#biblically accurate spanish person

[persephone-s-moon]

Asian Lost Boys Personal Names!

Personal names tend to vary from culture to culture in terms of usage, but essentially it's someones "Asian name" as opposed to their English name. They're typically used by family members and, on occasion, very close friends because (in my experience) using them is intimate. The characters will still HAVE their English names, but The Lost Boys and family members (the Emersons and the Frogs) will Mostly refer to each other by their personal names.

DISCLAIMER: I'm Taiwanese, therefore I'm more savvy to East Asian cultures, particularly Chinese and Japanese. If anyone who is more knowledgeable about Filipino, Hmong, Thai, Indian, or Vietnamese cultures sees something they want to critique/has more culturally accurate suggestions, I encourage messages/comments/replies!

David: Huang Zhao-Yi

Culture: Taiwanese, of Chinese descent Loose Pronunciation: Hw-ah-ng Sh-ow-yee Surname: Huang, meaning "yellow, to fall through" Personal name: Zhao-Yi, Zhao meaning "bright, luminous" and Yi meaning "happy, joyful, harmony" Notes: I was originally going to name David "Hou Yi" after a mythological Chinese archer because OG Hou Yi destroys 9/10 of the original suns (long story) and there's a version where he and his wife Chang'e become immortal/gods, but there are so many different versions of the story that I decided against it. I also decided that I wanted him to be a Farm Boy™ and naming him after a god seemed a little strange imo.

Paul: Paolo FACUNDO LIWANAG

Culture: Filipino Loose Pronunciation: Pow-low FAK-OON-DO LEE-WAN-AG Personal name: Paolo, meaning "small" Surnames: FACUNDO meaning "talkative", LIWANAG meaning "light" Notes: A lot of Filipino names are Spanish or Italian with biblical roots because of colonization in the 1500s, so I wanted to keep his personal name semi-similar to his English name since it was already biblical. Honestly I could've left it as "Paul" but what's the fun in that? I'm not too sold on his surnames so they might change later and I may try to find a Tagalog name instead for his personal name, we'll see.

Marko: YANG Vam Meej

Culture: White Hmong, from Laos Loose Pronunciation: YANG Va Mae Clan name: YANG, associated with the ram and bear Personal name: Vam Meej, meaning "to prosper, succeed" Notes: Hmong names in particular are a Struggle for me since most of the Hmong people I know are second generation like me and either don't really know their personal names or we're not close enough for me to ask. I am familiar with the concept of clan names though. Marko's name is definitely subject to change in the future (I might pick a clan name more associated with birds just for fun who knows).

Dwayne: Khemkhaeng LUANG

Culture: Thai Loose Pronunciation: Kehm-key-ng LOO-ANG Personal name: Khemkhaeng, meaning "strong" Old personal name: Kasem, meaning "happiness, pure joy" Surname: LUANG, meaning "royal, venerable" Notes: It's common for Thai people to change their names after something either significant or bad happens to them, hence Kasem. I'm only making note of it to alleviate confusion in the event that I decide to do some stuff regarding backstories, no one will refer to him as Kasem otherwise. Also, surnames are still relatively new to Thailand and they were only introduced in the 20th century, so Dwayne gets a shorter surname in comparison to modern Thai surnames (which are required to be unique, hence the longer modern surnames) since I have him and the other boys being born in the 1880s.

Star: Ruchika Chawla

Culture: Indian Loose Pronunciation: Roo-chee-ka Chow-la Personal name: Ruchika, meaning "shining, beautiful, desirous, brilliance" Surname: Chawla, meaning "rice" Notes: I found the name Ruchika and immediately thought of Star ngl, I didn't even consider other names for her. It was like love at first sight. I think a lot of stuff with Star just clicked when I was doing research for her name and design, it just suited her so well. I did have her surname written down wrong in my personal notes so I'm glad I didn't post her character sheet immediately lmao

Laddie: Nino HALILI DEL ROSARIO

Culture: Filipino Loose Pronunciation: Nee-no HA-LEE-LEE DAY ROSE-ARI-O Personal name: Nino, meaning "little boy" Surname: HALILI meaning "successor", DEL ROSARIO meaing "of the rosary" Notes: I went so back and forth on his surnames it's not even funny, but I think I'm happier with Laddie's surnames in comparison to Paul's. "Nino" felt really obvious and clicked really well just like Star's name did, though I did consider a few other names that I don't have written down anywhere. Nino was just superior because he's simply a little guy.

Michael: EMERSON Manh Tien

Culture: Vietnamese Loose Pronunciation: EMERSON Man Tee-en Surname: EMERSON, inherited from white father Middle name: Manh, meaning "first-born" Personal name: Tien, meaning "fairy, celestial being" Notes: I'll be honest, the main contibuting factor behind Michael's personal name was how he was almost named "Moonbeam" during his mom's hippie phase. I have this idea where their dad was white and insisted on using exclusively their English names, and Michael wouldn't initially like his personal name because it feels girly to him anyway, but he'd grow to cherish his name and culture after meeting the lost boys <3

Sam: EMERSON Trong Binh

Culture: Vietnamese Loose Pronunciation: EMERSON Ch-ung Bin Surname: EMERSON, inherited by white father Middle name: Trong, meaning "second-born" Personal name: Binh, meaning "peaceful" Notes: I think overall for the Emerson family I was most concerned with meanings, which wasn't necessarily the case for the boys. Sam is the most peaceful in the sense that he discouraged the Frog brothers from killing Marko, even though he failed. Like Michael, I think his personal name is something that he grows into when he starts making friends, but would use his English name when first coming to Santa Carla.

Lucy: VINH Lan Huong

Culture: Vietnamese Loose Pronunciation: VIN Surname: VINH, meaning "glory" Middle name: Lan, meaning "orchid" Personal name: Huong, meaning "pink rose" Notes: Naming Lucy after flowers just felt right. Let it be known that I have serious beef with hippies, but I feel like she still had a well-intentioned hippie phase and this just adds to it. In Vietnamese culture, women don't change their surnames after marriage (as far as I'm aware) which I think would be a contributing factor in her divorce with her white all-American husband.

Grandpa: VINH Mac Dieu

Culture: Vietnamese Loose Pronunciation: VIN Mac Dee-oo Surname: VINH, meaning "glory" Middle name: Mac, meaning "nothing, nonexistent" Personal name: Dieu, meaning "mysterious, subtle" Notes: Grandpa! Needed! A! Name! He doesn't have one in the original! I'm basically saying he's not subtle about his knowledge of vampires and he's not trying to be subtle, it's just that no one ever asked. I think I tried to pick older-sounding names for him but it's been a little while since I picked these and I don't remember if I'm honest.

Edgar: Kaeru Matsuo

Culture: Japanese Loose Pronunciation: Keh-roo Mat-soo-oh Surname: Kaeru, meaning "frog" Personal name: Matsuo, meaning "pine tree, life" Notes: I named the Frog brothers after the famous Japanese poet Matsuo Basho because their English names remind me of Edgar Allan Poe, so I thought it'd be kind of funny. Matsuo is the surname of the poet, but I felt that Matsuo suited Edgar more than Alan. The surname I picked for the Frogs was obvious, I don't think anything else other than some variation of "frog" would've worked.

Alan: Kaeru Basho

Culture: Japanese Loose Pronunciation: Keh-roo Ba-show Surname: Kaeru, meaning "frog" Personal name: Basho, meaning "banana tree" Notes: Alan got the pen name of Matsuo Basho, who also went by "Sobo" and "Tose". I debated on giving him Matsuo's true given name, which is Kinsaku meaning "to be happy" but Matsuo Basho is better known as Basho and it's much funnier for this very serious 15-16 year old to be named "banana tree".

Sorry if the formatting is weird, I'm trying to make it as reader friendly as possible on account of my own dyslexia. Please let me know if the blocks of text blend in with each other too much lmao

[friendofcars]

15 Questions | 15 People

Rules: Answer these 15 Questions, then Tag 15 People

Thanks for tagging me @singersargentboi !

