#also I was thinking of Tatyana as a general concept at first but then I remembered they completely changed her in 5e

[bluehairperson]

Sometimes I see posts about how "I, Strahd" Tatyana has the personality of a cardboard but I don't think I agree honestly.

We only see her in very few scenes (all from Strahd's POV) and she's always very gentle and soft spoken.

Which makes completely sense since she was a lowborn orphan trying to make a good impression on her future brother in law, who is not only the ruler of the valley but also a feared war criminal. Of course she would try to be as nice as possible in front of him.

I also think that Strahd was extremely genuine in thinking he was in love with Tatyana, it's just that he never really knew her the way Sergei did. He only knew a facet.

[beroli]

Strahd von Zarovich: Then...

WE TURNED THE CORNER, AND THERE WAS a vampire. I groaned and rolled my eyes. It was 1978, and I was playing in one of my first dungeon adventures. It was being run by a friend I had known in high school, John Scott Clegg, and it was typical of the type of adventure that people played in those days. It was all about exploring a hodgepodge collection of rooms connected by dungeon corridors, beating up the monsters that we encountered, searching for treasure, and gaining experience points. Now we were face to face with random encounter number thirty-four: a vampire. Not a Vampire with a capital V, but a so-many-Hit-Dice-with-such-and-such-an Armor-Class lowercase vampire. Just another monster in the dungeon. I remember thinking at the time, What are you doing here? This creature  seemed completely out of place with the kobolds, orcs, and gelatinous cubes we had seen thus far. This was a creature who deserved his own setting and to be so much more than just a wandering monster. When I came home from that game, I told all these thoughts to Laura. That was when Strahd von Zarovich was born. Strahd would be no afterthought-he demanded his own setting, his own tragic history. Laura and I launched into researching the mythology and folklore surrounding the vampire... --Tracy Hickman, introduction to Curse of Strahd Module I6, Ravenloft, for first edition AD&D, was published in October of 1983. It introduced the tragic villain Strahd von Zarovich, who made a pact with a mysterious entity because he was obsessed with his brother’s fiancee. And it introduced his supporting cast, primarily his noble brother Sergei, and Tatyana, the object of Strahd’s obsession.

As the pact Strahd had made was elaborated, it was clear that Strahd’s inability to understand Tatyana--or most people--had caused him to accept an offer which had given him nothing he actually wanted, and at the same time, the entity had not actually tricked him. Rather, he had tricked himself. The terms of his pact with the entity stated that Sergei would be removed from his path and he would no longer age. The specific things he had to do for the pact--murder Sergei with his own hand and drink his blood--left no ambiguity to what “removed from his path” meant. The entity did not see fit to spell out to Strahd that Tatyana’s lack of interest in Strahd was not because of his age, or that she would be horrified and repulsed that he had murdered her fiance, things he had no excuse for not knowing. The entity also gave Strahd one more thing which was not in the explicit terms of their pact: Tatyana is reincarnated, over and over, with none of the memories of her previous lives, and Strahd can attempt to court her however he sees fit. In what few scenes she appeared in before dying, Tatyana demonstrated a Christ-like commitment to forgiving and understanding those who hurt her. Sergei admired her wisdom; Strahd was enraged by her naivety and believed Sergei was failing a moral duty in not “protecting” (that is, controlling) her. Long before he was a vampire, Strahd’s concept of “love” for Tatyana included no respect whatsoever.

And so his curse was elegantly simple in its inescapability. Strahd might be able to win Tatyana’s love, or at least her forgiveness, if he was able to understand her at all; he does not understand her well enough to realize that he doesn’t understand her. Strahd could have redemption if he ever acknowledged he chose to do horrible things for selfish reasons; he never will. For generations  of  D&D players, Strahd has been an epic and compelling villain. (There are also novels with Strahd, but this post is long enough already and I think the multiple interpretations present in them muddy the waters somewhat, so I’m focusing on game content here.)

[dsknsk]

my nuggets

Some of them appear in Hikari, mostly Julian and Yumi. I tried to put together most Floors with a dresscode of sorts, and each of them has one mass attack. Strengthened with the power of what once was their most dangerous enemy, they have harnessed it successfully and there's pretty much nothing standing their way.

Kether

Dresscode concept: 'Formal and a little fancy'-wait what are you doing Julian

Mass attack: Bloodspreading (Julian, as Roland has no mass attack and Roland can't be equipped with one)

People who stick to the rules, except for Julian. Of course.

For the rest though, they have a strong mind.

Hokma

Dresscode concept: 'Black business formal and Bayard'

Mass attack: Deluge of Brachial Quietuses (Hokma)

Floor mostly consists out of placid, not easily impressed characters. Galina weathered through Pluto's Contract of Might and was totally unaffected, literally and metaphorically.

Sanchez on the other hand wasn't so lucky and is now rather familiar with death (sorta).

