#arlene lott

[jaitlin]

The Degrassi Palooza reunion documentary “Narbo’s Guide to Being a BroomHead” has just been released by Pat Mastroianni to stream!

[jennyjammm]

The Old School Degrassi Tour was honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life!!

[broomheadz]

Nancy Notion (Nancy Kramer Fashion) DH S1E12: Natural Attraction Aired: 1989

LOL, Nancy is talking to Liz. Well, they are probably talking about Erica’s abortion. Anyway, Nancy has veered away from the peach color today but my eyes keep trying to project peach onto this oatmeal-colored sweater. Sorry it’s blurry, this was mid-camera-pan.

[rapidteszt]

OG Degrassi actor now making Toronto's most intricate pies

OG Degrassi actor now making Toronto’s most intricate pies

Some of Toronto’s most intricate pies are being made by someone who used to not-so-secretly act on degrassi back in the day. Arlene Lott played Nancy Kramer on Degrassi High from 1987 to 1991, which everyone knows was filmed in Toronto. While her work still involves television, she now often takes more of a behind-the-scenes role, though the pies she’s become known for on social media are as…

[derekfoxwit]

Animation Figures that I Think Should Be Considered for a Winsor McCay Award

Exactly what it says on the title. For those who don’t know, it’s a lifetime award given by the Annie Awards, which are high-honor accolades dedicated to celebrating excellence in animation. In case of this, the award is for an individual’s lifetime / career contributions to the medium of animation. I’ll be listing those who are yet to get said award, but I feel could or should be considered. They will be categorized in different positions, but several of those will be more loose than anything else. 

Here’s a list of those who already got it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay_Award

With that clarity, here’s my list.

Producers / Showrunners

Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Shinichiro Watanabe (Cowboy BeBop; Samurai Champloo; Space Dandy)

Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time; Bravest Warriors; Midnight Gospel)

Arlene Klasky & Gabor Csupo (Founded Klasky Csupo, who worked on early Simpsons episodes and made Rugrats, which was basically the 90s SpongeBob in terms of success)

Fred Seibert

What a Cartoon -> Dexter’s Lab; Powerpuff Girls; Johnny Bravo; Family Guy, technically

Oh Yeah! Cartoons - > Fairly Oddparents; My Life as a Teenage Robot

Random! Cartoons -> Adventure Time

Arthur Rankin Jr. (posthumous) & Jules Bass (Their stop-motion specials)

Joe Ruby & Ken Spears (posthumous) (co-creators of Scooby-Doo)

Toshio Suzuki (Producer of Studio Ghibli films, which he was the president of)

Craig McCraken (Powrpuff Girls; Foster’s Home; Wander Over Yonder)

Sam Register (President of Warner Bros. Animation & Cartoon Network, making him executive producer of numerous projects made by both)

Travis Knight (Lead animator and producer for Laika Studios)

Mike Lazzo (Former executive vice president for Adult Swim, which he served as the producer of numerous of their shows, including many of its’ most renowned cartoons)

Peter Lord (Co-founder and producer of Aardman)

Will Vinton (posthumous) (Developer of claymation)

Ted Turner (Basically started Cartoon Network)

Lou Scheimer (posthumous) (Producer of Filmation’s cartoons, including He-Man)

Masao Maruyama (Founded and produced for anime studio Madhouse, which made Satoshi Kon’s directorial work)

Bonnie Arnold (Toy Story 1; How to Train Your Dragon)

Directors

Don Hertzfeldt (Rejected; It’s Such a Beautiful Day; World of Tomorrow)

Jan Svankmajer (Indie director of several stop-motion films, several of which were combined with live-action)

Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game; Ping Pong the Anime; The Tatami Galaxy; Devilman: Crybaby [Adventure Episode “Food Chain”])

Kirk Wise & Gary Trousdale (Beauty and the Beast; Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Lotte Reiniger (posthumous) (Pioneered silhouette animation [uses cardboard cut-outs that are only seen as silhouettes, sort of a stop-motion style], developed an older version of the multiplane camera for this style of animation, directed the oldest surviving animated film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed)

Rene Laloux (posthumous) (French director; made Fantastic Planet)

Tomm Moore (Cartoon Saloon co-founder; Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers)

Rob Renzetti (Link to make this easier - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0719952/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)

Lee Unkrich (frequent Pixar co-director [main director on Coco]; Pixar film editor as well)

Andrew Adamson (Shrek)

Voice Actors (here, you’re just better off looking thru their Behind The Voice Actors or IMDB pages)

Frank Welker

Tom Kenny (mainly here for SpongeBob and Ice King)

Tara Strong

Jim Cummings

Rob Paulsen

Nancy Cartwright (mainly here for Bart Simpson)

Dan Castellaneta (mainly here for Homer Simpson)

Steve Blum

For Japanese VAs

Megumi Hayashibara

Kotono Mitsuishi (Mainly here for Sailor Moon)

Masako Nozawa (mainly here for Goku)

Writers

Aaron Ehaz (head writer for Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch; How to Train Your Dragon, several co-writing credits for 90s Disney films such as Mulan, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King; also frequent character designer)

Pete Docter (Pixar Director and Writer [Monsters, Inc.; Up; Inside Out])

Tom Ruegger (The Spielberg TV cartoons [Animaniacs; Tiny Toon Adventures; Pinky & the Brain; Freakazoid!])

