONE SIDE IF THE STAGE AND HAM ON OTHER THE GRATES WOULD BE ORANGE ON ONE SIDE AND BLUE ON THE OTHER. EVERY. SINGLE. DETAIL. Yes I'm gonna rant bc techies don't get enough respect

I've definitely missed so many things I wanted to put here but I was quite overwhelmed which I think is understandable when I've been waiting for over two years for it but it was so so worth it.

Ok I'm done I might add more if I remember goodnight folks

#Hamilton #Hamilton West End #personal #thoughts #refff #musicals #Alexander Hamilton #Aaron Burr #Lin Manuel Miranda

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kevinprace · 7 years ago

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i saw hamilton!!! (8/18/17; la pantages theater)

hamilton: first national tour (8.18.17) - first off, there will be spoilers about the show! don't read if you don't want spoilers.

this is just basically an info dump for everything so i never forget it?? i’ll also prob be editing this a lot when i suddenly remember a detail and want to add it,,

when joshua (burr) first came out, there was like 1 minute of applause and it was amazing!! joshua did such a did job at portraying burr ?? like you could see his affection turn to hatred, one song at a time,, it was beautiful! also his room where it happens was eLECTRIFYING !!! he jumped like 10 feet when he jumped off the table it was amazing !!! his "world was wide enough" was beautiful and his vocals are so so so so amazing i could listen to him talk for days.

raven was my angelica and oh. my. gosh. she was flawless. (i daresare i liked her angelica more than OBC). her satisfied left me in tears and her riffs just ,,, were beautiful,,, she was an angel at the stage door (she complimented my shirts!!) and she did just an amazing job at brining angelica to life ??

soLEA (eliza) WAS AN ANGEL I LOVED HER!!! her helpless was just,, so,, smooth and gorgeous it made me feel like i was falling in love too ??? her burn made me cry, ,, she brought so much emotion (esp in the "you, you, yoOooU") and made me cry again ,,, - also the belt at the end of schuyler sisters had be feeling things,,, wow

ruben (philip/laurens) was such an adorable philip and wild laurens ?? he was able to dramatically change his character act 1/act 2 and thats like so talENTED ??? plus his voice is like an angel so i love him for that

the heartbeat in the background of stay alive reprise,,,,, got me,,

ok but the laurens interlude deserved a spot on that album ?? its so beautiful and yeah i know its super short bu t its,,,

RORY. OMALLEY. MADE. ME. LAUGH. SO HARD. his king george was so funny i just laughed and laughed ?? the lil shoulder raises he does is just adorable ?? and the facial expressions in "what comes next" we just iCONIC I LOVE HIM. not to mention hes a frickin angel and i love him because he took abt 100 pictures for me at the stagedoor and LA is so blessed to have him for a whole 5 months ?? he just reminds me of a lil annoying fairy who keeps providing commentary over the founding fathers’ lives it was fuNNY,,, also kgiii successive loses more clothes as the show goes on,, until like,, he has no crown in reynolds pamphlet its wild

bUT REYNOLD PAMPHLET WAS WILD,,,,, LIKE EVERYONE WAS THROWING THOSE PAPERS AROUND HAMILTON AND POOR PHILIP IM

also also it was so great how, they had everyone on the stage? like even if they weren’t on the scene they were watching the show?? (maybe a sign for “history has its eyes on you” because they were literally watching the events play out ?? idk im not good at analysis)

rory stamping his foot for “im so blue” and the stage lights turn blue was just ,,, iconic

also his british accent was 10/10

our jefferson/laf (jordan) wAS SO SASSY AND HILARIOUS AND EXTRA I LOVE,,,, HIS DANCE MOVES WERE 10/10 IM IN LOVE. he has the best hair, no question!! esp when he shook it around durin "you dont have the votes ?" and his "wHAAAAt" was super iconic im,,, not to mention he wore a keith haring sweater out after the show and i was like !!!

