#Griffin Independent 2012

[ausetkmt]

RAKIM

William Michael Griffin Jr., better known by his stage name Rakim (born January 28, 1968), is an American rapper. One half of golden age hip hop duo Eric B. & Rakim, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential and most skilled MCs of all time.

Rakim is the nephew of the late American R&B singer and actress Ruth Brown.  He grew up in Wyandanch, New York on Long Island, and became involved in the New York City hip hop scene when he was eighteen years old.

Rakim, then known as Kid Wizard in 1985, made his first recordings live at Wyandanch High School. Rakim was initially introduced to the Nation of Islam in 1986, and later joined The Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as the 5 Percent Nation), and adopted the name Rakim Allah.

ERIC B. & RAKIM

First meeting in 1985 after Rakim responded to Eric B.'s search for "New York's top MC", Eric B's friend and roommate Marley Marl allowed them to use his home studio. In 1986, Eric B. brought him to Marley Marl's house to record "Eric B. Is President".

Eric B. and Rakim went on to release four studio albums before their separation in 1992. The duo were described by journalist Tom Terrell of NPR as "the most influential DJ/MC combo in contemporary pop music period", while the editors of About.com ranked them as No. 4 on their list of the 10 Greatest Hip-Hop Duos of All-Time. They were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, although they did not make the final selection.

The first track they recorded—"Eric B. Is President"—was released as a single on the independent Zakia Records in 1986. After Def Jam Recordings founder Russell Simmons heard the single, the duo were signed to Island Records and began recording the album in Manhattan's Power Play Studios in early 1987.

On July 7, 1987, the duo released their debut album, Paid in Full, on the Island-subsidiary label 4th & B'way Records. The album peaked at #58 on the Billboard 200 chart and produced five singles: "Eric B. Is President", "I Ain't No Joke", "I Know You Got Soul", "Move the Crowd", and "Paid in Full".[16]Eric B. & Rakim's album Paid in Full was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by MTV in 2006, while Rakim himself was ranked #4 on MTV's list of the Greatest MCs of All Time. Steve Huey of AllMusic stated that "Rakim is near-universally acknowledged as one of the greatest MCs – perhaps the greatest – of all time within the hip-hop community."

The editors of About.com ranked him #2 on their list of the 'Top 50 MCs of Our Time (1987–2007)'. Rakim began his career as the emcee of the rap duo Eric B. & Rakim, who in 2011 were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2012, The Source ranked him #1 on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.

SOLO CAREER

After his breakup with Eric B. in early 1993, Rakim kept a low profile, only making one notable appearance on the soundtrack to the 1993 film Gunmen. A reshuffling in MCA caused Rakim to be dropped from the label in 1994. As Rakim continued to struggle with legal problems, he secured a deal with Universal Records and began recording his solo debut album The 18th Letter in 1996. In November 1997, the album The 18th Letter was released. Expectations were high for Rakim, as the album debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 and went certified Gold by the RIAA.

In June 1999, Rakim appeared on three tracks of "The Seduction of Claude Debussy" by Art of Noise. AllMusic's Keith Farley notes that "the album charts the artistic use of sampled breakbeats -- pioneered by the Art of Noise themselves -- with nods to '80s hip-hop plus their '90s equivalent, drum'n'bass."

Rakim performing in Hamburg, Germany, June 3, 1998

In November 1999, Rakim released The Master, which received good reviews but sold poorly.

Rakim was signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment record label in 2000, for work on an album tentatively titled Oh, My God. The album underwent numerous changes in artistic direction and personnel and was delayed several times. While working on the album, Rakim made guest appearances on numerous Aftermath projects, including the hit single "Addictive" by Truth Hurts, the Dr. Dre-produced "The Watcher Part 2" by Jay-Z, and Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack.

However, Rakim left the label in 2003 and Oh, My God was indefinitely shelved. After Rakim eventually left Aftermath Entertainment, he stated that the reason he departed the label was because of creative differences with Dr. Dre. Rakim used a metaphorical example that Dr. Dre wanted Rakim to write about killing someone, while Rakim wanted to write about the resurrection of someone.

[thereturnofsidsid03]

My Only Testaments

I have so many favourite movies and it's so hard to rank them so I will list them all* (all is a strong word) and the order is independent from my feelings.

Almost Famous, 2000, Cameron Crowe (now this one is my actual all time fave, but the rest are up for debate)

The Mummy, 1999, Stephen Sommers

The First Wives Club, 1996, Hugh Wilson

Scream, 1996, Wes Craven

The Goonies, 1985, Richard Donner

Lisa Frankenstein, 2024, Zelda Williams

Breakfast at Tiffanys, 1961, Blake Edwards

Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986, John Hughes

The Mummy Returns, 2001, Stephen Sommers

Bottoms, 2023, Emma Seligman

Practical Magic, 1998, Griffin Dunne

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, 1975, Jim Sharman

Little Women, 2019, Greta Gerwig

10 Things I Hate About You, 1999, Gil Junger

The Birdcage, 1996, Mike Nichols

Romancing the Stone, 1984, Robert Zemeckis

Batman & Robin, 1997, Joel Schumacher

Booksmart, 2019, Olivia Wilde

Mamma Mia!, 2008, Phyllida Lloyd

Stand By Me, 1986, Rob Reiner

Candy, 2006, Neil Armfield

Young Frankenstein, 1974, Mel Brooks

My Own Private Idaho, 1991, Gus Van Sant

Love Rosie, 2014, Christian Ditter

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012, Stephen Chbosky

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1984, Steven Spielberg

Uptown Girls, 2003, Boaz Yakin

The Craft, 1996, Andrew Fleming

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, Irvin Kershner

Empire Records, 1995, Allan Moyle

Funny Face, 1957, Stanley Donen

Dead Poets Society, 1989, Peter Weir

The Dark Knight, 2008, Christopher Nolan

Dazed and Confused, 1993, Richard Linklater

Muriel's Wedding, 1994, P.J Hogan

Before Sunrise, 1995, Richard Linklater

Sabrina, 1954, Billy Wilder

Knives Out, 2019, Rian Johnson

I'm sure I will remember more and the list will grow but thats that for now, thinking of categorising them instead too.

[lboogie1906]

Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is a film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns (1987–95, 2000–07, 2009) and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000–present).

She has appeared in several movies, including Wall Street (1987), Rising Sun (1993), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), and Flight (2012). She received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female nomination for her performance in the 2001 drama film The Caveman’s Valentine. In 2010, she made her directing debut with See You in September. She received the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2007 for producing Spring Awakening and the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress in 2016 for Familiar.

She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University. She was a contestant in the Miss Black Teenage Pageant in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s.

She made her Broadway debut alongside Lena Horne in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981. She reprised the role (2000-07) receiving NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. In the 1990s. She guest-starred in primetime dramas including Swift Justice, Law & Order, Chicago Hope, New York Undercover, and Sex and the City. She had a recurring role as Lillian Fancy in NYPD Blue (1994-97). #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #womenhistorymonth

[televinita]

Since we last checked in, I have finished 0 books and bought 10 more (this time at a cost of $7). Again no proper treasure; I feel like most of these are destined for "read and release," but maybe they’ll surprise me. I’m still more excited about this collection than the last one, though. From bottom to top --

YA

1. Summer of Sloane - Erin Schneider: this has been on my theoretical TBR since 2016, when the Goodreads algorithm was still decent about showing me YA novel options that actually matched my tastes. My library system never had a copy, so now it's at my leisure. I don't feel like it's a keeper, and maybe it’s only a standard 3-star read, but I still want to read it. Because Hawaii.

2. Heartwood Box - Ann Aguire: I know nothing about this title or author, but between that cover and "when Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt Ottilie in her ramshackle Victorian home" I basically locked on. Further skimming of the synopsis sounds like it's a suspenseful read with a tinge of supernatural horror; either way I'm here for it.

3. Open Road Summer - Emery Lord: I've never read this author but I want to; she's perfectly suited to my tastes. I've been kicking myself for not taking a chance on this specific one ever since I saw it at a used bookstore 3 years ago; local library doesn't have it and I always (eventually) have a use for books about singers on tour, YA or otherwise.

4. The Next Together - Lauren James: normally this kind of book would not even be on my radar; the idea of soulmates who are reborn to meet and re-meet over centuries is just not a vibe I can normally make my peace with because it's too sad (one life and then heaven, that's the soulmate route for me!). But it turns out the Loki series is opening my brain up to all the book genres I normally write off sight unseen, and that plus the fact that this includes mixed-media formatting immediately made the summary tingle my brain.

Children’s and/or nonfiction

5. Macadoo of the Maury River - Gigi Amateau: Chancey of the Maury River was one of the greatest delights and surprises of 21st century children's literature, but after the sequels were published my library never bought them. Now I can read this one! I expect it will be just as good; these books are modeled on Black Beauty while aware that their target audience is as young as 8.

6. Animals Welcome: A Life of Reading, Writing and Rescue - Peg Kehret: I've not read as many of Kehret's books as you'd think a prolific reader of my age would have, but I've cherished a few. She's a very prolific and respectable children's author and I am so thrilled to read this late-in-life memoir for her target audience centered around her pets and animal rescues.

7. Thoroughbred: Ashleigh #9, Holiday Homecoming: the short prequel series about middle school aged Ashleigh Griffin wasn't as cherished a part of my childhood as the original series, but I did read a couple, and because I love Ashleigh I can't help collecting any I come across, even though they will probably always live stored in cardboard boxes. Chris Platt actually wrote this installment, which is fine because Platt is a solid horse book author in her own write.

8. Ponies of Chincoteague #2: Blue Ribbon Summer - Catherine Hapka: okay I now have FIVE of these without having read a single one -- an 8-book series about modern-day girls and their ponies inspired by Misty of Chincoteague -- but I also can't help collecting the 50-cent copies as I see them, they are just so clearly Books I Would Have Loved if they had existed when I was a kid, and are also still so clearly a reliable source of a Very Good Pony Tale today, when I'm in that mood.

9. The Trouble With Tuck - Theodore Taylor: a childhood favorite, but one I never owned. and it is so small and skinny that it is no trouble at all to keep.

10. Independent London: yes, this is a souvenir guide to small businesses, from 2012 at that, to a city in a country I've never been to and probably never will. But there is just something so FUN about taking an <i>imaginary</i> shopping trip through guides like this, pocket sized and each one featuring a glossy photo of the store's interior/wares and a cute little paragraph about what they offer, like catalog copy. I'd like to hold onto it at least long enough for a thorough browse.

Books I Put Back:

* This Star Won’t Go Out in perfect like-new condition. Which I was very sad about. Because I did enjoy and do want that book, and I will never find a better deal on price + condition. But is is just so enormous, as big as the 5th Harry Potter book but even heavier, and it simply would take up too much room.

* Chateau of Flowers: The Romantic Story of Lily of the Valley: I might regret this one a little, because this book was beautiful. Click the link and look at it, it’s the jacket-less edition shown. It was small -- mass market paperback sized -- but a beautiful soft green faux-leather cover with just that embossed silver flower design on the cover (no words) and similarly embossed title on the spine. I CANNOT be out here buying books solely because they would look pretty on my shelf (the shelf on which I have negative 16 feet of space to spare), so I made myself put it back, but I seriously considered it.

