#West End Dentist

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[unreesonable]

Stage/Fright

I won't be reblogging Stage/Fright stuff here to prevent spoilers, but I'll use this pinned post for some real-time archiving. Last updated 05/04/25

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

I update this post after every show - that’s every day Mon-Sat and twice on matinee days! (Thursday and Saturday)

Now that the West End run of Stage/Fright has concluded, I will be sharing more information about the guest appearances, photos etc over at @fuckyeahstagefright

Photos and reviews are at the end of this post

I'm going to try and track the celebrity guests throughout the run. Asks/DMs are open if you have a tip for a show you've attended, or you can comment below.

Celebrity guests

(plus the mime for their name and the show name / character name / catchphrase that Len keeps getting wrong)

Previews

16/01/25 - Jim Howick (Gym Cow Sick - Horrible Histories) 17/01/25 - Ralf Little (Death in Paradise) 18/01/25 - The Actor Kevin Eldon (Cave In Held On - Fist of Fun) 20/01/25 - David Morrisey (Day Vid Morris [Boris] See - The Walking Dead) 21/01/25 - Marc Wootton (Mr Poppy, Nativity) 22/01/25 - Adrian Dunbar (Ted Hastings, Line of Duty) 23/01/25 - Nick Mohammed (Nick More Ham Head - Ted Lasso) 24/01/25 - Katherine Parkinson (Cat Thin Parking Sun - The IT Crowd) 25/01/25 - Gary Kemp (Car Reek Hemp - the running joke was the Spandau Ballet song 'True') / Martin Freeman (Fart Tin Three Man - Bilbo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings) 27/01/25 - Matthew Kelly (Mat You Ceilidh - Stars in Their Eyes) 28/01/25 - Lee Mack (Lemur Ick - Not Going Out)

Press night and end of previews

29/01/25 - Alexander Armstrong (All Lick Hair Arms Wrong - Classic FM) 30/01/25 - Daniel Mays (Down Yell [Theresa] Mays - Line of Duty) 31/01/25 - Mat Baynton (Mat Pain Tonne - Horrible Histories) 01/02/25 - Les Dennis (Les[bian] Tennis - New Faces) / David Harewood (Day Vid[eo] Hair Wood - Martin Luther King, The Mountaintop) 03/02/25 - Tamsin Greig (Tame Sing Gregg - Friday Night Dinner) 04/02/25 - Monica Dolan (Moan Knickers Dough Lamp - Mr Bates vs the Post Office) 05/02/25 - Ophelia Lovibond ([James] Bond - W1A) 06/02/25 - Julian Rhind-Tutt (Julie [Andrews] Wine Tut - The Madness of King George) / Paterson Joseph (Peep Show) 07/02/25 - Mel Giedroyc (Smell Head Roy [Orbison] - The Great British Bake Off) 08/02/25 - Denis Lawson (Dentist Law Son - Star Wars) / Sue Perkins (Soup Hare Skins - Great British Bake Off) 10/02/25 - Dara Ó Briain (Parachute O Brie - Mock the Week) 11/02/25 - Rory Kinnear (Roar Reek In Ear - Black Mirror) 12/02/25 - Matt Berry (Mat Bear Eye - The IT Crowd) 13/02/25 - Mackenzie Crook (Mack Hen See Rook - The Detectorists) / Mark Bonnar (Boner - Line of Duty) 14/02/25 - Phil Daniels (Fill - Quadrophenia) 15/02/25 - Emilia Fox (Meal Ear Fox - Silent Witness) / Sarah Hadland (Sir A Add Land - Strictly Come Dancing) 17/02/25 - Gemma Whelan (Jam A Wee Land - Yara Greyjoy, Game of Thrones) 18/02/25 - Joe Thomas (Sew Tom[cat] Ass - Fresh Meat) 19/02/25 - Lenny Henry (Sirloin Knee Hen Wee - Comic Relief) 20/02/25 - Matthew Horne (Mat Horn - Gavin and Stacey) / Nigel Planer (Gel Plane - Filthy, Rich & Catflap) 21/02/25 - Charlie Higson (Charl[eston] Lie His Son - Swiss Tony, The Fast Show) 22/02/25 - Morgana Robinson (Mow Garden Robin Son - Pippa Middleton, The Windsors) / Mark Gatiss (Margate Tits - The League of Gentlemen) 24/02/25 - Rob Brydon (Rob Bride On - Would I Lie to You?) 25/02/25 - Gareth Malone (Car Alone - Military Wives) 26/02/25 - Liza Tarbuck (Please A Starbucks - Upstart Crow) 27/02/25 - Bob Mortimer (Knob More Timer - Gone Fishing) / Julian Clary (Jewel Ink Lairy - The Joan Collins Fan Club) 28/02/25 - Stephen Merchant (Steep Hen Merchant - The Office)

01/03/25 - Robin Askwith (Rob Bin Ass Quiff - The Madame Blanc Mysteries) / Matt Lucas (Mat Loo Gas - The Great British Bake Off) 03/03/25 - Jane Horrocks (Jay No Rocks - Bubble, Absolutely Fabulous) 04/03/25 - understudy show - Steve Pemberton (Steed Pen Button - Inside No 9) 04/03/25 - Joel Dommett ([Billy] Joel Dominatrix Meet - The Masked Singer) 05/03/25 - Alex Horne (All Licks Horn - The Horne Section) 06/03/25 - Micky Flanagan (Mick [Jagger] Key Flannel - "Out out") / Josh Widdicombe (Posh Wee Dick Cum - The Last Leg) 07/03/25 - Joe Pasquale (Joke Pass Quality Street - New Faces) 08/03/25 - Paul Chuckle (Pull Chuck El[bow]- “To me, to you”) / Michael Sheen (Mic[rophone] El[bow] Shin - Good Omens) 10/03/25 - Stewart Lee ([Air] Steward Wee - Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle) 11/03/25 - Chris McCausland (Cry Smack Oars Land - Strictly Come Dancing) 12/03/25 - David Walliams (Slay Vid[eo] Wall Iams - Britain's Got Talent) 13/03/25 - Pauline McLynn (Pull Lean Muck Lean - Mrs Doyle, Father Ted) / Richard Osman (Reach Hard Oz Man - The Thursday Murder Club) 14/03/25 - Tamzin Outhwaite ([Lion] Tamer In Mouth Weight - Red Cap) 15/03/25 - Clive Anderson (Clay Van Der Son - Whose Line Is It Anyway?) / Stephen Fry (Steep Hen Fry - Jeeves and Wooster) 17/03/25 - Paul Merton (Pull Mare Tonne - Have I Got News for You?) 18/03/25 - Mark Addy (The Full Monty) 19/03/25 - Adam Buxton (A Dam Books Tonne - The Adam and Joe Show) 20/03/25 - Elaine Paige (E Lane Page - I Know Him So Well) / Jason Manford 21/03/25 - Romesh Ranganathan (Row Rang - The Weakest Link) 22/03/25 - Neil Morrissey (Knee [Elm] Tree - Bob The Builder) / Paul Whitehouse (Pull Why Toes - Gone Fishing) 24/03/25 - Simon Pegg (Sigh Mump Leg - Mission Impossible) 25/03/25 - Meera Syal (Me - Goodness Gracious Me) 26/03/25 - Robert Lindsey (Robbing Lean Sassy - My Family) 27/03/25 - Danny Dyer (Fan Knee Higher - Eastenders) / Su Pollard (Soup All Hard - You Rang Milord?) 28/03/25 - Danny Baker (Fan Knee Baker - Pets Win Prizes) 29/03/25 - Ross Noble (Row Snowball - Have I Got News For You) / Prof Brian Cox (Brr Iron Cocks - Things Can Only Get Better) 31/03/25 - David Tennant (Slay Vid Ten Ants - Doctor Who) 01/04/25 - Sandi Toksvig ([de]Tox Fig - QI) 02/04/25 - Sophie Willan (Sew Feet Willy - Alma's Not Normal) 03/04/25 - Miles Jupp (My Edge Jump - The Thick of It) / Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Feet Bee Wallop Bridge - Fleabag) 04/04/25 - Sir Ian McKellan (Serene Muck Alan [Sugar] - Lord of the Rings) 05/04/25 - Louis Theroux (Loo Wee T (kanga)roo - Weird Weekends) /Jonathan Ross (Johnny Thin Rose - The Masked Singer)