OUR MADISON/HERCULES (mathenee) HAD THE BEST DANCE MOVES 11/10 HE WAS GRINDIN ON BURR AND I ALSO NOTICED THAT DURING STORY OF TONIGHT,, HE STEAL LAURENS' BEER AND THAT WAS JUST,, SOFT,, ALSO THE MIC DROP/CATCH WAS SUPER ICONIC I LOVE HIM

hooo washington (isaiah) was flawless, his vocals in one last time blew me away and i just,,, couldnt breathe ??

charles lee : iM A GENERAL WHEEE EeEEE (that was so funny bc he just jAMMED in the middle of a song it was ,,)

your obedient servant was so passive aggressive and amazingly staged i loved the 10000 letters ham sent in response it was so Extra and i loved it

the cabinet battle funny moments: ok, so the “uh, france” was just hILARIOUS and ham mocking jefferson with the dancing was perfect ,,

and when ever ham said “talk less, smile more” to like mock burr, he woULD TO THE RIDICULOUS DANCE MOVE THAT BURR DID AND NOW ITS LIKE AN “INSIDE JOKE” BUT ITS SO OVER EXAGGERATED I LOVE

and the lighting was just so carefullly thought out and i just could watch the light shows for days because it was just,,, mesmerizing ??

the dancing was amazing, it makes up so so much of the show and i wouldnt trade it for anything ??

the bullet getting pulled away from ham by the other ensemble members and him like walking towards it and away just,,,, like amazing

ALSO THOSE TURNTABLES WERE SO STRATEGICALLY PLACED I LOVE ,,, like during hurricane,,, everyone was turning around hamilton?? like his entire life just ,, there

KARLI (peggy/maria) HER MARIA WAS SO GOOD,,, THE NOTE IN SAY NO TO THIS >>>>> it was amazing

YORKTOWN MADE ME WILD,,,, I COULDNT ,,, BREATHE ,,,, OH,,, MY,,, GOSH,,, THE DANCIN, THE SINGING,,, IT WAS,,, A AMAZING

satisfied was amazing the "rewind" was ,,,, just breathtaking,,, like everyone was doin it again,, but backwards, and a lot faster,,, it was,,,,

aND ELIZA AND PEGGY TOUCHED NOSES IT WAS ADORABLE I LOVE EM - "include women in the sequel" and "immigrants, we get the job done" got a solid minute of applause i love us

THE "MF DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICANS" MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS GONNA JUMP UP AND JOIN EM THE EXCITED LIL HOPS OF JEFFERSON MADE ME LAUGH

WHEN THE STAIRCASE SWUNG OUT AT NON STOP I IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT “ IS THIS MAN UP” BECAUSE OF ARNOLD ON THE STAIRCASE THINGY

aLSO MICHAEL (HAMILTON) TRIPPED WHEN HE WAS RUNNING UP THE STAIRS DURING “NON STOP” IT WAS FUNNY BECAUSE HE JUST KEPT RUNNING

also also jef flicked his coat tails so much it was iconic,,,

hamilton. aka michael. he was just ,,, oh my,,, i have no words ??? like,,, his my shot was so different than lin's but it was just like so much better ?? he aCTUALLY CRIED REAL TEARS DURING PHILIPS DEATH AND IT MADE THE MOMENT SO MUCH SADDER ?? his hurrican e was like, heart wrenching you could fEEL the emotion

FARMER REFUTED WAS HILARIOUS LIKE AARON WAS HAULIN THIS LIL HAM OUT OF THE WAY OF FIGHTING SEABURY IT WAS FUNNY??? and seabury was like tryin to get in front of him to talk ?? (it was like that sharpay vs tiara gold from hms 3 they were flGHTING to be in front for the spotlight,, wild)

right hand man ?? you could like feel the canons i was liVing - the cry from eliza was heartbreaking,, you could pinpoint the moment her heart ripped in half,,,

and the same bench from that would be enough was the same one as burn ??? wow the pain,,,

the adams administration where it bleeps out ham's words,,, THE LIGHTS WENT ALL FLASHIN RED AND IT WAS SO FUNNY

the orphanage, i was sobbin

bUT HER GASP At THE END MADE M E QUESTION LIFE

its a shame i didnt get to meet solea or michael at the stagedoor, but everyone else was incredibly kind i dont know how these people are human,, we dont deserve them

all in all, it was so worth the 540 days of waiting im so incredibly blessed to see his production and this tour cast deserves their own album i love them so so much and i can’t wait to see what they do in the future

also i got a signed playbill/poster and they are now my treasured babies i will love them forever

hamilton is like,, so well thought out,,, its not just random? every light, every person on that stage has a purpose and i wish i could see it over and over to understand all the deep meanings but i can’t (bc im poor and barely snagged these tix) but i can wish lol

tl;dr: in other words, hamilton is an amazing show. (sure the fandom is kinda toxic) but it lowkey deserves its hype.