(The other reason was that it turned out to be a Harlequin novel, and not really a bad one in terms of being explicit, just rather cheesy in the way you’d expect from a 1971 publication date. And for personal dignity reasons I just cannot own something like that. But honestly, the angst looked like it might have been enjoyably cheesy, like a book you might enjoy from your grandma’s shelf...no! we shall not think of this any further. I hope someone buys it and guts it and turns it into a junk journal cover or something; that is its true destiny i think)

Bonus Pic:

Bonus 2: this was a 30-minute drive but a fairly pleasant one, and the most fun part was that despite it being an overcast 40 degrees outside (and I decided against a coat), this library is near an absurdly large park with a ton of foot trails through the forest, and on a day like today it was entirely deserted despite being a Saturday. I spent an hour roaming around, and as the trails wind up and down a lot of hills -- mostly gentle inclines, but long ones -- it was quite a great thigh muscle workout, with the bonus reward of there being a lot of awesome benches made from giant logs split in half (hinged with metal supports) on high spots overlooking pretty ponds.

There were also a lot of cool older houses, many with barns (though no horses), whose backyards dotted the edges of the park boundaries here and there, so it felt like you were just granted access to roam through a neighbor’s property. In addition to the houses themselves just looking really cool.

Basically...what a great Saturday!

[survivorguiltrp]

Site Premise and Timeline

Almost as important as our rules is telling you about what we’re actually based on! Now, we know Sanctuary is a niche sort of show, relatively speaking, and it’s been off television for years - we get it. As such, we’ve provided you with not only the basic premise of where we’re at current-day on Survivor Guilt, but we’ve also provided a timeline of the vital events throughout the show - including alterations made, as this is an alternate universe anyway! A lot of this happened behind the scenes until the parts we added anyway, so extensive knowledge is not required to join. Just give this a skim!

Premise

Survivor Guilt is an alternate universe Sanctuary roleplay, designed to be welcoming for both those who have and those who have not watched the show. In this timeline, the Cabal are still very much active and the SCIU attack was far more successful than seen in the show finale. It is now years after the attack and the United States has become a disaster zone. SCIU remains operational, under heavy influence of the Cabal, and its existence has lead to a divide between the United States and the United Nations. American abnormals are left fleeing the situation as best they can, but many are unsuccessful and find themselves trapped in a mandatory registration system. Behind the scenes, their experimentation has expanded back into creating Abnormals from humans as well, encouraging the strife present and making it worse in hopes of igniting a full-scale, global war between humans and abnormals.

Timeline

700 AD

The Cabalis Nocturnum is founded as a secret society, intent on collecting beings of power and abnormals.

May 1886

Helen Magnus, Montague John Druitt, James Watson, and Nigel Griffin ("The Five") inject themselves with the source blood — pure, untainted vampire blood. Their abilities surface. Nikola becomes a vampire.

April 1898

The Sanctuary is founded in London, England.

September 1898

Helen arrives in the past from 2011.

The Five are enlisted to track and capture or kill Adam Worth.

Helen shoots Adam, who falls from a cliff into the river below. John shows him a kindness and lets him go, believing he will die in the river.

June 1899

Future Helen finds her way to Hollow Earth and begins negotiations to achieve better relations with the surface dwellers.

November 1899

Helen begins working on the Underground Sanctuary. 

May 1914

The Old City Sanctuary is founded.

April 1951

Bigfoot arrives at the Sanctuary and refuses to leave after Helen saves his life.

Early 1960s

Nigel Griffin dies.

Late 1980s

Ashley Magnus is born.

Early 1990s

Henry Foss is found without parents on the moors and is brought back to the Sanctuary to be raised by Helen.

October 2008

Will Zimmerman joins the Sanctuary.

December 2008

Helen finds her father, Gregory Magnus, still alive. He is cryptic about how and, ultimately, leaves without answering her questions.

January 2009

The Cabal completes a dry run of their latest biological agent, drawing the Sanctuary's attention back to them.

Helen, John, Nikola, James, Will, and Nigel's granddaughter, Clara Griffin, retrieve the source blood from Bhalasaam.

James Watson dies.

Ashley and Henry are taken captive by the Cabal. They escape, but Ashley has been genetically altered.

Ashley brings the source blood to the Cabal, allowing them to complete their project: creating mind-controlled super abnormals.

October 2009

The Cabal attacks the Sanctuary Network with their super abnormals. Tokyo, Beijing, New Delhi, and Moscow Sanctuaries are destroyed. The UK Sanctuary is heavily damaged.

The attacks end in Old City when Ashley's mind control slips and she teleports, caught in the electromagnetic shield and ultimately killing herself and the remaining super abnormal.

John and Nikola begin to dismantle the Cabal to the best of their ability; but they miss a few key players.

November 2009

Kate Freelander joins the Sanctuary.

January 2010

Will dies and, in death, visits a chamber containing the personas of various abnormals. He returns to life with a message for Helen from her father who was also present.

November 2010

Helen and Nikola discover the existence of Hollow Earth through examining a holographic map device left behind for Helen by her father.

December 2010

Adam Worth, not actually dead, tricks Helen into jumping through an inter-dimensional rift, thereby poisoning her so that she will be forced to help him find a way back into Hollow Earth.

Helen, Will, Henry, and Kate travel to Hollow Earth and are killed for their efforts. They are revived in order to track and apprehend Adam, who left Hollow Earth on particularly bad terms.

John and Adam attempt a rescue of the Sanctuary crew, but Adam has other plans, leaving John to be killed by co-conspirators.

Adam is found and nearly apprehended, but escapes in a pod. John, still alive, catches up and makes a deal with Adam. Adam is believed to be dead by John's hand.

May 2011

Helen and Nikola investigate an old tomb containing vampires in stasis. They blow up the tomb, believing they have killed all vampires remaining.

June 2011

The Cabal, slowly rebuilding, extract a few undamaged stasis pods from the tomb destroyed by Helen and Nikola. They begin experimenting in-house to develop different delivery methods than injection.

Praxis is attacked. Abnormals from the outlands of Hollow Earth begin breaching the surface. A camp is set up in Old City to provide shelter to these abnormals.

John appears again to inform Helen of what actually happened, having been betrayed by Adam. The two hunt down Adam and discover him in the middle of traveling back in time using the Praxian energy systems. Adam succeeds and Helen follows, finding herself in 1898 again. John is believed dead in an attempt to overload the machine and stop Adam. Praxis is destroyed and much of the city's population is killed.

July 2011

The Department of Homeland Security founds the Specified Counter-Insurgency Unit (SCIU), claiming to be a research-based unit intending to study and protect against abnormal threats. Nikola is placed in charge of the unit, but the advisor through Homeland is a member of the Cabal.

October 2011

The United Nations cuts off the Sanctuary's funding and support.

Helen attempts to find a new financial supporter to keep the Sanctuary running.

November 2011

The Sanctuary team find out about the existence of SCIU. Tesla leaks them information, not particularly pleased with the organization but believing he can be more useful inside.

December 2011

Abnormal insurgents from Hollow Earth intend to attack SCIU and other leaders in a summit in order to retake the surface. The attack is stopped, but it puts surface dwellers on edge.

Nikola is fired by SCIU. They retain his research and fashion it into a weapon.

Using the weapon fashioned from Nikola's research, SCIU attacks the camps of abnormals from Hollow Earth. Helen attempts to garner the assistance of the populace by revealing the existence of abnormals, but this fails. The attacks are successful and all abnormals within the camps are killed. The Old City Sanctuary is destroyed. Helen is believed to be inside and dead in the blast. Death toll is high.

The Sanctuary is believed to be disbanded and surface locations are closed down; operations continue in the Underground Sanctuary, safe from the discrimination of the surface dwellers.

January 2012

SCIU targets Hollow Earth next and manages to eradicate Abnormal life from a large part of the outlands.

February 2012

SCIU falls under scrutiny from the United Nations. Everything quiets down — for now.

Praxis begins to rebuild.

January 2013

SCIU begins expanding operations again, independently funded by the Cabal.

SCIU begins exposing individuals in the general population to source blood, triggering biological changes which produce new abnormals, termed 'chimeras'.

July 2014

The presence of abnormals is confirmed to the public globally, after years of debate and conspiracy theories following Helen's announcement.

The United Nations condemns the actions of SCIU in the Battle for the Surface in 2011 and promises to implement new safeguards for Abnormal safety.

January 2015

The United Nations insists on the disbanding of SCIU. The US government fights this and separated from the United Nations.

To help counter the harmful possibilities of SCIU's continued operation, the United Nations begins developing a team of their own: the International Specialized Investigative Taskforce (ISIT), with global jurisdiction and the intent to serve in place of the Sanctuary. In honor of its predecessor, the first headquarters is built on the ground of the Old City Sanctuary.

March 2015

After a few false starts, the United Nations places Nikola in charge of ISIT much to his reluctance after the SCIU debacle.

July 2017

The American abnormals rebel against the SCIU initiative of abnormal registration. Many die. The remainder are relocated to camps. Those who escape flea to the safety of the Canadian border and are taken in by ISIT.

ISIT expands to feature locations in Hong Kong, the UK, and Mexico City. They attempt to expand into New York, but are blocked by the government.

January 2018

SCIU is almost entirely Cabal agents.

Source blood experiments expand with alterations to the formula to encourage aggression and lack of ability control in the new chimeras.

October 2019

SCIU's abnormal registration is pushed through as law.

Helen returns to the surface, hearing of the strife, to find Nikola taking care of it. Disagreements ensue on how best to handle the situation. No resolution process is decided upon until months later.

January 2020

Ground breaks on the London ISIT facilities, intending to be the biggest facility and eventually the main headquarters of the organization, to allow more space for abnormal refugees in the Old City facilities.

An entrance to the Underground Sanctuary is completed in the United States to provide an escape route for fleeing abnormals. The tunnel is kept protected by ISIT agents.

[ladyherenya]

Books read in February

I don’t have a neat summing-up statement to make about what I read this month. But more than one of these stories set me wondering Does this qualify as a novella? and Does it matter whether or not it is?

My favourite cover is Thornbound.

Reread: Half of Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis.

Still reading: The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson and Dragonshadow by Elle Katharine White.

Next up: A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

Witches Aboard by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): Although there were parts of Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters that I really enjoyed, they are not my favourite Discworld of the novels and I was unenthusiastic about the witches travelling to foreign parts. Was that going to be funny or tedious? But this isn’t just about Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat going abroad, it’s about them taking on fairy-godmothering and it’s excellent. Exactly the sort of commentary on fairytales that I like.

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): “Lords and Ladies” is a euphemism for elves, for faerie-folk, who are threatening to cause problems in Lancre. I think there might be some A Midsummer Night's Dream references going on which I would have appreciated those more if I had more than vague idea about that particular play. But I was still entertained! The plot went in some unexpected directions, there are some young women who might become witches and Magrat versus the elves was a particular highlight.

