#I attended the first show of his book tour for his new memoir

[go-go-devil]

I'll be real with you all, getting to meet Geddy Lee in-person last night and getting a fist bump from him was a pretty fucking great moment for me as a Rush fan ✨

[paullovescomics]

The local bookstore has a few bookclubs and author readings. I've thought about going to these for a couple years now, but never did. There's a sci-fi book club, and another one for international books translated into English. Both of those appeal to me. But the sci-fi books have all been apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic, and I'm just not in the headspace for that. Too much of that shit in the news. I read one of the international books, and it was very good, but I didn't finish it in time for the club.

So, when I saw an author reading for a book about the persistence of old pop music and the struggle for new music to get heard, and the reading was a couple weeks out, I thought, here's a good chance.

The blurb for this book misrepresents what it's really about, IMO. Here it is.

"A veteran music journalist argues that the rise of music streaming and the consolidation of digital platforms is decimating the musical landscape, with dire consequences for the future of our culture …

In The Endless Refrain, former Washington Post writer and editor David Rowell lays out how commercial and cultural forces have laid waste to the cultural ecosystems that have produced decades of great American music. From the scorched-earth demonetizing of artist revenue accomplished by Spotify and its ilk to the rise of dead artists “touring” via hologram, Rowell examines how a perfect storm of conditions have drained our shared musical landscape of vitality. 

Combining personal memoir, intimate on-the-ground reporting, industry research, and cultural criticism, Rowell’s book is a powerful indictment of a music culture gone awry, driven by conformity and subverted by the ways the internet and media influence what we listen to and how we listen to it."

Reading that, I assumed that the book would be about music streaming, digital platforms, demonetization, the internet and media influence, and how those things cause old songs to dominate a lot of spaces, while musicians making new music try to work those systems as best they can. I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation.

The book is about the "endless refrain" of old music. It begins with some anecdotes about hearing old pop and rock songs in movies, commercials, in the background of stores, etc. The author tells us about the two McDonald's restaurants near his house: one only plays music from the 1970s, the other one plays hits from the '80s. There are also stories of how he heard music growing up, and how not only his generation, but younger ones hold on to that music.

The rest of the book is divided into two sections. The first is about cover bands. The author interviews several of them over a decent period of time, talking to them about how they got into music, describing their gigs, and asking them why this music remains so popular. He also talks to a few audience members attending the shows. To his (and my) consternation, some fans who weren't even born when this music was made only want to hear the stuff they grew up hearing on their parents' stereo, and see no value in new music. The second section is about hologram concerts. He talks to people who run these companies, how it works, some of the things it can do that a cover band can't, and again, why old music remains so prominent.

The industry forces, the streaming models, the commodification of music catalogs, the homogenization of radio, all the things that are in the blurb, are barely touched. When these topics are touched upon, it's in the context of an interview. They come up in conversation, not as the focus. They are discussed in detail, explained, or broken down as the blurb implies.

The interviews are good. The world of cover bands was not something that I knew much about. I had no idea they had become such a big deal in live music. Some of these people do have interesting, compelling stores. But that's not what the back cover sold me, and it's not what I was looking for.

That was disappointing, because the story of how the music industry devolved from a scam that enriched executives while underpaying artists into a scam where tech companies treat songs like memes and pay artists even less is an interesting one. It illustrates how broken our system is for most of us, and how we get duped into thinking that a shittier but "more convenient" version of a product is some kind of progress. The way that radio conglomerates (effective monopolies in many markets) treat music like stock investments -- maximize return and minimize risk -- and how streaming services turned most music into the equivalent of penny stocks is a subject that could occupy a whole book, or at least part of this one.

(The blurb does not promise this, but there's also a lot to say about why music fans turned so quickly and so hard on the old model: because we knew they were cheating us, so we leapt at the opportunity to steal via Napster, because fuck them, even huge artists only made money by touring, not from gold records. Eighteen bucks for a CD in 1995? Kiss my ass.)

but what confused me was, if the author is concerned about the difficulty of new music getting heard, why did he spend the whole book focusing on two parts of the entertainment world that have no interest in new music? I think the reason is that, doing so provides evidence for just how popular these old songs are (so many Journey cover bands), and how they can continue to be adapted into new forms (holograms). The section about cover bands really drives home that a significant portion of the audience for live music loves this stuff, and some of them don't want anything else.

But surely that's just the opening portion of the discussion? Having established that the "I Want My MTV" era of pop and rock songs is still hanging on to more than its fair share of the national ear space, shouldn't you then show where and how new music is getting heard? There are some nods to the giant pop idols of the now like Taylor Swift, but that's it.

That was frustrating to me, because I'm not much younger than the author, but I see new music online every day. I also remember when MTV started, and when the radio was full of exciting new music. Growing up, there were multiple record shops even in my modestly sized home town. (RIP Hot Dogs records and tapes.) Those outlets have been effectively dead for decades now. Yeah, radio and MTV are still around, but jokes about Music Television not playing music are at least twenty years old now, and radio adopted the "twenty songs on eternal rotation" model in the late 1990s. However, there's lots of new stuff posted to YouTube daily. Then there's Bandcamp, which has a dizzying array of new music, and it actually offers a good deal to the artists. I constantly have more albums in my Bandcamp wishlist than I can afford to buy. I have to cull it every few months so it doesn't become unmanageable.

Cover bands are big in some circles, but what about music festivals that showcase new music? There are a lot of them. This author is also from North Carolina, but do they not know about the Grass Roots fest at Shakori Hills? Or Merlefest? Pretty sure there was a big music fest in the Raleigh/Durham area in recent years. Cat's Cradle is still hosting new music in Carrboro, and the Haw River Ballroom has national acts coming through on the regular. Charlotte has clubs that host touring bands that play new stuff. I went to see Amon Amarth in Asheville this past spring, and yeah, they've been around for a minute, but they played stuff from the new album, and the crowd ate it up. Pick up a heavy metal mag, and every fifth page is an add for a metal festival. Subscribe to Dirty Hit's YouTube channel if you want to hear some catchy new pop music. Then check out WherePostRockDwells and get ready to be dumbfounded about how many bands are making new music in that genre. Ditto Chillhop, CryoChamber, etc. etc. Hell, Blue Note is putting out new stuff every week on YouTube even after all these years. It might not get played at McDonald's, but new music is out there. It's a shame this book didn't look into it.

[handeaux]

Ghostbuster! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Came To Cincinnati To Chat With Spirits

Cincinnati loved Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, even though the great author left Sherlock Holmes behind on his only two visits to Cincinnati.

On his first visit, in 1894, Mr. Doyle arrived in Cincinnati not quite a year after he killed off Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. He told the Cincinnati Post [17 October 1894]:

“Yes, it was a case of cold-blooded murder, and when I killed Sherlock Holmes I killed my best friend. But I had to kill him. It was a case of self-defense. I had written 26 stories about him and the mental strain consequent on the working up of the adventures was proving too much for me.”

During his brief stay, Sir Arthur was ensconced in the grand Burnet House. He lectured at the Odd Fellows Temple at the northwest corner of Seventh and Elm. His informal lecture, warmly received, consisted of a desultory memoir of his experiences as a writer.

While in town, he managed a couple of literary sorties, touring libraries and bookstores. At the Public Library, Head Librarian Albert W. Whelpley showed him around, but Doyle was more entranced by the young ladies of the staff. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer [24 October 1894]:

“Librarian Whelpley was conducting Mr. Doyle through the institution and introduced him to the lady attendants, with whom the great Englishman seemed charmed, while they were somewhat fluttered in the presence of the novelist, except one. She smilingly took his arm and led him toward an empty shelf. ‘See, Mr. Doyle, this empty shelf,’ she said with arch smile. Mr. Doyle nodded assent. ‘Well, there is the spot where your books are kept, but they are all in circulation.’ Mr. Doyle understood the delicate compliment and blushed like a schoolgirl.”

Doyle commended the Robert Clarke bookstore so effusively that Clarke used the quote in his advertising for years to come. Cincinnati dining, however, earned lukewarm reviews. Doyle had never eaten sweet potatoes before this trip to the Colonies and said he rather liked them, but had nothing good to say about corn on the cob and he was diplomatically neutral about eggplant.

When Doyle returned to the Queen City almost 30 years later, he again left his iconic detective at home. Even though he had since resurrected Holmes for several stories and books, on his 1923 tour Doyle presented himself as a missionary for spiritualism. Although his interest in communicating with the dead grew over several decades, Doyle’s fascination with the practice amplified after his son, Kingsley, was killed in military service during World War I.

Doyle took rooms in the Sinton Hotel and secured the Emery Theater for a lecture on “The Promise of Immortality.” Doyle was particularly animated about “spirit photographs” which purported to illustrate ghosts who appeared during séances. Local newspapers, although skeptical, reported that his enthusiasm for séances and spirit photos was sincere.

While his lecture sold out, critics swarmed. The Catholic Telegraph which, in 1894, was delighted to point out that Doyle had Irish ancestry and a Jesuit education, in 1923 published a front-page report announcing that Jesuits had proved spirit photographs were fakes. Cincinnati attorney W.W. Symmes told the Cincinnati Post [20 April 1923] that spirit photography was nothing but hokum:

“I made some myself. I made a photograph of the new gate to the tomb of General Harrison. When the picture was developed and printed it showed the ‘ghost’ of General Harrison and John Cleves Symmes facing each other over the gate, as tho holding a conversation.”

Symmes explained in detail how he had faked the whole thing. Meanwhile, a Post reporter, Anne Gellenbeck, published a damning exposé of her own visit to Mrs. Laura Pruden, a Price Hill medium much praised by Doyle. Mrs. Pruden energetically transcribed spirit messages from Miss Gellenbeck’s mother, who happened to be very much alive at the time.

Doyle, not at all dissuaded by this negative attention, spent his time in Cincinnati trying to introduce Mrs. Pruden to J. Malcolm Bird, an editor at Scientific American, who was researching what became a royal hatchet job on the whole spiritualist enterprise.

Despite the skepticism this time around, Doyle sold out the Emery and got a warm response from his audience. The Enquirer’s report [23 April 1923] seemed mildly disappointed that everyone behaved politely:

“The entire address was graciously and often energetically received by the audience. Applause followed many of his remarks. Hecklers did not intrude.”

During his visit, Doyle managed to squeeze in a séance with his favorite medium, Mrs. Pruden. As he reported in his travelogue based on this tour, “Our Second American Adventure,” she predicted that Doyle would return to Cincinnati in 1925. On this, even Doyle was skeptical:

"It was not my intention, and prophecy is the least reliable of psychic gifts. I have great hopes that Mrs. Pruden may come to London, where her pleasant personality and her remarkable powers, which are less sensitive to hostile influences than those of most mediums, would make her a very desirable demonstrator of psychic truth.”

Doyle proved the better prophet. While Laura Pruden did journey to London as Doyle’s guest, he never again returned to Cincinnati – except in the form of books, films and radio serials based on his immortal characters.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

summertime sadness .3.

first day

Sequel to kiss me in the d-a-r-k

Part 1 Part 2 (masterlist under construction)

Warnings: dub con sex (intercourse, oral)

This is dark!(dad)Steve and dark(professor!)Bucky explicit. 18+ only.

Summary: You start your new job as you juggle the men in your life.

Note: back at it again with part 3. I'll keep y'all updated about a possible new posting schedule and an announcement regarding Patreon. Apparently writing every day and stressing myself out is not good for my mental health lmao. But I'm enjoying this one and I'm not sure yet if we're gonna be able to stick to 6 parts. Bon appetit. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think in a reblog, reply, or like. I'm loving the feedback from y'all and the excitement! You guys are gold. Also as always, memes accepted.

💋💋💋

You woke to the buzzer. You rolled over and grabbed you phone from the table. Your voice was thick and groggy as you answered it. 

“Hello?” You nearly coughed through your dry throat.

“Delivery,” The monotone response came.

“Okay,” You shook your head confused and hit the button to let him up. 

You dragged yourself from the bed and staggered to the door. You watched through the peephole as the carriers appeared at the top of the stairs. The two men in their brown uniforms carried a large box between them. They knocked once before you managed to unhook the chain and opened the door. 

“Um?” You stared at them confused.

“Delivery for apartment 6,” The man read off his tablet. “Signature?”

He turned it toward you and you read your name across the top. You hadn’t ordered anything. You couldn’t afford to. You signed, still confused, and held the door open for them to drag the box inside. You thanked them and watched them go before you shut the door. You crossed your arms as you stared at the package. You needed coffee.

You brewed your usual morning potion and sipped it slowly as you paced around the box. It took up much of the space you had left. You set your mug down and grabbed your keys to slice through the plastic tape. Within was an instruction booklet and a litany of boards and screws. It was a desk.

Your phone vibrated on your night table and you stood. You grabbed your coffee and sat on the edge of your bed as you opened your phone. 

‘You got your present?’ Steve’s message popped up.

‘You?’ You responded with an O face.

‘Figured you needed something better than that lumpy double,’ He returned and you tutted.

‘Thanks’ You replied with heart eyes.

‘Don’t worry. I ordered the smallest desk I could find.’

‘Still don’t think it will fit.’

‘You should be used to a tight squeeze.’ He kidded and you finished your coffee.

‘Uh huh. Well I guess I gotta day ahead of me, don’t I?’

‘Good luck.’ He sent a winky face alongside the taunt.

You returned a smiley and tossed your phone on the mattress. You stood and sighed as you once more ruminated over the box. Well, a little something to keep your mind off your nerves on your last day of freedom.

💋

You were pressed, preened, and as professional as you could get. Button up blouse patterned with small daisies, blush-toned blazer, and ironed beige pants. In your bag, you had a fresh notebook, your laptop, and about a dozen pens, including the golden on gifted to you. 

You strode through the front doors of the city tower as your nerves jittered in your chest. You hadn’t been there since the workshop. You and the other students had gone on a tour of the offices and your submission earned you a page in the company’s Sceptre Magazine. It also gained you the unexpected offer for this job.

After an elevator ride which seemed to make time stand still, you stepped off into the shining offices of Adder Press. It was just as you recalled only even more intimidating. You approached the receptionist’s desk tentatively and resisted your habit of wringing your hands. The buoyant redhead greeted you with a bubbly smile.

“Hello, you must be the intern,” She chimed.

“Um, yeah, I guess that’s me,” You answered.

“Well, I’m Stacey, I don’t know if you remember me, and you can just head on over to his office. He’s waiting for you.” She clicked something with her mouse and hit the intercom button on her phone. “Mr. Laufeyson, your 8 a.m. is here.”

“Very well,” His voice replied from the speaker.

She nodded for you to you pass her desk and you ducked your head down as you left her. You vaguely recalled the layout of the office. The round desks and the cozy seating all around. You bit the inside of your lip as you wandered cluelessly through the maze of employees who knew what they were doing.

