#also like. gordon and henry have this long history between them to like they started off as ''rivals'' then immediately best friends

[bruhstation]

I know you must be inundated with anons but I also like TTTE as an adult but like a “watches the old show on YT and has some trains on shelves” amount not a “engages with fandom online” amount and I was SHOCKED and wracking my brain trying to figure out what event that Gordon and skeleton Henry could be fanart of 😭 so in a sense I am relieved it’s an au thing. I do not have to return my shining time station fan club badge my honor lives another day

YEAH LOL the angst stuff I conjure up is part of my AU called casa tidmouth... basically take ttte and make the engines human and add psychological dramedy stuff with resurrections and gold dust and stuff going on underneath the surface.

if you want an explanation for that art: in casa tidmouth, henry died during the flying kipper crash, got transported to the shining time world, met lady, was resurrected by her using the gold dust after he's in a coma for 3 days in the real world, then everything goes fine. maybe. because gordon is so insanely paranoid (he has way too much issues I don't know where to start) and due to many events throughout his life he's immediately upset whenever things don't go the way they're supposed to go. this paranoia made him believe there's something wrong with henry (many characters in cstm have some kind of psychosis UHHHH DON'T MIND ME) but really henry is... henry. he just has golden eyes now. which ALSO upsets henry because gordon is acting apprehensive all of a sudden. "why are you making MY accident all about YOU" this all happened before the events of the main story so by the time casa tidmouth has started, gordon and henry's relationship is strained. but they depend on and love each other so badly but they'd rather eat their own fingers rather than talk it out properly (they do later in the story tho). hope you enjoy

[biggsodorcitystories]

Happy New Year!!

Thought I would start 2023 off right with a drawing of my Steam Team designs!

Warning(s):

Genderbent Edward

Genderbent James

Headcanons as to family relationships and ships below:

I hope you enjoy it! Please note that these are subject to slight changes.

NWR Number One: Thomas Billinton. The official - and self-proclaimed - face of the North Western Railway. Best friend to Percy, the main engine of the Ffarquhar branch line, and until recently the boyfriend of Liora "Lady" Moran. He is currently in a relationship with Rosie, though he visibly still holds a candle for Liora. Cocky and confident at face value, but highly insecure deep down and far more complex once you get to know him.

NWR Number Two: Lady Edward Stewart-Moran. Married to Zebedee Moran, a harbour tug from Liverpool and Bigg City. Mother to Percy, Liora (Lady), Bill, and Ben. Also has an older daughter, Susannah, and a baby daughter, Eve, who are both tugboats like their father. The "work Mum" for all engines on Sodor, and universally adored. Has a past history of mischief and trickery, which was passed to her youngest sons. The train equivalent of aristocracy, Edward is the rebellious, and sadly only surviving, daughter of the Earl/Count of Cumbria, a title she will inherit. Frequently regarded as one of the most attractive engines on Sodor in spite of her age, even being referred to as a "Milf" by Flying Scotsman.

NWR Number Three: Henry Stanier. The illegitimate half-brother of Gordon and Flying Scotsman, husband to Emily, and ex-husband to James as well as being the father of James's eldest son. Despite causing the breakup of Henry's first marriage, Gordon remains Henry's best friend and is unwittingly a rival of Flying Scotsman because of it. Blighted by ill health, made worse by the end of his marriage to James, Henry is very health conscious and suffers a little from hypochondria, but is now doing well thanks to his new wife, his son with James, and his growing family with Emily. After his last long illness, Henry grew a full beard and moustache, and decided to keep it after being told it suited him.

NWR Number Four: Gordon Gresley. The eldest legitimate son of the famous Gresley family (Henry is the oldest but illegitimate) and the official Express engine for the NWR. Older brother to Flying Scotsman and cousin to Mallard, Spencer, and Ryan. Now married to James, with whom he has always been in love but was too proud to admit until after her marriage to Henry, father of two children and stepfather/half-uncle to James' eldest son. Proud, arrogant, and pompous, Gordon is also capable of almost profound kindness and will always (eventually) own up to his faults, and will move heaven and earth for those he loves. Initially jealous of his more famous younger brother, Flying Scotsman, recent changes in his life have made him realise that perhaps his own life is much happier. Also the only reason Mallard is still in touch with the family. Very proud of his South Yorkshire roots, though he only ever reveals "The Accent" when flustered or angry.

NWR Number Five: James Stanier-Gresley. The original blonde bombshell of the NWR, known for her flamboyant, fast style as much as her splendid red uniform/paint. Wife of Gordon, ex-wife of Henry, and mother of currently three children between them. Her confident, vain persona masks a deep-seated lack of self-worth and terror of being abandoned that resulted in James placing all her value in her, admittedly very beautiful, looks. Although she has always been in love with Gordon, his seeming rejection led her to seek comfort in Henry, with whom she married and had a son. James has no regrets about marrying Henry, who she holds up as a very loving husband right up until their divorce and an exceptional father, she maintains her greatest regret is that she had an affair with Gordon rather than ending her marriage to be with him and keeps Henry's name for her son's sake. Her two children with Gordon have ensured the future of the Gresley line. James is half-Trinidadian through her father, using her memories of his experiences to try and help Nia transition into life on Sodor.

NWR Number Six: Percy Moran. The eldest son of Edward and Zebedee, younger brother of Susannah, older brother to Bill, Ben, and Eve, and twin brother to Liora (Lady), Percy is actually genetically half-tugboat, exhibited by his bulkier physique and is surprisingly strong. He works on the Ffarquhar branch line, handling the goods work, and is the official Sodor Mail train - a role he is obsessively proud of having and takes extremely seriously. Best friends with Thomas, although this is often a surprise to newcomers to Sodor and the UK as the two spend a lot of time insulting one another for fun. This relationship has become a little strained after Thomas dated Percy's sister and almost ended after the relationship ended, but is slowly recovering. After his mother, Percy misses his father the most, causing him to find substitute father figures in Toby and Gator. Next in line to inherit the Earl/Count of Cumbria after Edward, and possibly even less interested in it besides occasionally making jokes referring to his 'future countess.'

NWR Number Twelve: Emily Stanier (nee Stirling). The beautiful Emily is a popular figure on Sodor and the adored older cousin of Donald and Douglas. Emily met Henry without knowing that he was married to James, though the marriage was long dead, only learning about it when the two began divorce proceedings a few weeks into the relationship. Despite the initial shock, she continued with the relationship, eventually marrying Henry and becoming stepmother to his son while having a son of her own later. Luckily enjoys an excellent friendship with James and does not overstep as the stepmother. Often remarked on as being very similar to Edward, Emily has become something of a big sister figure on the NWR and has assumed Edward's role after the former's stepping down. Hardworking and friendly, Emily is also stern and serious when needed, capable of keeping her peppery cousins in line.

NWR Number Eighteen: Nia Kur. Originally from the East African Railway, Kenya, Nia is the youngest and most recognisable member of the NWR. Through her harder upbringing on a struggling railway, Nia is mature from her years. Combined with her early puberty, this makes everyone assume she is in her late teens like Thomas and Percy when she was in fact only eleven when she arrived on Sodor. Since her actual age was discovered, Nia has been mothered by Edward, Emily, and James. Thanks to her better understanding of the cultural struggles, Nia gets on best with James and sees the red engine as an auntie figure. She has a tendency to pick at her nails and fidget when nervous or upset, which is usually the only indication that anything is wrong. Nia has become very friendly with Bill and Ben, who are closest to her in age, despite their initial teasing of her. Nia accepted their unusual offer of friendship and unwittingly caused Bill to develop a crush on her. Nia is cheerful, hardworking, and determined to settle into her new life on Sodor.

NWR Number Twenty-Two: Rebecca Bulleid-Gresley. Rebecca is the newest member of the NWR and the relief Express engine for her Uncle Gordon so he can spend more time with his growing family. This was a surprise to everyone on Sodor when Gordon seemed happy with the idea until it was discovered that Rebecca is Gordon's (and Henry's) niece. Rebecca was the only daughter of Gordon's sister, "pretty" Polly Gresley, who was especially close to Flying Scotsman growing up. Sadly, she died when Rebecca was young. Believing her mother's family had abandoned her, Rebecca was very nervous to reveal her identity to her surviving uncles, not knowing that she had inherited several characteristics of her late mother. With the help of Henry, she has reconnected with her family and has taken on the Gresley name officially.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

I’m rewatching all my fave? english-centered period dramas in preparation for  new one coming out, twq, twp, tsp, the tudors, and I know we all love the tudor family here, but good lord was twp such a mess that I ended up actively hating every Tudor character in it. (which was kinda the point, imao) The twp show was based off phillipa gregory's books (that are even worse than the show) and they both shredded the characterizations of everyone in them to the point that they might as well be OCs based on historical figures. Literally the only reason I was able to make it through was because of the actors. jodie and jcls acting carried it at the best of times, and JCL is hot, so... and I’m so glad they got michelle fairley and essie davis as EW and MB, or else it would of been unwatchable.  I couldn’t really root for either lizzie or henry, because their characterizations and personalities were so inconstant and varied wildly from ep to ep, its like I was watching different people in each ep. nd that’s a big part of why I favored the York plotlines/characters more, at least most of them (except lizzie) stayed constant in their characterizations/motives (even if all they were consistent with was revenge against the tudors) And rooting for the tudors in general was hard too, since the show was bending backwards to make them all assholes. (JT gets a pass tho, he was just trying to raise his kid right) No one was really likable, you get a good moment with someone and then the next moment they’re doing something batshit, e.i, henry’s good for a while and then starts being a dick, (wtf was up with imply he slept with cathy gordon and him being such a bitch to lizzie out of the blue?) or you’re starting to sympathize with Margret Beaufort and then she kills another kid, which like, the decision to have her kill the two princes was a choice, and I won’t hesitate to say I enjoyed the drama it brought. Along those lines, the show is marginally enjoyable if you divorce it from the history its trying to retell and treat it as a game-of-thrones-bodice-ripper-drama, which was the intent of the author in the frst place, but whatever. That some of the best acting on the show came plots/situation that weren’t even real irl is wild, and that says a lot. henry’s talk with lizzie about her loving him, but not like she did w/rIII, and his depression-breakdown (never happened),  over his mother being a murderer and the whole thing with Richard Jr./percy warbeck was just juicy, later moments with lizzie and the bit when she talks to richard jr./pw in the tower and his laugh reminds her so much of her father? and then the execution scene? good shit.  A fave bit was henry sitting all despondent in his room remembering the killing of richardIII, and yes they did actually have richardIII buried alive in this show, jfc. It goes again to the bad characterization that ep 1 lizzie would have strangled him outright if she’d found that out, but lizzie in this ep would have been meh. Speaking of which, the short-lived friendship between richard jr./pw and teddy was extremely sweet, which made their executions all that more horrific. within the narrative of the show, R jr./pw seemed like he would have actually made an excellent king, he never seemed anything but kind and honorable, although adamant about his claim, and lizzie’s fear he would kill her children, which was  not unfounded of course, was also made mostly her entire basis for having him killed in the show, even though he was never presented as someone who would do that? make it make sense, or at least hint he would want to harm the kids after taking the throne, instead of showing him as incredibly nice. And in this show, with richard jr./pw being the actual richard, and mb having tried to kill him as a boy and framing richardIII for it, he’s more than justified in wanting the throne and justice. except that never happened irl, and the show has me rooting for a pretender instead of the certified monarchs, which are SUPPOSED TO BE THE “HEROES” OF THIS SHOW. and like, claimants to the throne are usually entitled fucks by nature, I don’t know why everyone hates richardjr./pw for being entitled, when every person who ever laid claim to a throne ever does so on the belief of entitlement to that throne?   And tell me how there was more chemistry between lizzie and faceless richard III in a four-second flashback than she and henry had in most scenes? I’m not saying that lizzie and henry didn’t have chemistry in the show, because they did, (at least the actors did) but once again, their inconsistent characterization marred a lot of scenes that would otherwise be amazing. Then the whole thing where henry r*ped her nd it was shown to be directly caused by her mentioning her relationship with richardIII? Messy, messy messy. after that, it was hard to “feel” lot of her and henry’s scenes even in better contexts. I ship lizzie/richardIII out of spite for that nasty-ass scene alone, because I can’t sit there and watch lizzie falling for her rapist. and then lizzie is vilified for her relationship with richardIII, yet the show implies that Margaret B is in love with her own brother, has lizze taunt her over it, and then present JT marrying/ MB her arranging his marriage as a tragedy for MB? Sir? Ma’am? Jasper Tudor straight up implying that his sister should get a fucking annulment so they can be together, and MB actually considering it gets a pass? more like margaret lannister. Then they bring up richarchIII as a gotcha to lizzie every other ep? someone inform henry that his beloved mother wants to fuck her brother, his beloved uncle and see if he keeps throwing rIII in lizzie’s face every five minutes. EYE. god, this show is bad, bad.  Don’t get me started on the burgundy plot. if you’re going to have the duchess start a war on a whim, at least imply she was possessed to do so by EW’s magic, or have the balls to make her stepdughter’s death actually the fault of the tudors. And poor fucking maggie. it was hard for her irl, but it’s intolerable for her within the show.   Sorry, this got long, I’m ranting at this point because holy hell ITS BAD. If you take it as a show that’s supposed to be about real life historical figures it’s a trash fire, but you really should just watch it as a story like bridgerton. makes it more tolerable.  You know you’ve lost it when a show that’s supposed to be about the unification of two great houses and the love story (not that it was reallly that great of a love story irl either, but that’s for another day) between the scions of those houses gives me hives and makes me wish the burgundy plot succeeded.   

[henryobsessed]

I Took You Home - A Night on the Town

Summary: Henry takes Reba for a night on the town.

Word Count : 4381

Warning: Fluff 

A/N Disclaimer I don’t live in England, visited once when I was 12 so all depictions in this chapter are thanks to google. If you read something that does not ring true please let me know so I can correct it :) 

Thanks for the continued support I love tell stories and interacting with people about them.

Previous Chapter 6

Reba stood looking at Henry, chuckling nervously as the look on his face could only be described as lusty. "Henry?" he shook his head in the affirmative and smiled that easy smile that made her stomach flutter. Pulling the door closed behind her they turned and walked towards the elevator, neither risking making a move. The silence was painful as they waited to reach ground level, it had only been a week and they had been texting but there was a hesitancy now between them. Reba wondered if it was because they were now both aware, aware of who they both were to each other for Reba he was her Charles Brandon and for Henry she was his Thomas Magi. Both stayed silent until they were seated in his town car.

The sound of fingers tapping pulled Reba from her own nervousness, noticing Henrys twitching leg and rapid drumming of his fingers she laughed. His head jerked to her a questioning look on his face as his low gruff voice said, "What's funny?" Continuing her chuckle, she deliberately moved closer to Henry and placed a hand on his knee. "We are, Last week we were strangers and think of what we did. Now we know each other a little and were acting like it’s out first time together." His knee felt good under her hand and as if the touch broke the ice Henry sighed. Lifting his arm into the familiar invitation Reba sort out his warmth against his side. His low chuckle echoed in the car as he said, "Your right, sorry I had just build up tonight so much in my mind over this week that I over thought it and it made me anxious"

Now she was relaxed as her body connected with his, Reba could also acknowledge that same feeling. The butterfly's as she had been getting ready were a new experience for her. She never put herself into a situation other than releasing her books that allowed her to feel such vulnerabilities. Since last week she had now been forced essentially to feel out of control. In some ways she hated it, but in other ways she would never take it back, as she had been treated to other amazing sensations because of it. She sighed then spoke with courage "Mmmmm, so we can both admit to feeling nervous." contented now in his arms she broached the question that had her most uncomfortable. "Can you tell me where we are going tonight? That might help me feel more secure" this was a big part of her anxiousness. She liked to know where she was going, and a way to get home if things went pear shaped.

She listened to Henry's breathing and then he spoke with understanding, "I can hear that you really don't like being out of control. Does it cause you anxiety not know where we are going? I would like to just take you on a journey of some special places here in London but if you need I can give you the itinerary" she could not feel or hear any disappointment in his body language just a acceptance. This helped Reba to relax even more, maybe a surprise journey, just living in the moment would do her the world of good. She looked up at his face his kind eyes studying her waiting for her answer. Deciding to show him how much she was putting her trust in him she leant up and kissed him on the lips. She could tell she had surprised him as he stiffened for just a moment. Then responded to her, pulling her tighter against him as they deepened the kiss. As she pulled back for air she smiled at his soft features and said "Ok, I trust you lets go on a journey"

She loved the next sound that came out of his lips a genuine happy whisper "Ohh boy". She snuggled down in his arms enjoying the feeling of strength surrounding her as she watched the night sky through the car window, the stars twinkled whilst they sped to their first destination.

As the car slowed with traffic, she felt Henry's chest expand as he took a deep breath in a clear sign he had something important to say, "Reba, I attract a lot of attention when in public. I'm going to wear a Cap and glasses to blend in a bit more, but can you do me a favour and call me Charles? It might just give enough of a distraction that no one will notice us." Realising that this was one of the harder parts of being an actor and one that her pseudonym helped protect her from she answered with a giggle, "I guess that will be fine Charles as my phone does light up with your name, it should not be such a hard shift" she lent up and kissed him again a soft one this time.   

It wasn't long before the car slowed down and stopped. Reba sat up as Henry's door was opened by the driver, he stepped out and then looked back holding his hand out to her with a smile "My lady" giggling Reba took his hand and exited the car.

Reba had not done any sightseeing adventures in London other than visiting the pub every Wednesday and that fated Saturday. However, the sight before her she knew well. In school when they had talked about London in sociology and history, they had mentioned the palace, the Themes, and Trafalgar Square which is what she was now looking at. It looked more beautiful in person than the pictures she had seen especially as she was seeing it at night. Henry moved behind her wrapping his arms around her as she stared at the fountains. She relaxed in his arms and sighed "this is beautiful Charles. The way the light catches the water and shimmers across the fountains. The pictures don't do it justice" His head resting on the top of her shoulder he said softly into her ear "That sounded good hearing you call me Charles" For such a warm night Reba felt tingles run down her spine as his breath tickled her ear.