10/10 would watch again

#hamilton #hamilton tour #la pantages #carter's musicals #personal #musicals #broadway #alexander hamilton

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theemryslegacy · 8 years ago

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Guild Politics Wank: Stealing A Community

As long as there is humanity, there will always be politics.

... even in something that should be as simple and as fun as a video game. After rejoining SWTOR for the first time in two years, I finally decided I wanted to explore more of the PvE content. Sure, I could do random PUGs but really, who wants to do that? We all know the headaches that result from the crappy tank or the sorry healer or the DPSer than can’t stay out of the stupid. So I opted for joining a guild. As a Star Wars Galaxies alum, I sought out people who had played SWG. For better or worse, I ended up as a member of The Jedi Order on Begeren Colony. Things started out okay. I wasn’t all that crazy about the trials for the guild ranking system, but... whatever. I’d give it a shot, right? And I did meet some really remarkable people who have become very good friends over the past year-plus. It was not until I’d been a member of the community for a while that I learned just what a horrible, hateful, and deceitful little worm that the community owner was. When I first joined, he was rather like Old George before the American Revolution -- what one of my professors called “salutary neglect”: We in the community were left to our own devices, but he retained just enough power over the guilds that we had to rely on him to do basic things like unlocking our guild ships or passing keys to our officers. He was, however, like King George, mostly absent. Thus, we frequently had to find ways to work around him. (Note: Yes, you will find many other YouTube videos calling him out on his hypocrisy, but a) was not aware at the time and b) he was never around. Very little interaction with him personally. Probably a good thing... ) Finally, in September of last year, he called it quits. He was, he stated, leaving SWTOR to focus on real life -- namely starting up his consulting business. As of 2 September 2016, he declared in the forums that he would be handing over permanent ownership of the community over to the man who had practically served as his XO all those years:

This was taken as a positive thing by the community. For “Dexlar,” his “longtime understudy,” it was a chance to finally provide leadership that would be present... and attempt to repair a good deal of the animosity that Orion (and his personality, uhm, quirks) stirred within the gaming community as a whole. Within a few days, however, it was clear that Orion regretted turning over the keys. He logged in, lamenting that so many community bans had been lifted; that so many policies that he had been the champion of had been changed. He made a few passive-aggressive swipes in community chat online, but then faded mostly into the aether.

Or so we thought. Earlier this afternoon, Orion approached Dexlar, requesting the community back. Dexlar refused. Members of our community began logging to our enjin site... only to find themselves redirected to the website mentioned in the graphic above.

Orion, having been told NO, literally attempted to steal the community.

A community of stories and histories that we have now lost because the site has been shut down.

A community that the players paid for -- the Enjin site, TeamSpeak server access, etc., resulting in not just an inconvenience, but also theft.

Yes, an exploration of his past history shows that he is, as a friend says, a “douche nozzle.” But in this action, he has screwed over the self-same individuals that he says built the community, and claims as his “friends and allies” in the Force.

But we are not his friends, nor are we his allies. He has proven that today. He has proven he is not worthy of respect, and is the lowest of humanity: An unscrupulous, deceitful asshat who cannot and should not be trusted with any form of business. For if this is how he treats his friends, imagine how he might treat his business associates!

This man is no Jedi. In fact, even those Sith with a code of honor would reject him. And, while I have my issues with the current owner, I am here for my friends and my fellow guild mates. Orion has not stolen the community. He has stolen only the name. We remain.

#swtor #guild politics #hacking and hijacking #begeren colony #server: satele shan #the jedl order (satele shan)#SSDD

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whiterosecottage · 7 years ago

Conversation

Hamilton, an American Musical: a summary

Alexander Hamilton: Damn, this kid survived and then some

Aaron Burr, Sir: I have no idea what I'm doing

My Shot: But it seems like none of you do either!