Binah

Dresscode concept: 'General Invitations'

Mass attack: Degraded Shockwave (Binah)

Isabel had the honors of receiving my first ever Birdxodia.

They hold Binah in high regard and some say it's like walking on eggshells around her (no pun intended). Still they feel like it's an honor working under her command.

Chesed

Dresscode concept: 'Ode to the Past pt1'

Mass attack: Drawing the Strings Taut (Chesed)

Chummy group! They def grew closer ever since their Floor got realized.

From all of them, Adam is the most outspoken one.

Gebura

Dresscode concept: 'Onslaught of the Lius'

Mass attack: Beatdown (Gebura) (come on it qualifies as a mass attack...right?)

Act first, think and talk later. It's something they took over from the previous Gebura, and her current self is working to correct this mindset. Tatyana though, is more cautious than them. Gebura likes that in her and frequently says that she's a rolemodel the rest should follow.

Currently, their clothing fits nicely in the environment of their Floor. Previously, their dresscode was 'Prowess of the Shi' and Louis was the only one who deviated from it. Speaking of deviating from the dresscode...

Tiphereth

Dresscode concept: 'Omniscient Prescripts'-wait what are you doing Ashely

Mass attack: CLIMAX!!! (Tiphereth)

During their realization, Ashely was the only one who was not replaced. Therefor, she thinks it's her right to maintain the same clothing she wore back then. Tiphereth can't really argue with it.

Complementing their attire, they mostly have a Singleton moveset.

Netzach

Dresscode concept: 'The Presence of the Thumb'

Mass attack: Chorus at the Climax (Netzach)

Theme naming as well! They have to pull their weight a little more.

Oftentimes, it is Yumi who makes the executive decisions.

Hod

Dresscode concept: 'Ode to the Past pt2'

Mass attack: Resonating Terror (Hod) (Greta is the only one to lack a damn mass attack or at least something resembling it)

Largely agreeable people. They gladly attend Hod's book meetings.

LaVerne is different though, they're quiet and more subtly disturbing.

Yesod

Dresscode concept: None, really - all of them stem from the time that they really did use these pages in the earlygame and I got too used to them looking like this. However, their colors do complement the purple and black on their Floor rather well.

Mass attack: Thought Gear: Brainwash (Yesod)

I made a seperate post about them here. In short, the nuggets' appearances mostly matches their character.

The Floor I used the most hands down. They're kinda dear to me. Their tactic? Yesod creates an opportunity, then the rest strikes when the enemy is immobilized. London is straightforward, Rose is elegant, Nicole is brash, and Max is stealthy.

Malkuth

Dresscode concept: 'Formal and a little casual'

Mass attack: Scorching Desperation (Malkuth)

Odelie, as being one of the first awakened assistants, gets along rather well with Melendez who is also one of those. Funfact: I actually forgot what kind of appearance she had taken before realizing it is Gin.

The others on this Floor like to speculate that Rogun's accessories are influencing his character.

All of that said, Hod, Yesod and Malkuth also have a dresscode - did you see it the first time around?

[akihsulkaz]

Junior Eurovision 2019 Pre-Show Top 19

So this is my first time looking forward to JESC since back then I couldn’t care less but like, hey why not for once? So here’s my top 19 before the show! It was unfortunate I didn’t end up posting my ranking for ESC 2019 but this is what you’ll get for now. 

Do remember that I’ll probably have quite different opinions than what others have. So please don’t go shitting on me for how I ranked/commented on the songs. Honestly the rankings from 7-12 feel quite interchangeable for me since I can’t really decide which I love more. But here goes my top 19 (with shitty commentary that’s probably outdated)!

19. Erin Mai - Calon yn Curo (Heart Beating) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 I’m gonna get so much hate for this. I just found it utterly boring. Other than that, the percussion seems too soft? And the strings are too loud. I just found it boring and near unlikeable for me for some reason.

18. Joana Almeida - Ven Camigo (Come With Me) 🇵🇹 When the first part of the song came in, I thought this was going to be some Electra Heart rip-off. But then the rest of the song came in and I knew this was definitely getting low. While I know this is Junior Eurovision, Joana's voice is just too…childish for me. Maybe I’m being too harsh since I’m typically not watching JESC. Other than that, I generally didn't like the melody nor the instrumental. The only thing I liked was the lyrics. Which is weird since I usually kinda like these types of songs? But it just didn’t come off as good.

17. Liza Misnikova - Pepelny (Ashen) 🇧🇾 This song reminded me a lot of "Like It," to be honest. Though funnily enough, I prefer Zena's vocals, but prefer this song's instrumentals. I actually enjoyed the instrumentals, the vocals and melody itself not too much. Though overall I'm not too much into it anyway, so yeah.

16. Isea Çili - Mikja ime fëmijëri 🇦🇱 I like the story/concept of the song though the lyrics itself seem pretty eh to me. Albania has some pretty good vocals in general so it's unsurprising even Isea has some, too. Though the song itself is also pretty bland for me, just like the singing itself.