Are you named after anyone? no (although rachel is a common name amongst jewish people and i'm sure that influenced my parents, so i suppose i could say i'm loosely named after the biblical rachel)

When was the last time you cried? tuesday night i think? my work week starts on wednesday and i was having my recurring tuesday terrors (work is really intense at the moment)

Do you have kids? no (and i don't want to)

Do you use sarcasm a lot? yes! and sardonicism too of course

What’s the first thing you notice about people? upon first glance/from a distance, probably height and/or hair length. upon meeting someone, probably the qualities of their voice (pitch, speed, presence or lack of vocal fry, etc.)

What’s your eye colour? brown

Scary movies or happy ending? i don't particularly care if the ending is happy or not as long as it's satisfying, thought provoking, or both, but i'll still say happy ending because i don't really ever watch scary movies

Any special talents? i can tap dance a little! when i was growing up i was very flexible (like front leg on the low ballet barre over-split flexible) but definitely not anymore lol. i used to play piano and am trying to re-learn, and i'd say my other talents are more work related (i have some very nice looking western blots that i'm very proud of). maybe bird identification? i'm a birding beginner but i'd say i'm more knowledgable than the average person.

Where were you born? the USA

What are your hobbies? literally the raven cycle has become a hobby (well, more accurately, a special interest, but reading and writing about it takes up a huge chunk of my leisure time), reading other books, crocheting and knitting, and birding

Do you have any pets? none that live with me but my family has dogs. almost all of our current and former dogs have been boxers

What sports do you play/have you played? i am notoriously not athletic and only played a single season of soccer as a little kid, but i did grow up dancing quite a bit and was on a competitive team for my last few years. i was not actually good at most dance styles either, but i was enthusiastic and bendy and that somehow worked just fine

How tall are you? somewhere between 5'3" and 5'4"

Favourite subject at school? growing up i genuinely liked all of them (except phonics- I never went through the sounding-out-words phase and little me could not understand why it was necessary for most of my peers). in high school my favorite subjects were biology, english, and spanish, and i also really liked cellular neurophysiology and linguistics in undergrad.

Dream job? i want to get my phd and work as a research scientist. (being a principal investigator/running your own lab requires too much bureaucratic stuff to deal with for me, so i want to actually stay at the lab bench and develop specialized technical skills and work on long term projects that i'm really invested in!)

tagging

@unloneliest @lesbianjudasiscariot @asterlark @whoreshoecrab @grieving4theliving @snowsays and anyone who sees this and wants to participate i am tagging you too :)

no pressure to answer as always <3

[themadauthorshatter]

More Ineffable Husbands Headcanons! Because I love these guys

Due to his immunity to and ability to breathe fire, Aziraphale once referred to Crowley as a dragon. Crowley was not amused.

Crowley hated Hell because it was hot, everyone was too close, and, only being the guy that caused his own misery than others', people always openly asked why he was still around or when Hastur and Ligur would just MAKE him be more useful for the powers of evil, so it quickly became a thing of 'everyone's too close to me and wants me dead. HELP.' He cannot stand being shoulder to shoulder with someone while walking, like walking close enough to everyone's close enough to touch each other and breathing on each other's necks. Even sneaking around as a snake and going in small places freaks him out. He can stand being in Aziraphale's place, but still looks over his shoulder, just in case.

On the other end, Aziraphale DETESTED Heaven with a passion. It was cold, no one talked, it smelled like cold, stale air all the time, and people were more concerned about themselves, the war, and the archangels than anything else. He grew to resent the cold, the silence, the echo of his own voice, and all the open space. There weren't any books, either. He has been to Crowley's place and he doesn't mind it, but he stays close to Crowley because he doesn't want to be alone in a large space again.

So yeah, Crowley's personal hell is a very, VERY small hot room, like a closet or a pantry and Aziraphale's personal hell is a a cold, empty building with no carpet, all windows, and no furniture, except for a few metal folding chairs.

Crowley has balance issues, even after all his time on Earth. He also has a bit of numbness in his arms and legs. (Snek)

Don't take a picture of Aziraphale and Crowley. Aziraphale just doesn't like it(look up biblically accurate angels and look at the principalities), and Crowley looks freaky as hell. Like he looks like a man-serpent thing. And the sound bothers him.

Crowley does not shed his skin... in front of Aziraphale.

Ways the two playfully annoy each other: Crowley adds too much pepper to his drink and says he's having and wonderful meal, Aziraphale purposely gets plant names wrong, Crowley reads AND ANNOTATES a book IN RED INK, Aziraphale walks around barefoot, Crowley asks what Aziraphale is doing when they're just chilling, and Aziraphale will wear all tartan clothing.

Aziraphale once did the 'What the fluff' challenge with a sleepy Crowley and it scared him witless.

This is based off of the fact, I think, that Crowley does have a sweet tooth and off a deleted scene in Good Omens, so Crowley indeed invented chocolate for Aziraphale, but whenever he failed he was sure to clean the mess. It gave him a sugar high for 42 hours straight and the resulting hangover knocked him out for a week.

Aziraphale isn't good with alcohol, but the man can hold his spices like a champ.

Crowley cannot handle salt. At all. Kind of like Holy water, it burns him, except it's a burn that he can heal from.

Aziraphale prefers showers because it reminds him of rain, while Crowley takes baths because it's quiet amd he can calm down.

Hastur and Ligur have 'confronted' Crowley on his job performance. He doesn't like talking about it and often says he only remembers leaving the room with a broken arm and being unable to walk because his back- from his neck to his waist- hurt like a son of a bitch. Yes, he has scars.

Aziraphale saw the Spanish Enquisition. He hated it.

During a war, while in bad spirits and ready to go sleep through the year, Crowley stumbled upon Aziraphale as he pretended to be dead, as a way to 'play his part' on Earth. It wasn’t cowardice, as he did some fighting, but Crowley was still surprised to see him. The two left and went somewhere that was as peaceful as possible to wait out the rest of the war. Worth it.

The two take turns preening each other's wings.

Want to know why Crowley wasn't around for a while after Bastille? Well, Hastur and Ligur got a hold of him and... well, let's just say they taught him to (A) be a faster runner and (B) not kept too comfortable around humans or being a human because, inhabiting the form of one, that means he can be broken very, VERY easily until there's nothing to fix.

I will make an analysis post on the relationship between Crowley and Hastur and Ligur, like his connection to them.

Back on track, Aziraphale and Crowley have shared a bed from time to time, like a sleepover, and it's usually the same: the two are back to back for a while before falling asleep and awaking in each other's arms. In variation, Aziraphale will stay up to read a little and catch Crowley having a bad dream(because he used to sleep in Hell) and has to ruffle his hair or do the forehead to nose rub/tuckle to calm him back down. In another variation, Aziraphale will dose off only to wake up and find Crowley watching him or guarding the room because he used to sleep in Hell, and because he wants to keep Aziraphale safe. And he just likes seeing his angel sleep; is not a creepy thing, it just reminds him that he's not alone in enjoying 'human' things.

Crowley is not a fan of dogs. One chased him while he was in snake form.

Aziraphale doesn't hate technology by any means. He just prefers talking to people face to face(specifically Crowley).

Don't ask about the snake marks on the sides of Crowley's head. Just don't.

You know how cats and dogs have that thing where in certain light their pupils change color and they see in the dark? Crowley does the exact same thing and it has woken up Aziraphale so many times. It never scared him, it just made him literally pull Crowley into bed so he could sleep.

Crowley hates the horsemen because he lost a bet to all of them.

You know the Squid Game version of Red Light, Green Light? Aziraphale would win by only stopping at 'Red light,' and Crowley would win by staying low and creeping.

Of all the archangels, Crowley actually liked Michael best. They got along well, but that was before the Fall.

[spanishskulduggery]

I've been wondering, do professional translators ever mistranslate things or not have a word for something?

People make mistakes all the time, yes.

There are also times where (for different reasons) you can’t stay 100% faithful to the original text so you kind of have to make it work somehow. That’s especially true with very vernacular things or slang.

There are also certain concepts that just don’t fully translate well.

-

I’ll give an example. When I was learning Spanish, the word that they taught for “a bully” was el acosador, la acosadora. 

Except... that’s not 100% correct.

el acoso, the root word, is “harassment” but it was also used as “stalking” or “bullying”... so you also had acosador(a) meaning “stalker” and “bully” and “harasser”

And in English there’s a definite difference between a “bully” and a “stalker”

There are other times where you kind of have to do your best, but it does depend on the region too.

