#Jennifer Carr

[barrylyga]

A little snippet of my convo with Jennifer Carr on her podcast! You can hear the whole thing here.

[dianaleaghmatthews]

12 Days of Christmas: The Hope of Christmas by Jennifer Carr

Today is the second of our 12 Days of Christmas and it’s a joy to welcome Jennifer Car. She’s sharing a short excerpt from her book and then a Christmas devotional. Excerpt from The Lost and Found, by Jennifer Carr “As we consider the Christmas season, we are reminded of how Mary and Joseph were forced to leave the comfort of their own home in Nazareth to embark on a journey on foot to a town…

[lilyflowerhere]

I don't have type

Also me when she is a traumatized female detective

[sillysoraya]

Some pics from my Pleasantview-Bluewater Village hood :)

The two wearing orange are 'Tutorial Joe and Jane' Newbie!

...And that is Joe Carr who Coral Oldie is giving a backrub to - no, Herb isn't dead yet, but Coral is clearly done with him already👀

[lavender-tome-collector]

Vogue (USA) January 1989 Models Kara Young, Carré Otis and Jennifer Noble featured as new era of fashion models ushering in the 1990's .

[pleasantcandytraveler]

I wish this show would come back I love the chemistry between these four.

[redcarpetview]

2023 Stellar Awards Set to Premiere on Stellar Network on July 30, BET on August 6, and Bounce TV on September 3rd

Stellar Awards 2023 Co-Hosts Jonathan McReynolds & Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Photo Credit: Earl Gibson, Courtesy of Central City Productions.

            CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE IN GOSPEL MUSIC: WINNERS OF THE 38TH ANNUAL STELLAR GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS REVEALED, WITH PASTOR MIKE, JR. SWEEPING THE CEREMONY WITH EIGHT TROPHIES

      Other Multiple Winners Include DOE and Zacardi Cortez with Three Awards; Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin and Tye Tribbett with Two Trophies Each 2023 Stellar Awards Set to Premiere on Stellar Network on July 30, BET on August 6, and Bounce TV on September 3rd

     LAS VEGAS, NV – The highly anticipated 38th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, the “Greatest Night in Gospel Music,” culminated in a spectacular celebration of talent, faith, and inspiration. Hosted by Jonathan McReynolds and Tasha Cobbs Leonard, the 2023 Stellar Awards captivated audiences with powerhouse performances and heartfelt moments that brought the power of Gospel music to life. During a star-studded ceremony held at the Las Vegas Orleans Arena, the winners in nine categories were awarded statues, highlighting the remarkable achievements and contributions of Gospel music artists and industry professionals.

        The show opened with an electrifying performance of "Miracles'' and "Impossible" by Kierra Sheard Kelly and Pastor Mike Jr., the night's biggest winner. Pastor Mike, Jr. earned eight awards for his work on the album “Winning,” released under Blacksmoke Music Worldwide. The project was named Album of the Year and Contemporary Album of the Year, while Pastor Mike, Jr. also took home the prestigious Song of the Year Presented by McDonald’s, Artist of the Year Presented by AT&T Dream In Black, Male Artist of the Year, Contemporary Male Artist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, and Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year awards.

      DOE, who entered the industry with her family as a member of the group Forever Jones, praised her way to solo success earning three trophies, including the Albertina Walker Female Artist of the Year Presented by Walmart, Contemporary Female Artist of the Year, and Urban/Inspirational Single or Performance of the Year for her album “Clarity,” released under Life Room Label/RCA Inspiration. Zacardi Cortez also brought home three statues, earning awards for Traditional Male Artist of the Year Presented by Bevel (a P&G Brand), Traditional Album of the Year, and Praise and Worship Song of the Year for his album “Imprint,” on Blacksmoke Music Worldwide.

       The collaborative effort of Maverick City Music x Kirk Franklin resulted in their joint album “Kingdom Book One” on Tribl Records/Fo Yo Soul Recordings/RCA Inspiration winning in two categories: Duo/Chorus Group of the Year Presented by P&G and Contemporary Duo/Chorus Group of the Year.

            Tye Tribbett. Photo Credit: Earl Gibson, Courtesy of Central City Productions.

        Tye Tribbett also brought home two awards, including Producer Of The Year Presented by Aflac and Recorded Music Packaging Of The Year for his project “All Things New,” released by Motown Gospel.

         Lena Byrd Miles earned the New Artist of the Year award for her My Block Records project “Brand New;” Bishop T.D. Jakes won Special Event Album Of The Year for his project “T.D. Jakes Presents ‘Finally Loosed’ on Dexterity Sounds; co-host Tasha Cobbs Leonard won Praise And Worship Album Of The Year for her work on “Hymns,” released by TeeLee Records/Motown Gospel; Lecrae’s work on "Church Clothes 4" with Reach Records earned him a trophy for Rap Hip Hop Gospel Album Of The Year.

           Additional categories were awarded during the Stellar Awards Pre-Show festivities. Dottie Peoples received the Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones Legends Award, and Dr. Teresa Hairston paid tribute to the late Keith “Wonderboy '' Johnson as she announced the winner for Quartet of the Year, which Johnson won posthumously for his project "Restructure, Renew Reunion” on Blacksmoke Music Worldwide. More artists and Gospel radio professionals who received Stellar Award statues this year were announced; a complete list of winners is available at www.stellarawards.com.