Reba moaned softly scolding Henry with a light voice "If you continue to do that Charles, I won’t be able to continue this journey without a lot of discomfort" she heard and felt his chuckle next to her ear. "Maybe that was my intention" that elicited another shiver as she stepped forward away from his body, holding his hand she moved to look more closely at the fountain, Henry following in tow. She was feeling a little overwhelmed at how he was making her body feel especially as they were in public. The square had people milling about taking photos, groups heading to different food venues in the area and just general Friday evening fun. Still right now all she could feel was him, smell him, her stomach had those butterflies back again so deciding to distract herself she made them walk around.   

They looked at the statues for a while Reba getting lost in the intricacies of the lions. They were beautifully carved; it was while she was staring into the eyes of one that her stomach made a loud growl. Laughing Henry looked at this watch and said "I think the lion in your stomach would be better sated if we head to our next destination" He put his arm around her waste and started them walking away from the square. It wasn't a hurried walk but a comfortable one arm in arm, contented, as he lead her away from the busy street to a narrower one. It was still busy with foot traffic as people hurried to the evening's entertainment. Reba looked at the stores and shops that lines the street, they looked old, full of history and charm. It was outside of one of these shops that Henry stopped. It was a brown unimpressive exterior called Gordon's wine bar. "This is it" he said as he lead her into the side door, the front did not prepare Reba for the wonderful sight she was to encounter as the smells of oak wood, Food and Wine assaulted her senses.

Henry wanted to pick her up and kiss her soundly, the look on Reba's face as they entered the Wine bar was priceless. Her eyes big and round, her pink lips shaped in an open awe. Her reaction was more than he could have hoped for when he chose Gordon's wine bar. Seeing the waiter coming towards them he guided her forward, "Good evening, table for two? And would you like garden or inside?" Henry answered quickly "Inside thank you" Reba looked up at him a slight frown on her face but she didn't voice her thoughts. Henry held back a chuckle he knew what she was soon to experience, yes it was warm but it would be worth it.

They were led to their table, he looked at Reba. Her face held pure amazement, now he did chuckle out loud. They were sitting in a cave like cellar, lit with twinkling lights and candles. "I know it would have been nice in the garden, but I wanted you to experience this" She let a breath out, as her gaze left the room and landed back to him. She smiled a soft smile that made his heart beat that bit faster "this is beautiful Charles" she breathed as she turned to look again at the cavern that they were now seated in.

He smiled as the waitress came forward to get their order "Reba do you mind if I order for us, they have a beautiful Italian platter for two here." He watched her face to make sure he wasn't over stepping but he was instead rewarded with a bigger smile "I love Italian that sounds great". Henry ordered the platter along with the suggested pairing of wine from the waitress. Turning back to Reba he could see she was still enamored with this cellar, he just watched her fascinated until she returned her gaze to his. He chuckled as the now familiar blush crept up her face, she was so easy to fluster, deciding to rescue her he remembered a something about this cellar that would be interesting to her, "So, fun fact this place has had many owners but one in particular would be of interest to you. In 1536 it was owned by Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk." He laughed as he watched her react again. She was so expressive her eyebrow's were raised, her pink lips open again in surprise. Once she recovered she chuckled "Wow, its kind of impressive being able to be in places where my favorite character lived."

They talked about the weather for a bit, Reba expressing how happy she was that her characters had started talking again, Henry pleased that his project was back on track. Then they fell into a silence, both in thought when the food arrived. They both took their first bite of the Taleggio, Henry almost dropped his fork at the sound Reba emitted, he was sure due to her inexperience that it was an innocent sound but it caused his groin to stir.

She moaned again looking directly at Henry causing him to blush and more blood rushed to his groin. "This is so good Henry, I've never tasted this kind of cheese before." She smiled at him such an innocent smile. Dam I guess the tables have turned, his earlier attempts to arouse her had flipped. Trying to gather his thoughts and miss direct his growing problem he asked " So I know that your parents are Reba Fan's and I loved the description of them dancing in the living room. Can you tell me how you started writing?"

He watched as her face, became stressed taught, as she stared into the candle on their table. Guessing that it was a hard question he offered "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it, I guess its one of the first things people ask me when I'm in an interview. I can tell you mine while you think about it?" she smiled at him relief washing through her eyes as she whispered "Yes please". 

Thinking for a moment and seeing that her face was open and interested Henry began " Well, I went to boarding school as a kid, I didn't have a lot of mates so I spent a lot of time alone. It was ok, I actually didn't mind being on the outside. It gave me a different perspective, I could watch people and see how they behaved. I started getting involved with the drama group and found I really liked playing a part that wasn't me. One day we had a film come to use our school and Russell Crowe was acting in it. I was playing rugby at the time, when we were finished, I saw him and decided to ask him about acting as a career.

He was cool about it and even told me some real truths about how no one was going to give it to me, that I had to work hard for it. We talked a bit more until everyone else came up, so I stepped away. A few days later I got a gift basket from him, It, was unexpected with some stuff from His Rugby club and Australian food. But the thing that stuck with me was a photograph, written on it was "A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." So, I did I worked hard, got rejected a lot. Did some good tv like the Tutors but was mostly labelled as the unlucky actor as I came second on the James bond movie, and Superman returns. I just kept working hard, training hard and then along came Superman. That was when I went from an unknown actor to can't go out in public without a lot of thought and planning"

The whole time he was talking he was taking notice, watching the interest in her eyes the way her they never left his. She wasn't just letting him talk she was engaging with him as she responded "So, you learned to cope being not as outgoing or popular at school by becoming someone else?" he chuckled "I guess you can say that, I think a lot of Actors are like that. They find an outlet for their own preserved weakness by playing someone else."

She nodded in agreement "I think it's the same for writers, we use writing to make a statement or to live a life we might not have or to work through the pain of what we have experienced. I started writing in high school after a traumatic event. I'm not sure I can talk about it yet with you but maybe one day. It's one of the reasons you are the second male I've been intimate with. It made me seek control of my life and so I disappeared into writing. There I can control the environment, the people and the situations even if it's a bad situation I know the outcome so it’s still controlled."

His heart broke listening to the pain she was describing, unable to fully understand but still seeing the effect that the situation had been on her life. She chuckled softly then said "In fact you're the first person I've let myself be out of control with. I hope you can now see how much trust I've placed in your hands" Henry swallowed at this comment, that was a lot of responsibility she had laid on the table. There was a slight moment of panic that hit his stomach, what if he hurt her, what if he did something even without his knowledge that would cause her pain. He shut his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them her saw a hesitancy on her face.

"Sorry, that was a bit much wasn't it" she mumbled and started to fidget with her napkin. A feeling of wanting to protect her, to wrap her up in his arms and sooth the fear that he could see now creeping into her eyes overwhelmed him. He hadn't felt this way since, well he couldn't remember the last time. Shifting his seat so it was next to hers rather that opposite he put his arm across her shoulders.

He breathed softly as he whispered "Maybe for the first real date, but it’s in keeping with our coming together. Caring for a drunk stranger, spending the weekend with said stranger. I guess this is all unusual, but I am glad you told me. It helps me to know what is ok and what I need to tread carefully with. If I wasn't your biggest fan, if we didn't have this connection that makes me want to sooth your hurts away. It might have been too much. Instead I just want to give you a kiss, is that ok?" Her eyes glistened as Henry spoke, and she leaned into him allowing him to kiss her softly. Looking down at his watch and seeing the time he changed tactics. I would like to revisit this but if we don't leave now we will miss the next part of this evenings journey. She looked dazed until it registered what he was saying, snapping out of her mood she chuckled and nodded. He raised his hand calling for the waitress and asked for the bill.                   

Reba was exhilarated, the mood from their last conversation was overshadowed by the colourful lights and sound of the musical theatre show Six. Henry had walked her the 10 minutes to Theatreland and now they were seated in the middle row enjoying the modern pop music depicting the six wives of Henry the 8th. He was so sweet Reba thought looking over at his face. She could see the colours dancing off his stubbled jaw and shinning in his eyes. How thoughtful to make tonight all about the Tudors? She felt Henry's knee rubbing against hers, as his long legs bounced up and down in time to the music as the women on stage yelled out "Divorced, beheaded, divorced, died, beheaded, survived."

As the show progressed, she got lost in the new retelling of Henry the 8th wives. At one point she felt Henry place his hand on hers, his fingers caressing her hand, it was gentle and maybe an encouragement that all was ok.

Arm in arm again they walked out of the theatre "So what did you think?" Henry's deep voice asked as they headed out "I loved the energy, and the vocal performance was wonderful" Reba answered as she spotted the town car that was waiting for them. It was only 9:20pm but the noise and crowds of the theatre had exhausted her, the driver held the door open for Reba and Henry as they got inside.

The door shut and Reba needing to feel secure burrowed into Henry's side his arm moving to pull her into his chest. She felt the rumble of his voice as he asked, "Are you ok?" She hummed her hand resting on his thigh, "Yes but the crowds really took it out of me. Is it ok if we just go home and enjoy the rest of the night in the quiet?" He chuckled, lightly running his hand through her hair, "you took the words right out of my mouth. Do you mind however if we go back to my place? I have a special friend I would like you to meet" the last word she muttered before letting sleep overtake her was ok.

Reba was sitting in a garden, sounded by the most colourful flowers. In front of her was a little boy who would have been 8 months old, gingerly siting up on the picnic blanket they were sharing. His face was round and chubby and his startling blue eyes were sparkling with mirth as he giggled. She picked him up and his little hand reached out and grazed her cheek. "Reba, honey its time to wake up" she startled awake as Henry's hand brushed her cheek. "Where here" he said his sweet smile and gentle blue eyes coaxed her awake.

It took her a moment to take in her surrounding, the warm interior light of the car and the driver waiting by the door. The dream had been so real that this looked like a dream. Tucking the images in her heart she looked at Henry and gave a coy smile "Sorry" he chuckled at her as his warm hand helped her from the car.

She felt his warmth around her waist as he walked her up to his front door. Before he opened the door he looked at her and with a slight frown said "I didn't ask, are you ok with dogs?" she had grown up around dogs, little ones, big ones they hadn't phased her but it had been a long time since then. "I did when I was younger but it’s been awhile" humming to himself Henry turned the key and opened the door.

The place was beautifully decorated, walls were adorned with bookcases filled with many titles and pictures of his family. He led her into a living room and instructed her to sit before disappearing to another part of the house.

She sat there still sleep dazed the images of the little boy danced before her unable to shake his beautiful blue eyes. Then she heard the sound of an excited puppy dog greeting its master. She smiled, it sounded so happy. Henry's sure footsteps and the padded paws echoed from somewhere in the house as they got closer to the room.

Henry walked around to her with a beautiful dog on his lead. At Henry's command he sat looking at Reba eyeing the stranger that its master had bought home. "Reba I would like to introduce you to Kal, Kal this is Reba" feeling more awake and seeing in the look of pride on Henry's face how much this bear of a Dog meant to him she made a move.

Getting down on her knees on the rug they were now standing on she put her hand out and allowed Kal to sniff her. Then slowly the dog moved towards her and sniffed her arm as she whispered is a warm voice "Hi kal, aren't you a beautiful boy"

At the sound of her voice Kal's tail began to wag and he laid down, his head on her lap staring up at her. Reba scratched him behind his ear as she spoke to Henry not taking her eyes of the Black and white dog before her. "He's wonderful Henry, so gentle and kind" their was only silence as a response prompting her to look up to see a stunned Henry looking down at the pair. "Henry?" He shifted his gaze to hers as he snapped out of his shock "He's never done that before" he sat down next to her as she continued to massage Kal's head. "He mean's a lot to you doesn't he" she stated gagging his reaction. "Yes, he has been a true companion. He travels with me if he's allowed and stays with me in the trailers and hotels. He doesn't demand more than food, walks and cuddles. When it got really bad awhile ago he was my savior."

The soft look that crossed his face was so endearing to Reba it compelled her to reach up running her hand across his cheek. They locked eyes his asking silently for permission all she had to do was slowly blink before Henry lowered his lips to hers in a gentle kiss.

It was a delightfully slow kiss his tongue caressing her lower lip seeking entrance as she opened and allowed him to explore her mouth. This wasn't to hurried like the passionate kiss from the car at the beginning of the night, this was a gentle deep caress displaying to her his care. A wet nose nudged Reba's hand demanding that she resume her head scratching that had stopped. This caused her to chuckle into the kiss breaking the intimate moment. "I think Kal's jealous Henry" Reba whispered, as Henry looked down at his dog with a frown saying, "Hey buddy your meant to help me not hinder me".

Reba laughed at this comment a light full laugh that made Henry smile too. Feeling very comfortable on the floor but sensing she needed to find his bathroom soon she got up and asked "So where in this beautiful house can I go powder my nose?" she was pointed down the hall as Henry also rose "Whilst your doing that do you want a hot drink? Or a cold one?" he said, she thought for a moment and whilst moving in the direction he had pointed out said  "A hot tea would be good if you have any, herbal or just some hot water if you don't" she smiled at him before disappearing into the guest bath and loo.

They spent the evening on the couch snuggled into each other talking, before long she knew she would fall asleep. He seemed to notice this too and surprising her lifted her up in his arms, once over the surprise she snuggled into his warmth as he walked her down towards his bedroom. Placing her on the bed he walked to his closet and found an old t shirt and handed it to her. She looked up at him in thanks as she tried to feel for the zipper at the back of her dress.

A warm hand found it instead as he whispered "Let me help you with that" the feel of his hand grazing her back as he helped her remove her dress sent shivers up her spine. She turned to look up at him desire shinning in his eyes as she lent up and kissed his soft lips. The dress discarded on the ground his warm hands now engulfing her body as the emotion of the evening spilled into their kiss.

Next Chapter 8

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[jkottke]

Today Is Juneteenth, the USA's Second Independence Day

Today is Juneteenth, a holiday that started in Texas that celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. From Vox's Juneteenth, explained:

A portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth," Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when a group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned that they were free from the institution of slavery. But, woefully, this was almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation; the Civil War was still going on, and when it ended, Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger traveled to Texas and issued an order stating that all enslaved people were free, establishing a new relationship between "former masters and slaves" as "employer and hired labor." As much as Juneteenth represents freedom, it also represents how emancipation was tragically delayed for enslaved people in the deepest reaches of the Confederacy.

And freedom was further delayed, but the holiday stuck. From What Is Juneteenth? by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.:

When Texas fell and Granger dispatched his now famous order No. 3, it wasn't exactly instant magic for most of the Lone Star State's 250,000 slaves. On plantations, masters had to decide when and how to announce the news -- or wait for a government agent to arrive -- and it was not uncommon for them to delay until after the harvest. Even in Galveston city, the ex-Confederate mayor flouted the Army by forcing the freed people back to work, as historian Elizabeth Hayes Turner details in her comprehensive essay, "Juneteenth: Emancipation and Memory," in Lone Star Pasts: Memory and History in Texas.

Those who acted on the news did so at their peril. As quoted in Litwack's book, former slave Susan Merritt recalled, " 'You could see lots of niggers hangin' to trees in Sabine bottom right after freedom, 'cause they cotch 'em swimmin' 'cross Sabine River and shoot 'em.' " In one extreme case, according to Hayes Turner, a former slave named Katie Darling continued working for her mistress another six years (She " 'whip me after the war jist like she did 'fore,' " Darling said).

Hardly the recipe for a celebration -- which is what makes the story of Juneteenth all the more remarkable. Defying confusion and delay, terror and violence, the newly "freed" black men and women of Texas, with the aid of the Freedmen's Bureau (itself delayed from arriving until September 1865), now had a date to rally around. In one of the most inspiring grassroots efforts of the post-Civil War period, they transformed June 19 from a day of unheeded military orders into their own annual rite, "Juneteenth," beginning one year later in 1866.

From the NY Times' collection of articles to mark the Juneteenth holiday, Veronica Chambers writes:

"Recently, I heard Angela Davis talk about the radical imagination," Ms. [Saidiya] Hartman said. "And a fundamental requirement is believing that the world you want to come into existence can happen. I think that that is how black folks have engaged with and invested in and articulated freedom, as an ideal and as an everyday practice."

I couldn't agree more. As someone who has celebrated Juneteenth for a long time, I think we need it now -- not in lieu of the freedom, justice and equality we are still fighting for -- but in addition, because we have been fighting for so very long.

The elemental sermon embedded into the history and lore of Juneteenth has always been one of hope. The gifts of the holiday are the moments of connection, renewal and joy for a people who have had to endure so much, for so long.

Gina Cherelus shares how folks around the country celebrate, past and present -- This Is How We Juneteenth:

Kenneth Timmons, who works for a federal government agency in Houston, said the first thing he usually does before every Juneteenth is take the day off work. Mr. Timmons usually invites friends over to cook and eat together.

"My co-workers know why I'm off, I tell them I don't work Juneteenth," Mr. Timmons, 47, said. "I don't work on my Independence Day."

Born and raised in Lufkin, Texas, a town more than 100 miles northeast of Houston, Mr. Timmons remembers attending community Juneteenth celebrations as a child, where he would watch rodeo shows, pageants, eat barbecue and participate in calf chasing contests.

"Even though the United States celebrates July 4 as their independence, we were still considered slaves," said Mr. Timmons. "So for us, that is the day that our ancestors were finally released from servitude and slavery and could escape the South."

Calls for Juneteenth to be a federal holiday have grown over the past few years. Here's the case from the staff of The Root and Danielle Young -- Juneteenth Is Finally Entering the Mainstream American Consciousness. Now Make It An Official Federal Holiday.

Forget the 4th of July! Juneteenth is the day that should be celebrated by all as a pivotal point in America's freedom story.

93-year-old Texas resident Opal Lee is working to get Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday. You can follow her efforts here and sign her petition.

And finally, here are some ways to get involved in the movement for Juneteenth, including educational resources, events & protests, suggestions for how to invest in the Black community, places to donate, volunteer opportunities, etc.

[theyearoftheking]

Book Forty-Nine: Black House

“Here is a true American loner, an internal vagrant, a creature of shabby rooms and cheap diners, of aimless journeys resentfully taken, a collector of wounds and injuries lovingly fingered and refingered. Here is a spy with no cause higher than himself.” 

After almost fifty books, The Talisman still stands at the top of the leader board as my favorite Steve book. It’s richly layered, full of memorable characters and horrible villains, with a satisfying conclusion. It’s the type of book fantasy and horror lovers alike are eager to escape into. 

It’s sometimes hard to embrace the sequel to a book you love so much... I mean, I can be bought, but my criteria are stringent:

Consider setting the book in Wisconsin... perhaps the beautiful, sad, remote, desolate western part of the state right along the Mississippi river.