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley: I love this book -- I’m getting emotional thinking about it! Because of Ada’s twisted foot, her mother doesn’t allow the ten year old to leave their one-room flat. But in 1939, Ada secretly teaches herself to walk and when her younger brother’s school is evacuated to the country, she leaves with him. Ada and Jamie are foisted upon a reluctant, grieving woman who owns a pony. Ada’s determined to teach herself to ride. The amount of things Ada doesn’t know, the extent of deprivation she’s experienced, is staggering, and recovery isn’t straightforward. But her journey is so heartwarming and hopeful.

The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley: I loved the sequel too. The war continues. Ada, Jamie and Susan wind up living with Lady Thorton, the mother of Ada’s friend Maggie, and Ruth, a Jewish teenager being tutored by Susan, whose mother is in an internment camp. Ada is frustrated that Lady Thorton doesn’t understand what her friends need, and is resistant to anyone mistaking Susan for her own mother. I liked the way the pieces of this story fitted together thematically: found-family and mothers, healing, and the things people need, and Ada learning what she can do for the people she loves. Moving. Made me tear up.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson: A girl and her starship, on a planet where most people live safely underground and the stars are obscured by a layer of space junk. Not the first story I’ve encountered about a teenage underdog attending a special training school, overcoming obstacles and making friends, but it’s such a fun trope. This has lots of things I like: Teamwork! Flying! Mystery! An AI with personality! With satisfying twists and some oddly amusing characters.Some of training/fight sequences are too long and sometimes the narrative needed to show, rather than tell, Spensa’s emotions. But I still enjoyed it. 

Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis: Sequel to Snowspelled. While Cassandra Harwood’s magical career has ended disastrously, she’s determined to keep challenging the idea that magic is the domain of men. But not everyone wants her college for young women to succeed. As staff and students arrive, Cassandra has to deal with thorny nightmares, an unfairly-overworked husband. a government inspection and a malicious fey disturbance. This is a story about challenging the status quo, and about the importance of having others -- family and community -- who can support you. Cassandra still struggles with feeling that she has to fight her battles alone. A delightful sequel. I loved this.

The Chosen by L.J. Smith: Not quite what I was looking for, in terms of reluctant soulmates, but it was fast-paced and entertaining. And it's ages since I've read any YA with vampires, so this was good for a bit of variety. Girl on a revenge mission makes some new friends.

Beyond the Dreams We Know by Rachel Neumeier: I loved this collection! Neumeier’s stories are vivid and atmospheric and hopeful. If anything else ties them, it is the place grief and loss have in most of the characters’ pasts and how the stories are then about those characters discovering something positive and new. The four novellas are sequels or prequels to Neumeier’s novels. My favourite was “Fire and Earth”, a coda to the Griffin Mage trilogy. So very satisfying! Of the shorter, standalone stories, my favourite was “Lila”, an urban fantasy about unexpected dragon hatchings, an artist living in her late-mother’s house and a fluffy dog.

At Your Service by Sandra Antonelli: About secrets, spies, scrambled eggs and defending one’s self with cleaning supplies. Mae works as a butler for Major Kitt, a retired army officer. When Mae is attacked and her late-husband’s mysterious trust fund disappears, she heads to Sicily for answers. I liked the mystery, the danger and the ratio of romance to plot. I liked Mae and Kitt’s relationship and appreciated the realistic way Mae processes life-threatening situations -- but I was uncomfortable with the violence. Fictional Espionage = Not (Always) For Me. I don't know if I liked this, but I want to know what happens in the sequel.

The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley: Emily���s cousin, a history lecturer researching the Plantagenets, persuades her to join him for a holiday in France. I loved the atmosphere -- I loved the scenery and the tidbits of history and the growing sense of unease. There’s a medieval chateau, tunnels, a classical violinist, a tragic tale about lovers during WWII, the possibility of hidden treasure, a suspicious death, a stray cat, a child who likes to feed the ducks and quotations from Tennyson. This isn't a perfect book, but it was EXACTLY the sort of thing I wanted to read! (It’s even more Mary Stewart-ish than The Shadowy Horses.)

Legion: Skin Deep and Legion: Lies of the Beholder by Brandon Sanderson: Stephen Leeds lives with multiple hallucinations, stable personalities who only Stephen and his other hallucinations can see or hear. With Skin Deep I was more interested in the dynamic Stephen has with his so-called hallucinations than in the mystery they were trying to solve. They’re like imaginary friends -- except they’re more independent, not wholly imaginary. I found plot of Lies of the Beholder more engaging, but I’m undecided about whether the resolution was satisfying. It’s tidy in some ways and disappointing in others. 

From Clarkesworld Magazine, issue 73, October 2012:

“A Bead of Jasper, Four Small Stones” (from Clarkesworld Magazine) by Genevieve Valentine (narrated by Kate Baker): A story about colonising Europa, haunting in that way Valentine’s often are. (Her stories have a quality which remind me of Vienna Teng’s songs.) I found the audio version harder to follow than the other Valentine stories I’ve listened to, perhaps because this one is punctuated by brackets and breaks, and those are harder for a narrator to capture.

“England Under the White Witch” by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Baker): Ann tells of her childhood, when the Empress came out of the north, and of her subsequent years in service. This is bleak but not hopeless. You have heard that there were once green fields, and rivers that ran between their banks, and a warm sun overhead. You have never seen them, and you believe they are merely tales. I am here to tell you that they are true, that in my childhood these existed. And cups of tea that were truly hot, and Christmas trees with candles on their branches, and church bells. 

[blackkudos]

Teddy Riley

Edward Theodore (Teddy) Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist, and record producer credited with the creation of the new jack swing genre. Through his production work with Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Usher, Jane Child, etc. and membership of the groups Guy and Blackstreet, Riley is credited with having a massive impact and seminal influence on the formation of contemporary R&B, hip-hop, soul and pop since the 1980s.

Early life

Teddy Riley was raised in St. Nicholas Houses, Harlem, New York. Riley, a child prodigy since the age of 5, began playing instruments in the church. His uncle, who owned the famed Harlem club The Rooftop, built a studio in the club in which Riley would spend most of his time while growing up. By 14, upstate New York rappers began making music to his tracks. Under the guidance of local music producer Gene Griffin, Riley formed the short-lived group Kids at Work. At the age of 17, Riley produced Kool Moe Dee's 12" single, "Go See the Doctor". Released on an independent label in 1986, the song became a crossover hit, reaching #89 on The Billboard Hot 100. Riley had previously worked on the production of Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew's "The Show" in 1985.

Career

In 1987, Riley, Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling formed the R&B group Guy. Managed by Gene Griffin, Riley's work with Guy pioneered the new jack swing style of R&B, which had been showcased previously in Riley's productions for Keith Sweat ("I Want Her"), Johnny Kemp ("Just Got Paid"), Bobby Brown ("My Prerogative") and among others. Riley infused his own unique blend of hip-hop beats, R&B progressions and the Gospel vocal stylings of Hall to create the archetypal New jack swing sound on Guy's eponymous debut. In 1989, Riley produced Big Daddy Kane's "I Get The Job Done", as well as other work for The Jacksons, The Winans, James Ingram; he also created the highly successful remix of Jane Child, "Don't Wanna Fall in Love", which became a crossover pop smash.

After the release and tour of Guy's second album The Future, Riley co-produced half of Michael Jackson's album Dangerous, on the recommendation of Jackson's long-time producer Quincy Jones. Featuring the Riley co-produced singles "Remember the Time", "Jam" and "In the Closet", Dangerous remains the most successful New jack swing album of all time with 32 million copies sold.

After the disbandment of Guy in 1992, Riley moved to production, performance on and promotion of Wreckx-N-Effect's second albumHard or Smooth. Based in Virginia by this time, Riley discovered The Neptunes during the making of Wreckx-N-Effect's smash hit single "Rump Shaker".

In late 1991, Riley formed a second group, Blackstreet. The group would go on to release several major hits, including "Don't Leave Me" (1997), the number one single "No Diggity" (1996, featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen), and "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" (1999, with Janet Jackson, Eve, and Ja Rule). By 2011, the group had disbanded and reformed several times.

In 2000, Riley worked with Spice Girl Melanie B on three tracks – "ABC 123," "I Believe" and "Pack Your S**t"—for her solo debut album, Hot. He also worked on an album with Outsiderz 4 Life, producing "Wil' Out" and other songs.

At the start of 2006, he was part of the New Jack Reunion Tour, featuring Blackstreet and Guy, in addition to After 7, SWV, and Tony Toni Toné. In May 2006 Riley announced that he would be working on two key projects: a new Blackstreet album and a new Guy album.

In June 2008, a fire destroyed Riley's Virginia Beach recording studio. Fire investigators said that an electrical problem caused the blaze that burned the abandoned recording studio. The Virginia Beach Fire Department said lightning in the area also could have been a factor, although there was no direct strike. The empty studio was for sale and was insured for $336,000.

In 2009, Riley performed with Guy at the BET Awards. In the same year, Riley worked with Amerie and Robin Thicke on their respective albums. Leading on from his work on Snoop Dogg's album Ego Trippin' Riley became part of the production supergroup QDT, which features DJ Quik as well as Snoop Dogg. Teddy produced and co-wrote an album track "Teeth" with Lady Gaga for her EPThe Fame Monster. Speaking in March 2010 to Blues & Soul's Pete Lewis – Riley said that he was no longer affiliated with Guy (Riley last performed with the group in October 2010). Riley also said that the current line-up of Blackstreet comprised himself, Chauncey Hannibal, Dave Hollister and Sherman 'J-Stylz' Tinsdale. He confirmed that he was working on a new Blackstreet album, though intended to release his own album – entitled 'TRX' – first. Artists he could possibly be working with for the project included Stevie Wonder, Elton John, plus his own new, upcoming acts. However, Hannibal stopped performing with the group and the lineup became Riley, Dave Hollister, Mark Middleton and Eric Williams. In 2012, Hannibal returned to Blackstreet. Mark Middleton & Eric Williams left the group. The group's lineup now consists of original members Riley, Hannibal, Hollister and newest member Glenn Adams aka Lenny Harold.

In an August 2010, co-executor of the Michael Jackson estate, John Branca, confirmed that a posthumous album of Michael Jackson would be released, containing work done in the previous five years with producers Neff-U, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Riley, as well as work written and produced solely by Jackson himself. The album Michael was released on December 14, 2010 in the United States. After the release, several people questioned some of the music Riley produced for the project. Riley insisted all of the songs were sung by Jackson and claimed that vocal artifacts were added from overprocessing Jackson's voice. However, Riley made comments in an interview with Dan Dodds (aka Soul Jones) in which he stated that there were some elements of his voice in the music. "They may use some elements from me, put together ideas but I haven't been working on the new album" Riley is reported to have said.

Recently, Riley has stepped into the Korean music market. Riley worked with singer/rapper Jay Park on an English track titled "Demon", which was originally meant for Michael Jackson. Riley produced a mini album for the Korean girl group RaNia.

Riley is one of the producers part of the production team QDT, with DJ Quik and Snoop Dogg. He produced the tracks "Believe" and "Flow" for the Twenty album of the R&B group Boyz II Men. He has also produced Korean girl group Girls' Generation's single "The Boys" for the group's first international release. He has also produced songs for Girls' Generation's labelmates SHINee and EXO. He worked with Shinee on "Beautiful", "Shine" and "Dangerous" from their two part third Korean studio album. Riley also produced the songs "MILK" and "All Night" for f(x)'s third studio album Red Light and "What Is Love" for Exo's prologue single .