Press Night Photos by Marc Brenner

Press Reviews Roundup

compiled by u/NanetteFuckingNewman on Reddit

4 stars from The Guardian: “An ingenious edge-of-your-seat, one-step-ahead show”

4 stars from WhatsOnStage: “Joyously silly … great, all-encompassing fun”

4 stars from The Telegraph: “STAGE/FRIGHT reaffirms [the writers’] rare ingenuity… Bravo”

4 stars from Financial Times: “Another wildly clever, madly innovative and suddenly moving show from this inspired duo”

4 stars from Chortle: “A hugely impressive coup de theatre, keeping you guessing and gasping to the end”

5 stars from All That Dazzles: “Wickedly funny and impressively clever, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith really have made theatrical magic”

4 stars from The Independent: "This is one play you won’t be checking your watch in"

5 stars from the Radio Times: "The production is fabulous across the board... it's a thrilling ride that shouldn't be missed"

4 stars from Time Out: "A delight, the duo at the peak of their powers"

4 stars from The i: "Riotously fun... raucously entertaining"

No rating (but highly positive) from Beyond The Joke: "This spectacular show is both side-splitting and spine-chilling... If you don't enjoy Stage/Fright, contact a doctor immediately, you might be dead. This is brilliant. Go see it." "In the interests of fairness, there have been a few more moderate reviews from the Evening Standard, The Stage and London Theatre (all 3 stars), and one stinker from The Times (2 stars). There’s always someone…"

[squiddy-god]

Twst cowboy/western AU

Omg ok so I have so many thoughts here we goooo!!! 

Tw: western Au! Mental illness, guns and gangs, I think that's it- this is a pretty wholesome au soooo

New tags! Town of Night Raven, twisted western, twst western!Au

Ok this au takes place in like the 1890’s in the small western town of Night Raven 

I'll go in order of the boys 

Riddle Rosehearts 

Managed to move away from his mama and go here, he still writes her but he's dead to her and it crushes him

He's a good ole english boy turned cowboy and night Raven is the only town that would take him 

He runs the town's stables and looks after the horses, acting as a sort of vet for their illnesses. Takes house calls to peoples farms so he can fix up their animals.

He has quite the temper and kicks like a horse himself 

Trey Clover 

Local dentist and doctor. 

Friends with Riddle but ain't much for horses

Definitely has this work cut out for him in this mess of a town. 

Came from the big city and knew Riddle as a kid before he moved back to London

Was shocked to see him in night Raven looking like he'd been dragged through hell 

Ace trapola 

Moved west for money and settled in night Raven only to never leave 

Causes a bunch of trouble for the law, always galavanting around town and getting in bar fights

Works at the stable with Riddle and deuce but barely is there to work and just messes around with the horses 

Punched riddle once when he first came to town and has not hit him since considering that Riddle got a lot better at fist fighting since you first came in

Deuce spade 

Used to be a gang outlaw before he came to night Raven and decide he wanted a quiet life to make his mama proud 

Hardest worker at the stables and dose all the lifting

Part time ranch hand out at the big farm Crowley owns 

Leona kingscolar

Runs a gang of outlaws and reeks quite a bit of havoc on night Raven

Came from a wealthy family but left the big city's to make his own path

Succeeded, his territory is pretty big in the West and he just needs night Raven to make it complete 

Only problem is night Raven has waring gang factions

A quick shot and a good rider

Ruggie bucci 

Used to be a street thief to support his town before Leona took over and things got better

Has been his errand boy and enforcer ever since 

Still steals but mostly from rich blokes he finds on the side of the rodes

He's a better shot than Leona, always has two 6 shots and a knife on him. 

Jack howl 

Honestly never wanted to be in a gang but Leona wouldn't leave him alone.

Only joined cause his family lives in a town Leona controls. 

Mostly works as a farm hand for Crowley because of his muscle

Is the one to break up epels bar fights all the time 

Has a mean right hook 

Azul ahsengrotto 

Runs the morstro saloon that he uses to conduct his under the table business. 

He co-owns it with vil

Octovinell is his gang, with jade too his right and Floyd to enforce his rules, 

Active in the night Raven gang wars but mostly just the dirty money he sweeps under the table for arms dealing and such 

jade leech 

Infamous leech brothers 

Escaped convicts that azul took in when they were first forming the gang. 

Handles most of the product side of things for the “business” and runs the front of the house with vil

Spent most of his early life taking care of Floyd and his troubled mind 

Floyd 

Troubled mind growing up, 

They ended up as orphans before they where 12 and had to fend for themselves

Killed three men in a town and ran, from place to place

7 bodies in total before they where caught and thrown in jail. 

Escaped and joined azuls gang at 17 and have been with him ever since. 

Relatively charming young man if you ignore the teeth and glare he sports in a bad mood 

Kalim al-hasim 

Moved west for peace and quiet and decided to bring Jamil along with him 

He's the kind but sort of naive shop owner

Runs the general goods store and has a real knack for business 

Partners with Crowley's farm to supply the store of most produce. 

If you need something bought or sold you either talk to kalim or azul 

Jamil Viper 

Resents kalim for dragging him west 

But he does like the freedom of the western deserts 

Works at kalims shop and chases off any of their more unruly customers (see : Leona and azuls gangs) 

Definitely learned how to shoot and became one of the best shots in town. 

Has his own horse named saffron who's just the most beautiful red! 

Vil schroheint 

Co-owns the salon with azul and runs the front of the house with jade! 

He's absolutely gorgeous, has a slight German accent and often gets mistaken for a lady. 

Was a singer and actor in Germany

Definitely a more effeminate man but after they watched him beat the snot out of some unruly customer they don't mention it. 

Rook calls him gorgeous. And that's it. 

Always mad at epel for bar fights 

Rook hunt 

Definitely a hunter

Always sells his game at kalims shop and always has the best catches

Most avoid him because he's an odd Fellow but no one can deny his skill at hunting. 

Follows vil around so much his nickname has become “the saloon owners dog” 

Epel felimer 

Farm hand at Crowley ranch after he quit working for vil. 

In this au he's a bit taller and more muscular

Realistically he's a strong farm boy, good at bucking hay and climbing trees. 

Mostly tends to the Apple trees but he also herds in the cattle 

Gets in a lot of bar fights 

Vil thinks he's too crass with his thick accent 

Idia shroud 

Rich city guy that moved here unwillingly 

But he's here and he's scared of the gangs

Mostly keeps to himself and is pretty paranoid 

Reads books like crazy, his little house is more of a library then it is a home- well ok it is the local bookstore but his room and or this are on the second story

Used to be quite the gunSlinger before ortho

Ortho shroud 

Takes care of his troubled brother and runs most of the errands! 

Brings home stray cats for idia and always plays with the dogs! 

He's a sweet boy who all but begs people to teach him to shot so he can be just like his big brother but no one budges 

Malleus draconia 

The marshal

With his black Stetson and those horns it has on it makes him look like the bloody devil

And to some he is. 

Really disomnia is more of a benevolent gang, but they enforce the law and keep things mostly peaceful 

Malleus himself is a sweet man but a scary one

All outlaws with territory bigger than leona could ever hope 

Lilia vanrouge 

Outlaw and ex mercenary before he settled down with disomnia 

Malleus right hand 

Fought in the war before he became a hired gun, then an old friend called in a favor and he raised malleus and settled down. 

Joined the gang malleus formed and was right into the thick of it. 

Now he's really settled, just a older gentleman raising his adopted son silver now. 

Silver vanrouge 

 The poor baby he found 

Technically Lilia is the one who made him an orphan but- he felt so bad he adopted silver. 

Now he's a strong young man who loves his pops 

A member of disomnia and works in the town as part of law enforcement occasionally

Besides that he helps Lilia with his little farm. A few cows and some goats, sheep and chickens. 

Nothing much but it still what he loves. 

Sebek zigvolt 

Joined disomnia after seeing Lilia and melleus in a shoot out and becoming an instant devotee 

Works full time as law enforcement. 

Has a penchant for trying to break up bar fights but ends up getting roped into them on accident. 

Denies it but he's so gentle with the horses it's insane to think it's the same boy always yelling and shouting. 