Derek Drymon (Writer and Producer - SpongeBob and Adventure Time)

Larry Leker

(Storyboard artist - Don Bluth films; The Little Mermaid; Spirit: Scallion of the Cimarron) 

[Co-writer for Aladdin & The Lion King]

Akira Toriyama (Creator of the Dragon Ball franchise)

Phil Lord & Chris Miller (Clone High; LEGO Movie; Spider-Verse)

Dan Povenmire & Jeff “Swampy” Marsh (Created Phineas & Ferb; worked on the animation on Simpsons and co-wrote for Rocko’s Modern Life episodes)

Povenmire (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693933/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)

Marsh (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0550578/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)

Lauren Faust (In addition to ponies) - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0269260/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0)

Adam Van Wyk (Storyboard Artist, working from Batman Beyond to Harley Quinn 2019)

David X. Cohen (Head writer for Futurama, also worked with Groening on Simpsons)

Leiji Matsumoto (Space Battleship Yamato)

Brenda Chapman - Story Supervisor - The Lion King; Director - The Prince of Egypt; Story - Beauty and the Beast; Hunchback of Notre Dame

Andrew Stanton (Pixar Man, directed Finding Nemo and Wall-E)

Composers / Songwriters

Alan Menken (Disney Renaissance film composer and songwriter [Little Mermaid; Beauty & the Beast; Aladdin)

Joe Hisaishi (Studio Ghibli films)

Yoko Kanno (Cowboy BeBop; GitS: Stand Alone Complex)

John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon; Kung Fu Panda; Shrek; Chicken Run [some of these done alongside Harry Gregson-Williams)

Michael Giacchino (Frequent Pixar composer [The Incredibles; Ratatouille; Up; Inside Out])

Hans Zimmer (The Lion King, several DreamWorks films, served as music producer for several animated films he wasn’t a direct composer for [i.e. the score Thomas Newman composed for Finding Nemo])

Animators

Masashi Ando - Animation director / Supervising Animator (Princess Mononoke; Spirited Away; Paprika; Tokyo Godfathers; Your Name; Weathering with You)

Makiko Futali (posthumous) - Key animator (Arika; Angel’s Egg; Majority of Ghibli’s films)

Kitaro Kosaka (Akira; Several Ghibli films)

Jin Kim - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1088420/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1

Sergio Pablos (Directed Klaus) also conceptualized Despicable Me but let’s ignore that

Animator

Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Hades (Hercules)

Superviser Animator

Tantor (Tarzan)

Doctor Doppler (Treasure Planet)

Tony Fucile

Character designer (Hunchback of Notre Dame; The Iron Giant; The Incredibles; Ratatouille; Soul)

Bud Luckey (posthumous) - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0524726/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

The Brothers Quay (Stephen and Timothy) - Indie stop-motion animators. Look their work up

Michiyo Yasuda (Posthumous) (color designer) - Spirited Away; Grave of the Fireflies (color key); Castle in the Sky; My Neighbor Totoro (cel painter)

Misc.

Takeshi Seyama (Film editor) - Ghibli films; Paprika; Tokyo Godfathers; Akira

Edwin Catmull (Pixar co-founder)

Kelly Asbury (posthumous)

Story Artist - Frozen; Kung Fu Panda; Toy Story; Shrek; Wreck-It Ralph

Artistic supervisor (story) - Prince of Egypt

Visual Development - The Little Mermaid; Beauty and the Beast 

Director - Shrek 2

Bob Singer (Character Designer & Layout / Storyboard Artist; Hanna-Barbera)

Randy Thom (Sound designer) - The Iron Giant; Coraline; Ratatouille; The Incredibles (won him an Oscar); How to Train Your Dragon; several other misc. animated films

Michael Chang (Storyboard Artist / TV episode director, from Teen Titans to TMNT 2012 to Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts)

Nizo Yamamoto (Background artist and Art Director, being the latter for Grave of the Fireflies)

Darren T. Holmes (Editor) - The Iron Giant; Lilo & Stitch; Ratatouille; How to Train Your Dragon; Wolfwalkers

Assistant Editor - The Lion King

William Reeves (technical director and supervisor; Pixar man)

Bob Camp (Character Designer & Storyboard Artist Also cucks John K.’s writing and directing “abilities”)

Bob Peterson (Pixay Guy)

Vicky Jenson (co-directed Shrek), Here’s the rest of her work: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0421776/?ref_=fn_nm_nm_23

Storyboard artist / Story artist (ain’t sure of the difference) - Road to El Dorado; Chicken Run; The original She-Ra; The original He-Man

Misc. animation work

Production Designer - Road to El Dorado

Background artist - Ren & Stimpy; He-Man; Original Smurfs cartoon)

[starfleet-louvelune]

LOOK AT THIS CAKE

“ Cake: The Final Frontier. My friends over at Star Trek Discovery are celebrating the start of Season 2, so they asked me to make them something exciting to mark the occasion. #StarTrekDiscovery #StarTrek #Cake #torontofood” - by Arlene Lott

 LOOK AT IT. HAVE YOU SEEN IT!!!! *0*

[hootsewers]

I'm learning Python and I found this little random name generator on github as a learning tool for which it has been very helpful but some of the names it spits out are fucking hilarious.