-

...But if you’re just asking the basic “do professional translators ever mistranslate things”, as in just in general then yes. All the time. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes not.

There’s considerable debate over how the Bible was translated for example, where certain things got changed or took on different meanings.

The most ready example is “man shall not lie with man as he does with woman”, that general passage. Because when taken like that it seems to say that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong. But there are alternate translations of the Bible where it’s been said that the Bible is actually saying “men shall not sleep with underaged boys”; not that homosexuality itself is wrong.

There’s also LOTS of debate over whether certain versions of the Bible were specifically changed to imply homosexuality was wrong, and you get into different translations and debates about how Biblical Greek was altered into Latin and English etc

-

Another one that I’ve seen pop up in my studies is “Emperor Montezuma” for example

That’s... not entirely correct.

People tend to think of the Aztec Empire as a “empire” that Montezuma was the leader of. Historically, not 100% accurate.

The “Aztec Empire” is also known as the “Triple Alliance” because it was three city states that joined forces as an “Empire” to conquer other city states and people to demand tribute. In theory, each city state was equal, but it was Tenochtitlan that became the most influential city state.

And the title of each leader in the Triple Alliance was something like “elder speaker”, not an actual “emperor”. So Montezuma was the most influential leader of the most influential city state but “emperor” to a Western audience makes it sound like he had all the control, and that’s not really true.

The term “Empire” also makes it sound more... cohesive than it actually was. The “Aztecs” as an Empire was made up of different people and tribes and some of the tribes and conquered people were sacrificed, so it wasn’t as if the “Aztec Empire” was as monolithic as you might think.

-

And then there are some translations that have been done for different cultural reasons.

The one they often point to for that is the way that famous Japanese author Natsume Soseki once translated the phrase “I love you” from English to Japanese

His translation of the phrase was: “The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?”

The idea here was that Japanese culture was much more modest about expressing emotions like that, and that “I love you” felt much too bold, so it was changed to something very subtle.

...

So yeah translations can be purposefully mistranslated for one reason or another, or there can just be mistakes.

As a personal note, when I was reading Don Quixote I had an English version with me just to make sure I could understand things and the translation was so awkward I had to stop using it.

There’s a section in the original Spanish where Sancho Panza has a donkey... and for whatever reason the donkey stops appearing in the novel and is never mentioned again. This translation had a whole little side plot where they tried to fix this plot hole by saying where the donkey went and even gave it a name.

This translation also bent over backwards to try to explain why in the original Cervantes lists Sancho’s wife with two different names, when it might just have been because Cervantes might not have had writing notes, or forgot because he was writing what was essentially a thousand pages over a few years

But it was hilarious to me that these scholars were so distraught why there might be plot holes that they felt the need to fix it for some reason, and honestly that wouldn’t have bothered me so much if they had just marked it as not happening in the original, but anyways

[sirabisunkenplace]

ouanga and the absurdity of the "one-drop rule"

as Doja Cat says, let's get into it (yuh).

Ok. So I just watched Ouanga last night, and it reminded me how much I love Fredi Washington. She was a force to be reckoned with throughout that Godawful film, carrying it from start to finish. But, sorry, I didn't enjoy its crass depictions of Black ritual magic/voodou, nor its use of Blackface, the dark-skinned actors relegated to domestic/violent roles, etc. However, one thing that is quite notable in the film (mentioned during the post-screening discussion between Professor Due and Professor Scott) is its unabashed references to race/race relations/American White supremacy. This type of racialized dialogue was rare in early Hollywood productions, even those that attempted to tell stories that included Black characters. It also lightly touched on the historically accurate mixed-race middle-class in Haiti (known in French as the gens de couleur, or free people of color), as Washington's character Clelie ran a plantation on the island. Before the Haitian Revolution, this group of free mixed-race Black individuals held a higher social status than the monoracial African enslaved community and played a significant part in the only successful slave revolt in modern history. The Whites who "ran" St. Domingue limited the social mobility and rights of the gens de couleur (who often owned slaves themselves and did not wish to abolish slavery), rendering them inferior due to their African heritage. Eventually, this scorned class of mixed-race peoples in Haiti joined forces in the Revolution with the enslaved militias and the Spanish, and the rest was history. I'm getting off-topic now, aren't I? It just irks me how the Haitian Revolution is so under-discussed in academic circles that most people are unaware of its impact, which created the first free Black nation in the Western hemisphere. 

Ok, back to Ouanga and its discussions of race relations in America, the concept of "passing," and the absurdity of the one-drop rule. Washington's character becomes so distraught at the idea of losing her White lover Adam to a White woman, Eve (why the apparent Biblical reference?); she essentially hexes her competition through the ill-represented Black magic in the film. At the beginning of the film, she pleads with Adam to forsake his engagement to Eve. He denies telling Clelie she "belongs with her own kind," and she responds incredulously. "Forget about that girl... Am I not as beautiful? As White?" When Adam begins to retreat, she begs him not to treat her like a "Black wench," like the women on his plantation. Whew. A lot to unpack here.

Clelie, with her pale skin and light-colored eyes, is dismayed by her Black ancestry. She wishes to pass as a White woman like her appearance permits her. Still, she struggles against the insidious one-drop rule crafted to explain the identities of those born from the sexual exploitation of Black enslaved women and their White masters. As a multiracial Black person with fair skin and overall White-passing features, I can relate to this confusion personally. Even though I am fair-skinned, I have experienced similar grief as Clelie when trying to date outside of my race and have dealt with anti-Black racism from my own non-Black family members. At times I feel like Clelie, creating distance between my ancestry and my physical appearance, wishing to be a monoracial White woman to avoid the bullshit racism of having just "one drop" of Black blood in America. Then I come to, remembering that I descend from the unrelenting strength of my ancestors, remembering that I cannot track my Black and Indigenous lineage as the lives of POC went undocumented, ruined by a genocidal past. I think that's what drives Clelie's voodou madness the most, her having to deny this significant part of her identity to be with the man she loves. 

I feel it, Clelie, I really do. 

[the-busy-ghost]

@margaretbeaufort​ said: I’d be happy to help out! I spend way to much time puzzling over headresses.

Thanks! Any insight at all would be a help- and it’s just a personal wondering thing not like an academic project or anything so an exact answer isn’t essential. Basically, I’ve been wondering what headdresses, specifically of normal noblewomen (lairdly to ducal level, less so royalty), might have looked like in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Scotland (specifically between about 1430 and 1530, and aside from what little people have been able to extrapolate from the records about the rise of French hoods). Problem we have almost nothing to go on, especially artistically, since almost all Scottish painting from this period has been lost or destroyed, and the stuff that survives doesn’t tell you much about ordinary people (i.e., it’s royalty or biblical scenes where people are meant to look outlandish). And one tantalising quote from the Spanish ambassador Pedro de Ayala in 1498 where he claimed that, in his personal opinion, the headdress (as if there was only one which seems unlikely) in use in Scotland was particularly attractive:

“They dress much better than here (England), and especially as regards the head-dress, which is, I think, the handsomest in the world.” 

I suppose we could also scan the poetry of the period (Dunbar, Lindsay, e.t.c.) and see what they give us, like in Henryson’s (c.1460-1500) ‘Garmont of Gud Ladeis’:

“Of he honour suld be hir hud Upoun hir heid to weir. Garneist with govirnance so gud, Na demyng suld hir deir.” 

(”Of high honour should be her hood

Upon her head to wear

Garnished with governance so good,

No suspicion should harm her”)

and

“Hir belt suld be of benignitie Abowt hir middill meit, Hir mantill of humilitie To tholl bayth wind and weit. Hir hat suld be of fair having And hir tepat of trewth, Hir patelet of gud pansing, Hir hals ribbane of rewth.” 

(Her belt should be of kindness

About her middle meet,

Her mantle of humility

To withstand both wind and wet.