Dire Crowley 

Mayor of the town and a shady one too. 

Pays off all three gangs so they don't kill each other 

Runs a big farm on the outskirts of town that supplies a lot of work. 

Comes into town often but no one likes him much

Definitely a few skeletons in the closet. 

[crystalsandbubbletea]

Small rant about colonialism and Israel's genocidal campaign

The fact that people continue to support Israel when there are PICTURES of what the hell is happening in Gaza disgusts me.

A four-day ceasefire isn't enough, it needs to be a permanent ceasefire.

I don't even want to think about what will happen when the ceasefire ends...

The dead children, the mothers, the fathers, the sisters, the brothers, the friends...

And then the videos and photographs of the civilians..

All the heartbreaking images I seen, it's permanently in my mind.

"Oh but Hamas-"

SHUT YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH YOU GENOCIDE-LOVING MANIAC!

PALESTINE ISN'T HAMAS, CIVILIANS AREN'T HAMAS, GAZA ISN'T HAMAS, THE WEST BANK ISN'T HAMAS!

A MAJORITY OF GAZA'S POPULATION WERE CHILDREN WHEN HAMAS GOT IN POWER! AND A MAJORITY OF GAZA'S POPULATION ARE STILL CHILDREN!

Just admit you like watching innocent children die you fucking monsters.

"Palestinians are like Nazis!"

NO THEY FUCKING AREN'T! KINDNESS IS A HUGE PART OF PALESTINIAN CULTURE!

PALESTINE DIDN'T ATTACK FIRST WHEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE ARRIVED, IT WAS ISRAEL THAT ATTACKED FIRST!

IN ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST I HAVE SEEN THEY KICKED NAZIS OUT BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO BE AROUND NAZIS!

PALESTINIANS. ARE. NOT. NAZIS!

"From the river to the sea Israel will be free."

"Free Israel."

FREE ISRAEL FROM WHAT? THE MAP!?

ISRAEL DOESN'T NEED TO BE FUCKING FREED FROM ANYTHING EXCEPT FROM THOSE GENOCIDAL RIGHT-WINGS!

"Oh so you're an anti-Semitic person because you support Palestine!"

I AM SPEAKING OUT AGAINST GENOCIDE! HOW DOES THAT MAKE ME ANTI-SEMITIC!?

And then there's Israel's propaganda.

What a ton of bullshit.

Creating a fake website and claiming it's an official Hamas website that will cause a virus on devices to try to justify genocide? Bullshit.

Using A.I generated images to make it seem like people are supporting Israel? More bullshit.

Using dentures and implants and claim that it's the teeth of children? Bullshit. And let's not forget that dentists pointed out that it was dentures and implants, and that those didn't look like the teeth of children.

All the attempts to try to get people to sympathize with Israel have been bullshit.

The only thing Israel has succeeded in is showing their ass to the world.

Fuck America, fuck the U.K, and fuck Israel.

"What does the U.K have to do with this?"

Clearly we're forgetting that for a time the U.K was colonizing Palestine, after WWI they took it over as a "mandate".

"Palestine colonized Israel first!"

I'd like to see your source for that. Clearly you never paid attention in history. Palestine never colonized Israel.

I will never support Israel or any nation that funds their genocide. I will never listen to people who try to "justify" Israel's genocide. I will always stand with Palestine.

[usakofashion]

White is at the opposite end of the spectrum from black, but like black, it can work well with just about any other color. White is often associated with purity, cleanliness, and virtue. In the West, white is commonly worn by brides on their wedding day. It’s also associated with the healthcare industry, especially with doctors, nurses and dentists. White is associated with goodness, and angels are often depicted in white. - Cameron Chapman

[talkingbl]

GMMTV 2025 WishList

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist final trailer and release date announcement

TayNew BL

JimmySea BL

RyuJava BL

Chokun BL

Sky and literally any facially gifted man in a BL

Fourth in a BL opposite someone other than Gemini (nothing against Gemini, I'm just trying to see something 👀)

BLs that end just as strongly as they start

No more singing from anyone not from the MSP cast

Depending on how Perfect10 Liners goes, I am interested in seeing PerthSanta

Start having activities in the West, though I'm not sure what

[andmaybegayer]

Last Monday of the Week 2025-02-10

I do make the rules and I also enforce them

Listening: Two songs have been stuck in my head all week, #1 is I Got My Tooth Removed from 10,000 gecs by 100 gecs.

If I'm honest I've primarily had this sequence stuck in my head

My head's like a ton of bricks, but this dumb bitch still learns new tricks I fuck with fire, burn my dick, play violin on sinking ships I woke up and was down, horrendous, think I need to see the dentist

#2 and I think the theme here is "attractive use of rhythm and rhyme" because it's Vampire State off Your Majesty by Michael Guy Bowman

I know this one has featured already. As mentioned, I make and enforce the rules. I like a lot of the stupid puns in here! It's a very smug song, very self-satisfied. Also making me so badly want to get a bass guitar.

Watching: Busy week! First up Macbeth, the 2024 West End performance film release.

It has been a hot second since I have seen Macbeth although I pregamed this with the Ian McKellen and Judi Dench one from the 70's which I kind of half-listened to while making dinner.

Macbeth is not as dense with like Good Lines as Hamlet but it is tied for like, how fun it is to watch. Relies very heavily on your Lady Macbeth driving everything forward.

There's a lot of gender in here! Everyone is constantly saying whether they're a man or a woman and they're totally not lying they promise.

Also, at Bad Movie Night: Flash Gordon, which. Is not like Macbeth.

Flash Gordon has some really killer outfits! My only knowledge of Flash Gordon is secondhand through parody and I was not prepared for how all out the sets and costumes went, thank you movies.

Multiple lost technologies on display here. We don't make t-shirts that tight anymore, and we also lost this kind of big semi-earnest comedy sci-fi technology. The closest thing to this is I guess Jupiter Ascending, which is Very Tropey in a similar way but that's like, ten years old now?

Reading: Going back and forth between Pale Fire and other things, mostly the little Nabokov collection I picked up. Little to say, Pale Fire continues to be fun but in the same way as before.

Making: Printing around the house, more design stuff around the TV. Starting to work on a lapboard-ish thing. Currently I use the steam desktop mode which is very good, like, genuinely quite handy, which combined with being able to send links from my phone to the handheld is pretty much complete, but it would be nice to be able to a) type and b) play 3D games without having to learn how to use a controller. I am not a picky gamer when it comes to my keyboard and mouse, I've beaten Star Wars Republic Commando on a trackpad more than once, but I do want a mouse.

This involves figuring out what I want to do with Galena. I've run into problems! Galena suffers from "not the same kind of layout as the keyboard I type on all day at work", a problem that has two possible solutions, 1) build a Galena copy for work, or 2) build a work copy for home. I kind of like my work layout (Logitech K860) more than the strict ortho of Galena so it's possible I'm going to tear her down and rebuild her. If I do do this what I might do is figure out how to get time on the makerspace CNC mill so that I can build a swoopy complicated case out of wood, I do like having a wooden keyboard, but it'll probably at least start out as a printed project. It's also possible that much of Galena will become the lapboard and I'll build something new for the desktop.

Additionally: remembered I have that whole LED project. Got save slots working on the API and backend side of things.

Playing: Cyberpunk, I am presently in Phantom Liberty which is a very sharp change of pace, much more focussed, it feels almost like a linear campaign in many ways. Enjoying it but hoo boy that division feels artificial. It doesn't help that I basically waited until everything else was wrapped up to go there, although I am enjoying having some latitude to deploy my top level skill tree in the wild.

Tools and Equipment: I got a really really long wool coat the other day and I cannot overstate how good it is for cold weather because it covers your legs. Combined with my ridiculous chaps this is perhaps the most comfortable I've been outside all winter.

[bxnghost]

Speedsters HC : Teeth shifting

I've thought about this recently while I was re-drawing my Wally West design, and I remembered I gave him braces at the beginning of his adulthood. If you quickly think about it and not acknowledge it, it isn't THAT of a big deal, it's just a personal character design.

I've decided to use my little nerd brain about it. Thinking about my own personal experience with orthodontics & some common knowledge about teeth. And I came with the conclusion that all the speedsters have or need retainers, braces, headgear (and other orthodontics stuff).

