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phoenixmosheh · 1 year ago

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6/20/23

Caution:

Welcome to the Phoenix Mosheh Blog. If you come across any accounts asking for money or donations of any kind using the Phoenix Mosheh name. You are being scammed and hustled out of your doe (money). Phoenix Mosheh does not ask for money or sell any products.

Phoenix Mosheh provides FREE CONTENT ONLY...

This goes for any affiliates working in cohesion with Phoenix Mosheh such as ...

1. The Brand Enchantress

2. Eden's Nightgarden.

If you get scammed...this is your own fault.. because you believed in a lie without doing your own research and without any evidence.

Stop being a follower and use your own brain.

...with that said

Enjoy the Blog (show). If you are 18 or older you have the option to turn on your mature tumblr settings... so that you can view "mature audience themes" because Phoenix Mosheh has a bunch of copycat haters who got their feelings hurt when Phoenix Mosheh threatened to expose their sorry fake personas, crimes, work ethic and moral to the public, even though this blog has no followers (dummies) ...which resulted in these "we have money but no brains idiots" peeing on themselves over how to hide certain blog post. Instead of these idiots apologizing for all the dumb and selfish chess moves they have made in life... they reported certain post to tumblr in fear of exposure and becoming a hit tv show.

You will not see all of these exposures without turning your tumblr settings to mature audiences...(again switch on all the mature audience settings...like you do lightbulbs.

https://youtu.be/0z0J_t33-b4 - YouTube Fifth Amendment Miss Sloane Scene

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(This Katy Perry video reminds me of that time they made up "Eve eating the forbidden fruit" great myth. The subconscious is a beautiful thing.)

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The Goal: I want to recreate this scene of Jennifer Lawrence...only I want to see if you can do a better job than an actor after realizing your subconscious has been asleep. (Like a science experiment).

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Who am kidding...I have this bet with God that you won't survive this blog or be able to comprehend the underlying patterns within the entertainment content posted (recreated by the actors, musicians & everyday souls you love) which are most certainly based on biblical characters and predicted prophecy hidden within your entertainment (your welcome again). God seems to think differently. \

Fun Fact: Muslims.

Did you know the hijab was originally used in the bible to hide a Melchizedek's womans beauty in order for her to flee...it was a whole movement of women...Don't get me started on the Burqa...poor Sarai those eyes would have given her away...please don't cut my head off. (you all have made it look sexy asf though ...great work)! Stay safe.

Luckily, I'm not here to force you to read the blog...I am just here to put the information on the blog ...so when sh*t hits the fan ..you as an individual cannot say "why didn't God send someone to help us." This is most certainly on purpose... So, I can sleep peacefully at night knowing I tried.

Are You Still Awake?

...every now and then Phoenix Mosheh throws in what many would call gangster...ghetto music... God calls it "Its time to hurt somebodies feelings music"...don't be so sensitive betch... we have a gangster theme going on ... its like putting hands on someone audibly. It would not have the same effect if acoustics were playing...this does not mean we don't like classical. It means the message we are delivering would most likely fail otherwise. Do you shag (have sex) to the ABC's betch...the Phoenicians did check them out... hit that g note!

You may also notice Phoenix Mosheh uses your everyday entertainment like scenes from movies, scenes from tv shows and tarot readers to get our message and points across in order to awaken two of your spiritual senses...sight and sound. Which will eventually awaken your natural spiritual intuition (subconsciousness)...everybody has it.

Fun Fact: Tarot Readers...What if I told you that when slave masters outlawed reading...they meant tarot (your real connection to God...couldn't allow you to find out that bible was not real copy).

This blog will expose this real story (many of the tarot readers on YouTube can verify this story...if they take the time to use their intuitive prowess together (take the time to study other videos besides your own without thinking its a competition).

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Example 2: For Elias 6/25/2023

https://youtu.be/Lj4adAAHa68 - Training Day King Kong

https://youtu.be/yWYw - The Mistake You Made - The Equalizer

Why do Melchizedek Trust Angels to fight their battles (wars) Instead of Humans?

Lets take a look back in time....for starters It never works. Humans wimp out too easily, decide to switch sides (become Judas's) when Melchizedek start becoming too powerful and resort to ruthless acts in order to eradicate bloodlines who would eradicate you all if they could...and what leader would want to subjugate the fragile human brain, prone to ptsd and other mental health disorders in order to fight for causes that could possibly sacrifice their own families (with no benefits after war).

Who would want to follow leaders of nations who never set one foot in battle, while you uplift their children, who watch yours go to war, only for their nepotism babies to lead you into a new one (even nepo babies have to earn their stripes...oh wait...are you all fighting battles and supporting people (Kings and Queens & Presidents & Celebrities etc... who have sacrificed nothing in return?). Did Caeser teach you nothing?

Example Videos Below: Why do Melchizedek Trust Angels to fight their battles Instead of Humans ?

https://youtu.be/SaGI4tX9FVw - Ex 1: (Imagine the Michael they are referring to in this clip is Archangel Michael)

https://youtu.be/eOoRqesH0sk - Ex 2: Jon Snow Kills Danny

Why Melchizedek prefer Angels (Guardians) to fight wars...no fingerprints!

https:/youtub.be/T9sKhnO9osM - Final Destination (There is no Hell after Earth people...its Earth than Heaven) Anyone Remember what angel plans out death...the answer was given on this blog previously no its not archangel Michael..

Thank you Elias, for playing decoy with me. I couldn't have done it without you. You were the operative (secret detective/spy) ...way to form an "alliance."

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(Don't be mad at me blame God... I didnt know ...but I do know, I don't heal as fast as you, so I would have died...thank you for your sacrifice (service)

Did you know in The Book of Eli when they took Noah's wife and killed her he became an alcoholic?

Elias, Abba told me to place this message for you, its from your gaurdian Raphael. (I didn't finish watching it yet...but I am just trusting God (Abba) that it resonates).

I still have trouble determining when it's my Angel (gaurdian) or God responding to me.. gaurdians act as personal assistants depending on their giftings. They like to show you signs (think of a brother who likes to play with a younger sibling or protect them by teaching them what they know) while God is more affirmative, reaffirming, no nonsense, Fatherly. For instance if You ask God a question the response is straight to the point: "I said this" "Do it like this" "Don't be afriad" "You can do it"...

The angel (gaurdian) is going to show you signs based on what God has affirmed... "God said this...here's the dream..." Do it like this... here are the resources , the plan" "Don't be afraid (your gaurdians will get it done but eventually you'll be able to do it yourself) "You can do it (I told you so)." Eventually, you will be a le to see your gaurdian...you have more coming by the way.

If you think the Melchizedek woman is mean/bad....you haven't met the real Melchizedek man (Elias). His wife is "nice" compared to him.

If you (humans) don't have this gift (intuitive energy reading/tarot) from God...you most likely have another...

-empath intuitive (trait/gift knowing the contents of someone's heart...not to put therapist out of business because God is my only therapist but...if you get a therapist get one that is an empath...so they don't break HIPPA law and make fun of your poor choices amongst other medical personal when you leave...)

https://youtu.be/hWTBvWfsU34 - An example of empath intuitive tarot reader based on how Elias may have been feeling during this ordeal (this breaks my heart 😢)

Every time, I see that scene from Avengers Endgame, where black widow dies. I low key think of Elias and his wife intuitively telling one another "you are not leaving me here with these crazy humans...I'm throwing myself off of a cliff...we are going thave to fight for this suicide my love?...lol

https://youtu.be/DG_IhmVKbxU - Black Widow Dies

An Empath intuitive is similar to an energy reader. You may notice that in tarot a normal energy reader will read the energy of a person and judge the whole energy based on a piece of information they are currently reading about a person. So, if the person (masculine or feminine) has done something wrong, like committing a crime (i.e stealing) they will judge the person solely off of that crime without actually looking into why this person was stealing...were they stealing because they were under a spell, were they stealing medication because their child was sick and prescription prices are through the roof or are they just a pathological liar and thief? This is often what people forget to look into when judging people and whether they deserve forgiveness or a slap on the wrist or a death sentence. This gift is important because people often judge others for what they have heard about other people instead of trying to clarify or go deeper...people fail to empathize because they don't know the full story and do not take the time to see if what they have been told about others is actually true or just a rumor. People also fail to try and relate to choices people make and often can't see why someone chose a certain route that maybe they wouldn't have chose. Not everyone has the same weaknesses, dysfunctions, childhood wounds or habits...but it doesn't mean you don't have any...different weaknesses can cause you to fall prey to different entrapment, tricks, spellwork, vicious cycles. Etc. (you may not be an alcoholic it taste bad so why would you use it to drown your emotions ...but you are an emotional eater yes?) One sounds better and maybe is more socially acceptable both are still unhealthy coping strategies.

-art intuitive - some people create messages from God using art (the guy I'm staying with drew this it's almost time to meet up again Elias (like Isaac and Rebekah 😉) Get some rest and smile more.

https://youtu.be/KiKD6i_QRJI - Matrix Resurrections Coffee Shop Fight Scene

When you get invited to a motorcycle party by the guy, you are staying with that is not Elias and Gabriel reminds you "aren't you pregnant, don't you have a husband?" ... (Elias' Wife: where he at though jk jk)?

-creative intuitive - ever have a random dream or an idea and it becomes an invention, book or a movie

-reiki healing - if you're a nurse or medical personal who went to nursing school because you actually had a desire to help heal people without beating them in the head or just for the mula. (Be careful who you let "lay hands" on you...you could end up sick or dead).

(Also, things like sage, salt around your house, wolf's Bain, silver bullets(werewolves), rocks (healing stones) for protection, these trinkets and gemstones will not protect you supernaturally. The universe? The universe listens to its Creator...its best to know which god (spirit) you are talking to because some of them are thirsty and looking for vessels stupid enough to be used. A soul is not a spirit.

Intuitively God knows your heart ...so whether you believe in the universe or Sun God Ra ( EviRAh an original) or Allah etc....The original God who crested these spirits (gods) will know, so don't worry about your religion. However, if you call on the universe its a lot more vague than calling on Allah or Jesus...but it goes back to God knowing your heart because even people who can pronounce the name of God with their hand on a bible can be fake believers.

The law of attraction is true in that you can attract a specific god based on what's in your heart (your mentality, your desires, and moral). You can ask the universe for something you want and get it...but you always want to know which god is giving it to you (who is behind your universe, whos power are you borrowing to get what you want, and does it want something in return?) Basically, be careful who you pray to ...you might want to be more specific.

Oh and Samjaza doesn't like humans at all...he think their messy and dumb and easily controlled. Honestly, if he could get back into heaven by sacrificing you all he would. Samjaza (Satan): "How many times do I have to tell Adam I'm sorry for raping his wife forbidden fruit style?" (In case someone was wondering...Samjaza also has a thing for black women...right Evirah? Samjaza has narcissistic traits... do you know what happens when you reject a narcissist? (Why do they hate black people so much, and treat black women like dirt...? Please don't tell me it's a skin color thing?...doesn't your food grow from dirt something that is black and brown and you eat it! Lets not forget the sh*t that falls out of your booty hole comes in many shades of healthy browns/blacks... when it comes out a different color you get scared and run to a doctor...and beg them to make it brown again! Lol I Crack myself up)... This is an observation people chill... the sight of black/brown people thriving and remembering their culture and how to grow out their own hair... reminds Samjaza of what he did to his beloved Eve. God forbid they look like his original Queen and haunt him. You're welcome black people, let racial slurs bother you no more and let's move on.

The Original Harriet Tubman was White.

Angels only answer to Melchizedek...so don't waste your money on things like spellwork to try and conjure them...its a deaf ears kind of thing. They can however interact with humans and show them signs as well.

etc etc...

Phoenix Mosheh is Ethnicity Neutral aka not racist ...but sorry if we offend you in some way shape or form...you all are very sensitive, especially when it comes to Cultural Appropriation and Gender...he she they them it...who you currently think you are...does not affect my life... just don't try and steal someone's identity out of jealousy, like the basic betch that gets dragged on this blog. Otherwise...Phoenix Mosheh prefers to mind our own businesses..

...although we may suggest some things within this blog regarding gender or race at the end of the day ...you don't have to believe in what others believe in...in order to listen to someone's point of view...not hate them...and move on with your life unbothered...

You will find that Phoenix Mosheh also uses a variety of ethnicities and cultures and curse words (not curses...curse words) ...this is to debunk untruths about God and who He can and will use to get a message across... it also makes our enemies who can't stand watching certain ethnicities "angry, irate and sick to their stomachs." We love making our enemies sit and suffer...and if they don't sit through it and suffer... they are still going to suffer because this is information whether they define it as ghetto or not. The truth is the truth no matter who it comes from.

Besides... How do you defeat an opponent without information about them? Phoenix Mosheh suggests even if you don't agree with what Phoenix Mosheh has to say... as an intellectual... Phoenix Mosheh believes it's important to study things you don't believe in...like witches or magic...because you don't want to be caught blind from an attack you don't believe in...(at least with some information on the topic... your brain could at least form the concept that maybe...the attack is coming from something you probably didn't believe in. Phoenix Mosheh studies all of you and honestly, we see a lot of stupid things people believe in and we just keep it in the "perhaps this information will be necessary one day to win wars."

(by the way it's not just white people who are racist...you have black and brown shades from all cultures/and ethnic backgrounds who have colorism brainwashing and they can do this delusional trick where... they look in the mirror and think certain racist commentary wouldn't apply to them... (recommendation for those who are sadly mistaken: replace your mirror).

We also like to reveal encrypted messages from Heaven...like this.. you kind of have to seek and you will find on this blog people...stop being lazy...this is a group project and you all are sleeping like you don't have technology. Moses and the tribes back then had it wayyyyy worse than you all...like what are you doing?

Don't tell me you all are somehow slower than people who took gold from their ears and made a cow to worship it...no offense India...(i'm going to throw a Band-aid in the air because I know that hurt somebody) ... On the bright side...Phoenix Mosheh prefers Bollywood over Hollywood! And India thank you for keeping Rebekahs fashion alive ...those nose rings are still in style. Oh...and Rachel. Jacob's wife would also like you all to know her name is pronounced Raquel.

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Why didn't Phoenix Mosheh use more religious music artist throughout this blog (like Lecrae or Kari Jobe) we appreciate it truly, but Phoenix Mosheh is trying to prove a point; God can use anyone...even those that don't believe or preach the word of God. So be careful who you are following...if it could happen to a Melchizedek, it can happen to you. (Phoenix Mosheh is not asking anyone to commit violent acts in anyway unless provoked and your laws permit it. Phoenix Mosheh's' first line of defense is to fight in the spirit... (so you don't leave fingerprints) this is just a blog to inform and educate.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Happy Rude Awakening!

#Youtube

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kaelen · 4 years ago

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10 question tag

thanks to @soulful-studyblr for tagging me in this! (and sorry that it took me forever to do)

the rules: answer the questions the individual who tagged you asked, then make up your own and tag as many others as you please :)

questions from @soulful-studyblr:

Favorite color- that prize has got to go to green. moss, frogs, sunlight coming through trees, what’s not to love?

Why do you like language- ‘cause it’s cool. no, but seriously, there’s no way to explain it without sounding like a colossal idiot, but that’s how people communicate, and live their lives, and that’s just indescribably cool to me. it all makes sense to them, and i want to be a part of that. even with english, there’s always so much more to learn, and the more exposed to the language you are, the more you get to know about the people who speak it, and that’s just. it’s pretty awesome. makes my internal organs clench up. in a good way.

Why are you learning your 2nd languages- my second language is spanish, and i think i’m partially learning it out of practicality, but also because i like it :) there are a lot of other languages that i like too, of course, but i started learning this one first. it’s easily accessible, and there’s a whole wealth of cultures to learn about in the meanwhile. that wasn’t a super cogent answer, i guess, but i think i sort of got my point across.

Least favorite taste- hm. i mean my own bile has got to be up there, but i bet someone else’s bile would be worse. i’ve has the merciful good luck of not having to find out though, so in terms of things i’ve actually tasted, i would cautiously say that my least favorite is (my own bile, seconded by) shirataki noodles. you can say that i’ve never had them prepared properly, and you’re probably right, but the way that i’ve had them, the smell, the texture... they don’t actually taste like much but that somehow makes it worse. i have no clue how people eat those.

dogs or cats- well, i have a dog, and she’s quite lovely, so i’ll say dogs, but really i love them both. i used to be a diehard dog person, but my first boyfriend loved cats, so i became, if not converted, very sympathetic to the cat person cause. i think my first pet out of college will be a cat, but i love them both!

Would you rather- i think i would rather, yes.

Have you always liked learning?- 100% yes, but academia-type subjects in particular (literature, languages, anything you’d find on a medblr) have always been my favorite. i’m willing to pick up welding, but i doubt i’d like learning it as much.

2nd favorite book- what a delightfully random question! i forgot the name of it, but it’s this book i read in maybe 2017. i might give kind of a spoiler trying to describe it oops. so it’s a historical fiction set in maybe france around the 1300s (a total guess), and it starts with this traveler sitting down in a pub, and he can’t afford a beer, so the owner offers him food and drink in exchange for a story. so then he starts to tell the story that’s the main plot of the book. it’s about this magical young girl, and her dog who came back from the dead, and two boys (there are some things that make them special too but i forgot what. i think one of them is an orphan and jewish. and one is black maybe) gallivanting around the country together trying to accomplish an objective that i’ve forgotten. along the way they wreak a fair amount of havoc, and the king sets out to kill them because they caused him some trouble. and as all this is happening, the traveler is describing events getting closer and closer to the present, until, as the book ends, the kids enter the pub where the story is being told. there’s no way i’m doing it justice here, but it was just great. an amazingly well-written book, so pretty to read (had that old book aesthetic), and the story was just so well-researched and ghfshgjka. i loved it. i wish i remembered the name. something illuminating??? OKAY I GOT IT MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE JUST LOOKED UP 50 SEARCH TERMS TO START OUT WITH. IT’S THE INQUISITOR’S TALE BY ADAM GIDWITZ AND IT’S ABSOLUTELY GOBSMASHINGLY FANTASTIC.

Favorite time period for fashion- i think that the last 50 years or so have been pretty good fashion-wise for the middle class in america, with lots of more affordable, low-maintenance clothing options, but that’s not a fun answer. now, i had to do reasearch for this. if i get to be obscenely wealthy and exist in any location i so choose, i think that Italy from 1500-1510 would be my favorite for fashion. i prefer the more open necklines, especially square ones, embroidery, dramatic sleeves, and cinched silhouettes to earlier ones, though i’m not a huge fan of the layers and boning, even that’s not as bad when you get into southern Italy. (even though i would still love to be rich in the present day and circle through 60 or so teuta matoshi dresses. and long peacoats. i love peacoats.)

One good thing that happend to you today- hm. well, i’ve been really stressed out lately trying to figure out how to get into/pay for college. (my dream school is a private liberal arts/small research university on the east coast. i won’t say exactly which because there are a few top contenders at the moment that i could never afford or get into anyways.) so, the good part is that i finally got to laying out a plan for practicing for the sat, applying for jobs, applying for scholarships, and working on my meager serving of extracurriculars, which will hopefully increase my chances of getting into/being able to afford the schools i want to go to. i guess that that’s not something that happened to me because i made it happen, but it’s similar enough.

thank you for tagging me !

i’m tagging @ninasowl-studyblr and @la-biblioteca-de-ciana. both are excellent accounts, and, as i’m fairly new, pretty much the extent of my mutuals.

questions:

if you could travel anywhere (in or out of the world) right now, where are you traveling? (pretend c*****v**** and money aren’t issues)

why did you start your blog?

how ya doin’?

are you a chocolate or vanilla person?

what’s your motivation for learning your tl(s)?

what’s the next language you would like to learn, if any?

what’s your favorite song at the moment?

favorite food?

feelings on duolingo?

what have you done to be proud of recently?