The Story of Tonight: We have heartwarming aspirations

The Schuyler Sisters: Fuck the patriarchy

Farmer Refuted: Bro the king's not going to do anything

You'll Be Back: Oh shit, I guess he is

Right Hand Man: Desk work??? You've got to be kidding

Winter's Ball: I think we're drunk

Helpless: This is the best love story ever

Satisfied: Never mind

The Story of Tonight Reprise: We're definitely drunk

Wait For It: Surprise, surprise! I do have ambitions!

Stay Alive: THIS FUCKING GUY

Ten Duel Commandments: Could this be foreshadowing? Nah

Meet Me Inside: I done fucked up

That Would Be Enough: Apparently my wife doesn't mind

Guns and Ships: We're kicking ass. Alex! Come kick ass with us!

History Has Its Eyes on You: Okay son time to tell you how the world works

Yorktown: Everyone's kicking ass except the British

What Comes Next?: Time for King George to have a hissy fit

Dear Theodosia: This love is so pure oh my god

Non-Stop: I'm still kicking ass but now I'm a lawyer

What'd I Miss: All-American dance party

Cabinet Battle #1: Well I lost that argument AND control of my emotions!

Take a Break: Sorry fam I have to stay here and obsess over banks

Say No to This: An affair? Well, I'm only a politician with a lot of money. What could possibly go wrong?

The Room Where It Happens: Politics are frustrating

Schuyler Defeated: Is this about me? Of course it is. Everything's about me

Cabinet Battle #2: Screw France we gotta look out for America

Washington On Your Side: We like to call ourselves the Bitter Squad

One Last Time: You guys are exhausting I'm out

I Know Him: Your baby nation antics are amusing to me

The Adams Administration: I will roast everyone

We Know: Okay now I know what could go wrong

Hurricane: My past is sad

The Reynolds Pamphlet: Turns out I will also roast myself

Burn: Alex is a self centered little shit

Blow Us All Away: I'm my father's son: combative and full of pride

Stay Alive Reprise: Whoops

It's Quiet Uptown: There could not be a worse coincidence than that stupid pamphlet and our son's death

The Election of 1800: Okay I know I'm supposed to be grieving but here's one final roast for y'all

Your Obedient Servant: Passive aggressive fight turns into real fight

Best of Wives and Best of Women: The hell are you going boy

The World Was Wide Enough: Whoops Pt 2

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: Eliza wins the prize for best character growth you can all go home

#hamilton

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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John Lewis: Good Trouble – Documentary Spurs Viewers to Action

https://ift.tt/2ZsQMCu

Congressman John Lewis is one the central figures in the early struggles of the American Civil Rights Movement that included bloody confrontations with white policemen, sit-ins, boycotts, widespread lynching of Black people, assassinations of prominent leaders, and culminating with marches in Selma, AL, and Washington, D.C. Lewis is now the subject of John Lewis: Good Trouble, a comprehensive new documentary directed by Dawn Porter.

John Lewis: Good Trouble is an alternately impressive, shocking, enraging, and motivating film that calls on everyone to do better in life. John Lewis is a legend, an icon, and an American pioneer. The combination of historical footage, interviews with family, friends, and colleagues, and trailing Mr. Lewis is a great balance over the span of the film. The film triggered suppressed feelings that welled up in me as a Black man who was raised in segregated Houston, who traveled across town under the cover of dawn to a predominately white magnet school where I first experienced passive-aggressive racism. America is still dealing with white supremacy, oppression, police brutality, and police murders of yore.

Regardless of political affiliation, sensible viewers will hopefully broaden their local and national view after watching the Good Trouble documentary which could compel its audience to explore real world solutions on how and where they can make a difference socially and politically.

The subtle and obvious dare inherent in Good Trouble is taking the baton for the next leg of the race that our Black forefathers and mothers began years ago. Will you dare take up the mantle for new leadership? How does one peacefully protest and remain alive? How does one practice nonviolence and not become enraged? Watch the film and cobble together answers for yourself.

We spoke with Erika Alexander, actress and producer, most notably for her roles on Living Single and Black Lightning, about producing John Lewis: Good Trouble, the living legacy of Congressman Lewis, and how Americans must acknowledge the country’s painful history and discover ways to get into their own brand of trouble to ensure equality for all.

Den of Geek: What drew you to the documentary?