You looked up and a familiar slim figure appeared in the doorway of the office along the back of the immense space. Loki Laufeyson, the editor and owner of Adder Press, greeted you with a handshake as you neared. His green eyes sparkled above his trademark smirk. In your brief introduction, you found he always looked as if he had a secret.

“Good morning,” He let go of you and stepped back to let you into his office. “You’re early.”

“A habit,” You assured him as you entered his roomy office.

“An admirable one,” He followed and passed you as he rounded his desk. “Sit,” He waved to the seat across from him before he took his own. ��First, we’ll go over the job and your expectations. Any questions you have…” He checked his watch as he crossed his legs and leaned back. “And then we have a long day ahead of us.”

“Okay,” You said as you cradled your bag in your lap.

“You’ll be shadowing me for the most part. You’ll get an idea of how the business works and everything that goes into publishing.” He explained. “And we’ll get a taste of your editing skills. I’ll hand you a few minor pieces and go from there. Meetings, pitches, and so on.”

You nodded and listened to him as you sat on the edge of the chair. 

“I trust you will attune well. Your article was exceptional and I have no doubt there is a place for you in this business. Literary or otherwise.” He continued. “You are the first intern we’ve had that wasn’t a fourth year. I hope you realise the gravity of this position. Of this opportunity.”

“Of course,” You assured him. “And I’m am grateful for it.”

He tilted his head and squinted at you as he thought. He sat forward and smiled again. 

“Well then, we should get started. I’ll show you your desk before we attend the morning meeting. Then you can sit in on my next. The board must select the winners of the contest for our Pride Issue of Sceptre, among other significant decisions.” He stood and tapped his desk with two fingers. “Tomorrow, we’ll deal with the marketing side of things. Just as important as the content itself.”

“Alright,” You rose, excited though too nervous to show it.

He seemed amused and turned to guide you out of his office. Your stomach flipped a second time that day and you swallowed down the storm. You had to keep reminding yourself that this was what you wanted. An actual dream come true.

💋

Your first week flew by. The workload kept you busy and your desk was quickly cluttered from it; both at work and at home. Your nights were late and mornings early. The true university experience but not for the usual reasons, though it was just as thrilling as any party.

To your surprise, Loki was an accommodating boss; in his own way. His expectations were clear but not easily met. His standards fueled you; encouraged you to fight harder to meet them. And when you didn’t, he wasn’t disappointed; rather encouraging in his singular discerning manner. That he did expect so much of you, was flattering on its own. 

And your first edited piece, a quarter page review, had passed his grueling rounds of criticism. You couldn’t help but beam as he read over your final submission and uttered that single word, ‘adequate’. He looked up from his screen and across his desk. “It’ll print.”

You were still smiling as you walked out onto the street. You took out your phone, long ignored for your work. The screen was filled with notifications. Both Steve and Bucky sent identical messages; ‘How was your first week?’

You answered Steve first. ‘It was good. I think I’m getting the hang of it.’

Then Bucky. ‘Great! I’m learning so much.’

‘Awesome. Facetime tonight?’ Steve replied and you accepted the invitation.

‘Have you eaten?’ Bucky’s text popped up.

‘Not yet.’ You answered.

‘You still downtown?’ He asked. Another confirmation sent.

‘I’m at the Beer Garden. My treat. They have amazing tacos.’

‘Ten minutes,’ You promised and opened up your Maps.

When you got there, Bucky was waiting. A pitcher sat before him and two glasses; one empty, the other half-finished. You neared and set your bag on one of the tall chairs as you climbed up on another.

“Hey,” You greeted. “Didn’t think I’d ever be here again.”

“Why not? Good beer, good food,” He poured you glass as he spoke. “Good men.”

“Sure, sure,” You laughed as he set the pint before you. “So, how are classes?”

“Ugh, can we not?” He grumbled. “I didn’t come here to think about school.”

“Only to get me tipsy, eh?” You sip from the foamy stout.

“It never takes very much,” He grinned. “And I figured, we could take a walk after. There’s a nice little bookshop down the street.”

“Books? So this night will be worth it after all?” You kidded.

“Free food,” He reminded as he slid a menu over to you.

“I can get food at home, cozy in my bed with a good doc on my laptop,” You chided. “But new books? That’s better than--”

“Sex?” He ventured coyly.

“Almost.” You answered as you lifted the menu. “Though the more I think about it, free food might just change my mind.”

💋

Your stroll to the bookshop led you past Adder Press once more. It was a small nook between a cafe and a foreclosed business. As you entered a bell chimed and the smell of aged paper filled your nostrils. The walls were lined with shelves and small desk sat along the left side of the store. Books; used, new, rare, surrounded you.

You followed Bucky to the back of the shop and perused the non-fiction section as he looked over the military memoirs. The shelves between you and the front of the store blocked the view of the street through the wide bay window. It seemed darker back there; quiet.

As you scanned the back of a book on the old studio system in Hollywood, you felt a tickle along your side. Bucky’s hand gripped your hip as he turned you and slowly edged you back against the shelf. He glanced towards the front desk but cared little as he leaned in. He took the book with his other hand and blindly put it aside.

“Long week,” He purred.

“It was,” You said. “But I think you can wait a little longer.” You patted his chest and tried to push him away. “Maybe until we’re somewhere more...private.”

“Ah come on, have a little fun, miss priss,” He rubbed his nose against yours. “Just a kiss.”

He pressed his lips to your and you squirmed. You kissed him back as he trapped you in the corner. His arms wrapped around you and he slid along the shelves. Several books fell behind you noisily and he pulled away at last. You sneered and bent to pick them up as the cashier craned to look around the shelves.

“Sorry,” You waved to him as you gather the books. “Clumsy.”

You put them back on the shelves as you stood and Bucky watched you with a smirk. You growled and grabbed his arm. 

“Fine, let’s go,” You snarled.

“You want that book, baby?” He teased as you dragged him back down the aisle.

“I want sleep,” You said. “And the quicker we’re out of here, the quicker I get my wish.”

He chuckled as you shoved him out onto the street. “You’re sexy when you’re mad.”

“I’m not mad.” You insisted.

“Sure,” He slung his arm over his shoulder and led you back down the street. “Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find a way to cheer you up.”

💋

Bucky had never been to your apartment before. You always met at his; it was bigger, cozier, and less stressful. When he pulled up to your building, he killed the engine but you didn’t say anything as he followed. Surely he knew a student couldn’t afford a condo.

When you showed him into your meagre flat, he glanced around and smiled. “Quaint.”

“Affordable,” You said as you set your bag on the chair. 

“Cute.” He commented as he neared your desk.

“New addition,” You explained. “Steve sent it last week.”

“Of course he did,” He mused. “Always practical, isn’t he? Well, in most things.”

“Mmm,” You grumbled and took off your blazer. “I suppose.”

“Did you send him a pic?” He asked and you lifted a brow. “Of the desk?”

“No,” You said. 

“Well, why don’t you?” He winked. “We can do a little photo shoot for him.”

“I don’t think so,” You scoffed.

“For me too,” He said. “Sexy school girl. Classic.”

“Stop,” You neared him as he pulled out his phone and tried to take it from him. “Or I’m gonna send you home early.”

“Take your clothes off,” He held his phone above you. “Come on.”

“No,” You squealed. “Now put that away.”

“You can keep your panties on,” He bartered. “Just give a smile.”

“Bucky…”

“Hey, if it’s gonna be another week, I need something to keep me from getting lonely.” He argued. 

You stepped back and stared up at him. You sucked your lip in and nibbled on it.

“You’re thinking about it,” He said. “I know that look.”

“One photo. That’s it.” You sighed and unbuttoned your blouse. “And it stays between you and Steve.”

“You have my word,” He grinned.

He watched you undress until you were in nothing but your bra and panties. You went to the desk and stood in front of it stiffly. You smiled. “Okay?”

“I said panties,” He intoned. “Nothing about your bra.”

You frowned and swiftly unhooked your bra and tossed it aside. 

“Up,” He gestured with his hand as he held his phone up. 

You pushed aside the chair and turned to clear a spot for you to sit before you climbed up awkwardly. You turned back to him and leaned on your hands.

“Stick your chest out a little,” He directed. “Good, and cross your legs. Mmm, yes. Like that.” He hit capture and lowered his phone. “Wow.”

“What?” You leapt down and scrambled over to him. “I must look awful.”

“You look… hot,” He growled the last word. “Fuck. Get those panties off while I send this to Steve.” He rubbed his crotch as he flicked his thumb over his screen. “I can’t wait much longer.”

You rolled your panties down your legs as you turned away from him. You heard him set his phone down as you neared the bed. 

“No, I want you back on that desk,” He said. “Now.” You spun back and put your hands on your hips. He shook his head in warning. “You know what happens to bad girls.” He warned.

You strutted over to the desk as he pulled his shirt over his head. He kicked off his shoes as he slowly closed in on you. He stripped deliberately until he was before you, naked and hard. You stared up at him and he lifted you up onto the desk. He pushed your knees apart and stepped between your legs.

“Do you remember that first time? On my desk? Hmm?” He inhaled your scent as he dragged his nose along your cheek. “I’ve been thinking about that all week.”

“Oh yeah,” You breathed as you felt along his sides and around his broad back. “Do you think about me when you teach?”

“Always,” He snarled. “I think about fucking you, front and centre, right in front of everyone.”

“Really?” His lips tickled your temple as he plied kisses one at a time. You leaned back and bared your throat.

“You know, what I really want,” He nuzzled your neck as he spoke. “I want you under my desk as I mark… help keep me focused.”

“Oh?” You moaned as his fingers inched along your stomach. “When do you mark?”

“Whenever you’re free, baby,” He nibbled at your skin between words.

“Tomorrow?” You felt long his thigh and brushed your fingertips along his sac. He shivered.

“Tomorrow.” He gulped as you gripped him. “Meet me at my office.”

“Mmm,” You pulled him close as rubbed his tip along your folds. “What about tonight?”

“Tonight,” He lifted his head as you guided him to your entrance. “Tonight I’m gonna fuck you till you scream.”

He pushed into you and you gasped. You wrapped your arms and legs around him, hungry for him. Each time he thrust, the desk wobbled and clattered against the wall. You clawed at his back as you curled your pelvis towards him, longing to take every inch of him. You moaned and locked your legs around his ass.

“Make me scream,” You taunted.

He grunted and plunged into you harder. You were at the edge of the desk, entirely at his mercy. He pushed his hand between your bodies and pressed his thumb to your clit. He rubbed you roughly, painfully almost, yet the thrill of it was delicious. Your moans grew louder and louder.

He reached back with one hand and tore your arm from around him. Your other arm slipped as he pushed you onto your back and pulled your ass over the edge of the desk. Your grasped onto the desk above your head as he crashed into you. Your body jerked across the painted white wood and you gritted your teeth as your voice rose.

“Come on, baby,” He rutted into you, harder and harder. “Come on.” He hissed as his thumb worked your clit. “Scream.” 

He impaled you entirely and you obeyed. He wrenched your orgasm from you and your legs quivered around him as you shrieked. Your head lolled and you covered his hand with yours as his thumb kept its motion. When it stopped, he dug his fingers into your hips and began to thrust again.

His own climax was barely smothered as he hung his head back and bit down on his lip. He pulled out and his cum spilled onto your vee and dripped down your cunt. You gulped and gasped as you tried to catch your breath and he lowered your legs back to the floor. Your sat up as his cum cooled along your thigh.

“You still mad, baby?” He asked as he framed your face with his hands. 

You pulled his hands away and placed them on your tits. “You still have some work to do.”

[radiojamming]

Can you tell us anything more about John Hartnell's time on the Voltage?

Hell yeah, I can! I have some pictures from the log books I can post later, too. I legit sat for H O U R S reading tiny handwriting from the master’s logs. Most of the logs were lists of chores, punishments, notes on the weather, and any major events. John’s time on the Volage can be divided pretty neatly in half, between the ship’s North American tour, and its Irish Sea patrol, all between 1841-45. 

The North American part was probably pretty exciting for him, considering that he’d been a shoemaker since he was thirteen years old. Compared to what his brother had been up to on the Volage (the Aden Expedition, Battle of Chuenpi, etc.), it focused less on military ventures and more on transportation and patrol. The first major thing it did was in December of 1841, when it accompanied the HMS Warspite and HMS Thalia in taking the King of Prussia, Frederick William IV to England to attend the christening of the Prince of Wales. After that, it scurried over to Plymouth to get new fittings, and then took off for the Caribbean. 

A lot happened in the Caribbean, and reading through the log books (always written in very non-emotional language, but still entertaining) paints a very eclectic picture of their activities. The Volage went to Jamaica first, awaiting orders until they were ordered to go to Saint Martha to pick up... $800,000 in gold. Legit, that sat on the Volage for two months until they dropped it off in Port Royal. By then, half the crew was incredibly ill with a mix of diseases including what might have been dysentery. Amazingly, for all of John’s terrible luck, he doesn’t appear on the sick list, even as one of the lieutenant’s eventually died as well as the clerk. 

They scurried back and forth across the Caribbean from January of 1842 until they departed for Halifax, Nova Scotia later that summer. (Land of @theiceandbones!) In all honesty, the Volage didn’t get up to much during it’s time in Halifax. They didn’t necessarily have a mission, but it does make for some really entertaining reading! There was a lot of shore leave, for instance. Here are some of the notes I wrote on my read-through between the Caribbean and Halifax (which is from ADM 54/312):

Mondays and Fridays are mandatory clothes-washing days.

8th of July 1842 - “Punished Michael Logan with 48 [!] lashes for Disobedience of Orders and Insolence”

12th of July 1842, 6pm - “Committed to the deep the Body of Samuel Marvin (AB) Deceased.” / “Departed this life William Baillie (boy) - Buried at sea on the 13th.”

18th of July 1842, 10:50 pm - “Heard the report of several Guns from the North” [in Halifax]

20th of July 1842 - Halifax Citadel visit and the burial of Robert Webb (boy), Samuel Gibbon, John Barnes, and Samuel Brummage (carpenter’s mate) on shore

Godden reports that several warm nights, sailors were permitted to use their hammocks and sleep on the beach! (I put a smiley face next to my note here!)

Most of their Halifax mooring was spent cleaning. Lots of repainting, holystoning, repairing, etc.

Multiple discharges for “uselessness” and “disgrace”. 

The latter note is really interesting, considering that none other than Charles Dickens visited Halifax that same year, and made note of sailors making total idiots out of themselves on oysters and champagne. Indeed, there are plenty of punishments recorded for that summer for drunkenness, insubordination, and desertion, again sometimes up to 48 lashes. (I’ll post a picture of the log just to confirm that.) On a high note, John Hartnell wasn’t punished once! And believe me, I looked!