Click here to visit the github page if you wanna play with it and also to just credit the creator for giving me several hearty giggles this afternoon

anyways some choice selections:

Cissy Oza

Hoopes Register

Canon Nichole

Shanks Blanka

Son Taggart

Kawasaki Hose

Rod Manus

Nill Marchal

Demb Daudin

Pulling Grabowski

Sharyl Terrill

Eglanteen Jea

Scammon Lipps

Seaman Vevina

Virgin Gerge

Rock Early

Hazlip Carptentier

Bunni Lamb

Montana Boos

Dunkin Barrier

Champagne Stringer

Goodman Emeric

Cressy DMS

Paradies Fuqua

Vowel Oliver

Krissie Cookie

Freud Rudd

Dollar Moriah

Wood Flanders

Lilyan Couchman

Meade Boy

Grimbal Chud

Inman Weiner

Bright Con

Smallman Lagarde

Banks Millan

Brittan Dolphin

Stucker Center

Mooney Kohut

Dust Davies

Morehouse DiPasquale

Inness Holland

Krock Presson

Mayne Moth

Schargel O'Toole

Pond Gene

Prussian Slotnick

Grubb Ayoup

Happ Dorion

Yokum Franny

Ignatius Craghead

Charlotte Lott

Hung Edgar

Didar CSR

Evey Duyck

Zed Gib

Waiter Corpening

Grobe Betsy

Ajay PKDCD

Dona Prissy

Saltman Starbuck

Cato Page

Rann Reporting

Ungley Arlene

Grethel Hurleigh

Botsford Dockendorff

Missagh Hew

Yule Willin

Volpe Twelve

I guess these are free NPC names. Or tag yourself tbh im Pond Gene

[fotopadova]

Un minuto di New York: street photography, 1920–1950

da https://www.clevelandart.org (trad. G.Millozzi)

 -- La fotografia di strada, immagini spontanee della vita quotidiana catturate in luoghi pubblici, è esplosa a New York durante la prima metà del XX secolo.

- Family in Front of Synagogue, Pitt St., Lower East Side, NY, 1938 (printed later)  © Walter Rosenblum (American, 1919-2006) 

Questo giovane genere di fotografia era l'erede della tradizione leggermente precedente del realismo urbano nella pittura e nella stampa, come si vede nella mostra complementare Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940, in mostra nella James and Hanna Bartlett Prints and Drawings Gallery dal 17 luglio al 26 dicembre 2021. Entrambi i movimenti si sono rivolti alle rappresentazioni delle attività quotidiane degli abitanti delle città per esplorare i radicali cambiamenti demografici, sociali ed economici che stanno trasformando la città.

- Group in Front of Fence, Pitt Street, Lower East Side, NY,1938 (printed later) © Walter Rosenblum (American, 1919-2006) 

Gli intrattenimenti abbondavano sotto forma di film, teatri, luna-park e le attrazioni di Coney Island. Le vetrine dei negozi e le locandine dei film offrivano allettanti visioni di abbondanza e di eleganza sofisticata. Ma quelli erano sogni piuttosto che realtà per la maggior parte dei residenti, in particolare gli immigrati dall'Europa, da Porto Rico e dai paesi dell'America Latina e dai neri americani che erano stati attori della Grande Migrazione. Affollate in minuscoli appartamenti, le famiglie hanno trasformato verande, marciapiedi, parchi e spiagge nei loro soggiorni.

 - Subway Portrait 1938-1941 © Walker Evans (American, 1903-1975) 

I fotografi di strada erano guardoni, catturando momenti privati ​​che si verificano negli spazi pubblici. Alcuni avevano motivi nobili. Le immagini dei membri della Photo League, che includevano Walter Rosenblum, Lisette Model e Leon Levinstein, testimoniano i divertimenti e le lotte dell'uomo e della donna comuni. Walker Evans e Helen Levitt hanno realizzato le loro immagini esposte in questa mostra come opere d'arte personali. Louis Faurer e Lloyd Ullberg hanno lavorato per delle riviste. In questa mostra, ci sono diversi esempi di lavoro di fotografi come James Van Der Zee, Roy DeCarava, Arnold Genthe e Ralph Steiner che hanno eseguito dei ritratti dei quali ancor oggi si riconosce la validità.

- Fashion Show, Hotel Pierre, New York City, 1940 © Lisette Model (American, 1901-1983) 

Che siano create per un incarico, come espressione personale o per sostenere il cambiamento della società, le immagini di questa mostra, tratte interamente dalla collezione del museo, forniscono una macchina del tempo che ci permette di vivere uno spaccato di vita a New York di un secolo fa.

Tutte le mostre al Cleveland Museum of Art sono patrocinate dal CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Il principale sostegno annuale è fornito da Bill e Joyce Litzler, con generosi finanziamenti annuali da Mr. e Mrs. Walter R. Chapman Jr., del Jeffery Wallace Ellis Trust in memoria di Lloyd H. Ellis Jr., Janice Hammond e Edward Hemmelgarn, Ms. Arlene Monroe Holden, Eva e Rudolf Linnebach, William S. e Margaret F. Lipscomb, Tim O'Brien e Breck Platner, dal Womens Council del Cleveland Museum of Art e da Claudia Woods e David Osage.