Albums

Solo: Black Rock (Unreleased)

Guy: Guy discography

Blackstreet: Blackstreet discography

List of songs written by Teddy Riley

The Boys (Girls' Generation-The Boys (2011))

Check (Girls' Generation-Lion Heart (2015))

Call Me Baby - EXO (2015)

Beautiful - EXO (2015)

Already (Taemin-Press It (2016))

http://wikipedia.thetimetube.com/?q=Teddy+Riley&lang=en

[blog-codonnell-blog]

Super Mario and his Representation of  Race in the Media.

Since the beginning of Mario’s creation, he has appeared and created to look like a stereotypical Italian male, with the characteristics of being short, stubby, overweight, and have a large mustache. Generally, Mario has avoided much criticism, but if we dive into alternative Mario media we can see a large misrepresentation of Italian culture. Take a look at the television show The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!  released back in 1989, that is currently available to watch on Netflix. (first episode- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA10XUaI3Mo.) It is supposed to tell some tales of Mario's adventures in a cartoon format for children. Unfortunately, this series can come off as extremely racist. A good example is that Mario is always hungry in the series and makes multiple food-related phrases like “holy ravioli” and “pasta power”. This is playing on stereotypes such as Italians always being hungry, but the series goes further to having them talk in an extreme thick Italian accent, one that you would see in older movies. This series does nothing for the representation of Mario in the media, and if anything harms his image. We generally know Mario through video games where he is commonly speechless or you read the storyline. This can be good as we interpret what the character may be like and can find ways to relate to the character even when he is in his simplest of forms, but when you give a voice and identity to a character and base it only on stereotypes alone it misrepresents the original creation of the character as well as a culture he is based on. Keep in mind the target audience of the television show being aimed towards children, who would most likely start forming their own opinions and take everything in the show as accurate and true. In the book, “Laughing matters: Understanding film, television, and radio comedy” by John Mundy and Glyn White, they discuss how stereotypes influence comedy and the role it plays in consumers of the comedy. They believe that comic material has a huge reliance on stereotyping and that “stereotyping is problematic and demeaning for those stereotyped, especially minorities since it assumes an exclusionary norm.”(232) This is exactly true, as minorities have less representation in the media and may be harder for them to convey their culture, as well as such humor causing a separation in our communities. Also, for this television series, we should take into account the time period, nowadays we are a lot more selective as to what we deem acceptable for kids to watch, as well as being more culturally aware of people of differing backgrounds from ours. So despite this Mario television show misrepresenting Italian culture, I do believe they have progressed just like society and are a lot more aware of the influence they have. In an article named  “ MARIO IS NO LONGER A PLUMBER, NINTENDO OFFICIALLY SAYS” by Andrew Griffin, Nintendo has been quoted to saying “ that once it was decided he worked as a plumber, many of the other parts of his character – including the fact that he is Italian, and lives in something like New York – followed.”(Griffin). This goes to show that Nintendo followed stereotypes in the creation of Mario, that once his work life was chosen, then everything created afterward was based on it. With Nintendo now changing his ways of work, the very thing he was based on, is now changed and shows that he is no longer really a character full of stereotypes and that he is constantly evolving in society. Nintendo has now even gone another step in relation to their brand and representation of race. In the article “How Nintendo Is Pushing for Racial Inclusion in 2015″ by Jose Cardoso, he discusses that Nintendo is including a setting to changing the hand color of the cursor you can use in Super Mario Maker to match your preferred skin tone. (Cardoso) Despite this seeming like a small thing, it has a greater meaning, that Nintendo is acknowledging the diverse fan base Mario has built over the years and are trying to convey their support, ironically a character that was based off stereotypes from the start, has brought many people together to not only create friendships but diversify ourselves and get to know about other peoples culture.

Works Cited

Griffin, Andrew. “Mario Has Lost His Job.” The Independent, Independent Digital  News and Media, 4 Sept. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-    and-tech/gaming/mario-nintendo-super-bros-luigi-japanese-language-profile- character-donkey-kong-a7928486.html.

Cardoso, Jose. “How Nintendo Is Pushing for Racial Inclusion in 2015.” Model View Culture, 2 Sept. 2015, modelviewculture.com/pieces/how-nintendo-is-pushing-for-racial-inclusion-in-2015.

“Laughing Matters: Understanding Film, Television and Radio Comedy.” Laughing Matters: Understanding Film, Television and Radio Comedy, by John Mundy and Glyn White, Manchester Univ. Press, 2012, pp. 231–232.

glory2764. “Super Mario Bros Super Show Episode 1.” YouTube, YouTube, 3 May 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA10XUaI3Mo.

[gushaydon]

27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards.Santa Monica Beach, Santa Monica, CA.February 25, 2012. (Feb. 25, 2012 - Source: Bauer Griffin) #drstanakatic @gushaydon #stanakatic https://www.instagram.com/p/CXAAo0TD9QT/?utm_medium=tumblr

[dreaminoutloudent]

Just Who Is Arthur “Poetry” Payne III?

Arthur E. Payne III aka Arthur “Poetry” Payne III    

PROFESSION: Singer/songwriter, publisher, CEO: Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment Recording Company, Publisher, Video Producer, Internet Radio Station Owner, Talk Radio Show Owner, CEO of Dreamin’ Out Loud, LLC, a Christian Entertainment Company. Publishes the entertainment magazine “MACKIE” and daily online newspaper “And Now Ya Know.” 

 https://dreaminoutloudent.com/

EDUCATION: Rockhurst College-Kansas City, Missouri Park College-Parkville, Missouri Charlie Parker Music Academy- Kansas City, Missouri University Of Missouri- Kansas City, Missouri The American Dance Academy- Kansas City, Missouri The Backstage Workshop- Kansas City, Missouri Penn Valley Community College- Kansas City, Missouri

MEMBERSHIPS ( past & current* ): The Knights of Columbus Fr. Hagar Council # 7064* Broadcast Music Inc. Publisher & Writer Affiliation since 1977* SoundExchange affiliation since 2011* Independent Filmmakers Coalition of Kansas City Nashville Songwriters Association International The Songwriters Guild Of America

LEGAL COUNSEL ( past & current* ): Mr. Kendall A. Minter Attorney At Law* Linda S. Mensch Attorney At Law Lloyd & Lloyd Attorneys At Law Johnnie Cochran & Associates  

Consultants: Mr. Derek Sivers, Mr. Chuck Chapman & Ms. Wendy Day - Former Publicist: Ms. Phyllis Caddell - PCPR Communications

EXPERIENCE & ACHIEVEMENTS: Both Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment and its’ flagship artist Katelyn McCarter were winners in the 2013 IMEA Music Awards ( International Music and Entertainment Awards). Dreamin’ Out Loud won for indie Record Label of the Year while Katelyn won for both indie Entertainer of the Year and indie Christian Female Artist of the Year. Operated Christian internet radio station KBAT, Gospel station TEAM Gospel, talk radio station WCFR and KJDH, Once Upon a Time Radio from January 2012 to October 2016.

Managed Kansas City based artist/daughter “Raina” resulting in major label interest from Sindrome Records in the mid 90’s. Also co-wrote, co-produced, co-directed, co-edited and was set designer for the music video “I’ve Had Enuf“ featuring “Raina” that was shown regionally on American Cablevision’s “Music Showcase” television program.

Managed Kansas City based trio “IV Real” resulting in major label interest from Mr. Kevin Evans of Blacktie Entertainment/Capital Records in the early 90’s, and was also responsible for this group signing with start up booking agency Exact Image and becoming an opening act for national touring recording acts. “IV Real” was able to play venues such as The Music Hall and Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO and shared the stage with many acts including Bloodstone, Lorenzo, Lo-Key? and then unknown comedian, Eddie Griffin. Co-wrote, co-produced, co-directed, co-edited and was set designer for the music video “Always” featuring “IV Real” that was shown independently across the nation on cable television, locally on cable channel 30’s video show “Music Showcase” for a solid year and nationally on BET’s “Video Soul” with Donnie Simpson. This video was also an Open Division Award Winner at the 1994 Kan Film Festival.

Co-Managed former Marvin Yancy/Chuck Jackson protégé, James Cleveland Choir vocalist and lead vocalist of the Interscope/Warner Bros. recording act “Truth Inc”, Derald Conway in his comeback attempt resulting in major label interest from Blacktie Entertainment/Capital Records in the late 90’s. Derald was also the singing voice for Robert Townsend in the film “The Five Heartbeats”.

Former Business Manager, Producer, Composer, Lead Vocalist and Musician (percussions) for five member R&B group “Poetry In Motion” throughout the late 70’s and early 80’s. This group would be offered the opportunity to tour and open for national recording act “The Masquaraders” in support of their 1975 hit single “(Call Me) The Travelin’ Man “. Offer was declined as “Poetry In Motion” members were still in college.

Former Business Manager, Co-Lead Vocalist, Composer, and Co-Producer for R & B trio “3PM” resulting in a 1988 major label singles deal offer for the original composition, “Without You” from Motown record executive Russ Regan as well as interest from Total Experience Records. Was also responsible for securing and becoming one of only five acts handled by professional management team from Detroit, Michigan, attorneys Leona & Leonia Lloyd ( Double L Management ), who were the team behind the 80’s groups “Ready For The World“ and “Kiara“. Was also the only act not from the Michigan area that was managed by Double L Management at that time.

Helped develop & nurture musical career of Kansas City native and former Flyte-tyme Productions’ background vocalist & co-lead vocalist of the Ruffhouse/Sony Records 90’s group “Four Sure“, Joey Elias. Helped develop careers of KC natives & current Los Angeles based session musician/writer Mark Lomack and former record executive Eric Hayslett of Los Angeles independent rap label Cream Factory Records. Also, indirectly encouraged the local cover band “Grand Jury” to begin writing original music. This band would later become the Perspective Record’s act “Lo-Key?” in the early ‘90s. Also inspired many local KC groups to begin writing original material and to strive for national attention.

Was, in summer of 1973, presented with the opportunity to meet with and discuss possible staff songwriting opportunities for Quincy Jones and his newly created Los Angeles based label Qwest Records. Offer was declined to begin college studies. Also in the same summer of 1973, wrote a television commercial jingle, “Dog’s Need Protection at Night”, for a company that was attempting to produce and manufacture reflective night collars for dogs. The company failed to get established.

Was presented in 1994 with the opportunity to write with Isaac Hayes on the musical score of the independent film “Ninth Street” by writer/owner Kevin Willmott. Offer was declined because of Memphis, TN five month relocation requirement. Kevin would later win an Oscar along with Spike Lee for the movie BlacKkKlansman. Had small but credited acting part in the national direct to video film release “Ninth Street“, starring Isaac Hayes & Martin Sheen.

Has been mentored and or advised over the years by Entertainment Lawyer Kendall Minter, former ABC Records President, Hal Yoergler, former Polydor / Motown Records executive, Russ Regan, Rapcoalition CEO, Wendy Day, CD Baby founder, Derek Sivers, Exact Image CEO & former booking agent, Mi-Ling Stone Poole and Kansas City recording studio owner, Chuck Chapman.