          In addition to the award recipients, special honorees were recognized for their invaluable contributions to the Gospel music industry. CeCe Winans received the prestigious Aretha Franklin Icon Award Presented by State Farm, recognizing her exceptional talent and enduring impact. Winans also gave a moving performance of her song “Goodness of God,” from her album “Believe For It.” Reverend Dr. Milton Biggham was honored with the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award Presented by Verizon in recognition of his lifetime dedication to spreading the uplifting message of Gospel music. Additionally, Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones was presented with the Thomas A. Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award, acknowledging his outstanding contributions and influential career.

          Natalie Grant. Photo Credit: Earl Gibson, Courtesy of Central City Productions.

        Show co-hosts McReynolds and Cobbs Leonard delivered huge performances that will uplift and inspire audiences worldwide, while Walmart’s Black and Unlimited platform provided viewers with an exclusive Reunion Tour preview performance featuring Franklin, Tribbett and Israel Houghton brought the house down! Viewers can also look forward to powerhouse performances by Charles Jenkins, DOE, Dottie Peoples, Isaac Carree, Jevon Dewand and The TrapStarz, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Naomi Raine, Natalie Grant, Maranda Curtis, Tim Bowman Jr. & Faith City Music, Zacardi Cortez, and Zak Williams & 1 Akord. Performing on the AT&T Emerging Voices stage, Byrd Miles, Bishop S.Y. Younger, and Victory will delight viewers with their rich vocals and undeniable stage presence.

       Presenters for the evening include Adrienne Bailon-Houghton, Marvin Sapp, Lady Tramaine Hawkins, Brian Courtney Wilson, Erica Campbell, Isabel Davis, James Fortune, Koryn Hawthorne, Jason Clayborn, NOTKARLTONBANKS, Shirley Caesar and Travis Greene.

     Naomi Raine performs. Photo Credit: Earl Gibson, Courtesy of Central City Productions.

          AT&T Dream in Black proudly serves as the presenting sponsor for the 38th Annual Stellar Awards. Additionally, esteemed companies such as Aflac, GM, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Spotify, State Farm, Verizon, and Walmart joined as supporters of this year's program.

      The 38th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards celebrates the rich diversity and unwavering spirit of Gospel music, showcasing its profound impact on audiences worldwide. The winners and honorees exemplify the power of faith, talent, and dedication within the Gospel music community. This year's ceremony will touch the hearts of viewers across the nation when it premieres on the newly launched Stellar Network on Sunday, July 30 at 6 p.m. ET (available on Charter Spectrum, Verizon Fios, and Xumo Play), followed by a broadcast on BET on Sunday, August 6 at 8 p.m. ET and on Bounce TV on Sunday, September 3 at 1 p.m. ET. 

        The show will also be broadcast nationally from August 7, 2023, to September 10, 2023, through TV syndication. The Stellar Awards Blue Carpet Special hosted by Jekalyn Carr and will be televised on Stellar Network on July 30 at 5 p.m. ET. Viewers may check with their local provider for availability.

       The 38th Stellar Gospel Music Awards show is Executive Produced by Don Jackson, with Jennifer J. Jackson serving as Executive in Charge of Production and Producer. Michael A. Johnson serves as Producer and Director.

        For more information about the Stellar Gospel Music Awards, please visit www.stellarawards.com. Stay connected and follow the Stellar Gospel Music Awards on social media: @thestellars on Instagram and Twitter, and Stellar Gospel Music Awards on Facebook.

                                                            # # #

[raincitygirl76]

I knew that Claudia Black (the Australian actor who played Aeryn Sun on Farscape) had gotten divorced. I had not known about her C-PTSD or her custody battle. But she is a terrific actor who should be more widely recognized. And who I already knew had had some bad luck in terms of casting.

Regrettably, the contracts of Farscape’s Australian actors (I.e. most of the cast, since it was an American show shot in Sydney) did not include American residuals. Only imported American actors like Ben Browder who were members of SAG-AFTRA got residuals. Which is a damn shame, because the show ran 1999-2003. In the 2000s, syndicated reruns were still a good way for actors to get some financial stability courtesy of residuals from past work.

After moving to America following the end of Farscape, Black was cast in a recurring role on a big network show, as the ex-wife of Damian Lewis’s star character Charlie Crews on “Life”, which aired 2007-2009. She appeared as Jennifer in the pilot episode and some ads. But Black’s role was recast (and her scenes in the pilot episode reshot with a new actor) because in between the shooting of the pilot and production of the first season, Black had become pregnant.

It was a shame she lost that role, particularly since the actor they cast in her place didn’t have nearly as much charisma. Also because Jennifer is remarried with kids in the pilot episode, so it wouldn’t have been particularly difficult to write Jennifer as pregnant again by her second husband.

Jennifer was someone Charlie was still carrying a torch for a decade after their divorce. She should’ve been compelling. But the chemistry between Damian Lewis and the replacement Jennifer just wasn’t there, so it was sometimes hard to understand why Charlie was so nuts over her. Judging by Black’s accidental appearance in some ads for “Life”, she had envisioned and played Jennifer as a significantly tougher character than the replacement actor did.