#tag game #not language related #spanish langblr #langblr #langblog #spanish #lingblr #polyglot #bilingual #multilingual #español #spain

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steve0discusses · 7 years ago

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Yugioh Ep8 S1: Pharaoh’s Nietzsche Problems

I figured this would be a good show to recap since it’s got maybe about 5 minutes of content an episode...usually. But, the thing about Yugioh is that when it needs to move plot, it really moves a lot of plot. Quite a bit happens this episode, it’s a long recap, so lets just get to it. Starting with Keiba’s brother, Mokuba.

And no, we haven’t missed anything--he’s just secretly been here the entire time.

What’s kind of neat about Pegasus’ help is that they are reoccurring characters. This guy with the mustache. The one with the double spike mullet. They are very flat characters, but their presence asks a lot of questions. In this case it’s “do you really want to befriend Mokuba or something? What’s with this silver platter service? Do you guys all hang out? Do you all go to the beach together in your time off and like read magazines with your sunglasses on?”

And back in the largest drawing room and all of it’s slight perspective errors that are off just enough to cause me great pain, Pegasus is enjoying his weird ass cheese meal.

When informed that his victim has escaped, he’s not exactly concerned. He’s got cameras all over the island. Also, it’s an ISLAND with only one boat to stow away on and it is nicely guarded. So he figures he should check out how the duels are going with the island computer system. Because ya, of course there’s a camera every five feet on this deserted island. This guy is about one step removed from a Bond Villain.

Speaking of, Yugi is back to walking aimlessly around the forest with his buddies, just biding his time and blissfully unaware of the karmic retribution soon coming to him because of something his other half did.

And they run into my brother’s favorite character, double spike mullet man. He’s got a name but for the life of me I will never remember. His weird thing is that he can’t hold someone a normal way. He usually holds them like teddy bears.

Tristan finally demonstrates why he’s a member of the crew and it really threw me for a loop. Tristan has bizzare gorilla strength--but only occasionally. And predictably he gets soundly kicked by this very nimble double-spiked mullet man, who might be legit invincible.

And because the Yugi crew can’t not, they decide to take heart and do some justice, like they always do. This episode is like a big caveat for “always do the right thing, though sometimes the right thing would be to leave it alone because you aren’t as good or smart as you think you are, and you might only make things worse with your ineptitude.”

So, they decide to use the best strategy they could think of in order to catch the chip-napper, which was to just kinda...wait around or something. Turns out they aren’t very smart, which I’m really starting to think may not be entirely their fault since Yugi has only half a brain (though I’m starting to think it’s more a 20-80 Yugi-Pharaoh mix) and the rest are constantly exposed to Pharaoh psychic powers, which must be confusing. They actually do talk--in great detail--about how dumb Joey Wheeler is through the length of this episode, I just didn’t cap it.

Luckily, Mokuba wasn’t exactly hiding so we very quickly cut to the chase, although it appears Yugi doesn’t really get who this, he’s just got a card addiction and sees dueling as a great way to solve Nearly Any Problem. Including how to deal with theft.

Ah Joey, the Cassandra who called it first at the haunted Pharaoh necklace Maybe Possessing His Best Friend’s Mind.

Surprisingly, Seto Keiba’s awake. I just assumed he was in a hospital bed these past 7 episodes. But, apparently he’s walking around...sort of. He got a heavy dose of depression symptoms from the mind-wipe, and that’s not the sort of thing that this show tries to hide.

A lot of kid shows try to tread on this territory. But, this is the only one I’ve seen that goes HARD into mental illness without watering it down into some sort of cute metaphor like Elsa and her ice magic. Kieba doesn’t know how to Keiba anymore. He doesn’t want to do what he used to do. He doesn’t want to be who he used to be. He lost the thing that gave him passion and he’s PISSED.

And because it’s Yugioh, it’s gotta get Pretty Dark For A Kids Show, and so Keiba walks out of their life and puts all of his very real adult responsibilities on his very little brother who does not understand why.

While this is actually a pretty accurate portrayal of what depression can do to a family, I just wanna note that they chose to go this route. Usually in a kids show, when a character is “cured” of evil, it’s replaced with something else. Usually, it’s replaced with the goodness that character already had, deep down inside. Maybe a goodness they had as a child. In the case of Keiba...he apparently didn’t have that goodness to begin with.

Parts of Keiba are just GONE and Pharaohs take is “I fixed him, so you should be happy now.” Like, I have no idea if this show supports Pharaoh or actually wants to portray this as a character flaw, but I assume we’ll find out more later.

Also, remember how I said that Pegasus was once removed from a Bond Villian? Well, he crossed the one degree in a foot-note flashback.

I had to rewind when I watched this because this whole thing about “I’ll just kidnap him and run the company that way” was so...illegal? Even for a kid’s show it’s so roundabout. I mean we’re dealing with a Psychic so why not just mind control one of the Kiebas? O well. And then there’s the other thing--because Yugi embarrassed Keiba Corp by beating Seto, Pegasus has to prove he’s a better card player in order to seal this shady business deal. For...some reason?

Meanwhile, Pharaoh turns himself into a Philosophy 101 major’s first thesis about Nietzsche, as he makes himself the sole definer of what is good and evil and basically ignores what anyone lesser than him might say on the subject because he is Pharaoh and Pharaohs are Right.

Does he care about what he did to Mokuba and his family? Maybe later, but he certainly didn’t really care this episode. He just seems annoyed that other people aren’t like gun-ho about his “just wipe em clean” theory when it’s like, dude, does the medicine really outweigh the cure here? You gave the guy depression.

And although the show keeps saying Keiba was evil--we didn’t see much evidence of that because this all went down in Episode 1. Maybe that’s a lot of my problem in getting to like Pharaoh. I just gotta trust him that Keiba’s evil, but the worst thing I saw him do was tear up a card that Grandpa’s heart was connected to. Keiba still doesn’t even believe in that folktale heart of the cards stuff so should he be judged on that?

This blog just came off of occasionally recapping Once Upon a Time, which is obsessed with “where does good/evil come from?” and so to see this same trope of “We’ll just remove everything evil and it’s fixed!” explored again in another show--I dunno, we’ll see if Yugioh can do a better job. The bar is set pretty low because Once totally botched this.

My opinion: this mind-wipe seems pretty temporary since it’s not like Keiba chose to get it done, but we’ll see how it goes.

I was honestly surprised to see a show like this actually deliver a good take on the Sailor Moon Moral Savior trope, where she waves her moon healing wand, and evil characters are just “good” in the flash of an eye and all problems are solved and she is heralded as this wonderful savior.

Like seriously last episode was about stabbing the moon with a stone robot, how did we get here from that?

Meanwhile, back on the island, They’ve decided to do the right thing and it’s screwed them yet again because sometimes the only way to truly fix something when you screw up, is to just never have done it. Sometimes we do bad things thinking that if we get caught we can just fix it later--but there’s a lot of things that aren’t fixable. Sometimes people won’t be available to say sorry to. Sometimes you can’t return what you’ve taken, let it be star chips, time away from your little brother, or actual pieces of someone’s soul. Sometimes you just have to live with that.

Just a quick reminder that last episode revolved around eating fish for lunch.

Mokuba has such a strong neck now because of all these weird arm grabs. Also, I just realized Double Spike Mullet Man also has Big O type eyebrows and it’s something.

speaking of freaking too late

I mean I’m not even going to pretend that’s the real Keiba because youknow it’s a dark show but it hasn’t gone that dark. With the exception of our main character who IS half a zombie but man it’s always nice to see Pharaoh get a good ol slap in the face when he’s on his insufferable God kick.

Anyway, next week we duel a zombie and also find out how this is even possible. I admit I did not see the zombie twist coming that was...I feel like I use the word “unexpected” in every recap but here we are.

#Yugioh recap #fair warning: this is a lot of plot #ep8 s1 #tw mental illness #tw depression #yeah you read that right this show is gonna dive alllllll into that #humor #yugioh #yugi moto #joey wheeler #tea #tristan #photo recap #recap #why is there a zombie now????#mokuba #seto keiba #kieba #I'll never spell kaiba correctly

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womanwiththepoppytattoo · 4 years ago

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Where all this is going

7.27.20

This blog, like my mind, is all over the place. I imagine it's difficult to make sense of the message.

I am in the midst of two separate grief processes, both of them for the same person. For over a year now I have been grieving the loss of the Rey I loved, since the day he cut me out of his life after months of progressively worse and worse abuse. After he left, I began searching for answers to help me understand what I had been through. I realized that Rey suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. While he was never clinically diagnosed (narcissists rarely are), he fits the diagnostic criteria 100%, and what is known about this disorder predicts his actual behavior so well that there is no doubt in my mind about the diagnosis.

NPD is the result of a sort of developmental brain damage caused by childhood trauma, especially parental abandonment, abuse, and neglect, all of which Rey suffered from a young age. The child's brain does not grow in a normal fashion, but rewires for survival. Specifically, the part of the brain that receives empathy is missing. Without empathy, they cannot feel compassion, and they cannot feel love, at least not in the way we do. Narcissists are also abusers. They abuse the people closest to them in a variety of ways, following some very predictable patterns. Their abusive behavior gets worse as they get older. My goal in this post is not to give a comprehensive overview of NPD or narcissistic abuse. That information is all over the internet if you need it.

Narcissists are emotional con artists. And when you realize this, when it hits home that the person you love with all of your heart and soul does not and cannot love you back the way they led you to believe, it is a betrayal like no other. You grieve for the suffering they put you through and for the love they pretended to offer you but could not deliver. And you rage, because they take so much from you and mind-fuck you so hard. The truth is, there was a time, a long period of time, about 6 months, when I wanted him dead. I wished for him to suffer like he had made me suffer, and I hoped for him to die so that he would stop hurting me.

I did not expect him to go along with this plan. But he did. By then, I no longer wished him harm. I had begun to forgive him, although it was, and is, a messy process. When he came back into my life at the end of January, I saw that I had gotten my wish, he had been suffering, and I didn't want that for him any more. He asked me to forgive him, but he still kept lying to me about everything, gaslighting me. I understood his pathology at this point, and his limitations. Still, I kept pushing back, telling him truths he didn't want to hear and wouldn't hear, but that I needed to say. I was afraid of him, traumatized, but also so tired of crying that I didn't care any more what happened to me. I finally just said, Lie to me, manipulate me, use me, kill me if you want, just make it stop. Make the wound where you tore out my soul stop bleeding.

I was also terrified for him, because I sensed the danger he was in. I asked nothing of him except a way to get in touch with him so I wouldn't worry needlessly (because his phone had been cut off); he refused me that, just because it was the one thing I asked for.

And then he went and got himself killed.

It took a long time for it to sink in, for my feelings to settle. His death was a 180 degree turn at high speed. Death sanitized him, made him a better person than he was, first in other peoples' minds, even those closest and most loyal to me; but also, gradually, in my own mind. Now I had another Rey to mourn. That really hit home when the "interventions" started (see my previous post about my spiritual revelation). Now, I could grieve publicly. People understood what had happened to me. It had a name, a set a characteristics: I am a grieving mother. This is a whole separate grief process on top of the other, ongoing one. It is cleaner, and slightly less lonely; hopelessly permanent, but ironically offering its own kind of mercy. It has both complicated and enlightened the other.

So why expose all this pain and craziness for all the world to see?

For one, because while there is a lot of information about NPD out there, there aren't a lot of people telling their stories. Humans need stories to provide a context for information. No one should have to go through what I went through. Everyone should learn how to recognize narcissists when they meet them and to understand the danger they represent. This is essential knowledge today, because narcissism is a pathology that is spreading like wildfire in our society, and will continue to do so until deep social change occurs and generations of healing can take place. Even if you are a secure person with good self-esteem who sees through bullshit well (which I was), the right narcissist, under the right circumstances, can get around your defenses if you don't really understand the disorder and its implications. And, those who have already been victimized need stories they can identify with. I found the support groups often did me more harm than good because they get mired down in dogma. We all have to make meaning of our experiences in our own way. I hope to offer an alternative way of thinking about these experiences to those who need one.

But there is a bigger picture here too, which weaves its way through my story. Some themes I have been drawn to throughout this journey and even earlier, and some I have only recently opened my eyes to. I have been a metaphysical thinker since I was a teenager. I have been aware for some time (and can credit my university studies a few years ago for some of this) of the power of language, of narrative and metaphor, in shaping human perception and behavior. I have experienced during the past year-plus how little critical thinking exists in the field of mental health. All of the experiences I've had seem to be lining up like stepping stones to somewhere. I have to follow them.

These are the themes I hope to address in this blog and other work I do in the future:

psychological/emotional attachment,

spiritual connection and metaphysical idealism,

how we co-create reality with each other,

pathological narcissism and related disorders,

the toxic individualism of our society, and

the places where any of these things intersect.

That doesn't mean it's not going to continue to be a mess. I am sharing the process with you here, including the ugly parts.

#narcissistic abuse #toxic individualism #grief

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gethealthy18-blog · 5 years ago

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332: An Eastern, Ancient Traditional Approach to Health & Longevity With Simon Cheng of Pique Tea

New Post has been published on https://healingawerness.com/news/332-an-eastern-ancient-traditional-approach-to-health-longevity-with-simon-cheng-of-pique-tea/

332: An Eastern, Ancient Traditional Approach to Health & Longevity With Simon Cheng of Pique Tea

Child: Welcome to my Mommy’s podcast.

This episode is sponsored by UpSpring Baby, a company making innovative science-backed products for moms and babies. And I wanna tell you about one of their products in particular because even though I’m not even currently pregnant or have tiny babies, it’s been really helpful to me. I really like their Stomach Settle nausea relief drops, which are great for any kind of stomach upset from motion sickness, which I get and a couple of my daughters get, to morning sickness. which I thankfully do not have right now because I’m not pregnant, but any kind of bloating or digestive upset at all. I love to keep this on hand and my kids like them too. They help relieve nausea, motion sickness, gas, bloating, and any kind of digestive upset. In fact, I keep these in my car, in my kind of like emergency kit in each of my cars, and also in my purse just to have on hand because tummy aches can be a thing when out and on-the-go. Their lemon-ginger-honey flavored Stomach Settle drops contain not just one but three natural remedies for digestive upset, ginger, spearmint, and lemon. Plus, they contain vitamin B6 to help relieve occasional nausea, motion sickness, gas and bloating. Their ingredients are micronized, meaning that they provide faster-acting relief, and they have been really helpful, like I said, especially for motion sickness. They’re individually wrapped. They’re great for on-the-go, and I was able to negotiate a discount just for you. You can check this out at upspringbaby.com/pages/wellnessmama, and the code wellness10 saves you 10%.

This podcast is sponsored by Jigsaw Health, my source for magnesium. You probably know, if you’ve read my blog, that magnesium is responsible for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It impacts blood pressure, metabolism, immune function, and many other aspects of health, including hormones. It’s known as the master mineral and it’s one of the few supplements I take regularly. And I have found a specific way to take it that works best for me in very specific forms because if magnesium is taken in the wrong way it can lead to digestive upset or if it’s taken too quickly it can cause all kinds of problems. So, I take two supplements. One called MagSRT which is a slow release form of the dimagnesium malate. The slow release technology makes it easier on the digestive system. So I don’t get any of the digestive disturbance that comes with some forms of magnesium. I take this form in the morning and at lunch. So, two capsules with breakfast, two capsules with lunch. And at night, I take a different product MagSoothe, which is magnesium glycinate which is magnesium bound with the amino acid glycine to help sleep. And in combination, I noticed the biggest effect from those two particular products. You can check them both out and save by going to jigsawhealth.com/wellnessmama. And the code wellness10 will give you $10 off any order.

Hello, and welcome to the Wellness Mama Podcast. I’m Katie from wellnessmama.com, and I’m here today with Simon Cheng, who is the founder and CEO of Pique Tea. His own story is pretty fascinating. He went through a decade of health issues, which left him with really severe things like staples in his lungs and celebrating his 30th birthday with a tube of antibiotics directly into his heart valve. And he said, “Enough is enough,” and took control of his health, and has been studying all areas of health since then and has made a complete recovery. He now owns Pique Tea, which is the culmination of everything he’s learned about medicinal plants, and also things like breath work and all of the modalities that come into play with that. If you’re not familiar with Pique Tea, it’s one of my favorites. It’s a cold brew crystallized tea that is linked to better gut health. There are teas for stress and for sustained energy throughout the day.

Simon earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Harvard and Stanford, and is the youngest member of the Harvard School of Public Health’s Nutrition Round Table. He’s also an educated Daoist healer, a Tea Master, a qi gong and tai chi practitioner and teacher, and shares today about a lot of his personal and research backed theories for improving not just lifespan, but health span and overall health. So, with that, let’s join Simon.

Katie: Simon, welcome and thank you for being here.

Simon: Thank you so much for having me, Katie. It’s a huge pleasure.

Katie: I am excited for our conversation and I actually want to jump in with a question I sometimes ask in the middle or toward the end of the interview, but I think it’s going to be a great springboard for us today, which is what are a few things that people don’t know or understand about your area of expertise? Which also is, of course, a great intro to your area of expertise.

Simon: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. So there are a couple of things and I think that these concepts really form the foundation of everything that we do at Pique Tea. And with regards to our product development as well as our content strategy and everything that we’re trying to do with our mission. So the first one is that some of you may know I was born in Hong Kong and grew up there until I was in my late teens. And Hong Kong was recently ranked number one in life expectancy by the UN in the last set of statistics that was launched in 2016.

So number one in the world. And I think at various times has always been in the top 10. And I think that’s a very, very interesting thing because a lot of people study the Blue Zones, which are these famous areas of populations of centenarians. Many of them like Okinawa, Sardinia are places that are islands where people can enjoy fresh ocean air, abundant sunshine, a fairly relaxed lifestyle. On the contrary, Hong Kong is a very, very kind of, bustling financial center, very high GDP per capita, very little space, a lot of pollution. I think that’s something quite interesting that we can delve into a bit more.

The second thing is, really with regard to tea and tea consumption habits in the Western world and in the U.S. which is actually not a predominantly coffee drinking population. So tea really requires a drinking in adequate amount and quantity to unlock any sort of physical health benefits. And as you may know, Katie, tea has always been linked with meditation and mindfulness practices and breathwork. And this is the other side of the benefits that tea brings and it’s kind of the metaphysical one, call it mental, psychological, spiritual, and it requires drinking tea consciously. And this is something that we can delve more into as well. It’s directly linked to the active ingredients in tea, catechins, L-theanine, and caffeine the combination of the three.

And finally, this is the last thing, and this is kind of a deeper topic, but the foundation of our mission and our belief system is that tea really provides a gateway to higher consciousness, that kind of a window to your soul or the universe. I’m happy to discuss that a bit more. These are three things that people don’t really know a whole lot about with regard to tea and certainly what we do.

Katie: I love that. I’d love to start with detoxification a little bit more because, well, I think for one, there’s a lot of misconceptions when it comes to detoxification and what that actually means and then ways we can support it that are evidence-based. And of course, I think there’s a tremendous amount of evidence on both the different kinds of teas and then different herbs that are used in teas for that. But let’s start with your approach to detoxification and what people need to understand.