Owns and operates Poetry Kinda’ Music Publishing and A Drop A’Raina Music Publishing in association with ( B.M.I. )Broadcast Music Inc.

Former CEO of Dreamin’ Out Loud LLC., a Christian Entertainment Company and President of indie record label Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment from 2010 to 2016. Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment recorded one 11 song cd on its’ flagship artist Katelyn McCarter and released one single from that project and one single from its’ second artist Kristin Rader.

Has had many poems published in the “National Library of Poetry” book series, been offered several single song publishing deals and has bio listed in many national reference titles including “Who’s Who in the Midwest“, “Who’s Who in America“, “Who’s Who in the World” and “Billboard’s International Talent Directory“ among others.

Has had ten songs recorded and released by independent artists Sheila Alexander and R&B group Double Exposure.

Owns and operates KBAT Variety Internet Radio. KBAT plays a variety of songs from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s & early 2000’s. Writes in most genres including R&B, Pop, Blues, Country, Christian, Jazz, Gospel and Rock.  

https://live365.com/station/KBAT-Variety-Internet-Radio-a29006 https://kbatradio.webs.com/

https://ceoinfo.webs.com/  

Has written over 1500 songs.

As of 2021 Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment is a family owned indie multi-genre entertainment recording company focused on spreading a positive, up-lifting message through the creative arts through mp3 only releases. Our mission is to bring to the world positive, uplifting and professional materials of the highest quality. Our motto: “Makin it happen…One dream at a time” Dreamin’ Out Loud Entertainment is a division of Dreamin’ Out Loud, LLC

[representationbysophie]

Merida in Brave

You might be shocked to read about the misrepresentation of women within Disney movies. I know I was! Some might assume it’s harmless to show kids these films, but experts have weighed in. Scholar Martyn Griffin from Durham University says, “‘Home videos exposed kids over and over again to the ideas in Disney films. If they were doing this from a young age it is bound to have an impact’” (Gray). Fortunately Disney’s more recent princess films have been a vast improvement over the ones released decades ago. Two popular ones are Brave and Moana. The princesses in these two films are “...strong and in control of their own lives and no longer need male characters to save the day” (Gray). As opposed to the shy, frail princesses of the past, these princesses are incredibly independent and determined.

Brave, released in 2012, is the story of a young princess named Merida. She is to be betrothed to a prince, but has no desire to marry; instead, she enjoys shooting her bow and riding horses. She attempts to change her fate of marriage, but ends up turning her mother into a bear by mistake. She goes on a series of quests and eventually saves her mother from being a bear. They reconcile, and everyone agrees Merida will marry in her own time.

Merida represents a very strong female character. She is not afraid to stand up for herself and fight for what she believes is right. On the day of her betrothal, she breaks the rules and shoots her own bow at the archery contest, protesting her possible marriage. Here’s a clip of her fighting for what she wants:

It’s also refreshing to see a princess that looks and acts like a realistic young girl. There are no ball gowns or fairy godmothers in this movie, Merida simply likes riding her horse and shooting her bow. Merida “...had messy and tangled curly hair, a freckled face devoid of makeup, a torn dress…” (Pallapothu and Melchor). She enjoys the outdoors and adventuring and does not give beauty or looks a second thought. We can see her ferocity in this picture:

In addition, it was a huge improvement to see a female character solving a problem by herself and not relying on a male character for help or saving. Merida and her mother worked together to reverse the mistake that made her a bear without any kind of prince charming swooping in to save the day. Disney showed immense progress with the release of this movie.

[lboogie1906]

Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is a film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns (1987–95, 2000–07, 2009) and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000–present).

She has appeared in several movies, including Wall Street (1987), Rising Sun (1993), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), and Flight (2012). She received an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female nomination for her performance in the 2001 drama film The Caveman’s Valentine. In 2010, she made her directing debut with See You in September. She received the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2007 for producing Spring Awakening and the Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress in 2016 for Familiar.

She has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University. She was a contestant in the Miss Black Teenage Pageant in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s.

She made her Broadway debut alongside Lena Horne in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981. She reprised the role (2000-07) receiving NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. In the 1990s. She guest-starred in primetime dramas including Swift Justice, Law & Order, Chicago Hope, New York Undercover, and Sex and the City. She had a recurring role as Lillian Fancy in NYPD Blue (1994-97). #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #womenhistorymonth

[thenerdyunhealthybrit]

Tagged by the wonderful @dream-beyond-the-fantasy​

If you could change (or rather fix) the background and/or paternity of any five characters, who would they be?

This is tough, currently Griffin because he is sort of just floating around with no real ties - I would had made him Anna’s somehow, or introduce some siblings or extended family for him.

What five storylines would you rewrite?  And how?

The Everyday Heroes storyline, that storyline was awful and OOC for Sam, how previously lived a life of crime and who was dating a mob enforcer at the time. Being on TV and in the public eye made no sense for her. It was just a way to break down JaSam more for Liason. Like even when it looked to be building up to something, with the mark turning out the be abusive - it was all done wrong because if I remember correctly, he only got abusive when it was revealed that Sam was conning him. As bad as it sounds, he had a legit, arguably provoked reason. It’s still bad, but it didn’t make Sam sympathetic and the abuse was very brushed over in favour of Jason’s storyline and breaking them up. I was have changed it so her “husband” has abused her once married, but before it was revealed she was conning him. If they insisted on delving into Sam’s past as a con artist.

Three most annoying retcons in General Hospital history?

1) SamTrick. I’m sorry, I’m only going to say this now because I’ve been complaining about it for months and have appointed myself as leader of the SamTrick defence squad. But currently I hate how SamTrick is completely retconned by the writers, Robin only ever brings up Sabrina. And I hate how it’s being retconned to prop Dream up, she left Patrick because she thought Jason was alive and Drew was “Jason” - they got together in hopes of developing feelings because Sam thought Drew was “Jason” and “Jason” thought Sam was his wife and he owed it to her to try.

2) Another one is Jason’s commitment to the mob, currently they are acting like Jason’s number 1 priority is CarSon. When before 2012, he was able to separate Mob life to his private life with Sam.

3) Anything where CarSon do bad shit, then act all sanctimonious to other people, - like recently with the Nelle/Carly stuff or how Ava is being kept from Avery when Sonny isn’t even a good option, has killed people (and gets Jason’s to do it) and most of the time Avery is hidden in the corner or is with Michael and Kiki.

Favorite incarnations of characters who have been played by multiple actors?

Tyler Christopher, which is easy since Tyler is Nikolas.

Natalia Livingston, I never really saw Amber Tamblyn as Emily so that’s easy.

Steve Burton as Jason Morgan, and this is nothing against Billy, I just think he looks to soft to be believable as a tough, mob enforcer. Whereas, Steve kind of has a natural, rugged, rough around the edges look for him. Maybe it’s because of all those years of Billy in The Young and the Restless made it tough.

With Carly its tough, I feel like with Tamara’s Carly, the CarSon dynamic felt more like a mob relationship, whereas with Laura’s CarSon feels more on equal dynamic, but Laura’s Carly makes Carly seem more possessive and obsessive and needy over people at time. But I liked how independent she became, whereas I didn’t really get that with Tamara’s Carly - but I preferred Tamara’s relationship with Michael compared to Laura’s Carly.

Billy Warlock for AJ Quartermaine - this is nothing against Sean Kanan, because I never saw his initial stint, but I felt in his second stint there was a big unexplained discourse with the sudden change - kind of like what they are doing with Franco (but less worse) but also I felt like they weren’t giving Sean the right material for AJ and it’s an injust that he never knew about Jason and that he’s supposedly ok with Sonny killing him.

Five character deaths that destroyed you?

Emily, I don’t see what it did, expect butcher the Quartermaines and for shock value during the Sweeps.

AJ, but not for the same reason as Emily, this was more about the injustice done to his character.

Lila McCall - that’s down to Kelly and Steve’s performance, I did not expect to legitimately cry.

Danny McCall - He was so innocent and pure and at the time, the last of Sam’s family. He didn’t deserve to die - I would have liked to have had to full time character that is disabled or mentally challenged and have the relationship between the career and the person - without having to send them away or it defining them.

Georgie Jones - though I understand the actress quit due to lack of storylines, I think it’s a shame that writers didn't give her the material she deserves, especially since I think at the time, that age group was kind of small anyway.

If you could bring back any characters, which ones would they be?  And why?

Danny McCall, for reasons above.

Lila McCall - I flip back on this, this is a huge what if scenario. I’d like to have seen Jason and Sam raise her together. Though Sonny would ruin it, probably randomly decides he’s her dad every 5 years.

Emily Quartermaine - because it’s Emily Quartermaine.

AJ and Alan Quartermaine, for vintage Quartermaine goodness, plus Drew deserves this.

Lorenzo Alcazar - Which is probably an unpopular one, but I liked him and Ted King, had legit reasons to quit since the writers made him all about Sonny, but Sonny didn’t actually do anything to him, it was other people like Alexis etc.

Patrick Drake - SamTrick deserves to be remembered, he will always be an iconic GH Doc, move out the way Griffin. Plus I’d like to see SamTrick continue to be platonic best friends after they split. Sam needs her own friends, outside of Jason’s Carly, Spinelli, even though they befriended him at the same time was more about Jason, the writers forget about Saxie half the time. Plus Noah with Danny or Noah with Scout would be cute.

What storylines would you like to see General Hospital tackle?

Surrogacy, again - but not like what they did with Maxie/Lulu/Dante. 

A couple having a child born with Down Syndrome or some disability - and have it not be fixed by some miracle cure.

I lowkey want a Cult storyline. Australian soaps like Home and Away love a Cult storyline (It’s hippie style not Scientology style).

Any community style storylines - but not have Sonny and Jason come out looking as heroes. Not villains either but it use to be quite bad that they were legit like Superheroes.

Just more storylines that break the mould of a US Soap. 

If you watched any other ABC soaps (All My Children, One Life to Live, Port Charles, Ryan’s Hope, Loving, The City and I’m including SoapNet’s General Hospital: Night Shift), which characters (living at the time of the soap’s demise) would you bring to GH for a visit/story since they share the same universe?

I haven’t watched any of the old ABC Soaps, but I know my fair share about it and seen bits and bobs.

From One Life To Live, I think I’d bring Starr and Cole with Hope, but none of that storyline when they arrived. I think it was a mess what was done with the characters that hoped over to GH from OLTL and there was no true resolution to it. Maybe Jess with her split personalities to spice things up. Have her be predominantly know to GH residents by one of her alternate personalities.

From All My Children, I kind of dug Zendall from their clips, and I think their ending was a mess because only one returned to the Online Soap, but I would at least bring Kendall over to GH to kind of explain more on their split and have a life away if necessarily, without feeling out of place. I’d bring Babe back from the dead and bring her and JR over to rival CarSon in a way (in styles of relationship, not mob life).

I don’t see how Port Charles characters can properly be brought over considering how much the show veered off into the Supernatural. I lowkey would have liked to see Livvie and Caleb more, but not in GH.

I’m going to tag @gemleilou. I don’t think you have done this?