Maybe a Dahmer reference? 

Scratch that. Instead, go with an old-school serial killer no one really talks about anymore. How about... Albert Fish? He’s pretty gross. 

On second thought, reconsider a Dahmer reference. Maybe an evil spirit that links Dahmer and Fish together? 

TONS of Dark Tower references. 

If Steve and Pete were to consider writing a follow up to The Talisman with all these elements, I might consider reading it. 

Spoiler! 

Dark House contains all this goodness, and more. 

It’s so fucking dark, y’all. I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to drive past a long-term care facility and NOT think about an old man inside wanting to eat the buttocks of small children.

Oh hey, trigger warnings for cannibalism, and violence against children. 

So, Dark House is set in fictional Coulee County, Wisconsin (not a place). But Steve and Pete (I need to start giving Peter Straub some shout outs as well) describe the western part of the state magnificently. Not too long ago I had a sales job that required me to travel the entire state, and I always loved my jaunts west. I’d park right along the Mississippi, eat my lunch and just soak up the isolation. I’d much rather make the drive to Pierce county than the Quad Cities, which my current employer is asking of me. *Silent scream for help*

Despite Coulee being fictional, the actual Wisconsin references are thick:

De Pere (where we recently found out Steve spent a few formative years)

The Brewers 

Miller Park 

Kingsland Ale- while fictional, it’s a nod to Wisconsin’s rich brewing history, and favorable climate for microbreweries

Dahmer (several times, actually)

Racine. Y’all. I have no idea what Steve’s obsession is with Racine... it comes up in multiple books. It’s really not that great. Take that from someone who spent a brief period of time working there. Honestly, my favorite thing about Racine is the authentic Thai restaurant right in downtown, Sticky Rice. If you find yourself in Racine, please go check them out... their red devil curry is amaze-balls. 

So, yes... lots of Wisconsin. Also, lots of Dark Tower:

Eye of the King

Crimson King

The Tower

Red roses

Breakers

Little Sisters 

Gunslingers and their weapons

Roland and the ka-tet

Monos! Blaine and Patricia

Chief Breaker Brautigan- who allegedly tells hilarious stories about his escapes. I miss him already. 

I have questions about how Steve convinced Pete to include so many Dark Tower elements into this book...

Steve:  “Pete, bud... I know you might have a different vision for how this book plays out. Buuut what about if we make it part of the Dark Tower universe?”

Pete: Stares for a long minute. “Um, I thought that series was dead in the water. Do we really need to use Dark House to resuscitate it?” 

Steve: “Remember the car accident? You know, the one that almost took my leg?” 

Pete *Oh fuck, he’s bringing up the car accident as a bid for sympathy, and to convince me to make this a Dark Tower book...* “Of course I remember!”

Steve: “Well, it shook some things loose. I’m about ready to finish the series. I just thought it might be fun if we make this book a lead-up to the finale” 

Pete: “It’s intriguing, but I’m not really sure it’s the direction I want to go in. I was thinking more-”

Steve: “I ALMOST DIED IN THAT ACCIDENT!” 

Pete: “Cool, Dark Tower book it is!” 

I should write fan fiction. I’ve obviously got a gift. 

Black House is told from a birds-eye narration view. Literally... there’s this fat, evil crow named Gorg flying all over town, giving us the lay of Coulee County. Bad stuff has been going on: little children have gone missing, and only a few of their bodies have turned back up mutilated and broken. 

The chief of police, Dale Gilbertson, knows he’s in over his head, and keeps trying to convince his pal, retired police detective, Jack “Hollywood” Sawyer to come consult on the case.

Jack isn’t having it. He retired young and moved to Coulee County from Los Angeles after tracking down and arresting serial killer Thorny Kinderling. The majestic beauty of western Wisconsin caught him by surprise, and he happily invested in reasonably priced (read: cheap) real estate with a view. 

Upon moving to Wisconsin, Jack befriended Dale’s blind uncle Henry Leydon; who voices several radio programs, including The Wisconsin Rat, which plays indy screamo bands and has plenty of shock-jock antics. The two hang out together, listen to jazz music, and sometimes Jack reads to Henry. Henry was able to use his elevated senses to study Jack’s speech pattern and figure out Jack’s mom was THE Lily Cavanaugh; the Queen of the B’s. 

While Jack and Henry are reading Bleak House, Charles “Burny” Burnside is wandering around the Maxton Elder Care Facility, pretending to have dementia, and dragging children into The Territories for Lord Malshun to either use as Breakers, or for Burny to snack on if they have no Breaking skills. So, Burny’s a bad dude who did some suspicious things in Chicago; but an evil spirit (the same one who invaded Albert Fish and Jeffrey Dahmer’s bodies) is what’s causing his kidnapping and cannibalistic urges. I know I say this every ten books or so, but Burny might be the worst King villain ever. I was not upset later on when his intestines were violently ripped from his body.

A sweet little boy (with strong Breaker powers) named Tyler Marshall goes missing outside the Maxton Elder Care Facility. While he was being pulled into the bushes by Gorg who kept repeating his name; his mother, Judy receives a taunting package and letter from The Fisherman, which sends her over the brink, and she’s institutionalized. 

Tyler’s disappearance really amps up the town outrage, and Jack agrees to help the police department out. He’s starting to suspect there’s some Territories nonsense going down, and he can help. 

From here, the book goes at break-neck pace and includes everything from micro-brewing bikers, a dog bite that causes one to dissolve into a foamy puddle on the couch, our old friend Speedy Parker showing up as a gunslinger, the world’s most annoying newspaper reporter, plenty of flipping between worlds via the creepy old black house hidden in the woods, and a happy(ish) ending. Honestly, there’s a warning at the end of the book, which allows you to choose your own ending. You can stop reading five pages before the end, and enjoy a happy ending where the good guys win; or you can get the real world ending. Both are satisfying... I recommend reading all the way to the end. 

So, just a few quotes for you... 

“Wolf died of a disease called America.” 

This line gutted me. I didn’t realize how much I loved Wolf as a character, until I had to read a follow-up that didn’t include him. His soul was too clean and beautiful for a fucked-up world like the one we currently live in. 

“He doesn’t like the cell phone to begin with- twenty-first-century slave bracelets, he thinks them...”

No explanation needed. 

“Why must life always demand so much and give so little? Parkus answers her question with a single word: ka.” 

Again, no explanation needed. 

Was this book as good as The Talisman? 

No. 

Did I want more? 

Absolutely.

But was I satisfied with the end?

You bet your (un-chomped on) ass.

Total Wisconsin Mentions: 33

Total Dark Tower References: 50

Book Grade: A-

Rebecca’s Definitive Ranking of Stephen King Books

The Talisman: A+

Wizard and Glass: A+

Needful Things: A+

On Writing: A+

The Green Mile: A+

Hearts in Atlantis: A+

Rose Madder: A+

Misery: A+

Different Seasons: A+

It: A+

Four Past Midnight: A+

The Shining: A-

The Stand: A-

Bag of Bones: A-

Black House: A-

The Wastelands: A-

The Drawing of the Three: A-

Dolores Claiborne: A-

Nightmares in the Sky: B+

The Dark Half: B+

Skeleton Crew: B+

The Dead Zone: B+

Nightmares & Dreamscapes: B+

‘Salem’s Lot: B+

Carrie: B+

Creepshow: B+

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon: B

Storm of the Century: B-

Cycle of the Werewolf: B-

Danse Macabre: B-

The Running Man: C+

Thinner: C+

Dark Visions: C+

The Eyes of the Dragon: C+

The Long Walk: C+

The Gunslinger: C+

Pet Sematary: C+

Firestarter: C+

Rage: C

Desperation: C-

Insomnia: C-

Cujo: C-

Nightshift: C-

Gerald’s Game: D

Roadwork: D

Christine: D

Dreamcatcher: D

The Regulators: D

The Tommyknockers: D-

Now I move onto From a Buick Eight. I’ve had an advanced reading copy since the book came out, but never had the urge to actually read it. That should tell you everything you need to know about my level of enthusiasm right now. I’m hoping it’s not a Christine 2.0. 

Until next time, Long Days & Pleasant Nights, Rebecca 

[acehotel]

A Trip to the Sun Ra archives on the occasion of his 104th birthday, as recounted by Eric Isaacson of Mississippi Records

Eric Isaacson, owner of Portland’s singular Mississippi Records, and Libby Werbel, curator of Portland Museum of Modern Art, traveled to Chicago last month to check out the Sun Ra archives, housed at the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library. Libby is currently curating a show at Portland Art Museum dedicated to Sun Ra, opening later this year. Here, Eric reports on their pilgrimage to Chicago for the week of what would have been Sun Ra’s 104th birthday, plus the genesis of his love for Saturn’s favorite son. 

Before I get into a narrative about me and Libby's trip to Chicago, please indulge me as I write a digressive personal anecdote about the kismet that first led me to Sun Ra.

In the early 1990s, I was traveling through the USA in a van seeing the country for the very first time. In Phoenix, Arizona, I stumbled into a really bad record store, filled with over priced Beatles, Eagles and Rolling Stones collectables. The man behind the counter obviously considered himself a great music scholar and psychedelic warrior of the 60s.  On the floor, beneath a record rack, I found a box filled with strange homemade looking records. The covers were all hand painted and had titles like The Other Side Of The Sun, Disco 3000, Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy, My Brother the Wind and so on. I had never even heard of the artist they were all attributed to — Sun Ra. 

Intrigued by the covers, I asked the record store clerk how much they cost and he said, "Aw, those records all sound like a bunch of noise... and they don't even have real covers, just those hand painted junky lookin' ones. You can have them for $2 each."  Something about the vibe of the record store clerk was so awful and the records seemed to be emanating the exact opposite vibe — so they called to me. The clerk’s contempt for them really did help their cause in my eyes. I was broke, but I bought the whole box.

This began my life long love of Sun Ra.

I used to be the manager of a record store in Oakland called Saturn Records (named after Sun Ra's record label), and now I run a record store and label in Portland, Oregon called Mississippi Records. Our retail shop always has at least 50 different Sun Ra titles in stock. Obsessive? You betcha. Libby Werbel runs an art gallery out of the basement of the record store called "The Portland Museum Of Modern Art." When she first started scheming on what she wanted to show at her gallery, a Sun Ra related show was at the top of the list. Through her world class work at PMOMA, she was recently invited to be visiting artistic director at the actual Portland Art Museum, curating 18 months worth of programing in their contemporary art wing under the theme of "building our own monuments." Who deserves monuments more than Sun Ra, the hardest working man in show business?

This led us to Chicago. The Sun Ra archive is held within the marvelous brutalist architectural library at the University of Chicago, within 150 boxes of varying size. Alton Abrahams, who ran Sun Ra's label Saturn with him and managed the band, donated all the materials to the University’s special Jazz Archive for safe keeping. We requested to spend 3 days combing through the archive, selecting the ephemera and artifacts we’d borrow for a full-on Sun Ra retrospective show at the Portland Art Museum. It was a great joy. The University doesn’t allow public documentation of the treasures in their archive (Editor’s note: the images herein were all swiped from the web), but trust me, it’s a mindblower, especially all the amazing posters of Chicago shows — Sun Ra with Alice Coltrane, Albert Ayler, the MC5 and on and on.

Sun Ra claimed that in 1938, a bright light appeared around him, and, as he says, "My whole body changed into something else. I could see through myself. And I went up... I wasn't in human form... I landed on a planet that I identified as Saturn... they teleported me and I was down on a stage with them. They wanted to talk with me. They had one little antenna on each ear. A little antenna over each eye. They talked to me. They told me to stop attending college because there was going to be great trouble in schools... the world was going into complete chaos... I would speak through music, and the world would listen. That's what they told me."

By the time he arrived in Chicago in 1945, Sun Ra was deeply immersed in the study of music, and the city was the perfect incubator for his unique vision. Despite Sun Ra's personal attempts to obscure his own origins and journey — he loved to be cloaked in mystery and intrigue — the story of Sun Ra since his landing in Chicago has been covered widely and well. His was a nuanced vision, and the picture posthumously constructed by the cold light of archivists and historians would not have been to interesting to him.

Like the man said:

"If death is the absence of life/then death's death is life"

After the cut: some stray observations we had in Chicago during the downtime between our long dredges through the fantastic 150 boxes of Sun Ra's historic artifacts. 

+ We arrived in Chicago off a red eye flight, bleary eyed and near psychedelic from the lack of sleep. Our dear friend Gordon, who happens to work at the Stumptown Coffee situated in the lobby of the Ace Hotel, picked us up at 6 AM and quickly corrected our condition with some cold brew.

+ Truth be told, I am first and foremost a food tourist and the legends of Chicago's 78 neighborhoods of ethnic food offerings was beyond exciting. Gordon was kind enough to lay down a beautiful list of must visit restaurants, some of them within walking distance of Ace. Two blocks away was a tiny Japanese restaurant called Ramen Takeya, which we had to visit twice due to a near religious experience we had while eating a salmon chirashi bowl with crunchy onion bits. We also ate incredible Naples-style pizza, which they cut with scissors to whatever size your heart desires, so you can get away with trying six pies in one sitting. A trip to Chinatown landed us at a perfect no nonsense dim sum place, and then there was the Greek deli that served a spinach pie as big as two fists of fury.

+ We managed to do some non-food related things too — like take a great stroll to the Garden of the Phoenix, a small island park across from the Museum of Science and Industry, replete with its own charming Japanese garden on the water an a surprise sculpture by none other than Yoko Ono. 

+ We went and drank martinis at Al Capone’s old haunt called the Green Mill Cocktail lounge and at in the dark smoke crusted dive in what we were told was his favorite booth. 

+ On our last day we made our pilgrimage to the MCA to catch the Howardena Pindell retrospective which managed to move Libby to tears. Her dedication and political conviction was exactly what both of us needed to see. 

+ Since we had some more time to kill before our evening flight out, we made our way to the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art and upon arrival felt like we hit pay dirt! This place was amazing! Libby waxed poetic about the long history of Chicago and the surrounding areas radical community of self-taught artists and we got to see some of our favorites displayed unassumingly in all their glory. They had everyone: Lee Godie, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Simon Sparrow, Mose Tolliver and Jimmy Lee Sudduth (to name a few) and a full-on recreation of Henry Darger’s apartment, which immediately creeped us both out. It was a perfect treat to the end of our trip, and solidified our belief that Chicago is a city filled to the brim with things to discover. We can’t wait to come back.

[architectnews]

Windermere Steamboat Museum, Lake District

Windermere Steamboat Museum Cumbria, Lake District Architecture Competition, Cafe, Architects

Windermere Steamboat Museum Building

Lake District Building Development, Cumbria, Northwest England design by Carmody Groarke, UK

post updated 16 September 2021

Windermere Steamboat Museum shortlisted for RIBA Stirling Prize 2021

Stirling Prize

20 Jan 2017

Windermere Steamboat Museum News

Windermere Steamboat Museum Building Construction Update

Design: Carmody Groarke Architects

This new museum on the lake displays an internationally significant boat collection.

Full advantage has been taken of the mild winter weather building up the walls of the café, learning space and reception.

The copper roof has been completed to the learning centre building and the cladding specialists have moved on to covering the reception roof.

The structural wall system has also started on the main exhibition building, the largest of the buildings, beginning to enclose the space and frame more of the views out to the lake.

A number of the roofs are nearing completion with the installation of rooflights to the boathouse and café.

Pipes and wires are also beginning to appear as the first fix for services begins around the museum buildings.

Website: Windermere Steamboat Museum Construction

1 Aug 2013

Windermere Steamboat Museum Building News

Windermere Steamboat Museum secures Heritage Lottery Fund investment

The Lakeland Arts Trust is delighted to announce that the Windermere Steamboat Museum Project has been awarded a confirmed grant of £9.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Windermere Steamboat Museum building design by Carmody Groarke: image © Carmody Groarke, from Lakeland Arts Trust

The Project will create a new museum on the lake to display the internationally significant collection, connecting boats, people and stories. The high-quality museum facilities will include a wet dock where visitors will see boats displayed on the water, collection displays where visitors can discover about the people who built the boats, who used them and how they were used, an active conservation workshop and a dedicated learning space.

New jetties will also connect people to the lake enabling visitors to arrive by boat or take a trip on a historic launch whilst the lake side café will provide exceptional views across Windermere.

Martin Ainscough, Chairman of the Lakeland Arts Trust, said: ‘This decision secures a total of £13.4 million investment into Cumbria creating employment and new opportunities for local people. I would like to thank all the project team members who put an enormous amount of work in to developing the plans for the Museum and securing this fantastic grant for the region’.

Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of the Lakeland Arts Trust, said: ‘We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has confirmed the grant to the Museum and thank them for their tremendous support. Immediate steps are to complete design development so that construction can start next year. We are looking forward to re-opening the Museum and welcoming visitors to enjoy the wonderful collection of Windermere boats and take part in exciting new activities and events inspired by the collections and beautiful site’.

Tiffany Hunt, Chair of HLF North West Committee, said: ‘This wonderful collection of historic boats is now set to be housed in a new and sustainable museum, spectacularly located on Lake Windermere. We felt strongly that this was a great opportunity to invest a significant amount of money in an area that relies heavily on tourism as well as reveal the social histories behind the local boatbuilding industry.

Equally important will be opportunities for people to acquire traditional skills and get involved with caring for these steamboats which are such a culturally distinctive part of Cumbria’s landscape.’ The Lakeland Arts Trust has raised over £3 million match funding for the project and needs to raise a further £300,000 to meet the total project costs of £13.4 million. The Trust is working with an excellent design team on the project including Carmody Groarke, architects, Arup, engineers and Real Studios, exhibition designers.

25 Mar 2013

Windermere Steamboat Museum Building Planning

Windermere Steamboat Museum Planning Application Submission

The Lakeland Arts Trust has applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a confirmed grant, having previously secured their initial support and is delighted to announce that it is applying for planning permission to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum as a world-class heritage attraction and a major part of the Windermere Waterfront Programme.

This long-awaited project will enable the Museum to re-open to the public so that local people and visitors can once again enjoy seeing the unique collection of boats. All the historic boats are associated with Windermere and together they tell the history of over 200 years of leisure, industry and trade on the lake.

Gordon Watson, Chief Executive of the Lakeland Arts Trust said ‘this is an important step forward for the project to turn the Museum into a popular tourist attraction which offers a very special and exciting experience for visitors. We want to involve local people and visitors in the Museum and to offer a wide range of activities for school children, families and older people.