Her hat should be of fair bearing

And her tippet of truth

Her partlet of good thoughts,

Her neck ribbon of pity.” - Loose translations mine and not the best as done in a rush

And I know art is misleading anyway, but it’s sometimes the best way of visualising things. What we have is 1- the Trinity Altarpiece, from the 1470s, but that’s of a foreign queen (Margaret of Denmark) and it’s thought that the figures were painted in the Low Countries anyway and the faces made more accurate in Scotland; 2- for the years 1503-1541 paintings and copies of paintings of another foreign queen, the English Margaret Tudor (see page 9/301 in this article, and aside from this picture usually shown wearing French hoods in other, usually later copies of portaits,  the most famous being the seventeenth century portrait by Mytens, or depictions of her when she was young in England before 1503 (x)); and 3, later sixteenth century depictions of Scotswomen and French or English women in Scotland who show that court fashions in paintings at least seem to have kept pace with wider European fashion, but then court fashion is not exactly the ordinary person’s clothing. Nonetheless, even getting an idea of what court dress might have looked would be great, especially before 1530, since we have very little to go on. 

So I tried to think of any other ways we might be able to get an impression of how fashion might have looked, but, even though I know where to find sources as a Scottish history person, I wouldn’t necessarily be able to make head nor tail or those sources since I’m not well-up in fashion history- for example, I can read clothing and livery payments in the Treasurer’s accounts (one of the main surviving sources of royal expenditure) very easily since they’re in Scots and know something about what cloth might be favoured but I couldn’t put all the various pieces of what was purchased together in my head to form an idea of what it might look like without a lot of work.

 So I suppose there’s some early documentary sources like that- the Treasurer’s Accounts unfortunately does give an impression only for the elites, and are fragmentary, but we do have some clothing accounts for people like Margaret of Denmark (Queen of Scots, 1469-1486, the account is from 1473-4, but there’s only a few mentions relating to headdresses for things like kerchiefs in there), James III’s sister Margaret Stewart (lived quietly in Haddington), some of James IV’s mistresses like Janet Kennedy and Margaret Drummond and his illegitimate daughter Margaret Stewart, Lady Gordon (and her companions), ladies in waiting to Margaret Tudor (both her English ladies and Scotswomen who were given gifts of clothing when they attended on her) and other servants and women of the court. Most of the volumes of the Treasurer’s Accounts are available online for this period (x, x, x, x, x - thank you Victorian printing enthusiasts, and digitisation) as are the Exchequer Records, so I can always look them up whenever, and there’s also the occasional will or inventory or set of burgh or noble accounts for the period but they’re not always so accessible- the issue is that, while the Scots is easy enough to follow for me, I can’t always understand very well how the various pieces of clothing fit together- though main words used are generally ‘tippet’ and kerchief. (This may also be useful for obscure terms- the dictionary of old scots).

Either way they give quite an elite and partial view. Another way we might find images is in doodles at the side of important administrative documents and books (the Treasurer’s Accounts again has one or two), but it would take a long time to go through something like that.

 What I did wonder though is whether tomb effigies might be useful since we don’t have many paintings. I’m sure these could also be dodgy evidence, since they’re meant to present an Image to the viewer, and we don’t have many of them left either (and we have no monumental brasses of the period, which are such a great visual source in England) but they’re better than nothing.

Unfortunately not being in Scotland I can’t see many of them myself at the moment, and have to rely on sketches made by artists a century ago who seemed more interested in the men’s armour, but I did wonder about one (or several). Some, particularly of noblewomen who were married to lords of parliament and above, and especially those for the period 1200-1400 have headdresses that look very much like identifiable headdresses in use elsewhere in Europe. But some, for the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, and especially for women who were married to minor nobility and prominent townsmen, who were important in the regions, show a simpler piece of headgear like these:

John Houston- a Renfrewshire laird (not the same as a lord, but like minor landed gentry) who died around 1456- and his wife Agnes Campbell.

Gilbert Menzies of Pitfoddels (another laird) and his wife Marjory Liddel- Gilbert died c.1459). Were moved to St Nicholas Kirk, Aberdeen, so from the vicinity of the modern city.

Another one from St Nicholas Kirk, Aberdeen, John Collison (provost of the city c.1521) and his wife Margaret Setoun.

A slightly different but interesting one from Falkirk, a lord and lady callendar from the early sixteenth century. 

- Source for these

I can also remember seeing more in St Nicholas Kirk the one time I was there, with similar headdresses, a bit like this one of Elizabeth Keith on the Irvine of Drum tomb (c.1457) that someone has managed to get a picture of x, x, x.

SO! This long preamble aside (and my questions is more about these effigies, the preamble with literary and expenditure sources is just in case they might be useful), I’m wondering about this sort of simple headdress with the sort of padded ring and a veil underneath, and sometimes with this decorated stuff nearer the ears, if that’s what I’m seeing. It doesn’t look very unusual but it also isn’t what I’d really think of straight away when I think of late fifteenth century headgear- I’d have been thinking more stuff like this comparatively good example from Borthwick (mid-fifteenth century?), or this one of Beatrice Sinclair, Countess of Douglas (mid-fifteenth century- source), or even (for those at the highest end of society, countesses and queens and the like), something like what Margaret of Denmark is modelling in the Trinity Altarpiece, or one of those steep hennins and butterfly headdresses. But obviously these women are slightly lower on the social scale (though still important in their local areas and fit to associate with court if called to).

Firstly, is there ANY use at all in funeral effigies? Secondly, do you know of any good similar cases to these headdresses, since I’m assuming that something quite simple could have been in use among minor nobility and merchant classes across northern Europe? If not what kind of headdress would be worn by the wives of minor gentry and richer merchants in England, Scandinavia or the Low Countries, at least if they were dressed in their best clothes (i.e. for funeral monument, e.t.c.)? Thirdly, what would I call it (padded stuff and veil doesn’t really work)?  The first and last ones are also quite intriguing but the middle ones are more common among the ones I’ve seen. And lastly really, any other interesting insight you may have- I have to imagine they’re not particularly unique, but I’d like to know how widespread they would be and who would generally wear them (also if there are any images of them that aren’t worn away stone).

As I say though it’s quite a specific query but also not one I desperately need answered as it isn’t for like an academic reason, just my own ponderings. I’m going to need to start paying attention to merchants’ and minor gentry’s tombs and monumental brasses more outside of Scotland (though the ones I’ve seen in England so far are not like this and I can’t think of any I saw in the Netherlands, but they were generally of higher status figures).

Apologies for the long post, I think I needed to get it all off my chest. But as I say any knowledge (or if you just have related stuff you need to rant about and might be only tangentially related) would be much appreciated, no matter how small, if you have the time.

(Oh one last thing- if you happen to know what a tippet would look like when worn by a high-ranking late fifteenth century or sixteenth century noblewoman, I would love to know, because I’m thinking more thirteenth century liripipes worn by Robin Hood-esque yeomen every time it’s mentioned).

[bougainvilea]

I’m becoming more and more aware that people online don’t really know what it means to be Jewish, so I’m making a helpful list!

Under the cut, I deal with the following things:

the difference between Judaism and Christianity 

the streams in Judaism and why they’re not denominations

Judaism as a culture

why Judaism is not an ethnicity (and why you can’t be half Jewish)

the word ‘goy’

historical antisemitism

Jewish rebellion

feel free to reblog, especially if you are not Jewish

To start off with, some definitions:

observant = the extent to which one considers themselves religiously Jewish as opposed to culturally/socially/historically/etc Jewish

to keep Shabbat = according to religious law, from Friday night to Saturday night you have to keep the sabbath holy, by following a bunch of rules like no starting a spark (which means no electricity or cars or anything), no picking up a pen, and a bunch of other things you can read about here. 

It does not mean christianity without the new testament. We have our own traditions, laws, and an extra book known as the Mishnah. Our traditions center around different things, our sabbath day is different, our days start in the evenings.

On this note, I’ve seen a post going around saying that Judaism is inherently different to xtianity, and it is 100% accurate. By which I mean, our laws are debatable. Even if you are 10000% observant, you could differ in tradition to someone else who is equally observant. You might be in different streams (see next dot point), or different cultural groups. This is beacause the words are interpreted differently by different Rabbis, and consensus is not wanted or needed. 