Simon: Yeah, absolutely. And I think this is directly tied into the understanding of life expectancy and of health and wellness in general. So my approach to detoxification is really about detoxification of environmental toxins. I know this is a topic that you’re very interested in. And I love the products that you’ve launched through Wellnesse. My approach to detoxification is really taking a five-sensory approach, right. This is something that I’ve been practicing for a long time. It’s really kind of the synthesis and distillation of a lot of practices I’ve noticed in other kind of health experts, healers, meditation experts, plant-based, doctors, and practitioners also, roughly follow, right.

And the idea is that consciousness is something that’s very impenetrable for a lot of people. And we can make that tangible by approaching it from this five sensory approach. So just on a very basic level, smell, right. That’s one of the five senses. We’re constantly surrounded by a barrage of air deodorizers, air fresheners, Christmas trees hanging in Ubers, people using ingredients or deodorizers in their home. Skincare products that have a lot of fragrance, cleaning products that have a lot of fragrance. And to develop kind of greater consciousness towards these chemicals and other toxins that are in the air, whether it’s paint fumes, one simply has to expose themselves to fresh air, right. So waking up and opening the window, sitting outdoors, going into the forest and the woods, spending time in nature. The more you do that, the more conscious you become of what clean pure air smells like.

The same thing goes for reducing the use of harmful products in your life. And another one would be taste, right. That’s an obvious one where if you’re eating fast food and Cheetos all day long, you’re not really gonna be able to appreciate or differentiate when you see something from a farmer’s market that’s five days old or three days old or a week old or a piece of fish that’s been frozen and thawed, you know, three times versus that’s fresh out of the ocean. And so really it’s about, again, developing that level of consciousness through very accessible ways that you can do step by step.

The same goes for touch, right. I mean, I know a lot of people that use sunblock and foundation every day. They go out every day of their lives. They’ve been using it. They wear a hundred percent synthetic fibers, toxic dyes. Your skin can’t breathe, right. So what if you stop using these products? And start wearing more natural fibers like cotton or wool or cashmere. You will start developing a level of consciousness that is completely different. You’ll understand what it feels like for your skin to actually breathe.

And the same things go for sight and sound. Ultimately, where we want to get to is a situation where you’re leading life naturally. You’re…what we call union with nature. So you’re using natural products, you’re wearing natural fibers, and you’re slowly kind of eliminating the noise and the pollution and the environmental toxins that we’re surrounded by. So, compare that with the life that we normally live with, breathing fresh air and having moments of silence and closing your eyes. It’s kind of the working towards that.

Katie: Yeah, absolutely. And I think all of those factors that you mentioned, they’re easy to underestimate because we may not feel the immediate impact of the fibers in our clothing or things in household cleaners or in our skincare. But over time, those do have such a dramatic impact. That’s been an area for research for me as well. And like you mentioned, the reason I even started developing certain products that are especially typically contaminated. And I think often we don’t realize that impact until we do take those things away and then notice how much better we feel. And then also, of course, support the body in its natural detoxification pathways in the ways that you mentioned.

And I know we’ve touched on this before, but you are a big proponent of breathwork, and this is something I’ve been trying to dial-in in my own life. I feel like I’ve got the diet and lifestyle stuff pretty well dialed in, but stress and sleep are still areas where I can definitely improve. And so I’ve been experimenting with different forms of breathwork to try to optimize both of those. So I’d love to hear about your breathwork practices and the ways that this is linked to better health.

Simon: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So, I mean if detoxification and elimination of noise and distraction is this gradual path from the extreme of fast food to the other extreme of farmer’s market fare, you can then also draw the same trajectory, right, from sight. So if you are constantly watching TV or have a lot of distractions. Some people won’t watch TV or don’t read, but they will actually just like to people watch, right. So suppose you take that to the extreme of just looking out at nature or what about looking at a white wall? Or what about just closing your eyes? That’s a step by step trajectory towards a mindfulness practice, right.

And so the same thing goes for fresh air. If you start having fresh air and not having any toxins in your surroundings, then you’ll actually start noticing you’re breathing more. And the same thing goes for sounds, right. It’s like the sounds of TV or the sounds of hip hop music or rock music that can be offensive or violent. What about just silence? Nothing, right. And this is not any sort of meditation practice, like this is just really walking the path towards higher consciousness, right. Just by doing these things, you’re already so far along the path of mindfulness practice and breathwork, well ahead of potentially anyone that’s like, “Oh, I do, TM or, I do pranayama or I do Wim Hof method” or in my case I do, medicinal breathwork, which is a Chi based method.

You’ve already gone so far down this road that subsequently what pursues after is simply a breathing technique, right. It’s all of the things I just mentioned, those different techniques that are different methods of breathing, of controlling your breath. But you have so far immersed yourself already in a mindfulness practice that the breathing technique comes very easily. And so I’ve delved in a little bit about medicinal breath work, which is the technique that I use. It’s based on traditional Chinese medicine. It’s a Taoist practice and it’s based on the concept of energy or Chi in your body, right.

And so it’s completely physiological. This is the difference. It’s not a spiritual practice, it’s not meant for enlightenment, it’s not meant for any sort of kind of metaphysical goal, so to speak. However, the physiological process is really kind of based on the concept that in your body there’s either tension, which is, equals blockage, or there’s relaxation, which equals unblockage free flow of energy. So for those of you who have been cupping or acupuncture or needles, a lot of this stuff is actually meant for unblocking blockages, right, so your energy can flow freely.

Now, with Qigong medicinal breathwork, you simply concentrate, your intent is very similar to pranayama, which is a yoga practice. You focus your intent during your breathing on a specific part of your body, it’s called the dantian which is also the sacral chakra in yoga. It’s kind of like an inch or two below your navel. And you concentrate your intent there because that’s meant to be the regulator or the engine of your body’s energy. So if you focus the energy there, it will redistribute energy throughout your entire body into your organs, into your legs, into your brain through the meridians, right. Through the way, the meridians are mapped through the acupuncturing maps. And so imagine there’s a series of rivers and streams and tributaries in your body. And these all have been mapped out for at least 2000 years, right. They’re very well established how that energy flows. And so you’re really just recycling, kick-starting if you will, like a turbocharger, the circulation of energy through these meridians. So it’s completely physiological. The great thing is that if you practice as well then a lot of the metaphysical benefits ensue. And those are some of the things that people meditate on a spiritual basis to achieve.

Katie: Got it. That makes sense. Yeah, I think, I love that you mentioned silence because I think that’s something that is in short supply in the modern world, for moms especially just understandably with small kids. But even short of just family, the normal family dynamics, which often don’t lead to silence, I think many of us are just in the habit of always having on music or TV or a podcast, as many people listening to this may have on.

And you’re right, I think there’s something beautiful in the silence. And also if it’s something you’re not used to, there can be discomfort in that silence for a while until you learn to be silent and still with yourself. And many cultures have some form of this. And I think we don’t do a great job of this in the modern world a lot of times, but so many cultures have some practice involving that silence and the stillness and being able to sit with one’s own self in comfort. And I think this is a perfect springboard into talking about awareness, which is another big topic for you that you touched on briefly and something that I know is a big part of your life. So walk us through that and how you cultivate this in your life.

Simon: Absolutely. So for me, awareness and consciousness are really the same thing. And it’s really based on the concept that everything that you need is already inside. Meaning that you have the ability to heal yourself if you listen to your body, that you have the ability already inside of you to realize your potential in whatever way and form that might take. And the challenges that we face is really one of not being able to hear that or see that. And that’s due to lack of awareness and lack of consciousness and call that the noise or the environmental toxins, whatever name you want to give it, it’s the thing that’s kind of stands between us and our true nature, right.

And so, becoming aware of that is really something that I try to help every single one of our customers, as well as every single person on our team, everyone that I meet, do in some way or form. And obviously the tea that we make is a huge part of that. Chemically, the tea has different compounds, L-theanine, caffeine, polyphenols that work in combination with each other to produce a very specific state of mind, of heightened awareness and alertness that is also calm and relaxed. There’s nothing like it out there.

And so this is going back to what I said earlier, when many people drink tea, they do it on the go. You know, they’re driving, they’re watching TV, they are whatever, listening to a podcast or working. In those instances, you cannot actually feel, you cannot be aware or conscious of the effects these biochemical compounds are having on you, right. L-theanine is a very calming compound and it reduces all the activity in the brain. Polyphenols actually are an antioxidant compound leading to immune support, greater sense of vitality. It makes you feel healthy.

The caffeine in tea is extremely different. It’s bound to the catechin compounds. It’s bound to the polyphenols, making it harder for your body to digest and break down. So there’s a time-release of the caffeine. Therefore the energy, the caffeine impact is a more gradual one, right. And more gradual, meaning that it’ll last longer, three to four hours and also doesn’t lead you to have a crash or you’re tired after. So the combination of these sensations, if you don’t kind of perceive with the level of consciousness and it’s not hard to do that, you can sit somewhere and just look outside your window and just feel the sensations. It’s hard for a tea to do its job from that kind of the metaphysical point of view, right. So that’s kind of our concept of awareness and something that we help everyone try to experience through the tea and through mindfulness practices.

Katie: I love that those two are… That you talk about how to really combine those two. And I think it will be great to go into some specifics about… Now that we’ve talked about the consciousness and the mental side about the physical and physiological benefits of teas as well because they certainly are well documented, well studied and used throughout the world in various ways. And so I’d love to just hit you with some kind of somewhat rapid-fire questions related to different types of tea. Right now, I’m a big fan of the Sun Goddess Matcha that you guys have. I’ve been trying to alternate and not drink coffee every day. And so I do green tea most days instead and so talk about that specifically. I know a lot of people are familiar with the idea of green tea being healthy, but matcha goes kind of above and beyond. And then yours goes even above and beyond that. So walk us through the benefits of this.

Simon: Yeah, absolutely. So this is a very special product that we made, recognizing a need in the market for something that was extremely high quality and yet pure, right. So one of the interesting things about matcha is that obviously originates from Japan. It’s a huge part of ceremonial tea, ceremony culture and also meditation culture in Japan. So used in temples, their schools of tea ceremony. It’s very traditional, is what I’m trying to say. And in the traditional approach to matcha, there is not a great deal of concern for organic agricultural practices in the purity of the matcha. They’re more interested in an appearance and taste, right.

And so the appearance and taste and all of the quality parameters of matcha have been established through these traditional approaches, right. So what we have come to know is ceremonial grade matcha, that’s like the highest grade of matcha. But like I said, a lot of these temples and schools of tea ceremony, they don’t care if the matcha is organic or not. And so, that was the struggle that I had is that, I love matcha, it’s tremendous for meditation and mindfulness because it’s very high in L-theanine. But I couldn’t get a pure source of it, right. There’s very, very little organic, ceremonial green matcha out there.

And so we developed one in partnership with a 10th-degree tea master. So there are only about 13 in the world. This gentleman is in his 50s and probably took the better half of his life to get this level of certification. And we obtained our tea from a very special source at the southernmost tip of Japan. It’s in an area called Kagoshima, so it’s next to Okinawa, which is one of the Blue Zones, so very, very far away from the industrial pollution in Japan. And it’s extremely pure, it’s actually like right next to the first national park that was designated in Japan.

So growing in the mountains, there’s no need for use of pesticides because it’s so cool and it’s mountainous so there isn’t a lot of pesticide drift issues. So, some of you may not be familiar, but in Japan, a lot of the agricultural land is very, very closely plotted together to increase space efficiency. And what happens when one farm uses pesticides is that it will drift over all the neighboring farms. So you can avoid this problem by having a tea farm in the mountains. And so of course, there’s a much lower amount of supply, right, so it’s scarcer.

And then second, it’s blended by this 10th-degree tea master. So it’s at a very high level of kind of ceremonial grade quality from all the different parameters of taste, of color, of froth, how…the mouthfeel and the texture. And then we’ve also quadrupled toxin screens. All of our products are triple toxin screened for heavy metals, pesticides, and toxic mold. We’ve gone one step further with this matcha to also screen for radioactive isotopes being particularly concerned because the matcha’s from Japan, there was a nuclear incident in Japan, that they have recovered from very well, but there’re still customers with concerns about it.

And so there’s a very, very high level of screening. That’s kind of it in a nutshell. Matcha is also shaded for a very long period with kind of natural, bamboo plant fiber shade. So this is going a little bit into the mechanics of how matcha is made. Matcha is shaded that’s primarily how it’s different than all other teas. And the shading actually inhibits photosynthesis, and it leads the matcha to develop high levels of chlorophyll as well as L-theanine which is the amino acid that leads to greater alpha activity in the brain, and it’s something that matcha is valued for, both from a taste point of view as well as from a health benefit.

Katie: I’m so glad you brought up the testing because I get a lot of questions related to that, especially the heavy metals, which of course, have become more of a concern in recent years. And I know that you guys, like you said, you test for that. And I know some people also really worry about fluoride in tea because of the ability of tea plants to absorb fluoride from the soil. Is that something you guys test for as well?

Simon: Yes, we definitely test for fluoride. And especially the Sun Goddess Matcha, it’s something that we test for. And it is indeed true that a lot of… Tea has a tendency to sequester toxins from the air. It’s one of those plants and so the source that you get it from is paramount, which is why we go through such great lengths to find pure sources of it.

Katie: Makes sense. Got it. So I’d love to now talk about some of the other types of teas and how they can be used to support the body in various ways, I know that you guys have a huge assortment now. And I’m going to ask some specific questions related to how each of those can be used. But walk us through some of the other types of teas that are available, especially from you guys, and how those can be implemented as part of this kind of whole-body approach.

Simon: Absolutely. So we have a tea-drinking protocol that we recommend to people and black teas are generally recommended for the mornings. Black tea has a lower concentration of catechins. Catechins are actually green tea antioxidants. Black tea has a whole different set of antioxidants called theaflavins and it’s what actually gives the black tea its color. But as a result of that, the caffeine from black tea actually sets on faster. So for those of you who are looking for an energy charge in the morning, black tea is really fantastic for that. Furthermore, the theaflavins in black tea are very supportive of the gut biome.

And this is something that, when you wake up in the morning and you haven’t eaten much or you’re drinking tea on an empty stomach, black tea tends to be much more suitable for those kind of instances of consumption. In the afternoon, we generally recommend green tea. And so with black tea we have English Breakfast, Earl Grey, a whole range of different black teas. In the afternoons is when we generally recommend people drink green teas. That’s kind of the after-lunch hour, if eaten, there might be a little bit of sluggishness from digesting the meal.

Green tea is generally fantastic for aiding digestive processes of kind of facilitating your metabolic system and also providing you with that energy that will last through the afternoon. And then at night, we have a range of different herbal teas, rooibos, hibiscus, we have a ginger tea. We also have a mushroom tea reishi. All these are fantastic in the evening because it provides you with different types of plant polyphenols. So we believe in drinking the rainbow as much as eating the rainbow. And in the evening you can kind of access the benefits of these different plant polyphenols and also help relax you and prepare you for a night of rest.

Katie: Yeah, I’m a huge fan of reishi at night for sleep and I definitely see a difference in my sleep when I consume reishi. I love that point about drinking the rainbow, not just eating the rainbow and it’s such a great solution when I hear from people who say they don’t like plain water. And so I think tea is a great, like pretty much non-caloric way to change up the taste of water and get a whole lot of benefits without it being a lot of the other products that are geared for people who don’t like the taste of water, that have a lot of ingredients most of us try to avoid. So I think it’s a great solution there. A question I am getting a lot with the increase in popularity of various types of fast, whether it be intermittent fasting, water fasting, etc., is how tea can fit into a fasting protocol. And if consuming tea without anything added to it breaks the fast or not.

Simon: Yes, absolutely. So fasting is an area of tremendous interest and kind of focus for us. It’s actually one of our three health pillars along with gut health and consciousness. We’ve developed a set of teas with Dr. Jason Fung, who is a nephrologist and kind of one of the leading experts on intermittent fasting. He’s actually a clinical doctor. So he’s helped thousands of people reap the benefits of fasting. It’s just really, really amazing work he’s done. He has consistently recommended tea for years and years now to his patients, specifically for their fast because it tends to help manage hunger pangs, provides satiety, so provides a sense of fullness, as well as support the different kind of fasting goals and fasting benefits that people are interested in.

Whether it breaks a fast or not is an interesting question. It technically, you know, by definition, and this is something that Dr. Fung will tell you as well, they do break the fast by definition, right. Because even on a very kind of trace level they could be, and I’m talking like maybe the low single digits of calories, right. So technically speaking, yes, any sort of caloric intake will break a fast. But the thing is, is that it’s in such a small quantity, the impact right, of the calories and the benefits are so overwhelmingly…outnumber this kind of minuscule downside, which is really a technical one. But, generally speaking, net of people are far better off using tea for their fast than not.

And there are different ways of using the tea. There’s, you can drink it during your feasting window and your fasting window, right. So for a lot of people and there are benefits for both. A lot of people think, “Oh, I can only drink it during my fasting window and that’s the only way I’ll benefit.” It’s actually not the case. Even if you’re eating during your feasting window and drinking tea, you will still reap the benefits of the kind of digestion support, the metabolic support and so forth. Thermogenesis is something Dr. Fung talks about a lot. Of course, at the same time, you can drink it in your fasting window.

Now some people actually are sensitive to the compounds in tea, be it the tannins or the caffeine and don’t take well to drinking it on an empty stomach. And I think that this is probably the small minority of users and certainly we have a whole range of different teas that are herbal, that are part herbal, part tea or that are a hundred percent full tea for these different kind of usages, right. And so we have a black tea, which is blended with a bergamot which we recommend for the mornings. We have a green tea that is blended with matcha that’s fantastic for the afternoons. And then we have an herbal tea for kind of all of the windows in between. Yeah, and so people really enjoy the process because it provides them with the satiety and also this freedom of choice. I think when you’re doing a fast one of the most dreadful things for people that gives them the most anxiety is like, “Oh, I just have to sit there and drink water.” It’s something that’s very daunting. But when you have a number of different flavored beneficial, hydrated hydrating options to choose from, it really goes very far in breaking up a fast.

Katie: I agree. It does make a tremendous difference. I’ve noticed that myself and I’ve experimented with both. I test pretty regularly, especially if I’m on a longer water fast, things like ketones and glucose and then even more traditional labs just to monitor all of that. And I do definitely notice a difference with things like tea in the monotony alone.

Katie: Another question, especially with the audience listening, many of them are parents and many moms, of course, and I get a lot of questions related to tea and if it’s safe to consume during periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Simon: So there are many different approaches to this, and I can’t say that one is correct and another is wrong. Certainly, I think that, in this case, it’s certainly advisable to consult a health expert or a doctor so that they can get the specific health advice to the situation of the individual. That’s a hard one. I’ve certainly met people who do consume tea and I’ve met plenty of people who don’t during pregnancy.

Katie: Got you. I think, yeah, that’s always sage advice for anyone with a medical condition or especially anyone growing a new human is definitely, “Talk to your doctor and see.” I can say from experience, my doctor told me that like caffeine to a certain level was okay. So I did consume green tea during several of my pregnancies and certain herbal teas, but definitely echo your advice on, talk to your doctor and make sure there’s no other concerns that you aren’t aware of for your specific instance.

And I’d love to switch gears a little bit and talk about an idea of… And I know that you’ve talked about this and written about this a little bit, but not just lifespan but health span because we started this episode talking about areas where people live longer and in the health community there’s been more and more buzz about not just increasing how long we live, but increasing how long we live in a healthy way. And for people like you, I’m assuming those actually are one and the same, but I’d love to go deeper just specifically on the idea of health span. And other factors that you think can come into play to increase how long we’re living in a healthy way.