They did have to have some repair work done to fix a leak in October before scurrying back down south with the “Squadron”. Godden makes some pretty boring notes about looking at the United States coast (as in essentially saying, “Yep, there it is!”) before they hang tight to the coast of Mexico. 

The Volage appears to have been outfitted for doing survey work, which is part of what they did for the next few months. Between that, mooring for absolutely nothing, and hanging out with slave ship hunters (I like to think they high-fived the HMS Racer at some point) their zig-zag order of ports of call are:

Barbados > Puerto Rico > Grenada > St. Vincent > Jamaica > St. Lucie > Antigua > Jamaica (long-term Port Royal mooring) > Haiti 

By early 1843, the Volage was headed back home. They docked in Plymouth for a time before getting their next orders for the Admiralty for the apparently much-maligned Irish Sea duty. At this point, Captain William Dickson had a temporary replacement for the deceased Lt. Davey, but eventually, that lieutenant had to leave as well. Captain Dickson did get a note from the Admiralty that he was to get his replacement at the Cove of Cork, and according to the sudden burst of tiny handwriting at the bottom of the page on Tuesday, August 29th, 1843, Captain Dickson totally forgot about that. Literally, the note for the day is kind of falling off the page from squeezing it in, but reads: “Read the Commission of Lieut J Irving”.

Because Lieutenant John Irving hopped on board as a new replacement, thus using those sweet, sweet letters of his to describe the next few months. He was absolutely meticulous about dating his letters, and having them on hand in his memoir made it easy to line up with Godden’s notes in the master’s log, confirming everything between the two of them. This time, Irish patrol got kind of exciting.

First, here’s Irving talking about joining the Volage, saying much nicer things about Capt. Dickson considering the captain was probably going, “Oh shit right I forgot we were doing this.”

“To my great joy I found the ‘Volage’ at anchor here. I was afraid she might have gone somewhere else. I went on board direct from the steamer, and was introduced to Sir William Dickson, the Captain; rigged myself in a blue coat and a pair of epaulettes; the hands were turned up, and the Captain read my commission appointing me lieutenant of the ship to the ship’s company. There are three of us. I am the second in seniority. Our mess consists of seven--viz., three lieutenants, one master, surgeon, a lieutenant of marines. They are all very good fellows. I was three years messmate of one of them in a former ship, so am comfortable in that respect.”

Irving noted that the officers were frequently invited to parties in Cork (”I could be at parties every day if I liked;”), and Godden does say that the rest of the crew were given shore leave fairly frequently, even though they didn’t have enough officers to allow them to leave as often. 

For the next four months, the Volage remained at Cork, doing patrol with several other man-of-war’s. On land, there were frequent clashes between the Protestants and the Catholics, but more importantly, there were the Repealers following Daniel O’Connell’s urging to repeal the Acts of the Union and re-establish the independent Kingdom of Ireland. Between Irving and Godden, the image of this time from the perspective of the Volage is one of a lot of bloody rumors and high tension (a Protestant curate was killed, houses were being burned down). However, O’Connell’s followers were very civil to the sailors and actually invited some of the Volage officers to visit their homes. Irving called their hospitality “quite Highland”. 

The Volage was temporarily relieved of its patrol in December, and returned to Plymouth by January of 1844 for refitting and repair work after shearing off part of her keel. Godden and Irving both noted that sailors and officers were boarded on a hulk, or a non-sailing ship. Godden also noted that several sailors were permitted leave to go visiting nearby. (John Hartnell did have family in Plymouth, and Thomas Hartnell may have been visiting the area at the same time, if a pet theory of mine holds up.) 

They were back in the Cove of Cork by February, with the Volage now as the flagship. During a period between February and June, the Volage frequently made trips between Cork and the town of Bantry, after further pro-Repealer agitation began to raise tensions once more. Godden’s log doesn’t say much on the subject aside from weather reports and notes on officers leaving the ship to attend parties, major gatherings in town (there’s a really interesting bit from Irving on scaring the bejeezus out of a group of paraders and stealing the Waterford city flag), and switching out officers. However, the tensions once again didn’t amount to much more than far-off reports of violence and a few observations of pissed-off “pisantry”. The Volage did return to Plymouth for Christmas before returning for a short turn in Cork, and then being paid off completely. The log for that topic shows that John Hartnell was paid off on February 1st, 1845.

As far as what life would have been like for John Hartnell on the Volage, it’s hard to say for sure since, once again, Godden’s logs are impersonal. However, he was responsible for recording all punishments, injuries, illnesses, and deaths, of which there was no lack. He also kept meticulous note of what chores were to be done on particular days, as well as drills. I noticed there was a lot of repetition in the chore schedule, and there was a slight uptick in sailors suddenly taking ill with “unknown” illnesses about two and a half years in, especially on days that had chores requiring a little more elbow grease.

But I think, as I said, this would have been very exciting for someone like John. After all, he voluntarily signed up for the Erebus four months after signing off on the Volage. Unfortunately, we don’t have any letters to or from him that might hint to how he felt during this time, so we have to take it from his actions rather than his words. I like to think he enjoyed himself.

[shiftyskip]

Walter Scott “Smokey” Gordon

The Real Smokey Gordon:

(His twin sister Cleta is standing next to him)

Walter Scott Gordon Jr. was born April 15, 1920 in Jackson, Mississippi to Cleta and Walter Gordon. He had a twin sister, named Cleta. His parents had married later in life, in the 30s, which was unusual for their time. His father, Walter Sr. was called either BeeBoy or Bee. Cleta Sr. had not gotten her name until she was three years old and had another sibling. BeeBoy was a spec builder and a real estate developer. His mother was a fiery teacher in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She was once fired for getting caught not sitting side saddle “like a lady”. When news about her firing got to the students and parents, they threatened to fire the school board. Cleta was given her job back and inspired so many students that several named their kids after her. BeeBoy and Cleta were very popular in Jackson, Mississippi. This changed during the Great Depression, where they lost nearly everything.

His parents were not prepared to be parents, more or less parents of twins. After the birth of Smokey and his twin, Beeboy would sometimes drive up to his house after working, hear the twins crying from his car, reverse his car, and come back when his children had stopped and were asleep.

Smokey was bright, quick, and could remember details of almost anything he’d read. He even studied Latin. But for all his knowledge and skill, Smokey did poorly in school. He was smart, but he was witty and liked to joke around which didn’t go over very well with his teachers. They did not like his attitude in class.

Smokey’s family was not religious, but Smokey took it upon himself to become Episcopalian, a lay leader, and an altar boy. He memorized the Bible and could recite it from memory, This changed when Cleta Jr. died from breast cancer when she was in her early 30s, causing Smokey to lose all his faith. After that, Smokey would say, “Any god that could take away the most beautiful creation to walk this earth, I want nothing to do with.” But even after this, Smokey enjoyed religious discussions and could still quote the Bible down to the chapter and verse, saying that “Don’t you know the Bible is the greatest book ever written?”

Smokey graduated from Central High School and attended Millsaps College for many semesters. This didn’t work out for him in the end, since he focused on other things. Finally, he decided to enlist in the military.

The first time did not go as planned and Smokey was denied because he was colorblind and had flat feet. Dejected, he turned to BeeBoy for guidance. BeeBoy told him that the Army tried to distance you from your home, so your homesickness wouldn’t cause you to run the first chance you got. BeeBoy told him that if he enlisted up north, they’d send him down south and vice versa. With this in mind, Smokey hopped a train to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to try again.

Still colorblind, Smokey memorized the men reading the letters in front of him and passed. He heard about the paratroopers and decided to enlist, liking the idea of the extra pay. He didn’t exactly think that he was getting more pay because he was jumping out of an airplane and into enemy fire.

Smokey was not originally a Toccoa boy. He started his training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and got transferred to Camp Toccoa, Georgia. BeeBoy was right with that perspective at least.  Smokey was in the 3rd Platoon of Easy Company.

Smokey got his nickname during the war. He had a chewing tobacco habit and it earned him the nickname, he also liked to smoke pipes and cigars. He would never drink, stating that anything he drank he would drink it with voracity so he stayed away from alcohol. He preferred water. And he drank a lot of water. I’m not kidding, he drank more than the average man. He drank so much water he would try and find ways to get other’s water during training. He started carrying candy bars around to get an extra few sips of water. He’d carry around Hershey’s Bars to exchange for water (don’t ask me why all of the Easy Company boys like Hershey’s, I really cannot explain it.)  Smokey was also sort of a smart ass. One day, he gave his last cigarette to Tab, then said the payment was a dime for a match to light it. 

In England, Lipton and Smokey would prefer to go tour museums and art galleries than go out drinking. They’d go together or sometimes even alone. Smokey did not give up his mischievous personality and one day, he took a trip to Bath, England with another guy. They went on a museum tour and when lunchtime came, the museum closed briefly, but Gordon and the other man hid inside until it was safe. Then they stripped and swam and played around in the Ancient Roman baths. Before the museum opened, they got dressed and rejoined the tour.

Winters, in his memoir, writes that Smokey and his friend Paul Rogers, enjoyed passing their time by picking a victim to dedicate a poem to. Their victim had received company punishment and therefore needed a poem about them told in front of the company when they were assembled. The victim would be throughly embarrassed and angry. If the victim of their teasing blew up on them, they got more joy out of their teasing. The more embarrassed their victim became, the happier Smokey and his friend were. Their easy target was Floyd Talbert. Tab, one Christmas Eve, had a bit of a temper tantrum when his silverware was removed and stormed out. Smokey met him afterwards, telling Tab he had skipped possibly his last Christmas dinner on Earth. 

Smokey jumped into Normandy on D-Day. He landed on a farm, near an apple tree,with half his machine gun.The first person Smokey saw in Normandy was John Eubanks. Eubanks was supposed to be carrying the tripod for machine guns, but when he didn’t see a purpose for carrying it without a gun or a gunner around him, he got rid of it. Smokey found a way around it, and set his gun on low stone walls to fire it. 

Guth joined them shortly afterwards as they wandered around Normandy. At one point, a voice called out the code word “FLASH”. Before anyone could do anything, Eubanks called out “Lightning!” WRONG CODE WORD, the right one is thunder. They ducked, knowing what happened when they said the wrong code word, and a grenade was thrown at them by the other man, who promptly ran away. The men found Talbert a short time later. Together they joined a group of 502nd men that took out a bunker, near a bar in Ravenoville, with Smokey’s orders.

Smokey was injured in Normandy in his calf, by a piece of shrapnel that went in his leg and out the other. When he was evacuated to England, he had a long cast up his leg. It ran from his hip to his toe. In this hospital period, Smokey met with groups of military upper brass as they went through. These groups spoke with the wounded men and gave them Purple Hearts if they qualified. This award was supposed to stay pinned to their pillows, but every time a group was gone, Smokey would take his off and put it under his pillow. He slowly collected a small amount of these by the end of the 8 weeks he was there.

Tab was also injured near Carentan. This was the night of Stab-A-Tab, where Talbert was stabbed by another Easy man by mistake. Smokey, with his tradition of making poems out of people’s misery, made one for Tab. The Night of The Bayonet was Smokey’s tribute to Tab when they returned to Aldbourne, England. He also gave Talbert one of his Purple Hearts as well. According to Smokey, whenever the night was brought back up, Tab claimed he could’ve shot the kid six times, but didn’t think they could spare to lose a man.

Smokey was also promoted to the NCO ranks during their time at Aldbourne. He would eventually end the war as a corporal. It’s also said that Lipton and Smokey went to tour Scotland after recovering. 

Surviving all of Holland, we end his military chapter in Bastogne. I can’t tell you what he did in Holland, but I will let you know if I can find anything. (I do feel super bad about this but I can’t find anything right now.) 

In Bastogne, Winters remembered walking past Gordon one day, as Gordon sat at the edge of his foxhole, staring out at the forest, without recognizing him at first, and then thinking, “Damn! Gordon’s matured! He’s a man!”

Smokey was shot on Christmas Eve morning. His partner was newer, and had no experience with foxholes. Their foxhole was not deep enough for the tall 6′1″ paratrooper, and Smokey was shot in the shoulder as he was drinking coffee. The hot drink poured into his lap as his body slid down. The bullet entered his left shoulder, traveled through him, and left through his right shoulder. It touched his spinal cord and he was paralyzed from the neck down. 

He was dragged out of his foxhole by his close friend Paul Rogers and Jim Alley. They took him into the woods to see Doc Roe. There Doc attended to him with morphine and plasma. Lipton ran over to see how he could help Smokey. He was leaning over Smokey, trying to get a response out of the wounded man. Another man pointed out that Lipton was actually standing on Smokey’s hand and that Smokey could not feel it. He had lost his sensations in most of his body. This is when they realized just how serious Smokey was hurt. 

Smokey was evacuated to an aid station, to England, to a hospital in Wales, He was put into a cast that left his head to his waist covered, only his face was left exposed. This caused a problem due to the fact his wounds from the bullet couldn’t be treated. They drilled holes into his head to install Crutchfield Tongs, to stop any movement. He was forced immobile, laying on his back, for six weeks. 

One day, a doctor looked at Smokey and told someone to watch out for Smokey because he was goldbricking. Goldbricking is an excuse to escape a task, Smokey was so mad that he yelled at the doctor, “Damn it! If I could get out of this bed and I’d show you what goldbricking is.” The doctor left, successful with his attempt to rile up Smokey to keep his fight going. Smokey would keep in touch with this doctor, even after the war, for the remainder of his life. 

Smokey gained control of his pinky finger during his time of recovery He was labeled walking wounded a short bit later. But he was still not free from the hospital. He was shipped off to Atlanta, where he’d stay in a hospital until the war was over in 1945. He was able to go home by that time, but continued to remain in the Army. In his letters home, he was never able to give an answer to that question of when he’d return. 

Even though he was now well enough to go home, they were going to send him to Fort Benning for restricted or limited duty. BeeBoy, who Smokey called to tell the news, started yelling and threatening the Army that he’d take Walter to the US Senate, strip Smokey, and let them determine if he was going to be sent home or not. I’m not sure if that message to the driving force with the doctor, but Smokey was soon discharged with 90% disability. 

The rest of his life, he suffered with chronic back pain and shoulder pain. His back would hurt if it was touched, even if it was a pat on the back. He took an Army aptitude test to see what his career should be, and got bulldozer operator. But Smokey didn’t like this idea and decided to put his strength more in knowledge than what the Army had expressed. 

Under the GI Bill, Smokey went back to school. He attended Cumberland  Law School in Tennessee. 6 months into this school, he returned to Mississippi, took the state bar exam and passed. He went back to school to officially achieve his degree, but he was already a licensed attorney. Even before graduating. 