Judaism has streams. These are not similar to christian denominations. These streams are within similar communities and interact quite frequently. The difference between this and denominations is that Judaism is a culture (as I’ll get to later), which means that those who are “secular” (like me!) are not ‘just Jews not doing all the things they should be doing’ or ‘ignoring some of the laws’ - they have their own Judaism that is expressed through different practises and traditions, but they remain a community. Of course there are still people who consider themselves orthodox but only go to shul/synagogue on the High Holidays. But there are also communities of people who have interpreted Judaism’s multifaceted nature into their own unique brand of Judaism.

some examples are:

Ultra Orthodox - Usually what you see when you picture a Jewish person. Streimel (this hat so expensive), suit, study torah all day, pray very often, keeps Shabbat, etc. They are NOT NECESSARILY EUROPEAN. 

Reform - usually centered around the idea of ‘tikkun olam’ - which means repairing the earth - this stream is known in the Australian Jewish community for singing prayers to unusual tunes - my personal favourite is Adon Olam to ‘I Want It That Way’ by the Backstreet Boys (0:52 is when it gets Jewish lmaoooo). They differ from ultra-orthodox and orthodox because they “emphasize the evolving nature of the faith, the superiority of its ethical aspects to the ceremonial ones, and a belief in a continuous revelation not centered on the theophany at Mount Sinai.”

Secular Humanist - that’s me! I am atheist, but I am a part of the Jewish people and identify with the history and people within it. I feel a connection to the Jewish people’s struggles, revolutions, and liberations throughout time. I believe that Jewish people can create change and that we can use Jewish values and traditions to better the world without a focus on god. 

Judaism is a culture. This is the big one, and I feel that most people have heard this if nothing else. But let me specify; Judaism is also a religion. Judaism is associated with centurys worth of traditions and values and texts. And by texts I don’t just mean the Torah and the Mishnah - I mean every single Jewish philosopher or scholar or professor that has ever lived. Did you know that the famous 14th Century Spanish philosopher, Maimonedes, is known in the Jewish community as the Rambam (aka the Rabbi Moses ben Maimon = Rabbi Moses, son of Maimon) and wrote many a commentary on the holy books? Throughout the centuries, Judaism has gained an incredible collection of information and written arguments that have contributed to Jewish lives today. Synagogues, like churches, are great places of worship whilst also housing communities. Jewish people have stuck together throughout the years mostly out of necessity and safety and now have thriving communities of knowledge and culture! 

Judaism is NOT an ethnicity. This post started as a response to a post I saw calling someone “half Jewish, half Irish”. I tagged that you “can’t be half Jewish” and two people asked my why. This is why;

Before I continue this point, I received an anonymous message from another Jewish person saying the following; 

“we ARE an ethnicity (where do you think the curly jewish hair and aquiline nose on many jews - not all, but many - comes from?) but the reason we are considered 100% jewish if we are jewish at all is because we are a tribe and therefore if you are jewish you are considered 100% wholly part of the tribe to keep from any gatekeeping. but it is absolutely an ethnicity with an inherent religion, similar to native americans.”

this is a fair point, so maybe we are an ethnicity, but you can’t be “half Jewish” for the following reasons:

Part 1: Nuremberg Laws in Nazi Germany

Jews were outlawed from a lot of things in Nazi Germany, obviously. This started in 1933, but by 1935 the Nuremberg Laws passed. These (a) defined what it meant to be Jewish and (b) further separated them from society. 

The image below defined a fully German person (a  Deutschblütiger), a half Jew (a Mischling - “In German, the word has the general denotation of hybrid, mongrel, or half-breed.”), and a Jew (Jude). Essentially, if you were anywhere from 1/8 -1/4 Jewish, you could have Reich citizenship but still were at risk, whereas Jews (more than 1/4 Jewish) were obviously much more at risk. 

this is still today used to distinguish a Jewish person, but not in an antisemitic context. It is in fact used by Israel, so that all those who were targeted by Nazis are welcome to seek refuge and live in the intended state for the Jewish people, Israel. Anyone with 1/8 or more Jewish descent can very easily get Israeli citizenship. 

Part 2: Jewish Religious Law

according to Jewish Religious law, anyone with a Jewish mother is inherently Jewish. (also, anyone who converts - which is a 7 year process, by the way)

The reason these are relevant is because my point is that you can be ANY nationality, any ethnicity, and still be 100% Jewish. 

There are Jews of all nationalities - German Jews, Polish Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Latinx Jews, Israeli Jews, American Jews, Indian Jews, and many more! There are Jews of all ethnicities too - Asian Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, Roman Jews, Black Jews, and many many more.

You cannot be “half Jewish, half Irish” because Irish people can and are Jews. Judaism isn’t a racial or ethnic or cultural group - it is a community that transcends all these things. 

A Goy is not a derogatory term, and you shouldn’t be offended by it. Honestly, I don’t think it’s fair for any non Jew to be offended by a word that Jews call them (see the next point), but regardless, goy is a normal word that I use a lot to refer to non jews. See this post for more information. I know some Jews still don’t use it because they know it makes people uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t. (plural is goyim)

We do carry the weight of one fucked up history. There’s a classic joke told at most Jewish Holidays - “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat!”. It tends to accurately represent Jewish history. I honestly don’t know how much goyim know about Jewish history. I’m sure you have at least heard abut the Holocaust, because it was so systemic and systematic, but there are many other instances. If not, please read some online articles. Antisemitism is sometimes referred to as “the oldest hatred”, so here are some examples: (I apologise, this is mostly Europe centric)

destruction of both the first and second temple in biblical times by the Romans and the Babylonians

the spanish inquisition and the explusion from spain in the 1400s

Pogroms (especially in Europe, check out Fiddler on the Roof for an excellent representation)

an insane history of being shut off in our own communities - the first ghetto was created in Venice in 1516 and was seen as a positive thing because Jews had never had their own land before (that’s fucked up????)

blame for Jesus’ death evolved into the idea of a Blood Libel, which was the rumour that Jews liked to kidnap christian children and drink their blood or used it for ritual purposes (?????????) resulting in many christians lynching Jewish people

blame for the Black Death in Europe (because Jewish tradition cites that they have to be clean for Shabbat, so every Friday they bathed and therefore didn’t catch the plague??) 

on a non-European note, Ethiopian Jews were in such danger as recently as 1980 that Israel carried out a rescue mission which took 10,000 Ethiopian Jews through the desert of North Africa so they could live safely in Israel

We have never been quiet. Jewish revolution and rebellion has always existed. Examples are:

The literal story of Hanukkah

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (led by young people from the youth movement I attend to! this! day!)

on this note: Jewish people have many youth movements made specifically for political purposes, and have historically always been very well educated and passionate. I won’t talk about Zionism here, though I want to. That’s for another post. 

(note: Jewish bolshevism is antisemitic and just untrue)

refusing to convert to Christianity or any other religion the many, many times that we have been captured/the leadership in charge of us has changed (this is a big rebellious act in the spanish exile/the exile to babylon/etc)

the current head of the Jewish Agency (Natan Sharansky) was a rebel in the Soviet Union, fighting for freedom and democracy. 

We were LITERALLY so sick of antisemitism that 18-25 year olds went to Palestine and built a nation based on the idea of a socially just society (and kibbutzim)????? how it went after is another story but you understand what I mean when I say that we did not sit silently in Europe. 

So, there you have it - some Jewish facts and figures. I hope I taught you something new. If anyone has anything they’d like me to add, feel free to send me an ask! 

[miniaturesaladpeanut]

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[faithfulnews]

Need a last-minute Christmas gift? Try this

Mexico (MNN) -- With five days left until Christmas, it’s possible you’re scrambling for last-minute gifts. If there’s a difficult person on your Christmas list, consider giving God’s Word in their honor. Wycliffe Bible Translators makes it easy. They’ve highlighted 23 projects of greatest need in their 2019 Gift Catalog.

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

“In this year's catalog, we have a match for the Steep Mountain Zapotec project in Mexico… that's actually a project for children. [It’s] a video [series] called the ‘Deditos’ which actually means ‘little fingers’ in Spanish,” Wycliffe USA’s Melissa Stillman says.

“We're hoping to meet that match in a timely way so that more resources can go to the project.”