Now, making Jennifer “softer” was probably the showrunner’s idea, rather than the fault of the replacement actor. Presumably she played Jennifer as she was directed to. But particularly in Season 2, when Jennifer’s role expands, the lack of chemistry between Damian Lewis and the replacement Jennifer had me wishing for a spikier version. Like the Jennifer we’d briefly glimpsed from footage of Claudia Black in early ads for the show.

Maybe the showrunner wanted Jennifer softer, and Claudia Black’s pregnancy was the excuse he needed to axe her and hire someone else to play the role differently. But it always seemed like a shame to me. In most industries, firing someone because they’re pregnant would be grounds for a lawsuit. Apparently in Hollywood it’s de rigeur.

Note that in “The Night Manager”, a British miniseries which aired in 2016, Olivia Colman was visibly pregnant with her third child. She played a prominent role in the series in spite of her pregnancy. Apparently the character had not been pregnant in John le Carre’s book (which I haven’t read).

But then, “The Night Manager” was directed by a woman, Danish director Susanne Bier. As a woman, and a mother of 2 kids herself, presumably Bier realized pregnancy wouldn’t sap Colman’s thespian powers. The male show runners of “Life” evidently felt differently in 2007.

For every Olivia Colman out there (a working actor whose career suddenly goes stratospheric when she’s approaching 40), there are probably a hundred Claudia Blacks. Excellent working actors whose careers start to wane as they’re approaching 40, and continue to wane as they’re approaching 50. And not because they’ve suddenly lost their talent. Hollywood is just fixated on youth.

[thenerdsofcolor]

A Rogue Machine Theatre Review: 'A Good Guy' - David Rambo's Examination of Gun Violence and Morality

Elijah Isaiah Johnson had the opportunity to see David Rambo's intimately staged and thought-provoking commentary on gun control, "A Good Guy," and left with some thoughts...!

A Good Guy stars: Wayne T. Carr, Evangeline Edwards and Suzen Baraka – Photo courtesy of Rogue Machine Theatre It was quiet enough to hear your own heartbeat as the room darkened to a pitch black inside the small room with its angled roof, inside Matrix Theater on Melrose. A small spotlight dropped on Anna, and an interrogation began that framed the concept of David Rambo’s meticulously…

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:

Lale Andersen

Marian Anderson

Signe Toly Anderson

Julie Andrews

LaVerne Andrews

Maxene Andrews

Patty Andrews

Ann-Margret

Joan Armatrading

Dorothy Ashby

Joan Baez

Pearl Bailey

Belle Baker

Josephine Baker

LaVern Baker

Florence Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Eileen Barton

Fontella Bass

Shirley Bassey

Maggie Bell

Lola Beltran

Ivy Benson

Gladys Bentley

Jane Birkin

Cilla Black

Ronee Blakley

Teresa Brewer

Anne Briggs

Ruth Brown

Joyce Bryant

Vashti Bunyan

Kate Bush

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Blanche Calloway

Wendy Carlos

Cathy Carr

Raffaella Carra

Diahann Carroll

Karen Carpenter

June Carter Cash

Charo

Cher

Meg Christian

Gigliola Cinquetti

Petula Clark

Merry Clayton

Patsy Cline

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Judy Collins

Alice Coltrane

Betty Comden

Barbara Cook

Rita Coolidge

Gal Costa

Ida Cox

Karen Dalton

Marie-Louise Damien

Betty Davis

Jinx Dawson

Doris Day

Blossom Dearie

Kiki Dee

Lucienne Delyle

Sandy Denny

Jackie DeShannon

Gwen Dickey

Marlene Dietrich

Marie-France Dufour

Julie Driscoll

Yvonne Elliman

Cass Elliot

Maureen Evans

Agnetha Faeltskog

Marianne Faithfull

Mimi Farina

Max Feldman

Gracie Fields

Ella Fitzgerald

Roberta Flack

Lita Ford

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

France Gall

Judy Garland

Crystal Gayle

Gloria Gaynor

Bobbie Gentry

Astrud Gilberto

Donna Jean Godchaux

Lesley Gore

Eydie Gorme

Margo Guryan

Sheila Guyse

Nina Hagen

Francoise Hardy

Emmylou Harris

Debbie Harry

Annie Haslam

Billie Holiday

Mary Hopkin

Lena Horne

Helen Humes

Betty Hutton

Janis Ian

Mahalia Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Etta James

Joan Jett

Bessie Jones

Etta Jones

Gloria Jones

Grace Jones

Shirley Jones

Tamiko Jones

Janis Joplin

Barbara Keith

Carole King

Eartha Kitt

Chaka Khan

Hildegard Knef

Gladys Knight

Sonja Kristina

Patti Labelle

Cleo Laine

Nicolette Larson

Daliah Lavi

Vicky Leandros

Peggy Lee

Rita Lee

Alis Lesley

Barbara Lewis

Abbey Lincoln

Melba Liston

Julie London

Darlene Love

Lulu

Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Barbara Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Vera Lynn