The simple reasons being, they use their speed at least once a day or more.

Because overnight your teeth shifts, but it's so unnoticeable until a dentist points it out (whether your teeth are crooked, your bottom or top teeth are way too forward, or your upper jaw got smaller). That's for someone that doesn't have super speed (connected to the speedforce). But for Speedsters, time can go faster for them, especially when they vibrate their molecules.

Instead of their teeth shift little by little every night, speedsters teeth shift so quickly (between 24 - 48hrs) that it's noticeable. so what? It's not gonna personally affect them for being heroes or their personal work. It does affect them, and it can even cause some gum diseases.

Any type of shifts that I mentioned (an over/underbite, crooked teeth, a smaller or larger upper jaw) can cause them issues eating, resting their facial features or more.

Now depending on how fast the speedster is, they'd have different types of oral treatment.

Example (with Speedsters who has treatments): Wally only wears traditional braces. And once his treatment comes to an end, he'll be wearing traditional retainers (wired retainers). Not that his teeth were THAT crooked, but he had concerning overbite. His teeth can shift back in less than a week if he doesn't wear his retainers (They're not permanent retainer, but he does have to wear them daily)

Barry, on the other hand, only has a permanent retainer (or bonded retainers if you will) WITH plastic retainers (you can have both). Barry's teeth are always going to be crooked, but not at a level where he needs braces.

Bart... Bart's teeth are so messed up due to not only his speed but also his accelerated aging. So he has to wear braces with forsus springs (elastics wouldn't work with him at all, just saying) BUT ALSO a palate expander (because of the rapid aging) & a headgear to sleep (yet again, rapid aging and his extreme speed but stopped wearing it for a while)

But this is my personal headcanon about the speedsters, don't take it too personal (in a negative way) if you don't actual visualize any of them with orthodontic methods. It's fine totally fine if you don't !! 👍🏾

[crownedlegend]

Princess Elizabeth was photographed leaving a dentist's office in West End after an appointment in 1934.

[camisoledadparis]

THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY

based on: The White Crane Institute's 'Gay Wisdom', Gay Birthdays, Gay For Today, Famous GLBT, glbt-Gay Encylopedia, Today in Gay History, Wikipedia, and more … November 6

1494 – Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman Sultan,  was born (d.1566); the tenth and longest‐serving Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, reigning from 1520 to 1566. He is known in the West as Suleiman the Magnificent and in the Islamic world, as the Lawgiver, deriving from his complete reconstruction of the Ottoman legal system. Within the empire, Suleiman was known as a fair ruler and an opponent of corruption.

As well as being a capable goldsmith and distinguished poet, Suleiman was also a great patron of artists and philosophers, overseeing the golden age of the Ottoman Empire's cultural development.

Historians claim that Suleiman, in his youth, had an admiration for Alexander the Great as he wanted very much to learn how he had managed to unite the peoples of the east and the west.

Pargali Ibrahm Pasha was the boyhood friend of Suleiman. Ibrahim was originally Greek Orthodox and when young was educated at the Palace School as a devshirme (the systematic abduction of young boys from conquered Christians lands by the Ottomann sultans as a form of regular taxation in order to build a loyal slave army).

As the Sultan's male favorite, he shared Suleiman's quarters and his tent while at home and on campaign. Suleiman made him the royal falconer, then promoted him to first officer of the Royal Bedchamber. Eventually, Ibrahim Pasha became the Grand Vizier in 1523 and commander in chief of all the armies. Suleiman also conferred upon Ibrahim pasha the honor of beylerbey of Rumelia, granting Ibrahim authority over all Turkish territories in Europe, as well as command of troops residing within them at times of war.

According to a 17th century chronicler, Ibrahim had asked Suleiman not to promote him to such high positions, fearing for his safety, to which Suleiman replied that under his reign no matter what the circumstance, Ibrahim would never be put to death.

Ibrahim would eventually fall from grace with the Sultan. During his thirteen years as Grand Vizier, his rapid rise to power and vast accumulation of wealth had made Ibrahim many enemies among the Sultan's court.

Reports had reached the Sultan of Ibrahim's imprudence committed during a campaign against the Persian Safavid empire, in particular his adoption of the title serasker sultan was seen as a grave affront to Suleiman. Suleiman's suspicion of Ibrahim was worsened in a quarrel between the latter and the Minister of Finance Iskender Chelebi. The dispute ended in the disgrace of Chelebi on charges intrigues against the Sultan, with Ibrahim convincing Suleiman to sentence the Minister to death. Before his death however, Chelebi's last words were to accuse Ibrahim of conspiracy against the Sultan. Since these were his dying words, Suleiman became convinced of Ibrahim's disloyalty and on March 15, 1536, Ibrahim's lifeless body was discovered in the Topkapi palace.

1730 Hans Hermann von Katte  (1704 – 1730) is executed in Prussia. Prince Fredrick II of Prussia (aka Frederich the Great) was thought to be lovers with, Katte. They planned to escape Prussia together, but were discovered. The court sentenced Katte to life in prison but refused to judge the prince. Fredrick’s father thought this too lenient and ordered Katte executed and Fredrick imprisoned. Frederick was awakened at 5:00 AM and told to look out his prison window at the execution of Katte. He called out to him "My dear Katte, a thousand pardons." Katte called back, "My prince, there is nothing to apologize for" just before he was beheaded.

1949 – Brad Davis, American actor, best known for his role in the 1978 film Midnight Express, was born on this date (d.1991).

Davis was born Robert Creel Davis in Tallahassee, Florida to Eugene Davis, a dentist whose career declined due to alcoholism, and his wife, the former Anne Creel. His brother Gene is also an actor. According to an article in The New York Times published in 1987, According to an article in The New York Times published in 1987, Davis suffered physical abuse and sexual abuse at the hands of both parents. As an adult, he was an alcoholic and an intravenous drug user before becoming sober in 1981. Davis was known as "Bobby" during his youth, but took Brad as his stage name in 1973.

At 17, after winning a music talent contest, Davis worked at Theatre Atlanta. He later moved to New York City and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as studied acting at the American Place Theater. After a role on the soap opera How to Survive a Marriage, he performed in off-Broadway plays. In 1976 he was cast as��Sally Field's love interest in the television film Sybil. He played the lead role in Larry Kramer's play about AIDS, The Normal Heart (1985).

His most successful film role was as the main character in Midnight Express (1978), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor. He also had a small role in Roots. The steamy shower scene in Midnight Express and Davis' portrayal of the sexy Gay sailor in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film adaptation of Jean Genet's Querelle (1983) made him a Gay film icon.

Davis was married to Susan Davis, who later became an Emmy Award-winning casting director. They had one child, Alexandra (now Alex, he's a transman).

Diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, Davis kept his condition secret until shortly before his death. Although it was announced he died of AIDS in 1991 in Los Angeles, he actually died of an intentional drug overdose. Near death and in severe pain in a hospital, he opted to return home and end his life on his own terms. With his wife and a family friend present, he committed assisted suicide. Susan Davis continues to campaign to combat AIDS.

1952 – Michael Cunningham is an American writer, best known for his 1998 novel The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1999.

Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and grew up in Pasadena, California. He studied English literature at Stanford University where he earned his degree. Later, at the University of Iowa, he received a Michener Fellowship and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. While studying at Iowa, he had short stories published in the Atlantic Monthly and the Paris Review. His short story, "White Angel", was later used as a chapter in his novel A Home at the End of the World. It was included in "The Best American Short Stories, 1989," published by Houghton Mifflin. A Home at the End of the World, a gay love story, was also made into a 2004 movie with Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts and Robin Wright.

Cunningham is currently professor of creative writing at Yale University.

Although Cunningham is gay and has been in a long-term domestic partnership with psychoanalyst Ken Corbett, he dislikes being referred to as a gay writer, according to a PlanetOut article. While being gay greatly influences his work, he feels that it should not be his defining characteristic.

1955 – Wolfgang Busch, born in Heppenheim, Germany, is a two time Humanitarian award winner, was inducted into the Queens Business Hall of Fame for his company Art From The Heart Films, was inducted into the LGBT Hall of Fame and is a multiple award winning documentary filmmaker, director, producer, cinematographer and editor, including a humanitarian award for his documentary "How Do I Look". He also received a "Keep The Dream Alive" Martin Luther King Humanitarian award for his social and artistic activism for the Black and Hispanic LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Ballroom community, aka Harlem Drag Ball community.