- Three Children on Swings, Pitt Street, New York 1950 © Walter Rosenblum  (American, 1919-2006) 

Il Cleveland Museum of Art è finanziato in parte dai residenti della contea di Cuyahoga attraverso una sovvenzione pubblica di Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. Questa mostra è stata sostenuta in parte dall'Ohio Arts Council, che riceve il sostegno dello Stato dell'Ohio e del National Endowment for the Arts.

---per altre immagini: link

-------------------------

Dal 10 luglio al 7 novembre 2021

Cleveleland Museum of Art

Galleria fotografica di Mark Schwartz e Bettina Katz, Galleria 230

11150 East Boulevard Cleveland, Ohio 44106

216-421-7350888-cma-0033

 Ingresso generale gratuito – le mostre speciali possono essere a pagamento

Orari: martedì, giovedì, sabato e domenica 10.00-17.00; mercoledì e venerdì 10.00-21.00; chiuso il lunedì.

[jacquelynlowenthal]

227 Likes, 10 Comments – Arlene Lott (Arlene Lott) on Instagram: “Shake a tail… https://ift.tt/2xw13ix

[glenbryd]

227 Likes, 10 Comments – Arlene Lott (Arlene Lott) on Instagram: “Shake a tail… http://bit.ly/2WPTU6G

[bethanieburdick]

227 Likes, 10 Comments – Arlene Lott (Arlene Lott) on Instagram: “Shake a tail… http://bit.ly/31CK5Nd

[claudiaboes]

227 Likes, 10 Comments – Arlene Lott (Arlene Lott) on Instagram: “Shake a tail… http://bit.ly/2W425vX

[broomheadz]

Nancy Notion (Nancy Kramer Fashion) DH S1E4: Dream On Aired: 1989

Nancy is just being Nancy in an expected peachy tee, khakis, and white Keds.

[thisdaynews]

How the Democratic Netroots Died

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/how-the-democratic-netroots-died/

How the Democratic Netroots Died

Liberal blogger’s like Markos Moulitsas used to have major sway in presidential politics. | Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

2020

Only 15 years ago, liberal bloggers like Markos Moulitsas were a powerful force in presidential politics. What happened?

Twelve years ago, progressive political bloggers were so influential that nearly every 2008 Democratic presidential candidate attended the Yearly Kos convention—a gathering of liberal online activists named after Markos Moulitsas’ popular Daily Kos website.

This year, that same event, now called Netroots Nation, attracted a measly four of the 24 Democratic candidates. Only one of them, Elizabeth Warren, even polls in double digits. Rather than attend the event,the Bernie Sanders campaign engaged in a Twitter spat with Moulitsas.

Story Continued Below

What happened? Not all that long ago, liberal bloggers had genuine achievements to point to: Only a year before the 2007 Yearly Kos, Ned Lamont, a wealthy but little known Connecticut businessman, beat Joe Lieberman—the incumbent and a former vice presidential nominee of the Democratic Party—in a U.S. Senate primary by embracing the “blogosphere,” a ridiculous word for a not-ridiculous force: progressive online activists who could drive discourse, cultivate small donors and legitimize outsider politicians. Lamont made common cause with bloggers to punish Lieberman for his vote to authorize the Iraq War. Thirteen years later, now-Governor Lamont has endorsed the only presidential candidate who cast the same vote: Joe Biden.

Moultisas chalked up the lack of presidential attendance at this year’s forum to “fear.” But the opposite appears to be true. Democrats do not fear offending the blogger stars of yore because the attempt to turn armchair pontificating into organized political power has failed.

Antipathy toward President George W. Bush and the Iraq War sparked a chemical reaction with internet technology to create powerful force in politics, but social and technological shifts have since depleted that power. The decline of blogger influence stems in part from the rise of Facebook and Twitter, which have fundamentally altered how Americans do politics on the internet. No longer do we hop from blog to blog by clicking blogrolls, and most of the earliest political bloggers have shut down their websites and begun posting their commentaries on their social media accounts instead.

But it’s not just the rise of social media. The political ties that unified progressive bloggers during the George W. Bush presidency have frayed, too. The netroots’ fragmentation and weakened power in 2020 is as much a story of the end of a coalition as it is of changing technology.

In the first decade of the 2000s, the scrappy lefty blogger crew steeled Democrats to block Bush’s plans to partially privatize Social Security, ousted Trent Lott asSenate majority leader after he praised the 1948 segregationist presidential candidacy of Strom Thurmond, and transformed a small-state governor named Howard Dean into a presidential contender and chairman of the Democratic National Committee. I had my own little blogger success stories while tapping away at LiberalOasis.com, where I conducted the first formal blogger interview with a presidential candidate, Dean, and broke the news of a misleading attack from Lieberman against Lamont.