15. Marta Viola - La Voce Della Terra 🇮🇹 I feel bad for putting it this low, especially when I usually rank Italy so high. I personally find it boring. That's not to say it's a bad song. But yeah, it's not that great for me. Marta's voice is good for the song, however. But it just doesn’t stand out that much for me.

14. Tatyana Mezhentseva and Denberel Oorzhak - A Time For Us 🇷🇺 Seeing the title, I was like, "What, like the mass song?" That was just random though, lol. I…actually liked it, and somehow unlike some others' opinions, I actually kinda like Denberel's voice. Though it has a weak start. I personally just really liked the last part and mostly just that, which is why it’s lower than I probably would’ve given.

13. Jordan Anthony - We Will Rise 🇦🇺 No offense to Aussies, but for some reason I don't really have high expectations for Australia's songs. But this song was actually really good in my opinion. Jordan's voice fits in with the song and it's overall just a nice song. Problem is, it's not overly nice nor does it stand out as much. But I think this might end up doing well.

12. Giorgi Rostiashvili - We Need Love 🇬🇪 I'm seeing that this song seems quite underrated. I personally enjoy it. It's a nice "feel-good" song. I always end up swaying my head to this song. Though I don't expect it to win, it's a personal favourite of mine and it's probably the song in the list I would listen to when I just want to sit down and get myself happy and stuff. Just overall a nice vibe.

11. Eliana Gomez Blanco - We Are More 🇲🇹 Me ranking the songs starting with “We” is pure coincidence. Anyways,wWhile I adore this song, it doesn't have as much kick as I would've probably liked for this. Especially for the chorus. The rest is good, and I really like her vocals. Though sidenote, Eliana looks really mature for her age, she probably looks older than I am haha.

10. Yerzhan Maxim - Armanyńnan Qalma 🇰🇿 This is an overly unpopular opinion. But boy, this song comes straight outta a Disney movie. And Disney songs are hella rad. I don't see people liking this song enough. Though that's fair seems it would feel more like a typical ballad. But this kid managed to make me like it. This is one of the songs I definitely don't think will win, but still deserves some love all the way.

9. Matheu - Dans Met Jou 🇳🇱 I have a feeling this song would do great in the televoting because a lot of people will probably get tired of the "SAVE THE WORLD!" message and just want a song about a guy and his dudes chillin' and dancin' with the girl he likes. And while I love the damn other songs, I can't help but liking it because it's such an upbeat and carefree song.

8. Karina Ignatyan - Colours of Your Dream 🇦🇲 This is a really catchy and upbeat song which pretty much says to colour your life with happiness and stuff. The vocals are nice and the beat definitely gets your groove as it stays true to its lyrics of feeling great.

7. Darija Vračević - Podigni Glas (Raise Your Voice) 🇷🇸 Okay, I heckin' love this one. Lyrics are nice, the song is quite consistent throughout, and I just really love the last part where they all drop down and didn't continue the line to say, "Oh look, it's too late now." And just hhhhhhh, I didn't have this as my favourite because while I have high praise for this song, it doesn't seem like a song people would vote for. Plus I feel like it won't stand out enough, plus Darija needs some little bit more improvement in her voice.

6. Anna Kearney - Banshee 🇮🇪 I feel like I speak for everyone when I say this song is probably better than most of the songs Ireland has recently sent in the ESC. I like this song as well, but I have fears that people might sleep on this. Plus I have a soft spot for fantasy-esque songs so lol. Anna’s voice is great and the message itself I find really nice.

5. Mila Moskov - Fire 🇲🇰 The chorus was stuck in my damn head the entire day. I love a good lot about this song, and I wished it was longer. But unfortunately, it isn't. I honestly don’t know what else to say about this, other than maybe the lyrics would’ve been nicer, but it’s still decent.

4. Carla - Bim Bam Toi ��🇷 I think everyone liked this song. And I agree. It's super duper fun and catchy and I actually like the dance in the music video and how much fun and enjoyment Carla has. It's a personal thing that I'm not too much of a fan of the non-singingish parts, but that's really only because I can't sing them without sounding/feeling too awkward. And I like singing the French songs since I actually can read partial French so yeah. Overall, really neat song, but not my winner.

3. Sophia Ivanko - The Spirit of Music 🇺🇦 This song is the number one candidate of "songs that need to be longer." I love it. It's a nice and simple song and boy, I just love those "hoo"s. Maybe because I just like birds and to that owls, but I really do. It's my favourite part of the song.

2. Melani Garcia - Marte 🇪🇸 A lot of the entries this year pertains to saving Earth, but Marte focuses more on saving the ocean in line to saving the world. And can I just say how much I love the high notes? This kid can sing! I was actually contemplating if I would put this in first, but ended up putting it at a close second.