The new facilities are essential to enable the Museum to re-open. The Museum will create year-round employment and the economic impact assessment shows that the Museum will enable an estimated 94 direct and indirect jobs to be created and safeguarded across a range of roles. The Museum will also offer apprenticeships and training and give volunteers opportunities to develop new skills and experience.’

Martin Ainscough, Chair of the Lakeland Arts Trust said ‘the Museum will be the most significant development on Windermere over the next few years. We are seeking to invest over £13 million in South Lakeland and planning consent is essential to secure the investment. Funding from a number of organisations, including trusts and foundations as well as individual donors and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Rural Development Programme for England and a conditional offer from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund has enabled us to develop the detailed designs and plans for the Museum.’

The Museum has the strategic support of the key agencies in Cumbria and the North West including the Lake District National Park, Cumbria Tourism, Cumbria County Council, South Lakeland District Council and Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership.

The completed museum will be self-sustaining with no core statutory funding. The Museum expects to receive 100,000 visitors per annum, with between 200 – 300 groups engaging with the schools’ programme. As part of this self-sustaining vision, the Museum will:

Support the on-going maintenance and conservation of the collection.

Provide a high quality formal and informal learning programme for children, young people and adults.

Deliver a changing programme of temporary displays and public events.

The boat collection at the Museum is of national and international significance. The UK’s National Historic Ships lists 11 boats in the collection as nationally pre-eminent and four are members of the elite National Historic Fleet. The best known part of the collection is the ten classic Windermere steam launches of the 1890s and 1900s.

Other highlights include SL Dolly (1850) the oldest mechanically powered boat in the world, SY Esperance (1869) built for steel magnate Henry Schneider and inspiration for Captain Flint’s houseboat in Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, Canfly (1922) powered by a 1917 Rolls Royce aero engine, and, in stark contrast, Beatrix Potter’s tarn boat that she used to sketch in on Moss Eccles Tarn. The Lakeland Arts Trust selected the design team for the Museum in 2011.

The architects are Carmody Groarke and they have designed a beautiful collection of buildings located around the original wet dock. Andy Groarke, director of Carmody Groarke said: ‘This is an important opportunity to create a new museum building that is right for the beautiful lakeshore of Windermere, and which can provide a world-class visitor attraction for generations to come.’

Andrew Groarke describes the design: ‘The new museum has been arranged as a cluster of buildings within the landscape on the lakeshore. The composition of its pitched-roof forms is intended to forge a strong connection between visitors, boats and water. They are characterised by large canopies which frame views to and from the lake, but also provide all weather shelter around the perimeter of the museum.

Each individual building has been designed around a very different visitor experience related to boats: on land or on water. The museum development will include exhibition space for displaying boats, telling the stories of their construction, of their owners and their use on Windermere. A conservation workshop where visitors can watch boat builders and apprentices at work on the collection will form a key element of the visitor experience.

At the heart of the of the museum will be the wet-dock where boats will be displayed on water. In addition to the core display space, a learning centre offering an inspiring programme for visitors of all ages will be central to the development, as will a new museum cafe which will take opportunity of magnificent views to the north of Windermere.’

Windermere Steamboat Museum Competition information from RIBA Competitions

13 Dec 2011

Windermere Steamboat Museum Winner

Winner announced for Windermere Steamboat Museum Competition

Windermere Steamboat Museum – winning design by Carmody Groarke: Windermere Steamboat Museum images from Lakeland Arts Trust

Windermere Steamboat Museum Competition

Carmody Groarke are announced as the winners of the competition to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum in the Lake District National Park. Earlier this year, the Lakeland Arts Trust secured initial support for a £7.4m Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid to take the project forward.

Windermere Steamboat Museum Design Competition information from RIBA Competitions

Location: Windermere, Cumbria, England, UK

Cumbrian Architecture

RIBA Lake District Competition

Cumbrian Buildings

Whitehaven Harbour Design Competition : Cumbrian Architecture Contest

Cumbrian Buildings

Dove Cottage and the Museum at Wordsworth Grasmere Exhibition, interpretation & wayfinding: Nissen Richards Studio ; Basebuild architect: Purcell photo : Gareth Gardner Dove Cottage and the Museum at Wordsworth Grasmere

Grizedale Forest – Education Centre, Lake District Design: Sutherland Hussey Architects image from architects Cumbrian building : Grizedale Masterplan – Architecture Competition – winner

The Love Shack, Windermere Design: Sutherland Hussey Architects Windermere House

English Architecture

English Architect

Comments / photos for the Windermere Steamboat Museum Cumbria – Lake District Architecture Competition page welcome

Website: England

The post Windermere Steamboat Museum, Lake District appeared first on e-architect.

[tkmedia]

2021 Fantasy RB Sleepers

With the lack of reliable tight ends in fantasy football, each year will see at least a few breakouts rise from the lower depths of the rankings to claim a top-12 fantasy finish. Last season, Robert Tonyan finished as the TE3 in standard and PPR formats. (Don’t pretend like you knew who Tonyan was coming into the season.) Remember Jared Cook charting a career year (TE5) in ‘18 at 31? If you need more evidence, we can go back further. See none other than Delanie Walker, then a long-time 49ers backup. In 2013, He signed a four-year deal with Tennessee for an average salary of 4.4 million dollars -- chump change for an NFL player. And what did he do with that opportunity? He became a reliable upper-tier fantasy starter for the next five seasons, finishing as high as TE2 in PPR formats. All of these players were barely on the sleeper radar, never mind highlighted on draft cheat sheets. So, now that it’s been established sleeper tight ends emerge every season, it’s important to figure out how to identify them. Sometimes, TEs set to see an expanded role in an offense, perhaps because another TE or key WR left or because a new offensive coordinator is in town, are prime sleeper targets. You could also look at TEs who got a QB upgrade in the offseason. New opportunities can yield new results -- even for old players.This year's list features Irv Smith Jr., Anthony Firkser, and Adam Trautman, all of whom figure to step into a more significant roles in their respective offenses. Blake Jarwin and O.J. Howard, who are more or less afterthoughts due to major injuries sustained last season, also merit watching as they try to bounce back. Someone like Cole Kmet isn't necessarily in a "new situation," but we still expect him to take a big leap forward in his sophomore season and overtake Jimmy Graham as Chicago's primary TE.If you're in a shallow league, most of these guys won't even be on your radar. It's more likely someone like Dallas Goedert, Tyler Higbee, or Jonnu Smith/Hunter Henry would be considered "sleepers," but for most leagues, the tight ends below are the players to target in the middle and late rounds. That's where these types of TEs will be patiently waiting to be claimed.That’s the beauty of the position -- many of these sleepers are still cheap! If they don’t plan out, your season isn’t lost. Even if you take a "good" starter earlier, it's still smart to take a flier on the sleeper tight end late. Remember, there are only a handful of players at the position who can be trusted every week, so giving yourself options makes sense. Javonte Williams, Broncos Williams will be competing with veteran Melvin Gordon for touches, but even if the talented rookie isn't starting in Week 1, he has more long-term potential because of his explosiveness. In his final season at North Carolina, Williams totaled 1,445 yards and 22 TDs while averaging 7.9 yards per touch. The Broncos offense has a lot of talent but also a lot of question marks. Williams can be a stabilizing force if the coaching staff lets him. It would be foolish to completely write off the 28-year-old Gordon, who posted 1,144 total yards, 4.6 yards/carry, and 10 TDs last year, but Denver drafted Williams early in the second round for a reason. Gus Edwards, Ravens Everyone is excited about JK Dobbins this year -- and deservedly so -- but don't sleep on Edwards. He's posted at least 700 yards and averaged at least 5.0 yards/carry in each of his three seasons, so you know he's going to produce on the ground. With Mark Ingram gone, his path to production is even more open. He might not crack double-digit receptions, but it wouldn't be a complete shock if Edwards wound up getting more touches than Dobbins and starred in the Ravens backfield. Either way, he's being undervalued in drafts. Consider Edwards more of a 1B to Dobbins' 1A than merely a traditional handcuff. Michael Carter, Jets Kmet is poised to take over the keys from Jimmy Graham at TE1 in the Bears offense. While Kmet didn't see a ton of volume last year (44 targets), he ranked fourth at the position in true catch rate at 94 percent. True catch rate is the total number of receptions divided by total number of catchable targets. With Andy Dalton or Justin Fields on the field, passing volume and catchable targets are likely to point upward. Chicago traded Anthony Miller to Houston, opening up more potential targets for Kmet. If Fields is as good as the Bears think he can be, Kmet may serve as a reliable target in an emerging offense. Phillip Lindsay, Texans David Johnson had a surprise bounce-back season last year, posting 1,005 total yards and eight TDs while averaging a career-high 4.7 yards/carry in 12 games. Even so, the Texans picked up Lindsay in the offseason, and fantasy owners shouldn't ignore him. Lindsay started his career with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons before struggling in an injury-plagued 2020. Lindsay still has a career 4.8 yards/carry average, and despite his size (5-8 ,190 pounds), he's a tough inside runner. Johnson might begin the season as Houston's starter, but given his injury history and age (29), Lindsay could wind up outproducing him for the season. Don't let Lindsay fall too far behind Johnson in drafts. Jamaal Williams, Lions Williams was consistently solid in his four years with the Packers, but he rarely starred outside of the occasional good game. Now with Detroit, he'll once again work in a complementary role (behind D'Andre Swift), but the Lions have a strong offensive line and very little going for them in the receiving game. That should open up more opportunities for Williams, both as a runner and a pass-catcher. It will likely take a Swift injury for Williams to really go off, but he's capable of outproducing his ADP and being an every-week flex, at least in PPR formats. AJ Dillon, Packers When a guy is 6-0, 247 pounds and has both "Quadfather" and "Quadzilla" listed on hisPFR pageas nicknames, you want to give him your full attention. Dillon didn't playmuch as a third-string rookie last year, but he did average 5.3 yards/carry in limited action and went off in the one games where he did get significant touches, posting a 21-124-2 line in a Week 16 game against Tennessee. With Jamaal Williams gone, Dillon takes over the primary backup role to Aaron Jones, so he's primed for 120-plus carries. At last year's rate, that would yield around 700 rushing yards and a five-to-six TDs. The potential is there for more with the supremely talented Dillon even in a backup role,and if anything happens to Jones, look out. Dillon would immediately vie for top-10 consideration. Tony Pollard, Cowboys Pollard has played well in his first two seasons, averaging 4.8 yards/carry and showcasing solid receiving skills. When Ezekiel Elliott out in Week 15, Pollard took advantage, running 12 times for 69 yards and two scores against the 49ers. With Elliott coming off a down year, it's fair to wonder if Pollard will see more touches, and in Dallas's high-powered offense, even 10 touches per game would give him flex value. If Elliott gets hurt, Pollard's value would really take off. If you draft Elliott, be prepared to overpay for Pollard because he's the type of backup other owners will draft in the middle rounds, too. Trey Sermon, 49ers Sermon had a decent college career split between Oklahoma and Ohio State, but he saved his best performances for the Big 10 Championship and Sugar Bowl last year, rushing for a combined 524 yards and three TDs while adding another 65 receiving yards on seven catches. The 6-1, 215-pound Sermon ran a 4.57 40-yard dash and doesn't wow with any other measurables, but you know if he gets consistent touches in the 49ers system, he'll be productive. Raheem Mostertwon't stay healthy, and even if he does, we know San Francisco will use multiple ball carriers. Wayne Gallman will probably more involved than any of us want, but Sermon still has major breakout potential. Justin Jackson, Chargers Jackson is just as likely to get cut as he is have a good year, so proceed with caution here. That said, the Chargers need a true "lead back" to complement receiving ace Austin Ekeler, and last year's popular rookie sleeper, Joshua Kelley, repeatedly flopped in his attempts to take over the lead role when Ekeler was hurt (3.2 yards/carry). Perhaps Kelley will bounce back and get first crack at the 1B job, but Jackson outplayed him last year (when he wasn't missing seven games because of toe, quad, and knee injuries). Jackson averaged 4.6 yards/carry (4.9 for his career) and caught 19 passes for 173 yards in a similar campaign as his rookie season. It's tough get too excited about Jackson, but someone figures to emerge in this backfield. If it's not Jackson or Kelley, then you're looking at sixth-round rookie Larry Rountree III, who produced well in his career at Mizzou (5.0 yard/carry, 40 TDs). For now, we'll err on the side of the veteran. Rhamondre Stevenson, Patriots The 6-0, 231-pound Stevenson might very well be on the inactive list early in the season (he is a Patriots RB after all), but he has upside if he finds his way into the lineup. The Patriots are notorious for shenanigans with their RBs, and even though Damien Harris looks to be "the guy" in New England, no one would be shocked Stevenson started stealing carries or being used as a goal-line hammer. Sevenson averaged 7.2 yards/carry and scored 13 TDs in 19 career games at Oklahoma, and he even showed some receiving chops with 18 catches and 211 yards in just six games last year. He presents the kind of unique skillset Bill Belichick loves to use, so fantasy owners should have him high on their watchlists. Jake Funk/Xavier Williams, Rams Does anyone really trust Darrell Henderson to last the full season as the Rams' feature back? Maybe he will -- or maybe L.A. will sign a veteran like Le'Veon Bell or Todd Gurley -- but until they pick up someone else, undrafted Jones and seventh-round pick Funk are the most likely candidates to siphon carries. At 5-10, 204 pounds with 4.49 speed, Funk has similar size but more speed than Jones (5-11, 208 pounds, 4.54), but Jones was far more productive in career at SMU than Funk was at Maryland. Neither of these backs really stand out, but they figure to get shots at playing time early in the year. Caleb Huntley/Javian Hawkins, Falcons Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson are currently atop Atlanta's RB depth chart. Anyone trust them to last in those spots all year? After them, you have Qadree Allison, who's had some sleeper buzz of his own at times but totaled just one carry in three games last year. With all that said, we're going off the board for some sleeper picks here and highlighting rookie free agents Huntley and Hawkins. The former is a 5-10, 229-pound bruiser who scored 18 TDs in 15 games his final two seasons at Ball State. Huntley is a 5-9, 196-pound speedster 2,347 rushing yards, 20 catches, 185 receiving yards, and 17 total TDs in two seasons at Louisville. They could form a solid thunder-and-lightning duo if given the chance, but as it stands, Hawkins is a little more interesting due to his versatility and speed. Read the full article

[barinacraft]

Ojen Cocktail - Mardi Gras Favorite Prevents Bad Luck

Picasso Puts The 'O' In Ojen

Aguardiente de Ojén or just Ojen (pronounced “oh-hen”) is an anise based liqueur similar to absinthe, but minus the wormwood. A fact that's reflected in the name which is actually shortened from the Spanish word ajenjo (ah-hen'ho) meaning artemisia absinthium, or grand wormwood, in the melodic language of Spain. Aguardiente, in Spanish, or Aguardente, in Portuguese is a combination of the Iberian languages' word for "water" (agua in Spanish + aiqua, água and auga in Catalan, Portuguese and Galician respectively) plus "burning / fiery" (ardiente in Spanish, ardent in Catalan and ardente in both Portuguese & Galician). Like absinthe, Ojén creates a louche when mixed with water or frapped which turns the mixture milky looking. Other anise flavored liqueurs / liquors include Arak, Greenopal, Herbsaint, Ouzo, Pastis, Pernod, Sambuca, Raki and more.

Pablo Picasso, the most famous native of Málaga, Spain, was definitely a fan as he himself dually noted [sic] in two of his paintings. Ojen's original coffin shaped bottle was captured on the artist's canvas inside an oval in his 1912 Spanish Still Life shown above.

He followed that cubist style masterpiece up a few years later with a Bottle of Anis del Mono resting on a wooden bartop alongside a wineglass and playing cards. See below.

History Of Ojen Liqueur

First Produced

1830 or so - the Pedro Morales family distillery began producing Ojen in its namesake city east of the sherry triangle in Andalusia the southernmost region of Peninsular Spain.*

1870 - Anis del Mono anisette starts production in a factory in Badalona, Spain. This sweet aniseed liqueur in particular is often mentioned as an Ojen substitute, though its not quite the same.†

1874 - Pedro Morales sets up a second location in Malaga, Spain to increase capacity.‡

1883 - Paul Gelpi and his brother Oscar own a liquor distribution company located at 43 Decatur Street in New Orleans and advertise 50 cases of OJEN of Majorca for sale which they claim is superior to ABSINTHE as an appetizer and tonic.1

Original Ojen Cocktail Created

1886 - Paul Gelpi was inaugurated as a member of the elite gentleman's club The Boston in February and it was there that the Ojen Cocktail was first mixed by adding a couple of dashes of Peychaud's bitters and soda water over cracked ice. Gelpi's role in the recipe is unclear as L. E. Jung suggests he or his company had invented the Ojen Cocktail.2,3

1910s - other Spanish brands of Ojen like Joaquin Bueno of Malaga and Manuel Fernández of Puerto de Santa Maria / Jerez (formerly called Xerés) along with New Orleans, Louisiana based manufacturer L.E. Jung & Wulff Company were gaining prominence.

1920 - the Morales distillery had to close due to a phylloxera plague that killed the vineyards around Malaga and apparently the last male heir took the secret family recipe to their grave.

1946 - Brennan's on Royal Street, a Creole restaurant in the French Quarter which started as the Vieux Carré located on Bourbon Street, opens and later features the Ojen Frappé on their brunch menu along with originals like Bananas Foster and Eggs Hussarde.

1961 - Juan Espada Fernández, who claims to be in possession of the original Ojen recipe via his father who is said to have been an employee of the Pedro Morales distillery, launches production of Aguardiente de Ojén after buying the still in 1958.

1974 - internal company conflicts cause the Juan Espada distillery in Ojén, Spain to permanently cease operation.

1990 - in the late 1980s, with sagging sales, the Fernandez family in Jerez de la Frontera was the last remaining ojen producer and decided to stop production but made one last batch of 500 cases totaling 6000 bottles for export to Martin Wine Cellar in New Orleans, Louisiana.4

Hoard Your Bottle Of Ojén - You Can't Buy Anymore

2009 - the last bottle of the Manuel Fernandez White Label Ojen was officially sold by Martin Wine Cellar.5

Fat Chance you'll be drinking Ojen on Fat Tuesday much longer.