Erika Alexander: I have been inside of politics as a surrogate since 2007. I’m Hillary Clinton’s most traveled surrogate, and I got to campaign in Georgia with Congressman Lewis, Stacey Abrams, and Ayanna Pressley in 2016, because I stayed her surrogate throughout her first and second run. Together, all of us went around Georgia to campaign, but we also got a chance to see how Congressman Lewis does it. It was truly a masterclass. At the time, I had no idea that Stacey Abrams and Ayanna Pressley would come to the national fore as they did, but we all knew who John Lewis was.

So the fact that we were able to work with him in that way, and also eventually, got to know people in his office, specifically Rachelle O’Neil, the constituent services representative, and we became friends. She was my conduit to the congressman for the film. Another friend introduced me and my partner, Ben Arnon, to Dawn Porter and her producing partner, Laura Michalchyshyn, who just happened to be making a movie about John Lewis. And so we decided to partner together to make one and that’s John Lewis: Good Trouble.

Were you around during the filming, editing, or post production for the documentary?

I was around for the filming. Not a lot of filming that went to Georgia. Not Georgia, but you know, like to [Lewis’] home and things like that. But especially in DC, New York, and those places, because the people we asked to participate from Hillary to President Clinton, to Ayanna, to Sheila Jackson Lee, those are all my friends.

And by the way, [Lewis] would need me to make the introduction. The truth is they needed somebody who they trusted in order to feel like they were being handled by a group of professionals. I was able to facilitate all of those interviews. That’s no small thing in documentary terms.

Do you think of the congressman as a hero, an icon, or a legacy?

He’s all of those, and he’s earned it the hard way. I mean, we all talk about good trouble and being a moniker and the icon status, but the truth is he’s committed his life to the fight for Civil Rights and justice for all, and he did it armed with just the courage of his convictions and inviting philosophy of nonviolence and peaceful protest. He calls it his work for the beloved community, and that’s what Martin Luther King and others were fighting for.

But he was trained in this. Dawn loves to say that this didn’t happen by happenstance. He’s not just brave. He was trained. They approached it from an intellectual point of view. James Lawson taught him about nonviolence. The idea of nonviolence as a weapon was a methodology. He is a political genius, and so we honor him in that way.

Have you always wanted to be a producer?

(laughs) Yes. I just didn’t know it. Now, here’s the thing. I’ve been in Hollywood for 37 years. And the thing that you find out is that the people who have more power than the actors are the writers, creators, and producers. Directors at some point, but they need those other people in order to do their job. So I knew I wanted to be a producer. I just knew I wanted to write and be more in charge of my own destiny.

Culture

Best Documentaries on HBO Streaming

By Alec Bojalad

There were very few options for a person of color, especially a Black woman in 1984, when I got my first SAG card until now. When I first entered the scene, there was no Viola Davis, Nia Long, or Jada Pinkett-Smith, but there was Cicely Tyson and Lorraine Toussaint.

I like to say that I saw that producing would be the best advantage I had to creating more opportunity for myself. Turns out that as I got to be older and saw that there were much more systemic challenges inside of the paradigm that I had to find a way to be a producer in order to create the pathway to do the things that I wanted to do.

That sounds like a political statement, or a political stance. What lessons have you learned from John Lewis’ life? Are you saying to enact change you had to embrace politics?

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I think that we all bring ourselves to our projects. My father was an itinerant preacher, and my mother was a teacher. Both my parents were orphans. They always had to create and make their way. I think I saw very quickly that the society, the social contract that we all make with each other, can be a one-way street a lot of times. You want to create a two-lane highway on the gravel road. That means you need to bring some cement, you know? (laughs)

That’s power when you start to build things. And I got to give y’all props, writers, journalists, media people, because the thing that focuses us are the stories we tell. When we start to bring that power to change the narrative that has been told about us, the lie all these years, we can stop the George Floyds from being executed in broad daylight.

Do you believe the documentary will change opinions, open minds, for those who still haven’t accepted the importance of civil and voting rights?

I hope so. I think the mindset wants to change, or is looking for a little opening, or a reason why. It’d be up to them.

There’s some people that are hard of hearing, and then there are those who are hard of thinking. They don’t know how to have discernment. They just know that they feel like they’re being attacked and they like that narrative. So they’re not willing to let others in, however for people who are ready for change, it will find them.

One thing that struck me, the parallels from his early years to what’s happening right now.

Amazing. Right?