But he never practiced law. He became an oil broker instead. He had no car but was given work fairly early after the war. He wrote to Henry Ford II and the letter got him a car from the local dealership and he paid without having to wait for a new car. And instantly he got a way to work. 

In 1950, while on a vacation, Smokey met his future wife. Her name was Betty Ball Ludeau from Louisiana. Smokey asked her to reintroduce herself several times, causing a bit of embarrassment on her part. But it’s Smokey, that’s almost expected. He swore it was love at first sight and he knew he was gonna marry her. 

During their relationship, he worked in Hammond, Louisiana with oil and would drive to go see Betty. The pair had little in common, he didn’t like dancing or saloons like she did. He pursued her with a passion, and she refused him, She rejected several marriage proposals from Smokey, but Smokey continued to ask. She rejected him many times till one night he learned the answer. She blurted out that she couldn’t marry him because she didn’t know how to cook. Smokey told her he “wasn’t marrying her to be his cook”, he “was marrying her to be his bride”. Throughout their marriage, he would call her “his bride”. She finally said yes. 

They were married June 14, 1951. Smokey said she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen to anyone who would listen when Betty entered a room. He claimed she was the most entertaining woman he’d ever met. Smokey dearly loved Betty. Everyday he’d tell her, “...have I told you how much I love you today? And tell me. what can I do to make you happy?” 

Smokey didn’t have many hobbies due to how much he worked. He had no problem requiring the same amount of effort out of his kids, all five of them. There was Elizabeth “Bebe”, Linda, Eunice Gay, and Cleta, his daughters. He had one son, Walter S. Gordon III. He often ran by military tactics, and not parenting tools such as Dr. Spock. His kids chores were based on the military scale, he would inspect their completed chores and give them more if they weren’t done correctly. They didn’t want to be doing nothing around Smokey, for he’d given a good work ethnic and doing nothing around Smokey was nearly a crime. They also appeared to have hired a Nanny to help with all 5 kids, they called her MowMow. Often times, the only control the house had was when Smokey was in charge. When family arguments arose, it was all to blame the kids, even if they didn’t do anything (specifically for the cases where they escaped punishment when they thoroughly deserved the punishment). 

 He’d sometimes take his 5 kids out of school during the week to join him on a trip. They’d all travel on his business trip with him, missing school, and heading to New Orleans, Louisiana.  Like everything else, their vacation was scheduled like military tactics. They had scheduled meeting times and places, where they’d to his hotel. He’d send them off to an arcade with 5 dollars and would continue with his business trip. At dinner, they’d go to a fancy restaurant. They were all around the age of 5-11, which to Smokey was old enough to be able to function properly, even though they weren’t adults. 

Even though he loved working, Smokey was a family man as well. Whenever invited out for drinks with co-workers, he’d chose to go home to his wife and kids instead. He loved his kids and his family a lot, focusing his time on them instead of other places when he was home from travels. 

Smokey loved his kids about as much as he loved money, Often times, using money to bribe his kids to come home and visit. He’d send them a check that wasn’t signed, bribing them with signing it when they next returned home to see him. Or he ripped a $100 in half, send half of it with a letter that stated they’d get the rest when they came to visit, and they’d come back, curious about his latest antic. 

Smokey continued to love jokes. He loved practical jokes, sometimes planning them out for months. He once sent a letter to a reporter he saw dining at a diner he regularly was at, she left without paying for 2 cups of tea. He then adopted a pseudonym, wrote a letter where he portrayed the owner of the diner asking her to pay the diner back for the tea. One time, the lieutenant governor of Mississippi, a friend from law school, sent a  joking letter to Smokey that read: “...I have been informed that you were wounded in the head in the last war. As a public official of the great state of Mississippi, I want to take this opportunity to say I am indeed sorry they didn’t kill you.”

Smokey is seen as the link between Ambrose and Easy Company. Ambrose lived about 15 minutes away from each other in Mississippi (not neighbors as the story is told). In 1988, Ambrose’s assistant heard about the group of veterans attending a reunion in New Orleans. They met with the assistant and were interviewed, and soon they connected the assistant to Smokey who lived nearby. They had set up an interview with Ambrose and Smokey, Lipton, Guth, and Winters. Smokey and Ambrose became close friends and their friendship lasted for a long time. 

Smokey returned to Mississippi towards the end of his life, he was away from his bride, but they made weekly visits to each other. He spent much of his time with Tracy, his daughter and her kids. They talked daily, until one day where he didn’t call, two days after his birthday. Tracy’s nanny tried to call, and couldn’t get an answer, so she traveled with the grandkids to Smokey’s house. He was an early riser, and would have gotten his paper and started his day by then. She arrived to see he still hadn’t grabbed his paper. There, Miss Lilian, the nanny, and his 5 year old grandson found him in his bedroom and he was rushed to the hospital. 

Smokey had suffered a stroke in the night. At first, it was believed he would recover, but a few hours later, while in the hospital, he had another massive stroke. He passed away 3 days later on April 19, 1997. Smokey was cremated and remained with his son, until his wife passed away in 2009, when he was buried with her. 

His funeral was exactly how his life was, happy and full of jokes. Stories of his pranks and humor were shared along with a bunch of smiles.  Gordon’s life should be remembered the way he was, with a few stories that make you smile and a heart full of love and humor

[thedeaditeslayer]

B-movie king Bruce Campbell talks ‘Evil Dead,’ new memoir and his KC connection.

Bruce Campbell admits Jay Leno might have a chin at least as famous as his own.

But Leno can’t lay claim to having starred in some of the most beloved B-movies of the modern era, from “The Evil Dead” franchise to “Bubba Ho-Tep.”

This weekend Campbell and his strong jawline are returning to KC — a city where Campbell has a surprising family connection. More on that later.

Campbell is touring in support of his second memoir, “Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor.” A follow-up to his 2002 debut “If Chins Could Kill,” the latest endeavor recounts his subsequent adventures filming Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” trilogy, the long-running TV show “Burn Notice” and his gloriously gory current series, “Ash vs Evil Dead” on the Starz network. The book also delves into more personal exploits, from visiting troops in the Middle East to carving a domestic life in the Oregon wilderness.

Some patrons attending his sold-out Alamo Drafthouse appearance Saturday will get to partake in a live, interactive game show called “Last Fan Standing,” which, he says, bridges his world of sci-fi, horror, fantasy and pop culture.

“It’s a game show for geeks,” the 59-year-old actor says. “Our questions are like, ‘What does Thor’s hammer weigh?’ You won’t hear these questions on ‘Jeopardy.’”

Calling from a train en route to Boston, Campbell spoke to The Star about cult films, his famous catchphrases, brushes with actual evil and that KC connection.

As Ash would say, “All right you primitive screwheads, listen up …”

Q: How is going on a book tour like making a low-budget movie?

A: It’s wild and wooly. There are a lot of unexpected twists and turns. For instance: I was on the 33rd floor of my hotel two days ago, and the elevators were not functioning. That’s always a blast. I got a little extra cardio.

Q: I know you’ve toured through Kansas City before. Do you have any other connections to KC?

A: My mother (Joanne Louise Pickens) was born there.

Q: Really? How did we not know about this?

A: People don’t usually blab about where their mother was born, I guess. I think she was born on the Missouri side of Kansas City because she liked to associate more with Missouri. (Campbell grew up in a suburb of Detroit.)

Q: You can hide behind characters as an actor, but you can’t when writing an autobiography. Were you hesitant to reveal any personal details?

A: Oh yeah. Like getting a DUI. You kind of go, “Am I going there?” You have to because it is part of the story. You can’t deny it. I hate pretending like stuff never happened. It happens to actors, who are sometimes the biggest idiots on the planet. There’s no point messing with the truth. As the saying goes, “A liar has to have a good memory.”

Q: Was there any chapter in “Further Confessions” that was especially challenging to write?

A: Not so much challenging, but the chapter that had a different feel to it was when I went to see the troops in Iraq. Tough to properly convey the conflicted feelings one has when one is in a war zone. I don’t like war in any size or shape or color. But I have no problem with the soldiers. That’s what that was all about.

Recalling going to Walter Reed (Army Medical Center) because you want to be sensitive to the horrible sacrifices these guys made, it really did make an impression on us when one guy didn’t want to see us. He was like, “I don’t care if you want to shake my hand. I don’t want to shake your hand because I’ve got other (stuff) I’m dealing with.” That puts it all in perspective, which is pretty handy for actors. We think we’re the center of the universe. Now you go, “Oh wow. There’s other stuff going on in the world that is so much more important.”

Q: Have cable and streaming services blurred the definition of what a B movie is?

A: Yes and no. A-list is still represented by movies that are the most expensive with the biggest stars, biggest promotional budgets and studio-backed. B-movies are like what you find on Sci-Fi Channel. But all these big-shot actors are now racing to television. I laugh because I’m like, “Where were you 20 years ago, jerk?” It’s too bad because I felt like I had television all to myself for a while. Now they’re invading.

Q: Do you have a favorite scene from the first two seasons of “Ash vs. Evil Dead”?

A: My favorite stuff is in Season 3. Ash gets a daughter that he didn’t know about, of course. So in the middle of saving the world, he has to raise an unruly daughter … and do it very poorly. No one can screw up fatherhood like Ash. And the weird stuff that’s happening, he’s trying to convince her it’s true. He’s got a line where he says to her, “I may be a crappy father, but I’m also a crappy liar.”

Q: You’ve fought a lot of evil things onscreen. What is your definition of real-life evil?

A: Ignorance. Most of the world’s ills would go away if people knew what was really happening and how things really work. Get perspective. I would force every American to leave the country for one year when they’re 18. You cannot stay. Do you know that 75 percent of Americans don’t have a passport? They couldn’t leave if they had to. One of the best things in my line of work is you travel a lot. It’s important to see other countries. You go, “Oh, they’re not worried about the stuff we’re worried about.” Or you go, “Wow, they seem to have figured this out.” Americans are very good at thinking we have everything figured out. And we don’t.

Q: When was the first time you went out of the country?

A: I went to Nogales, Mexico, when I was 10. We went across the border to buy switchblades. We were obsessed. We heard you could buy switchblades in Mexico. And we got them. It was really exciting to click that button, and I don’t know why.

Q: Of all your memorable lines of dialogue, which ones do fans bring up the most?

A: Probably, “Give me some sugar, baby” (from “Army of Darkness”). I do know that the line has power. A guy came up to me at a book signing and said, “Thanks for ‘Give me some sugar, baby.’” I said, “Why?” He said, “I was working in China, and I had that translated into Mandarin. I went into a bar, used it on a chick and got laid.” It works!

Q: Have you ever compared chins with Jay Leno?

A: No. That would be unseemly.

Jon Niccum is a filmmaker, freelance writer and author of “The Worst Gig: From Psycho Fans to Stage Riots, Famous Musicians Tell All.”

[bbclesmis]

Sydney Morning Herald: Lily Collins on outshining dad Phil and her new blockbuster role

Lily Collins is in a good place right now, the best place, perhaps, in her quietly glittering career. The British-American actor, 29, has the sort of resumé – movie star, fashion icon, proper published author – that might make her an object of envy were she not so grounded, so very relatable. But it's her forthcoming, wildly praised role as Fantine, that oh-so-tragic young factory worker, in a six-part BBC adaptation of Victor Hugo's famed 1862 novel, Les Misérables, that looks set to send her stratospheric.

"It's a role I've been preparing for all my life," says Lily, hazel eyes dancing under big, beautiful brows. "I mean, I read the book at school" – that's Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles – "but if I had known I was going to play Fantine one day, I would definitely have paid more attention!"

“It’s the things that make you different that end up making you unique.”

She gives a smile. "Fantine drives the story at the beginning and her essence and memory continue throughout the series. To me she represents everlasting hope in times of darkness, no matter what the time period."

There have been several versions of Les Misérables, of course, the most famous being the musical that is still playing on Broadway and in London's West End, and the similarly sung-through 2012 movie starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, with Anne Hathaway as Fantine.

A sweet-natured grisette (young, working-class Frenchwoman), Fantine's seduction by an older student, the charming cad Felix (Johnny Flynn in the BBC series), results in her falling pregnant and struggling to survive as a single mother. Conned by her child's carers, destitute and desperate, she falls on hard times. Fantine is an iconic character, and one that miniseries director Tom Shankland encouraged Lily to make her own.

"Tom told me to forget every other Les Mis I'd seen and just go back to the writing," says Lily of this song-free version, scripted by Andrew Davies (who wrote the US version of House of Cards) and is delivered in plain-spoken, vowel-dropped English despite the epic backdrop of 19th-century France (or Belgium masquerading as France) at a time of civil unrest.

"We were encouraged to bring a fresh take, to breathe life into a song lyric and make it an episode," she continues in her soft American twang. "Not everybody loves musicals. So where Fantine has a line in one of her songs that mentions her falling in love, now we get to see how it happened."

Lily is here at BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) in central London for the premiere of Les Misérables, the cast of which includes David Oyelowo, Dominic West and Olivia Colman. It's raining outside, but Lily – standing reed-slim in an ultra-tight sparkling minidress ("It's going to be tricky for me to sit down") – oozes the sunniness of California, where she has been based since the age of five, having moved there from England following her parents' divorce. The daughter of former Genesis drummer (and later singer) Phil Collins and his American second wife, Jill Tavelman, Lily might easily have fast-tracked her ascent by trading on her surname.

She hasn't, which makes her success all the sweeter. "I am super proud of my dad," she has said of her hit-maker father, who has five children by his three ex-wives (and who recently toured Australia). "But I wanted to do it on my own. People assume it's easier when you have that name but if you're the kind of person who doesn't want to use it, it's a lot harder."

Nevertheless, from her first on-screen appearance, aged two, in a BBC series called Growing Pains, Lily's rise seems to have been remarkably smooth. Performing is in her blood, after all: as a young girl she'd watch old Hollywood films, many featuring her maternal grandmother Jane Hale, a ballerina and actress, then dress up to mimic her favourite characters.

She attended the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, taking part in musical theatre productions. She was also a teen columnist for UK magazine Elle Girl, and a socialite whose alabaster beauty caught the eye of Chanel, which dressed her in a gown for a debutante ball that featured in the reality TV show The Hills.

By 2008, Lily was in demand as a model and brand ambassador (she is currently the face of French beauty brand Lancôme) and making a name as a red-carpet correspondent and children's TV presenter. A year later, she featured as a minor character in the American teen drama series 90210 and made her film debut as Sandra Bullock's daughter in the Oscar-nominated The Blind Side.

The scripts started tumbling in, and Lily dropped out of studying broadcast journalism to take supporting roles in an action film and a thriller. In 2012, she starred in Mirror Mirror as a sword-wielding Snow White opposite Julia Roberts' evil queen.