Helping kids access God’s Word

As Stillman explains here, Wycliffe partners with Viña Studios, a video team from Guatemala, to create short films of Old Testament Bible stories using finger puppets. Working from a biblically accurate script, “finger actors” perform in front of a green screen. Later, a digital editor adds elaborate backgrounds to fit the scene. “The neat thing about this [project] is that the Viña team produces lesson plans with each of these Bible story videos, and it helps the kids grow in the Lord,” Stillman says.

“In that Steep Mountain Zapotec area, kids are going to church even if their parents aren't.  So, this really helps disciple them.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe USA)

According to the Joshua Project, there are 55 different variations of the Zapotec language in Mexico. Several have little or no Scripture access.  As Stillman describes in her blog, believers in the Steep Mountain Zapotec area had been reaching out to children. However, they lacked biblical, kid-friendly resources in the Steep Mountain Zapotec language – making the “Deditos” videos an invaluable resource. “The ‘Deditos’ videos are [available in] multiple languages around the world,” Stillman says. “They really are effective tools in helping people who can't read and write in their own language encounter God's Word from the Old Testament.”

Give beyond Christmas

To make a Christmas donation to the Steep Mountain Zapotec project, click here. Whether you can give or not, Stillman says, please pray for these Bible translation projects. “We encourage people... to use the write-ups about each of the projects to just pray through them. God [is working] in each of those areas,” she says. See all 23 projects listed in Wycliffe USA’s Gift Catalog.     Header image is a stock photo courtesy Acharaporn Kamornboonyarush via Pexels.

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[jonfarreporter]

A gem of a movie that misses its mark is “The Miracle” from 1959.

At this time of year with Passover and Easter, seasonal favorites to watch have been the traditional ‘sword and sandal’ movies like ‘Ben Hur’ and ‘The Robe.’

Interestingly when these types of movies were made (which was right after World War II)  in that time there were lots of movies with religious or semi religious themes.

Some historians believe that this was because after World War II people had a sense of gratitude for the end of the war.

In the 40s through the 50s and into the early 60s ‘sword and sandal’ - biblical or religious-themed movies were well received.

Among the most notable are epics like ‘The Ten Commandments,’ ‘The Robe’ and ‘Ben-Hur.’

One movie that debuted in 1959, in which all the elements of a religious or semi-religous epic was utilized was called ‘The Miracle,’ starring Carroll Baker and a then, very-young Roger Moore.

To this reporter, it is a gem of a movie. Yet it is under appreciated because as some film historians and critics point out, it was released just after ‘Ben- Hur.’

While ‘The Miracle’ lends itself to a well produced epic, the movie falls short in its lack of ability to emphasize a clear and well punctuated theme.

This reporter noticed immediately that even with its fine cinematography and wonderful costume and set design, it gets convoluted.  It is extremely sweeping and alludes to a complexity that as I see it should be explained even if just a bit more, to an eager audience. 

The issue here is that it’s main objective or so it seems is to describe the distinction between romantic love and mystical love.

For those who are not Catholic it’s hard to follow. But even those that are Catholic it takes a well-read and devout person, to understand the subtle and yet, complex lines within the story.

Initially it is about the young aspirant to the convent, Teresa. This Teresa of the story is loosely based upon Teresa of Avila. Teresa of Avila was A 16th century mystic in Spain.

While the time frame of the movie is set somewhere within the Napoleonic era it is not really clear which year the events of the movie take place. 

Also, it is not clear exactly which religious order this Teresa is an aspirant to. It seems at first to be Franciscan, because the opening scene is for the blessing of the animals. The nuns are dressed in what appears to be a brown and white habit. But upon closer view, the brown scapular or apron which Carmelites wear  is more mauve than a traditional Franciscan brown or gray habit that a Franciscan would wear. 

Actually it doesn’t matter which order, but a clearer reference does help. Especially when trying to convey the mystical aspects. Each religious order has a mystical tradition. 

The convent is in the fictional valley of Miraflores, somewhere outside of Madrid but the script never says exactly where. From this reporter’s point of view, the story seems real but isn’t.

The audience is being lead into some form of historical fiction, which is okay. But some clarity should have been stated. 

Are the nuns cloistered? Or do they have contact with people? Again, are they Franciscan, or Carmelite? Elements of these traditions are implied. Yet It is never really stated. 

Historically the Franciscans, the Carmelites and the Dominicans played a very vital if not domineering role in the religious culture of Spain. This Spanish culture made its way to the New World. And, then to the United States via the California Missions and the Pacific South West region. 

Parallels between the Teresa in the story and Teresa of Avila in real life are very obvious to see; especially to a Catholic audience. But to an audience not familiar with that it’s hard to follow.

In the opening credits there is mention of a “Divine Mercy.” But the script (which includes dialog between characters, etc) does not state this clearly enough. Nor does it do so through action. 

Carroll Baker who portrays the young aspirant/postulant Teresa does provide youthful emotion conveying a relationship with the spiritual that at times it is charming and convincing. But it then goes over to the melodramatic. 

The scene where she speaks aloud to Blessed Mother Mary depicted in the statue in the church with the tile of “our lady of Miraflores” is tender. With prayerful expressions like “oh Mother Mary the only mother I have known,” the script does convey her affection for the life of the convent and the fact that she was raised by the nuns, having been left at their doorstep. This is sweet. 

And, the fact that as a young woman she is drawn to the romantic and ultimately to the world is also nicely and accurately portrayed. Mother Superior, graciously understands this as she too read Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as a young girl of 17, “under different circumstances, of course.” 

Teresa’s love of music, poetry and literature adds to her humanity amid the convent atmosphere and its dedication to “perfection and the holy rule of the religious order.” 

A gust of wind also seems to have a role in this movie. But it is never really demonstrated clearly as to what it means. When a gust of wind occurs, change happens. 

Is this a symbol of the mystical? The script and the action between characters never says for sure. 

Like ‘Ben-Hur’ and other historical fiction stories, ‘The Miracle’ is based upon a previous film done in the silent film era. And it goes back to even an earlier version upon the stage by Karl Vollmoller, which he seems to have obtained from old European passion play type stories and legends of Medieval times. 

The fact that the outline of this story was done previously long ago, tells why the $3.5 million dollar production is so well-made. Cinematography, the movie is outstanding and the list of actors/actresses to fill a cast of over 91 people is impressive. 

But again, it is this vagueness and sweeping references that misses an important mark in story-telling. 

The tyrant Napoleon has caused British troops to make their way to Spain to push the French and Napoleon’s egocentric forces back in their place. As a battalion of British soldiers stop at the convent to get water, Teresa catches the eye of a young officer, Michael Stuart, played by Roger Moore. 

Baker’s simply beauty and Moore’s dashing charm are delightful to behold. Her distinctive voice and his elegant British accent are easy to listen to and the script adapted/written by Jean Rouverol and Frank Bulter serves them well. Together - Baker and Moore make the ideal couple for any paperback novel romance. 

More than just a stop for water brings them together. He is then wounded in battle with Napoleon’s forces and is back at the convent to be nursed to health by...you guessed it, Teresa. 

Yet, it is that “unseen” mystical element - that is an obstacle to their union. The conflict within Teresa between the romantic love she has for Michael and the mystical love she is believes in, is obvious. 

Her prayers for his safe return to Devon, England his home go with him as she stands firm on the belief in this “mystical” or “Divine” love. 

Yet, when romantic love takes hold, she rushes out to see him one last time in a gust of wind. Only to return to the convent chapel asking Our Lady of Miraflores to “show me a sign!” 

As Teresa prostrates herself on the stone floor of the chapel, asking for guidance a gust of wind stirs the skies to rain and disrobing her nun-like attire, Teresa ventures out into the storm to find Michael at the inn in the village town, waiting for her. 

But as she reaches the town, it is under siege by Napoleon’s men. Searching for Michael amid the chaos, she stumbles into a French soldier with lust on his mind. As he proceeds to have his way with Teresa, a gypsy woman appears. 

She saves Teresa from a terrible outcome in the arms of the brute and brings her to the gypsy camp in the hills above the valley. 

Right from the opening scene when the blessing of the animals takes place at the start of the movie, gypsies are present. They seem to symbolize the outside world and those on the fringes of a tightly-knit society. 