Simon: Yes, absolutely. My grandfather actually turns 105… He’ll turn 106 this December and so he’s really been kind of an example of longevity and very healthy of course, he plays a Bridge and Mahjong every day still, for about six hours. But he’s always been a great example to me of the meaning of living long and living healthily. I think this ties very much into what I mentioned at the beginning about Hong Kong being ranked amongst the highest in countries or in places for life expectancy. And not wanting to sound like a broken record here, but it really really goes back to the concept of consciousness and awareness.

So something my grandfather always told me is that, he…and this is something a very wise Austrian friend told him, he was a mountaineer. He said that, you know, I always regard my health as like a bank balance, you never want to draw it to zero, you certainly never want to draw it to negative. And every dollar or every penny that you put in there is going to increase your overall health and your overall wellness and longevity. And you’re in this constant effort to increase that balance, right, and not deplete it. So you always want to keep building it up and make it higher.

And I think that philosophically is very different than how a lot of people in this day and age understand health. I mean, just looking at what’s going on today, with the Coronavirus. There are so many people around me that are in my age group or in my organization, or friends that have this idea that Coronavirus is not going to kill them, it’s going to be bad for a couple days and they’ll recover, and everything will be fine. But that’s really in opposition to the concept of living well, for a long period, right. If you just want to live well, then certainly by all means, one should kind of live life to the fullest, right. The whole YOLO and do whatever they like and not be restrained by self-quarantine or limiting travel or not going to conferences or being…washing hands and all that stuff. Nobody wants to do that. In fact, traveling right now is as cheap as it could possibly be. So why not travel the world, right.

But the idea with the kind of more Eastern approach to health, and certainly one that my grandfather adopted, is that all of these things go to taking away the health credits that you have, right. So every time you get a flu, or every time you have an invasive procedure done, every time you’re taking something or other that for some issue that you had, there is something that’s taken away from your overall kind of bank balance of wellness credits, right. And so I think this is really kind of key and something that’s always in practice in Hong Kong and is certainly the case for Taiwan and Japan and Korea and in a lot of the Eastern cultures is this concept of constantly balancing, right.

So this is rebalancing even when you don’t feel like there’s something wrong, is basically the principle of prevention, right. So how prevention is basically about accumulating these health credits, and avoiding sickness, avoiding the feeling of symptoms, right. By the time you’re symptomatic, you’ve already gotten sick. And if you avoid the symptoms for long enough then things become chronic, and so on. And so it’s really about kind of the rebalancing. And you can do that by having a higher level of consciousness and awareness to how your body feels. If you wake up exhausted, then something is not right, right. If you’ve slept poorly for a couple of days in a row, you’ve been affected, something is not right. If you’re feeling some sort of discomfort in your body, pay attention to that, right. And see what we can do to address that and make it go away. That’s the idea.

Katie: Yeah. I love that. I think that’s really important perspective, especially at times like this when things are as they currently are. And yeah, I think that’s a perfect place to actually springboard into another question that I love to ask, which relates to mindset and learning and lifelong health, which is if there’s a book or a number of books that have really dramatically impacted your life and if so, what they are and why.

Simon: Yeah, absolutely. This is a tough question, Katie, because, I have a lot of favorite books. And certainly, my favorite book will change from time to time. But I guess the books that I tend to go back to the most are ones that are philosophical in nature or spiritual in nature. And the one that I tend to constantly carry with me and read time and time again, is a book I discovered when I was in my… In high school when I was in my mid-teens, and it’s the “Tao-Te Ching.” So it’s a Taoist text and many of you may have heard of it. It’s basically the concept of Taoism Watts was created in this book, of “Yin and Yang,” the entire kind of system of traditional Chinese medicine, of Qigong practice of all of this different energy work and using plants to heal the body from the eastern perspective is based on this book. So it’s rich in kind of philosophical wisdom, as well as very practical, wellness, health-based physical sort of practices. In fact, Tai-Chi is based on this book, The Art of War is based on this book. I would say that, you know, the better half of Chinese civilization is based on this book.

Katie: That’s fascinating. And a new recommendation. I’ll make sure we link that in the show notes at wellnessmama.fm, so you guys can grab it if you’d like. Simon, any parting advice you would like to leave in the ears of our listeners today?

Simon: Yeah, really just the concept that everything you need is already inside, that developing consciousness in all things starting with the easiest first, the five senses that we’re constantly using day in day out is a great way to start kind of examining what are some of the toxins, what are some of the noise that you can remove from your life?

Katie: I love it. And then, lastly, I know we will have links in the show notes at wellnessmama.fm, so you guys can find all of the teas and everything we’ve mentioned there along with a, I believe a special code just for you guys from Pique Tea but Simon, where can people stay in touch and keep in touch with you and learn more?

Simon: Yeah, definitely through piquetea.com or our Instagram account. This is by far the best way, I frequently interact with all of our customers, they’re all able to reach me through our email, I really do respond to them directly. And I also lead a mindfulness challenge, which will be coming up in July where I actually personally will be leading medicinal breathwork system in class. So love to interact with all of you. We also have a Facebook group called the Healers Circle, which I welcome everyone to join.

Katie: Wonderful. And you guys can find all of that in the show notes, again, at wellnessmama.fm, so that you can find those links and stay in touch. Simon, thank you again for your time today and for all the work that you do in creating such high-quality products.

Simon: Thank you so much, Katie. It’s been a huge pleasure.

Katie: And thanks to all of you as always, for listening and sharing your valuable resource, your time, with both of us today. We’re so grateful that you did, and I hope that you will join me again on the next episode of “The Wellness Mama Podcast. ”

If you’re enjoying these interviews, would you please take two minutes to leave a rating or review on iTunes for me? Doing this helps more people to find the podcast, which means even more moms and families could benefit from the information. I really appreciate your time, and thanks as always for listening.

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/podcast/simon-cheng/

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renaramblesaboutcomics · 7 years ago

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Wednesday Roundup 1.11.2017

Late with a review? Me? Never! Maybe a little.

In my defense there are ten of them.

Regardless, we have another Roundup with quite a diverse ensemble that I hope you all enjoy! I sure did.

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, DC’s Batman, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Dark Horse’s Overwatch, Marvel’s Power Pack, DC’s Super Hero Girls, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II, Marvel’s Thanos - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages, Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo, Lion Forge’s Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2

Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017) Robbie Thompson, Nathan Stockman

As people can no doubt tell from a glance over my blog as well as the rest of these Roundups, I’m actually quite the fan of this title, and have enjoyed this comic’s take on Spider-Man and, in truth, the entire Spider-Family more than almost any Spidey title in a decade now. At the very least of those that feature Peter.

So this is a cute overview and relieves my stress over worrying that the title could be wrapping up soon since they’re promoting the next arc. I’m so glad to have this story of family and love~

DC’s Batman Halloween Comic Fest Special Edition (2017) #1 Steve Orlando, Tom King, Riley Rosso, Ivan Plascencia

I actually really enjoyed the Night of the Monster Men crossover comic from earlier this year, even if I think people would be best off if they waited like me until the whole trade collected everything and then bought it so they didn’t miss anything or read out of order. It was a good family crossover, used most of the characters to their benefit, and gave us some team ups we haven’t really seen used that much before, or at all.

So I really support the fact that this first issue of the arc came out to tease people for the Halloween Comic Fest because it’s the right amount of creepy and it exposes lots of new readers to members of the Bat family they may have not otherwise been exposed to.

It’s a fun little free comic, and I recommend checking it out if you haven’t read the full storyline and would be curious about checking it out for yourself.

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017) Robbie Thompson, Marco Failla

Being the huge fan of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that I am, the hardest thing about the recent storyline has been that Devil hasn’t been in it and Lunella’s little broken heart breaks my heart every issue. So I was curious if that was going to be in the roundup and.... well, it wasn’t!

That means that, as could probably be predicted, the reunion between the two title characters is sure to be upon us, but it also kind of feels like these particular Primer Pages are.... really out of touch with what’s been going on in the comic recently, which kind of sets it apart from at least the comic primers I’ve read myself. I don’t know what to put this on, since Robbie Thompson has been the writer for all of these Primers and has done an amazing job thus far. It’s just a strange blip, I suppose.

Dark Horse’s Overwatch (2016-present) #12 Michael Chu, Gray Shuko

Since I’m not really someone who’s played the video game for myself (I’m much more of a Let’s Play watcher), I view the world building pretty much entirely through the eyes of these comics we get. And that makes things... routinely difficult to decipher. Mostly because these are not coming out in a linear fashion to walk me through the worldbuilding.

Heck, they’re not even coming out in order of issue number for us poor souls on the comixology train!

So this is really one of my first exposures to how Overwatch functioned before it broke up, how the hierarchy worked, how the characters interacted. How... goofy everyone looks all wearing the same costumes and colors.

It’s interesting stuff for sure and I feel like if I was more plugged in to the metatextuality of the Overwatch universe I’d not have the difficulties following that I’m describing, but there are only so many hours in a day.

The art is good but sometimes feels a little stilted, especially when it concerns fully portraying Tracer’s movements and time displacement. I’ve seen it used better but that’s more of a personal nitpick.

Why isn’t Overwatch trusted in England. Why isn’t Jack completely on board with sending a team in at first. No clue. Especially if this is Overwatch in its prime. But I suppose we’ll see.

Or not. I don’t know if these comics actually fulfill any narrative structure since there are different writers and artists every other issue.

Marvel’s Power Pack (2017) #63 Devin Grayson, Marika Cresta, Chris O’Halloran

So this one-shot was a blast from the past in multiple ways for me. First off, a Power Pack comic!!! Legitimately some of the first Marvel superheroes I read about outside of Spider-Man when I was growing up specifically because reprints of some of their issues were in the back of Spider-Man Magazine back when.... I was a kid and... subscribed to Spider-Man Magazine through a school fundraiser. Anyway.

It’s also a play on my nostalgia for both having Devin Grayson as a writer and also having shoutouts to the fact that the Fantastic Four are still around and, by the logic of their last series, Alex Power is still with them.

Devin Grayson is a writer I’ve had a complicated relationship with for years now, which her tag on this very blog can tell you in and of itself, but for all the reasons I’m incredibly critical of her writing, there is also the undeniable fact for me that some of her character work is genuine some of my favorite writing in comics when it’s restrained and kept to series and characters she clearly loves and understands a lot. For instance, I much prefer Grayson’s writing of familial relationships over her writing of romantic ones. And it’s quite obvious here that she at least understands enough about Power Pack to predict where Katie -- who is a character that unlike Julie and Alex we have not seen much of in recent years -- would be like as a growing teenager. Given, most of the issue is Grayson retelling an old story from the original Power Pack series.

While the framing and general premise is hokey, you really get the idea that Marvel is testing the waters of what properties they can really bring back in the new comic book landscape, especially with the note at the end of the issue compelling people who want more Power Pack to contact Marvel themselves. Which, personally, I will. Because I love my kids and I do think there’s a genuinely interesting place for them to inhabit in Marvel right now. Especially since we know Julie is pansexual in canon and I just really, really love Julie.

The art also elevates a somewhat hokey concept to something really beautiful and modern, the breakdowns on every page are just gorgeous and I really have to give props here to Marika Cresta for that.

And in general, I want more women to be involved with comics so this team would be one I’d really like to see more of, whether it’s a future Power Pack comic (fingers crossed) or not.

DC’s DC Super Hero Girls 2017 Halloween Comic Fest Special Editions (2017) #1 Shea Fontana, Yancey Labat, Agnes Garbowska

Why this was chosen as a Halloween freebie is honestly kind of beyond me?The storyline of “Past Times at Super Hero High” literally has nothing to do with hauntings, curses, Halloween, or magic. It’s just the hang of kids from Super Hero High getting stranded in the Jurassic period and having to save their teacher. I guess... girls don’t like getting scared? Which by my estimation is an assumption which could only truly be made by either someone who never went to a sleepover party as a kid or doesn’t remember sneaking horror movies between friends without parental supervision. Kids eat up being scared. Kids also eat up anything with dinosaurs, but these things are fairly mutually exclusive when not a Don Bluth movie.

Beyond my hilarious, if I do say myself, skepticism involving the choice of this particular comic being used as the Halloween comic of choice for DC to distribute from the series, it is a well written and well drawn addition to what has been an incredibly popular series for kids, especially young girls, who want to get more interested in reading superhero comics. And as I’ve made known before, that is something that is very important to me, personally. Comics for kids and comics especially interested in young girls, that doesn’t talk down or overly exaggerate gender differences are so important in nurturing the next generation of comic fans. I know, because that’s how I became a comic fan.

It also is further proof that Shea Fontana’s run on Wonder Woman was criminally underrated and cut short as she really does understand how to write to the superhero genre tropes in a loving fashion and especially in exemplifying how strong and important the female characters are.

I just wish the general lineup of the main cast wasn’t so white. Like, Bumblebee is one of the main Super Hero girls and she got entirely left behind within the first few pages. We do have Katana, at least, but representation for race is just as if not sometimes more important than just representation for women. I hope that’s something that becomes more prominent as the series continues.

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II (2017) #1 (of 5) Erik Burnham, Tom Waltz, Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado

So I really adore Ninja Turtles crossovers to an extent that’s probably not healthy, and the previous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters crossover is by no means an exception to that, but one of the things that I could not have expected, even with as excited as I was for this comic to come out, was how much it tied into the ongoing storylines in both Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

No. Really! Seriously!

This is taking place between the last issue of TMNT that I reviewed and the next issue that will come out this month, which is why all five issues of this mini is coming out week by week this month.

It’s honestly really amazing.

The moment it opened up I knew that it was going to be Burnham and Waltz’ usual high standards of writing as well as Dan Schoening’s art (which also explains why his art has been missed on some of the recent Ghostbusters stories), but the moment we got to the “Ghost Realm” and saw not just Darius Dun from the IDW TMNT comics, but also references to his not-so-past murder I was like “holy crap I can’t believe that the consequences of storylines I’ve been curious about are finally coming to fruition here!

Of course that comes to its own difficulties -- as I mentioned in my review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe, we’re increasingly getting to a point where the Ninja Turtles’ ongoing narrative just... isn’t self-contained anymore. And while that’s worldbuilding and expanding, but also makes it increasingly difficult to follow what’s happening in the main book unless you’re plugged into everything that’s going on in IDW. Which, if you’re not an immersive fan, can suck. A lot. I mean, for nerds like me who intersect with Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters and Transformers and X-Files and so on, that’s kind of cool and enjoyable. But for people who aren’t... Well, there’s a reason that comics have been pushed as more and more niche even as the superhero genre and comic-sourced media are growing into multimillion dollar properties.

The art’s fantastic, the writing’s top notch. If you want to eep up with either properties’ storylines or if you just enjoyed the last crossover, I would absolutely recommend picking this up.

Marvel’s Thanos - Marvel Legacy Primer Pages (2017) Robbie Thompson, Ron Lim

As someone with not exactly the most cares in the world that Marvel has given a series to Thanos of all characters, I was kind of hoping this primer would, more than any of the others, sort of give me an insight to the appeal of the comic as a whole. And... really it didn’t that much. At least not by my estimates.

I did enjoy the art quite a bit, and I love that the impact of the Guardians of the Galaxy has just been growing larger and larger thanks to the movies, but other than that this Primer really didn’t offer anything that really stuck with me personally.

Dark Horse’s Usagi Yojimbo (1984-present) #163 Stan Sakai

So I did something with this issue that I rarely ever do, and that was that I looked around at other reviews online to see what other people were thinking as long time Usagi fans because... Well, to say the least the comics are always excellent but this time around I felt like I had read the comic before. Or, at least, that the storyline was similar enough that I was growing suspicious that somehow I had read the storyline before.

It turns out, I hadn’t. I had just been confused because the spy character you can see in the bottom right panel has been around in other stories (and yes I know that’s a weird detail for me to get hung up on but that’s my brain for ya). And instead of confirming or deterring my suspicions I became exposed to a completely different trend in comic reviews right now.

A.... strangely almost.... red-scare esque read of Usagi Yojimbo as pro-socialist???

We live in weird times, my friends. Where Usagi Yojimbo, a comic mostly about and making commentary on the history and culture of Feudal Japan, is being read now as..... socialist propaganda because the thief that Usagi and Ishida are after for most of the issue, Nezumi, is known for being a Robin Hood like character who steals from the rich and distributes part of his gains to the rest of the poor in the city, thus making him beloved and protected by the people who are more wary and unimpressed by the ruling class and police. Even though the eventual murder victim shown in the same issue is shown as having fallen on hard times and had his life ruined by Nezumi stealing from his business several times.

But. Everything’s political now. And while I get that, I guess it doesn’t sit right with me because yes, that is a reading you can take away from this issue, but personally what always strikes me about Usagi Yojimbo as a fan is how depth and nuance are hidden by the seemingly simple. That has always been my compliment of the art -- which is simple, B&W, and toned, but full of deep details and very insightful use of environment and dedication to building spaces -- from this issue alone you can almost build a map of the city just from how Sakai lays out the art and how the chase moves through it -- but works just as well with the writing.

There is a commentary here on how opinion and loyalty is built by redistribution and how the class system as it was in Feudal Japan leaves injustice to be answered by outcasts like Nezumi and gangs like the Black Goblins, or how punishment in a justice system which is imbalanced discourages citizens from assisting law enforcement -- but none of those things are shown as without judgment or repercussions either. Nezumi’s own lawlessness is leaving him exposed to being hunted down by the gangs as well as the police, and to be framed for murder. There’s definitely repercussions shown for his victims, how they are left damaged by his actions and the injustice of their society to the point that they are desperate and get involved with crime themselves.

There are no simple answers or simple interpretations from this issue. Just like there isn’t for Usagi Yojimbo as a whole. Our main character is not a benefactor of the system, but he is also involved in this case because of his friendship and loyalty to Inspector Ishida. Not to mention that Usagi’s associates are usually not the honorable sort like Ishida himself. And he has been involved with some questionable morality himself at times.

At any rate, it’s usually against my style to read other reviews before I write my own but I’m glad I did this time around, because the common interpretation I’m seeing is.... oddly disconnected from the comic I read myself. So it was fun to do a bit of a deep dive.

Lion Forge’s Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2 (2017-present) #3 Tim Hedrick, Mitch Iverson, Rubine, Beni Lobel

So. This was quite an unexpected addition to my pull list this week. They’re really cranking these comics out. I mean, it’s only been two weeks since the previous issue, it’s like they’re trying to be the comic version of the show in every possible way -- there’s not even breathing room between updates!

In all seriousness, this issue continues the honestly pretty solid quality that the last issue made standard, which again is just a complete shock to me because I didn’t enjoy the first issue. That being said, it still maintains the weaknesses that were proven last issue, too, especially in the alien designs and the general storyline we’re currently on.

While I could definitely see this across-space amnesty mission as something that would happen in the actual show, there is a lack of urgency or even connection to Zarkon or the Galra Empire that is incredibly noticeable. For better or worse, the show keeps very close to its baseline of tension by having even mostly filler episodes have an impression and general outreach of the Galra Empire felt. Without that present in the current storyline and without anyone on Team Voltron even bringing up the possibility of the ongoing conflict with the Galra coming up, we feel a certain amount of disconnect and weightlessness to everything happening. And I’d argue that nowhere is that clearer than when Voltron is formed to fight the Big Bad of the issue but.... the Big Bad is defeated by.... Coran’s cold.... Which Coran gave it by.... breathing/sneezing on it in space.

The art is a lot of give and take. I’ve said all I can on the fact that the alien designs aren’t feeling particularly original, but at the same time I have to credit the adherence to the style of the television series as well as the effort put into the backgrounds, really making even the scenes within the ship actually feel like the artist and writer had an actual location in mind for everything that was going on.

At the same time, that adherence could also arguably be a hinderance. After all, we do see a lot of times where the characters look... strangely off model, or their expressions and poses don’t match the tone of what is happening or even what they’re saying (the panels I included above are a particularly egregious example of this).