"So Fantine is not the first time I've played a literary character with opinions," grins Lily, who lobbied for a second audition for Snow White after being unhappy with her first try-out, duly clinching the part.

"I wanted to do it on my own. People assume it's easier when you have that name but if you're the kind of person who doesn't want to use it, it's a lot harder."

There's also been sci-fi (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), throwback romantic-comedy drama (Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply, which got her a Golden Globe nomination), and the CGI-enhanced Okja, in which she played a young animal activist intent on saving her best (four-legged) friend.

And there was a lead role in the controversial anorexia drama To the Bone. It divided critics but Lily has insisted that it helped her understand her own teenage battle with eating disorders, which she detailed in her 2017 memoir, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.

"It's very rare you get the opportunity to wear shoes you once wore with a different perspective on things," she told Vanity Fair. "This was an amazing opportunity to gain knowledge, and helped me let go a lot."

As did the writing of Unfiltered. Divulging personal information in print is one thing. Doing so when you have a famous dad and 13 million Instagram followers is another. Lily – who wrote every word herself – says she found the process liberating.

"I decided to write the book because I kept reading what people were posting on social media and thinking, 'You're so brave,' " she says. "It was a really difficult thing for me to do, but the feedback I got made it way more rewarding than I expected."

Boyfriends' names were changed in an essay on dating (if rumoured exes Zac Efron and Chris Evans are in there, she's not saying). Silliness is praised as attractive; those eyebrows, which she plucked to thin lines at school, are reclaimed and championed in all their bushy glory. And in an open letter to her father, Lily tells the 67-year-old that she "forgives" him for "not being the dad I expected", and notes the impact that her parents' famously messy divorce had on her teenage years: "I accept and honour the sadness and anger I felt towards the things you did or didn't do," she writes.

Today she'd prefer not to discuss specifics, though offers You'll Be in My Heart from the 1999 Disney animated film Tarzan when asked to choose her favourite Phil Collins song: "He wrote it as a lullaby to me as a kid," she says, re-routing the conversation to Unfiltered and the main reason she set fingers to laptop: to make young people feel less alone. The sentiment dovetails with Lily's advocacy work for charities including Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organisation, and the GO Campaign, which raises funds for orphans and vulnerable children.

"Open communication with teenagers is something I'm very passionate about," she says. "Speaking about insecurities and being honest about what you are going through is vital. One young woman asked me, 'But what if you know you're born different, if your quirks and interests aren't the norm? When you're a green apple when everyone else is a red one?'

"I said, 'Well, I've always loved green apples! It's the things that make you different that end up making you unique.' " She pauses for a beat. "So many kids have these deep, thoughtful questions. It doesn't matter what political, religious, sexual-orientation background you come from, we all go through the same insecurities and realising this fact is the beauty of communications."

"It's very rare you get the opportunity to wear shoes you once wore with a different perspective on things"

Additionally, by setting her own example – by putting it all out there in Unfiltered – Lily was able to let go of personal baggage, which in turn allowed her to go deeper into her characters. Forthcoming appearances include two extremes: Edith Bratt, beloved wife and muse of English writer J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, in the biopic Tolkien, and Liz Kendall, longtime girlfriend of infamous American serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

"I'd just finished filming that when I jumped on a plane and flew to Brussels in winter to start Les Mis," says Lily. "My state of mind was already very dark, so when I found we were working backwards, that the end of Fantine's life was being filmed on day two of shooting, I used this weird head space to help me lean into her character."

Lily portrays Fantine, a fallen woman who sells her hair, then her teeth, then her body to earn money for her daughter, with a deft mix of steeliness, sassiness and grace. Much of the filming took place in sub-zero conditions; one memorable scene sees a shivering Fantine being physically hurled across cobblestones by police inspector Javert: "David [Oyelowo] got a bit carried away, and there were real bruises afterwards," says Lily with a grimace. "I thought, 'Well she's physically in pain, let's keep going.'

"I've never shot anything out of sequence like that but I'm so grateful because when we returned in the summer, knowing where we ended up, I got to amp up the romance. I wanted people to empathise with her as much as possible."

She flashes a smile. "Empathy," she says, "is everything."

Les Misérables premieres on BBC First on Foxtel and Fetch from March 10 at 8.30pm.

This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale February 17.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/lily-collins-on-outshining-dad-phil-and-her-new-blockbuster-role-20190213-p50xf1.html

[socimages]

Anthony Bourdain, Honorary Sociologist

By Caty Taborda-Whitt on June 11, 2018

I was absolutely devastated to hear about Anthony Bourdain’s passing.

I always saw Bourdain as more than just a celebrity chef or TV host. I saw him as one of us, a sociologist of sorts, someone deeply invested in understanding and teaching about culture and community. He had a gift for teaching us about social worlds beyond our own, and making these worlds accessible. In many ways, his work accomplished what so often we as sociologists strive to do.

Photo Credit: Adam Kuban, Flickr CC

I first read Bourdain’s memoir, Kitchen Confidential, at the age of twenty. The gritty memoir is its own ethnography of sorts, detailing the stories, experiences, and personalities working behind the sweltering heat of the kitchen line. At the time I was struggling as a first-generation, blue-collar student suddenly immersed in one of the wealthiest college campuses in the United States. Between August and May of each academic year, I attended classes with the children of CEOs and world leaders, yet come June I returned to the kitchens of a country club in western New York, quite literally serving alumni of my college. I remember reading the book thinking – though I knew it wasn’t academic sociology – “wait, you can write about these things?” These social worlds? These stories we otherwise overlook and ignore? I walked into my advisor’s office soon after, convinced I too would write such in-depth narratives about food-related subcultures. “Well,” he agreed, “you could research something like food culture or alternative food movements.” Within six months of that conversation, I had successfully secured my first research fellowship and taken on my first sociology project.

Like his writing, Bourdain’s television shows taught his audience something new about our relationships to food. Each episode of A Cook’s Tour, No Reservations, and Parts Unknown, went beyond the scope of a typical celebrity chef show. He never featured the World’s Biggest Hamburger, nor did he ever critique foods as “bizarre” or “strange.” Instead, he focused on what food meant to people across the globe. Food, he taught us, and the pride attached to it, are universal.

Rather than projecting narratives or misappropriating words, he let people speak for themselves. He strived to show the way things really are and to treat people with the utmost dignity, yet was careful never to glamorize or romanticize poverty, struggle, or difference.  In one of my favorite episodes of No Reservations, Bourdain takes us through Peru, openly critiquing celebrities who have glorified the nation as a place to find peace and spiritual enlightenment:

Sting and all his buddies come down here, they’re going on and on and on and on about preserving traditional culture, right? Because that’s what we’re talking about here. But what we’re also talking about here is poverty. [It’s] backbreaking work. Isn’t it kind of patronizing to say ‘oh they’re happier, they live a simpler life closer to the soil.’ Maybe so, but it’s also a pretty hard, scrabbling, unglamorous life when you get down to it.

My parents and I met Anthony Bourdain in 2009 at a bar in Buffalo where he was filming an episode of No Reservations. My father was thrilled to tell Bourdain how much he loved the episode featuring his homeland of Colombia. It was perhaps one of the first times in my father’s 38-years in the United States that he felt like American television portrayed Colombia in a positive light, showing the beauty, resilience, and complex history of the nation rather than the images of drug wars and violence present elsewhere in depictions of the country. That night in that dive bar, Bourdain graciously spoke with my dad about how beautiful he found the country and its people. Both the episode and their conversation filled by father with immense pride, ultimately restoring some of the dignity that had been repeatedly stripped of him through years of indignant stereotypes about his home.

In the end, isn’t that what many of us sociologists are trying to do? Honor people’s stories without misusing, mistreating, or misrepresenting them?

In retrospect, maybe Bourdain influenced my path towards sociology. At the very least, he created a bridge between what I knew – food service – and what I wanted to know – the rest of the world. In our classrooms, we strive to teach our students how to make these connections. Bourdain made them for us with ease, dignity, and humility.

Caty Taborda-Whitt is a Ford fellow and sociology PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include embodiment, health, culture, and inequalities.

[blackkudos]

Billy Porter

Billy Porter (born September 21, 1969) is an American stage performer, pop singer, film and television actor and vocal coach. He attended the Musical Theatre program at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School's School of Drama and achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer.

Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots at the 67th Tony Awards. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.

Early life

Porter was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to William E. Porter and Clorinda Jean Johnson Ford. His sister is Mary Martha Ford. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts with a B.F.A. in Drama as well as a certification from the graduate-level Professional Program In Screenwriting at UCLA.

During the summers of 1985-1987, Porter was a member of an entertainment group called "Flash" which performed daily at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania.

Career

He played the Teen Angel in the 1994 Broadway revival of Grease!. Other shows he has been in include Topdog/Underdog at City Theatre (2004), Jesus Christ Superstar and Dreamgirls at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (2004) and the song cycles "Myths and Hymns" and "Songs for a New World" (Off-Broadway, 1995).

Porter wrote and performed in his one-man autobiographical show, Ghetto Superstar (The Man That I Am) at Joe's Pub in New York City in February and March 2005. Porter was nominated for "Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off Broadway Award" at the 17th GLAAD Media Awards.

In September 2010, Porter appeared as Belize in Signature Theatre Company's 20th Anniversary production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America.

Porter originated the role of "Lola" in Kinky Boots on Broadway in 2013, with songs by Cyndi Lauper, book by Harvey Fierstein and directed/choreographed by Jerry Mitchell. Porter won both the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for this role.

Porter has also appeared in a number of films. He played a major role as Shiniqua, a drag queen who befriends Angel (David Norona) and Lee (Keivyn McNeill Graves) in Seth Michael Donsky's Twisted (1997), an adaptation of Oliver Twist. He has also appeared on an episode of The RuPaul Show.

He has had a musical career with three solo albums released, Billy Porter on DV8/A&M Records in 1997, At the Corner of Broadway + Soul in 2005 on Sh-K-Boom Records and Billy's Back on Broadway (Concord Music Group) in 2014. He as featured in a number of songs in the tribute album It's Only Life: The Songs of John Bucchino in 2006 released on PS Classics. He sings on Adam Guettel's 1999 album Myths and Hymns studio cast album on Nonesuch Records. He also covered "Only One Road" that was included on the Human Rights Campaign compilation album Love Rocks.

Porter wrote the play While I Yet Live, which premiered Off-Broadway at Primary Stages on September 24, 2014 in previews, officially on October 12. In addition to Porter, the cast included Lillias White and S. Epatha Merkerson.

Billy Porter released Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Richard Rodgers in April, 2017. The album, which features new, soulful takes on classic Richard Rodgers songs, includes solos and duets from the following artists (in addition to Porter himself): Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube sensation and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.

Porter reprised the role of Lola in Kinky Boots on September 26, 2017, on Broadway, where he did a 15-week run.

In 2018, Porter starred in the FX show, Pose in the role of Pray Tell. Pose has been picked up for a second season to be aired in 2019. In August 2018, Porter confirmed via Instagram that he was joining the cast of American Horror Story for its eight season, subtitled Apocalypse.

Personal life

He and Adam Smith were married on January 14, 2017.

Discography

Albums

1997: Billy Porter (DV8/A&M Records)

2005: At the Corner of Broadway + Soul (Sh-K-Boom Records)

2014: Billy's Back on Broadway (Concord Music Group)

2017: Billy Porter Presents the Soul of Richard Rodgers

Singles

1997: "Show Me"/"What Iz Time"

2005: "Awaiting You"/"Time" (Live) (Sh-K-Boom Records)

2017: "Edelweiss"

Other songs

"Only One Road" on Love Rocks compilation album

"Love Is On The Way" on The First Wives Club album

"Destiny" with Jordan Hill on Jim Brickman's Greatest Hits album

"Where is Love?" with Liz Callaway

Appears in

Featured on a number of songs on tribute album It's Only Life: The Songs of John Bucchino

Adam Guettel's album Myths and Hymns in 1999

He is featured with Alan Cumming, David Raleigh and Ari Gold in a cover of "That's What Friends Are For", of 'The Friends Project' in support of the Ali Forney Center, a NYC shelter for homeless LGBT youth. The song was arranged and produced by Nathan Leigh Jones and directed by Michael Akers.

Concerts

Porter has performed at various venues in New York City, including Lincoln Center, which was broadcast on PBS in 2015 and Joe's Pub in New York City.

Television

Another World, Billy Rush, 1 episode (1998)

Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story, Little Richard, TV movie, 1999

Law & Order, Greg Ellison, 1 episode, 2004

The Big C, Eric, 1 episode, 2012

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Jackie Walker, 1 episode, 2013

Land of Lola: Backstage at Kinky Boots with Billy Porter, Host, 8 episodes, 2013

So You Think You Can Dance, Performer, 4 episodes, 2007-12

Christmas at Rockefeller Plaza, Performer, NBC, December 2014

Billy Porter: Broadway & Soul, Self, TV concert special, Live from Lincoln Center, 2015

Sinatra: Voice for a Century, Performer, TV concert special, Live from Lincoln Center, December 2015

The Get Down, DJ Malibu, 1 episode, 2016

Pose, Pray Tell (series regular), 2018

American Horror Story 2018

Film

Twisted, Shiniqua (1997)

The First Wives Club, singer (1996)

Anastasia, Ensemble (1997)

Intern, Sebastian Niederfarb, (2000)

Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema, composer, documentary (2006)

The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy, Taylor, 2000

Noel, Randy, 2004

The Humbling, Prince, 2014

Theatre

Sources:Playbill Vault; Off-Broadway Database

Miss Saigon, Ensemble/John (u/s), Broadway (1991)

Grease, Teen Angel, Broadway (1994)

The Merchant of Venice, Solanio, off-Broadway (1995)

Songs for a New World, Performer, off-Broadway (1995)

Smokey Joe's Cafe, Performer, Broadway (1995–97)

Miss Saigon, John (replacement), Broadway (1998–99)

Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus of Nazareth, Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, Nyack, NY (1998)

Dreamgirls, James Thunder Early, New York Actors Fund concert (September 2001)

Radiant Baby, Various, off-Broadway (2003)

Topdog/Underdog, City Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA (2004)

Little Shop of Horrors, Audrey ll (replacement), Broadway (2004)

Chef's Theater: A Musical Feast, Performer, off-Broadway (2004)

Ghetto Superstar, Performer, off-Broadway (2005) - also playwright

Birdie Blue, Bam/Little Pimp/Sook/Minerva, off-Broadway (2005)

Putting It Together, Performer, New York (2009)

Angels in America, Belize, off-Broadway (2010)

Kinky Boots, Lola, Broadway (2013-2015)

Kinky Boots, Lola (replacement), Tour (2014)

HAM: A Musical Memoir, off-Broadway (2015) - director

Shuffle Along, or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, Aubrey Lyles, Broadway (2016)

White Rabbit Red Rabbit, off-Broadway (2016)

Kinky Boots, Lola (replacement), Broadway (2017)

Awards and nominations

2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for Favorite Actor in a Musical for Kinky Boots (won)

2013 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Kinky Boots (won)

2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for Kinky Boots (won)

2013 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical for Kinky Boots (won)

2013 Fred and Adele Astaire Awards for Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show Kinky Boots (nominated)

2013 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance for Kinky Boots (nominated)

2014 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album for Kinky Boots (won)

https://goo.gl/w1FTdr

[newyorkisartsyfartsy]

A Museum by the People for the People

El Museo’s current exhibitions are a must-see for the Latino diaspora

by Sebastián Villarini-Velez

Right in the border of Museum Mile and Spanish Harlem there is a building that contains the identity of an entire minority. On its walls hangs the history of latino art inspired by the diaspora that chose to make New York their home. El Museo is an institution that has been a beacon of light for Latin-American and Caribbean artist for nearly 50 years. The museum’s vision has always been to celebrate Latino identity and giving a voice to Latino artists. Last Tuesday night I had the pleasure to attend “Buenas Noches,” an after hours tour of El Museo’s two main exhibits guided by curator Susana Temkin.