1. Viki Gabor - Superhero 🇵🇱 You know what always ends up being such bops? Pop songs about saving the world, that is! This was one of the songs I instantly loved from the moment I began listening to it. I can definitely feel myself dancing along to the song and such. This was also one of the songs I wished was just longer.

So yeah that’s all! Good luck to everyone^^

[duncanwrites]

All the books I read in 2019, reviewed in 2 sentences or less.

The annual tradition returns! These are all the books I read in the last year, and how I felt about them in two sentences or less.

Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson: This was the final book of the science fiction trilogy that exploded my brain at the end of 2018, and the after-shocks lasted well into 2019. These books capture something essential about the relationship between place and politics that you can only do with science fiction.

Bark - Lorrie Moore: A thoroughly uneven book of short stories - when they were good, they were great, when they were bad, they were bumbling takes on the domestic side of the war on terror.

Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway: Maybe it's just my mood in the forsaken year of 2019, but I just have no tolerance any more for works of art that aestheticize the degradation of the human spirit. This book made me feel near constant disgust.

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf: In contrast, I think you can create works of art that dignify people even in their darkest moments, and offer a bridge into the experience of others that can be a passage into becoming a better person. It's always nice to read a book for a second time and realize you can keep reading it again for years to come.

The Asshole Survival Guide - Robert I. Sutton: We all have assholes that we have to work with, and sometimes it's necessary to have some external validation that it's not all your fault, and that establishing distance between yourself and said assholes is a good idea.

My Invented Country - Isabelle Allende: It took me until the very end of this book to realize there was a different memoir by Allende that I meant to read instead. This one was not so great.

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller: Gonzo literary comfort food.

The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker: I found this book charming enough, but it never totally wowed me at any particular point. I think it showed that the concept of two magical creatures from different cultural contexts meeting in turn of the century New York is an interesting thought experiment, but a struggle to land as a full narrative.

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami: Prior to this, the only Murakami I had read was What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it's safe to say that did not properly prepare me for the surreal darkness of Kafka on the Shore, which seems to never stop going deeper into the abyss.

God Save Texas - Lawrence Wright: There are very few books about modern Texas that don't try to valorize it, or douse it with excessive nostalgia, and this is one of them. A politically-astute, funny meander through the state as it is, not as it might have once been, or never was.

M Train - Patti Smith: Patti Smith is obviously a genius, but this one didn't leave a great mark on me. Worth revisiting some other time, I think, since it's my girlfriend's favorite book.

Working - Robert Caro: I am shamefully still putting off my years-old plan to read Robert Caro's LBJ series, and finish his book on Robert Moses. In the meantime, this is a thoughtful reflection on how and why to tell stories about power.

Feel Free - Zadie Smith: I love Zadie Smith, and if you haven't read her non-fiction essays, you are missing out on some of her most exciting and moving writing. This is her second collection of essays, and you can tell how much the decade since the first has taken its toll - so many more of the pieces are about fear and frustrations, and the language is much wearier, even while it is still penetrating and beautiful.

The Telling - Ursula K. Le Guin: A slim, late novel from one of the best to ever do it, this book projects the sense of engrossing calm that reminds me most of all of listening to a story well-told - not incidentally, an experience that is a key theme of the plot itself.

Stories of Your Life and Others - Ted Chiang: On the other hand, the short stories in this book all came off as one note thought experiments that failed to build compelling worlds.

The Overstory - Richard Powers: Not just my favorite book of the year, but also one of my favorite ever, The Overstory is the book I talked the most about, and told the most people to read in 2019. The best way to explain it ('it's a book about people who become obsessed with trees') really undersells things, because it's also about forest ecology, generations of trauma, the terror and clarity of radical thought, and a soul-splitting vision of hope. It receives the coveted 3rd sentence in the review, because I just need to emphasize again that you should read this book.

The Flamethrowers - Rachel Kushner: Maybe it was the fate of any book that I read after The Overstory, but The Flamethrowers left me feeling cold. It wandered off into too many fanciful-seeming plot arcs that didn't develop all the characters to the depth they needed.

What is Populism? - Jan-Werner Müller: I re-read this book because I wanted to revisit his ideas about the strengths and weaknesses of populists ahead of the next election, and whether there is ever a version of populism suitable for the left agenda. I finished worried, and skeptical, respectively, on those two points.

The Great Derangement - Amitav Ghosh: I don't read many books about climate change - I find there are very few things that I really feel like need saying in the face of the obvious and overwhelming - but I'm glad I made time for this one, which focuses on both the global north-south dynamics of the issue, and the inability of storytelling to capture the problem in full. It's profoundly difficult to sum up in two sentences, but it's worth a full read.

There, There - Tommy Orange: I think this novel asks too much of characters that are too thin to hold what they are made to bear. Too busy at the same time as it's too ordered to be fully credible.

The Slynx - Tatyana Tolstaya: I somehow convinced myself that I had read this surreal post-apocalyptic novel set in Russia 100 years after nuclear winter, but not only had I not read it, I haven't read anything like it before. A wide-ranging nightmare about authority, literacy, and the power of fear, set in its own vernacular and kaleidoscopic distortions of our authoritarian world today.