He is an entrepreneur, grass-root organizer, motivator, inspirational and touches people life's from all walks of life. His Art In Education Documentaries are screened worldwide. He lectures about Artistic Empowerment and HIV/AIDS education at the most prestigious universities, Yale, NYU, Penn State, not for profit organizations The Door, LGBT Community Center in New York City and Chicago, the Gay Mens Health Crisis, community-based organizations and Churches across the United States; London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.

From 1990-2000 he produced New York New Rock, a weekly TV show highlighting cultural and educational aspects of various communities such as the local New York City Rock and R & B communities, LGBT, arts, sports, politics and fashion reaching 500,000 Manhattan households. The show was a successful outreach tool for artists and not for profit organizations and Busch was able to sign national and international record and licensing deals for several artists.

As an openly gay artist, he has been embraced by a wide range of LGBT organizations to produce high level events including GLAMA (The Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards), SAGE (Senior Action in a Gay Environment) Lifetime Achievement Awards ceremonies and events for LifeBeat, Center For the Media Arts and Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center.

1957 – Cam Clarke is an American voice actor and singer known for his work in animation, video games and commercials. Among his notable roles are Leonardo and Rocksteady in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, Shotaro Kaneda in the 1989 original Streamline Pictures English dub of Akira, and Liquid Snake in the Metal Gear series. He often serves as a voice double for Matthew Broderick.

Clarke was born Cameron Arthur Clarke in Burbank, California, to actor Robert Clarke and singer Alyce King.

Clarke is the nephew to guitarist Alvino Rey and pianist Buddy Cole, cousin to actress Tina Cole and writer Chris Conkling, half brother to musicians Ric and Lex de Azevedo, and uncle to voice actress Emilie Brown and actress Rachel Coleman.

Clarke began his acting career in The Hollywood Palace as The King Family Show. He continued to perform with his family on various television specials until the 1980s when he got his first voice acting roles in Snorks and Robotech. He was taught by Michael Bell.

To date, Clarke has voiced over four hundred titles. From 1987 until 1996, Cam Clarke would most notably portray Leonardo, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as Rocksteady, one of the show's antagonists. Clarke would reprise the role of Leonardo in non-musical spoken portions of the first show of the "Coming out of their Shells" concerts designed around the Ninja Turtle characters held at Radio City Music Hall, though the later VHS tape released of the event leaves him uncredited.Clarke is openly gay, and his experiences inspired his album Inside Out, which changed pronouns in lyrics of classic songs and his one-man autobiographical play Stop Me If I Told You This.

1988 – Tom Neuwirth, better known by his drag stage persona Conchita Wurst, is an Austrian singer. Wurst came to international attention when winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix".

Born in Gmunden, Neuwirth moved to Graz to do his Matura with a focus on fashion, before embarking on a singing career through the 2007 casting show Starmania. He subsequently became a founding member of the short-lived boyband Jetzt Anders!.

In 2011, Neuwirth began appearing as Wurst – a drag persona noted for her beard – and came second in the Austrian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012. Wurst was successfully selected to represent Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, where she proved victorious.

Wurst's entry and victory courted controversy, being condemned by some of the continent's social conservatives and right-wingers who saw her performance as a promotion of LGBT rights. Conversely, it brought her international attention and established her as a prominent LGBT icon, resulting in invites to perform at various LGBT pride parades and the European Parliament.

Neuwirth describes himself as a gay man and uses female pronouns to describe his Wurst character, but male pronouns when referring to himself.

1991 – Paul Poirier is a Canadian ice dancer. With Piper Gilles, he is the 2021 World bronze medallist, as well as a three-time Four Continents medallist (silver in 2014 and 2020, bronze in 2019), three-time Skate Canada International champion (2019, 2021–22), and two-time Canadian national champion (2020, 2022). Gilles and Poirier competed for Canada at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.

With earlier partner Vanessa Crone, he is the 2010 Grand Prix Final bronze medallist, 2011 Four Continents bronze medallist, 2008 World Junior silver medallist, and 2011 Canadian national champion. Crone and Poirier competed for Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Paul Poirier was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to Debra Mendes de Franca and Marc Poirier. In 2015, he graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics. He continues graduate studies in linguistics part-time. He speaks English, French, Japanese, and Spanish. His brother played in the Ontario Hockey League.

Poirier is gay and has spoken about "perhaps [being] a role model for...younger queer athletes."

2012 – Washington State voters approve Referendum 74 legalizing same-sex marriage.

[tacomasterstudios]

Underdog's Secret Origin Story

Published for the first time in 2005 in the book "How Underdog Was Born" by Underdog creators Chet Stover and W.W. "Buck" Biggers, this origin story for the Mutt of Might was originally written back in 1963 as part of the series bible, but never shown to sponsors and never used in any episodes. It's also completely unhinged.

He was born in Huntsville, West Virginia, where his father, Lewis N. Clark, worked as a coal miner. Wages were low and the family of three, living in a small log cabin in a wooded area far from town, had difficulty making ends meet.

His mother, Molly Barker, before she became Molly Clark, helped earn money by writing poetry which was bought by local and regional publications and, occasionally, by national magazines such as Reader's Digest and The Saturday Evening Post.

Named after his father, the future Underdog was called "Junior" by his parents and by his friends. Although the family was poor, Junior's life was happy and relatively uneventful until he was about to enter high school. At that time, when a dangerous criminal escaped from nearby Fullsome Prison, and everyone in the area was asked to help find him, it was discovered that Lewis was extraordinarily gifted at tracking, finding the path the escaped criminal had taken and discovering his whereabouts under even the most difficult of circumstances.

After capturing the first escapee and then repeating the feat several times, Lewis' fame spread rapidly, and he began to be called upon by prison officials, bail bondsmen, even private individuals suffering because someone close to them had vanished. The elder Lewis might have become wealthy as his fame spread, but he refused to take monetary advantage of

his talent.

His tracking freed him from the coal mine, which pleased him greatly because his lungs had suffered there, and a lower level explosion had damaged his hearing. But in terms of fees for tracking, he would take little more than the money he might have earned down in the mine shaft if his tracking talents had not been discovered.

As his reputation grew, Lewis prided himself on the fact that he had never once failed to bring back anyone he had been hired to track. Then, when Junior was 18 years of age, it appeared that his father's perfect record might be spoiled. Lewis was searching for a particularly unpleasant criminal, a fraudulent dentist (no credentials) who had been convicted of pulling healthy teeth and then charging exorbitant prices for doing this totally unnecessary, often very painful, work. The day he had been convicted, he had escaped from a courtroom far from Huntsville.

When Lewis was recruited to bring back this criminal, he was shocked to discover that this dentist had once worked on him! He had removed two teeth, quite painfully, which had almost certainly been healthy. This was the first time Lewis had ever been personally involved with anyone he hunted, and it may have caused him to be over-zealous and perhaps careless. 

Chasing the dentist across an unprotected railroad crossing, Lewis' car stalled and, with his poor hearing, he did not hear the approaching train until it was almost upon him. Miraculously, he lived, but only long enough to make a deathbed plea. In the hospital, he asked Junior to finish the hunt, to bring the dentist to justice. 

Even as distraught as Junior's mother was, almost destroyed by her husband's death, Molly did not try to stop Junior from going after the dentist. On a stormy night filled with lightning that streaked again and again from sky to ground, Junior picked up the dentist's trail at the rail- road crossing and tracked him to a deserted coal mine. It turned out, Junior had not really been tracking the dentist so much as the dentist had been leading him to this mine... to destroy him. 

Tricked into going down into the lowest level of the old mine, Junior discovered that the dentist had already made his exit, and now blocked Junior's only way out with an explosion. As if this alone was not enough to finish poor Junior, the dentist began pumping into the mine where Underdog was trapped the "laughing gas" dentists used at that time to ease patients' pain.

At exactly the moment this gas reached the bottom of the mine and filled the space where Junior was trapped, a bolt of lightning struck the mine and raced down the shaft to that room full of gas. What followed was like nothing ever recorded before in history.