A Pig Roast Amongst the Rubble

Down These Mean Streets is inspired by a memoir from Puerto Rican and Cuban born Piri Thomas that carries the same name. The book details the struggles and life in his time living in Spanish Harlem. The exhibit contains 90 works from the American Smithsonian Collection. Mrs. Temkin said that “because these are latino artists and latino heritage is part of American heritage the Smithsonian includes them in their American Collection” making me wonder why for artistic reasons Puerto Ricans are considered American yet for political matters we are looked upon as second class citizens.

Despite the difficult history of Puerto Rican - American relationship photographer Hiram Maristany manages to capture the resilience and joy of our culture. His images of life in Spanish Harlem encompass the strenuous poverty our diaspora was subjected to considering they were put up in some of the worst real state of 19070’s New York. Amongst the rubble, Maristany was brought up surrounded by Puerto Ricans that brought their customs to the Empire state. I couldn't help but feel reflected in the smiles of the children playing around the broken fire hydrant and the joy of a kid flying his kite on top of a building. One picture in particular would make any Puerto Rican feel homesick. Lechon/ Roasted Pig in Alley depicts one of the most famous Puerto Rican christmas traditions. In the middle of parked cars you can see a man roasted a pig in front of a small group of people. Looking at the image I recalled the smell of the pig roast and the joy of celebrating christmas with my extended family.

The Colorful Myth of East LA

Not only did the exhibit contain pictures from New York but it also included voices from the west. John Valadez took it upon himself to show a different side of Eat LA. The myth regarding this sector was one filled with low income families surrounded by gang violence and drugs. The tragedies in the neighborhood is an assumption that still pelages latinos these days apparent by the current President who thinks of us as rapists and drug dealers.

Valdez flips the coin and depicts pictures of the people who lived in East LA. The pictures are portraits of people that detail the colorful and tasteful fashion of Chicano culture. Each print contains the name and details of each character in the pictures. Names like Indio, and Payasa stare directly into the camera exuding beauty and pride. As I stared into each picture I saw each of their stories in the gaze. Deep down I wished that each of them were present to answer the million questions that were arising in my head.

Miniature Giants

The second exhibition was Liliana Porter: Other Situations. The Argentinian born artist transcends the multiple mediums of visual arts. The exposition contains everything from paintings to photographs and sculptures. Her work focuses on bridging the gap of the real world and the works themselves. She manages to place her work in real time as the viewer is admiring the work. For example, the first work in the exhibition is a photograph of a hand drawing a curve, the curve then extends to the wall creating an entire circle. The minimalist works suppose that the pictured hand has stepped from the confines where it lies and drawn the circle in real time.

Porter utilizes knick knack looking miniatures and adds them to her sculptures. In one room you can see it has been painted blue. The color extends to a wall where you can see a miniature painter as if he had been hard at work forever. Another piece is a chair painted blue and another miniature painter can be seen working. This struck a chord on how it might comment on the wondrous work that people, mostly latinos, put into the daily life. It can be easy to ignore the workers that build immense structure but Porter’s imaginative work makes the miniature figure be the most important part of the piece.

El Museo’s two main exhibits put latino culture on the artistic map. The depictions of each artist capture a different side of what it means to be latino. The identity of each culture is a carefully laid out in each work of art showcases the variety of nationalities within the Latin community. El Museo exemplifies not only what it means to be Latino but also the essence of New York and how it is a collage of different nationalities and culture coming together.

[naoadays]

Q: What's a gift you've treated yourself to this holiday season?. Merry Christmas Eve y'all! 🎄🎁 Late night post, don't care, wanted to get this photo in while there are still presents under the tree lol. I'm treating myself to audiobooks this holiday season, since thats how I do most of my listening these days! 🎧 One of the books I treated myself to was The Storyteller: Tales of Life & Music by Dave Grohl. I'm a hugeee music fan and I love that so many musicians have released memoirs in the past few years. These are living legends and we get to hear about their life through their own words. I find that super fascinating. This is the #memoir of musician Dave Grohl – best known as the drummer of Nirvana and frontman of Foo Fighters. I thought this was an incredible story – Dave has a way with words, as lyric writers do – and it’s worth a read even if you aren’t a diehard #Nirvana or #FooFighters fan. Dave spoke of what led him to first auditioning for the band Scream, and his life touring with them for many years, to auditioning to become Nirvana’s new drummer. I’m going to be honest – when I first learned of Dave Grohl in the mid-2000’s as a teenager, I knew of him as the singer from Foo Fighters – I didn’t know of him as Nirvana’s drummer. I learned so much through this book about his time with Nirvana and despite not being old enough to appreciate Nirvana while they were active, I can appreciate them now for what they did for music. I love learning how Dave was able to balance touring life with starting a family and now has three daughters – the way he speaks about his family shows he would do anything for those girls. That’s the thing I loved most about this book – seeing #DaveGrohl as a normal guy – a father, a husband, nobody special. He’s humble in all of his stories of meeting the many musicians he looked up to as a kid. I think this is a fantastic story for any music fan. While I don’t play music myself, I’ve always enjoyed attending concerts. Learning more about Dave Grohl has really increased my respect for him and I look forward to the day I can see the Foo Fighters on stage myself. #TheStoryteller #TalesofLifeandMusic https://www.instagram.com/p/CX5BxCDrEOL/?utm_medium=tumblr

[thefederalistfreestyle]

Hamilton: how Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical rewrote the story of America (New Statesman):

[. . .] Because of the success of Hamilton – it has been sold out on Broadway since August 2015, won 11 Tony Awards and the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and is on tour in Chicago and Los Angeles – there is now an industry devoted to uncovering and explaining its references. Yet the sheer ebullience of the soundscape is not enough to explain why it became a hit. To understand that, we need to understand the scope of its ambition, which is nothing less than giving America a new origin story. “Every generation rewrites the founders in their own image,” says Nancy Isenberg, a professor of history at Louisiana State University and the author of a biography of Aaron Burr. “He [Miranda] rewrote the founders in the image of Obama, for the age of Obama.”

In doing so, Miranda created a fan base that mirrors the “Obama coalition” of Democrat voters: college-educated coastal liberals and mid-to-low-income minorities. (When the musical first hit Broadway in 2015, some tickets went for thousands of dollars; others were sold cheaply in a daily street lottery or given away to local schoolchildren.) He also gave his audiences another gift. Just as Obama did in his 2008 campaign, Hamilton’s post-racial view of history offers Americans absolution from the original sin of their country’s birth – slavery. It rescues the idea of the US from its tainted origins.

[. . .]

There is, of course, a great theatrical tradition of “patriotic myth-making”, and it explains another adjective that is frequently applied to Hamilton: Shakespearean. England’s national playwright was instrumental in smearing Richard III as a hunchbacked child-killer, portraying the French as our natural enemies and turning the villainous Banquo of Holinshed’s Chronicles into the noble figure claimed as an ancestor by the Stuarts, and therefore Shakespeare’s patron James VI and I.

James Shapiro, a professor of English literature at Columbia University, New York, and the author of several books on Shakespeare, first saw the musical during its early off-Broadway run. “It was the closest I’ve ever felt to experiencing what I imagine it must have been like to have attended an early performance of, say, Richard III, on the Elizabethan stage,” he tells me. “But this time, it was my own nation’s troubled history that I was witnessing.”

Shapiro says that Shakespeare’s first set of history plays deals with the recent past, ending with Richard III; he then went back further to create an English origin story through Richard II and Henry V. “Lin-Manuel Miranda was trying to grasp the fundamental problems underlying contemporary American culture,” he adds. “He might, like Shakespeare, have gone back a century and explored the civil war. But I suspect that he saw that to get at the deeper roots of what united and divided Americans meant going back even further, to the revolution. No American playwright has ever managed to explain the present by reimagining so inventively that distant past.” And where Shakespeare had Holinshed’s Chronicles, Miranda had Ron Chernow.

There are Shakespearean references throughout his play. In “Take a Break”, Hamilton writes to his sister-in-law, Angelica:

They think me Macbeth and ambition is my folly. I’m a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain. Madison is Banquo, Jefferson’s Macduff And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane.

Shapiro says that these “casual echoes of famous lines” are less important than the lessons that Miranda has taken about how to write history. “Another way of putting it is that anyone can quote Shakespeare; very few can illuminate so brilliantly a nation’s past and, through that, its present.”

[. . .]

I love Hamilton – I think the level of my nerdery about it so far has probably made that clear – but I find it fascinating that its overtly political agenda has been so little discussed, beyond noting the radicalism of casting black actors as white founders. Surely this is the “Obama play”, in the way that David Hare’s Stuff Happens became the “Bush play” or The Crucible became the theatre’s response to McCarthyism. It’s just unusual, in that its response to the contemporary mood is a positive one, rather than sceptical or scathing. (And it has an extra resonance now that a white nationalist is in the White House. One of the first acts of dissent against the Trump regime was when his vice-president, Mike Pence, attended the musical in November 2016 and received a polite post-curtain speech from the cast about tolerance. “The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologise to Mike Pence for their terrible behaviour,” tweeted Trump, inevitably.)

Hamilton tries to make its audience feel OK about patriotism and the idealism of early America. It has, as the British theatre director Robert Icke put it to me this summer, “a kind of moral evangelism” that is hard for British audiences to swallow. In order to achieve this, we are allowed to see Hamilton’s personal moral shortcomings, but the uglier aspects of the early days of America still have to be tidied away.

There’s a brief mention, for instance, of Jefferson’s relationship with his slave Sally Hemings – whom he systematically raped over many years. But the casting of black and Hispanic actors makes it hard for the musical to deal directly with slavery, and so the issue only drips into the narrative rather than being confronted. There’s a moment after the battle of Yorktown when “black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom – not yet”. Another sour note is struck in one of the cabinet rap battles between Hamilton and Jefferson, in which the former notes acidly, “Your debts are paid cos you don’t pay for labour.”

In early workshops, there was a third cabinet battle over slavery – and the song is available on The Hamilton Mixtape, a series of reworkings and offcuts from the musical. When a proposal is brought before Washington to abolish slavery, Hamilton tells the cabinet:

This is the stain on our soul and democracy A land of the free? No, it’s not. It’s hypocrisy To subjugate, dehumanise a race, call ’em property And say that we are powerless to stop it. Can you not foresee?

Ultimately, though, the song was cut. “No one knew what to do about it, and [the founding fathers] all kicked it down the field,” Miranda explained to Billboard in July 2015. “And while, yeah, Hamilton was anti-slavery and never owned slaves, between choosing his financial plan and going all in on opposition to slavery, he chose his financial plan. So it was tough to justify keeping that rap battle in the show, because none of them did enough.”

***

In March 2016, Lin-Manuel Miranda returned to the White House. This time, one of the numbers he performed was a duet from the musical called “One Last Time”, sung with the original cast member Christopher Jackson playing George Washington. After Alexander Hamilton tells the first US president that two of his cabinet have resigned to run against him, Washington announces that he will step down to leave the field open.

It is the political heart of the play’s myth-making, comparable to Nelson Mandela leaving Robben Island. The decorated Virginian veteran was the only man who could unite the fractious revolutionaries after they defeated the British. Washington could have become dictator for life; instead, he chose to create a true democracy. “If I say goodbye, the nation learns to move on./It outlives me when I’m gone.”

For a nation just beginning to think that Trump could really, actually become its president, seeing the incumbent acknowledge that his time was nearly over was a powerful moment. For Obama watching it in the audience, it must have felt like his narrative had come full circle.

Towards the end of the song, Hamilton begins to read out the words of the farewell address he has written, and Washington joins in, singing over the top of them. It was a technique cribbed from Will.i.am’s 2008 Obama campaign video, in which musicians and actors sing and speak along to the candidate’s “Yes, we can” speech.

In his memoir, Dreams from My Father, Obama had written, “I learnt to slip back and forth between my black and white worlds, understanding that each possessed its own language and customs and structures of meaning, convinced that with a bit of translation on my part the two worlds would eventually cohere.”

This was the promise of his presidency: that there was not a black America or a white America, a liberal America or a conservative America, but, as he said in his breakthrough speech at the 2004 Democratic convention, “a United States of America”. The man who followed him clearly thinks no such thing, but nonetheless the nation must learn to move on.

In his farewell address in January 2017, Obama returned to the “Yes, we can” speech, using its words as the final statement on his presidency:

I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written: yes, we can. Yes, we did.

For the playwright JT Rogers, this is the true triumph of Hamilton – giving today’s multiracial America a founding myth in which minorities have as much right to be there as Wasps. It is political “in the sense of reclaiming the polis” – the body of citizens who make up a country. “The little village we live in outside the city, everyone in the middle school knows the score verbatim,” Rogers adds. “They recite it endlessly and at length, like Homer.”

the full long-read here!

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of "Mama" Cass Elliot who Died: July 29, 1974 in Mayfair, London

Cass Elliot (born Ellen Naomi Cohen; September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), better known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and actress who is best known for having been a member of the Mamas and the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. In 1998, she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with the Mamas and the Papas.

Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 19, 1941, the daughter of Bess (née Levine; 1915–1994) and Philip Cohen (died 1962). All four of her grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her family was subject to significant financial stresses and uncertainties during her childhood years. Her father, involved in several business ventures throughout his life, ultimately succeeded through the development of a lunch wagon business in Baltimore that provided meals to construction workers. Her mother was a trained nurse. Elliot had a brother, Joseph, and a younger sister, Leah, who also became a singer and recording artist. Elliot's early life was spent with her family in Alexandria, Virginia, before the family moved to Baltimore when Elliot was 15, and where they had briefly lived at the time of Elliot's birth.