The founding members of the progressive blogosphere envisioned a movement distinct from the left-wing activists of yesterday—aggressive, but not beholden to ideological purity. As described by Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong in their 2006 bookCrashing The Gate, netroots activists wanted progressives, and their favored politicians, to be “fiercely partisan” but not “ideological” because “there is actually very little, issue-wise, that unites most modern party activists except, perhaps, opposition to the Iraq War.” They wanted not litmus tests on policy but a style, an attitude: a tougher Democratic Party that could better beat Republicans.

That politically welcoming perspective was put into electoral practice. Progressive bloggers championed a 2005 long-shot House special election bid from Paul Hackett, an Iraq veteran from Ohio who supported gun rights and “limited government,” but did not hesitate to call President George W. Bush a “chickenhawk.” Some bloggers were angered when Hackett was pressured by Democratic Party leaders to drop out of the 2006 Senate race to make room for Sherrod Brown, even though Brown was more liberal than Hackett. Bloggers also recruited Jim Webb, a former Reagan administration official and Iraq War opponent, to run for the Senate in Virginia in 2006, and they didn’t flinch when a 1979 essay surfaced in which Webb argued “Women Can’t Fight” in the military. Webb apologized for it.

Ari Melber, writing for theNation, concluded that bloggers’ love for Webb showed a preference for “political pragmatism” over “ideological purity”: “If netroots Democrats care about one thing more than aggressive partisanship, it’s winning.”

But the 2008 presidential primary put an end to the netroots’ unity. In his 2009 bookBloggers on the Bus, Eric Boehlert captured how the election drove wedges through the once-harmonious band of online activists. As Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton slugged it out, some bloggers took sides and others felt caught in the crossfire.

In March 2008, a group of Daily Kos diarists who backed Clinton staged a virtual walkout in protest of the site’s tilt toward Obama. Moulitsas shot back that Clinton’s refusal to drop out showed she was “eager to split the party apart in her mad pursuit of power.” HisCrashing the Gateco-author, Armstrong, saw the race differently; in his view, Clinton “showed signs of being accountable to the netroots movement” while Obama “didn’t need the netroots” and “was basically an identity-politics cult” leader. Armstrong later quit blogging and worked for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson in 2012.

The New York Times’ Paul Krugman, a blog aficionado, told Boehlert he was dismayed at how he felt Obama’s online supporters had treated Clinton: “I don’t think people, myself, are ever going to look at Daily Kos the same way.” In the 2016 primary eight years later, Daily Kos was accused of favoring Clinton over Bernie Sanders, as Moulitsas banned “malicious attacks” targeting Clinton, “our presumptive presidential nominee,” before the primary process was completed.

After Obama won the primary, and the presidency, ideological purity began to rise in importance among the most prominent bloggers. For an activist movement to set aside small differences to fight a common political enemy, only to form a circular firing squad once the enemy is defeated, is an old political story. The progressive blogosphere wasn’t all that different from its forebears, after all.

In July 2008, Obama provoked several leading bloggers when he supported legal immunity for telecommunication companies that abetted warrantless wiretapping by the second Bush administration. In the 2008 primary against Clinton, Obama, then a U.S. senator, promised to filibuster any bill that gave the companies retroactive immunity; but he stood down after winning the Democratic presidential nomination and voted for compromise legislation that included it. That helped him avoid being tagged as soft on terrorism, but Glenn Greenwald charged Obama with supporting “a full-scale assault on our Constitution.” Duncan Black, who stills blogs—and tweets, naturally—under the handle Atrios, dubbed Obama his “Wanker of the Day.” Moulitsas, ahead of the switch, fretted, “We may worry that he’s just another one of these spineless Democrats” and fail to give Obama the full “intensity of support.”

Obama’s willingness to ignore the bloggers’ demands foreshadowed the difficulties the netroots would encounter once Democrats began wielding power. Obama’s groundbreaking campaign tapped the power of the internet, but it did so largely without the help of progressive blogosphere leaders. Matt Stoller, an early blogger who is now a fellow at the Open Markets Institute, gave Boehlert a clear-eyed assessment of the Obama campaign’s posture toward the blogosphere: “They don’t care what we think. … Their logistical operations are remarkable, their campaign structure is phenomenal, and we’re not a part of it.”

Once Obama won without the “intensity” of the blogosphere, the relationship between the online left and the Democratic establishment reverted to fractiousness, with the purist outsiders taking potshots at the compromising insiders. In December 2009, as it became clear that a public health insurance option would not be part of Obama’s Affordable Care Act, Moulitsas lambasted the legislation as “a turd of a ‘reform’ package, potentially worse than the status quo.” When Obama tried to boost morale for the slowly recovering economy and credited his stimulus package, Atrios scoffed at the calls by Democrats to “clap louder you stupid hippies.”

When the Obama administration persuaded Sen. Arlen Specter to switch parties in 2009, helping Democrats briefly hold a 60-vote Senate supermajority, blogger-activists who could not forgive Specter’s conservative past helped Rep. Joe Sestak defeat Specter in the 2010 primary. Specter’s willingness to participate in a Netroots Nation primary debate proved insufficient for the blogosphere. The victory was pyrrhic, as Sestak then lost the general election to a Republican.