Siw Malmkvist

Lata Mangeshkar

Linda McCartney

Kate McGarrigle

Christie McVie

Bette Midler

Jean Millington

June Millington

Liza Minnelli

Carmen Miranda

Joni Mitchell

Liz Mitchell

Marion Montgomery

Lee Morse

Nana Mouskouri

Anne Murray

Wenche Myhre

Holly Near

Olivia Newton-John

Stevie Nicks

Nico

Laura Nyro

Virginia O’Brien

Odetta

Yoko Ono

Shirley Owens

Patti Page

Dolly Parton

Freda Payne

Michelle Phillips

Edith Piaf

Ruth Pointer

Leontyne Price

Suzi Quatro

Gertrude Rainey

Bonnie Raitt

Carline Ray

Helen Reddy

Della Reese

Martha Reeves

June Richmond

Jeannie C. Riley

Minnie Riperton

Jean Ritchie

Chita Rivera

Clara Rockmore

Linda Ronstadt

Marianne Rosenberg

Diana Ross

Anna Russell

Melanie Safka

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Samantha Sang

Pattie Santos

Hazel Scott

Doreen Shaffer

Jackie Shane

Marlena Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Dinah Shore

Judee Sill

Carly Simon

Nina Simone

Nancy Sinatra

Siouxsie Sioux

Grace Slick

Bessie Smith

Mamie Smith

Patti Smith

Ethel Smyth

Mercedes Sosa

Ronnie Spector

Dusty Springfield

Mavis Staples

Candi Staton

Barbra Streisand

Poly Styrene

Maxine Sullivan

Donna Summer

Pat Suzuki

Norma Tanega

Tammi Terrell

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Big Mama Thornton

Mary Travers

Moe Tucker

Tina Turner

Twiggy

Bonnie Tyler

Sylvia Tyson

Sarah Vaughan

Sylvie Vartan

Mariska Veres

Akiko Wada

Claire Waldoff

Jennifer Warnes

Dee Dee Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dinah Washington

Ethel Waters

Elisabeth Welch

Kitty Wells

Mary Wells

Juliane Werding

Tina Weymouth

Cris Williamson

Ann Wilson

Mary Wilson

Nancy Wilson

Anna Mae Winburn

Syreeta Wright

Tammy Wynette

Nan Wynn

Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!

If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.

[zahri-melitor]

My comments on the Extended Generational Sorting Algorithm:

Gosh there are some murky in-betweens here.

G-1 – JSA and teams like the All-Star Squadron and the Blackhawks. The WWII edition. This is occasionally merged with G0 as timelines shift, but includes Hippolyta, Ted Knight, Sandra Knight (as Phantom Lady), Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, etc. A lot of this cohort have aging issues and several have grandkids in G1 or G1.5. Zinda simultaneously belongs to this group and G1.5.

G0 – JSA, the gap between WWII and the first JLA. This is the younger JSA cohort who aren’t so tied to WWII and the gap after. Dinah Drake. Ted Grant. Johnny Quick. Giovanni Zatara. Walter Chase (the Acro-Bat). Bruce’s parents. The Kents. Jim Gordon. Etc.

G1 – JLA land! Bruce, Clark, Diana, Ollie, Barry, Hal, Arthur, etc. You know them. Your idea of a headlining JLA includes these folk.

G1.5 – Birds of Prey and JLI zone. Characters too old to be Titans cohort but younger/clearly different than the G1 headliners. Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance are the stalwarts of this group, plus I’ll add Helena Bertinelli, Cameron Chase, Kate Spencer, Kendra, etc. I guess I’d probably put Harley Quinn, agewise, here too. Also would add Beatriz, Tora, Booster, Ted Kord, etc. Guy and Zatanna sort of bounce between here and G1 depending on storyline.

G2 – it’s the Titans! Dick, Donna, Wally, Roy, Garth, Victor, Gar, Kory, Raven etc. Their agebounds are probably Roy as the oldest and Gar as the youngest, though Gar’s given to them as a courtesy – he’s realistically a member of G2.5, he just hangs with G2. We also add Kyle and Connor and Jesse Quick etc to this cohort despite them not being core Titans given their strong connections to particularly Donna and Wally.

G2.5 – The JL Taskforce kids and Jason’s non-existent team. Ray Palmer’s Teen Titans. This is a group of individuals that has never properly coalesced. Overlaps in age with both the bottom of G2 and the top of G3 but distinctly don’t belong to either. Jason, Ray, Grant, Argent, Cynthia, Eddie, Snapper Carr, plus Danny Chase and arguably Gar all fall into this group. Rose Wilson overlaps with G3 but vibeswise probably also belongs to this group. I am tossing up whether Anissa and Jennifer Pierce belong here or in G2.

G3 – Young Justice. Tim, Kon, Cassie, Bart, Cissie, Greta, Anita. Cass Cain belongs here despite being the same age as several G2.5s. Steph, Charlie, Black Alice, Jaime, Zachary Zatara, even a handful of the newer folk like Jinny Hex slot in here. Several Supergirls including current Kara, Courtney Whitmore IS a member of this group and the three oldest Marvel kids (Billy, Mary and Freddy) are currently aged into this.