This all said, if you’re a fan of Voltron there really is a lot of reason for you to pick up the comics yourself. It’s not a supplement or introduction for the show, and in truth it’s not really making an effort to place itself in the show’s known timeline (somewhere between Seasons 1 and 3??? who knows).

And those are the comics for this week! Did you happen to agree with me? Disagree? Think I missed out on picking up a comic that was good? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

But before I let you go, I have to (yes have to) plug once more:

I have exactly a month to pack up everything I own and move halfway across the country again which is not helping those financial crunches I mentioned before either.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

[ Ko-Fi | Patreon | PayPal ]

#Rena Roundups #Wednesday Spoilers #SPOILERS #DC Super Hero Girls #Batman (2016 )#Power Pack (2017)#Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II #Marvel Legacy Primer #Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2 #Amazing Spiderman: Renew Your Vows (2016 )#Overwatch (2016 )#Usagi Yojimbo (1984 )

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delightful-mystery · 5 years ago

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Grief in Gold and Grey

In times like these, I always turn to music. I am incredibly lucky that my favourite band, Baroness, released an album so exquisite, so meaningful – that I am able to use it to guide me through these months following the death of my father. There will obviously be triggering passages in this blog post so I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to read it. There will also be lots of nerd-ing out about Baroness in a way that only a fan can do, so if you aren’t familiar with their music a lot of this might go over your head (I do recommend listening to them though, even if metal isn’t your thing). Quotes and facts are taken from Kerrang!’s track-by-track guide to the album, which featured lead singer John Dyer Baizley talking us through the album. I’m not going to apologise for being a massive music nerd, but I will warn you that it’s coming.

The album I am talking about is Gold & Grey, the last in Baroness’ line of colour-wheel-themed albums. These colours immediately to me seem to conjure up the season of Autumn and the changing of leaves, misty mornings and cups of coffee. I put on this album, beginning to end, one morning when I was set on some productive self-care. I had just changed my bedsheets, was wearing a cosy jumper and drinking coffee. I also had new pants on, which isn’t essential but damn does it feel good.

These are some of the musings I had whilst listening to this album. At the time of writing, I’m not one hundred percent sure I even want to publish this, but if I’m going to write about my dad dying, then using music as a way to break down conscious barriers and inspire creativity seems like a good way to go about it. So here follows a track-by-track breakdown of my favourite Baroness album, mixed in with some thoughts about grief, and how this album helped me to make sense of (at least some of) it.

It’s a cosy album, as far as sludge metal can be described as “cosy”. It is, I would argue very strongly, the best Baroness album to date. I felt slightly underwhelmed on the first listen, but honestly, with Baroness, you always have to give each record at least three listens to even begin to unpack everything. I think the proper turning point was when I put it on whilst going on a run, and ended up listening to ‘I’d Do Anything’ at the top of the hill outside Alexandra Palace, having just run 10k, sobbing my eyes out as I looked over London. I would also definitely recommend listening to this album whilst running, or maybe meditating.

The album opens with ‘Front Towards Enemy’, which I actually think is probably the weakest song on the album (that being said, it’s still pretty great). It’s classic sludgy Baroness, with tuned down guitar strings “as low as it would go” but also contains notes of r ‘n’ b, soul and has quite a pop-y chorus. It signalled to me that this album was going to be the start of a very different sound for Baroness, and bring in lots of different elements. Which the rest of the album definitely did. What I have noticed on subsequent listens is that the harmonies of the ‘Anchor’ duo – ‘Anchor’s Lament’ and ‘Throw me an Anchor’ – are repeated and reflected all over the album, and do a really good job of knitting the album together in a way I don’t think Purple ever properly achieved, or at least not to the extent I would expect from a band such as Baroness. It’s these harmonies which first begin the record, and they are beautiful.

‘I’m Already Gone’ is a more simplified song, but still so beautiful. There was a lot of improvisation done on this album. So much so that Baizley has said he’s not sure if he will ever be able to fully recreate the guitar part properly. There are so many colours mentioned in this album; this song makes use of black and green as well as “golden at the seams”. I’m not going to try to understand what John actually meant but for me it kind of sounds like inevitability. It’s a very dark song lyrically, so I don’t feel like I’m stretching by projecting my own experiences of looking death in the fucking face over the last four years of my dad’s illness onto this track.

When ‘Seasons’ was released as the second single, prior to the album, but after ‘Borderlines’, I did a double-take looking at my speaker. I literally stopped whatever it was I was doing just to stare, open-mouthed at the noise coming from the video I had just put on to play. I was so confused. Baroness are doing blast beats now? And is that…? I mean, that drum groove sounds an awful lot like drum ‘n’ bass to me. I mean, I loved it straight away but it was so different. This is the track which made me so damn excited for this album to come out. Also, “we bend, we break / we burn, but we survive” is but one lyric in a song all about seasons coming and going, and the constant flow of emotions and states of being. This too shall pass.

The first of the instrumental/interlude tracks on the album, ‘Sevens’ is an ethereal melding of different piano parts written and performed by bassist Nick Jost. It’s a perfect moment of calm in an album of chaos and it sounds to me like an understanding, a recognition of pain and a comforting answer to it. It also sounds like Steve Reich.

‘Tourniquet’ is such a stand out track. The bassline is the sweetest thing I’ve heard in a long time and I think Nick Jost did such a great job on this album as a whole, but this song is fully his. The end of the song reflects ‘Assault on East Falls’ as well – like these themes were all established in our collective subconscious in the first half of the album before being fully expanded on in the second half. It’s an album of chaos which is straightened out more and more on subsequent listens, if you only have the patience and concentration to allow the band to take you on this journey with them. Anyway, this song was such a solid choice for a single. It’s the epitome of the “cosy metal” I was talking about earlier. In the interviews with the band for their YouTube channel, Jost is sitting on a rocking chair on his porch, all bundled up in jumpers and drinking a cup of coffee, which is how this song should be listened to, in my opinion. Fun fact; to create the final chord of the song, Baizley set up a circle of amplifiers, the band stood in the middle wearing different animal masks and then played the chord for about ten minutes. They used some of it on the record, overlaid with the minimal effects found later on ‘Assault on East Falls’.

The Anchor… duo? Suite? I don’t know what to call it but there are two songs that go together next – ‘Anchor’s Lament’ and ‘Throw me an Anchor’. These are two songs I get completely lost in when I listen to them. I feel like the screams of ‘Throw me an Anchor’ are expelling my own rage and confusion, and it’s a perfect example of a time that I feel like the songs on this record are there to catch me. ‘Throw me an Anchor’ was another moment that I did a double-take (but like… with my ears?) when I first heard it. The intro is just so heavy. It’s the start of Side B. The chorus is pretty anthemic, but towards the end of the song, it just descends into this really primal screaming, which is something I really appreciate.

I find ‘I’d Do Anything’ quite a difficult song to listen to, since it’s just so vulnerable and heartfelt. The vocals are very exposed with just an echoey piano bassline and some strings to accompany them. It’s the first time we can properly hear John and newcomer Gina singing together in such an intimate way. I can’t get over how perfect this pairing is. They play guitar together as if they’ve spent a whole lifetime dueting. In one interview, they spoke about playing their parts simultaneously and recording live, so that if one of them messed up they’d have to start again. They also recorded whilst standing back to back, meaning that they had to put the maximum amount of trust in the other person in order to play the song. ‘I’d Do Anything’ has more dark lyrics and it’s a good one to put on if you fancy a bit of a cry.

‘Blankets of Ash’ is just a weird soundscape really. It’s a guitar part, a spoken word passage mixed so it’s completely incoherent, the noise of a thunderstorm and a massive bass drop with some haunting wordless vocals over the top. It’s bizarre and experimental and it totally works and I love it.

Gold & Grey album cover, designed by John Dyer Baizley. Seriously, cover me in tattoos of this man’s artwork, please.

This next song is an understated favourite. ‘Emmett – Radiating Light’ is just so gorgeously weird. Recorded in part in a cabin in the middle of the woods with crickets chirping in the early hours of the morning, Baizley has said that this is one of a number of songs on the record that he can’t actually play the guitar part for. This is a song which speaks to me as it discusses feeling displaced. “Where I’m supposed to be / Is no longer the place for me,” is a good lyric, but it’s the truly nihilistic “This blood upon my hands / Bruises on my knees / Don’t belong to me” which really resonates with me. A lot of the time right now, things don’t feel real. I have been on and off of autopilot for weeks. It’s really weird. But the song does offer some hope, as the narrator is still “… in a shower / Of radiating light / But not where I belong.” To me, it kind of sounds like there is beauty to be found in this sense of displacement, in this bizarre in-between state. And that I can let my emotions wash over me, because I am held by their beauty. It’s a really great song.

‘Cold-Blooded Angels’ is arguably the best song on the album. It travels through so many different emotions on its way to a classic Baroness trope of totally upturning all expectations of where the song was going and changing completely for the last minute or so (see also: ‘Chlorine and Wine’, ‘Psalms Alive’, etc.) It marks the end of Side B and really sees it off in style. I think about death a lot these days, and it terrifies me. Not the fact that I could die, but that, a few weeks ago, my dad just… stopped Being. I think it’s a pretty normal thing to fixate on, given the circumstances. This song also kind of puts that into words for me – the fact that I have been so scared of so many things in my life (growing up with crippling anxiety/depression/dodgy health from a very young age) and just wasted so much time being wary of everything when what is really scary is right here and now, just around the corner.

‘Crooked Mile’ and ‘Broken Halo’ also kind of go together. The first song bleeds into the next with this weird, jazzy and somewhat atonal mood. ‘Broken Halo’ introduces lyrics and is the most obvious mention of the album’s name, with Baizley bellowing “GOLD AND GREY”. It’s quite a straightforward song compared to most of the other ones on the album. With “I would do anything to feel like I’m on fire again,” it also mirrors a lot of the other lyrical content of the album. It also says “I will hold your broken halo” which to me just sounds really reassuring. I think Gina’s harmonies are also really great on this track.

The chaotic acid freak out of ‘Can Oscura’ is a good way of describing how I feel in the middle of this mess – like someone has pulled several carpets out from under my feet. I feel very small and lost in the middle of this massive event, and confused.

He’s so good

‘Borderlines’ is the song that won me back over after the disappointment of Purple. Not that Purple was bad at all – it gave us ‘Chlorine and Wine’, one of Baroness’ best songs to date. It just felt like it was more a collection of tracks than a coherent album to me. I guess that makes sense for their first album following the devastating bus crash; that it would be the auditory version of an open wound, but as soon as I heard ‘Borderlines’ I was immediately much more on board. This is the first time we hear Gina feature on a Baroness record as well, and I was so excited to hear her additions to this song. It signalled the beginning of a new chapter, a more cohesive album than Purple, and one which sounds to me like beginning to heal.

The minimalist ‘Assault on East Falls’ is a piece which has been hinted at throughout the album. Here, we get the whole piece in all its glory. It’s an interesting place to put the final interlude song but it’s a really nice set up for the final song, which is another of my album favourites.

‘Pale Sun’ is the last song on the album. It might also be my favourite. It’s bizarre and ghostly and mixes up rhythms in a really unsettling way. Gina comes into her own here too, with ethereal vocals as well as her usual outstanding guitar playing. I’m so glad she’s in this band. It’s an interesting choice to end the album on, but to me it sounds defiant above all else – yes there is darkness and yes it is close and terrifying and everywhere but I will continue on, despite it all, damn it. Even when the sun sinks.

Thanks guys <3

from Grief in Gold and Grey

#Grief in Gold and Grey #personal #mylife

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barddom · 8 years ago

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The Tempest

I started my reading list with The Tempest because it’s the first one in my copy of The Complete Works. It’s also a little bit poignant because Tempest is one of those plays that People believe “means” something about Shakespeare (or, as he will be colloquially referred to on this blog, Billy Shakes). It was probably one of his last plays, and because it’s about an old man giving up his craft, People say that it is about Shakespeare giving up The Theatre.

I don’t know about all that. What I do know that Shakespeare had daughters, and that the way he wrote father-daughter relationships is very particular and interesting. However, using his plays to try and expose truths about the playwright can be really unproductive. I’ve tried it and it’s hard and usually wrong. That being said, the plot is pretty wild.

[what follows is a plot summary. for hasty, last minute thoughts, skip to the end.]

Act One

Surprise! It’s about a tempest! We open in Act 1 with a storm, and a ship caught in the fustercluck.

The Boatswain and Shipmaster are like, “Nooo!” and the passengers are like, “Please God, I don’t want to die at sea! I want to die on land!” (1.1.63-65)

These passengers are: Alonso, the King of Naples, his brother Sebastian, his son Ferdinand, his counsellor Gonzalo, and Antonio, the Duke of Milan. Basically, the who’s who of Italy.

After this expository storm scene, we jump to a nearby island to meet our protagonists, Prospero (old, weird, presumably funky smelling), and his daughter, Miranda (young, nubile). Also, Miranda is the only female character in the play, which means we’re off to a really great start of continually failing the Bechdel test.

“Papa,” Miranda says, probably. “What is up with this freaky storm? Is that a shipwreck over there? Also, who am I?” (1.2)* (See notes at the bottom re: Miranda’s questions, memory, and this entire exchange.)

Here’s the deal: Miranda is fifteen, and has never met anyone other than Prospero, her father, or Caliban, the dude he keeps chained up in a cave for reasons that will become clear (but make that fact no less alarming).

Prospero, on today of all days, decides to be honest with Miranda about his past and her identity. This is a classic Billy Shakes move: exposing the noble lineage of a character to move the plot along. The sad tragic backstory is this: [cue violins]

Prospero used to be the Duke of Milan. Antonio is his evil, scheming, usurping brother. (Gasp!) Back when Miranda was a toddler, Prospero spent all his time reading magic books, and his brother was like, “I should be the duke!” King Alonso was in on it as well, and they shoved Prospero and Miranda on a boat and left them out at sea. Gonzalo gave them food, clothes, and water, but more importantly, the magic books! (Thanks, Gonzalo.) They eventually made it to The Island, where Prospero was like, “Chill,” and set up camp for the rest of time. (1.2.36-173) (It’s a long story.)

So the storm is Prospero’s revenge. He’s gonna really make life hard for the guys on the boat. (1.2.180). Miranda tries to ask another question, but her dad spells her to sleep instead, naturally.

This is where we meet Tempest’s real MVP: the spirit Ariel. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see him in action just yet. Instead we hear his tragic backstory. [Violins again, please.]

Before Prospero came to the island, it was ruled over by an evil witch named Sycorax. (Notice how men who practise magic are good magicians and women who practise magic are evil witches? Yeah, that’s a thing.) Prospero killed Sycorax, freed Ariel from the tree he was captive in, and then immediately enslaved him again. (1.2.257-293)

Prospero has promised Ariel that he will free him, as long as he follows through with the plan to separate, torment, and punish the shipwreck victims. Ariel’s like, “Already on it, boss.” And he flies away. (1.2.300)

When Miranda wakes, they go visit Caliban, Sycorax’s son! Wild. He collects their firewood and complains about it, mostly.

Meanwhile, Ariel has found Prince Ferdinand and is luring him in with sweet music. Miranda, who has never seen a man who is not a) super old or b) horribly disfigured, immediately falls madly in love with him on sight. Too bad, so sad, Prospero locks him up.

Act Two

We open on Antonio and Sebastian, who – I’m not gonna lie – I have always gotten a weird evil lovers vibe from. Is that just me? Probably.

They put their heads together and decide to kill the king, who is super bummed out because he thinks his son is dead. So if he dies, then Sebastian would be the new King of Naples! And Antonio would be the Duke of Milan and they could have slumber parties! Flawless plan. But as they go to behead the sleeping men, Gonzalo wakes up.

“Hey guys, what are those swords for?” he asks.

“Uh… we heard a monster?” they say, you know, like liars.

They don’t know how right they are, as we cut to–

Caliban, who is chopping wood (naturally) and starts to soliloquize on how much he hates Prospero, which is pretty understandable. I mean, a guy comes and kills your mother, steals the land you grew up on and were destined to inherit, and then enslaves you? That’s a huge bummer.

Enter Trinculo, the court jester, who was also in the shipwreck. The scene that follows is slapstick AF, providing a much needed break in the action of Slavery this and Drowned Souls that. He and Caliban end up under the same cloak for shelter from the storm, and Trinculo says, “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows!” (2.2.42.)

Too true, Trinculo. Too true.

Another survivor, the butler Stephano, rocks up, only he has a whole lot of wine with him. Get in, buddy. He thinks that Caliban and Trinculo look like a weird beast, and decides the best course of action is to feed it the rest of the wine. Caliban gets smashed, immediately. Then Trinculo pops out and says, “Stephano, buddy! It’s me!” Happy friends are reunited, and now have a drunk, pliable, and desperate Caliban believing that they are gods and that wine is divine nectar, and that they’ll be able to kill Prospero! Sounds logical.

Act Three

Because there’s not much to do on an island populated by three people, Ferdinand is the new Caliban and is in charge of woodcutting. He waxes poetic about how the work is hard, but his love for Miranda makes it all okay. (i.e. “This work is hard, but I am harder, eh-hey!”) (3.1.1-15)

It’s cool though because it’s totally mutual. Prospero isn’t too keen on it, and is spying on them from a distance like the creepy, overprotective father he most certainly is. He’s conflicted because Miranda has never been happier, but also his baby girl is growing up! [violins, again]

The important thing about this scene, I think, is the language about servitude. We’ve seen a whole lot of different kinds of servitude in the play so far - mostly, you know, involuntary. Miranda and Ferdinand exchange willing, voluntary vows, declaring their love for and service to each other. (See, kids? Love is a prison.)

Meanwhile, on another part of the island, Stephano and Trinculo are getting Caliban even drunker.

More importantly, Ariel comes in, invisible to them, and plays them some kickass tunes on his pipe. This is where one of the best known passages from the play comes from.

Caliban

Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices, That, if I then had wak’d after a long sleep, Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me, that, when I wak’d, I cried to dream again.

(3.2.130-137)

I love this part because this is where we finally start seeing the island for what it is: a haunted fairytale world. Caliban, who’s lived there all his life, doesn’t know what the noises are, or even the spirits that make them. His connection to the island is so innate and deep that he doesn’t question this mystery, just accepts it. It’s *clenches fist* so beautiful.

Back with the merry group of Italian Nobles, shit is about to get real. They’re busy complaining about their feet being sore, or whatever, and then… “solemn and strange music; and PROSPERO on the top, invisible.”

Strange shapes enter the stage with a banquet. Sebastian is like, “Cool, I believe in unicorns and fairies now, this is absolutely nucking futs.” (3.3.22)

Before the nobles can eat, though, the greatest ever stage direction I’ve ever read in my life.

Enter ARIEL, like a harpy; claps his wings upon the table; and, with a quaint device, the banquet vanishes.

First of all: enter Ariel, like a harpy? Can you think of anything more beautiful and terrifying than seeing a giant bird-spirit with an enormous wingspan emerge from the air, slam its fists down in front of your face, and vanish everything there? This is why Ariel is my MVP. He’s just such a drama queen.

I’m also hugely fascinated by the “quaint device” situation, here. There’s a good chance my MA thesis will be on magic/witchcraft on stage. As Tempest is a late play, probably 1610-11, it was written and performed under King James, who was obsessed with witchcraft. Magic tricks weren’t just slight of hand, back in the day, they were fully, completely real. The audience, the actors, and the king all believed in the supernatural.

Anyway, Ariel makes this big speech about how he is a spirit of vengeance who is there to punish them for what they did to Prospero, before vanishing in thunder.