The combination of lightning and laughing gas in that small area so far beneath the surface of the earth produced an unreleased explosion with a power and pressure of such dimensions that the coal left in this mine was literally turned to diamonds, and Junior underwent a comparable transformation. While he was laughing hysterically due to the huge quantity of laughing gas, Junior's eyes, ears, and muscles underwent a remarkable change, and he was empowered to become "Underdog.”

Without full realization of what had happened to him, Junior's first thought as he made his way out of that mine was to keep his promise to his father: bring the dentist to justice. This was not difficult; did not require any of Junior's newly developed powers. So certain had the dentist been that he had finished off this tracker, that he had not even left the premises. Junior captured him quickly, and returned him to the authorities from whom he had escaped. The record of the late Lewis N. Clark remained unblemished.

Back at home, Junior did not immediately speak of what had happened to him, for he and his mother were too caught up in grief, in burying their father and husband. And as weeks passed, Molly seemed unable to recover from this loss. But Junior finally spoke to her- he had to speak to someone-and discussed his new powers.

"It's providence," said his mother almost immediately. "Your father is gone- can no longer track down criminals- and you have been given strengths beyond belief."

"So, what should I do, Mother?"

"Use those powers to do what your father did; use them to fight for right and to help others in need. Use them for good. Help to bring a balance to life, to protect the poor and the helpless, the needy, the underdogs of the world."

And that was how Junior found his new name, "Underdog."

"I understand," he said to his mother. "That's what I'll do.”

"But you must never let those powers make you feel better than others. You must keep your feet on the ground, my son. Find a way to help you remain unchanged inside, no matter what fame comes to you."

This was why Junior would eventually adopt the personality of Shoeshine Boy whenever he was not fighting evil or helping others as Underdog. Shoeshine Boy would help to keep Underdog's feet on the ground.

Molly did not live long. There seemed no medical reason for her death. Some said the cause was simply the loss of Lewis; a broken heart. She did not want to continue on without her husband. Whatever the reason, she was gone less than a year after Lewis. And Junior was left alone.

He promised on his mother's grave that he would do as she had asked: Fight for the underdogs of the world and always remain humble. He made one other promise: As the hero of the poor and helpless- as Underdog- he would always speak in rhyme so that each time he spoke, he would be paying homage to his mother.

And, close to his heart, underneath the "U" on his chest, Underdog would always keep the last poem his mother had written.

Lies are like doors, And quickly we learn, When doors lock behind us We can never return.

Underdog would never lie.

[otsukare-katsukare]

Please do!!

Well If You Insist!

(copied right out of the drafts <3) (long)

okay beatle roys. they don’t map perfectly at all, but if you absolutely HAD to, im sorry roman but you are george. yeah sure romey we know you’re a good songwriter you can have 2 on this album how’s about that? as smart as or maybe smarter than his siblings/bandmates but doesnt have a genius complex unlike them so is forced to play their games. including their mind games with each other. didn’t want to go on the roof; ended up on the roof. kendall is paul, ‘big brothering’ the little angry guy on the bus who he’ll always see as a little kid even though there’s like 2 years between them for christ’s sake. in terms of age seniority john might be the kendall equivalent but unfortunately paul was ACTUALLY an older brother and he brought that energy to the band, and the john/george alliance against paul reeks much more strongly of roman and shiv teaming up to peck their golden boy older sibling than anything george and paul had together against john. and to those who would say roman’s too much of a dick to be sweet peaceable george, he’s actually nicer okay cause he refused to sign the letter decrying kendall as a bipolar drug addict but george played slide guitar on how do you sleep quite happily.

on the subject of kendall, his depressive lows may seem more john but his manic highs? his big creative visions? his costumes (he got one for roman too)? his general addiction to the spotlight? his droopy eyes? his inability to have swag despite his charm and talents? the way his siblings close ranks against him when he tries to make a stand? the way he's a cog built to fit one machine and paul mccartney's state after the beatles broke up Actually im getting sad let's change the subject? looking for pussy like a fuckin techno gatsby? non zero chance of having done a collab with kanye west/wanted to do one? paul. he’s paul. 

but it’s tough because shiv is the least easy to pin down as her age and gender relations with the rest of the family put her the furthest from john, and she ends up being at best a combo of all three - the underestimated and undermined baby (george) the repressed thwarted leader failgirl (paul) and the hotheaded bastard who's smart but not as smart as she thinks she is (john). but that john role gets much more delectable when you have kendall as paul, or at least if you think of them as the core duo in some way - im thinking of that crushing final scene between them, like take 'I want a divorce' and multiply it by a hundred holy fuck. she respects him, but she needs to prove herself better than him constantly. she needs validation just the same as he does but she's determined to believe/put out that everything she does is entirely under her own steam and that other people are pawns to her. her relationships with logan and mattson remind me of john with authority figures he would latch onto in the hope that they'd fill the void left by his parents, before realising they were phonies trying to get something from him and angrily discarding them.

honestly actually while shiv is the hardest to map clearly john is also the hardest from the beatles end cause there's a lot going on there from childhood trauma that any one of the roys can relate to, and his brand of cruel wit fits them all to an extent as well - but this is the configuration i like the most. also her spouse broke up the band

of course connor maps onto ringo perfectly do i even need to explain it - actually i do cause people might just take that to mean i’m saying ringo was useless or ignored. no he was the older brother everyone loved and who loved everybody, who was an only child for most of his childhood and was so happy to get three brothers/siblings even though they happened to be the worst people alive.

there you have it. and logan. is allen klein (kendall dreams he is being hunted down by him as a dentist)

oh one more thing - kendall as paul is right because he's the only one who's a documented beatles FAN lol

[miskinmusic24-25]

DATES FOR THE YEAR

Hello,

Please relate the following information to your parents/guardians in respect to booking any holidays and events.

Parents/guardians, save this Tumblr link to see your musician’s schedules (posted every Friday)

Please do not take any holidays during term time and keep all dentist and other non-emergency appointments to Thursdays (which is usually your day off) For the time being you will be asked to work from home on either a Tuesday or a Wednesday. This will change around from project to project. You always need to be available all day on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday and Fridays

You will be called in on three Thursdays this term (see below)

TERM 1

For your own public performances, you will need to keep the following dates free:

Your year group will have Thursdays off. This will always be the case except for the week before and week of any shows you are involved with as well as any outside trips that we have planned. 

Your first showing of work will be on the afternoon of the 11th of October, you will need to be available to come in on Thursday 10th of October.

On the same evening as the showing, we will be inviting your parents to an event called ‘Friends of the Miskin’ This is their chance to connect with the staff here and find out more about how your course works and ask us any questions they might have. We plan to showcase some of the music from the afternoon gig for them at the event. This will be from 7:30-9:00pm (details to follow).

On the evening of Friday the 25th of October there will be a Freshers gig with performances from the 2nd year musicians. You will be expected to attend

Half term will be 28th of October-1st of November

We are planning to take you to see an afternoon performance of the West End Show ‘Hamilton’ on Thursday November 7th

You will be performing some music at a live gig on the evening of the 29th of November. You will be expected to rehearse on Thursday 28th of November 

The latest day you will be called in this term will be December 18th

TERM 2 

You are not called back until Tuesday the 6th of January

The 2nd term show dates are Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th of February. So you will be called in on the Thursday of that week (13th of February)

The following week is half term break (17th-21st of February)

You may be playing some of the music from this gig again at our open day on the 4th of March until 7pm in the evening

You will not break up for Easter until the 10th of April. Please be aware that the rest of the college breaks up earlier than you do that week. You are called back on the 22nd of April

You will need to be available on the evening of Friday April 25th to watch the 2nd year musicians perform in the Theatre

Your third term public show dates are Thursday 22nd-Saturday 24th of May

You will need to be available to work on Thursday 1st of May as we have a lunchtime gig the next day and both Thursdays during the two-week period of the show going out (15th and 22nd of May)

YOU WILL BE CALLED IN FOR A DEBRIEF on Tuesday 27th of May and also on another day that week for a tutorial 

PLEASE BEWARE THAT THIS IS HALF TERM WEEK FOR THE REST OF THE COLLEGE

You will not be called in on the week of the 2nd-6th of June however but will be expected to use that time to complete any outstanding portfolio work

We will break up officially for the Summer on the 20th of June, however there may be an end of year Prom the following week on the 26th of June

Attendance at the prom is optional.