Salvation

2013 - following an analysis of a specimen of the original brandy which showed 16 distinct herbs from the Sierra de las Nieves were used, Dominique Mertens Impex S.L. produces the first 3,000 bottles of an aniseed flavored spirit made from prickly pears on Ojén soil using traditional methods called ‘Aguardiente de Ojén La Giralda.’ 6

2015 - after sending samples of classic Ojen to the lab to reverse engineer and spending over two years of R&D time and talent developing its own distillate recipe labeled as Legendre Ojen after J. Marion Legendre, the inventor of Herbsaint, Sazerac Company was able put some of their new bottles of Ojén on the shelf between Christmas and New Year’s Eve well ahead of its goal for the February 9, 2016 Mardi Gras.7

Looks like the phrase “Una copita de Ojén” (a little glass of Ojén) followed by seven musical taps on the bar that was a ritual toast heard all over Spain for more than a hundred years can be resurrected once again now that this drink that starts with 'O' is back on the table.

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Behind The Bar - How To Make Ojen's Namesake Drink Recipes At Home

Ojen Cocktail (American / New Orleans Style):

2 oz Ojen

2 - 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Add the Ojen to a mixing glass filled with fine ice and dash on the bitters. Stir thoroughly with a bar spoon and strain into a long stem glass.8-14

The bitters give this Ojen a delicate rose-colored tinge. Therefore it masquerades under the name of “Pink Shimmy,” or pinque chemise, if you prefer the language of the fifty million who can’t be wrong.15

~ Stanley Clisby Arthur

Perfect for parading around during Mardi Gras carnival celebrations!

Note: many also add seltzer water to the formula above similar to the next recipe below.16-21 Sort of makes them the same then. Right down to the bitter end.

Ojen or Spanish Absinthe Cocktail:

1 jigger Ojen

2 - 3 drops Angostura bitters

seltzer water

Combine Ojen with ice in a large glass. Keep pouring seltzer into glass while stirring constantly with a spoon until the outside of the glass is frosted, frozen and frapped. Then add a few dashes of Angostura bitters and strain into a cocktail glass.22-26

Like above, many recipes eliminate the soda water, but the Angostura & Ojen only formula seems to originate and/or be preferred in Cuba.27-30

Ojen Special

1 ½ oz Ojen

2 - 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters

1 tsp sugar

2 - 3 oz seltzer

Stir all the ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice, strain and serve.31,32

Adding sugar to the recipe didn't start appearing in bartending books until the early to mid 1940s, but this may have been what the proprietor at the Lilac Time bar served to Mistah Gordon in To Have and Have Not.33 Or, at least, that's what another writer's interpretation of 1937 Ernest Hemingway was.34 Here's the passage:

"'Allo, 'allo, Mist' Gordon. What you have?" "I don't know," said Richard Gordon. "You don't look good. Whatsa matter? You don't feel good?" "No." "I fix you something just fine. Fix you up hokay. You ever try a Spanish absinthe, ojen?" "Go ahead," said Gordon. "You drink him you feel good. Want to fight anybody in a house," said the proprietor. "Make Mistah Gordon a ojen special." Standing at the bar, Richard Gordon drank three ojen specials but he felt no better; the opaque, sweetish, cold, licorice-tasting drink did not make him feel any different "Give me something else," he said to the bartender. "Whatsa matter? You no like a ojen special?" the proprietor asked. "You no feel good?" "No." "You got be careful what you drink after him."

Words to live by!

More Anisette Cocktails

Albion - dry gin, French vermouth, Cointreau, lemon juice and Ojen bitters.

Anis Del Mono Cocktail No. I - dry gin, Anis del Mono, bar syrup and thick cream with grated nutmeg.

Anis Del Mono Cocktail No. II - Anis del Mono, Cognac, Fernet Branca, Angostura bitters and lime or lemon juice.

Battle of New Orleans - bourbon, orange bitters, anisette, Peychaud's bitters, simple syrup and absinthe.

Beaux Arts Cocktail - gin, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, orange juice, pineapple juice and anisette.

Black Gold Shot #2 - Goldschlager and Opal Nera or Romana Black sambuca.

Borden Chase - a Rob Roy with anise liqueur Pernod and orange bitters or you can use another pastis, like Ricard, Herbsaint, Absente, or Pastis Henri Baudoin.

Broken Spur Cocktail / Broker's Flip - white port, dry gin, sweet vermouth, egg yolk and anisette.

Café de Paris Cocktail / Hankow Special - egg white, anisette, fresh cream and dry gin.

Cattlin Cocktail - 1/4 each dry gin, Picard vermouth, Cora vermouth and ojen with one egg white.

Colony Club - gin, anisette and orange bitters.

Dream Cocktail - Cognac or brandy, orange liqueur and anisette.

Dubonnet Special - Dubonnet, dry gin, absinthe and anisette.

Dulcet - vodka, apricot flavored brandy, anisette, cream, lemon juice.

Green Opal Cocktail - Greenopal, dry gin and Ojen with both orange and Peychaud bitters.

Herbsaint Frappé - Herbsaint, simple syrup and carbonated water frapped in cracked ice.

Jellyfish Cocktail - blue curacao, Irish cream and white sambuca anise liqueurs with grenadine.

Jitters Cocktail - equal parts Ojen, gin and French vermouth. Note: this recipe first appeared on the back of Fernandez White Label Ojen bottles and was then published on page 39 of Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix ’Em in 1937.

Marguerite Cocktail #3 - gin, French vermouth, orange bitters and anisette.

Narragansett - rye whiskey, Italian vermouth and anisette.

Pick-Up - 1/3 jigger each of Ojen, dubonnet and rum with one egg white and a dash of grenadine will pick up your spirits.

Slippery Nipple - Sambuca (Italian anise-flavoured liqueur) and Irish cream liqueur.

Snowball - creme de violette, anisette, white creme de menthe, sweet cream and dry gin.

Suisse Cocktail - pastis, anisette and egg white.

Turf Cocktail - gin, dry vermouth, anisette and bitters.

Yellow Daisy - dry gin, French vermouth, Grand Marnier and anisette.

Yellow Parrot - apricot brandy, yellow chartreuse and anisette.

Zazarac - rum, anisette, gomme syrup, whisky and angostura bitters.

Zenith Cocktail #2 - anisette, Angostura bitters, dry gin and whiskey.

References

* - Aguardiente de Ojén. (2021, January 27).

† - New Orleans Nostalgia, "Banana Republics and Ojen Cocktails Update.", Ned Hémard, 2011.

‡ - "Ojén, the rebirth of an anise." WHISKYMag.fr 20 September, 2018.

1 - "50 Cases OJEN of Majorca for sale." The Times-Picayune from New Orleans, Louisiana. 27 May, 1883.

2 - Landry, Stuart O. History of the Boston Club (New Orleans: Pelican Publishing Company, 1938), 229. Print.

3 - The Mixologist - How To Mix The Mixings (New Orleans: L.E. Jung & Wulff Co. Inc., 1933). Print. via Picken, Conor and Dischinger, Matthew Southern Comforts: Drinking and the U.S. South (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2020). Print.

4 - La Fille. "Classic New Orleans: A Brief History of Ojen." La Fille De La Ville 1 April, 2009.

5 - Price, Todd A. "Last bottle of locally popular Ojen liqueur sold." The Times-Picayune from New Orleans, Louisiana 16 July, 2009.

6 - Pérez, Mónica. "Belgian business revives the production of a traditional spirit from Ojén." SURinEnlish.com 14 February, 2014.

7 - Forbes, Seánan. "Ojen Makes Its Long-Awaited Comeback." Tales of the Cocktail 09 February, 2016.

8 - J. A. Grohusko, Jack's Manual on The Vintage and Production, Care, and Handling of Wines, Liquors, etc. A Handbook of Information for Home, Club or Hotel, 3rd Edition (New York: McClunn & Co., 1910), 69. Print.

9 - Jacques Straub, Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks (Chicago: The Hotel Monthly, John Willy, 1914), 33. Print.

10 - Hugo R. Ensslin, Recipes For Mixed Drinks (New York: Fox Printing House, 1917), 62. Print.

11 - El Arte De Hacer Un Cocktail Y Algo Más (Havana: Imprenta Fernandez Solana Y Ca. - Obsequio De La Cia Cervecera Internacional S. A., 1927), 173. Print.

12 - Herbert Jenkins LTD, A Life-time Collection of 688 Recipes for Drinks (London: Purnell and Sons, 1934), 37. Print.

13 - John Held Jr., Peychaud's New Orleans Cocktails (New Orleans: A. M. & J. Solari, LTD., 1935), 27. Print.

14 - Patrick Gavin Duffy, The Official Mixer's Manual. The Standard Guide for Professional and Amateur Bartenders Throughout the World (New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1940), 201. Print.

15 - John Held Jr., Peychaud's New Orleans Cocktails (New Orleans: A. M. & J. Solari, LTD., 1935), 32. Print. Pink Shimmy is a copyrighted and trademarked name for The Ojen Cocktail (American / New Orleans Style) owned by Solari's New Orleans. It was sold pre-mixed and bottled using either Fernandez White Label Spanish Ojen or Solari's Ojen and Peychaud's bitters.

16 - Geo. R. Washburne and Stanley Bronner, Beverages De Luxe (Louisville: The Wine and Spirit Bulletin, 1914), 93. Print.

17 - J. A. Grohusko, Jack's Manual on The Vintage and Production, Care, and Handling of Wines, Liquors, etc. A Handbook of Information for Home, Club or Hotel (New York: McClunn & Co., 1916), 61. Print.

18 - Jere Sullivan, The Drinks of Yesteryear - A Mixology (New Haven: J. Sullivan, 1930), 24. Print.

19 - Albert Stevens Crockett, Old Waldorf Bar Days (New York: Aventine Press, 1931), 152. Print.

20 - Stanley Clisby Arthur, Famous New Orleans Drinks and How To Mix ’Em (New Orleans: Harmanson Publisher, 1937), 40. Print.

21 - Owen, D. (Writer), Lealos, C. (Director). (2015, February 9). Dead in New Orleans (Season 1, Episode 15) M. Bukhonina, E. Comerford-Rubin (Executive Producers) Booze Traveler. Travel Channel. Jack Maxwell hunts for the "almost extinct" liqueur Ojén which is the official booze of Mardi Gras and is seen as bad luck not to drink it. Fortunately he scores at Brennan's Restaurant where he is served from a secret stash of Fernandez White Label Ojen that is kept under lock and key. His first reaction is that it tastes like liquid Good & Plenty, the sweet black licorice barrels coated in bright pink and white hard candy shells.

22 - Jacques Straub, Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks (Chicago: R. Francis Welsh, 1913), 35. Print.

23 - Thomas Bullock, The Ideal Bartender (St. Louis: Buxton & Skinner, 1917), 44. Print.

24 - El Arte De Hacer Un Cocktail Y Algo Más (Havana: Imprenta Fernandez Solana Y Ca. - Obsequio De La Cia Cervecera Internacional S. A., 1927), 51. Print.

25 - Gerardo Corrales, Club de Cantineros de la Rupublica de Cuba - Manual Oficial (Havana: José Cuervo, 1930), 54. Print.

26 - Pedro Chicote, La Ley Mojada (Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, S. A., 1930), 203. Print.

27 - Segundo Menénez & Manuel Rodriguez, Bar La Florida Cocktails (Havana: Obispo y Monserrate, 1930), 64. Print.

28 - Bartender's of the Hotel Lincoln, Hotel "Lincoln" Cock-tail Book (Havana: Excelsior, 1937), 52. Print.

29 - Salvador Trullos Mateu Recetario Internacional de Cocktails (Havana: O'Reilly, 1937), 112. Print.

30 - Constantino "Constante" Ribalaigua, Floridita Cock-tails (Havana: El Floridita, 1939), 52. Print.

31 - Oscar Haimo of the Hotel Pierre, Cocktail Digest (Brooklyn, New York: Comet Press, 1943), 55. Print.

32 - Lucius Morris Beebe, The Stork Club Bar Book (New York: Rinehart, 1946), 89. Print.

33 - Ernest Hemingway, To Have and Have Not (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1937), 191. Print.

34 - Philip Greene, To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion (New York: TarcherPerigee , 2012), 180. Print.

[ohnohetaliasues]

• Info

Okay, first off, let me say, she is gorgeous!!!!! I’m in love with her appearance. You’ve nailed the stereotypical Irish appearance, and that has made me insanely happy as a Hetalia OC reviewer, and as a girl of Irish decent. I have that texture of hair, and the eyes are definitely a good color. I actually have green eyes myself. Not that green, kind of dull green, but you get what I’m saying. Her hair is very nice, and I’m okay with the color, as it’s stereotypical, and it’s also a natural hair color, and is something I’ve seen before in nature. The freckles are a good touch, too. I especially like the Celtic symbol on her dress in the first picture. Anyway, onto the info.

Name: Janet O’Connor / Seana Ó Conchobhair. (Janet and Seana have the same meaning, “gift from God”, but Janet is the anglicized version of “Seana” ) She has freckles, red curly hair and pale skin, with big emerald eyes. Her body is kinda curvy: she has wide hips, big thighs and butt, but a pretty narrow waist and a small bust. She has a scar behind her right shoulder from a shot of the 1916 Easter Rising. She’s kinda strong, and has a lot of strenght in her legs (due to step dancing and her love for cycling).

Very very good representation there. Irish people are stereotyped to be very robust and muscular. I like the work you put into this a lot. I especially like how her name was Anglicized, since the British had control over the Irish for a very long time.

I set her birthday on the 17th of March, Saint Patrick’s Day. I think she might look around 25.

Good. Good age too, considering Ireland is over 3,000 years old. While her birthday is fine, I’d suggest January 21 as an option as well, as that’s Ireland’s independence day from the English.

I started drawing her in this green “celtic/country-like” dress to make her look stereotypical, but of course she doesn’t really dress like this. She likes long and comfy skirts, overalls, blouses and off the shoulders shirts. She would wear any kind of boots. She’s pretty sensitive to cold so she starts wearing sweaters pretty early after the summer.

It gets cold in Ireland fairly early, so good addition.

She is just Ireland, both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The country was never “split” before 1921 so I thought that she decided to let England control the North together with her after the referendum. I draw her with the flag of the Republic of Ireland because it’s the country she totally takes care of.

Good choice.  

• Personality:

She’s stubborn and extremely patriotic, she says what she thinks and hates being told what to do, but she can be really friendly with people who show respect for her and her culture.

Describes the Irish in a nutshell. Good job. You obviously did a lot of research.

 Also, she’s kinda protective and caring towards the ones she loves, and really welcoming with people who visit her country. She’s very hospitable, and wants her guests to feel great. She’s a daydreamer and has a strong sixth sense, being able to perceive other’s emotions from one look, making her very sensitive and compassionate. She’s loud and energetic, and really proud of irish traditions. In her opinion, anything made in Ireland is the best, and Ireland is like heaven on Earth. She’s really sarcastic, and loves making fun of someone she doesn’t like by making witty comments (she usually swears using gaelic words and phrases). She has always been a rebel, and sometimes she can be moody and really short-tempered. She tends to hold grudges (forgive but not forget) and when she feels blue she often isolates herself from the rest of the world.

• Interests:

She’s a great fan of rugby (her favourite athlete is Brian O’Driscoll), and she can play a bit of Camogie. She also likes watching boxe, and she’s a fan of Katie Taylor and Conor McGregor. She likes swimming a lot, and often goes to the beach or to the lake to spend a lot of time in the water. She loves gardening and spends a lot of time in it; her garden is full of different kind of flowers and plants. She also cultivates a large number of vegetables, potatoes above all. She likes watching cooking shows (she’s a fan of the scottish cook Gordon Ramsay) and she’s pretty good at cooking “rural/rustic” dishes. I think she was good at hunting, but I imagine that after many battles she’s now a bit tired, and prefers other hobbies, such as playing harp (her harp is a Camac Vendome, and she called it Erin). She loves music, but she’s not so good at singing, though, even if she loves attending folk rock concerts and scream the song lyrics! She’s a big fan of Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Cranberries, Clannad, Enya, Sinead O’Connor and many other musicians, but now her favourite band is probably U2. She loves to dance, especially folk music, but in her life she learnt different styles of dancing such as walzer or latin. She’s crazy about DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and the Just Dance games on Wii (I guess Alfred was the one that let her know about these games). She can obviously see magical creatures such as the Leprechauns and all the “aes sídhe”(even the dangerous ones), and she likes telling stories, legends and jokes; she gets really excited for Saint Patrick’s Day and Halloween (Samhain), which originated in her own country. She’s pretty religious and pious, but after all the things she went through in her life she’s far from being bigot or narrow-minded. Plus, she also feels a strong bond with the ancient traditions of her land. So she’s ready to go to mass every sunday but she’s also the first being excited about celtic festivals like Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasa.

I don’t have much to say cuz this is all so great!

She prefers beer over whiskey, and her favourite is Guinness, but her favourite whiskey is Jameson’s. Her favourite dishes are colcannon and Irish stew. Her favourite snacks are crisps sandwiches and beans on toast. She has three rabbits: a white one, a black one and a red/orange one. She called them Columba, Brigit and Patrick, just as the three major saints of Ireland. She’s scared of Banshees (the woman-like spirits that will cry and scream if a clan member from one of the major families in Ireland will soon die -such as the O’Connors-) and snakes, seen as evil spirits by Saint Patrick, who taught her many things when she was very young.

I’m very happy!

•Short history:

Talking about her history, christianity and Saint Patrick’s work had a great influence on her when she was young, but she didn’t forget her past and celtic origins at all. She was an energetic and extrovert child, but she became a little more suspicious towards strangers after the viking invasions in the IX century, but the warrior king Brian Boru was able to get them out of the island after a couple of centuries. Unfortunately, her island was declared as property of the English king Henry II in 1171, who became Lord of Ireland.

Good, I’m so glad you included this!

From then ’til 1542 was the period of Lordship of Ireland, and after this King Henry VIII officially became the first Irish King with the Crown of Ireland Act. The isle became part of the United Kingdom in 1800 (Acts of Union). During all this time Janet has always tried to rebel and gain freedom and independence, in one way or another, for example by joining “The Sea Queen of Connacht” Grace O’Malley during her journeys and fights against the english crown in XVI century. In the XVII century Penal Laws came from England in order to make Ireland accept the Anglican Church, and because of this there have always been many religious fights between them. She suffered the Irish Great Famine that happened in 1845, and she also travelled to the U.S. where she could work together with Alfred for a bit. She still hasn’t forgiven England for that period of mass starvation, even though her country received a little help. She’s grateful towards the other countries that helped her with donations.