Actor, Walter Slezak is among the principal characters in the gypsy encampment. He provides not only integrity to the plight of the outcasts but a sense of humor and sharp wit. 

Teresa’s determination to find her beloved Michael is dashed when she learns from two of the gypsies that “an English officer was killed.” And, that his fine pocket watch (which Michael had shown to her while recuperating at the convent) was among the loot the gypsies had taken from the dead soldiers. 

Angry, upset and seemingly confused, Teresa denounces her faith, exclaiming “I am not a Christian!” 

Tattered and dusty, Teresa then finds herself between two brothers, rivaling for not only for stolen loot but also their mother’s love. The contrast between the earthy, bombastic, live-flesh and blood gypsy mother and the lofty Blessed Mary in the statue of Our Lady of Miraflores is striking. Especially, when the gypsy mother role is played by Katina Paxinou.

Her performance is electrifying as she is the type of actress who as one might say, “eats up the scenery.” Just her mere presence in the film without any dialog speaks volumes. 

Why she favors Guido over Carlito is not understood. Yet, she knows the naive Teresa is folly for her sons. And Guido wins the affection of a reluctant Teresa as he convinces her to marry him, albeit sort-notice. Her faith no longer as strong she agrees. 

Only, indadvertedly, Carlito’s jealousy brings the French to the gypsy camp to take his brother Guido away. Sadly, in Carlito’s short-sightedness he exposes the entire camp to danger and the vengeful French troops open fire on the people there. 

Guido is killed and Carlito is given a bag of gold as reward for Guido’s whereabouts as a wanted man. This then spurs the gypsy mother to disown her remaining son by shooting him on the spot. 

This distresses Teresa as she runs away from the gypsy camp and luckily finds help in the unlikely but shrewd gypsy Flaco, played by Slezak. Seeing her potential as a money-maker with Teresa’s gift of song and dance, they travel to Madrid. 

There she meets a handsome matador and then a kindly old gentleman-aristocrate who help Teresa and Flaco gain access to the stage as “Miraflores - the Gypsy dancer and singer.” 

What irks me most, is the fact that the script doesn’t really explain or try to illustrate the distinctions this young woman is making on a “spiritual journey” of sorts. 

The matador is killed in the ring while his back is turned from the bull. This is yet another “love” taken from her. But what type of love was it? It wasn’t the love she had for Michael. And, it wasn’t the affectionate passion she had for Guido. So, was it a compassion? Was the matador an orphan of sorts like she was? Was it that that attracted her to him? The script doesn’t say for sure. 

The old aristocrat Casimir is heart-broken when Teresa leaves abruptly with no goodbye. She respected him like a father, but yet, not enough to leave word as to her departure, why? 

To me, Flaco and the gypsy mother are the only characters that speak clearly and plainly about life and are direct with Teresa. Everyone else is subdued or yields to Teresa’s belief (as Michael does) in this “mystical love” or “divine” love or divine mercy the story claims is the theme. 

When the matador Cordoba is about to die, a mysterious wind kicks up, is this fate? Is this part of Our Lady Miraflores’ doing? It is not clear. Here again it is not exactly spelled out what the symbolism of the gust of wind actually means. 

When Michael and Teresa meet up unexpectedly, after Cordoba’s tragic death, their love is immediately and passionately rekindled. It picks up right where it left off. Both are happy. 

But when he tells of his experience being captured in the town while waiting at the inn for her; then escaping imprisonment, Michael mentions something unsettling. The statue of Our Lady of Miraflores is missing and a drought has befallen the valley. 

Right away Teresa’s mood changes, her demeanor which had been full of undying love, now is once again in distress. Why exactly?

What did this life at the convent really mean to her? How can she discern the missing statue is a “sign?” 

Michael is called away as his battalion is off to fight another skirmish with Napoleon’s forces. When the women say goodbye to their soldiers and officers, Teresa exclaims, “I can’t pray for him!” Why? The script is not clear. Yet, someone had to be praying for him as he faced certain danger. 

While on the battlefield, he is exposed to gunfire and cannons, one cannon explodes within inches of him. Yet Michael is unharmed. His helmet gives witness to the intensity of the blast that should have killed him. 

Yes, a miracle. But is this “The Miracle?” And, what about the mysterious disappearance of the statue and the Teresa in full habit as a professed nun that Michael saw when he returned to speak to Mother Superior to ask for Teresa’s hand in marriage? Is that “The Miracle?”

It is not clear. In reading some of the details provided by Wikipedia and other sources, it seems the production had problems. Namely, the film’s director, Irving Rapper. 

He and actress Carroll Baker did not get along. And, according to Baker, as director Rapper was very hard and harsh with Moore, the tempers on the set of the production was bumpy. She admitted to being difficult. But, it seems the director’s frustration must have impacted the finer details of the film. 

It has all the elements of a rich and colorful epic, with a tender romance too, just like in ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘The Robe’ with Richard Burton and Jean Simmons. 

Yet, as I see it the sweeping and broad liberalities in which this story with its complexities is left to vagueness is not gratifying. At least not by today’s standards. Contemporary audiences would need plausible explanations. 

And, with regards to anything “spiritual or mystical” that too would have to have something tangible and earthy to make an audience suspend its disbelief, even if just for a brief but sweet romance.

Perhaps the missing aspects are expressed in the scenery, which surprisingly were filmed in California and makes the viewer feel as if they are right in old Spain. 

And, most importantly, the missing aspects are expressed in the music. Composer Elmer Bernstein’s magnificent score is a masterpiece. It expresses the fine-line between romance and harsh reality, between earthly love, expressed between a man and a woman and that hard-to-pin-down “mystical love,” that all religions, not just Catholicism speak about. 

“The Miracle” by Warner Brothers (1959) is available on VHS cassette tape and on DVD copy via the VHS release. Check online sources like eBay and others for details. 

Thoughts, reflections and musings by journalist Jonathan Farrell

[redeminence]

@philippedonadieu

Armaud slowly walked the nave of Saint-Eustache with his hands behind him, taking in the environment of the church. It was late morning, and thus the entire church had a light, airy quality to it, with warm sunlight streaming in through the windows keeping everything well lit. There were people milling around here and there, sitting in prayer or talking with low voices in the aisles, some stealing few glances at his person, perhaps unused to seeing the Cardinal around or perhaps admiring the bright red of his robes, but Armaud paid them little attention and continued his survey. He was happy to note that everything seemed fairly clean and well organized.

He was tired. The recent assassination attempt had been a mess to sort through and there was without a doubt still trouble brewing on the horizon, especially with the perpetrator uncaught and Spanish relations all but obliterated. It was now that Armaud would seize the opportunity to clear his head for a moment and visit his most prized investment before returning to his world of court politics.

Saint-Eustache was indeed a marvel of Catholic architecture, with its tall, vaunted ceilings and beautiful stained glass and biblical paintings. Armaud was baptized here, attended church here for part of his childhood, and yet it looked the same as it did all those years ago. In plain view of this architectural wonder, Armaud could not–or perhaps more accurately did not want to–see the appeal of Protestantism, with its bland and plain facades, the way they did not seem to uplift God in the way that humans were capable. It seemed to him less like purity of doctrine and more like great human arrogance. He understood, of course, the issues with which the Protestants had with the Catholic church, but he did not believe that an ideological split was necessary for reform. No, reform had to happen from the inside.

Armaud continued down the ambulatory whereupon he spied Philippe talking to some parishioners. He did not approach the group right away, but instead stood a small distance away to observe his young protege. A shaft of light pierced through the church’s window, bisecting Philippe’s body in two. Young and bright, from that distance he looked to be fully in his element; Philippe seemed to have taken well to his congregation at Saint-Eustache, Armaud was proud to note. It was good to cultivate leadership qualities, the sooner the better. He waited there until the conversation was over to approach Philippe, and he greeted him with much warmth.

“Père Donadieu,” Armaud said, with no small amount of teasing, “how are you today?”

[slayerbook]

Talkin’ Tori

This is one of my career highlights. I quickly talked to the goddess Tori Amos about her entire catalog (to that point), in terms of characters she was representing in the songs, and how the related to her real personality. At the end of it, she said it was a good interview. (And at the beginning, she said “Hi, Ferris!”) So I’ll take that.