Act Four

“Sorry I, like, imprisoned you, or whatever,” Prospero says to Ferdinand. “But you can totally marry my daughter. As long as you don’t bone her until after the wedding. Or else I’ll do… something. Something magic and weird.” (4.1.1-23)

“Cool,” says Ferdinand.

Ariel, when Prospero asks, brings down the spirits/deities Iris, Ceres, and Juno to bless the union. Then some nymphs, then Reapers. Which reminds Prospero suddenly! Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo were on their way to kill him! Yikes.

With the help of Ariel’s trusty invisibility cloak, they manage to spy on them, and then set dog/hound spirits on them, and scare them away. Too easy.

Act Five

Finally, Ariel is going to be set free! After god knows how many years stuck in a tree stump, and thirteen years at Prospero’s beck and call, he’s going to be set free!

Only no.

What proceeds is a super sad scene where Ariel, telling Prospero how the Merry Italians are faring (spoiler: not well), feels a deep tug on his ol’ sympathy wire. Or, rather, “Mine would, sir, were I human.” (5.1.19)

Who is the monster and who is the man? Huh? HUH?

While Ariel goes off to fetch the shipwreck victims, Prospero makes an awesome speech about how cool and powerful his magic is, and how, alas, he is going to give it up. Because he cannot be a wizard and a Duke, can he? Also, it seems to me that his main power was, you know, enslaving people and spirits who can do his bidding. Not exactly kosher.

Ariel returns with the Italians and Prospero finally confronts them. Of course, they’re like, “Are you real? I’ve seen so much crazy crap today I wouldn’t be surprised if you were a figment of my imagination.”

But no, he has a pulse, and he has aged, and he is real!

He confronts everyone, left and right. Sebastian, Antonio, Alonso - nobody is safe! (Except for Gonzalo who he’s chill with.)

He even gives them a twist by saying, “I’ve lost my daughter…” and while they’re like, “NO!” he says, “PSYCHE! I meant because she married the prince! Booyah!”

Meanwhile, Ariel repairs the ship, fills it with supplies, and sends the captain to pick everyone up.

“FREE ME!!!!” he seems to be screaming, through clenched teeth.

Caliban, Trinculo, and Stephano all emerge, in stolen clothes, reeking of wine and, probably, their own piss. Everyone heads back to the ship, bound for Milan.

But first - “My Ariel, chick / That is thy charge. Then to the elements / Be free, and fare thou well!”

Finally. Finally.

Epilogue.

To be fair to those who think Prospero is kinda sorta Billy Shakes himself, Prospero’s epilogue sounds a lot like an old man giving up his trade, there on the stage. In fact, he begs to be set free from it.

Really, it was Prospero who was the slave all along. A slave to his circumstances, his trade, his life. Heavyhanded? Yes. An attitude that maybe diminishes the suffering endured by the actual slaves in the story? Probably. But in the end, it’s Prospero who needs to be freed from the shackles of the play, of magic, of fury, a quest for revenge, and his life on the island.

What makes Prospero’s epilogue sound like a speech being given by Shakespeare is that he asks the audience for permission to step down: “As you from crimes would pardon’d be, / Let your indulgence set me free.” (19-20)

Only can the audience set him free - not the other characters. The epilogue happens for us, not for the sake of the plot on stage. It is our job to pardon Prospero for his crimes. Our job to let Shakespeare put down his pen, I guess.

My real interest in Tempest is, as I said, in the stagecraft of it, and the implications of performing, or re-enacting the supernatural on stage. I’ll likely think about this more when it comes to things like Macbeth, Midsummer, or any play with supernatural elements, like Hamlet.

Other fascinating points:

colonialism/land ownership

colonialism and language - (Caliban: “You taught me language, and my profit on’t Is I know how to curse. The red plague rid you For learning me your language!”)

that Ariel was freed from the stump implies that he was captive in the land. I’m sure there’s some kind of eco-criticism about this, somewhere, but I don’t know if I care enough about eco-criticism to follow it up

Memory

Antonio has convinced himself that he did not wrongfully usurp his brother, for instance.

Miranda cannot remember… anything? (See Kevin Ohi (2015), ‘Forgetting the Tempest’, in Dead Letters Sent: Queer Literary Transmission (pp. 49-66). University of Minnesota Press.)

The way in which Prospero constantly qualifies the story (1.2), asking her if she’s listening, if she’s paying attention, etc. implies that she might not be listening, that she perhaps can’t pay attention, that she might not remember. Despite knowing that the shipwreck victims are alive and safe, Miranda let’s Ferdinand believe that his father is dead - or, perhaps, she does not remember that Alonso is alive.

Caliban’s memory of his mother, of his island, of his childhood - it leads us to the question of who is the custodian of knowledge, of memory, for a place?

Performances and rituals

magic, marriage, masques (oh, i like the sound of that.)

And yeah. What a plot summary. Catch me never writing one again.

Things to accompany The Tempest:

Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed

The Little Mermaid and/or Pocahontas

Julie Taymor’s The Tempest (2010) where Helen Mirren plays Prospera.

“The Island: Come and See/The Landlord’s Daughter/You’ll Not Feel the Drowning” by The Decemberists.

#Shakespeare #The Tempest

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onlyonemister · 8 years ago

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Best of 2016

2016 is the first year that I have kept something resembling a journal. Back in August, my girlfriend got me a planner for my birthday, and I have written in it almost every day since. It is a calming experience, and has allowed me to take a moment to breathe and remember not only what I must do in the future, but what I have already accomplished.

It is surprising then that I spent very little time documenting my gaming life in that planner. Gaming, as anyone reading this blog might assume, is my most abiding passion, yet I take very little time to think about my gaming time as it relates to my life. I analyze the games I play. I discuss and write about the experience and the design of games, but I do not spend a lot of time considering how it is that games fit into my daily schedule. I sometimes like to pretend that gaming is separate from “real life”. I pretend that the time I spend gaming is somehow less worthy than the time spent out in the world. But it isn’t. It is exactly as worthy as those other times. Looking back through my planner, I have little to no record of what I played this year, what I thought about it, or how these games have factored into my life.

So this year seems as good as any to create my first Game of the Year list. It can be an accounting of what I played, why I played it, and why it meant something to me. Plus, The experience of thinking back on all the games I played this year was cathartic and enlightening. For one, I remembered a lot of games that I played this year that I had all but forgotten about. For two, I got to reconsider each game and think about what it was that made that game interesting to me. What was it that made these games work so well for me when I played them. What did the game do to make me like it so much, and what about the external experience helped it along. I found that a number of games this year stuck out to me so much because of the situations in which I played them.

10) Stellaris

Stellaris is a 4X game, which means I was EXtremely (haha) unlikely to enjoy it as much as I did. This is the first of many games on this list that surprised me in 2016. 4X is a genre of grand strategy game that involves allows players to create empires, and conquer the world through science, military might, or some other form of discovery. Usually, I find these games too impersonal to enjoy. I don’t have a place to sink my emotional anchor. The king of 4X games, the Civilization series, always felt too abstract to me. Playing as an immortal Gandhi negotiating with immortal Genghis Khan felt impersonal. These are not characters, they are avatars for a nation. What Stellaris does differently is offer a narrative to go along with its grand strategy. Not that it has a pre-written story Instead, as you play through the game, it does a fantastic job of developing a unique story for your alien empire. At the beginning of the game, players create a species both biologically and politically. Then, they take this species through their conquest of the stars. Throughout the experience, new leaders will rise and fall, time will pass, and events and characters will rise from the ranks of the randomly generated denizens of the player’s alien empire.

To help me create these narratives, I also brought in a ringer: a good friend from high school. We sat and played Stellaris for hours earlier this year. He was leaving town for grad school, and the two of us had always played games together. Sometimes cooperatively, sometimes competitively, or sometimes we would play two different games in the same room. Stelllaris is the perfect game for that over the shoulder play, with both of us making decisions about the direction that our peaceful space mushroomms would take in their quest to conquer the galaxy through negotiation and friendship. Stellaris found its place on this list because it gave me a reason to look at 4X games, and gave me a chance to hang out with a good friend and tell wonderful stories.

9) SUPERHOT

I played the browser-based demo of SUPERHOT all those years ago (I think it was like, 2) and wished for more immediately. Recently, I got my wish. The full SUPERHOT experience is simply fantastic. In SUPERHOT, time only moves when you move, making for a stylish bullet time experience. The only reason this game is not higher on my list is that I haven’t finished it yet. This is the flip side of seeing how games relate to my life: sometimes events in my life make my gaming experiences better, and other times my life gets in the way of my full enjoyment of a game. I love SUPERHOT, but other games and a busy schedule have kept me from tearing all the way through it. What I have gone through so far has excited me.

8) Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon is a game that I spent a decent amount of time with before 2016. The strange pattern of modern game releases means that some games are functionally out long before they are technically out, and I spent a lot of time with this game in Early Access. Darkest Dungeon is a disaster factory. As you lead your band of merry adventurers into the various randomly generated dungeons on offer, they will proceed to get less and less merry. Exposed to various horrors both Gothic and eldritch, your characters will pick up maladies that hinder their ability to function. Normally, I don’t like these kinds of games. Getting screwed over always makes me feel like I need to restart the game to try and get a better run. Darkest Dungeon is so cruel that all notions of having a clean run go out the window. Characters will go insane, they will turn on each other, and they will die. Once I accepted that, I began to have a great time with Darkest Dungeon, and despite its cruelty, the game feels fair. I can mitigate the horrible circumstances that befall my characters using good tactics, and the party building and moment to moment combat feel so satisfying and deep. I have a run going now where I name every character after friends of mine, and picking up this game for an hour or so every couple of days has been a great way to experience its horrible, horrible journey.

7) Overwatch

I thought I would hate Overwatch. Its MOBA trappings, and its competitive nature worried me at first. I am not a big fan of MOBAs, and I don’t usually find the time to put into competitive games, but Overwatch played with both of those ideas in a way that allowed me to dive into the experience. For one, aside from the skills that each character has, the game bears no resemblance to a MOBA. As far as the competitive side goes, Overwatch made me feel competitive without feeling like I sucked. The characters played differently enough that I could find a niche to fill in any game, and I enjoyed it enough to get good at it. Combine that with forgiving hit boxes and a community that genuinely seemed to be there for a good time, and Overwatch successfully dragged me into the competitive shooter scene for a time. It also helped me to make my first friends online. I played a lot of Overwatch with a friend of mine that I game with regularly, and he introduced me to a whole crew of people that played Overwatch practically every night. It fell by the wayside when other games I wanted to play more came out, but it has a special place in my heart.

6) DOOM

What is there to say about DOOM that has not already been said? It is just a fantastic shooter from top to bottom. It modernizes a classic without losing the soul of the original experience, and provides one of the most exciting shooter campaigns I have ever experienced. Also goddamn. A shooter with good shotguns in it. Oh man. I could not be happier with that.

5) Tilt Brush

Virtual Reality may not be “here” quite yet, but I am having a blast with it. When the VR headsets first hit the markets earlier this year, I was excited to see what they could offer and to see where the technology would go, but I had no interest in picking up a headset for myself. As the year wore on and I saw more and more VR experiences come out, I became increasingly excited about the platform, and after seeing some footage of Tilt Brush, an idea started to form. I called my dad, and we decided to go in halfsies on a Vive, and set it up somewhere we could both play with it. Day one of using the headset, and I had the same experience that everyone has seemed to have with VR: I was giddy, and excited about doing even the most simple tasks. That excited me, but what really got me about the potential of the system, was watching my dad play with it. A few years ago, I convinced him to play Journey as a birthday present to me. We spent almost three hours working through the game, and he loved the experience. The controls hindered him though. Controlling a character in 3D space is hard for a person who has never played a video game. VR solved that problem. Within minutes he was through the tutorial and painting in Tilt Brush. I have never seen a gaming experience so thoroughly enrapture a non-gamer. Not the Wii, not the rise of cell phone games, and not even the story games like Journey that I love so much. Google’s Tilt Brush has been the standout experience for my family. My dad is an artist, and Tilt Brush has brought him into giggling fits a number of times. Seeing someone who struggled through Journey with me have such an intuitive and fun experience with Tilt Brush has convinced me that virtual reality, in whatever form it takes, is going to be a lasting and encompassing experience in the years to come.

4) Brigador

Brigador gets the award for my favorite game of 2016 that most of my play time is logged in 2015. I played a lot of this game in Early Access, and the experience has only improved with Brigador’s official release. For those not in the know, Brigador is an isometric mech action game billed as a “Kool-Aide Man simulator” by its creators because of the characters’ propensity for smashing through walls. Brigador is a challenging game, at least in part due to its controls. Each type of vehicle controls differently, and the game’s combat requires constant awareness of positioning, facing, and aim. Stealth ends up being a surprisingly viable option, making smashing through walls like the Kool-Aid man to surprise enemies a critical strategy. Most enemies can be dispatched with ease if they are not prepared to take you on, but concentrated fire can shred even the toughest of tanks. It is a fantastic experience: tactical, stylish, satisfying, and all backed with some of the best gritty mech fiction I have read in a long time. Also, the soundtrack rules.

3) Monster Hunter Generations

Look, I just really like Monster Hunter. It is a series that has lived on incremental improvements, repeated monsters, and repeated maps, but with Generations, Capcom took a few exciting steps forward. The addition of Styles, and Hunter Arts has broadened the hunting experience. The weapons feel alive and exciting, and the fights have lost none of the edge. At least for me. A lot of people on the internet claim this game is a lot easier than previous entries, but I suppose I am not good enough at the games to make that call, because I still feel challenged. Either way, in this game I have used more weapons, fought more monsters, and all before high rank. Also, I got to go to the official Capcom Monster Hunter meetup in San Francisco last month, and it ruled. Meeting so many people as excited about the series as I am, and getting to hunt with total strangers rekindled my love of the series, and definitely contributed to this game placing so highly on this list. Plus, I won a Tigrex statue in a raffle by completing in game challenges, and that felt pretty good.

2) Titanfall 2

Titanfall 2 is my favorite multiplayer shooter. This is a major endorsement given that this year also saw the release of Overwatch, one of the most elegantly designed games I have ever played. I never got into the Left Trigger, Right Trigger shooter genre. Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4 both pulled me in with their excellent single player campaigns, but I bounced off of the multiplayer modes for those games. It felt like I could not defend myself from attack in those games, and I did not have the speed on the triggers that I needed in order to do well. Titanfall 2 has alleviated those problems for me. For one, the Titans allow for a slower pace of play from the Pilot combat. In a Titan, I can survive an incredible amount of damage, and take down waves of NPC enemies and human-controlled Pilots. With the battery system, I can even remain in my Titan indefinitely with a supportive team. Pilot combat is where the game shows how it has solved the problems I had with more traditional Left Trigger, Right Trigger shooters: in Titanfall 2, I can outrun bullets. In the Call of Duty games, once an opponent has gotten me in their sights, I have no chance of escaping. Maybe I can get a lucky headshot in and survive their attack, but most likely I would just get gunned down. In Titanfall 2, I can get moving so quickly, that I can get out of an enemy’s cross-hairs, outmaneuver them, and take them down. It is a major change to the genre that gives me a feeling of agency that none of its competitors ever have. Also, the single player campaign seems great. I have only gotten through a couple missions in it because the mulitplayer keeps drawing me in.

GAME OF THE YEAR: Stardew Valley

Not since Journey have I been so surprised by a game. When I first saw Stardew Valley so highly recommended by Dan Ryckert of one Giant Bomb dot com, I expected a cutsey game that would be fun to while away some time with. What I did not expect was to fall so head over heels in love with a fictional town and its pixelated inhabitants. Stardew Valley delivers an experience that is at once free and constrained, relaxing and stressful. While at first glance, it seems like a simple farming simulator, you can only work for so long on your farm in a given day. This forces you out into the town where you find a town filled with well written characters and some truly interesting mysteries. From skeleton arcade cabinets, to monster filled mines, to broken bridges, and a wizard’s tower, the town of Stardew Valley is littered with tantalizing secrets. It is also the game that taught me to let go of some of my desire for efficiency in gaming. Whenever I play games, I feel badly if I perform less than optimally. This used to mean that I spent hours repeating sections and levels, missing huge chunks of games that I never finished because I burned out trying to nail that perfect run from the get go. Stardew Valley is a game that initially seems like an optimizers’ nightmare: every day is limited by your character’s Energy as well as time, and there are so many things to do that someone trying to nail an optimal pattern would probably never make it past the first day. So, I had to let go. Fitting that a game about breaking out of a schedule and enjoying the simple things taught me not to worry so much about its schedule. Stardew Valley became something I returned to daily, both for short trips and for multi-hour sessions, and it never left me feeling bored. It is one of the most soothing games I have played in years, and I am always excited to boot it up and see what else I can turn up in the valley.

2016′s Not 2016 Game of the Year

Dark Souls

This year, I began listening to the Bonfireside Chats podcast. It is a podcast that takes a deep look at all of From Software’s Souls games, from Demon’s Souls to Bloodborne. I played Demon’s Souls when it first came out, and though I learned to respect its tough but fair attitude, I eventually moved on to other games, and never finished it. When Dark Souls came out, I bought it for the Playstation 3, and played through a solid chunk of it. Unfortunately, after taking down the Gargoyles that guard the Undead Parish bell, I got lost. I had no idea where to go next, and spent so many hours wandering aimlessly, that I gave up on the game. About a year later, a friend of mine got into Dark Souls on the Xbox 360, so I picked up a used copy and embarked on my journey again. This time, I found the door that I needed to unlock after the gargoyles, made it all of the way through Ornstein and Smough in Anor Londo, and then just kind of stopped. The slow pace of play and the slew of new games coming out eventually drew me away. In 2015 I played through Bloodborne, and actually beat it. I had a free week with no work, and the faster pace of the game allowed me to drive through to the end.

Fast forward to now, and the Bonefireside Chats podcast inspired me to dive back into the Souls side of the series and rediscover what makes it so good. I bought all three Dark Souls games on PC, and began my journey.

As of now, I am deeper into Dark Souls than I have ever been, and I am having a blast. Knowing so much more about the game, but also getting to rediscover that feeling of finding a new area and not knowing what to do with it are so exciting. The deliberate combat and tough but fair challenges really cannot be had anywhere else. If nothing else, Dark Souls is a master class in level design, and something that should not be missed by any game developer.

#gaming #games #game of the year #goty #stellaris #superhot #tilt brush #vive #darkest dungeon #overwatch #doom #titanfall 2 #brigador #monster hunter generations #monster hunter #dark souls #stardew valley

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nataliesexplodinghead-blog · 8 years ago

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RCA VISUAL CULTURES - THE PERFORMATIVE ACT, THE BODY & EROTICISM

This is another one of those rambling reflection posts. It’s just a splurge of my thoughts post-panel discussion, it’s not an attempt to offer a focused perspective or to be in anyway articulate, just a chaotic expression of elements from the event I found exciting, problematic, confusing, challenging etc. etc.

Here are three incredibly high profile artists, all ��peeking’ in their career right now. (The pull of the RCA?) Eddie Peake was commissioned to create a work for the Barbican’s Curve Gallery in 2015, Anthea Hamilton was nominated for The Turner Prize in 2016 and Heather Philipsson is shortlisted for the next Fourth Plinth commission. The subject matter is easier understood when broken down; ‘performative act’/ ‘the body’/ ‘eroticism’, and trying to understand the artists work through the lens of these three concepts.

The format involved three presentations by each of the artists and then a panel discussion. It was clear that all of these artists were uncomfortable with their work being framed within these ideas and were keen to push, in particular, the word ‘eroticism’ away from their practice. I felt that this framing was entirely unproductive in achieving a through line or conversation.