[blackkudos]

Faith Evans

Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles in 1993 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B. Sure and Christopher Williams, she became the first female artist to contract with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment recording company in 1994, for which she collaborated with several label mates such as Mary J. Blige and Carl Thomas and released three platinum-certified studio albums between 1995 and 2001, including Faith (1995), Keep the Faith (1998) and Faithfully (2001).

In 2003, she ended her relationship with the company to sign with Capitol Records. Her first album released on the label, The First Lady (2005) became her highest-charting album at the time, reaching the top of the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, while the holiday album A Faithful Christmas, released the same year, would become her last release before the company was bought in 2007. Following a longer hiatus, Evans released her fifth album Something About Faith on the independent label Prolific/E1 Music in 2010.

Other than her recording career, Evans is mostly known as the widow of New York rapper Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, whom she married on August 4, 1994, a few weeks after meeting at a Bad Boy photo shoot. The turbulent marriage resulted in Evans' involvement in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, dominating the rap music news at the time, and ended with Wallace's murder in an unsolved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997. A 1997 tribute single featuring Puff Daddy and the band 112, named "I'll Be Missing You", won Evans a Grammy Award in 1998. Also an actress and writer, Evans made her screen debut in the 2000 musical drama Turn It Up by Robert Adetuyi. Her autobiography Keep the Faith: A Memoir was released by Grand Central Publishing in 2008 and won a 2009 African American Literary Award for the Best Biography/Memoir category.

Biography

1973–1994: Early life and career beginnings

Evans was born on June 10, 1973, in Lakeland, Florida to an African American mother, Helene Evans, a professional singer. Her father, Richard Swain, who was Caucasian, was a musician who left before Evans was born (Evans has said "I've heard people mumble something about him being Italian, but I don't know for sure"). A half-year later, 19-year-old Helene returned to Newark, New Jersey and left Faith with her cousin Johnnie Mae and husband Orvelt Kennedy, the foster parents of more than 100 children they raised during the time that Faith lived with them. Faith had known Johnnie Mae and Orvelt Kennedy as her grandparents. It was not until a couple of years later that Helene's career floundered and she tried to take Evans back home. Faith, however, was afraid to leave what she'd "been used to," and instead, Helene relocated next door.

Raised in a Christian home, Evans began singing at church at age two. At age four, she caught the attention of the congregation of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newark when she sang The 5th Dimension's song "Let the Sunshine In". While attending University High School in Newark, she sang with several jazz bands and, encouraged by Helene, entered outside pageants, festivals and contests, where her voice would be noticed and praised. After graduating from high school in 1991, Evans attended Fordham University in New York City to study marketing but left a year later to have daughter Chyna with music producer Kiyamma Griffin. In 1993, she relocated to Los Angeles, where she worked as a backup vocalist for singer Al B. Sure!, when she was noticed by musician Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. Impressed with her, Combs contracted her as the first female artist to his Bad Boy Entertainment record label during 1994.

1994–2001: Faith, Keep The Faith, Biggie, motherhood and marriage

Newly contracted to Bad Boy Records, Evans was consulted by executive producer Combs to contribute backing vocals and writing skills to Mary J. Blige's My Life (1994) and Usher's self-titled debut album (1994) prior to starting work on her debut studio album Faith. Released on August 29, 1995 in North America, the album was a main collaboration with Bad Boy's main producers, The Hitmen, including Chucky Thompson and Combs, but it also resulted in recordings with Poke & Tone and Herb Middleton. Faith became a success based on the singles "You Used to Love Me" and "Soon as I Get Home". The album was eventually certified platinum with 1.5 million copies sold, according to RIAA.

A year before, on August 4, 1994, Evans married rapper and label mate Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, after having met him at a Bad Boy photo shoot. The couple had one child together, Christopher Jordan Wallace, born October 29, 1996, but the marriage was turbulent as Wallace reportedly had several affairs during their union, including relationships with fellow rappers Lil' Kim and Charli Baltimore. Additionally, it led to Evans' involvement in the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry which dominated the rap music news at the time and ended with Wallace's murder in a yet-to-be-solved drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California in March 1997. During early 1997, after her separation from Wallace, but before his death, Evans' friend Missy Elliott introduced her to record company executive Todd Russaw. Faith began dating Russaw during her and Wallace's separation and after Wallace died, Evans became pregnant by Russaw. The couple had their first son Joshua on June 8, 1998. During the summer of 1998, Evans and Russaw were married, and on March 22, 2007, they had their second son Ryder Evan Russaw.

After Biggie's murder on March 9, 1997, Combs helped Evans produce her tribute song named "I'll Be Missing You", based on the melody of The Police's 1983 single "Every Breath You Take". The song, which featured Combs, Evans, and all-male group 112, became a worldwide number-one success and debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during 1997, scoring that for eleven weeks. It eventually won Puffy and Evans the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. The next year, she received another two Grammy nominations for "Heartbreak Hotel", a collaboration with singers Whitney Houston and Kelly Price, that scored number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Two years in the making, Evans' second studio album, Keep the Faith, was released in October 1998. Almost entirely written and produced by her, Evans considered the album difficult to complete as she had initially felt discouraged about the progress at first. Upon its release, however, the album earned generally positive reviews by music critics, with Allmusic noting it "without a doubt a highlight of 1990s soul-pop music". Also enjoying commercial success, it eventually went platinum and produced the top ten singles "Love Like This" and "All Night Long" (released March 30, 1999) prompting Evans to start an 18-city theater tour with Dru Hill and Total the following year.

2001–2007: Faithfully, legal issues, Capitol Records and The First Lady

Evans' third album on the Bad Boy label, named Faithfully (2001), involved her working with a wider range of producers, including The Neptunes, Mario Winans, Buckwild, Vada Nobles, Cory Rooney, and others. Her first project with husband Todd Russaw as executive producer and creative partner, the album scored number 14 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number two on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, eventually being certified platinum, but yielded moderately successful singles, with the Jennifer Lopez-written "I Love You" becoming the only top twenty entry. Released amid Bad Boy Records' transition from distributor Arista Records to Universal, Evans felt Faithfully received minimum assistance by the company, and during 2004, she finally decided to end her business with Bad Boy as she was convinced Combs couldn't improve her career any more due to his other commitments. In January 2004, Evans and Russaw were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and an improper tag violation during a traffic stop in Hapeville, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

After ending with Bad Boy Entertainment Evans contracted with Capitol Records company, becoming the first contemporary R&B artist to do so, and started work on her fourth studio album The First Lady, named after her nickname on her former label. As opposed to having an in-house team of producers who supplied most of the previous material, she and Russaw were able to gain more creative control of the album and consulted producers such as Bryan-Michael Cox, Jermaine Dupri, Mike Caren, Pharrell Williams, and Chucky Thompson to contribute to it. Upon its release in April 2005, The First Lady scored at number two on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, becoming Evans' best-charting album to date. It was eventually certified gold by the RIAA. At the end of the year, Evans released A Faithful Christmas, a holiday album of traditional Christmas songs and original tracks. The effort would become her last release on Capitol Records as the company was bought during 2007.

2005–2012: Hiatus, arrest, divorce and Something About Faith

Following a 5-year hiatus Faith Evans created her very own record label imprint in 2010. She named the imprint Prolific Music Group and hired top talent to build the record label from scratch. Evans began recording songs with Keyshia Cole, Redman, Snoop Dogg and Raekwon, among others for the labels freshman album. Evans signed a deal with independent record label E1 Entertainment later that year. Her fifth studio album Something About Faith was released on October 5, 2010 in the United States, where it debuted and peaked at number fifteen on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Independent Albums chart. Something About Faith has spawned the leading single "Gone Already", which spent over thirty-three weeks on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at number twenty-two.

In August 2010, Evans was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, after being stopped at a checkpoint in Marina del Rey, California. In 2011, Evans filed for divorce against Russaw. The couple agreed to spend 13 weeks in a drug-treatment program in exchange for halting any further prosecution of their drug-possession case. In May 2011, Evans and Russaw announced they were getting a divorce, and stated they would like to keep it quiet for the children's sakes.

2012–present: R&B Divas: Atlanta, Incomparable and The King and I

In 2012, Evans co-executive produced and became a cast member on the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Atlanta alongside fellow R&B singers Nicci Gilbert, Syleena Johnson, Keke Wyatt and Monifah. The show offered an inside look at how the singers balance their music careers and personal lives as they work towards producing an Evans-led compilation album, R&B Divas (2012), in memory of Whitney Houston. Broadcast to rating records for the network, the series produced a spin-off titled R&B Divas: Los Angeles and was renewed for two further seasons. Evans, who left the show following its second season, earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album at the 55th awards ceremony.

In August 2013, Evans confirmed she had begun work on her sixth studio album Incomparable, involving contribution from Chucky Thompson, Mike City, KeKe Wyatt, B.Slade and Karen Clark Sheard of The Clark Sisters. "I Deserve It", a record featuring recurring collaborator Missy Elliott and her protégée Sharaya J, was released on August 25, 2014 as the album's lead single and peaked at number 19 on Billbord's Adult R&B Songs chart. Released by Prolific Music Group and BMG Rights Management on November 24, 2014, Incomparable debuted at number 27 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 17 on the US Independent Albums chart.

In 2016, Evans announced that she was finishing a posthumous Notorious B.I.G. album titled The King & I, which will feature duets with the two. The album is scheduled to be released on May 19, 2017.

Other ventures

Acting

Having previously appeared in stage plays as a teenager, Evans began acting with a supporting role in director Robert Adetuyi's 2000 music drama Turn It Up, featuring Pras Michel from The Fugees, Jason Statham and Ja Rule. Released to generally negative reviews from critics, who noted it "patently absurd in both the details and larger aspects", the indie film had a short play and became a financial disappointment, gaining US$1.24 million during its U.S. run only.

During 2003, Evans acted in the MTV-produced romantic comedy The Fighting Temptations in which she appeared in a brief but major role portraying a single mother and night club singer. Filmed in Columbus, Georgia and headed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. (her character is his mother) and Beyoncé Knowles, the film garnered mixed reviews by critics, but scored top three of the U.S. box office, resulting in a domestic gross of US$30.2 million. In addition, Evans recorded a contemporary cover version of Donna Summer's 1978 success "Heaven Knows" for the film which her characters performs during one of the first in sequence in the film. The accompanying soundtrack scored the top twenty of the U.S. Billboard 200.

During 2004, Evans earned a brief guest stint on the UPN situation comedy Half & Half. Evans announced that she had been working on a synopsis for her own situation comedy that would be based largely on her life but with a more comedic aspect. It is unknown whether she has officially pitched the sitcom to any television networks at this time.

Florence Ballard biopic

In November 2010, several sources stated that Faith would portray Motown star Florence Ballard of the Supremes in an upcoming biopic, Blondie: The Florence Ballard Story. With the blessing of Ballard's three daughters, Faith later appeared on the Wendy Williams Show to promote this role. In July 2014, Rolling Stone reported that the movie, thought to be titled "Blondie", was in fact a con artist's scam.

Writing

Evans released her autobiographic book called Keep the Faith: A Memoir on August 29, 2008. Written with Aliya S. King, it detailed the singer's life, but also discussed Evans' controversial relationship with her late husband, the Notorious B.I.G.:

"I want people to understand that although he was a large part of my life, my story doesn't actually begin or end with Big's death. My journey has been complicated on many levels. And since I am always linked to Big, there are a lot of misconceptions about who I really am. It's not easy putting your life out there for the masses. But I've decided I'll tell my own story. For Big. For my children. And for myself."