The Iliad - Homer: I wanted to re-read The Iliad because I find the idea of a hero felled by a single, discrete flaw to be a fascinating allegory, not realizing that Achilles' fatal flaw is not his heel but his anger.

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood - Janisse Ray: There isn't much widely-read nature writing about the US South, and I think Janisse Ray's book dignifies and mourns the overlooked parts of the country that may not be wilderness but still contain bits of natural grace.

Sundiver and Startide Rising - David Brin: These two novels follow the same premise of humanity entering a universe of intelligent life as the only species to reach consciousness without patronage of, and servitude to, an elder species, and the power struggle that ensues. Sadly, the premise writes a check the execution can't cash, and while the first book, leaner and more focused, is solid, the second is over-long and distracted from what made the first fascinating.

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry: It took a lifetime of seeing this book (a signed first edition, from an Austin bookstore that has left no digital trace) on my parents' shelf to finally read Lonesome Dove, and it was a fitting welcome back to Texas. McMurtry's characters are fully-grown from the beginning, made of both broad archetypes and fine detail, and the narrative gives them the journey they deserve.

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt: There are very few novels that convey big ideas in balance with pot-boiler plotting, but this is one of them and my only regret is not reading it sooner. How dare anyone blight this novel with a terrible movie.

The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin: What makes this book special is not that it's speculative fiction about a world with unique gender arrangements; that's been done before by many other authors. What makes it special is that it investigates that world with tenderness towards its inhabitants, and an understanding of how gender weaves its way into institutions besides the family or the bedroom

Gun Island - Amitav Ghosh: I had high hopes for Gun Island, but felt it never quite rose above being a thought experiment carrying out his ideas from The Great Derangement.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P - Adelle Waldman: Your opinion of this book will probably hinge on how important you think it is to read books about writers in Brooklyn hanging out with other writers in Brooklyn. If you think that's still a useful world to explore, you will like that this book is merciless towards its characters, and startlingly accurate - but if you don't think that's important, you will be frustrated for the same reasons.

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia - Mohsin Hamid: A gloriously rich experimentation in genre and contemporary global politics - playful, infuriating, and heartwarming, really everything you could hope for from a short novel. This is the second book by Hamid that I've read, and I'm going to set out to read all of them as soon as I can.

[blackkudos]

Tatyana Ali

Tatyana Marisol Ali (born January 24, 1979) is an American actress, model and R&B singer, who is best known for her role as Ashley Banks on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. From 2010 to 2012, she starred as Tyana Jones on the TV One original sitcom Love That Girl!, and had a recurring role as Roxanne on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless from 2007 to 2013.

Early life

Ali was born in North Bellmore, New York, the eldest daughter (she has two younger sisters) of Sonia, a nurse, and Sheriff Ali, a police detective. Her mother is Afro-Panamanian and her father is Indo-Trinidadian.

Career

By the age of six, she had begun her acting career, as a regular child performer on Sesame Street starting in 1985, even appearing with Herbie Hancock in a musical number. She also appeared twice on Star Search. She made her breakthrough when she was cast as Ashley Banks for the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990. She sang on various episodes of the show, including a heavily altered version of Aretha Franklin's "Respect" and the original song, "Make Up Your Mind" produced by Robert Jerald of N'Spyre Music Productions. Will Smith asked her if she seriously considered pursuing a musical career. Despite her singing ability, she concentrated on her acting career on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air the next few years. In the final season of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1995–96), Ali began preparing herself for her musical debut. The result was the album Kiss The Sky, which was certified gold in early 1999. The album spawned the hit song "Daydreamin'", released July 21, 1998, produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, which peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the UK Singles Chart.

The album spawned two further UK hits, "Boy You Knock Me Out", featuring Will Smith, which peaked at No. 3 and is her biggest hit to date; and "Everytime", which was her third top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 20. She made an appearance in Smith's album Willennium for the track "Who Am I" with MC Lyte. Along with her musical career, Ali kept acting in many films. She had the chance to work with recognized film directors such as Takeshi Kitano (Brother), Rodrigo Garcia (Mother and Child), among others. In 2005, she completed work on the film Glory Road and starred in the music video for Nick Cannon and Anthony Hamilton's "Can I Live?" as Cannon's mother. In early 2008, she performed on the song "Yes We Can", a will.i.am project supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign. She also appeared in the subsequent music video which gained coverage on the "What the Buzz" segment of ABC's World News Now.

She also performed the title song, "Sunny Valentine" along with Terrence Quaites for the indie film, Rockin' Meera directed by Param Gill in 2005. In 2009 and 2010 she produced and starred in the BET web show, Buppies. She is currently on recurring status on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Roxanne.