As the Bush-era blog leaders struggled, the decentralized nature of the online political world gave oxygen to newer factions, including a robust democratic socialist left that viewed the founding members of the blogosphere as insufficiently progressive. “Once Obama took office, Kos went soft” wrote the “Chapo Trap House” podcasters in their best-selling book, based on Moulitsas’ negativity toward Sanders in 2016 (and ignoring his many attempts to boost primary challenges against establishment officeholders.) Oversimplifying the community of Bush-era bloggers, the “Chapo” gang dismissed the netroots as “a league of pathetic, repulsive morons who mastered a technology every child knows how to use” and “piloted journalism into a newer, even more idiotic frontier of toxic hackery.”

One person’s toxic hackery is another person’s call for revolution. Which was exactly the problem for the blogosphere: Its decentralized nature rendered it fairly useless for accumulating organized power. InCrashing the Gate, Moultisas and Armstrong saw decentralization as a strength: “That’s why this movement is so effective—and so threatening to established powers. It is leaderless. It cannot be harnessed, controlled, or co-opted.” Well, yeah.

Boehlert, who now writes for Daily Kos, rejects the conclusion that the attempt at an organized netroots has foundered. He points to the sprawling anti-Trump “resistance” as based on “the model that the blogosphere created 15 years ago” in shaping dialogue that’s “very aggressive, factual and passionate.”

Nearly two decades after the birth of the blogosphere, there’s no question that the ability of the internet to make anyone a publisher—or, in the age of podcasting and YouTube, a broadcaster—has altered the political landscape, brought new people into the process, and made the ground under the Washington establishment shakier. But the vision of a powerful, progressive “netroots” that was at once aggressively partisan, progressively principled, organizationally leaderless and politically potent was not sustainable. It couldn’t go on forever and so, to paraphrase Herbert Stein, it didn’t.

Read More

[andreaeppolitoevents]

Super Chic Shower in Toronto, Canada

Let me take you behind the scenes to Laura's bridal shower, which took place on Sunday

Muneeb knows his bride to be. He planned her entire bridal shower, along with her three bridesmaids; Diana, Vittoria and Lisa.  His directive to Laura was that she needed to simply put on her prettiest dress and show up!  On Sunday, March 18th,  Laura did just that!  Dressed to the nines in her Halston Heritage and wearing her favorite peep toe Louboutins, Laura was treated to a chic, sophisticated shower surrounded by family and friends.   

No games, gimmicks, or crafts.  Just wonderful company and really good food - just the way Laura likes it. 

The shower took place in the trendy King West district of Toronto at Oretta, a restaurant that has been said to have been named for "a young, urban Italian woman who has style but is grounded in Italian roots.”   That could very well be Laura herself, thus this afternoon was the perfect precursor to Laura and Muneeb’s wedding at the Bellagio, Oretta is a beautiful space offering delicious Italian food in a stylish setting.

Guests dined on burrata served with olive oil-poached clementines and crushed pistachios, fresh kale, fennel and radicchio insalata, beef and tuna tartares, arctic char with saffron cauliflower puree, and flat iron steak served with purple cabbage and a salsa rossa.

Dessert was, in true Muneeb and Laura form, another showstopper. In addition to Oretta’s authentic tiramisu and chocolate plate offerings, guests were treated to a stunning gluten-free black cocoa cake. The stunning confection was filled with dark dulce de leche and toasted coconut, then wrapped in vanilla swiss meringue buttercream and black cocoa ganache.  The master behind this beautiful creation is Toronto-based baker, Arlene Lott, who added finishing touches of gold leaf, gold drip, smoked salt and caramel bonbons...Plus a fewpretty anemones.

In lieu of party favors, Muneeb and Laura’s bridesmaids opted to make a donation to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, in memory of Laura’s mother. She was certainly at the shower in spirit, sending her love and blessings on that sunny Sunday afternoon.

I love, love, love this couple.  Love them.  Hard.  They are my ideal couple....Stylish, over the top, completely in love, and dedicated to celebrating every one of life's moments in a big way! 

We are just 6 weeks away from their wedding, and I cannot wait to show you what we have designed for them!

Until then, enjoy these #bts images from their beautiful Sunday.

Always...

[riffrelevant]

(By Brian Halsey, Staff Writer, RiffRelevant.com)

Where do I start with THE AGE OF TRUTH and their début full length, ‘Threshold‘?  What a goddamned beautiful piece of heavy rock.   

The first listen was so moving that I took back half of the bad shit I’ve ever said about Philly, the other ten million complaints are just facts, but alas the city may finally be redeemed.  ‘Threshold’ is a masterful display of fuzzy riffage and vocally driven horsepower.

THE AGE OF TRUTH crushes a dreamy brand of blues inspired doom, mixed with a voice that is eerily familiar, in a way that is magically nostalgic.  The guitar work is sharp and the recording is clear.  This band would not sound out-of-place in a dive bar with 28 drunk dudes, or in front of 100,000 screaming fans in an arena.

It’s a really weird vibe to nail down, because to most underground bands, being called a “radio band” is not necessary a compliment.  But they are kinda like what a radio band would sound like, if the radio was good.  Get it?  Every note and melody sounds carefully constructed.  Every song is catchy and memorable.  There is an extraordinary quality to the aesthetic of Threshold that makes this album an appealing listen for a wide variety of people.