G4 – Damian’s Teen Titans. Damian, Jon Kent (yes even still with the age up), Emiko Queen, Ace West etc. If they are still a teen right now in DC storytelling or SHOULD be a teen, they belong here (if they’re a teen and SHOULDN’T be they’re probably a G3/G5). The Gotham Academy kids. Arguably the Titan Academy kids too? Agewise the DEO Titans kids but spiritually probably not (also the chances of us ever seeing them again is…low) The younger Marvel kids (Eugene, Pedro and Darla especially) are with this group.

G5 – so this group are either alternate G3 or G3.5s. Too new and too un-networked with G3 to be absorbed. Jace Fox, Yara Flor, Jackson Hyde, Duke Thomas and the We Are Robin cohort all belong here. Kong Kenan, Avery Ho, etc also are members.

G6 – Titans Offspring Gen. Almost everyone in this group has been artificially aged, which is a thing, hey. Lian, Irey, Jai, Cerdian, Robbie. Maxine, obviously. Otho and Osul-Ra.

G7 – Help I’m From Earth-One: Power Girl and Helena Wayne.

G8 – The Lost Children – also Help I’m From Earth-One in a lot of respects but they’re in their teens, not adults. May get folded into other groups if they get more use.

[vintage-tech]

If you're of a certain age, you remember the ads for the compilation albums by Ronco and K-Tel -- "20 original hits by the original stars" was always the tagline -- but there were other companies out there putting out mixtapes on vinyl, like Sessions, and then there is this two-record collections by a company called I & M Teleproducts which has 23 releases listed in Discogs.com -- several of which are Lawrence Welk, but many of which are contemporary collections.

Dreamin' is from 1979 and I approve of the tracklist. While Ronco was putting Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" and Barry Manilow on the same record, or K-Tel was mining the latter half of the Top 100 with Forgotten Charting Singles By Major Artists, I & M was attempting to stay a bit more on-topic and contained mostly music that neither of the bigger names had tapped but you knew. And being a two-record set, you felt like you got twice as much tunage when actually you didn't (21 songs) but there was a better chance of higher quality sound due to the uncompressed groove on the vinyl. It's up to personal opinion whether the line "21 original hits by 18 original artists" sounds impressive, especially since the songs by those repeated artists have been pretty much forgotten.

Here's the track list and you do know many of them:

A1 Samantha Sang– Emotion A2 Dan Hill– Sometimes When We Touch A3 Gladys Knight & The Pips– Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me A4 David Soul– Don't Give Up On Us A5 Paul Anka– The Times Of Your Life B1 Kenny Nolan– I Like Dreamin' B2 Gladys Knight & The Pips– The Way We Were B3 Atlanta Rhythm Section– So Into You B4 Mary MacGregor– Torn Between Two Lovers B5 Jessi Colter– I'm Not Lisa C1 Peter McCann– Do You Wanna Make Love C2 Eric Carmen– All By Myself C3 Jennifer Warnes– Right Time Of The Night C4 LeBlanc & Carr– Falling C5 England Dan & John Ford Coley– Nights Are Forever Without You C6 Daryl Hall & John Oates– She's Gone D1 Roberta Flack– The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face D2 Paul Anka– There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love D3 Dorothy Moore– Misty Blue D4 The Spinners– They Just Can't Stop It (The Games People Play) D5 Gladys Knight & The Pips– So Sad The Song

Trivia: The Bee Gees wrote "Emotion" though didn't record it themselves for many years. David Soul was Hutch on the TV show Starsky & Hutch. Many of us can't help but think of Kodak film ads in regard to "The Times Of Your Life". Peter McCann technically makes two appearances on this list because he also wrote "Right Time Of The Night". "The Way We Were" is a Barbra Streisand cover from a 1973 movie by the same name, and the spoken introduction to the Gladys Knight song is "Try To Remember" from the long-running 1960 Broadway musical The Fantasticks.

[coochiequeens]

The TQ+ love to shout "Just be Kind" until a lesbian states her belief in the importance of biological sex. Even though she didn't say anything mean to her TQ+ coworkers.

Prof Jo Phoenix was hounded out of the Open University for being gender critical

A group of academics who harassed her were blasted in an employment tribunal 

By STEWART CARR PUBLISHED:  3 February 2024 

These are the academics who were blasted in a stinging judgment by an employment tribunal after they hounded a lesbian lecturer out of her job.

Criminology expert Prof Jo Phoenix, 59, saw her name dragged through the mud at the Open University once her views on the importance of biological sex became known.

Despite assuring colleagues she was not transphobic, a small group of trans activist lecturers refused to set aside their personal politics to allow freedom of opinion.

Instead, ringleader Dr Leigh Downes, a female who identifies as non-binary, led a campaign against Prof Phoenix - publishing an open letter 'in order to create a pile-on', which amassed 368 staff signatures

Last week, in an extraordinary judgment, the participants were criticised for their vindictive motives; as well as their evidence, which a judge described as 'evasive' and 'not credible'.

Employment Judge Jennifer Young said: 'On multiple occasions, whenever gender critical views were expressed at the Open University, Dr Downes complained or tried to get the view suppressed. 

'The claimant's gender critical beliefs made Dr Downes feel palpably uncomfortable.'