Ali can be seen in the show, Love That Girl! on TV One. She stars as Tyana (which comes from the last five letters of her name). When asked if the character bears any similarities to her, Ali said in a CaribPress interview, "She's a bit neurotic and I hope I am not quite like that."

"One thing that I do love about her is that she is really multidimensional," she went on to say in the same interview. "I think it's nice to have a female character that is portrayed in (a) really holistic way."

Ali also starred in Nora's Hair Salon and Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above. In 2011, Ali received the Living Legacy Award from the Caribbean Heritage Organization in Los Angeles. In 2012, Ali appeared as a guest on The Eric Andre Show. Ali's most recent role, as of January 15, 2013, is starring as Maya, along with Craig Wayans and Damien Dante Wayans, in the BET comedy, Second Generation Wayans.

In January 2014, Ali released a new EP entitled Hello, with her first single being "Wait For It", which she also performed on The Arsenio Hall Show on February 4, 2014.

In July 2016, Ali sued Warner Bros claiming that the company used her idea for the show The Real after she pitched the concept in December 2012.

Personal life

Ali attended Harvard University, where she received a bachelor's degree in African-American studies and government in 2002. She traveled the United States as a spokesperson for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and headed voter registration drives at college campuses. In 2012, she continued showing her support.

Ali was in a relationship with actor Jonathan Brandis for six years. On March 31, 2016, Ali revealed that she was engaged to Vaughn Rasberry, assistant professor of English at Stanford University and they were expecting their first child. She and Rasberry married on July 17, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. The couple welcomed a son, Edward Aszard Rasberry, on September 16, 2016.

Wikipedia

[vileart]

OTOSOTR Dramaturgy: Anatoliy Ogay & Tatyana Kim @ Edfringe 2018

OTOSOTR

A war story through the eyes of millennials

Underbelly, Cowgate, 66 Cowgate, EH1 1JX (White Belly) @ 18:40

For the first time in the history of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, a show from the steppes of Kazakhstan by ethnic Koreans whose first language is Russian will be presented at the Underbelly. 

This monodrama is written and performed by Anatoliy Ogay and directed by Tatyana Kim, artists from Kazakhstan whose works are being performed from Eurasia to North America. The premiere of OTOSOTR was first presented in Almaty, Kazakstan with three successful sold-out shows in May 2018 and was highly reviewed by the main media outlets of the country.

The story is an exploration of the phenomenon of war and peace by the new generation and a search for identity by the author through the story of his grandfather, one of the two hundred thousand Koreans who was deported from the Russian-Korean boarder in 1937 all the way to Soviet Kazakhstan.

The story of the oppressed Koreans, known as “Soviet Koreans” or Koryo-saram, is an unknown history fact of a lost nation. OTOSOTR is a unique opportunity to learn about the part for the world that has never been seen or heard before. 

Dates & Times

AUG 2 through AUG 26 (exl AUG 13)— 18:40

What was the inspiration for this performance?

A: OTOSOTR was initially inspired by my grandfather who’s a child of a massive Korean deportation to Central Asia in 1937. His family was deported to Kazakhstan on freight trains… That how you find Koreans from Kazakhstan whose first language is Russian.  I felt an urge to take an interview with and somehow capture his story, my story, the story of two hundred thousand Koreans who end in Kazakhstan in the middle of XXs century. 

Little I knew back then that it was the first step of a 5-year process of creating this monodrama. In the wilds of the research and working with the source material I realized that there is more in common between me and my grandfather, as well as between now and WWII occurrences. 

I think dramaturgically any theatre should raise strong probing questions in their work. Our piece raises a few of them, with the main focus on “who decides to belong side you belong?” 

  Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

T: While in the show we’re painting the scenes from 70 years, while we’re looking at the main political figures of that time there’s still a disturbing feeling that the history repeats itself in a different form. Nowadays, we’re all tech savvy right and have computers in our pockets that could process thousands of operations at the same time. 

However, I believe it is also the right time to start using our main computer, our brain and its capability to analyze, and learn from our mistakes in the past. Also, a lot of questions arise once the values of those times are put on the scale against today’s values. Words like patriotism, homeland and sense of dignity for your country are confronted with the modern tendency for individualism, globalization and general focus on ephemeral things. 

How did you become interested in making performance?

A: When you have a habit to create, with time it becomes only a matter of time that you dedicate to a certain project. As with any theater show, the conception of OTOSOTR was happening over a 5-year span. 

As I mentioned it started from an interview, continued with some character analysis I did based on my grandfather, some free-writing, first drafts, musical compositions, public readings. It’s important to mention that the work exists in two languages for both of which we held public readings with the feedback sessions. 

It was very important for us to have our hands on the pulse of the both audiences because because those talk-backs would shape the next draft. And while culturally Kazakhstan with it’s eclectic Asian flavor and the Soviet influence is quite different from the West, on the basic level we as humans are still the same, we crave for a good story, we share feelings and emotions and also speak the language of music fluently.