America hasn’t learned after 450-plus years. Contrasting voices and viewpoints have emerged since the start of the Civil Rights Movement. One of many topics lately is how to be an antiracist among the different schools of thought. Black people aren’t a monolith, however, we need a united voice, which we still don’t have.

Well, the old folks said there was nothing new under the sun. We are always fighting the same things, and having the same conversations. If you look at some of the philosophers and things they talked about, it’s why it resonates with us because it’s what we’re going through now.

Movies

Hamilton Cast Reflect on Backlash and Criticism of Musical

By David Crow

I can’t guarantee what the future would be, but I know I can be better. That’s what I need. So if I’ll be better and everyone else thinks they can be better, whether it’s around civil rights, environment, civil justice, social justice, immediate sort of restitution and reparation. That means that you’re creating a better world in real time. It’s not because anything’s changed. It’s because we’ve changed that things change. Oh, that’s some deep shit! (laughs)

One of the many quotes that stuck out to me is when he says, “When you lose the sense of fear, you are free.”

That’s real.

If we’re using that as a basis, there are too many of us who are afraid.

Yes. For all sorts of reasons, afraid to lose, afraid to lose what we have, afraid that the sacrifice would be too good, afraid that it doesn’t matter anyway. We tried. Afraid that somebody’s going to take what you have. If you can cage children at the border thinking they got something you want, then you are terrified of the future and the future isn’t in their stars. It’s in yours. Who you are right now makes their future more certain that your future in your current state of your status is assured and more importantly elevated. So I don’t know. Yeah, you’re right.

I recently confided in a friend that I think I’m in mourning.

Mourning. Wow.

We all make plans, and those I might’ve had in February didn’t come to fruition. I think we’re all in a long mourning process, and will be for the foreseeable future.

That’s just it, we’re looking in the wrong direction. Our direction is where John Lewis is looking and where MLK, Malcolm, Baldwin, Maya, and Fannie Lou Hamer were looking. They look toward a future that wasn’t presented to them. They looked at one that they made, the one behind their eyes. There’s no reason for Black people to stand around talking about hope when what they see in the real world serves them less than anyone on this planet.

But that’s what makes us so miraculous is that we have been sort of pulled into a real dark struggle. It’s worthy of Lord of the Rings. We are Frodo going across to Mordor. You hear me? Toss that rock into the fiery hell it came from, and each person who gets that ring thinks they have power.

We can replace even white power with a different set of power. It’d be the same thing we’re fighting. We just got to keep knowing that Middle Earth, it’s not just a journey and a destination. It’s what each person has to do. It’s their leg of the race. So this is our leg.

I agree. Are we more determined to vote with the way things are in the world now?

I don’t know. Freud talked about a death instinct that people have. An instinct to want to tear things down when things are going well. Think about the Obama years and how he got the country back, and everybody thought there was a new energy with his black face and his very sort of “aaaah” new thing (gestures razzle-dazzle showman’s hands). And then they tore it down.

Books

A Song Below Water: A Story of Sirens & Black Girls Coming Into Power

By Nicole Hill

Here’s the other thing they could tear down, even inside a pandemic. They could look at this and say, fuck it. Let’s all go in on this. And I’m not voting for this and I’m not voting for that. We are just going to go hard. What they don’t understand is that they ceded their right to have the conversation. Whoever’s in control that shows up to vote, they get it. They didn’t understand that, otherwise they would have been in local politics and wouldn’t be so up about who was president.

If you don’t care about who’s running your neighborhood, you don’t give a damn about who’s at the top. I’ll see. We’ll see. I think people are frightened, but you wouldn’t be surprised to know that fear runs concurrently against hope.

That’s why his quote stuck out. We’ve moved into the realm of white fragility, books, and how to not to offend people of color.

It has to be taught, because one of the things about racism we know is that in his book, Baldwin said, it’s an illness, it’s passed on to people and they don’t even have the vocabulary. The fact that they want to talk about how they might have an issue, and that it’s inherent inside of how they’ve learned things. They need to look and say, “wait a minute, I might just be totally fucked up.” Yes, you are. If you start from there and you relearn things, then suddenly we can have a conversation again that benefits them more than it benefits us.