The judge went on: 'The purpose of signing the open letter was to create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for Prof Phoenix. 

'We conclude that having 368 of your colleagues sign a public letter saying that you are part of a group that is fundamentally transphobic, is stigmatising and damaging.'

Besides Dr Downes, other signatories in the open letter - Dr Helen Bowes-Catton, Dr Nicola Snarey, Prof Peter Keogh, Natalie Starkey and Dr Chris Williams - were found to have contributed to the hostility, despite their claims that they were expressing academic freedom.

The judge dismissed this reasoning and wrote: '[It] was not an exercise in academic freedom. There is nothing scholastic about the open letter, it stigmatised the claimant and damaged her reputation.'

Rather than stamp out the febrile atmosphere on campus, departmental leaders at the university left Prof Phoenix to face the onslaught alone and even blamed her for having spoken out in the first place.

Prof Louise Westmarland, a former friend who had unsuccessfully competed for the same job, likened the under-fire professor to 'a racist uncle at a dinner party'.

The head of the department, Dr Deborah Drake, caused huge distress by comparing Prof Phoenix to controversial US political scientist Charles Murray, whose views have been likened to a racist.  

Despite both of their denials, Judge Young found that on balance, they had indeed made the comments and both had contributed to the harassment of Prof Phoenix. 

Judge Young noted: 'We find that Dr Drake disliked the claimant expressing her gender critical position. 

'This was evident in her efforts to silence the claimant speaking about her research, comparing her to a prominent sociologist Charles Murray (perceived as being racist), and her frustration in her emails to various members... in particular Dr Downes.

'We consider that this was pivotal in creating and maintaining the hostile work environment."

'Dr Drake's role as head of department meant that she set the tone for the department. Professor Westmarland's behaviour towards the Claimant likening her to a racist uncle also contributed to the hostile atmosphere.'

The tribunal at Watford heard that Prof Phoenix, an expert in criminology, had began her academic career at the Open University 30 years earlier where she studied for her PhD. 

Having held senior posts at Durham University and the University of Leicester, she returned to the Open University in 2016, taking a £18,000 pay cut in order to enjoy a 'homecoming' for the final phase of her career.

Prof Phoenix's problems began in October 2018, when she signed a letter alongside 53 other academics, which appeared in The Guardian, criticising proposals for the introduction of self-identification in gender reassignment.

The tribunal heard the Guardian letter was met with dismay from Prof Phoenix's colleagues. One of them, history lecturer Dr Chris A Williams, wrote to his colleague Dr Helen Bowes-Catton and expressed deep concern about Prof Phoenix carrying out research into the area and even discussed getting an injunction against her.

The tribunal noted: 'Dr Williams was displaying an irrational fear and was hostile to the Claimant because she had gender critical beliefs.'

On March 6 2019, a planned conference into prison abolition was axed after several academics objected to Dr Richard Garside speaking at the event. He had previously written a critique against placing transgender prisoners in the women's estate.

On April 16, 2019, Prof Phoenix spoke up for women's sex-based rights at an event hosted by campaign group Women's Place UK and she criticised the university for cancelling its prison abolition conference.

A video of Prof Phoenix's speech was shared among colleagues.

Prof Louise Westmarland wrote, 'I can hardly bear to watch it' while Dr Downes claimed to have been reduced to tears, writing back to her: 'I watched it yesterday and had to take a walk. I found it very upsetting. Been a while since I cried at work.'

The panel read through a transcript of Prof Phoenix speech and noted: 'There is nothing in the talk that we find that would be upsetting.'

Prof Phoenix faced wrath from her colleagues again in June 2019, when she signed another letter, this time in The Sunday Times, criticising the closeness of UK universities with the LGBTQ charity Stonewall.

In September of that year, Prof Phoenix attempted to reach out to Dr Leigh Downes, to discuss carrying out research into trans prisoners, but her attempts were rebuffed.

In May 2021, Prof Phoenix was interviewed on a podcast called Savage Minds by the presenter Julian Vigo, where she discussed her gender critical beliefs. 

The following month, she launched the Open University's Gender Critical Research Network alongside Dr Jon Pike and Laura McGrath.

Giving evidence, Prof Phoenix told the tribunal she could never have imagined the level of backlash she would receive. 

Almost immediately, a WhatsApp group was set up by Open University staff. 

Among those involved in this WhatsApp group were Dr Leigh Downes, Dr Avi Boukli, Dr Chris Williams and Dr Helen Bowes-Catton, but they all denied before the tribunal that the group's purpose was to create a campaign against Prof Phoenix.

But the tribunal noted: 'We simply did not believe Dr Downes, Dr Boukli, Dr Bowes-Catton or Dr Williams' evidence on this point and find that the WhatsApp group was set up to counter gender critical beliefs at the OU and was being used to set up the open letter.'

On June 17, 2019, the 'open letter' blasting Prof Phoenix and the new Gender Critical Research Network was published on Google documents and was signed by 368 Open University staff. 

It stated: 'We call on the OU Vice Chancellor's Executive Team to take the following actions: 

'To withdraw its public support for and affiliation with the Gender Critical Research Network 

'To affirm their position as a trans inclusive employer 

'To commit to developing a concrete plan of action for supporting and affirming trans students and staff in this trans-hostile external and internal environment.'