Irish history is full of rebellions towards England and its laws: english government took away many rights from irish people, there was land expropriation, and many cultural things such as gaelic language and traditional dance were banned. Ireland has always tried to keep in touch with England’s enemies like France or Spain in order to get some help, but things didn’t always end up well. At the beginning of the XX century the rebellions ended up in some cruel fights between the two parts, also because of the birth of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) , a revolutionary military organization, born after the famous Easter Rising. This rebellion ended up in a disaster, but the next years were crucial: Ireland became a battlefield in which IRA and civilians fought against the english military forces. Michael Collins was a very important man in this period, and his work determined the end of the Irish War of Independence in 1921. After that, the Irish Free State was born, but the Northern region of Ireland (six counties) stayed with the United Kingdom. After this, a long civil war started between those who wanted Ireland to be unified and the ones who thought that it wasn’t necessary to take things too far and accept the situation. The fight went officially on ’til 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, a treaty that explained relations between Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and United Kingdom at best. ( still in progress, adding more things in the future! sorry if I made any mistake, I don’t speak english as first language ^^“ )

My god that was amazing. You really did your research and I’m so proud of you! I taught you well, young Padawan.  Your English seemed fine to me! Anyway, on that note, please send in the updates asap, because I’d love to see more of this!

~Kat

[judgeanon]

A SHORT HISTORY OF FEMALE JUDGES IN JUDGE DREDD FROM 2001 TO 2004

As Mega-City One changed leaders at the turn of the 21st Century, so did 2000AD itself, having been bought off Egmont’s hands by independent UK video game developers Rebellion. The early days of this newfound alliance were surprisingly quiet, as Rebellion had never tried their hand at publishing before and the 2000AD editorial team needed time to rebuild and reorganize. So it will take a while for the next giant city-wrecking epic to come by.

In the strip, DeMarco’s departure for the Megazine and Anderson’s continued spinoff success combined with Judge Hershey’s promotion to Chief Judge naturally brought about a sharp increase of the latter’s appearances. But as great as it is to see a character grow into a role in real time, the position does come with a particularly insidious couple of downsides that have plagued her pretty much ever since. More on that later, but for now, let’s get started.

(Previous posts: 1979 to 1982 - 1982 to 1986 - 1986 to 1990 - 1990 to 1993 - 1993 to 1995 - 1995 to 1998 - 1998 to 2001. All stories written by John Wagner unless noted otherwise. “Cover” art by PJ Holden)

Blog favourite Staz Johnson kicks things off drawing “The Sons of Katie Didd” in progs 1248-1249 (June 2001), which features a Judge Vance assisting Dredd with an investigation. She even shows her face too, which was something a bit missing from a lot of background female judges in previous years. Immediately afterwards, we get the last story written by Garth Ennis for the prog, one that would prove divisive with readers even to this day.

Written as part of a deal to get the rights to his early “Troubled Souls” series back, “Helter Skelter” (drawn by Carlos Ezquerra and Henry Flint, progs 1250-1262, June-September ‘01) is Ennis’ unabashed love letter to all things 2000AD-related, although mostly Dredd. The story concerns a group of scientists who use interdimensional jump technology, reverse-engineered from the Dark Judges’ d-jumps, to send unmanned probes to several alternate universes. However, this catches the attention of one of those universes’ version of Murd the Oppressor, the Necromancer of Necros who’d haunted Dredd and his crew back in the “Judge Child Quest.” This Murd came from a universe where he had succeeded in feeding Dredd to his toad, and upon learning of an alternate reality where Dredd had bested him, travelled across the dimensional gulf to gather a party of many other classic Dredd villains. And together, they came up with a plan to travel back to the main dimension and kill him and take over Mega-City One all over again. It’d seem Ennis had picked up some multiversal habits from working at DC.

The only female judge in this story is, rather predictably, Chief Judge Hershey. The above panels belong to the second episode, and they do give us a nice, albeit small glimpse into her mindset one year into her first term. It’s interesting to see a bit of uncertainty from her, since right from day one she’s been shown to be fairly comfortable in her role, and Dredd quickly stamps it out by making it clear that she can’t nor should lean on him for approval, even managing to slide in a bit of double meaning with the “You’re your own judge” comment. A harsh, but effective tactic. Perhaps too effective, given what’ll happen a few years from now.

Unfortunately, sharing the same space-time for almost a tenth of a second with an alternate universe Call-Me-Kenneth puts her out of action for most of the story (not to mention leaving her in a rather undignified position), and when she comes back it’s mostly so alt-Judge Cal can have someone to monologue at. We do get a nice little bit of continuity, however, when alt-Fink Angel, whose main universe counterpart had tried to gruesomely murder him back in “The Fink”, calls dibs on her as the rogues gallery tries to decide what to do with the survivors of their initial assault. Ultimately, it’s Murd who wins the discussion, and so we get one Hell of a page:

The sole survivor of Murd’s fun and games, Hershey is nursed back to health by Dredd in a citizen’s apartment and Ennis, perhaps feeling a bit guilty over the whole ordeal, does give her a bit of respect by having Dredd tell her she was “too strong” to die. In all fairness, if there’s one guy who’d know what it takes to survive crucifixion, it’s Ol’ Stoneyface. Unfortunately this is one of those stories that end with Dredd (mostly) single-handedly beating the tar out of everyone else, so there’s not much else for Hershey to do.

She does take a more center stage in progs 1263-1266′s “On The Chief Judge’s Service” (October ‘01), gorgeously painted by Colin MacNeil. A sequel to “The Chief Judge’s Man”, it opens with Armon Gill, the Justice Killer, seeing Hershey live for the first time in a lecture and then silently murdering a citizen for spreading rumors of her sleeping her way to Chiefdom. Besides showing how much Gill’s obssession has grown, it is interesting to see an outsider’s view of Hershey. We know how citizens feel about judges in general, but opinions on particular judges besides Dredd are much more rare.

Much like in the original there’s not really a lot for Hershey to do in this story, although when Gill is captured as part of a larger plan to kill a previous Justice Killer now languishing in a cube, we do get to see her reaction to being accused of covertly masterminding the murder of dozens of innocents. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from her at this point:

On one hand, this kind of matter-of-fact coolness and honesty are perfectly in line with her character so far, not to mention being admirable qualities in and of themselves. But on the other, this is a good example of Hershey’s biggest problem as a character moving forward: there’s not really a lot of genuine depth to her. She’s certainly an excellent judge, but things like her more liberal views or her relative inexperience, even her underlying lack of desire to be Chief, are just not coming out to the surface. What we’re left with is someone who’s really good at her job, but since so many of Dredd’s stories are based on things going terribly wrong, it’s not a quality that gets showcased a lot.  And without McGruder’s conflictive nature, Hershey risks falling into the same bland mold of most Chief Judges before her.

(Slight art error from MacNeil here too: Hershey is wearing the straight shoulderpads and star ornament of Chief Judge, but also her regular badge)

Prog 1271′s “Driving Desire” (December ‘01), by Cliff Robinson introduces  Judge Vonne Hollister, a Wally Squad operative under the guise of a slabwalker whom Hershey promotes to the Council of Five as her way of bringing in “the true voice of the streets”. Which is certainly more in tune with how she was portrayed during her candidacy, but as far as this story goes it’s less about any actual lasting developments and more about getting a few laughs from the rather... candid Hollister jokingly trying to tempt her straight-laced colleague, Tek Judge McTighe. A point could be made about Hershey trying to bring more women into the Council, but certainly not by the story itself.

2002 kicks off with prog 1276′s “A Walk in the Park”, written by Gordon Rennie and drawn by Paul Marshall, where Dredd chaperones a group of cadets through a training exercise in one of MC-1′s last surviving parks, among them a girl by the name of Vesey who shows herself to be a bit of a softie, though she hardens up quite quickly. The very next week, we get a small Hershey sighting at the end of prog 1277′s “First Blood”, by Alan Grant and John Burns (February ‘02). Of note is that Dredd calls her by her rank instead of her name, which makes sense since Dredd is always a bit more of a robotic bastard when Grant’s writing him.

Cam Kennedy makes a double appearance in this post, first by drawing a Judge Ansey helping Dredd deal with the recurring Branch Moronians and their ill-fated hostage-taking attempts in “It’s Deja Vu All Over Again Again” (progs 1282-1283, March ‘02), and later with one of my all-time favorite comedy Dredd strips, “Block Court” (prog 1284), where Judge Burnside helps Dredd get through the soul-crushing horror of old-time due process. There’s also a Brit-Cit judge by the name of Dolman in “Escape from Atlantis” (art by Paul Marshall, progs 1285-1287, April ‘02), although sadly she’s unable to escape getting shot to death by androids.

The next mini-epic is the ten episodes long “Sin City”, drawn by Kev Walker, which ran from prog 1289 to 1299 (May-July ‘02). The eponymous Sin City is a giant floating city that tours the world, allowing visitors to enjoy all manner of illegal activities thanks to its independent sovereignty. Of course, Dredd is not a big fan of this scheme and would rather not see any of his citizens making it their vacation destination of choice, but as it turns out, his boss has other plans. And so, about two years into her first term, we finally get the first of several voice-raising, rank-pulling, table-slamming, “Why are Mommy and Daddy fighting?” rows between Dredd and Hershey:

... which turns out to be pure theater on Hershey’s part to hide the true nature of Dredd’s assignment: an undercover operative in Sin City has reported the presence of an international terrorist with a mad-on for Mega Cities called Ula Danser on the island, and then promptly vanished after trying to get more information. So Hershey wants Dredd on the island to pick up the trail and find out what’s what. This also opens the door for Judge Hollister to reappear, leading a small army of Wally Squad judges into Sin City, including one Judge Molotar who ends up impersonating Ula near the story’s end. There are two other street female judges in the story, Kaplin and Blane, but they don’t really contribute much to it besides filling up crowds (and in Kaplin and Molotar’s case, casualty lists).

Overall there’s not much to say here in regards to our main subject, but Hershey’s penchant for subterfuge and espionage is beginning to show from underneath her liberal cover. She’s clearly gotten used to lying through her teeth and hiding ulterior motives, but she still finds a place in her mind for doubt and regret when Dredd fails to stop a chemical weapon from being released inside Sin City and infecting thousands of citizens, requiring the whole island to be quarantined while the virus runs its course. So we see that Hershey’s lack of ambition doesn’t equate to a lack of standards, and she feels a strong responsibility to do better, which is not something many other chief judges have expressed. At least, not until a major crisis nearly wipes out the entire city.

Moving on, Colin MacNeil returns to paint a couple of background judges in “Blood and Duty” (1300-1301, July ‘02) and Ben Willsher makes his first appearance in these posts by drawing an unnamed med judge at the end of “Case for the Defense” (1303, August ‘02). Ian Gibson returns to draw the Gordon Rennie-written “Give Me Liberty” (1304-1305, idem), another personal favorite comedy story. In it, we get to see Hershey living up to her promise of listening more to the Council, although ultimately it’s Dredd’s suggestion that she follows. And much like McGruder way back in the day, Gibson takes the liberty to redesign the Chief Judge’s badge:

For a bit of variety, we have a vid-fone judge in “Class Project” (art by David Millgate, prog 1310, September ‘02) and an SJS judge by the name of Vickers who conducts a cavity search on a cit mostly for fun and giggles in “Waiting” (by Rennie and PJ Holden, 1312, October ‘02). Carl Critchlow brings out his new artstyle in “Out of the Undercity” (1313-1316, November ‘02) which has Dredd talking to an unnamed female judge who’s wearing a helmet but also the double shoulderpads of a Tek, or even a Chief Judge, so it’s not terribly clear who she is. Another female judge appears as part of a disciplinary council in 1317′s “Reprisal” (art by Paul Marshall, idem) which serves as a small coda to “Sin City.”

While not actually featuring her, prog 1318′s “Open Justice” (by Rennie, Mike Collins and Dylan Teague, idem) deserves an honorary mention for using the framing device of an e-mail sent to Chief Judge Hershey from a disgruntled criminal as part of a new citizen relations idea. Which, in true Justice Dept. fashion, ends up being a total lie.

(After over five years of working in different call centers, this is an intensely relatable page for me)

Having already tango’d with a Predator in the 90s, Dredd finally filled the other side of the intergalactic ugly motherdrokkers dance card in 2003′s “Judge Dredd vs Aliens: Incubus”, written by Wagner and Andy Diggle and drawn by Henry Flint. Starting on the new year’s special and running until April’s prog 1335, the story co-stars Judge Sanchez, a rookie judge fresh out of the academy who is having second doubts about the whole street judge thing, freezes under fire but ultimately manages to find the courage to fight back and help Dredd save the day and... have we been here before? Yeah, Sanchez is pretty much a recycled Castillo, with her character arc condensed into one 15 part storyline. The biggest difference is that Castillo was already a foul-up when we met her, while Sanchez is still teetering on the edge. But apart from that, they may as well be the same character, in all honesty.

The story also has a Judge Pitt who gets her fingers burnt down during the first encounter with the xenomorphs, and of course, Chief Judge Hershey also shows up, mostly just to look really cross as the aliens murder their way through the Grand Hall and to authorize the use of mothballed Mechanismo units, although it was Giant Jr.’s idea. So overall, not much else there either.

A loose end is finally tied in “The Trial of Orlok” (art by Cam Kennedy, progs 1336-1337, April ‘03), which features a Judge Wing as part of a special court that decides the final fate of Orlok the Assassin. No points for guessing what that is. Hollister and Hershey also make small one-panel appearances, although the latter is drawn with regular shoulderpads. A couple of weeks later, Judge Lucas fills a crowd in prog 1339-1341′s “Hard Day’s Night” (May ‘03), written by Robbie Morrison and drawn by Patrick Goddard and Dylan Teague. But going back to loose ends...

Armon Gill’s third and final outing, “Revenge of the Chief Judge’s Man”, appeared in progs 1342-1349 (May-July 2003) and was drawn by John Burns. It opens with a bit of a surprise return as Dredd visits the Cursed Earth penal colony where Gill is being held to meet with its warden, Judge Jura Edgar, last seen about two years ago when Hershey all but exiled there. To everyone’s surprise, including Edgar’s, Dredd asks her for help in uncovering the identity of the man behind the Chief Judge’s man. And despite being resentful of her demotion, Edgar agrees, half out of curiosity and half out of genuine surprise of Dredd’s humility.

Although brief, Edgar’s role here resembles a more hard-edged Miss Marple, sans the colorful anecdotes. With only a handful of second-hand information to rely on, she accurately produces a psychological profile of Gill’s handler and suggests a couple of possible starting points for Dredd. The narration also gives us a glimpse of Dredd’s own feelings on her, including a lingering regret that it had to come down to this. Even with all that happened there is a strength and dignity to Edgar that he can’t help but respect. But despite her and Dredd’s efforts, Gill manages to escape and sneak his way back into Mega-City One.

Back in the Grand Hall, Dredd tries unsuccessfully to convince Hershey to cut down on official engagements, and although she recognizes the risk, duty comes before security. It’s interesting that, while other Chief Judges would’ve met this threat with a bit of bravado (like the time Griffin held a council meeting on an open terrace, or McGruder herself giving speeches while snipers gunned for her head), Hershey’s reaction is comparatively fatalistic. But out-living three Chiefs while still a member of the Council of Five must really put things in perspective.

Such fatalism turns out to be 100% justified, as Armon Gill infiltrates an official visit to a tunnel project, commandeers a giant drill and even with three bullets in his chest and Dredd’s fist all over his face, still succeeds in brutally killing the Chief Judge, who dies screaming as she’s shredded to pieces by the deadly machine.

Anyway, our next stop is prog 1360, where--oh wait, hold on, turns out Dredd managed to convince Hershey to use a robot double for once. Overall, there’s not much Chief Judge in the Chief Judge’s Man trilogy. The few snippets of characterization we do get are nothing too insightful or surprising, and by revealing the real face behind Gill in the very first story, it doesn’t even entertain the possibility of Hershey actually being guilty of ordering the murder of innocents. Bit of a missed opportunity there.

“I need a vacation.”

Ok, for real now, our next stop is “See Zammy Run”, by Gordon Rennie and Iñaki Miranda (progs 1360-1361, October ’03), which features a Judge Gulacy, likely named after famed Shang-Chi and Batman artist Paul Gulacy. A week later, Ian Edginton and Steve Pugh introduce us to Judge Jules, a sector house chief with a nasty case of perps dying in lockup, in prog 1363-1364’s “Inside Job” (idem). Hershey returns for a very small cameo at the start of “Meatmonger”, by John Smith and Siku (who had already drawn one of her solo adventures in the Megazine, many winters ago) in progs 1365-1370 (November-December ’03). The first story of the new year, “Cincinnati” (art by Carl Critchlow, progs 1371-1373, January ’04) involves a blind protester assaulting and seemingly seriously wounding the Chief Judge, causing a massive manhunt across the Cursed Earth. And an unnamed female judge assists Dredd in a hostage situation in prog 1374’s “S.A.M.”, (idem) drawn by Val Semeiks and Cliff Robinson.

And then we get to 1375-1377′s “Master of Fear” (February ‘04), written by Alan Grant and drawn by John Burns, which co-stars Psi-Judge Shakta, Anderson’s friend from the Megazine. Or maybe, someone with the same name who looks absolutely nothing like her:

For argument’s sake, here’s Arthur Ranson’s original Shakta:

That... is some change. It does seem to have gone mostly unnoticed at the time, probably since people were busy shouting in the Nerve Centre about Steve Moore’s “Valkyries.” To add insult to art error, she doesn’t even get to do much, since Dredd rescues himself in the end.

Moving on, we get a couple of background cadets and a female academy attendant in “Cadets of the Blood” (Ezquerra, progs 1378-1381, March ‘04) and that leaves us comfortably at the start of the last long thrill of this post, prog 1382-1386′s “Gulag”, by Gordon Rennie and Charlie Adlard (April ‘04).