Elliot adopted the name "Cass" in high school, possibly borrowing it from actress Peggy Cass, according to Denny Doherty. She assumed the surname "Elliot" some time later, in memory of a friend who had died. While in Alexandria, she attended George Washington High School. When Elliot's family returned to Baltimore, she attended Forest Park High School. While attending Forest Park High School, Elliot became interested in acting. She won a small part in the play The Boy Friend, a summer stock production at the Hilltop Theatre in Owings Mills, Maryland. She left high school shortly before graduation and moved to New York City to further her acting career.

After leaving high school to pursue an entertainment career in New York, Elliot toured in the musical The Music Man in 1962, but lost the part of Miss Marmelstein in I Can Get It for You Wholesale to Barbra Streisand. Elliot would sometimes sing while working as a cloakroom attendant at The Showplace in Greenwich Village, but she did not pursue a singing career until she moved to the Washington, D.C. area to attend American University.

America's folk music scene was on the rise when Elliot met banjoist and singer Tim Rose and singer John Brown, and the three began performing as "The Triumvirate". In 1963, James Hendricks replaced Brown, and the trio was renamed the Big 3. Elliot's first recording with the Big 3 was "Winken, Blinken, and Nod", released by FM Records in 1963. In 1964, the group appeared on an "open mic" night at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village, billed as "Cass Elliot and the Big 3", followed onstage by folk singer Jim Fosso and bluegrass banjoist Eric Weissberg.

Tim Rose left the Big 3 in 1964, and Elliot and Hendricks teamed with Canadians Zal Yanovsky and Denny Doherty to form the Mugwumps. This group lasted eight months, after which Cass performed as a solo act for a while. In the meantime, Yanovsky and John Sebastian co-founded the Lovin' Spoonful, while Doherty joined the New Journeymen, a group that also included John Phillips and his wife Michelle. In 1965, Doherty persuaded Phillips that Elliot should join the group, which she did while she and the group members were vacationing in the Virgin Islands.

A popular legend about Elliot is that her vocal range was improved by three notes after she was hit on the head by some copper tubing while walking through a construction site behind the bar where the New Journeymen were playing in the Virgin Islands. Elliot confirmed the story in a 1968 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, saying,

It's true, I did get hit on the head by a pipe that fell down and my range was increased by three notes. They were tearing this club apart in the islands, revamping it, putting in a dance floor. Workmen dropped a thin metal plumbing pipe and it hit me on the head and knocked me to the ground. I had a concussion and went to the hospital. I had a bad headache for about two weeks and all of a sudden I was singing higher. It's true. Honest to God.

However, friends later said that the pipe story was a less embarrassing explanation for why John Phillips had kept her out of the group for so long, the real reason being that he considered her too fat.

Elliot was known for her sense of humor and optimism, and was considered by many to be the most charismatic member of the group. Her powerful, distinctive voice was a major factor in their string of hits including: "California Dreamin'", "Monday, Monday", "Words of Love". She also performed the solo "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (credited on the label of the single as 'Featuring Mama Cass with the Mamas and the Papas'), which the group recorded in 1968 after learning about the death of Fabian Andre, one of the men who co-wrote it, whom Michelle Phillips had met years earlier. Elliot's version is noteworthy for its contemplative pace, whereas many earlier recordings of "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (including one by Nat King Cole and another by Ozzie Nelson) had been up-tempo versions—the song having been written in 1931 as a dance tune.

Elliot was married twice, the first time in 1963 to James Hendricks, her group mate in the Big 3 and the Mugwumps. This was reportedly a platonic arrangement to assist him in avoiding being drafted during the Vietnam War; the marriage reportedly was never consummated and was annulled in 1968. In 1971, Elliot married journalist Donald von Wiedenman, heir to a Bavarian barony. Their marriage ended in divorce after a few months.

Elliot gave birth to a daughter, Owen Vanessa Elliot, on April 26, 1967. Owen too grew up to become a singer and toured with Beach Boys member Al Jardine. Elliot never publicly identified the father, but many years later Michelle Phillips helped Owen locate her biological father, Chuck Day. His paternity was not publicly revealed until his 2008 death. After Elliot's death, her younger sister, Leah Kunkel (then married to Los Angeles-based session drummer Russ Kunkel), received custody of Owen, then seven years old, and raised her along with her own son, Nathaniel.

On April 22, 1974, Elliot collapsed in the Burbank, California, television studio of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson immediately before her scheduled appearance on the show. She was treated at a hospital and released, then dismissed the incident as simple exhaustion in interviews such as her May 7 appearance on The Tonight Show and the American television talk show The Mike Douglas Show. Her appearance on that episode of The Mike Douglas Show turned out to be her last for television.

In July 1974, Elliot performed a fortnight of concerts as a solo performer at the London Palladium. Many claimed that all of these shows were sold out, but she was often playing to a less-than-full house after the earliest dates.

After her appearance at the Palladium, Elliot went on a 48-hour celebration. She first attended a birthday party for Mick Jagger at his home at Tite Street in Chelsea. Debbie Reynolds claimed in her 2013 book Unsinkable: A Memoir that she and her children, Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher, saw Elliot at the birthday party. Reynolds noted that Elliot was alone when she left. After the party, Elliot went to a "breakfast-lunch" in her honor presented by Georgia Brown. From there she attended a cocktail party hosted by American journalist Jack Martin. Cass left at 8:00pm stating she was tired and needed to get some sleep.

That night, Elliot, age 32, died in her sleep at the London flat where she was staying. According to forensic pathologist Keith Simpson, who conducted her autopsy, her death was due to heart failure. "There was left-sided heart failure," he wrote, "she had a heart attack which developed rapidly." A drug screen that was part of the forensic autopsy revealed there were no drugs in her system. Elliot died in Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London. Four years later, The Who's drummer Keith Moon died in the same room, also aged 32 years.

Elliot's body was cremated at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Her ashes were later buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

[365goalsfor365days]

2017 Bucket List - November Update (1/365) (Total: 87/365)

1. Become a homeowner

2. Do a 30 day Abs challenge

3. Reach goal weight of 120 lbs

4. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Movies of 2016

5. Build a bear at Build-A-Bear

6. Buy a new winter jacket

7. See a Sunset-Retreat Ceremony at the RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina

8. Obtain regular drivers license

9. Make homemade jam

10. Get a passport

11. Make a dream catcher

12. Make a mobile with 1000 origami cranes

13. Knit a scarf

14. Make homemade basil pesto

15. Go rock climbing

16. Tour the Chicago Connection tunnel in Moose Jaw

17. Tour the Passage to Fortune tunnel in Moose Jaw

18. Make herb butter

19. Go through the Edmonton Corn Maze

20. Attend a drop-in Spin class

21. Attend a drop-in yoga class

22. Get a pair of mukluks

23. Bowl a 100+ game

24. Catch a fish

25. Go Ice Fishing

26. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Horror Movies (except the ones on the top 250 list from 2016)

27. Read “Animal Farm” by George Orwell

28. Take a ride on the High Level Streetcar

29. Read “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen and watch the movie

30. Read “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini and watch the movie

31. Read “The Ables” by Jeremy Scott

32. Attend a cooking class

33. Make Eggs Benedict

34. Make own soy candles

35. Donate $25 to a charity once a month for the year (12x)

36. Complete wedding photo book

37. Read “It” by Stephen King and watch the movie

38. Tour Candy Cane Lane

39. Find 5 Geocaches

40. Increase student loan payments to $300 each/month

41. See the stars at an observatory

42. Earn $1/day for 30 consecutive days

43. Visit the Devonian Botanic Gardens

44. Read all 36 books in the original “Dear Canada” series

45. Read all 54 books in the fictional “Magic Tree House” series by Mary Pope Osbourne

46. Read all 51 books in the Adventures of the “Bailey School Kids” series

47. Read “Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” by Mary Roach

48. Make a quilt

49. Try hot yoga

50. Watch an E-Ville roller derby bout

51. Go to a Paint Nite event

52. Read “The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives” by Theresa Brown

53. Make homemade fried chicken

54. Go to an Around Midnight show

55. Read “Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner” by Judy Melinek, TJ Mitchell

56. Do the Blogilates Thigh Slimming Challenge

57. Dye my hair blonde

58. Read “Every Patient Tells a Story” by Lisa Sanders

59. Make the “Curious Confection” Alice in Wonderland drink

60. Make the “Sirens Song” Little Mermaid drink

61. Make the “Glass Slipper” Cinderella drink

62. Make the “Belle of the Ball” Belle drink

63. Read “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” by Oliver Sacks

64. Donate 10 lbs of food to the food bank

65. Solve a rubik’s cube

66. Make macarons

67. Host a holiday dinner for family

68. Make coconut cream pie

69. Pick berries from a berry farm

70. Visit the Dead Sea of Saskatchewan (Little Manitou)

71. Sew a dress

72. Sew a teddy bear

73. Make a lemon beeswax candle

74. Win something

75. Hold Crow Pose (Yoga)

76. Go to dinner theatre

77. Go horseback riding

78. Hold Sirsasana (Yoga)

79. Attend the Edmonton Heritage Festival

80. Hold Kala Bhairavasana (Yoga)

81. Have a meal at Bistro Praha

82. Try ax throwing

83. Eat a Noorish

84. Eat at Café Bicyclette

85. Get a hot stone massage

86. Read all 20 books from the Royal Diaries series

87. Pose for a nude painting

88. Be in a boudoir photoshoot

89. Read all the books from the Dear America series

90. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Movies of All Time (excluding the ones from last year’s top 250 imdb movies)

91. Make my own bath bombs

92. Make homemade artisan soap

93. Make handmade coasters

94. Crochet a hat

95. Conquer my fear and hold a snake

96. Become a First Aid Instructor

97. Become a CPR Instructor

98. Learn how to play “Under the Sea” from the Little Mermaid on xylophone

99. Learn “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on ukulele

100. Make fancy homemade popsicles

101. Complete graduation photobook

102. Watch every movie on the IMDB top 250 movies list

103. Bake a chocolate chip filled beavertail

104. Make caramel-apple jello shots

105. Make homemade Bath Salts

106. Pick a pumpkin at upick

107. Crochet Christmas stockings

108. Do a cross stitch

109. Read “End of Watch” by Stephen King

110. Make homemade California rolls

111. Read “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Lawson

112. Get a position in Labor and Delivery or Postpartum

113. Complete the Neonatal Resuscitation Program

114. Do 100 Consecutive Push Ups

115. Make chicken curry

116. Read “Revival” by Stephen King

117. Read “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins

118. Read “They Left Us Everything: A Memoir”

119. Read “The House Girl” by Tara Conklin

120. Make candy apples

121. Read “Fangirl: A Novel” by Rainbow Rowell

122. Complete my Wreck this Journal book

123. Jog an entire 5K

124. Have a full day Harry Potter movie marathon

125. Read “We Need to Talk About Kevin” by Lionel Shriver

126. Complete a 1000 piece puzzle

127. Try the sensory deprivation chamber at Floatique Edmonton

128. Donate 5 items to the Ronald McDonald House

129. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Documentary Films

130. Sew all badges on camp blanket

131. Make pecan pie

132. Watch The Good Dinosaur (2015)

133. Sign a petition

134. Learn how to do my taxes

135. See a play at the Fringe Festival

136. Visit the Edmonton Folk Fest

137. Go to the Muttart Conservatory

138. Have lunch at Ampersand 27

139. Fold 1000 origami stars

140. Play through Beyond Two Souls

141. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Musical & Art Movies (with exception of the ones from last year’s top 250 list)