Please Note that GCSE/functional skills sessions supersede any time off you have been given on this notice and you will still need to attend classes at times when the rest of your year group have time off.

We reserve the right to call you in on a Thursday if you fall behind with your academic work

[warningsine]

JERUSALEM, May 9 (Reuters) - Israel killed three Islamic Jihad commanders and 10 civilians in surprise airstrikes in Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, drawing threats of reprisals from the faction and censure from Egypt, which has mediated past ceasefires in the enclave.

Signalling it anticipated an imminent flare-up, Israel closed roads in Israeli towns near Gaza, instructed residents there to keep close to bomb shelters, and said it was calling up some military reservists. Images on social media showed Iron Dome rocket interceptor batteries being trucked to the front.

The scope of any escalation could hinge on whether Gaza's ruling Hamas militants take part, as they did in a 2021 war.

In a bid to deter them, Israeli security cabinet minister Israel Katz told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM that Hamas leaders could be targeted for assassination, too.

While the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem have seen a spread of grassroots violence over the past year, exchanges of fire across the Gaza border have also intensified - most recently following the death last week of an Islamic Jihad leader on hunger-strike in Israeli custody.

Islamic Jihad identified the commanders killed on Tuesday as Jihad Ghannam, Khalil Al-Bahtini and Tareq Izzeldeen. The Iranian-sponsored group is on terrorist watchlists in the West.

Medical officials said 10 civilians, including four children and five women, were also killed in the strikes that hit residential areas in congested Gaza, where 2.3 million Palestinians live on 365 sq km (140 sq miles).

Islamic Jihad vowed to "match the size of the crime".

"The Occupation (Israel) must expect a response at any moment and anywhere," said group spokesperson Dawoud Shehab.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of civilian deaths but had no immediate comment.

"We're aware of some collateral and we'll learn more as the day goes ahead," a military spokesperon told reporters.

The military said 40 jets took part in what it called "pinpoint" strikes. "It was a convergence of intelligence, timing and weather," a military spokesperson said.

Ten weapons and infrastructure manufacturing sites, including rocket production workshops and a site for making concrete used for tunnels, as well as military compounds belonging to the group were also hit, the spokesperson said.

"MORE RESISTANCE"

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who has been splitting his time between Turkey and Qatar, said in a statement: "Assassination of leaders will not bring the Occupation (Israel) security but more resistance."

Egypt, which has used its open channels to Israel and Palestinian militants to mediate truces in the past, said the strikes "contradicted the foundations of international law and international resolutions".

Videos showed billowing smoke and flames that lit up the night sky as trucks of firefighters sped to a building that had been hit, while a medic reassured a young girl who appeared confused.

"Your family is all safe, don't worry," he said.

During the bombardment, Palestinians took to social media to mourn a well-known dentist who was killed at home with his wife, describing him as a loyal friend and humble man.

In another sign Israel was preparing for a flare-up, its foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said he would return early from a visit to India after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

But the developments offered political reprieve for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Jewish Power, a far-right party in his religious-rightist coalition government, said it was ending a boycott of parliamentary voting that it had called last week in protest at what it deemed lax Israeli policy on Gaza.

More than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in the strife since January.

The Palestinian foreign ministry strongly condemned Israel's attack and said a negotiated political solution was the only way to achieve security and stability. Islamic Jihad, like Hamas, refuses coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction.

Israel captured Gaza and the West Bank, areas that Palestinians want for an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in a 1967 war. Some ministers of Israel's current government have expressed opposition to Palestinian statehood and said there is no such thing as the Palestinian people.

COGAT, a unit of the Israeli defence ministry that coordinates civilian affairs with Palestinians in occupied territories, said its two Gaza crossings were closed to people and goods until further notice.

[theharpermovieblog]

#HARPERSMOVIECOLLECTION

2023

I watched Old Henry (2021)

I'm a big fan of westerns, and discovering good newer westerns is almost a hobby at this point.

A farmer and his son take in a wounded man on the run from outlaws. The inevitable danger brings to light the farmer's buried past.

Tim Blake Nelson is a fantastic actor who fits so well into westerns and period pieces, he seems almost made for it. Whether he's playing the sheriff in an independent film version of a Cormac McCarthy novel, filling out a trio of screwballs in O'brother where art though, or being a living cowboy cartoon in The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, Nelson is an actor who always nails his roles, and in doing so has become a draw for film fans like myself.

Here in Old Henry, Tim Blake Nelson is the lead. A rundown and disheveled farmer who's seen a life of hardship. You can see it on his face, in his greasy hair, the way he moves. He's grizzled, dangerous and stoic. He wants for a simple life on his farm and has changed his old violent ways. He's desperate to raise his son to be a man without violence. Of course, this is a western and by the end, he'll need to pick up the six gun again and stop running from who he is.

Director Potsy Ponciroli writes and directs a real solid western with this film. You won't find too many surprises outside a few revelations of character. It's a straight forward story, which isn't completely original, but it doesn't need to be. It's a formula that works when the script, cast and direction are as good as they are here. Besides Nelson, you get Stephen Dorf playing the villain (which are his best roles) and Scott Haze playing the man on the run.

Old Henry looks fantastic as well. It's dark and drab and feels aged yet crisp. A little like Henry himself.

The sound design is great, letting the noise of bullets play out over gun fights and somber music play over everything else.

The pacing is pitch perfect. The film's simple story moves along fast and stays interesting. No time or frames wasted.

This isn't treading new ground in the world of westerns. In essence and story it is a classic western and is handled the same, with updated violence and a lead character that bucks the traditional leading man.

If you're up on your old west history, you'll catch on to the reveal very quick, but those not in the know will catch on soon after, as the film spells it out for you in a sincere way.

I'd go as far as to say Old Henry is one of the best westerns of the past two decades.

My one issue is Trace Adkins. He's fine in his role, but his brightly dentist-whitened smile distracted me. Lol

[chinatownstreetscape]

"Clay St. West of Kearny SF 1873 - First Cable Car in the World" In this elevated view west on Clay Street to the Clay St. Cable RR cable car at Kearny Street Terminus, Portsmouth Square can be seen on the right. Signage for the R. Cutlar Dentist, H. Traube watchmaker and jeweler at left.   This photo is a detail from Carleton Watkins' stereo card number 2368 (Variant) under the original title: "Clay St. Hill R.R., San Francisco, Cal. Run by A.S. Hallidie's patent Endless Steel Wire Rope and Gripping Attachment. Overcomes an Elevation of 307 feet in a length of 2800 feet. Worst grade, one foot in six"  (from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection).  

Chinatown at the Advent of the Cable Car

This year San Francisco marks the sesquicentennial of its cable car system.  In the late 19th century, San Francisco experienced rapid urbanization and faced the challenge of its hilly terrain. Traditional horse-drawn streetcars struggled to navigate the steep inclines, necessitating an innovative transportation solution.

In the predawn hours of August 2, 1873, Andrew Smith Hallidie introduced the first successful cable car system in the world. The cable cars utilized an underground cable mechanism to propel the cars along tracks, overcoming the city's hilly landscape. This new mode of transportation revolutionized urban mobility and played a pivotal role in San Francisco's development.

Historian Phil Choy wrote about the Clay Street cable car terminus at Portsmouth Square as follows:  

“Following Andrew S. Hallidie’s successful test-run of the first cable car on August [2], 1873, horse-drawn cars were replaced with a cable car  on Clay Street.  Thereafter, the Chinese called Clay Street ‘Mo Mah Lie Ch’eh,’ which literally means ‘no-horse-drawn-car’ [冇馬拉車; canto: “mou5 maa5 laai1 ce1″].  Starting from the top of Leavenworth Street, the line ended at a turntable at the bottom of Clay and Kearny Streets, to send the car back up the hill.”

California and Montgomery streets, c. 1889.  Photographer unknown (from the Martin Behrman Negative Collection / Courtesy of the Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives).  The view is west on California across Montgomery, as an Omnibus Railway Co. horsecar #11 passes the Parrott Building, or Parrott Block (1852, Architect Stephen Williams) seen in background.  A Chinese man is walking south at the northeast corner of the intersection.  The signs for the offices of Equitable Life and Dr. William F. McNutt at 405 Montgomery are visible at right.  