During the panel discussion Eddie Peake was asked if he saw his work as ‘queer’, he totally rejected this term. Nobody was pointing out that his work is a sexually aggressive, almost choreographic orgy of beautiful white bodies. And queer? ‘No, I don’t want to put labels on my work’, some kind of special ‘artist’ with such a unique experience, frankly it’s just annoying, and aloof - this idea that the artist is on a higher plain of understanding and has a more sincere interpretation of the world, is tired. It totally rejects the problematics of a straight man making work that co-opts the aesthetics of homosexuality, as far as I’m concerned, there is no such thing as the lone artistic genius, it’s all a response to the world, to what we see, to what we do.

In his presentation Eddie Peake showed a beautiful early work involving two artists (one of them himself) having to exchange clothes without revealing any part of their body. An impossibility, totally hilarious - Peake points to an interest in the body in a controlled situation with space for hilarious, chance occurrences. I love it. I see a later work where a group of men play a game of football in a gallery, naked. Again there is the possibility for chance humour, but in the documentation as it’s clear the men are playing up to the situation which is kind of grotesque and hypermasculine way - as a woman, it’s kind of upsetting to see naked men being so aggressive with their naked bodies, creating laddish camaraderie and esoteric humour. Peake himself points out that he didn’t want the players to make celebratory gestures and had asked them not to ‘act’ but to ‘really play football’ he wanted any humour that occured to be accidental, but this space he’d constructed was clearly too loaded and the beauty of the chance encounter with comedy in the changing clothes piece, here was lost. Finally Peake showed documentation of his work HEAD recently shown in New York, this is where Peake starts to get really problematic, painted bodies gyrate against each other. He says it’s about desire, the complex nature of sexual relationships and intimacy. He also claims there is no separation between himself and his work - he describes a eureka moment in which he decided his art must be his life and his life must be his art and all the things he does outside of art, football and dancing, must become art too. To me the most ‘life-like’ work was the the collaboration with Sam Hacking that Peake had made whilst still studying at The Slade, the swapping clothes work. To me it did everything Peake described trying to do with his later work, chance humour, intimacy and absurdness. Peake’s more recent work is hyper-choreographed, I’m not even convinced we can call it ‘performance art’, frankly it’s just contemporary dance, or theatre, he is using paid, professional performers and makes work that has no room for failure, no space for ‘life’. Watching choreographed bodies gyrating against each other, in the work of a cisgendered straight white male artist, may make some people angry, and rightly so, however, I find it impossible to truly engage with as it’s lost it’s ‘art-ness’. By ‘art-ness’ I mean the hand of the artist, the feeling that, for it’s creator, the getting on with life depended on making that work. Peake’s work has no soul, no desperate tug at your emotions, be that joy, laughter, humiliation, sadness or anger, instead your just left feeling empty which is not how you should feel after watching work by such a high profile artist in such prestigious spaces.

The next artist to speak was Anthea Hamilton. Her presentation was rambling and confusing, I am really confused as to what was going on with her presentation, I couldn’t work out if she was nervous, underprepared or just confused and found talking about her work really difficult. I think it was probably a combination of these factors but her presentation was like a rambling stream of consciousness full of uncertainty and unclarified ideas. It was really beautiful to hear her talk so candidly, particularly about a work that she did involving two Robbie Williams posters from her childhood, she explained how she did a trade with her sister for the second one, as she felt she had to have two. She refers a lot to images in culture and our desire to consume or obsess over particular images, it’s an exposing and interesting work that is also humorous and playful.

Another work that really stuck with me, or perhaps more the way in which Hamilton spoke about it, was her performance work for The Serpentine Galleries Magazine Sessions in December 2016. The work, entitled ‘Grasses’ filled the gallery space with enormous weather balloons, a group of improvising mime artists and a man dressed as a marrow. She doesn’t seem to be able to articulate why or how this absurd idea came about, and in a way that kind doesn’t matter - what is hilarious to me is the way in which she points out the mimes acting out situations such as an invisible orchestra and says candidly ‘this is exactly what I asked them not to do’. She also recalls telling ‘the marrow’ to stay completely still the whole time, and he’s really not! I wonder how on earth she has managed to fail so badly at getting paid performers to do what she wants. The performers, from what I can tell, are trying to make sense of the absurd situation. I have found this in my work with working with different types of performers, particularly clowns. The search for a narrative is insuppressible. For a fine artist, not telling a story with a performance, or indeed making work that is particularly entertaining, is usually not a primary concern. It’s a struggle I find a lot working across fine art and theatre, that often one is expected to tell some kind of story, or to make something that is giving to the audience, resolved, engaging, watchable. In some cases, this is definitely my intention, but other times it’s not, and as long as the work achieves what it set out to, then that is okay. Hamilton’s Grasses, definitely didn’t succeed in this way, but then she was aware of that. For me the beauty and performativity of the work actually came out in Hamilton’s honest account of how difficult it was for her to get these performers to do what she wanted, admitting to having failed in making the work she wanted, and I wish I had recorded that, because it was a much more interesting performance.

There is the least to write about Heather Philipsson who realistically gave by far the best presentation but to me was the least interesting - she successfully articulated her ideas and even lead to some interesting thoughts around the subject matter, which the other two had failed at so miserably. But she didn’t make me laugh, and she didn’t seem to fail at anything. And if you’re not failing, your perhaps not interesting. It’s all a bit polished - I don’t mean to brush her off but I am writing a selfish blog post about ideas relevant to my practice and perhaps she’s just not - but she’s probably the best artist of the three. But I am not inspired by polished, I am not inspired by articulate, I am inspired by clumsy, fraught with problems, emotional distress, frustration and chance encounters with comedy. Sorry Heather.

#fine art #references

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carasueachterberg · 6 years ago

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Flannery is about to enter her sixth month in OPH care which makes her a ‘long-term dog’.

photo Nancy Slattery

Currently, up to 30% of the dogs on our site are ‘long term dogs’. There’s a reason why each dog got that label and it certainly doesn’t mean those dogs aren’t good dogs.

It’s just means that these dogs don’t fit the cookie-cutter mold of what many people consider a desirable dog. Each of these dogs will need an intentional adopter who is willing to continue training the dog and understand how to manage the dog. This person will need to be patient and loving and committed. He/she will have to respect the dog, listen to the dog, and set the dog up for success.

As I write these words I realize that they describe what every adopter should be doing.

In our fast-paced world where we’re so comfortable outsourcing much of our lives—from meal-planning to lawn care to wine selection, we’d like a new dog to fill our home with love and joy and no extra work or mess. We’re disappointed if the dog isn’t house-broken and crate-trained or pulls on the leash. We expect that the dog will be good with other dogs, tolerant of cats, and friendly with all kinds of people. We want a cuddly dog, who already knows commands like sit and stay and down, and certainly, we can’t have a dog who barks excessively. The dog should have plenty of energy to play, but not so much energy that they bounce off the walls, leap on visitors or tackle the two-year-old. Oh, and the dog needs to be young and cute and just the right size.

Don’t get me wrong there are a few dogs that fit that bill, but truly, most don’t.

Sometimes it’s just a matter of not having been exposed to those things and with the right introduction, training, and patience, many dogs will fulfill those ideals. But some dogs won’t. It could be their upbringing or their breeding, or it could just be the personality of the dog.

[SIDEBAR: And, for the record, how many of us are so perfect?]

I spent nearly a year with my last ‘long-term dog’ and she is still in foster care now with a different foster home, a year later, having been adopted and returned. Gala is a gorgeous girl who tugs on my heartstrings every time I see her face pop-up on Facebook.

The depth of love and smarts in that dog still echoes in my life. She needs the right adopter and it breaks my heart that there has been no one willing to give her a chance in all this time, because landing Gala in your life would be like winning the love lottery, so complete is her devotion.

Flannery, like Gala, can be complicated, but like Gala she is also an absolute love, completely devoted to the people in this family. She has plenty of happy energy and is easy to train, but needs assistance negotiating the human world, mostly because, like Gala, she is so darned sensitive and smart. She notices things that other dogs might not and reacts to people with her whole heart, both traits that can overwhelm her.

For instance, I took Flannery to an adoption event on Sunday in a small, busy, crowded pet store. She did really well for the first twenty minutes.

Flannery is a small dog and couldn’t see beyond the piles of cat trees, people legs, and store shelves that surrounded her.

Consequently, each new person surprised her and this was terribly exciting. Her tail was on full speed wag and it was all she could do to give me a few ‘sits’ as I tried to distract her from the activity and dogs around her. Her adrenaline sky-rocketed when two little boys approached and she slathered them in kisses, leaping up again and again for attention, before collapsing in a puddle beside them.

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Eventually, though, the high energy and stress of meeting person after person got to her. She grew tired of the constant hands reaching for her and began to growl a low warning. That was my cue and we made a hasty exit. I knew she wouldn’t take her fear any further, as long as I heeded her request.

That growl said, “I’ve had enough. Even though I know this is all terribly exciting and part of me wants you to rub my belly and let me lick your face, the other part of me is overwhelmed by processing so many sights and sounds and smells. I need a break.”

The pictures and video of Flannery’s time at the event all document a happy little pup, lapping up the attention, but had we stayed much longer the pictures would have shown a much different dog. Because I know Flannery and because I listened to Flannery, we came home and had a perfectly pleasant rest-of-the-day.

So, is Flannery people friendly?

Absolutely. But Flannery has a limit to how much stimulation she can process. Flannery will need an adopter who knows this about her and who will listen to her when she’s had enough.

I think adopting a dog is a bit like getting married. You choose your dog/mate because you love this other soul, but you know (or should know) going in that there will be times when you will not love everything about the dog/mate and you will need to take a step back and figure out how you can help them and how you can co-exist.

Maybe your mate doesn’t like a houseful of noisy guests, maybe that stresses him/her out. So, it works better for you to meet your friends out at a bar or to go away for a weekend together. This doesn’t mean that your mate doesn’t like you to have friends, it just means you need to be respectful of your mate’s needs. Because your mate can tell you these things, it’s clear when change is necessary.

[SIDEBAR: When your mate doesn’t tell you these things, the car can begin to go off the rails…]

This works the same way with your dog. Maybe your dog finds meeting new people stressful, so you crate your dog when friends come over. You let your dog hear, smell, even see the people, but you don’t force your pup to meet them. Maybe your pup will be ready to meet them after the hype of entry has ended, maybe not. This does not mean you don’t have a good dog, it simply means you are being respectful of your dogs’ needs.

Sadly, the high number of long-term dogs in OPH care is a reflection of the fact that few people are willing to figure out how to manage a dog that acts outside the boundaries of what we expect. Dogs are not machines, though, and even the easiest dog needs your respect and effort. They love us with such complete devotion and in return deserve our respect and willingness to adapt to their needs.

The amazing thing about both Flannery and Gala is that neither really needs that much management, and the unbridled devotion you receive in return is off the charts. Both of these girls are funny, smart, quirky dogs who will adore their ‘person’ until the end of time. Once more, they both make exceedingly entertaining company.

photo Nancy Slattery

Photo Nancy Slattery

photo Nancy Slattery

OPH has begun exploring ways to better market our long-term dogs to help them find their forever families. They are offering more free training, more support, longer trial adoptions, even reduced fees for these special dogs. We want adopters to know that we will not desert you once the adoption takes place—we are invested in your success and the dog’s.

Finding homes for long-term dogs is a challenge that all rescues and shelters face. It’s a problem that only grows as we strive for a no-kill nation. Saving all the dogs, including the ones that a little more complicated will require effort and education and adopters who are open to a dog that is not a cookie-cutter pup.

And the thing I know, that all of us who have fostered a long-term dog know, is that the risk an adopter might feel they are taking in adopting one of these pups, is not a risk at all because all these dogs need is a little understanding and in return you’ll get a lifetime of love.

The bottom line when it comes to dogs and to marriage and to life is this – the more time and love and effort you invest, the bigger the payoff.

If you’re ready to make an investment, you can find Gala, Flannery, and many more incredibly amazing and absolutely adoptable dogs at OPHRescue.org.

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to know more about my blogs and books, visit CaraWrites.com or subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter (which is rarely monthly, but I’m working at it…everybody needs a goal).

If you’d like to know more about the book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, visit AnotherGoodDog.org, where you can find more pictures of the dogs from the book (and some of their happily-ever-after stories), information on fostering, the schedule of signings, and what you can do right now to help shelter animals! You can also purchase a signed copy or several other items whose profits benefit shelter dogs!

If you’d like to know how you can volunteer, foster, adopt or donate with OPH, click here. And if you’d like more pictures and videos of my foster dogs past and present, be sure to join the Another Good Dog Facebook group.

I love hearing from readers, so please feel free to comment here on the blog, email [email protected] or connect with me on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram.

Best,

Cara

Released August 2018 from Pegasus Books and available now

Risk Worth the Reward: Long Term Dogs are worth saving #dogrescue #itsnoteasy but it's #worthit Flannery is about to enter her sixth month in OPH care which makes her a ‘long-term dog’.

#dog management #dog rescue #dog training #long term dogs #patience

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autopilotrecruiting · 7 years ago

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New Post has been published on

New Post has been published on http://leadershipmentoring4free.info/blog/2018/01/29/5-worst-traffic-mistakes-avoid/

The 5 Worst Traffic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Avoid these 5 traffic generation mistakes

Imagine piloting a Boeing 737 down a runway, throttle maxed out…

…only to see another jet barreling towards the same runway intersection, timed to meet in a perfect disaster?

Well, that’s exactly what happened on a June evening at Boston’s Logan airport.

Only the quick thinking of the first officer saved the lives of the 381 people on board both planes, which nearly collided on the runway.

One plane reached liftoff speed and couldn’t abort…

But the other pilots were able to keep their plane on the ground, which passed just 70 feet under the other plane as it lifted off the tarmac.

As it turned out, the whole problem was a traffic mistake caused by busy and distracted air traffic controllers.

One gave permission to takeoff to one plane; another gave permission to the other.

With a terminal between their lines of sight, neither plane could see the other as they moved forward in an X-shaped pattern until it was almost too late.

Yikes!

And you know what?

Such traffic mistakes can be nearly as catastrophic for your network marketing business, too.

You might be humming along, doing your thing, with no idea how close you are to a disaster that could completely cripple your network marketing business, waste your advertising budget, and ultimately crush your entrepreneurial dreams.

Don’t get caught off guard!

Here are the top five biggest traffic mistakes to avoid at all costs…

1. Poor message to market match

First I want to mention the deadly mistake of crafting a non-compliant message for your traffic platform. For example, advertising any kind of “get rich quick” or “make money” offer on Facebook will quickly get your account shut down, so don’t take any chances there!

Next is not understanding your prospect’s level of awareness or the traffic source’s culture.

For example, “cold” traffic mediums (like banners, solo ads, or PPV traffic) are going to expose your offer to the least aware prospects, which simply means they aren’t going to know who you are.

By their nature, cold traffic sources are an “interruptive” medium; those who see your ad didn’t specifically raise their hand and ask to see it. They weren’t actively searching for your solution. And therefore it is interrupting whatever else they were doing online.

Note that this isn’t good or bad, it’s just the nature of cold traffic methods.

Cold prospects will typically have little to no knowledge of your company, your opportunity, and possibly even your industry, and certainly not awesome value you personally have to offer!

The only thing they are likely to have an awareness of is their own pains and frustrations and the only style of advertising they will respond to is very aggressive and based in benefits and curiosity. (Like “make money” or “lose belly fat.”)

“Warm” traffic mediums—like readers of your blog or emails, or your fans on Facebook—already know who you are and what you have to offer. You’ve already established a certain level of likeability and trust.

These prospects want to be engaged. They want to be educated. They’re looking for leadership. They know they have a problem and are actively looking for a solution. You just need to catch them at the right time and convert them into your customer. And you do this by continuing to ingratiate yourself in their world and providing value.

Key take away:

Your message is dependent on your audience and platform.

2. Relying on free traffic

Yes, free traffic is great. Yes, you should start working to get it. Yes, blogging and video marketing are amazing vehicles of exposure … but you shouldn’t rely on free traffic exclusively when you’re just getting started.

Think about the unknown artist who is singing and playing the guitar on a street corner, hoping for some change in his guitar case compared to today’s most popular acts—Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran or The Rolling Stones—playing sold out concerts to tens of thousands of fans.

When you’re new, your value isn’t established. The cold hard reality is that nobody cares what you have to say. Not yet, anyway.

Free traffic is based on producing awesome content that people want to consume. Free traffic takes time, knowledge, and consistency—daily…for a looong time. Free traffic is also not scalable because you don’t have any control over what and when something might go viral.

Plan to use a paid traffic strategy to get your business started.

Paid traffic gets your message in front of potential leads without them having to search for you, and as a new network marketing business, you need to get eyeballs on your offer sooner rather than later.

Serious network marketing business owners take control of their traffic by using paid sources, and they do it consistently for the long term. That’s what it means to be in business.

Key take away:

Start with paid traffic from day one.

3. Not having an advertising budget

You just learned why you need consistently paid traffic. You have to invest in your network marketing business to get it off the ground. That’s what serious business owners do.

It doesn’t matter if it’s $5/day, $10/day, $10/week, or $100/month.

Pick a number and commit to that number, knowing that your commitment will build your momentum.

When you spend your advertising budget, you have to be completely disassociated from what comes of it.

Think it this way: you’re buying data.

You can talk forever, but the only way to really learn how to be a marketer is to buy some ads, quantify your results, and do it again, making all the necessary adjustments to your strategy. You’ll discover how to tweak and target your ads more effectively to produce better results and scale as time goes on.

This is incredibly valuable, you’ll gain real experience and generate real results.

Now it’s time for a little tough love…

If you think you don’t have money for advertising—unless you’re straight up homeless—you’re lying to yourself. You can find a way to rearrange something in your budget to come up with an extra $10 a week.

If you say you want to be a business owner, this is where the rubber meets the road on your commitment. Demonstrate your leadership by realizing a way to make your advertising budget an expected part of your budget and a consistent part of your routine.

Key take away:

Pick a number and stick to it.

4. Not committing to yourself

If you’ve already made goals regarding what you want from your network marketing business, committing to yourself is the first step to start reaching them.

If you haven’t seen the post on how to properly set goals, go read it now. You’ll learn about a man with no arms and no legs who climbed to Africa’s highest peak. If that doesn’t inspire you to commit to your own goals, I don’t know what will.

Get “all in.” 100%. Don’t hold anything back. Believe in yourself. Trust yourself. Push yourself. Don’t ask for anyone’s permission. You’re not an employee; you’re an entrepreneur.

Create goals. Working towards them. Quantify. Hold yourself accountable.

If you don’t make a commitment to yourself, you’ll never hit those goals. You’ll never achieve your aspirations. You’ll never realize your potential.

Think about how badly you want the freedom of a lifestyle business. Think about what’s waiting for you. Do you want to give up or make it happen?

Key take away:

Commit.

5. Giving up too soon

When you start filling a marketing pipeline, progress might look slow.

Just like realtors may fill their pipeline for a season before the listings and clients start to come, you too may be filling your pipeline for a time before you can tap into its true potential.

The big mistake here is getting discouraged and quitting too soon.

What you may not know is that the small sales are just around the corner, and the bigger sales will come just after that, and the game-changing sales will follow in time.

They come. Always. It just takes time.

And it’s all-too-common for people to get frustrated in the process and quit just as the momentum starts to turn in their favor.

Who Do You Want to Be?

Kyle Maynard, the man without arms or legs who summited Kilimanjaro, talked about his struggle to reach the top. He shared how his body was in incredible pain and his will was almost crushed.