THE AGE OF TRUTH features Kevin McNamara (Vocals), Mike DiDonato (Guitar), Scott Frassetto (Drums, *current) and William Miller (Bass).  These guys are totally self-aware of what’s going on here, this is much more a brotherhood than it is a band.  Their sound is fluid and cohesive, you don’t really need time to get into the album.  It just rocks.  Engineered and mixed by Joseph Boldizar at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia, PA, and was mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering Chicago, IL.

Threshold chugs along and does its thing with style.  The album sounds tough on every track without trying too hard.  THE AGE OF TRUTH has just enough ruggedness to get lumped in with some really strong doom bands, but overall they’re just dishing out hard rock the way it should be done.

Play it loud, or don’t play it at all:

 *Eric Fisher was on drums during the recording sessions for Threshold.

I was (un)lucky enough to catch up with some of the dudes from THE AGE OF TRUTH and put their geographically renowned shit-talking skills to the test.  With the Eagles finally putting a competitive squad on the field, I thought I’d ask them some questions about their team, album, and unique brand of culture.  I’m happy to report they didn’t let me down.

The Age Of Truth

HALSEY –     Congrats on Threshold.  The album sounds great, it is both unique and familiar at the same time.  Could you try and describe the sound you were going for, and how you feel about the outcome?

BILL MILLER –    Thank you Brian!  We weren’t really going for anything, we just had songs in us and this is how they came out.  The idea was to record it as we sound when we get on stage, so we tracked it live using our tones and kept it as real as possible.  We had great help, Joe Boldizar from Retro City Studios in Philly is great to work with, and after all of it he is family now.

He let us do all the things we wanted to do and contributed great ideas, as well as a calming sense of confidence as we worked through it.  We really do love Threshold, had a great time making it and are proud of how it turned out.  It gets better with every listen, which is insane, because we have been with these songs since the very beginning and still love hearing and playing them.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –   Well, we basically wrote everything on the spot?  Like literally on the spot (beers and other things included😁) and just kept rolling.  I wrote a ton of lyrics while working (F U, work!) and that’s how we kinda did it.  I just recently got asked to sing for this band by the way.   (Craig) Gibbs from Sasquatch and Bill were drinking and texted me that I now sing for The Age Of Truth.  Kinda bad ass when Gibbs texts you, you know?

HALSEY –     As a band from Philly, I think it’s important to take note of the Eagles current Super Bowl run.  What is your prediction for the game?

BILL MILLER –    Prediction?  Pain.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –    I’ll be drinking whiskey, for sure!  Go Birds!

HALSEY –     What do you say to the people (aka a vast majority of the country) who call you the worst fans in all of football?

BILL MILLER –   Seriously?  It brings nothing but joy to our hearts.  We love that everyone hates.  This is Philadelphia, it’s not a fucking Chuck E. Cheese.  Pull out all the old clichés about snowballs and batteries, we wear each and every one of them with honor.  It keeps all the pussies out and keeps the smart ones with their heads on a fucking swivel.  We are the worst fans in all of football, just ask the Vikings fans or everyone else on Faceplant who’s not from Philly.  It’s the latest outrage, if you didn’t know.  Animals.  Scoundrels.  Maniacs.  It’s all true.  We will come into your homes, fucking eat your household pets and leave with your lady, right after drinking all of your beer and pissing on the rug.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –   I think it’s nonsense.  Yo… every city has its share of assholes!  We are no different!  I’ve been in Baltimore and Kansas City and the fans were cool, but you always have that element that doesn’t know when to shut it off.  It’s a game!

HALSEY –     I just saw THE AGE OF TRUTH get some play on the Doom Charts.  Great stuff.  What accomplishments are you most proud of at this point in the band?

BILL MILLER –    Is being the worst fans in football an acceptable answer?  If not, just being able to do this thing with a bunch of dudes who all love each other and want nothing but success for each other.  We wake up every day, thankful that we get to play music with each other and pull this weird, heavy shit out of each other every single time we get together.  At least once a week on the band text thread, someone will say “I love this band”.  I hope that never stops.

Some really cool things have happened to us since the record came out in November, you mentioned Doom Charts, which is absolutely an honor to be on that list.  Think about it man, 40 different people rated our album.  That that alone happened is cool, and that they rated it highly enough that we even showed up on a list like that astounds us.  So many cool things, like this interview, have happened and we welcome more.  Our band is young, we will be two years old in March, we have a long list of things we want check marks next to before we end up down in that hole.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –    That I got to meet Mike and Bill (and Scott I’ve known forever and always loved him as a drummer).  We as a band always say after we talk, or whatever, “I love you bro.”  It’s what we believe in.  It’s a brotherhood always, and a sisterhood.  Love our brothers and sisters so much!  But for me as a singer?  Meeting these amazing three people who became such a huge part in my life… oh and can I say hi to Gina? (Ha… hi gorgeous!)

(Editor’s note: Can confirm, Gina is gorgeous. – Leanne)

HALSEY –     Do you have any shows, tours, or festivals planned in the near future?