The introduction of cable cars in San Francisco had a profound impact on the Chinese community. Several cable car lines conveniently passed through Chinatown, allowing Chinese residents to access transportation. The cable cars provided a reliable means of travel for the community, connecting them to other neighborhoods and employment opportunities initially for domestic workers serving the mansions atop Nob Hill and eventually throughout the city.

Clay Street Cable Car, c. 1873.  Photograph by Carleton Watkins and published as “Pacific Coast. 2369″ and by Taber Photo (from the Marilyn Blaisdell collection).  In this startling image, patrons and car operators can be seen posing on or alongside cable cars on Clay near Jones Street, except for at least two Chinese men seated in the car at left.  Their faces were lost to history because one man placed his hat over his face, while the other inclined his head to avoid the camera’s lens. Watkins' image may be the only extant image showing urban pioneer Chinese actually riding an early cable car, possibly to their jobs as domestic servants for the mansions on Nob Hill.

Watkins' stereo card bears the legend: “Clay Street Hill R.R., San Francisco, Cal. Run by A.S. Hallidie's patent Endless Steel Wire Rope and Gripping Attachment. Overcomes an Elevation of 307 feet in a length of 2800 feet.  Worst grade, one foot in six. 2369”  Photograph by Carleton E. Watkins (from the collection of the San Francisco Public Library).

“At the Corner of Dupont and Jackson Streets” c. 1896 -1906.  Photograph by Arnold Genthe (from the Genthe photograph collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division).  A cable car on the Jackson Street line can be seen at right.  “Two girls wearing embroidered holiday wear are crossing the street,” as historian Jack Tchen wrote in his book about Genthe’s Chinatown photos.  “The store behind them is a ‘Chinese and Japanese Curios’ store located at 924 Dupont Street, southwest corner.  The good-quality, expensive vases in the window display and the sign in English indicate that the store catered especially to tourists.  Some such stores were owned by Japanese, but the main reason that both Chinese and Japanese goods were sold in the same store was that the general public could not distinguish between the two cultures.”   

(NOTE:  Both Genthe’s identification of the intersection of Dupont and Jackson streets and Tchen’s location of the address at 924 Dupont appear INCORRECT for several reasons: (1) Genthe’s photo of the upslope depicts the west or odd-numbered side of the street, and the intersection’s southwest corner; (2) Prior to 1906, the building bearing an address of 943 Dupont occupied the southwest corner of the intersection with Jackson Street;(3) business directories of the time indicated that the Tong Yuen Lai confectionary operated at the 943 address during the 1890’s (and by the 1905 publication of the Chinatown phone directory, the Jong Mee Cigar Store had either co-located or operated solely at the address); (4) local transit historian Emiliano Echeverria observes that Jackson Street served as a horse-drawn streetcar line but such tracks were removed "and 1894 was when they were removed,” which preceded Genthe’s photographic work in San Francisco; (5) the storefront of, and its occupancy by, a curios store at the southwest corner of the intersection of Sacramento and Dupont streets was apparent as confirmed by the city’s July 1885 Chinatown map locating a “C[hinese] merchandise & pawn store” at 625 Dupont Street; (6) the storefront is a closematch to the one seen at the intersection of Dupont and Sacramento streets appearing in the upper-left background of Genthe’s photo “Carrying New Year Presents” (included below); and (7) business and phone directories from 1883 through 1905 showed the Quong Wah Lee & Co. at the 625 Dupont Street address and classified by the Langley directory of 1883 as selling “Fancy Goods - Chinese and Japanese.”   

“B 3096 Clay Street Hill, Chinatown, San Francisco” c. 1886.  Photograph by Isaiah West Taber (from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection).  In this view east on the south side of Clay Street, and just above Dupont, the trees of Portsmouth Square can in the distance at left, a horsecar can be seen on Kearny and an original Clay Street cable car.  The large billboard for Globe Business College and Conservatory of Music in distance. The large vertical sign in Chinese denotes an herbalist or apothecary store.

The view east on Clay Street, c. 1888. (Photographer unknown from the collection of the California Historical Society).  A cable car is in the process of crossing Dupont Street and heading west up the hill.  The balconies of the Yoot Hong Low restaurant appear at left. 

“161 Street Scene in Chinatown,” no date.  Photographer unknown (from a private French collection).  A cable car can be seen traveling west on Clay passing Stockton Street. 

“Chinese Quarter, San Francisco, Cal.” c. 1891. Photograph by A.J. McDonald (from a private collection).  A cable car is seen passing the 800-block of Clay Street between Dupont St. and Waverly Place.  The decorated balconies of the Yoot Hong Low restaurant can be seen at center.  

“B 2807 Lotta’s Fountain, and junction of Market, Kearny a& Geary Streets, S.F.” c. late 1880s.  Photograph by Isaiah West Taber (from a private collection). A Market Street Cable Rail car appears in the right foreground. Two Chinese men can be seen in the background at left on the sidewalk  between the two lampposts and under the Philadelphia Lager sign. 

“Carrying New Year Presents” c. 1900-1905. Photograph by Arnold Genthe (from the Genthe photograph collection, The Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division). A cable car can be seen on the hill just behind the head of the young woman in the photo.  She appears to have been a servant to the family of prominent merchant Lew Kan. The boy in the photo is Lew Bing Yuen, the older son, who also appears in Genthe’s well-known photo “Children of the High Class.”

The cable cars lines had played a significant role in fostering economic growth within Chinatown before the earthquake and fire of 1906 that destroyed the neighborhood.  After the transformation of post-1906 Chinatown into the “Oriental City,” this urban transit network remained crucial to the neighborhood’s integration with the citywide economy.  Tourists and locals utilized the cable car system, and Chinese-owned businesses along, and in proximity to, the cable car lines experienced increased patronage. This urban mobility represented by the cable car system, even after its reduction to only two lines, has sustained the Chinese community from it pioneer beginnings to this day.  

“San Francisco Cable Car Lines at the Fullest Extent of Operation (1890s)”  (courtesy of the Cable Car Museum). As the Cable Car Museum advises here, “Clay Street Hill Railroad was the sole cable car company for 4 years. A former horsecar company, Sutter Street Railroad, developed its own version of Hallidie's patented system and began cable service in 1877, followed by California Street Cable Railroad -1878, Geary Street, Park & Ocean Railroad -1880, Presidio & Ferries Railroad -1882, Market Street Cable Railway -1883, Ferries & Cliff House Railway -1888, and Omnibus Railroad & Cable Company -1889.”  At its peak, the San Francisco companies had laid “53 miles of track stretching from the Ferry Building to the Presidio, to Golden Gate Park, to the Castro, to the Mission.”

Published in Germany under the title “The Plaza, near Chinatown, San Francisco, U.S.A.” c. 1890. Photographer unknown (from the Marilyn Blaisdell Collection). In this northwesterly view toward the 700-block of Washington Street, a man walks a child through Portsmouth Square, and a cable car can be seen in the background. By the 1890s, a cable car line had been built on Washington Street, running along the northern edge of the square.

For the Chinese families who began to populate the eastern slopes of Nob and Russian Hills (and the garment workers in the small sewing factories along Pacific Avenue west of Stockton Street), the cable cars served as their principal transit system until the establishment of bus routes such as the Pacific Avenue shuttle (championed by Phil Chin and his Chinatown Transportation Improvement Project crew a half-century ago), and now known as the no. 12 Folsom/Pacific line.  

A group of women (at least one of whom has bound feet) disembarks from a cable car in 1908.  Photographer unknown (from the collection of the Chinese Historical Society of America). For women with bound feet (including great grandmothers on both sides of my family), the cars represented not only convenience but a necessary travel option for the residents navigating the hilly topography of San Francisco Chinatown.

The clang of cable car bells and the snap of the cable in the tracks remain an integral part of the soundtrack for the several generations of Chinese children who grew up in the greater Chinatown area. 

Cable cars symbolized the vital role of urban transportation in fostering connections and opportunities -- providing convenient travel options for the residents of Chinatown, maintaining the neighborhood’s economy during hard times, and tying the segregated Chinese community to the larger city.

“Convergence of Cultures” oil painting by Mian Situ.

[updated 2025-1-17]