The premise is simple enough: satellite imagery reveals evidence that some Mega-City One judges, likely Apocalypse War prisoners, are being held in a secret sov gulag. A special meeting with Justice Dept’s defense division (two of which are female) is held and a full-on military incursion is dismissed as potentially too harmful to sov relationships. Dredd, who of course is in attendance, is having none of it, and we get a magnificent demonstration of his arm-twisting prowess:

Of course, Hershey is hardly the first Chief Judge to get this particular threat. All the way back in “Robot War” we had Dredd straight-up giving his badge to Goodman and “quitting” until things got hot enough for him to call himself back into action, because deep inside that leathery exterior beats the heart of a total drama queen. Luckily, this time there’s no need for such antics, as Hershey dismisses the council and has a meeting of her own with Dredd that neatly encapsulates everything good and everything bad about their relationship:

By their very positions, Dredd and Hershey see different things. Dredd is all about the small picture, the street level, tiny things that can lead to larger conflicts, and like the street judge he is, his solutions are short and to the point (and usually brutal). Hershey, meanwhile, has to look at the bigger picture. She can't afford anything else. But coming from street division and having worked with him for so long, she understands and agrees with Dredd far more often than her position should. So she gives him what he wants, but also makes sure to establish her own terms as well, which are grounded in her established penchant for subtle, covert operation (although how she expects the sovs to believe MC-1's biggest judge was not acting with the consent of their own department is anyone's guess). Together, they form a two-pronged approach to Mega-City One's affairs, with Dredd keeping an ear on the street and an eye for simple solutions, while Hershey deals with the larger problems and shadier business that Dredd refuses to engage in. And if Dredd sees something that Hershey might have missed, he knows he has a direct line to her, to the highest power in the city who is also sympathetic to his way of thinking.

But that's where the relationship begins to strain: in Dredd's abuse of that closeness, strained by his reckless attempts at arm-twisting. To Dredd, letting nebulous compromises and escalating fears taint his ability to act decisively would be tantamount to treason, and the more the ruling bodies of the department advice caution, the more likely he is to blackmail them into action. And Hershey sees through it immediately. She's not willing to entertain Dredd's antics, but finds herself in the awkward position of agreeing with them. And the more Dredd pushes and oversteps his boundaries trying to strong-arm his own boss into righteous but potentially devastating decisions, the more Hershey feels it. The prongs risk breaking. And while first seen here, this is a conflict that will reapper in various forms and even reach a climax of sorts nearly ten years later.

Going back to “Gulag”, Dredd’s team of volunteers has a fairly respectable female count: Judge Morinta is a med-judge with a taste for modifying weapons that will turn out to be highly valuable on the field, Judge Kleinman is a gruesomely scarred street judge who had already spent four years in one such gulag, and there’s a surprise return in the form of Psi-Judge Karyn making her weekly prog debut. Last seen in the pages of the Megazine, Karyn’s logic for volunteering is, quite frankly, impeccable:

With boots on the snow, Morinta quickly proves her worth by arming everyone with tranq darts to sneak into the camp undetected. Inside, the team finds an empty barrack with the badge numbers for several justice department judges scrawled on the wall, and Karyn confirms Dredd's suspicions by reading the lingering emotions of the people who were kept there. However, they are long gone, moved somewhere else, and everything turns out to be a trap set by War-Marshall Kazan's clone son, Anatoli. Things turn ballistic soon afterwards, and Morinta gets another chance to shine thanks to a special dart with a chemical that blows up spectacularly when in contact with human blood. Karyn also pulls her weight by mind-controlling a sov tank into a bit of friendly fire, and everyone's generally having a pretty good time. Except for Kleinman, who's hit with a tank shell and dies in the battle.

Just when the rest of Dredd's squad seems to be about to end up the same, Justice Dept reinforcements arrive, shoot out the sovs, extract Dredd and company and blow up the entire gulag. All that's left is for Dredd to explain himself to the council, who are worried that his actions will instigate a new apocalypse war. He assures them that the sovs won't do anything, however, since now they have evidence that they kept and still keep Mega-City One judges prisoner decades after all hostilities ceased. Of note here is that Hershey and the council didn't know this and still gave the order to rescue Dredd and his team, so someone up there must've decided that he and his team were worth more than possible nuclear warfare. And although the story doesn't explicitly say so, the most likely source of that order has to be the Chief Judge herself. Especially when, once again, she has a private meeting with Dredd to reveal the mastermind behind the ruse.

Rounding up the post we have three more small roles: an unnamed black judge harasses a hapless citizen in the hilarious “Finger of Suspicion” (Cam Kennedy, prog 1387, April ‘04). John McCrea draws another female judge in “Last Respects” (written by Gordon Rennie, prog 1389, May ‘04). And in his first appearance on this retrospective, D’Israeli draws another black judge called Lola in the Ian Edginton-written “Tempus Fugitive” (prog 1390, idem). By some coincidence, both the first and the last of this trio have pretty stocky bodytypes, but it’s always nice to get some variety instead of swapped heads on the same body. As for wether said variety will be maintained, we’ll just have to wait and see.

On our next episode: Chief Judge Hershey’s first real crisis goes thermonuclear! And that's just the start of her problems...

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Military Operations Quotes

Official Website: Military Operations Quotes

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• A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective. – Sun Tzu • Climate Change is a national security issue. We found that climate instability will lead to instability in geopolitics and impact American military operations around the world. People are saying they want to be perfectly convinced about climate science projections. But speaking as a soldier, we never have 100 percent certainty. If you wait until you have 100 percent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield. – Gordon R. Sullivan • Dominicus Corea had a posthumous son, Lewis Corea who became the Dissawe of Uva. Sir Paul Peiris wrote that `With the disappearance of Dominicus Corea, came a short lull in military operations of which the Portuguese officials availed themselves to give free rein to that rapacity which so frequently disgraced their careers in the East’. Dominicus Corea was succeeded by his brother Simon, as Dissawe of the Sat Korale, Kotte and Sitawaka. – Dominicus Corea

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  • I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taliban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools. – Malala Yousafzai • I had an opportunity to express my views, yes. I agreed with the approach which we took, namely, to make a distinction between the loss of life of the Chinese pilot and our military operations outside territorial waters or territorial limits. – Henry A. Kissinger • If I had undertaken the practical direction of military operations, and anything went amiss, I feared that my conscience would torture me, as guilty of the fall of my country, as I had not been familiar with military tactics. – Lajos Kossuth • I’m just very wary that once you start military operations in any country, it’s very difficult to predict what the outcome is. – Abdallah II • In a military operation, the command and control elements are a legitimate target. – Stephen Hadley • It is hard as an American to support the failure of American military operations in Iraq. Such failure will bring with it the death and wounding of many American service members, and many more Iraqis. – Scott Ritter • It’s perfectly natural to desire more troops when engaged in a military operation facing serious obstacles, and the more troops you have, probably, the [lower the] risk of causalities. – Zbigniew Brzezinski • Look what happened with regard to our invasion into Afghanistan, how we apparently intentionally let bin Laden get away. That was done by the previous administration because they knew very well that if they would capture al Qaeda, there would be no justification for an invasion in Iraq. There’s no question that the leader of the military operations of the U.S. called back our military, called them back from going after the head of al Qaeda. – Maurice Hinchey • Military metaphors have more and more come to infuse all aspects of the description of the medical situation. Disease is seen as an invasion of alien organisms, to which the body responds by its own military operations, such as the mobilizing of immunological “defenses”, and medicine is “aggressive” as in the language of most chemotherapies. – Susan Sontag • Military operations cannot be tidy or free of friction – particularly in a coalition whose contributing nations see the campaign through national prisms. – Mike Jackson • Odyssey Dawn? That’s not a military operation. That’s a Carnival Cruise ship. – Stephen Colbert • Oil is also essential for military operations. No other substance, no other raw material, is so vital for the prosecution of warfare, than petroleum. And the United States being the world’s only global power, is totally dependent on petroleum. – Michael Klare • OK, so $1 trillion is what it costs to run the federal government for one year. So this money’s going to run through September of 2016. Half of the trillion dollars goes to defense spending and the Pentagon. The other half goes to domestic spending – everything from prisons to parks. So there’s also about 74 billion in there that goes to the military operations that we have ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria. – Susan Davis • Our task was not to conduct a full-fledged military operation there [in Crimea], but it was to ensure people’s safety and security and a comfortable environment to express their will. We did that. But it would not have been possible without the Crimeans’ own strong resolution. – Vladimir Putin • Out of my desire to complete Iraq’s independence and to finish the withdrawal of the occupation forces from our holy lands, I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is complete. – Muqtada al Sadr • So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence. – Sun Tzu • The Air Force is pulling nine cargo aircraft from military operations to support President Obama’s stepped-up visits to campaign events. Good, now he can carry his entire ego with him on the trail. – Fred Thompson • The British were indeed very far superior to the Americans in every respect necessary to military operations, except the revivified courage and resolution, the result of sudden success after despair. – Mercy Otis Warren • The Defense Department’s plan to ban newspaper reporters from pool coverage of military operations is incredible. It reveals the administration to be out of touch with journalism, reality and the First Amendment. – Arthur Ochs Sulzberger • The Halifax area has long played a major role in Canada’s military operations, being the port of departure for convoys, naval task forces and army units over the past 100 years or so. – Willie Morris • The logistic requirements for a large, elaborate mission to Mars are no greater that those for a minor military operation extending over a limited theatre of war. – Wernher von Braun • The military operation in Lebanon was the most successful military operation in recent Israeli history. Many in Israel don’t recognise that. – Ehud Olmert • The reality of Canadian history is that we’ve been willing to do the important things the world demanded of us: fighting in World War II, in Korea, in the Balkans, where we were involved in offensive military operations, and in Afghanistan, where we have made disproportionate contributions. – Chris Alexander • The struggle to maintain peace is immeasurably more difficult than any military operation. – Anne O’Hare McCormick • There are markets extending from Mali, Indonesia, way outside the purview of any one government which operated under civil laws, so contracts weren’t, except on trust. So they have this free market ideology the moment they have markets operating outside the purview of the states, as prior to that markets had really mainly existed as a side effect of military operations. – David Graeber • There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that’s working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That’s where prayer comes in. – George S. Patton • There has never been a military operation remotely approaching the scale and the complexity of D-Day. It involved 176,000 troops, more than 12,000 airplanes, almost 10,000 ships, boats, landing craft, frigates, sloops, and other special combat vessels–all involved in a surprise attack on the heavily fortified north coast of France, to secure a beachhead in the heart of enemy-held territory so that the march to Germany and victory could begin. It was daring, risky, confusing, bloody, and ultimately glorious [p.25] – Tom Brokaw • There is a great inertia about all military operations of any size. But once this inertia has been overcome and underway they are almost as hard to arrest as to initiate. – Ernest Hemingway • Thus, though I have heard of successful military operations that were clumsy but swift, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. – Sun Tzu • War on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement operation. – John F. Kerry • We citizens don’t need to know every detail of every military operation in this new kind of war. Nor should the media tell us and hence our enemy. – David Hackworth • When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you’ve got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I’m not sure any country, either the United States or I don’t hear of anyone else, who’s willing to take on that responsibility. – Colin Powell • You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation. – John Abizaid • You must all be aware that modern war is not a mere matter of military operations. It involves the whole strength and all the resources of the nation. Not only soldiers, but also all citizens without exception, take part. – Chiang Kai-shek

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Military Operations Quotes

Official Website: Military Operations Quotes

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• A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective. – Sun Tzu • Climate Change is a national security issue. We found that climate instability will lead to instability in geopolitics and impact American military operations around the world. People are saying they want to be perfectly convinced about climate science projections. But speaking as a soldier, we never have 100 percent certainty. If you wait until you have 100 percent certainty, something bad is going to happen on the battlefield. – Gordon R. Sullivan • Dominicus Corea had a posthumous son, Lewis Corea who became the Dissawe of Uva. Sir Paul Peiris wrote that `With the disappearance of Dominicus Corea, came a short lull in military operations of which the Portuguese officials availed themselves to give free rein to that rapacity which so frequently disgraced their careers in the East’. Dominicus Corea was succeeded by his brother Simon, as Dissawe of the Sat Korale, Kotte and Sitawaka. – Dominicus Corea

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Military', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_military').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_military img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

  • I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taliban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taliban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools. – Malala Yousafzai • I had an opportunity to express my views, yes. I agreed with the approach which we took, namely, to make a distinction between the loss of life of the Chinese pilot and our military operations outside territorial waters or territorial limits. – Henry A. Kissinger • If I had undertaken the practical direction of military operations, and anything went amiss, I feared that my conscience would torture me, as guilty of the fall of my country, as I had not been familiar with military tactics. – Lajos Kossuth • I’m just very wary that once you start military operations in any country, it’s very difficult to predict what the outcome is. – Abdallah II • In a military operation, the command and control elements are a legitimate target. – Stephen Hadley • It is hard as an American to support the failure of American military operations in Iraq. Such failure will bring with it the death and wounding of many American service members, and many more Iraqis. – Scott Ritter • It’s perfectly natural to desire more troops when engaged in a military operation facing serious obstacles, and the more troops you have, probably, the [lower the] risk of causalities. – Zbigniew Brzezinski • Look what happened with regard to our invasion into Afghanistan, how we apparently intentionally let bin Laden get away. That was done by the previous administration because they knew very well that if they would capture al Qaeda, there would be no justification for an invasion in Iraq. There’s no question that the leader of the military operations of the U.S. called back our military, called them back from going after the head of al Qaeda. – Maurice Hinchey • Military metaphors have more and more come to infuse all aspects of the description of the medical situation. Disease is seen as an invasion of alien organisms, to which the body responds by its own military operations, such as the mobilizing of immunological “defenses”, and medicine is “aggressive” as in the language of most chemotherapies. – Susan Sontag • Military operations cannot be tidy or free of friction – particularly in a coalition whose contributing nations see the campaign through national prisms. – Mike Jackson • Odyssey Dawn? That’s not a military operation. That’s a Carnival Cruise ship. – Stephen Colbert • Oil is also essential for military operations. No other substance, no other raw material, is so vital for the prosecution of warfare, than petroleum. And the United States being the world’s only global power, is totally dependent on petroleum. – Michael Klare • OK, so $1 trillion is what it costs to run the federal government for one year. So this money’s going to run through September of 2016. Half of the trillion dollars goes to defense spending and the Pentagon. The other half goes to domestic spending – everything from prisons to parks. So there’s also about 74 billion in there that goes to the military operations that we have ongoing in Iraq and Afghanistan and Syria. – Susan Davis • Our task was not to conduct a full-fledged military operation there [in Crimea], but it was to ensure people’s safety and security and a comfortable environment to express their will. We did that. But it would not have been possible without the Crimeans’ own strong resolution. – Vladimir Putin • Out of my desire to complete Iraq’s independence and to finish the withdrawal of the occupation forces from our holy lands, I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is complete. – Muqtada al Sadr • So the important thing in a military operation is victory, not persistence. – Sun Tzu • The Air Force is pulling nine cargo aircraft from military operations to support President Obama’s stepped-up visits to campaign events. Good, now he can carry his entire ego with him on the trail. – Fred Thompson • The British were indeed very far superior to the Americans in every respect necessary to military operations, except the revivified courage and resolution, the result of sudden success after despair. – Mercy Otis Warren • The Defense Department’s plan to ban newspaper reporters from pool coverage of military operations is incredible. It reveals the administration to be out of touch with journalism, reality and the First Amendment. – Arthur Ochs Sulzberger • The Halifax area has long played a major role in Canada’s military operations, being the port of departure for convoys, naval task forces and army units over the past 100 years or so. – Willie Morris • The logistic requirements for a large, elaborate mission to Mars are no greater that those for a minor military operation extending over a limited theatre of war. – Wernher von Braun • The military operation in Lebanon was the most successful military operation in recent Israeli history. Many in Israel don’t recognise that. – Ehud Olmert • The reality of Canadian history is that we’ve been willing to do the important things the world demanded of us: fighting in World War II, in Korea, in the Balkans, where we were involved in offensive military operations, and in Afghanistan, where we have made disproportionate contributions. – Chris Alexander • The struggle to maintain peace is immeasurably more difficult than any military operation. – Anne O’Hare McCormick • There are markets extending from Mali, Indonesia, way outside the purview of any one government which operated under civil laws, so contracts weren’t, except on trust. So they have this free market ideology the moment they have markets operating outside the purview of the states, as prior to that markets had really mainly existed as a side effect of military operations. – David Graeber • There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that’s working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That’s where prayer comes in. – George S. Patton • There has never been a military operation remotely approaching the scale and the complexity of D-Day. It involved 176,000 troops, more than 12,000 airplanes, almost 10,000 ships, boats, landing craft, frigates, sloops, and other special combat vessels–all involved in a surprise attack on the heavily fortified north coast of France, to secure a beachhead in the heart of enemy-held territory so that the march to Germany and victory could begin. It was daring, risky, confusing, bloody, and ultimately glorious [p.25] – Tom Brokaw • There is a great inertia about all military operations of any size. But once this inertia has been overcome and underway they are almost as hard to arrest as to initiate. – Ernest Hemingway • Thus, though I have heard of successful military operations that were clumsy but swift, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. – Sun Tzu • War on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement operation. – John F. Kerry • We citizens don’t need to know every detail of every military operation in this new kind of war. Nor should the media tell us and hence our enemy. – David Hackworth • When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you’ve got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I’m not sure any country, either the United States or I don’t hear of anyone else, who’s willing to take on that responsibility. – Colin Powell • You know as well as I do that counterinsurgency is a very nuanced type of military operation. – John Abizaid • You must all be aware that modern war is not a mere matter of military operations. It involves the whole strength and all the resources of the nation. Not only soldiers, but also all citizens without exception, take part. – Chiang Kai-shek

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[junker-town]

16 stats that tell the story of an eventful NFL Week 13

Alex Smith lit up the Jets, but it didn’t matter in Week 13. It mattered that Alvin Kamara continues to be impossible to tackle, though.

It took until Week 13, but firing season is finally here. Ben McAdoo became the first head coach fired this season when the Giants decided to clean house on Monday. Jerry Reese was also the first general manager to get the ax, not counting when the Chiefs surprisingly canned John Dorsey in the offseason.

That’s just the start of what will likely be a bleak December, or early January, for a few other NFL teams. A lot happened this week, outside of an early Black Monday in New Jersey, so let’s shift our focus to something a little fun with numbers.

70

If you had to guess which quarterback had a 70-plus yard run and throw on Sunday, Alex Smith might not be the first guy to come to mind.