The post John Lewis: Good Trouble – Documentary Spurs Viewers to Action appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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ncmagroup · 5 years ago

Text

by MICHAEL HYATT

Sometimes you learn from positive role models. Often you learn from negative ones. This is one of the reasons I love to read history—you invariably see both.

After watching Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, I decided to reread Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a page-turning account of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his political genius.

At the beginning of Lincoln’s first term, he appointed each of his former Republican rivals—those who had run against him for his party’s nomination—to cabinet posts. The narrative demonstrates his amazing ability to tap into a broad array of perspectives and create alignment among those who often disagreed violently with one another.

Unfortunately, Lincoln’s leadership was not perfect. He occasionally selected men for public service who were unworthy of his trust. One such individual was Gen. George B. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac and, eventually, first general-in-chief of the Union Army.

McClellan had significant character flaws that can serve as warning signs to anyone in leadership. Ultimately, these cost him dearly: He lost Lincoln’s confidence, his job, and a run for the White House (against Lincoln). Worse, his missteps prolonged the Civil War and cost the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides of the conflict.

I want to share five flaws I noted in McClellan as I read Goodwin’s book. These characteristics practically define what it means to be a weak leader. And the list doubles as a convenient self-evaluation tool if you want to avoid becoming one.

1. Hesitating to Take Definitive Action

McClellan was constantly preparing. According to him, the Army was never quite ready. The troops just needed a little more training. In his procrastination, he refused to engage the enemy, even when he clearly had the advantage. He could just not bring himself to launch an attack. When Lincoln finally relieved him of his duties, he famously said, “If General McClellan does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time.”

I meet people all the time who seem to be forever preparing. They’d like to launch a new product, find another job, write their first book—but they just can’t seem to pull the trigger.

One of the most important leadership qualities you can develop is practicing the art of the start. Perfectionism is the mother of procrastination. You’re never going to find the perfect time or the perfect circumstances or be totally prepared. At some point, you have to kick into action.

What is it you need to do that you’ve been procrastinating: a difficult conversation, a project to approve, a person to fire, a call to make? Whatever the next step, just do it.

2. Complaining About Insufficient Resources

McClellan constantly complained about the lack of available resources. He didn’t have enough men. His men weren’t paid enough. They didn’t have enough heavy artillery. On and on he went.

Leaders who do this never get very far. I don’t care if you own your own business, lead a department in a major corporation, or head a nonprofit. You’re in a place to deliver an outcome, and your job is to figure out how to get the resources or make do without them.

The truth is that, as a leader, you never have enough resources. You could always use more of one thing or another. But successful leaders figure out how to get the job done with whatever resources they have. How?

By using the one thing you possess that is potentially unlimited: your imagination. Ultimately, there is no such thing as insufficient resources; there are only unresourceful people.

3. Refusing to Take Responsibility

McClellan blamed everyone else for his mistakes and his own refusal to act. He even blamed the president. Every time he suffered a defeat or a setback, someone or something was to blame. He was a master finger-pointer. Great leaders don’t do this. They are accountable for the results and accept full responsibility for the outcomes.

Once, a consultant asked me about my company’s financial performance. We missed the target for that month, and I blamed the economy. “I get it, the environment is tough,” she responded, “But let’s be honest. It’s always tough, right? Michael, what is it about your leadership that led to this outcome?”

Whoa! I instantly felt defensive, but she helped me along. “As long as the problem is out there, you can’t fix it. You’re just a victim. I’m not trying to shame you; I’m trying to empower you. You can’t change your results until you accept full responsibility for them.”

U.S. Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin call this extreme ownership.

Once you accept responsibility, you can change the result. You may not control the circumstances you’re in, but you do control your response. Changing the result is as simple (or as hard) as changing your response. Imagine how different your family, church, company, or even the country could be if everyone took personal responsibility for their outcomes.

4. Abusing the Privileges of Leadership

While his troops were struggling in almost unbearable conditions, McClellan lived in near-royal splendor. He spent almost every evening entertaining guests with elaborate dinners and parties. He insisted on the best clothes and accommodations. His lifestyle—underwritten by taxpayers—stood in distinct contrast to that of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, McClellan’s eventual successor.

Leadership is first and foremost stewardship, as Andy Stanley says. We never hold it for ourselves; we hold it on behalf of someone else. If you’re in a position of leadership, it’s to serve. And guess what? You’re accountable. If you abuse it, you’ll eventually lose it, as Gen. McClellan did.