Dr Downes, who published the document and was its first signatory, was unable to explain in court who drafted it, neither were fellow contributors Dr Williams and Dr Bowes-Catton.

On June 24, 2021, one of the open letter's signatories, Professor Peter Keogh, sent an email to the LGBT+ staff network email list blasting Prof Phoenix's gender critical network for 'sharing transphobic views and materials on their website'.

The tribunal noted: 'The purpose of the conduct was to violate the claimant's dignity. The claimant's email response the same day to Professor Keogh's email indicates that Professor Keogh's email affected her deeply.'

The 'punishing' backlash eventually led Prof Phoenix to leave the university in December 2021.

Last week, the court upheld almost 20 of her claims. A remedies hearing will take place to decide the damages owed to her.

It also ruled that the abuse Phoenix endured was harassment and the university's failure to protect her from it made it complicit in this treatment.

Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor at the Open University, released this statement: 'This judgment made for difficult reading for all of us. In several areas we fell very short. We apologise unreservedly to Professor Phoenix for the hurt and distress this has caused. This is not The Open University we want to be.

'The University has supported and continues to support the work of the Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN) as part of the many important research activities that take place at the OU. But our understanding of academic freedom and freedom of speech at the time meant we did not intervene about the open letter, statements and social media posts that followed the GCRN's launch. The tribunal ruling makes it clear that we should have acted differently to address the impact of this reaction on Professor Phoenix and the working environment that she experienced. 

'We are sorry that this has been a painful episode for many colleagues. Research and academic debate are the life blood of universities. They are not at odds with inclusion, and we will find a path that encourages diversity of thought and views in the inclusive environment we all want to see at the OU. We have learned from the judgment and there is now more we need to do. The experience and outcome of this case will guide us with this important and essential work.

'We will be initiating a major independent review of our internal working environment. This will include addressing the challenge we and the sector face balancing the complexities of upholding academic freedom, freedom of speech, and equality and employment rights. It will help us to work together to ensure those with differing views are safe and free to express their opinions within the law.  

'Achieving our mission to be open to people, places, methods, and ideas depends on us all at the OU committing to take forward this learning and to treat each other with civility and respect however profoundly we may disagree.'

This is why I don't trust most libfems and non-binary or trans identified females over a certain age. Those women were willing to smear her reputation and cost another woman her job because she spoke against a movement that benefits men.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andra Watkins at How Project 2025 Will Ruin YOUR Life:

Here’s a list of every listed Project 2025 author who worked in 45’s administration. 26 of 36 total authors. (72%) Jonathan Berry - US Department of Justice Adam Candeub - Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Associate Attorney General Brendan Carr - Senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD - Secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Ken Cuccinelli - Acting Director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services; Acting Deputy Secretary for the US Department of Homeland Security

Rick Dearborn - Deputy Chief of Staff Diana Furchtgott-Roth - Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Department of Transportation Thomas F. Gilman - Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Chief Financial Officer at the US Department of Commerce Mandy M. Gunasekara - Chief of Staff at the Environmental Protection Agency Gene Hamilton - Counselor to the Attorney General at the US Department of Justice Jennifer Hazelton - senior strategic consultant for the Department of Defense Dennis Dean Kirk - senior positions at the Office of Personnel Management

Christopher Miller - several positions during the 45 administration in areas of defense Mora Namdar - Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Peter Navarro - Director of 45’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy; also went to jail William Perry Pendley - led the Bureau of Land Management for 45** Max Primorac - acting Chief Operating Officer and Assistant to the Administrator, Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, US Agency for International Development Roger Severino - Director of Civil Rights at the US Department of Health and Human Services Kiron K. Skinner - Director of Policy Planning and Senior Advisor at the US Department of State

Brooks D Tucker - Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs and Acting Chief of Staff Hans A von Spakovsky - former member of 45’s Advisory Committee on Election Integrity Russ Vought - Director of the Office of Management and Budget William L. Walton - member of 45’s transition team Paul Winfree - member of 45’s transition team Paul Dans - Chief of Staff at the US Office of Personnel Management and senior advisor at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Steven Groves - Assistant Special Counsel, the Mueller investigation If 25 of the 36 listed authors of Project 2025 worked in my former administration, there’s NO WAY I wouldn’t know about it.

Andra Watkins has a list of the Project 2025 authors who worked for Donald Trump.

[suzilight]

RIP Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr, a military historian and author whose experience of childhood abuse drove him to explore the roots of violence — most famously in his 1994 best seller, “The Alienist,” a period thriller about the hunt for a serial killer in 19th-century Manhattan — died on Thursday at his home in Cherry Plains, N.Y. He was 68. Cancer.

“If I had known that nothing would have come out of this book other than the advance,” Mr. Carr said in 1994 as “The Alienist” was poised for publication, “I still would have written it exactly the same. But if you were to ask me to trade this book, this whole career and have my childhood be different, I probably would.”

After divorcing his father, Lucien Carr, his mother married John Speicher, an editor and novelist with three daughters. The couple and their six children moved to a loft on East 14th Street, a dangerous area in the late 1960s and ’70s. It was another chaotic household overseen by alcoholics, and the children often referred to themselves as “the dark Brady Bunch.”