BILL MILLER –   Always playing as much as possible.  We are a live band and that’s what we do.  Hell, it’s why we do.  We all love the experience of making an experience for an audience.  This band isn’t about bringing light shows and fireworks and sharks with laser beams, it’s just sweaty, honest, heavy rock.  We have been branching out and getting some states added to our list lately, and we want do the same with our passports, but no tours planned at the moment.  The Age Of Truth will be at a few US festivals later this year, but they are under wraps for a few more weeks.  Come to them even though we can’t advertise them yet.  No bullshit, they are gonna be awesome even though we are sworn to secrecy at this time.  We are definitely open to more.

HALSEY –     If Foles pulls this thing off for the Eagles, will it prove they are a more complete team than people thought, and not just a product of Wentz’s great year?  If Nick-folean Dynamite plays lights out and the Eagles win, do you have a quarterback controversy?

BILL MILLER –   They are a complete team and they are brothers, you can see it after the games.  Those dudes are fighting for the man next to them, it’s a powerful thing.  An unstoppable thing.  But a quarterback controversy is not gonna happen.  Big Dick Nick, as he is known in the locker room, could go out there Sunday and roast a defensive backfield of Ronny Lott, Neon Deion, Steve Atwater and Jesus, and he is still carrying a clipboard next year in week 4.  We will always love him forever and he will never pay for another drink again in his life if he makes it happen.  But it’s the kid from North Dakota’s job.  He’s magical.

KEVIN MCNAMARA – Noooooo Wentz, did this theory evolve?  Because that statement is Foles.

HALSEY –     The entire band sounds tight, but a lot of reviews focus on the power of your vocals.  When did you realize you had the voice of a golden god?  Was that something you had to work on, or did you just sound that awesome since birth?

BILL MILLER –    Since we are a completely one dimensional band, a better question would be – “are the rest of the band even allowed in the same room as the almighty, majestic, holiness that is the vocalist for this band?”  The answer is: only by papal decree.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –    No I am genital blessed… stuff is huge… ask around, but at one point I had a tiny peen and just went with it?  Ha, no I’m kidding…  I love the classic belters.  It takes its toll, but I recover quick from the training (one bottle of whiskey a day… you’re welcome.)  Walsh, Dio, Shortino, Bonnet, Morrison, Bowie, Ozzy, Anderson, Turner, Springsteen, and most def Peter Gabriel… all these bad motha fuggas… that’s been my source.  I get a lot of ‘Cornell’, but Chris had me at one album, Ultra Mega OK, but he never shaped me.  Shit, I was too locked in at that point to be shaped.  It was already done.

HALSEY –     If each band member had to be assigned a character from ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, who would they be and why?

BILL MILLER –  Oddly enough, since it’s Philadelphia, we are those people.  Not exactly, but we do show tendencies.  ‘Dennis’ sings, ‘Mac’ plays guitar, ‘Charlie’ is on drums, and the ‘Warthog’ plays bass.  ‘Cricket’ is our road manager, and the ‘McPoyles’ are everyone trying to stop us.  Fuck the McPoyles.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –  I’d be the homeless dude.

HALSEY –     What are a few things you’d recommend to do around the city (that don’t include climbing greased light poles or fighting police horses)?

BILL MILLER –   Don’t ever fuck with an equine cop, ever.  Saw a horse with a badge kick some jackass right in the face once, and I guarantee that dipshit is wearing his terrible decision to this day.  Philly actually kicks ass.  The beer is amazing, the food is peerless, and the scene is special.  At every show, all your favorite weirdos show up and it’s a family reunion.  You can go to shows by yourself because you know everyone will be there anyway.  Just check it out and live like we do, if you come to Philly.  Skip most of the tourist bullshit and find a local spot to hang out in and get in arguments with your newest best friend.  It’s like that.  Bring an edge, but that’s just how you fit in.  You won’t really need it, unless you are a jackass.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –  Ha, drink with Kevin!  Who the fuck punches a horse by the way?  Dickhead!

HALSEY –     Thank you for your time, is there anything additional you’d like to say about THE AGE OF TRUTH to your listeners?

BILL MILLER –  Absolutely.  To everyone who has supported this band, buying our record and merch, coming to our shows, or sharing our songs with their friends, thank you.  We love you.  It’s real.  We appreciate every single one of you who gets what we are doing.  We have more, too, and we have a feeling if you like where it started, you are gonna love where it is going.

KEVIN MCNAMARA –   Our new drummer, Scott, is a beautiful soul who is one of THEE best drummers I’ve ever in my life played with.  And I love my brothers in The Age of Truth.  Totally random collision of worlds.  Thank the gods… new songs underway.

There you have it, eggheads.  I can lead you to lager, but I can’t make you buy.  THE AGE OF TRUTH.  A brotherhood of hard rocking, Philly assholes.  If you’re not sold on this band by now, I don’t know what more I can do to help you in life.

The Age Of Truth:

Web / Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp / Spotify / iTunes / Instagram

  THE AGE OF TRUTH in NY, NY @ Arlene’s Grocery for Ode To Doom, 11/18/2017

Photos by Leanne Ridgeway (click any photo to open gallery)

Interview w/ THE AGE OF TRUTH – ‘Threshold’ Album Review & Stream; Live Photos From Ode To Doom (NYC) 11/2017 (By Brian Halsey, Staff Writer, RiffRelevant.com) Where do I start with THE AGE OF TRUTH…