142. Explore the Art Gallery of Alberta

143. Go to the John Walter’s Museum

144. Eat at Earnest’s at NAIT

145. Bake a Baked Alaska

146. Have a girls night

147. Visit the Reynolds-Alberta Museum

148. Have a game night at the Table Top Cafe

149. Make beef and Guinness stew with Irish Bread

150. Cook lobster

151. Make tiramisu

152. Go to a Driving Range

153. See a movie and have dinner at the VIP theater

154. Bake Boston cream pie

155. Complete a coloring book

156. Play slots at a casino

157. Go skating

158. Try to escape The Cabin at Escape City

159. Watch an outdoor movie

160. Tour the Royal Canadian Mint

161. Go on a gelato date

162. Complete Sims challenge

163. Get a BBQ and have a BBQ with friends

164. Have a yard sale

165. Make blueberry bavarian

166. Successfully do winged eyeliner

167. Have dessert from Italian Bakery Edmonton

168. Try scuba diving

169. Eat at Native Delights food truck

170. Eat at the Three Bananas Café

171. Try fried chicken and waffles

172. Try a Po’Boy

173. Grow Parsley

174. Grow Oregano

175. Watch 28 days

176. Eat deep fried ice cream

177. Camp at Elk Island National Park

178. Make homemade tootsie rolls

179. Eat at The Buckingham

180. Roast pumpkin seeds

181. Marathon the Shrek series

182. Do 100 consecutive sit ups

183. Read “Tough Shit” by Kevin Smith

184. Read “Mugged by a Moose” by Matt Jackson

185. Go to a hot springs during winter

186. Watch a parade

187. Read “The Trouble with Alice” by Olivia Glazebrook

188. Go hostelling in Nordegg

189. Take a class at Greenland Garden Centre

190. Have lunch at the Harvest Room at Hotel MacDonald

191. Take a drop in class at the Art Gallery of Alberta

192. Read “Shine Shine Shine” by Lydia Netzer

193. Get dessert from the Duchess Bake Shop

194. Complete a 52 Week Savings Plan Challenge

195. Go to a couple’s massage

196. See a live show at the Roxy

197. Read “Hope’s Boy” by Andrew Bridge

198. Attend a show at the Rapidfire Theatre

199. See a U of A varsity game

200. Play at Breakout Edmonton

201. Have dinner on the Edmonton Queen Riverboat

202. See a film at the Edmonton Film Festival

203. Complete Wedding Scrapbook

204. Go paddle boating

205. See a movie at the Garneau Metro City Theatre

206. Try La Poutine!

207. Tube down the Pembina River

208. Attend a cooking class at Superstore

209. Read “I, Ripper” by Stephen Hunter

210. Read “Happyface” by Stephen Emond

211. Learn how to edit photographs

212. Read “The Mighty Miss Malone” by Curtis

213. Visit grandma’s grave

214. Design my own deck of cards

215. Start a scrapbook

216. Finish my red recipe book

217. Send out Christmas cards

218. Make homemade lip balm

219. Do a 30 day arm sculpting challenge

220. Read “In the Unlikely Event” by Judy Blume

221. Read “Church of Marvels” by Leslie Parry

222. Read “My Secret Sister” by Helen Edwards

223. Read “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Annie Barrows

224. Read “The Book of Negroes” by Lawrence Hill and watch the movie

225. Read “Nerd Do Well” by Simon Pegg

226. Read “Wild” by Cheryl Strayd and watch the movie

227. Read “I am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai

228. Eat at Plates

229. Read “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak and watch the movie

230. Read “Welcome to Nightvale: A Novel” by Joseph Fink

231. Read “1984” by George Orwell

232. Read “Nightmares!” by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller

233. Read “The Bazaar of Bad Dreams” by Stephen King

234. Read “Finders Keepers” by Stephen King

235. Read “The Little Old Lady” series by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

236. Read “Mr Mercedes” by Stephen King

237. Read “Left Neglected” by Lisa Genova

238. Read “Doctor Sleep” by Stephen King

239. Read “Bringing Adam Home: The Abduction that Changed America” by Les Standiford

240. Read “Carry On” by Rainbow Rowell

241. Read “A Spy Among Friends” by Ben Macintyre

242. Read “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” by Rebecca Wells and watch the movie

243. Read “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova and watch the movie

244. Read “Five Days at Memorial” by Sheri Fink

245. Read “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katerine Boo

246. Read “The Haunting of Sunshine Girl” by Paige McKenzie

247. Read “Dirty Jobs” and “Second Hand Souls” by Christopher Moore

248. Read “Two Shadows Have I” by Don Banting

249. Read “My Sister’s Keeper” and watch the movie

250. Bake Lemony Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

251. Bake Cream cheese, banana & coconut pain perdu

252. Make Smoked Salmon & Fresh Dill Potato Skins

253. Make Mexican Tostadas

254. Read “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” by J.K. Rowling

255. Read “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding and watch the movie

256. Read “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” by April Genevive Tucholke

257. Read “The Good Nurse” by Charles Graeber

258. Read “Four Past Midnight” by Stephen King

259. Read “When Rabbit Howls” by Truddi Chase

260. Read “Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland” by Amanda Berry & Gina DeJesus

261. Read “Anya’s Ghost” by Vera Brosgol

262. Read “Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them” by J.K. Rowling and re-watch the movie

263. Read “Birdie” by Tracey Lindberg

264. Read “The Trouble with Goats and Sheep” by Joanna Cannon

265. Read “I am Haunted” by Zak Bagans

266. Read “Dad is Fat” by Jim Gaffigan

267. Read “At Home in Old Strathcona” by Gwen McGregor Molnar

268. Walk across a suspension bride

269. Read “The Tumbling Turner Sisters” by Juliette Fay

270. Read “The Dangerous Animals Club” by Stephen Tobolowsky

271. Read “The Book of Speculation” by Erika Swyler

272. Read “Seriously…I’m Kidding” by Ellen Degeneres

273. Read “The Nurses” by Alexandra Robbins

274. Get ears pierced again

275. Make 365 new recipes

276. Catch all the Pokemon

277. Go Roller Blading

278. Read “Room” by Emma Donohue then watch the movie

279. Read “Seeing the Light” and “Drowning in Amber” by E.C. Wells

280. Walk at least 20 000 steps for 3 consecutive days

281. Build a fire myself

282. Read “Scrappy Little Nobody” by Anna Kendrick

283. Build a sandcastle

284. Build a snowman

285. Write a legal Advance Directive and get notorized

286. Get all Pokemon medals

287. Make a house key print tree ornament

288. Read “The First Phone Call from Heaven” by Mitch Albom

289. Read “The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August” by Claire North

290. Read “Joyland” by Stephen King

291. Read “Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls” by David Sedaris

292. Read “If I Stay” by Gayle Forman then watch the movie

293. Watch Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

294. Photograph a robin

295. Photograph a blue jay

296. Eat at Craft Beer Market

297. Go apple picking

298. Subscribe to Novel Tea Club boxes

299. Fully decorate apartment for Halloween

300. Go to another TWOS Dark Matters Night

301. Cook every single recipe in a cookbook

302. Tie Dye a baby onesie

303. Try an alcohol shot

304. Swap customized handmade keychains with Daniel

305. Body paint with Daniel

306. Read “AB Negative”

307. Go canoeing

308. Play a game of chess

309. Play laser tag

310. Have a Chopped competition with Daniel

311. Read “The Astronaut Wives Club” by Lily Koppel

312. Read “I Never Knew That About the Irish” by Christopher Winn

313. Reach level 40 (highest level) of Pokemon Go

314. Do a 30 day butt lift challenge

315. Make fruit sushi

316. Eat at the Sugarbowl

317. Complete a 12 Months to a Healthier You Challenge

318. Do the 30 day HIIT Challenge

319. Shoot a gun

320. Juggle 3 balls

321. Pick a door lock

323. Dance on my balcony with Daniel as it gently rains

324. Fit into size 6 pants

325. Write a love letter

326. Watch Now and Then movie

327. Complete Pocket Posh Logic book

328. Watch a hockey game from the stands

329. Watch a football game from the stands

330. Eat one of the meals at the High Level Diner that was featured on You Gotta Eat Here!

331. Use the old phone system in Alberta Government Telephone at Fort Edmonton Park

332. Make the “Sleep Cycle” Princess Aurora drink

333. Watch a film at Capitol Theatre in Fort Edmonton Park

334. Go to the Alberta Aviation Museum

335. Visit Jurassic Forest outside of Edmonton

336. Have breakfast at Under the High Wheel

337. Make the “False King” Disney drink

338. Make the “Ohana Colada” Disney drink

339. Have dessert at Block 1912

340. See a movie at the Princess Theatre

341. Go to an exhibit at the Fine Arts Building Gallery

342. Start an expense journal

343. Take a class at Purdy’s chocolates

344. Read “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” by Aron Ralston and watch 127 Hours movie

345. Make wine glass winter scene candle holders

346. Complete ACLS course

347. Read “Complications” by Atul Gawande

348. Eat Dippin Dots

349. Learn calligraphy

350. See a moose in the wild

351. Go paintballing

352. Watch Steel Magnolias movie

353. Go on a double date

354. Sew matching aprons for myself and Daniel

355. Can something with mom

356. Do a 30 Day Yoga Challenge

357. Have an entire grocery receipt with save, discount, or bonus air miles for every single item

358. Visit Dr. Woods House Museum in Leduc

359. Go on a bike ride around Telford Lake

360. Skip rocks with Daniel

361. Get free tea from DavidsTea

362. Do yoga outside at sunrise

363. Eat hungover breakfast with friends the morning after a party

364. Read “Fortune’s Bastard” by Robert Chalmers

365. Watch Rotten Tomatoes Top 100 Comedy Movies

[harryandmeghan0-blog]

Lee Radziwill, society grande dame and sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, dies at 85 - The Washington Post

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/lee-radziwill-society-grande-dame-and-sister-of-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis-dies-at-85-the-washington-post/

Lee Radziwill, society grande dame and sister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, dies at 85 - The Washington Post

By John Otis

February 16 at 3:39 PM

Lee Radziwill, who parlayed her cachet as the younger sister of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis into a varied career as a fashion tastemaker, interior decorator, actress, princess and grande dame of cafe society on two continents, died Feb. 15 in New York. She was 85.

The death was confirmed by Cornelia Guest, a close friend. No other details were available.

Brought up amid great wealth in the Bouvier and Auchincloss families, Ms. Radziwill was raised with her sister in mansions along the East Coast.

She famously floundered as an actress and obtained the empty title of princess only after exchanging vows with an exiled Polish nobleman, her second of three husbands. But her adventurous spirit, sophisticated looks, husky voice and glamorous association with the Kennedy White House put her on magazine covers and on televisions while opening doors to royal palaces, gala soirees, torrid romances and touchstone events of the 1960s and ’70s.

Her most enduring influence was as a queen of style. Even before her sister married John F. Kennedy and became first lady in 1961, the fashion press began taking note of Ms. Radziwill’s chic looks that often featured clean lines, oversize sunglasses and free-flowing hair. Vogue magazine credited her with helping U.S. fashion transition from the stodgy elegance of the 1950s to a more relaxed and confident style.

She worked as an assistant to longtime Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland, ran the American fashion pavilion at the 1958 World’s Fair and inspired designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs. After seeing a photograph of Ms. Radziwill walking her dog in the 1960s, designer Michael Kors dubbed a throwback collection, that included balmacaan coats and stovepipe velvet slacks, “the Lee Radziwill look.”

Lee Radziwill, left, with her niece, Caroline Kennedy, in 2001. (Don Pollard/handout via AP)

The writer Truman Capote said she outshined her more-famous sister. “She’s all the things people give Jackie credit for,” he told People magazine in 1976. “All the looks, style, taste — Jackie never had them at all, and yet it was Lee who lived in the shadow.”

Gossip columnists and books, including Diana DuBois’s 1995 unauthorized biography “In Her Sister’s Shadow: An Intimate Biography of Lee Radziwill,” insisted she was forever jealous of her internationally revered sibling. DuBois even said that Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who married Jacqueline after her first husband was assassinated, was originally Ms. Radziwill’s conquest until the day in 1963 when she invited her sister along to sail on his yacht.

Onassis “was dynamic, irrational, cruel I suppose, but fascinating,” she told the New York Times in 2013. “He also had the most beautiful skin, and smelled wonderful. Naturally, I mean. Fascinating . . . as my sister discovered!” Ms. Radziwill always denied a rivalry.

During the Kennedy administration, the two sisters were confidants and traveling companions. They dined at Buckingham Palace and toured India, riding elephants and hobnobbing with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Ms. Radziwill spent much of the Cuban missile crisis holed up in the White House with Jacqueline and watching the president exchange tense phone calls with aides.

“I can’t deny those few years were glamorous, being on the presidential yacht for the America’s Cup races, the parties with the White House en fête. It was so ravishing,” she told the Times.

Lee Radziwill walks up the Spanish Steps in Rome in 1969. (United Press International/United Press International)

By the time Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, she was an A-list socialite in her own right and often called “Princess Radziwill” thanks to her marriage in 1959 to Prince Stanislas Albert “Stash” Radziwill, who had fled Poland after World War II to become a London real estate developer.

She danced at Capote’s legendary Black and White masquerade ball in 1966, sometimes called “the party of the century,” and joined other celebrity hangers-on during the Rolling Stones’s infamously debauched 1972 U.S. tour. Lead guitarist Keith Richards, who was unimpressed, dubbed her: “Princess Radish.”

Always restless, Ms. Radziwill, as People magazine put it, tried “on careers like so many Halstons.” With Capote providing acting tips and Saint Laurent a rack of dresses, Ms. Radziwill debuted in a 1967 Chicago stage production of “The Philadelphia Story.” She played snooty socialite Tracy Lord, the role made famous by Katharine Hepburn, but critics panned her performance as stilted. One reviewer succinctly noted, “A star is not born.”

The next year, Capote adapted the Vera Caspary suspense novel “Laura” for an ABC-TV production with Ms. Radziwill in the title role. But the reviews were even more brutal, calling the actress a pale comparison to Gene Tierney in the first-rate 1944 film version.

None of this dimmed Ms. Radziwill’s allure in high society. Her pencil-thin physique, long neck and elongated mouth graced magazine covers and photographs by Richard Avedon. Another friend, Andy Warhol, captured her elegance in an orange silk-screen portrait. Her closest friend was Russian ballet superstar Rudolf Nureyev, and she was romantically linked to other dashing men of the era, including architect Richard Meier and photographer and artist Peter Beard.

In 1976, she set up an interior decorating business in New York with a contract to design suites for Americana Hotels. She also worked as an event planner and style counselor to Giorgio Armani and was a fixture on the cocktail party and fashion show circuits of London, Paris and New York. Even into her 80s Ms. Radziwill was making best-dressed lists while her expensively outfitted apartments were featured in architecture and design magazines.

“For more than a half-century, she was a central figure in the comings and goings of high society,” Vogue magazine wrote in a 2014 tribute. “A story about the frivolity of the 20th century should obligatorily dedicate at least one full chapter and numerous scattered mentions to Lee Radziwill.”

Caroline Lee Bouvier was born in New York on March 3, 1933. Her father, John “Black Jack” Bouvier III, was a wealthy stockbroker notorious for his womanizing and heavy drinking. Her mother, Janet Norton Lee, hailed from a prominent Southern family.

After divorcing, her mother was married in 1942 to Washington businessman and Standard Oil heir Hugh D. Auchincloss Jr., stepfather of the author Gore Vidal.

The Bouvier sisters, raised in large part by governesses, attended the private Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn. Unhappy after her parents’ divorce, the future princess said she grew so lonely that at age 11 she tried to adopt an orphan.

She claimed her parents doted on Jacqueline, who was four years older, a bookworm and a better equestrian, while Lee, who was once thrown from a horse and trampled, was afraid of the animals. “My mother endlessly told me I was too fat, that I wasn’t a patch on my sister,” she told the Times.

But like her sister, Lee was considered a classic beauty and named debutante of the year by the Hearst newspaper chain when she “came out” in 1950, the year of her Miss Porter’s graduation. She enrolled at Sarah Lawrence College north of New York City but, professing a strong dislike for academics, left after her sophomore year to study art in Italy.

She and Jacqueline spent the summer of 1951 touring Europe, a trip that they turned into a book with illustrations by her older sister called, “One Special Summer,” which was published in 1974.

Lee wrote a second memoir, in 2001, called “Happy Times,” but her glamorous life was also marred by failed relationships and personal tragedy. Her first marriage, to Michael Canfield, son of the eminent book publishing executive Cass Canfield, collapsed, in part, because of his heavy drinking and her burgeoning relationship with Stanislas Radziwill; they wed in 1959 and divorced in 1974.

Her planned wedding to San Francisco hotelier and bon vivant Newton Cope was called off at the last minute, reportedly over differences involving a prenuptial agreement.

In 1988, she married film director and choreographer Herbert Ross, later telling the Times, “He was certainly different from anybody else I’d been involved with, and the film world sounded exciting. Well, it wasn’t.” And she said he was obsessed with the design tastes of his late wife, ballerina Nora Kaye. Ms. Radziwill and Ross divorced in 2001, shortly before his death.

She had two children with Prince Radziwill. Their son, Emmy Award-winning TV news producer Anthony Radziwill, died of a rare form of cancer in 1999 just weeks after her nephew, John F. Kennedy Jr., with whom she was close, died in a plane crash. Survivors include a daughter, Anna Christina “Tina” Radziwill. Information on other survivors was not immediately available.

Forever linked to the former first lady, Ms. Radziwill once told People that she had forged her own identity.

“I’ve been far more successful than I ever imagined,” she said. “I’m nobody’s kid sister.”

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/lee-radziwill-society-grande-dame-and-sister-of-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis-dies-at-85/2019/02/16/5044c540-3220-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html