But he did that on Sunday. First, he connected with Tyreek Hill on this 79-yard touchdown pass:

Then later in the game, he scampered up the field for this 70-yard run, a career-high and one for the highlight reel he will inevitably show to the grandkids:

Smith catches a lot of flak for not being a guy who throws the ball down the field, but he’s shown he can plenty of times this season. We just didn’t know he had a 70-yard run in him. Too bad it wasn’t not enough to snap the Chiefs out of their downward spiral — they’ve now lost six of their last seven games.

600

Alvin Kamara had already just about sealed his case for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. He put an exclamation mark on it this week against the league’s fifth-ranked run defense. His 66 receiving and 60 rushing yards against the Panthers secured a 600-600 season for the Saints running back. Kamara now has 614 receiving yards and 606 rushing yards on the year.

This was one of his runs Sunday afternoon, in which he punished Kurt Coleman en route to a touchdown:

With Sunday’s performance, Kamara joined Charley Taylor and Billy Sims as the only rookies in NFL history to rack up 600 yards on the ground and through the air.

50, 23, 19

Jameis Winston, Carson Wentz, and Geno Smith all have one thing in common: They turn the ball over way too damn much.

Winston is averaging at least one per game:

Jameis Winston has turned the ball over 50 times in 41 career games. #Bucs

— Nick Mensio (@NickMensio) December 3, 2017

And they’re all usually of the head-scratching variety, like this one against the Packers that ended in a spectacular big guy touchdown:

Wentz is a frontrunner in the MVP discussion but he’s still fumbled the ball 23 times over the past two seasons, more than any other player. He’s just ahead of Kirk Cousins, who has 21 over the last two years. Winston comes in third with 20.

In Geno Smith’s first (and likely only) start for the Giants this season, he lost two fumbles:

That is Geno Smith's 19th lost fumble in 31 career #NFL starts. H/t @BobPapa_NFL

— Robert Raiola, CPA (@SportsTaxMan) December 3, 2017

Smith isn’t entirely to blame here. The Giants’ offensive line is already a liability — now have them try to block Khalil Mack. The Raiders sacked Smith three times and landed three quarterback hits.

These three quarterbacks have one other thing in common: Their teams all lost on Sunday.

83.3

Case Keenum really isn’t giving that starting quarterback job back, is he? Ever since Teddy Bridgewater was cleared to return to the Vikings, Keenum has been getting better every week. This week, he had a near-perfect completion percentage against the Falcons:

@casekeenum7 finished the day 25-of-30, his 83.3 completion percentage marks a season-high and the 2nd best of his career (84.4%, 10/16/16 at Detroit)

— Vikings PR (@VikingsPR) December 3, 2017

Keenum’s previous high for the season was 81 percent in a win against the Bears in Chicago.

It’s more impressive that Keenum got that done against a Falcons defense that’s ranked No. 7 in the league against the pass. And he helped the Vikings lock up their eighth win in a row and the top seed in the NFC for now.

21.64

The Titans are splitting carries close to evenly between DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry, but it’s the former Heisman Trophy winner that’s stealing the show. Murray has managed just 3.7 yards per carry while Henry has 5.0.

The 2016 second-round pick is a 6’3, 247-pound tank who looks like a goal line running back, but is more of a home run threat than you’d expect. When he got in the open field against the Texans in Week 13, he set the fastest speed of the week for any ball carrier by getting all the way up to 21.64 miles per hour.

Derrick Henry (@KingHenry_2) reached a max speed of 21.64 MPH on his 75-yard TD run in yesterday's win. It is the fastest speed by a ball carrier in Week 13 per Next Gen Stats. http://pic.twitter.com/A8erTIqdWk

— Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) December 4, 2017

The Titans may be an underwhelming team for an 8-4 squad, but Henry is a dangerous player who’s always a threat to make a big play.

8

The Patriots opened the season by playing some uncharacteristically terrible defense. Historically bad, even. New England gave up 128 points in the first four weeks and couldn’t hold any of its first six opponents under 400 yards.

Those days are long gone. Now the Patriots defense is shutting down everybody.

For the first time in the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have held eight consecutive opponents under 20 points. Not coincidentally, New England has an eight-game winning streak and is tied for the best record in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins will get another crack at the Patriots defense in Week 14, but it looks like there’s a strong chance the streak will extend to nine.

14

Tom Brady has played 16 games against the Bills in Buffalo. He’s won 14 of those.

Tom Brady has now won more games in Buffalo since 2001 than any other QB Yes, that includes Bills quarterbacks.

— Steve Perrault (@Steve_Perrault) December 3, 2017

The Patriots’ win over the Bills on Sunday gave Brady a 27-3 all-time record against Buffalo. He took Brett Favre’s place at the top of the leaderboard for wins against a single team.

It was Brady’s 55th career win in the month of December. And because Brady just can’t stop setting records, that gives him the most wins by any starting quarterback in any single month in NFL history.

85

Josh Gordon had 85 yards in his NFL return against the Chargers. While that yardage isn’t going to blow anybody out of the water, it’s a little more impressive when you consider that Sunday was the first time Gordon had taken the field since 2014.

And only one other player this season has managed to put up that kind of yardage against the Chargers.

The only wide receiver with more than 85 receiving yards against the Chargers this year was Odell Beckham. Josh Gordon hit that today after not playing football for three years.

— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) December 4, 2017

This is an obvious point, but it needs to be said: Gordon also did this with the Browns. They’ve been the worst team in the NFL this season by leaps and bounds, and DeShone Kizer, the NFL’s leader in interceptions, hasn’t exactly been threading the needle this season in his rookie season.

Though to be fair to Kizer, he hasn’t had a threat like Gordon until now.

10

Philadelphia was rolling through the NFL before Sunday. The Eagles entered Week 13 with four consecutive wins by at least 20 points. That’s something you’d expect out of a college football powerhouse, but not an NFL team.

With one more blowout win, the Eagles could’ve joined the 1999 Rams as the only two teams with five consecutive wins by 20 points or more.

But the Seahawks had other plans.

Eagles: season-low 10 points (had scored at least 20 in every game this season)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 4, 2017

Way back in Week 5, it was the Rams in the No. 1 spot in total offense. The Seahawks held them to 10 points too in a 16-10 win. Even without Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, it’s still not easy to score against Seattle.

4:25

A 4:25 p.m. game is like a 40-degree day, if you ask Jalen Ramsey.

Ramsey expressed his dismay for late-afternoon games after the Jaguars’ win against the Colts:

#Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey is not much a fan of the 4:25 p.m. kick: "That's bullshit. If it ain't 8 o'clock, it don't matter. If it ain't 8 o'clock, it don't matter. I'd rather play at 1 than 4:25. But it's all good."

— Phillip Heilman (@phillip_heilman) December 3, 2017

The Jaguars didn’t have any problems with the mid-day start — they came out with a 30-10 win over the Colts to improve to 8-4 and keep pace with the Titans in the AFC South.

But Ramsey — much like with A.J. Green — isn’t a fan.

17

The Broncos fired Mike McCoy in hopes that interim Bill Musgrave could jump start the offense. How’s that working out for them?

They’ve scored just 17 offensive points since the switch, so not great.

Denver has tried quarterback changes, bouncing from Trevor Siemian to Brock Osweiler, to Paxton Lynch, and then back to Siemian after Lynch got hurt. That didn’t help, either, because the issue is that none of these quarterbacks is the answer for the Broncos.

Siemian finished Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins with 200 yards, no touchdowns, and three picks.

“Yeah, I think it’s just a tough day. We’re struggling. It’s frustrating,” Siemian said. “Definitely a couple throws I wish I would’ve had back. It’s a tough day.”

There’s only so much any offensive coordinator can do when the quarterback position is such a question mark.

12th

Joey Bosa has only played in 24 games with the Chargers, but he’s made one hell of an impact. The defensive end climbed to No. 12 on the franchise sacks leaderboard when DeShone Kizer shimmied backwards into him Sunday for the 22nd sack of Bosa’s career.

Shimmy shimmy Bosa sack

With just five more sacks, Bosa can pass John Parrella and Billy Ray Smith — who played 125 and 126 games with the Chargers, respectively — and crack the top 10.

51

Marshawn Lynch got things started for the Raiders on Sunday with a 51-yard run for a touchdown against the Giants. There wasn’t much to the run, he just made one cut, burst up field and was gone.

But it’s been a while since we’ve seen Beast Mode break free. His last touchdown of more than 25 yards was nearly three years ago when he bulldozed through the Cardinals defense for a 79-yard run that became known as Beast Quake 2.

Lynch finished Sunday with 101 rushing yards — his first 100-yard game with the Raiders — as well as 20 receiving yards. It’s good to have you back, Marshawn.

9

The Rams did it! They finally got that number on the right side of the win-loss column this season. After years of dealing with 7-9 bullshit at the hands of Jeff Fisher, Sean McVay has his team at 9-3.

This will be the Rams’ first winning season since 2003, which had been the longest active non-winning streak in the NFL.

And it also checks the final box for @SBNationNFL as we were the only SBN NFL site to have never covered a single winning season. https://t.co/wjBZgohSE1

— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) December 4, 2017

That season, they were 12-4 under MIke Martz, Torry Holt was their leading receiver, and Marc Bulger was their quarterback. Oh, and Marshall Faulk was their running back.

173

The Monday Night Football game between the Bengals and Steelers was ugly. There’s a lengthy history between the two AFC North rivals and it often boils over into illegal hits and injuries. The latest meeting was no different.

By the end of the game, several players were injured and Cincinnati topped a franchise record by racking up 173 yards worth of penalties. It’s the only matchup in the NFL that has tallied more than 1,000 yards worth of penalties in the last three seasons.

Most Combined Penalty Yards - Matchups Since 2015 (Including Playoffs) Bengals-Steelers 1,088 Dolphins-Jets 947

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 5, 2017

It’s unlikely that the Bengals will be able to rally and earn a playoff spot, so a third meeting this season between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh looks like it won’t happen. That’s definitely a good thing.

0

While four teams have been officially eliminated from postseason contention, no teams have actually clinched a playoff spot. See ya next week.

[tribelamag-blog]

http://tribelamagazine.com/art-today-11-27-17-jennifer-pochinskis-poetic-expression-of-the-human-spirit/ TribeLA Magazine • Los Angeles Painting for Jennifer Pochinkski is a mysterious process. A figurative painter, she loves the paint itself. The application of the loaded brush has a sensuousness that has developed into her personal language, yet she still feels like a bystander to this internal world that seems to drive itself thru her unconscious mind. ##Castelliartspace #Allartallthetime #Arttoday #JenniferPochinski #Pinkpopupshow #Tribelamagazine

New Post has been published on http://tribelamagazine.com/art-today-11-27-17-jennifer-pochinskis-poetic-expression-of-the-human-spirit/

ART TODAY 11.27.17 Jennifer Pochinski's poetic expression of the human spirit – The Pink Pop-Up Show

Nude with Pink Skirt The Pink Show at Castelli Art Space, November 30 – December 3, 2017 5428 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles For show information contact carlos@castelliartspace.com

JENNIFER POCHINSKI Painting for Jennifer is a mysterious process. A figurative painter, she loves the paint itself. The application of the loaded brush has a sensuousness that has developed into her personal language, yet she still feels like a bystander to this internal world that seems to drive itself thru her unconscious mind.

The Artists

ARON WIESENFELD Aron Wiesenfeld is an allegorical figurative painter. His work often takes the form of a visual allegory in which a young woman is confronted with the need to step off of some kind of precipice that will lead to the next unknown path of life’s journey.

ASHLEY WOOD Ash does every kind of art there is from fine art painting to comics and toy design. His painting has his own style comic book structure with a expressionist painting energy confidently applied over the top of it that is at once both tender and violent, sexual yet warm and playful.

BRADFORD J. SALAMON Bradford is an American portrait painter whose subjects are often fellow artists. He imbues ordinary objects of the past with an iconic art status beyond their cultural history.  Bradford’s passion about the California art scene includes curating art shows and documenting fellow artists on film.

CHRIS RECCARDI The fine art of Chris Reccardi (who is Pink Show artist’s, William Wray and Glenn Barr’s fellow “Ren and Stimpy” alumnus) reflects a wide range of literary and visual influences, from classic Victorian/Edwardian-era science fiction, to classic cartoon styles of the 1960’s and ‘70’s, to modern design. While Chris is known for his digital fine art prints, he will have an original painting in the Pink Show.

DAVID BUCKINGHAM Sculptor David Buckingham roams the gritty industrial areas, dodgy neighborhoods, and low deserts of Southern California in search of discarded metal forms of all kinds.  In his Los Angeles studio, he uses an array of power tools and sheer force of will to muscle them into works of art. All colors remain as found, the purity of faded color carrying a history, he refuses to try and duplicate with new paint.

DAVE COOPER Dave is a self-taught artist who developed his own vision as an animator and comic book illustrator. Turning to fine art in 2003, he produced cartoonish scenes filled with his unique disturbing imagery. Dave explores body image, lewdness, hedonism, and sexually awkward-looking girls with unique flaws and imperfections, in search of his own ideal of feminine beauty.

DAVID SHARPE David is a contemporary impressionist painter from Canada who recently started to experiment in varied and unusual abstract expressionist styles.  That rapid evolution to other disciplines is what interested the curators of the Pink show as David demonstrates that a traditional skill set can help expand the artist’s toolbox of styles

DAVID LIPSON David assembles one-of-a-kind robots from random objects. He studied oil painting at the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy of Design. His robots have been featured in museums, galleries, books, and on television. Previously, David spent 17 years as an animation producer for film and television.

ESCOTO + CARRARA Escoto+Carrara (Frederico Escoto and Roberto Carrara) are Mexican artists and life partners, who still call Mexico home. Photographer and painter, they compliment to one another’s talent in a visual dance, culminating in an array of colors and movements pushing both photography and painting to the next level.

GLENN BARR The surreal universe of Glenn Barr (who is Pink Show artist’s, William Wray and Chris Reccardi’s fellow “Ren and Stimpy” alumnus) – is a drenched haze in a post-apocalyptic urban Dreamscape. His Detroit work has been labeled a variation of lowbrow pop — or as he calls it, “B Culturalism.” With a nod to old master painting, pulp art, comics and animation, Barr’s paintings are mesmerizing in their narrative complexity and technical depth.

GORDON SMEDT Gordon was trained in figure painting yet somehow gravitated to doing large paintings of objects and clothing using beautiful bright colors and flawless (yet painterly) rendering. His objective is to infuse the inanimate with energy and life.

GRONK Gronk Nicandro, a Chicano artist from Los Angeles, has developed an international reputation for a provocative body of work that includes painting, drawing, opera set design, and murals. His work is collected by museums around the country, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

JOHN BROSIO John Brosio has found by default that he is a painter immersed in a state of perpetual discontent and learning to see. Though always fascinated by the idea of making “Star Wars” kinds of fantasy movies, he has applied his imagination to layered narrative painting. Following a long series of images that depicted moments of impending disaster, his work has evolved toward a more conceptual combining of imagined tableaus of a child’s toy and drawings into an orchestration of select visual relationships.

LOIC ZIMMERMAN Loic Zimmermann is a French filmmaker and visual artist based in Los Angeles. His focus gradually shifted from illustration and 3D to photography and filmmaking. He also continues in VFX as an art director in major motion pictures. We have managed to coax him back to doing a mixed media painting for the Pink show.

MARK ENGLISH Mark English has been one of the leading illustrators in the U.S. and abroad for three decades. In 1995, as Mark began to paint more personal fine art, he sought to infuse new and exciting compositions with a rich alchemy of unusual textural sources that have contributed to a kind of unique painterly collage. Transparency and translucency reign, with rich colors and atmospheric perceptions of space and scale. His works reside in many private collections and exhibit in solo and group shows throughout the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan.

MICHAEL FLECHTNER Neon has been Michael’s medium of expression for nearly a decade. His work reflects a fascination with the symbols of language, technology, and their influence on popular culture which he transmutes into visual word games from his unconscious.  Despite the internal origins of his works, he strives to make them bold and easy to read, as any good sign design should.

PAT RIOT The work of Pat Riot, whose artistic view satirizes all forms of media, has been showing in Los Angeles since 1996. His diverse influences include television; MAD Magazine; artists Henry Darger, Ray Johnson, and Tim Hawkinson; the old school video arcade game “Space Invaders”; BANKSY; and the timeless futurist, Buckminster Fuller.

SEONNA HONG Seonna felt like an outsider in school until she discovered she could open up communication with her art.  From photo realist and comic book influences, her art evolved back into the more collage-oriented creations of her childhood. Seonna’s themes often include allegories of that lost child trying to find her way through her imagination onto her path in the world.

SEAN CHEETHAM Sean is a figurative painter whose technical accuracy of his Alla Prima paintings, is derived from a deep understanding of drawing and his own system of mixing colors. Using the human form in familiar urban scenes (and often using his friends as models) he reveals a truthful, and often raw spirit that makes his work a distinctive, contemporary testimony of our time.

WILLIAM WRAY William is co-curator of The Pink pop-up Show. He blends traditional skill sets of realism and the sheer energy of abstract expressionism in an ongoing evolution to find the right balance between two seemingly unrelated styles. He challenges himself to create a brand of realistic expressionism, he hopes to use as a bridge into the customarily circumspect contemporary art world. He has lived in California most of his life and studied painting at the Art Students League in New York. Making his living as a cartoonist who specialized in painted subjects, he spent many years coalescing an eclectic array of art styles, ultimately finding his voice in a contemporized reflection of traditional California regional painting that focus on humble subject matter rarely considered as fine art.

Andrea Bogdan Bill Barminski Gig Depio Jorge Pinzón Casasbuenas Noah Becker Pablo Llana Rafael Serrano Robert Soffian Shepard Fairey

ART TODAY 11.26.17 Start the buzz… The Pink pop-up Show is this weekend: over 30 diverse artists – unpredictable and remarkable at Castelli Art Space, LA

ART TODAY 10.12.17 The Pink pop-up Show: 31 artist, one work of art, one exhibit, a plethora of interpretation – Artists join together to show their take on PINK

ART TODAY 10.13.17: Thirty one Artists are poised, tools in hand – Come and see what they have to say at The Pink pop-up Show at Castelli Art Space 11.30.17

ART TODAY 10.18.17: Meet Seco! He is 34″ tall and made from random objects, created by master Robot builder David Lipso – see his work at “The Pink Show,” Castelli Art Space on November 30th