A young Mr. Carr with his brothers and stepsisters in 1968. From left: Jennifer Speicher, Caleb Carr, Simon Carr, Christine Speicher, Hilda Speicher and Ethan Carr. Their friends James (left) and Whit Fosburgh are below. Credit...Lilo Raymond

[professionalowl]

Actually, while we're shaming people for their 452 unread books, here's a list of unread books of mine of which I own physical copies, attached to the year I obtained them, so that you can all shame me into reading more:

2024: Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence (James Bridle; just started)

2021: Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape (Cal Flyn)

2024: Extreme Fabulations: Science Fictions of Life (Steven Shaviro)

2021: The Unreal & The Real Vol. 1: Where on Earth (Ursula K. Le Guin)

2023: A Study in Scarlet (Arthur Conan Doyle)

2023: Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living (Dmitri Xygalatas)

2023: Vibrant Matter: A political ecology of things (Jane Bennett)

2023: The History of Magic: From Alchemy to Witchcraft, from the Ice Age to the Present (Chris Gosden)

2018: Ways of Seeing (John Berger)

2022: An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (Ed Yong)

2020: Owls of the Eastern Ice: The Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl (Jonathan C. Slaught)

2023: My Life in Sea Creatures (Sabrina Imbler)

2020: The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think (Jennifer Ackerman)

2023: Birds and Us: A 12,000-Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation (Tim Birkhead)

2020: Rebirding: Restoring Britain's Wildlife (Benedict Macdonald)

2022: The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human (Siddhartha Mukherjee)

2022: An Anthropologist on Mars (Oliver Sacks)

2021: Sex, Botany & Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (Patricia Fara)

2023: At The Mountains of Madness (H.P. Lovecraft)

2019: Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino; I have been trying to finish this forever and am so, so close)

2023: Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf (Sean Duffy)

2021: What is History, Now? How the past and present speak to each other (Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb; essay collection, half-read)

2020: Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England (Thomas Penn)

2022: Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation (Silvia Federici)

2020: Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Touissant Louverture (Sudhir Hazareesingh; half-read)

2019: The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (Hallie Rubenhold; 3/4 read)

2022: Lenin on the Train (Catherine Merridale)

2020: October: The Story of the Russian Revolution (China Miéville)

2019: The Villa, the Lake, the Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution (Mark Roseman)

2019: Heimat: A German Family Album (Nora Krug)

2018: Maus I: My Father Bleeds History (Art Spiegelman)

2020: Running in the Family (Michael Ondaatje)

2022: Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys; also never technically "finished" Jane Eyre, but I did my time, damn you)

2023: Time Shelter (Georgi Gospodinov)

2019: Our Man in Havana (Graham Greene; started, left unfinished)

2019: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (John le Carré)

2021: Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race (Reni Eddo-Lodge; half-read)

2017: Rebel Without Applause (Lemn Sissay)

2022: The Metamorphosis, and Other Stories (Franz Kafka)

2011?: The Complete Cosmicomics (Italo Calvino; vaguely remember reading these when I was maybe 7 and liking them, but I have forgotten their content)

2022: Free: Coming of Age at the End of History (Lea Ypi)

2021: Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland (W.B. Yates)

Some of these are degree-related, some not; some harken back to bygone areas of interest and some persist yet; some were obtained willingly and some thrust upon me without fanfare. I think there are also some I've left at college, but I'm not sure I was actually intending to read any of them - I know one is an old copy of Structural Anthropology by Claude Levi-Strauss that Dad picked up for me secondhand, which I...don't intend to torment myself with. Reading about Tom Huffman's cognitive-structural theory of Great Zimbabwe almost finished me off and remains to date the only overdue essay I intend to never finish, mostly because the professor let me get away with abandoning it.

There are also library books, mostly dissertation-oriented, from which you can tell that the cognitive archaeologists who live in my walls finally fucking Got me:

The Rise of Homo sapiens: The Evolution of Modern Thinking (Thomas Wynn & Fred Coolidge)

The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (Karenleigh A. Overmann)

Archaeological Situations: Archaeological Theory from the Inside-Out (Gavin Lucas)

And, finally, some I've actually finished recently ("recently" being "within the past year"):

The Body Fantastic (Frank Gonzalo-Crussi, solid 6/10 essay collection about a selection of body parts, just finished earlier)

An Entertainment for Angels: Electricity in the Enlightenment (Patricia Fara, also a solid 6/10, fun read but nothing special)

Babel: An Arcane History (R.F. Kuang, 8/10, didactic (sometimes necessary) but effective; magic system was cool and a clever metaphor)

The Sign of Four (A.C. Doyle, 2/10 really racist and for what)

Dr. Space Junk vs. the Universe: Archaeology and the Future (Alice Gorman, 8/10, I love you Dr. Space Junk)

In Search of Us: Adventures in Anthropology (Lucy Moore, 8/10, I respect some of these people slightly more now)

The Dispossessed (Ursula K. Le Guin, 9/10 got my ass)

The Hound of the Baskervilles (A.C. Doyle, 7/10 themez 👍)