All of these things OTOSOTR is giving to its audience and hopefully we can hear and see more of the stories from the third world countries to better understand the picture of the modern world. 

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

Y: The show is from the part of the world that most people know nothing about except for a few things or people from the media. Our goal here is to tell a good story that the audience can connect with. 

However, how you’re telling that story in two different languages, for two different cultures is a different thing. We still want to give not just the flavor but to immerse the audience  in the world of the main hero but without overloading them with names and numbers that might be hard task for the mind that wants to be taken on a journey rather than be trapped in the sea of the unknown. 

At the same time because music is a big part of this show, we made sure that pivotal moments of the plot are being available for the audience to digest. Music is a beautiful language of the soul.  

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

A: It is definitely an unusual production for us at least because it’s our first solo-show. With every project we try to step further and make a stretch into the area that is unexplored by us. We work in different mediums including theatre, filmmaking, music and everything that comes in making those happen. 

Between film shoots, music recording, writing a screenplay there are also rehearsals for OTOSOTR happening. I think it’s a matter of time management and actually putting it on the calendar. We put all 100% of our focus and heart in this work, but at the same time there are several other things of the same importance boiling in the pot. 

Sometimes you get a project from the pot for two hours, sometimes for several days, with OTOSOTR we’re spending the entire month of August and then putting it back till next time, which is in October. The show will be presented at United Solo Theater Festival in New York. 

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

A: “A war story through the eyes of millennials”. The story opens a dialog with my generation for whom WWII narrative as far as the narrative of ancient Greek wars. 

My knowledge about the war comes not only from the books or Hollywood movies, it comes from the person with whom I share an identical name - my grandfather Anatoliy Ogay. OTOSOTR raises universal questions about race, identity and dignity put against the massive beast of the governmental influences. At the same time, the show will help an older generation to understand millennials, and our urge to vlog, follow, run with selfie-sticks, but in reality, just to share and express our opinions freely. 

Anatoliy Ogay traces his grandfather's journey into the depth of WWII incorporating innovative technologies, tenacious textures of contemporary piano music and main artistic intensity of a solo performance — shifting transformations into captivating characters. 

This extraordinary story has already been accepted to the world’s biggest festival of solo performances UNITED SOLO in New York, USA and will follow it’s European premiere in Edinburgh. 

Anatoliy Ogay and Tatyana Kim are artistic and life partners who have been in the entertainment industry for over 10 years working in film, theatre, and music. Their short film “Tragiometry” received numerous international awards around the globe, including Scotland’s TMMF Awards - best director and best actor in 2016. 

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Toyota’s #StartYourImpossible Boosts Olympic Athletes, Mobility Future

Television coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics around the world will feature a range of inspiring spots from Toyota as part of its #StartYourImpossible campaign and “Mobility for All” theme, which kicked off in October, when Toyota held its first Mobility Summit in Athens, just ahead of the Winter Olympic trials.

More than 50 athletes from 20 countries supported by Toyota will compete at the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. Among them are Toyota employees who have been able to continue training and practicing at the highest level while working at the company in Japan.

As a Worldwide Olympic Partner and a Worldwide Paralympic Partner, the campaign reinforces Toyota’s core values and aims to inspire its customers and 370,000 employees worldwide to help create a society where mobility is an opportunity for people to achieve their dreams.

The global “Start Your Impossible” campaign focuses on the importance of movement—in addition to its own research and development efforts, the automaker last year donated $5 million to the American Center for Mobility in Michigan and introduced a new mobility vehicle concept at CES in January—and what great things humans can achieve even after fighting the odds to move again.

It also crystallizes Toyota’s shift from being an automobile company to being a “mobility company.”

“I can’t think of any better stage to announce our evolution as The Human Movement Company than the pinnacle of human movement, The Olympic and Paralympic Games,” stated Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager, Toyota Motor North America. “At Toyota, we believe that movement is a human right. With the ‘Start Your Impossible’ campaign, we aim to inspire people and as a company, aspire to solve challenges and create solutions to mobility barriers that limit human potential.”

The global corporate initiative aims to inspire Toyota employees, partners, and customers and connect them with the company’s core beliefs. In an age of accelerating technological and environmental developments, “Start Your Impossible” marks Toyota’s commitment to support the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable society in which everyone can challenge their impossible.

Toyota believes that mobility goes beyond cars; it is about overcoming challenges and making dreams come true. The “Start Your Impossible” initiative reflects these values and highlights the company’s goal to provide freedom of mobility for all. “We want to share this thinking with all stakeholders, including consumers, so that we can approach this challenge together,” said Toyota President, Akio Toyoda, who has spent time meeting the Olympic athletes the company is sponsoring, even working out with some while discussing what challenges they’ve overcome to get to where they are today.

“I have a profound respect for sports, which have a unique power to offer hope and purpose and inspire us all to never give up,” Toyoda also commented. “It is exciting to watch athletes from all over the world compete on a level playing field, where anything can happen. This concept, when carried over to society, means a place where everyone can participate and contribute, where people turn their weaknesses into strengths with optimism and a fighting spirit―and a strong and determined desire to improve and be better.”