As a leader of a company, here’s how I look at potential actions and decisions. “If a reporter or a private investigator were following me around, how would the choices I am making today appear if they were on the front page of The Wall Street Journal?” Our bad decisions have a funny way of coming to light, and, as a leader, you need to live with that prospect in clear view.

5. Engaging in Acts of Insubordination

McClellan openly and continually criticized his boss, President Lincoln, by being passive-aggressive. Even when Lincoln gave him a direct order, McClellan found a way to avoid obeying it. In his arrogance, he always knew better than the president and had a ready excuse to rationalize his lack of follow-through.

Criticizing your boss in public? Never a good idea. As Solomon advised thousands of years ago, “Do not curse the king, even in your thought; Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter.” People in authority will eventually find out what you’ve said, and when they do, don’t be surprised if you get fired. You were asking for it.

If you disagree with your boss’s direction and feel deeply about it, then confront in private or resign. This really comes down a matter of integrity. Even if your boss is incompetent, you have the duty to respect him or her. If you can’t do that, you need to resign. Speaking out publicly while you’re still employed is just not an option. And it’s not very smart.

Lincoln had the patience of Job. He gave McClellan numerous opportunities to correct his behavior and redeem himself. But in the end, McClellan either could not or would not do so. He left the president no choice but to relieve him of his duties.

The lesson has been lost on leaders in later generations. Both Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Gen. Stanley McChrystal lost their jobs for insubordination too.

Look up or down the line of command in many organizations, and it’s easy to see these five character flaws afflict many leaders today. If you’re a leader, the best safeguard against them is self-awareness. Reading books like Team of Rivals, or just reviewing a list like this can give you critical insight about your own behaviors.

And once you see your weaknesses clearly, you can build the corresponding strengths into your character and your leadership.

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5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders (And How Not to Be One) by MICHAEL HYATT Sometimes you learn from positive role models. Often you learn from negative ones. This is one of the reasons I love to read history—you invariably see both.

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seanmalatesta · 5 years ago

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5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders

(And How Not to Be One)

Sometimes you learn from positive role models. Often you learn from negative ones. This is one of the reasons I love to read history—you invariably see both.

After watching Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, I decided to reread Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It is a page-turning account of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his political genius.

1. Hesitating to Take Definitive Action

I meet people all the time who seem to be forever preparing. They’d like to launch a new product, find another job, write their first book—but they just can’t seem to pull the trigger.

What is it you need to do that you’ve been procrastinating: a difficult conversation, a project to approve, a person to fire, a call to make? Whatever the next step, just do it.

2. Complaining About Insufficient Resources

McClellan constantly complained about the lack of available resources. He didn’t have enough men. His men weren’t paid enough. They didn’t have enough heavy artillery. On and on he went.

Leaders who do this never get very far. I don’t care if you own your own business, lead a department in a major corporation, or head a nonprofit. You’re in place to deliver an outcome, and your job is to figure out how to get the resources or make do without them.

By using the one thing you possess that is potentially unlimited: your imagination. Ultimately, there is no such thing as insufficient resources; there are only unresourceful people.

3. Refusing to Take Responsibility

U.S. Navy SEALs Jocko Willink and Leif Babin call this extreme ownership.

4. Abusing the Privileges of Leadership

Leadership is first and foremost a stewardship, as Andy Stanley says. We never hold it for ourselves; we hold it on behalf of someone else. If you’re in a position of leadership, it’s to serve. And guess what? You’re accountable. If you abuse it, you’ll eventually lose it, as Gen. McClellan did.

5. Engaging in Acts of Insubordination

Criticizing your boss in public? Never a good idea. As Solomon advised thousands of years ago, “Do not curse the king, even in your thought; do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; for a bird of the air may carry your voice, and a bird in flight may tell the matter.” People in authority will eventually find out what you’ve said, and when they do, don’t be surprised if you get fired. You were asking for it.

The lesson has been lost on leaders in later generations. Both Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Gen. Stanley McChrystal lost their jobs for insubordination too.

And once you see your weaknesses clearly, you can build the corresponding strengths into your character and your leadership.

from Michael Hyatt https://ift.tt/2sD8AMz via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Michael Hyatt

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