In its initial release, Keep the Faith: A Memoir landed in the Top 20 on New York's Best Seller's List two consecutive weeks in a row. During 2009, the book received The 2009 African American Literary Award for Best Biography/Memoir.

Philanthropy

Faith has recently shown support for Little Kids Rock by donating items for auction to raise money in support of music education in public schools.

Voice

Evans is noted for her "urban-edged honeyed soprano." Her vocal range extends from the low note of C#3 to high soprano C#6 . Washington Post writer Craig Seymour called her "angelic yet hearty soprano" as showcasing emotion that is defined by Evans' personal experiences of tragedy, love, pain and heartbreak. Her official website also references "her soaring soprano" vocals when speaking about her second album.

Discography

Studio albums

Faith (1995)

Keep the Faith (1998)

Faithfully (2001)

The First Lady (2005)

Something About Faith (2010)

Incomparable (2014)

The King & I (2017) (with The Notorious B.I.G.)

Holiday albums

A Faithful Christmas (2005)

Compilation albums

R&B Divas (2012)

Tours

Keep the Faith Tour (1999)

The First Lady Tour (2005)

Something About Faith Tour (2010–11)

An Evening with Faith (2012)

Faith Evans Live (2013)

Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour (2016–17)

Filmography

2000: Turn It Up

2003: The Fighting Temptations

2009: Notorious B.I.G Documentary

Television

2012: R&B Divas: Atlanta (Executive Producer & Star)

2013: R&B Divas: Los Angeles (Executive Producer)

2015: Real Husbands of Hollywood (Guest Star)

2015; 2016: Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta (Guest Star)

2016: Stevie J & Joseline: Go Hollywood (Guest Star)

2016: Rupaul's Drag Race (Guest Judge)

2016: Marvel's Luke Cage (Singer at Club)

Wikipedia

[aiaalalv]

(July 18, 2020) Apollo 11 (51st) and Vikings (44th) Anniversary 2020

(July 18, 2020) Apollo 11 (51st) and Vikings (44th) Anniversary 2020 with James French Jul 18, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM (PT) RSVP and Information: https://conta.cc/2SMuHLl   Volunteers are needed for all AIAA activities, please contact cgsonwane@gmail.com   (Online) July 18, 2020, 10 AM (Add to Calendar) Apollo 11 (51st) and Vikings (44th) Anniversary 2020 (Neil's Day) James R. French, JRF Consulting, AIAA Fellow "Gone But Not Forgotten, The Test Stands for the Rocket Engines of Apollo"     Prof. David Barnhart, Director, USC ISI / SERC, Faculty Liason to RPL/LPL "Moving Past Apollo: This generation's tools to build the 2nd major step for Mankind in Space"     Carl Stechman, Aerospace Propulsion Systems Consultant, Aerojet-Rocketdyne / Marquardt Retired, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Orion Engineer "Evolution of the Apollo SM/LM RCS rocket engine into Cassini and Orion" Gerald Blackburn, North America Rockwell - Retired, Engineer, Project Manager, Boeing Corporation Founder and CEO of Tinkers Corner LLC "250,000 miles a Proper Social Distance? - The Aerospace Industry was a significant developer of the Contamination Control Technologies and Techniques used today." Event Calendar http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/calendar/monthview?eso=0010gqoU-_jblZTmCh7qkkm8w%3D%3D&llr=p9tbt6cab   Join Mailing List https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/FnG0zoy   RSVP & Information https://conta.cc/2SMuHLl   Upcoming Events https://aiaa-lalv.org/events   Join AIAA Membership https://aiaa.org/membership   "Gone But Not Forgotten, The Test Stands for the Rocket Engines of Apollo"     Before they lofted the Saturn launch vehicles into space and landed the Lunar Module on the Moon, the rocket engines in these vehicles had to be tested on the ground. This was first done on test stands at Santa Susanna, Inglewood, and San Juan Capistrano California before moving on to Edwards Rocket Base and NASA facilities. These original stands are mostly gone now but they appear again in the pictures of this presentation. Jim French worked on these engines and test stands and shares his memories of those days.           James R. French AIAA Fellow (60+ year member of AIAA !) President, JRF Aerospace Consulting LLC

James R French graduated from MIT in 1958 with a degree of BSME Specializing in Propulsion. While at MIT, Mr French became the Founding President of the MIT Chapter of The American Rocket Society, an AIAA predecessor. In the ensuing years he has pursued additional education both in technical subjects and management.  Upon graduation, he accepted a job with Rocketdyne Div. of North American Aviation and during a 5 year employment, worked on developmental testing of H-1 engines and combustion devices hardware for F-1 and J-2 engines used in Saturn 5. He was also involved in various experimental programs. Moving on to TRW Systems, Mr. French was Lead Development Test Engineer on the Lunar Module Descent Engine and was responsible for bringing on-line the High Altitude Test Stand use for all-up LMDE testing at TRW’s Capistrano Test Site. He also was involved in experimental testing of exotic propellants. After leaving TRW as propulsion work ran down, Mr. French joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he worked on testing and launch vehicle integration for Mariners 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9; Viking 1 & 2 and Voyager 1 & 2. Mr. French was Advanced Planetary studies Manager for JPL for several years as well as Chief Engineer for the SP-100 Space Nuclear Power System. He was Chief Engineer of a RTG powered Mars Rover study for a vehicle essentially identical to Curiosity. Leaving JPL after 19 years, Mr. French was VP Engineering and Chief Engineer for American Rocket Company developing hybrid rocket launch vehicles. Since leaving AMROC in 1987, Mr. French has been consultant to a variety of aerospace companies, SDIO, NASA, and USAF. As a consultant to SDIO he functioned as the government’s chief engineer on the DC-X project. He has participated in various startup companies in the private space flight arena and currently consults extensively to Blue Origin, a company in which he has been involved since its beginnings. He has worked with Project Icarus investigating interstellar missions. His current efforts draw primarily upon his extensive experience in rocket propulsion development and operational aspects of launch vehicles. Mr. French is co-author with Dr. Michael Griffin of the best-selling text Space Vehicle Design, published by AIAA. For over 20 years he taught a 4 day short course, mostly through AIAA, on the same topic. The second edition of the book has received the Summerfield Book Award for 2008. Mr French is also the author of Firing a Rocket, a reminiscence of testing rocket engines for the Apollo missions. Mr. French is a Fellow of both AIAA and the British Interplanetary Society and a 60+ year member of AIAA. He has held several Technical Committee and other posts in AIAA. In 2018, Mr. French was named Engineer of the Year by the Orange County Section of AIAA.     Moving Past Apollo: This generation's tools to build the 2nd major step for Mankind in Space"           Prof. David Barnhart Director, USC ISI / SERC Faculty Liason to RPL/LPL  

David Barnhart is currently an active Research Professor in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at USC, the faculty liason to USC’s student rocketry groups (RPL/LPL), and the Director/Co- Founder of the USC Space Engineering Research Center located at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) operated jointly with Astronautical Engineering. At USC David specializes in developing innovative technologies and architectures for 2nd generation space morphologies, rendezvous and proximity operations technologies/techniques, and hands-on projects with students, faculty and staff through an “engineering teaching hospital” construct. The SERC created and launched USC’s first two Cubesat’s into space in 2010 and 2012. Over 200 students have graduated through the SERC’s hands on training capabilities and every summer hosts US and international student interns. SERC is currently the technical arm for a national and global standards development push for commercial rendezvous and servicing missions (CONFERS), creating a larger re-usable Lunar Lander simulator project, and has the third USC Satellite flight planned for Summer 2019. David was most recently a senior space Project Manager at DARPA, pioneering cellular spacecraft morphologies, satbotics, space robotics and low cost high volume manufacturing on the Phoenix and SeeMe projects. He represented the first DARPA space project at the United Nations COPUOS in Vienna Austria addressing new technology pushing the need for updates to space regulations and policy issues for next generation missions. Prior to USC and DARPA David helped initiate two commercial space companies; co-founding and serving as Vice President and CFO for Millennium Space Systems in Los Angeles CA; and was the youngest elected member of a three-person international Executive Management board for a German startup in Bremen, Vanguard Space, one of the first companies working commercial spacecraft servicing. David started his career as a civilian for the Air Force Research Labs spending over 13 years helping to birth several notable innovations in micro-miniature electronic technologies, micro-chemical/electric propulsion systems, some of the first small satellites for remote observations, and the first independent RPO missions. Evolution of the Apollo SM/LM RCS rocket engine into Cassini and Orion             Carl Stechman Aerospace Propulsion Systems Consultant, Aerojet-Rocketdyne / Marquardt Retired, Apollo, Space Shuttle, Orion Engineer

Carl Stechman has 60 years of experience related to the conception, design, development, qualification, production and marketing of small (4-4000 N thrust) liquid hypergolic propellant based rocket engines and propulsion systems using hydrazine compounds, nitrogen tetroxide, hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine, and other space related liquids and gases. He graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 1958 with a BS in chemical engineering and a subsequently an MS in engineering from California State University, Northridge. After a short one year at Rocketdyne he moved to The Marquardt Company and after many company name changes retired from Aerojet in 2011. During his more than 50 years he was a project engineer, program manager, chief engineer, chief scientist, rocket systems director and director marketing. His specific engineering specialties included heat transfer, thermodynamics, mechanical design and chemical engineering. In the early 1960’s he was heavily involved in the Apollo reaction control engine (Model R-4D) development and qualification subsequent to his co-authoring a report for NASA on the design of liquid rocket Engines. His primary duties during that time period as manager of the Marquardt development group was to insure the reliability of the Apollo engine through extensive off limit testing.  His many subsequent achievements include: The design, development and qualification of the first integrated satellite propulsion system for Space Systems Loral which included a performance and material uprated Apollo R-4D-164 490 N bipropellant rocket engine. This engine is still produced today for the Orion program.Design and subsequent development (as project engineer) of the Space Shuttle 4000 N and 110 N liquid bipropellant control thrusters.Patent holder for the model HiPATtm 445 N R-4D-15 Rhenium material based combustion chamber liquid bipropellant rocket engine using both MON-3/MMH and MON-3/N2H4.Design and development/qualification of the R-42 900 N Liquid rocket engine and its upgrades.Design and development of the model R-6C 22N thruster which provided ACS for numerous satellites and spacecraft.Design and development of the Model R-1E uprated 110 N engine used on the IHI HTV and the X-37. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 250,000 miles a Proper Social Distance?  - The Aerospace Industry was a significant developer of the Contamination Control Technologies and Techniques used today.