He felt that he had nothing left to give, and he wasn’t at the summit yet.

He wanted to quit.

Then he thought of the mother of the fallen soldier whose ashes he was carrying up the mountain. He thought of having to face her and tell her that he had quit, and that he hadn’t scattered her son’s ashes at the summit as he had promised.

That was the moment he knew who he wanted to be. He couldn’t be the guy who quit for that mother, and he couldn’t be the guy who quit on her fallen son. He was going to be the guy who kept his word no matter what.

That gave him the fortitude to reach the top of the mountain.

Don’t make the mistake of quitting too soon. Stick with the process, even if you have to dig to the core of your soul to keep going.

Create a vision of yourself as the person who keeps their commitments.

You’ll be surprised at how quickly the sales start coming, then thrilled as they keep multiplying as you gain momentum.

Don’t give up too soon.

Key take away:

Entrepreneurs don’t quit; they fail and fail and fail until they succeed.

Generate leads and get paid in the process

Once you’ve fully committed to yourself, your advertising budget, and to the calling of entrepreneurship…

You’re ready to master the methods of crafting an advertising message that attracts ultra-targeted visitors, who predictably turn into leads, sales, and profits.

Now, unfortunately, as you might have already experienced…

There’s a lot of downright useless and often dangerous “advice” floating around the ‘net.

And this advice leads novice marketers make mistakes like…

Wasting money on DEAD traffic generation tactics

Spending countless hours with little-to-no results

Getting ads disapproved and even accounts banned

That’s no braner!

These are costly mistakes when you’re just starting out. And if you’re not careful they’ll sink your entrepreneurial “battleship.”

Bottom line is that if you need to know what works—and what doesn’t—from an industry leader with a proven track record of real, in-the-trenches results.

(…and not just some “guru” with BS screenshots of gazillions of dollars in commissions, with claims of “never released before” information, all for just $27, but only for the next 20 minutes.)

Luckily I’ve got great news…

Tim Erway, CEO of Elite Marketing Pro, has already done the “heavy lifting” of methodically testing and validating exactly what’s working right now with our own in-house campaigns.

Tim’s generated over 1.4 million leads online—producing multi-8 figures in sales—and reveals the inside scoop on how you can quickly generate 100s and even 1,000s of red-hot leads online in his new, 100% FREE traffic workshop.

You’ll discover…

5 pillars of traffic generation you absolutely must have in place or watch your campaigns suffer and bleed cash…with little to no sales.

A 120-year old advertising secret which has become the single best list-building strategy you can use right now.

How to get started on a tiny $10, “shoestring” budget and scale to massive profits.

In fact…

These are battlefield-tested strategies you can safely use right now to get boatloads of ultra-targeted clicks, quality leads…and most important of all…SALES!

Check it out right here.

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popmitzvah · 8 years ago

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Now I Am Become Slut, Destroyer of Worlds

The host is alive. She is sentient. She is self-aware. And she knows you have programmed her to attack herself and the others.

Nope! Not a blog about Westworld! At least, most of it isn’t. I want to talk about The Bachelor and I want to explain why this show is the place to be, if you’re into the shock of watching creations outsmart their creator-controllers. The more I read this Bach season as a rumination on feeling fictional and clawing for “reality,” the more I was reminded of HBO’s ambitious series on gnosticism, humanity, and the function of storytelling. Might even go so far to say that these two shows share a soul; Dolores Abernathy would be right at home at a rose ceremony!

Please follow me, down into a fake mansion that houses a harem, where we can take a closer look at the things that made The Bachelor so distinctive in its 21st season: existential female anxiety, textual reflexivity, and the peculiar journey of Corinne, a single trope that managed to awaken and rewrite herself.

Born into an apocalyptic Trumpworld, this iteration of The Bachelor became something kind of dark, dreadful, and a little bit out-of-control. Of course, The Bachelor is always a circus, and that’s why so many people hate it: for a television fan, it takes a strong set of stones to follow something so vapid, so dependent on tired stereotypes and romantic wish-fulfillment, so misogynistic, so corporate and disingenuous. How many different ways can producers arrange 30 beautiful women in a Love Thunderdome as they compete for the affections of one bland white man? But there was something poisonous in American culture at large that made Season 21 into something else, something crazier. Perhaps the 2016 election left a vacuum of hope that encouraged The Bachelor producers to lean into self-destruction as an aesthetic. Perhaps we, the audience, are evolving to watch ourselves watching TV, and we prefer everything to be kind of about storytelling – ergo the timely popularity of diverse “meta” shows like Westworld, American Horror Story, Fleabag.

Either way, the new Bachelor was defined by these new and distinctive notes:

Contestants who bristled inside their assigned story cages and pointedly drew attention to the process of being written as characters.

The season’s primary “villain,” Corinne, who transcended the confines of the Bach with a Joker-like sense of chaotic sexuality and stunningly re-branded her arc as sex-positive feminist heroism.

An unwilling Bachelor whose weird charisma relied on his apathy, nihilism, and constant critique of the format. Nick undermined our reception of the Bachelor experience by positioning himself as a bored observer – distancing himself from the contestants and the ideological underpinnings of the show.

First, I want to take on Bullet Number One – the Westworldian crises of self that entered this season of the Bachelor early on and began the process of destabilizing narratives and the women forced to live them. Take a look at what happened to Jasmine G on Night 1. Now, it’s not unusual for Bachelor women to immediately recoil from the uncanniness of this environment – to be a Bachelor contestant, to be on a reality dating competition, is to be subjected to spirit-breaking. These women are tested every moment with the pressures of self-criticism, of being filmed, of being beautiful, of being charming, of systematically attacking and defeating your stunning competitors. But something about Jasmine G’s body language and wording struck me as a crisis of self, a dissociative episode which bespeaks her sudden awareness that she is performing and this whole thing – maybe any love-hunt – is theater without meaning.

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“It doesn’t matter. It’s out of my control. There’s nothing I can do. Holy shit. Who the fuck am I? I’m blown away right now. Who am I?”

Night 1 would be the first of Jasmine’s many system failures, glitches in her personality and physical affect which provided an alarming counterpoint to the self-policing composure we’re used to seeing on these women. Nick eliminated her because of her unpleasant urge to question the “realism” of herself, of him, of the experience. And this was not the only instance of unusual meta-awareness amongst the women. Many of the others expressed a certain repugnance at the roles in which they were pigeonholed – at their status as storylines. Liz’s only mission, with mounting desperation, was to rewrite her way from Nick’s opportunistic ex-fling all the way to romantic legitimacy. Taylor realized too late that her Bachelor persona and “real” professional life were being mapped onto one another and she’d dug herself into the “bitch bully” hole (with the help of her nemesis Corinne). Taylor also literally theorized that some women are better-programmed for love! What could be more Westworld than attempting to parse the resident slut’s “emotional intelligence”?

So there was a significant change in the show here, in which the women’s grasp or ignorance of “being produced” was of paramount importance to how we perceived them. To compare these women to WW characters like Dolores and Maeve – remaining basic, guileless, and easily overwritten ensured a measure of success in the competition and preserved their classic Bachelor likeability factor.

So with that said, I’m dying to get back to Corinne. Here was a contestant who really jumped off the screen for reasons I’ve never seen an antagonist “pop” before. Unlike a villain such as, say, Season 20’s Olivia, Corinne worked to distinguish herself as a breakout character – not just through behavior but through actual world-building. Starting the show out by mentioning her current nanny Raquel was a stroke of genius; Raquel was a framing device that indicated Corinne inhabited a bizarre fantasy world inside and outside the show. In so many ways. Corinne deliberately ate endless blocks of cheese on camera. She feigned naps, eyes closed, smiling beatifically as she “dreamed” of Nick. She self-consciously and joyfully delivered dialogue she knew would light up the internet. Clutching her breasts and huffing, “Does this seem like someone who’s immature?” Staring soullessly into the lens and intoning, “My heart is gold, but my vagine is platinum.” Luring Nick into an inexplicable bounce house and toplessly dry-humping him with abandon. Corinne’s promiscuity, and her persona, were over-the-top but deliberately, defiantly, and delightfully self-choreographed. We know the floozy never wins, but when the floozy knows it, ignores it, and enjoys her role, she transcends happy endings.

And most interestingly, Corinne elevated her self-awareness and self-programming into a magnificent final act. During “The Women Tell All” (a reunion episode which airs before the finale) Corinne, in one fell swoop, ret-conned her entire Bachelor journey as a feminist rumspringa. “I was just doing me,” she demurely insisted, while the other contestants fought to defend her sexual agency. They leaped to defend the resident slut as the bravest and most authentic person amongst them. Corinne sat, resplendent, her eyes bearing no trace of the mischief and malevolence that had been her character cornerstones. She’d accomplished a rewrite akin to “it was all a dream.” Later, women sobbed while Liz declared her sexual encounter with Nick had not “defined” her, and they took turns praising their sister for her humanitarian work. The thematic tide-turn from “a search for true love” to “an inner journey toward female unity and empowerment” made for the most overtly political and topical episode The Bachelor has had, maybe ever – and it bespoke the malleability of reality fiction in a way the show has never previously approached.

In many ways, it was Bachelor Nick’s abdication of his role that allowed the TV text to refocus itself on the women “waking up” and growing through their relationships to one another. It’s hard, as a viewer, to engage with story about passive female players being driven toward romantic fulfillment, when the end-goal is a guy who’d be content to go home immediately and eat cold pizza. As we know, the guy had already been through two seasons of The Bachelorette and one summer of Bachelor in Paradise – his entire narrative was “last-ditch effort for love.” Nick made it his business to call out the fakery of The Bachelor, and the futility of it: “Let’s try to be as normal as possible in an abnormal environment.” “I’ve been in their shoes, and I know how much it sucks.” I certainly like Nick as a person – I like that he cries when he feels stuff, and I like that he hates being The Bachelor but loves being famous, and I like that he let women who were too good for him go, so they could fly and be free and be the first black Bachelorette. But if Nick did anything other than represent a neat resolution of the presented Bachelor narrative, he effectively denied our suspension of disbelief and exposed this particular season as “reality farce with no point.” Prince Charming was just in it for the international travel and the free food. I sympathize. And it’s fun to watch The Bachelor pretend that this isn’t a huge problem.

SO! I posit here that, at least for this season, The Bachelor evolved beyond the story of single women and their search for love. You might say that instead of being about singlehood, this show became about “the singularity” – that moment when program/character/trope/story/world comes alive and begins to adapt and change itself. I wonder: is it a better ride for the reality-consuming audience, when “we know they know”? At what point does watching a character with meta-awareness become confusing, or tiresome, rather than thrilling? And most importantly, what are the differences between watching reality television and prestige drama when we’re grappling with these issues? This question, perhaps, is of paramount importance for TV fans as we go forward; if there’s something in the water that’s poisoning every genre of narrative experience (or making it tastier), we have to put our fingers on it. Why do I watch so much television about women in traps, whose self-actualization and creative escapes are catalyzed by patriarchal violence? Why is it so easy to find that story?

I think it’s easy to brush aside shows like The Bachelor precisely because they are so heavily consumed, across political and cultural lines, and “mass appeal” television has the reputation of reifying harmful structures of power. For really good reason. But it’s important to locate these small moments of medium-transcendence within these TV texts. More and more, the characters we use and abuse are turning directly towards us. These fictional delights have real ends, and it’s never, never about the final rose.

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#westworld #the bachelor #corinne #nick viall #media studies #narrative theory

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nihil-a-nusquam · 8 years ago

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Universal diagnostics.

Last night whilst meditating ive stumbled upon a chamber which i'm certain my young enough eyes weren't supposed to have access to. Then again, i am Syre, so. Anyway, i was engaging in an activity with volitile consequences and a large percentage of my observational awareness momentarily dropped when i realized how dangerous my perdiciment was. Fearless as usual i shrugged in the face of death, who reminded me of the infinite possibilities in which my soul can journey. Death must have shown me to this chamber. Life is like a book, kind of sort of, but there is no beginning or end, we all sort of just get dropped into the awareness of it when we're born but the circumstances behind our existence will never be revealed. I can tell you with confidence however, that it is directly linked to our blood, hence the importance overall in society, of blood. The map acts like a film, only instead of a scroll, the film fans into a sphere. And in the center is your soul which is a pool created from the runoff of the source of the universe, the thing feeble minded beings call "god". In this map, time is definitive. And dimensions and parallels are endless. I'm working on how the map interacts with others, but they described it as a web long ago, similar to a spiders. The map must have balance or the revival energies of the soul will be restricted and the individual will die. This is okay, however, because reality to what we understand it in this plane is actually an illusion more akin to the moddern understanding of a simulation. Art imitates life. Imgine your map as a flat plane of existence. An entire realm specific set to your perameters. In this plane we experience reality out of infinite possibilities. Our perception of reality is dwindled down to the most probable reality, but this doesnt imply that other realities arent tangent. Free will is commonly boasted about in religion but they leave out specific key points that prevent you from comprehending what this actually means or what its relevance is. For one, you cannot sell your soul. Only dedicate it through choice to anothers purpose, and even then there are infinite possibilities where you have the ability to choose your actions. The only thing you can be a slave to is yourself. Your addictions and dependancies. And these are all very earthly reality designated traits of a being. Love exists. Hate is a fallacy. There needs to be no balance between the two because love does not coexist with a balance, love is indefinite because in its true form, love is pure. Our reality forces us to percieve this as a balance. Unlike want. Want, desire, all such things have a balance. With wanting comes do not wanting. We have likes and dislikes and that is directly relatable to the equivalent yet opposing. Wrath is an emotion, there is no balancing emotion because there is no score to be kept, only the fact that by doing so you are causing damage to your timeline, as with wrath you are focused on a path of destruction which leads to life events unfolding and tributaries to the life force signature river draining out and drying up. These fates are not dead. Fate and destiny are other interesting yet irrelevant earthly concepts when we break it down to what matters. We can percieve the map as a timeline and tap into the possible realities or future realities based on the strongest lead we have on what our destiny is. But. We can only percieve the events as they unfold unadulterated by interaction from others. This is a very complex and complicated form of perception that we take for granted because like our grandparents before our parents, we only understand what we are capable of perceiving. And existing in a corporeal realm we have difficulty percieving anything than what we are redily exposed to, in addition to that, we are commanded and tricked into behavioral condemnation that forces us to act a specific way for the benefit of those who either have figured out the map, or, have convinced the remainder that they have figured it out. As time grew on, we inherit the behaviors and information from our genetic memories. The memory gospel, if you would. And this deals in its entirety with your personal experiences and what you take from them and what you biologically pass on to your children. Not every facet of existence will be passed on, but, personality wise and aptitude you will inherit some things custom tailored to the reflection of your soul's position in the universe. This is relative to a compiliation of all the experiences your soul and other souls have collected and which house under what they see fit to be governed. There is a heirchy to this, but, that is irrelevant on our level. Factoring in everything from divination to the memory gospel, to our imagination and thoughts we are beings of true marvel. However our importance to the universe lands pale in comparison to what we consider the gods and higher beings. We as humans on this reality plane, obey rules made up by other humans who testify that they have been a witness to the divine plan. This, is absurd, especially because they cannot prove it. However, there is a connection to the other planes of existence that this carrries over and holds importance to. Without purpose we would be murdering eachother and stealing our neighbors car then joyriding it off a cliff. There must be order to our behavior for us to progress. And as we are growing our purpose is to grow stronger and ascend to the next level of comprehension. We are not alone in this, as there are guides but they must disguise themselves because if they are found and the truth came out humans would do what they do best and try to manipulate and exploit that weakness in the universe for corporeal gain, and in turn that would bring the entire structure crashing down. So we must remain clueless to truth. It is difficult finding truth when truth is forbidden. Effectively, this blog stays alive with my thoughts for the rare probability that someone will stumble upon it. The universe has a design and does not pick by random to display events, so under that theory if your eyes are witnessing this writing, it was meant to be as i refuse to broadcast my very off the wall perspective in a collective setting. Just as important as the memory gospel is the power of will, willpower. We see this necessary to understand the law of attraction, which is a quantified example of how the universe works if one has ever implimented its resources to their benefit. I have, but my intent was a love of which i was forsaken, so, no matter how hard the attempt to succeed was it is clear that there are fixed points in the timeline. Which brings me to children. It could be as simple as my blood must flow through anothers veins, or, i must die alone as to not continue my pace. I am a rabbit in the chinese zodiac which is the last stage of travel for that designated soul. So it would make sense that my personal genetics would not be welcomed transfered into another being. Or. It is possible i have not fulfilled the memory gospel to accuracy therefor cannot pass my seed to another to grow off of incomplete knowledge. But as we want and move forward with life we are welcomed to the idea of infinite possibilities which our actions can lead to. This is accurate and related directly to the purpose, you will not experince or even concieve a reality which your soul was not meant for. No matter how many lottery tickets you purchase. Sorry. Whilst divination, through tarot or through other mediums, we can only rely on the seer to translate the most probable outcome. Or if we are percieving this ourselves. And as we are perpetually changing and growing and the actions of others around us effect us, it is presumed that it is impossible to narrow down a fixed life event to its accurate place in the continuum. As it is a map it is also a puzzle. Anyway, whilst my dangerous activitiy was commencing i witnessed a blink of the spark fade and then rengenerate as the realization of the danger came to my sights. This makes me feel like the whole map is vibrating which means there is flexibility in the map. A range if you will. There are no exact fixed points only a collection of the possibilities. In many of the realities i witnessed my head was blown off. In some, the damage was minimal and only effected me, in others the damage was severe and not only led to my death but created a ripple effect which led to the deaths of others. The apartment catching on fire, the overwhelming sadness of my loss of life leading to suicides. And in other realities, i changed my mind and the event ceased to exist. I was existing as a projector of my own infinite realities where the most powerful realities cooperated to give me the experience i was in tune with. Other strange instances occured while i was observing this experience in the chamber within my meditation. As it seemed, the realities where death was selected allowed me a level of permit to explore the depths of that reality. I believe these fragmentes exist to us and are displayed as dreams as the thickness of the veil of reality is compromised and imagination is allowed to take access. The reality isnt laid to waste in that circumstance, instead it is used to build another softer stimulation that we experience when we are in dreamstate. Which makes Astral travel and projection excruciatingly difficult. You must be grounded to one reality for this to occur in its pure form which is the only way you memorize and recall the experience. A broken person or a person not in touch with themselves and their soul would be incapable of experiencing this, and thus the concept would be foreign to them. Other strange things i noticed were the impact emotions had on our realities. In the one reality where i chose to die the ripple effect penetrated the emotional threshold of everyone ive ever met that had heard of the news. In a way i was still alive through their memories and i was able to ride along their journey as a temporary guest. This only applied in potency to those which i held the most importance. Life events unfold and it is up to us to create a balance in our souls, or hearts if youd prefer to not cosign to the existence of the spirit. The less certain realities there are the stronger your position on the board becomes. Im not saying that a pawn can become a king. But i am not ruling that out either. To comprehend this map, you must be the only contingency on it. Your decisions must be difinitive, your emotions in check. And your sense of imagination and wonder must be so dialed in that you are able to detach imagination from willpower influenced reality. We do exist in a realm of laws and rules in which whether or not we want to we must abide. The boundaries are unmovable. In conculsion of this, whatever it is, i would like to mention that this is strictly speculation of an observed reality during an elevated state. This by no means contributes to the actual reality we experience, instead is more food for thought and wonder. I enjoy these sessions because i feel although i might not be correct, the thought exercize in figuring these things out leads me to a healthier whole, as is my choice to be led by my own intuition to the source of the universe and not by the hand of a older person claiming age gives them permission to my body. Dream on tumblrs.

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