The Japanese automaker has invested heavily in technologies and services that can help people get around, from robots to advanced wheelchairs. Its R&D into artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle systems will not only build self-driving cars but technology and systems that can assist the elderly and disabled, such as its wearable mobility device for the blind.

Below, watch the campaign’s inspiring ads running on TV and online, featuring stories about individual athletes and the spirit of mobility and triumph that connect Toyota and the Olympics.

Regarding the hero spot for the campaign, above, Toyota states: “We want to make movement better for everyone, whether you’re 1 or 100 years old. As the Worldwide Mobility Partner of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, we believe that when we are free to move, anything is possible. ”

“Frozen“: Winter has given us so many great moments. That’s why here at Toyota, we are renewing our commitment to hybrid, electric and hydrogen vehicles to create a sustainable future with ever better mobility for all. Because we believe when we are free to move, anything is possible.

“Magic“: If you will it, nothing is out of reach.

“Runner“: We never know when we’ll face our toughest journey. But our biggest challenges always bring out our best.

“Lanes of Life“: 6 women. 6 journeys. 1 gold. The race to the podium begins long before the starting line for six Olympic snowboardersEva Samková (Czech Republic), Lindsey Jacobellis (USA), Belle Brockhoff (Australia), Chloé Trespeuch (France), Carle Brenneman (Canada) and Isabel Clark Ribeiro (Brazil).

Mobility Unlimited Challenge: Toyota’s $4 million prize, announced in November and concluding in 2020, supports radical improvements in the mobility and independence of people with lower-limb paralysis through smarter assistive technology.

Athletes’ Stories:

As part of the Mobility For All campaign, Toyota is highlighting the mobility stories of Olympic and Paralympic athletes, including Tatyana McFadden, the world’s leading wheelchair racer; Rami Anis, a Syrian swimmer and member of the Refugee Olympic Team at the 2016 games; and Brad Snyder, an American Paralympic swimmer and former captain of the US Naval Academy swim team.

“Good Odds“: The odds of winning a Paralympic gold medal are almost 1 billion to 1. This film—which Toyota ran during Super Bowl LII in the first ad slot post-kickoff—follows the journey of Lauren Woolstencroft, who beat the odds to win eight Paralympic gold medals. The Canadian alpine skier and electrical engineer was born missing her left arm below the elbow as well as both legs below the knees. She began skiing at the age of 4 and began competitive skiing at the age of 14.

Woolstencroft commented on Instagram: “It’s been a great experience partnering with Toyota on this ad – Toyota believes that mobility goes beyond cars with a vision to reduce barriers and increase access in order to build an inclusive society in which all people can participate. I’m honoured to be a part of this movement!!”

Tatyana McFadden: Few athletes in history have come from so little to accomplish so much. Born with a hole in her spine caused by spina bifida, she spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage with virtually nothing, not even a wheelchair. A member of Team USA and a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, the wheelchair racer has won 17 Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games still overcomes challenges like blood clots. “I give every race 100 percent,” she said. “Whether I’m up top or not, I know that I gave 100 percent and I really do enjoy all of it and working hard for it and trying to change the face of marathoning for wheelchair racing, to help it grow.”

Sudarshan Gautam: After losing his arms, Sudarshan managed to find a world of possibilities that could be accessed by using his feet—including scaling the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest.

“Thin Ice“: When you’re dancing on thin ice, every jump is a leap of faith. This film follows the story of Team Toyota Athlete Ashley Wagner, a Team USA figure skater who overcame the traumatic effects of six concussions to win an Olympic medal.

Rami Anis: An Olympic swimmer who lost his home when he fled war-torn Syria, but never lost his dreams.

Michael Milton: The six-time Paralympic gold medal skier beat bone cancer and kept himself in the race even after his leg was amputated, becoming Australia’s fastest skiier.

Seun Adigun: Bringing the first Nigerian bobsleigh team ever to compete at an Olympic Winter Games was an impossible goal for many, but not for Seun Adigun.

Brad Snyder: War veteran and five-time Paralympic gold medalist swimmer overcome what seemed impossible after being injured in Afghanistan and permanently blinded as a result.

Tyrone Pillai: South African Paralympian helps kids choose their lives. “Mobility to me means freedom, means choice. You can choose to be the person you want to be.”

Barbara Buttrick: 87-year-old World boxing champion Barbara Buttrick tells how she broke barriers in the ‘40s and ‘50s when boxing was generally thought to be an exclusively male sport.

Michael Milton: Six-time Paralympic gold medal skier and Australian hero Michael Milton tells how he was able to defeat bone cancer and keep himself in the race even after his leg was amputated.

Zola Budd: Two-time world cross-country champion and South African legend known for running barefoot encourages young athletes to take it step-by-step and never give up

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