Gerald Blackburn North American Rockwell - Retired, Engineer, Project Manager, Boeing Corporation, Founder and CEO of Tinkers Corner LLC Gerald is an engineer and was a Project Manager with the Boeing Corporation. He has been in the Aerospace Industry for over 40 years. His career has spanned the entire manned space program from the X-15 at North American Aviation to the Apollo, Saturn SII, Space Shuttle and International Space Station Programs. His proactive leadership in business and education partnerships is widely known. Gerald has taught at the California State University in Los Angeles, University of Southern California and Cerritos College. He has been an active member of several business and education advisory boards and served on the California State Department of Education Advisory Committee for Career Technology Education. Gerald is also a professional international speaker on the history and programs of the Aerospace Industry of Southern California. He is author of “Downey’s Aerospace History” by Arcadia Publishing. Mr. Blackburn has an MBA from Pepperdine University and is a native Californian. He is a Director of Columbia Memorial Space Center Foundation and Past President and Executive Advisor of the Aerospace Legacy Foundation developing historical preservation and outreach projects. Gerald is the Founder and CEO of Tinkers Corner LLC a STEM education resource company in Southern California. He enjoys spending time with his seven grandchildren and traveling with his wife Kathy. Contact: blackbga@yahoo.com 562.447.5552c ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Read the full article

[the-record-newspaper]

Unsolved: Murder at Jumpingoff Place

Richard Presnell

 Mistaken Identity: 

 Exclusive Interview with Richard Presnell Part XII             

                                                                      By  LARRY J. GRIFFIN

Special Reporter for The Record

It was 4 p.m. on a Monday when Richard Presnell walked through the door of his Hudson home after working a typical shift on a mundane Monday. But, it would not remain uneventful for very long.

“It was a hot June day,” Mr. Presnell recalled. “I had not been home long when I heard a knock at my backdoor at about 5:30 p.m.”   When he opened the door, he was greeted by a uniformed female deputy who was accompanied by two other lawmen.  “‘Are you Richard Presnell, the father of…’ and she called my daughter by name. Of course, I quickly told her that I was, worried that something had happened to my daughter.  Then I heard the officer say to someone on her phone that I had positively identified myself.”  

The scene suddenly and inexplicably turned surreal for Mr. Presnell.  “Someone grabbed me from the side—I thought it was the lady; but, later she told me in the presence of the Caldwell County Sheriff (Roger Hutchings), ‘that wasn’t me.’ Anyway, I was thrown face down on the ground and handcuffed from behind.  I had no idea…I mean; I didn’t know what was going on.  No one told me anything.”

As alarmed, curious neighbors looked on; a perplexed, angry Richard Presnell was unceremoniously placed in the back of a squad car to be transported to the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office.  “I will never forget all my neighbors watching from their yards as the car I was in passed by them.  And it wasn’t just one (squad) car; but several.  All along the way people were slowing down, straining to see who was in the back seat of the cruiser…I guess I couldn’t blame them; I would have done the same thing.  But it was very embarrassing!”

According to court document, it was Deputy Allison Porter who knocked at Presnell’s backdoor.  In her possession was an Application for Nontestimonial Identification Order—a court document delivered to an adult who is being summoned for the expressed purpose of establishing her/his identity—a document that was not shown to the handcuffed suspect at the time and would not be given to him until later that early Monday evening. Typically, the order must be delivered at least 72 hours before the execution of an identification procedure. But not in this case—Richard Presnell was to be transported immediately to the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, by Deputy Porter, to ascertain whether or not he was actually escaped murder suspect—Richard Lynn Bare.

In the wake of Lynn Bare’s escape from the Wilkes County Jail on July 18, 1985, Sherry Hart’s parents—Joe and Betty Lyall—hired a private investigator (PI) to conduct an independent search for the escapee. “All he did was take a lot of money from my grandparents,” April Billings recalled.  “He never really turned-up anything; so, they stopped using him.”  

Over five-years ago, Ms. Billings was also contacted by a private investigator.  When Richard Leon Bare—Lynn’s father—died on July 21, 2012, a private detective offered to attend the elder Bare’s funeral in the event Lynn made an appearance—albeit incognito.  “He left me a message that I ignored--he basically just wanted a lot of money,” April recounted during an initial interview.

Until her death in 2011, Betty Lyall was relentlessly persistent in her inquiries at the Sheriff’s office.  “She would call the Sheriff almost every week, asking if there had been any leads concerning the whereabouts of Lynn Bare.  The answer was always the same—nothing,” April explained. “After she was gone, I talked to every sheriff who was elected, keeping my mama’s case in front of them.  The last one (Jerry Buchanan) wouldn’t see me. I went to his office, and I was told that I would have to wait.  So I waited for about 15 minutes until I was told he could not see me that day, and I would have to come back.  About two-months later, I saw him at the gas station—he recognized me but didn’t say anything.”

Then on June 24, 2002—almost 17-years after Bare’s escape from the Wilkes Jail—Superior Court Judge, Michael Helm, signed the Application for Nontestimonial Identification Order at the request of the District Attorney, Tom E. Horner. Though Caldwell County was outside of his 23rd Prosecutorial District, Mr. Horner sought the assistance of the Caldwell Sheriff’s Office in locating and transporting Richard Ellis Presnell of Hudson to their office for fingerprinting.  

Further, the DA requested that the judge suspend the requirement of law stipulating that the order be personally delivered 72-hours before the administration of the identification procedure.  Horner argued that if “…Robert [sic] Presnell is Robert [sic] Lynn Bare, it is highly likely he will not voluntarily appear…,” because Bare was known to be a flight risk and—at that time—a fugitive from justice. Moreover, the suspect was to remain in custody until identity had been established.  Judge Helm agreed to the emendation; so, at 4:50 p.m. on June 24th, Deputy Allison Porter was sent to retrieve Presnell for immediate transport to the Caldwell Sheriff’s Office.  

However, Deputy Porter was not alone.  “They (officers and deputies) were everywhere on my property—I would say around eight of them in all.  A few even came into my house briefly.  Later, Mr. Presnell learned from his next door neighbor—who is deceased now—that they had surrounded his house, likely anticipating that he might attempt to escape.  “My neighbor saw it all,” he averred.

The ride to the Sheriff’s Department was itself an ordeal.  “There were three laws officers in the car with me.  The lady officer (Allison Porter) was driving; there was a deputy in the passenger’s seat, and another guy beside me.  I didn’t know who he was at the time; later, I discovered that he was a credit card investigator—he had a name for it; but, I can’t remember what he said.  He never said anything to me; he just kept smiling every time I said something. Annoying really. It was hot in the car, and I asked them to turn on the AC—my request was ignored.  I was also in a great deal of pain with my hands handcuffed behind me.  I had hurt my shoulder at work and being handcuffed didn’t help it.”  

Even in the transport, Richard Presnell was not made aware of the rhyme or reason for his being taken into custody. “Nobody really didn’t tell me anything, and I kept telling them that I hadn’t done anything, and they were going to feel stupid when they discovered I was telling them the truth.  I probably said too much, really; but I was angry and confused.  It wasn’t until we were almost at the Sheriff’s Department that Deputy Porter, who was driving the car, looked at me through the rearview mirror and said that she had an order—she gave it a name, but I didn’t know what she was talking about. She told me that I was to be fingerprinted.”

Once at the Sheriff’s Office, Richard was surrounded with people in uniform and sheriffs from three counties.  “I remember seeing the Wilkes County sheriff (Dane Mastin), the one from Ashe (James Williams), and Sheriff Hutchings from Caldwell.”

After all the weapons were stowed, Mr. Presnell was conducted into a room in which an SBI agent was waiting to fingerprint him. “I asked if the cuffs could be removed. I told them that I was surrounded by people with guns and wasn’t going anywhere.  Besides, they had to remove them anyway to fingerprint me.”  It was at that juncture he was informed that he was being fingerprinted to ascertain whether or not he was a fugitive named Richard Lynn Bare.  “I had absolutely no idea who that was.”    

“The SBI agent was a nice guy, as I recall; and when he took the first print, he looked up toward the others in the room with a funny look on his face, then shook his head.”  It was a case of mistaken identity.  “At that point, everyone started being really nice to me. That lady deputy who hadn’t treated me so well changed completely—she offered to get me something to drink. When she asked, I told her ‘Diet Coke,’ and she went out to get it.  And I got all the air-conditioning that I needed.”

Afterwards, Mr. Presnell’s interaction was primarily with the man whom he identified as “a credit-card investigator.”  “Well, he told me about the Bare case—pushing a woman off a cliff.  That was the first time that I had heard anything about it.”  The investigator asked Richard to follow him into the next room; he wanted to show him something.  “On the table were photographs of this Richard Bare that they had been comparing to one of mine.  Only our noses were similar in nature—just our noses.”

Then, the discussion took a bizarre turn.  “The investigator told me that they had been following my credit since April, and it looked as if Richard Bare had ‘stolen’ my identity and had acquired a credit card in my name.  He explained to me that there was one transaction that this Bare fellow had made he was looking into.”  

Mr. Presnell asked the investigator about the nature of that spurious transaction but received no response.  “He just kept on talking but really never answered my questions about the transaction.  But I was lead to believe that this was the reason that I was brought in to be fingerprinted.  This credit-card guy told me that he would fix everything with the credit card company. Then he asked if he could continue to follow my credit for a while to see if anything else showed up.  Though I probably shouldn’t have, I gave him permission. As I look back now, I realize that I should have asked more questions.  But I was tired; I wanted a cigarette, and I wanted to go home.”

The investigator gave Richard a card and encouraged him to call if he had questions.  “But I never heard from the man again.  Three months passed, and I still hadn’t heard anything from him and nothing had been straightened out.  So, I tried contacting him—without success.  I called Wilkes County—I thought he must have come from there.  But, no one I talked to could put me in touch with him.”

Finally after being at the sheriff’s department for about 1½ hours, Deputy Porter gave Mr. Presnell a copy of the order that had been in her possession and then transported him back to Hudson.  “And I had plenty of air-conditioning going home. I asked her to please stop to talk to my neighbors and tell them that I had done nothing wrong.  But, that never, ever happened. Along the way, I kept saying to her that I was going to sue them all.  But she replied there was nothing I could do because a judge had signed the order.”

About a year after the incident, Richard Presnell spoke with an attorney about the events of that June evening.  “I didn’t have the money to hire an attorney; however, he did call the Caldwell Sheriff’s Office to speak with someone about my situation.”  Surprisingly, the lawyer was informed that no record of Richard’s quasi-arrest and fingerprinting could be found.  “They were saying that it (the event) never happened as far as they were concerned.”

Yet, the application for the identification order—submitted by District Attorney Tom Horner—and the executed order—signed by Deputy Allison L. Porter of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office—can be found among the documents of the Bare Case File housed at the Wilkes County Clerk of Court’s Office.  Neither document, however, indicates why the order was issued.

“I really never got a good reason why they came after me,” Mr. Presnell asserted. “I believe it was an election year; maybe some of them were running for re-election.  I just don’t know.   But I do believe there was more to it than they ever told me.”

Horner, who hadn’t returned calls as of deadline, was on the ballot in 2002, but ran unopposed.

It has been over 15-years since that June evening; but, Mr. Presnell has never forgotten how roughly he was treated.  “I can kinda understand how mistaken identities happen—I am certain they happen everyday.  What is hard for me to overlook and forget is being thrown face down in my yard and handcuffed without being told anything until we were almost at the sheriff’s department.  And no one has ever apologized to me for the way I was treated by the law enforcement officers….It was as if they were already convinced that I was, in fact, Richard Bare.”