Man. The vagaries of online content. One of my favorite pieces doesn’t fully exist online anymore. Writer brothers and sisters, never trust anybody to archive your stuff.

Little Earthquakes turned 25 today, which doesn’t seem right, but hey, you know? The “how’s that thought for ya?” from “Silent All These Years” might be the best STFU in the history of pop music. So, if you came to this blog for metal content, rest assured: Tori is metal as shit.

Anyhow, here’s Tori, from 2007. Various incomplete versions of it are floating around on some VVM-affiliated sites, but this is the full director’s cut. Some of the supergenius editors gave the pieces imaginative, reverent, respectful titles like “Piano Girl” and “Tori Goes Schizo” — I didn’t write that shit.

Content after the jump...

The Amos Posse

Patron Saint of Piano Girls Looks Back at the Women Who Sang Her Songs

       Tori Amos has taken to the road with the girls of American Doll Posse, her catchiest release in years. It’s her tenth studio album -- if you count the eponymous debut of her self-titled group Y Kant Tori Read, a cringe-inducing hair-rock serenading of material excess in 1980s Los Angeles, where she actually spent her early 20s scraping by, playing piano in hotel cantinas and bars.

       The new album finds that young singer grown into a mother and world traveler who’s riding with good company: The songs are delivered in the voice of four other characters, each further realized through her own costume and blog: Isabel the indignant politico photographer, Clyde the wounded soul-seeker, Pip the fierce rubber enthusiast, and Santa the glitzy sensualist. They’re also on tour.

            For this trek, Amos is performing sets over two hours long. They’ll close with a set by Tori and her band. She’ll play solo on her Bösendorfer piano. And she’ll take the stage dressed and in character as one of the Posse -- Amos says she doesn’t finalize a set list and decide which girl will perform until an hour before the show.

            Even if they can’t travel, Tori’s loyal legion can catch every show. The night of each concert – if everything goes as planned – official bootlegs called Legs and Boots will be available on ToriAmos.com.

            The cast of characters is the album’s narrative hook and talking point, but it’s not a new approach for Amos. After her proper solo debut, 1992’s starkly autobiographical Little Earthquakes, she’s since branched into more oblique lyrics and presented different characters in many of her songs. Amos talked to Scene about all her albums and the women who sang them. Visit blogs.CleveScene.com for an expanded version of Amos’ look at her entire catalog.

 Of the American Doll Posse characters, which is least like you?

“The least like me, the way I’ve known me all these years, would be Santa. She was patterned after Aphrodite [the Greek goddess of love, lust, and beauty, the counterpart of the Roman Venus]. I thought she was a tart. After really immersing myself in her story, I began to see how she would use her sexuality, and how she was really comfortable with her body. She didn’t live a life of guilt where men decided how she felt about her physicality.”

 Was The Beekeeper [2005] more a character or concept?

“I didn’t see it as a character. It was more about the structure of the garden, and I like the idea that songs were coming from an expression in nature. And we developed each song coming from a specific garden. And I liked that, especially since our Biblical story starts in a garden. As a minister’s daughter, I don’t accept that their read of history is the accurate read. So the Beekeeper was really about another viewpoint of the feminine coming from the garden.”

 And Scarlet’s Walk [2002] was more of an overt alter-ego?

“Yes. [Scarlett’s Walk] was a journey through America, post 9/11, trying to go back and cross the country, trying to find ancient sacred sites the spiritual vortexes that Native Americans have held secret and sacred. Scarlet is a woman, but she is a thread that is weaving across the country, trying to remember the story of the real keepers of this land, who had been practically erased from our history.”

 In the cover-songs album Strange Little Girls [2001], each song was a character-driven narrative. Did you feel particularly close to any of them?

“It’s not that I related to some of them more than others. I think [Eminem’s] ’ ‘97 Bonnie and Clyde’ was powerful, because the song itself – when you have a woman murdered in the back [seat of a car] -- I took the point of view that she wasn’t quite yet dead. And all men have to remember: When their wives aren’t quite yet dead, that’s the most dangerous five minutes.”

 To Venus and Back [1999] had some abstract lyrics, but was it pretty much Tori?

“You had a double album of the live show -- a collection of songs that had accumulated for many years, and then you had the future as we were approaching the millennium. It seem to me that the Earth, as it was approaching the millennium, needed a girlfriend. And so Venus seemed to me a friend for her to have.”

From the Choirgirl Hotel [1998] had some very obviously personal songs like “Spark,” but did “Playboy Mommy” or “Jackie’s Strength” represent a character?

“In a way, as you’re composing, the songs are their own entities. And they don’t have arms and legs, but they do have consciousness. As a composer, I’m able to contain the song and write it and translate it. Because you shape-shift. I make it as a half-decent playwright: Characters can embody you. They come and they visit.”

 Boys for Pele [1996] was based on some of your experiences beyond the average every-day. Where were you for that album?

“That album, I was stepping into, in a big way, the confrontational side of the psyche. And having spent some time in Hawaii with [volcano goddess] Pele herself, I was in a place where I began to question the authority of the male. So, in a way, I think there was a bit of Boudica, the great warrior women.”

 Under the Pink [1994] was departure form very direct, very literal Little Earthquakes. Did you see songs like “Past the Mission” as more of a creative narrative?

“I was spending some time in New Mexico, and I was studying the history of the Spanish and the conquistadors came in and set up the missions, and subjugated the native people to Christianity, because their beliefs were thought of as something of the devil, blasphemous. And, of course, that justified all [the conquistadors’] killing, slavery, and abuse. So I guess as a minister’s daughter, I’m made up of many characters – we all are. Any good writer, I think, maybe just allows themselves a little more freedom to let different aspects out.”

 Was Little Earthquakes [1992], as it seems, straight-up you?

“It’s a diary form, I would say – a journal. But you really can only write your journal once, in my opinion. I think you can maybe write it twice. But you need to have a lot of time lapse before you write the second one.”

 When you look back at Y Kant Tori Read [1988], can you relate to that girl, all these years later?

“What I understand about that is: When you get rejected as a composer for so many years, if you are a capable composer, you can pretty much compose anything. And my natural inclination as a writer was not going to be thwarted by the record companies, and I couldn’t sing in another bar for much longer; I’d done it for 11 years. So everyody has a different breaking point. And I realized: Unless I would write something that they felt they would sign, I was never gonna get out. So, of course, I chose to give them what I thought was a contemporary sound at the time, a pop-rock record. And I guess when you shop at Retail Slut one too many times, that’s what that’s what it’s going to look like.”

[florrickandassociates]

I was tagged by @hermione-mak-gilmore

1) If you could be fluent in any language(s) other than your mother tongue, what would it/they be?

Probably Spanish, just because it’s the language I took in HS. Might be cool to learn a language with a different alphabet, too.

2) What book(s) do you think should be taught in highschool?

Oh, I love this question! I was very happy with (most of) the books we had to read in high school, so I’ll just mention two of them here. It’s probably on the top of my mind because of what’s going on in the world right now, but 1984 was one of the best books we read. What I found most important about 1984 was that it wasn’t assigned for English class: we read it for history. 

Another book that I was glad we read was the Bible. My HS wasn’t a religious school and we didn’t read it in a religious studies class. We read it as literature, mostly so we’d have an understanding of Biblical references in other works we read. I’m sure that approach wouldn’t work everywhere-- honestly, it probably only works in a school like the one I went to-- but I found it valuable. 

3) What is one thing you love about the country you’re from?

I’m sure there are plenty of things I love about this country, it’s just that right now all of those things feel like they’re being challenged. 

4) What does your name mean?

If I answer this that’s like saying my name on Tumblr:) 

5) Which fictional character(s) are you most like?

Alicia Florrick. At least, I’d like to think so. People also like to tell me I remind them of Rory Gilmore, but I disagree. (Or, more accurately, I see what they mean but it’s a really surface-level comparison and people who say that to me usually either don’t know me well or haven’t spent much time really thinking about Rory’s personality.)   

6) Which fictional character(s) do you wish you were more like?

My mind’s still stuck on TGW/TGF so I’ll just go with Diane Lockhart. Bold, ambitious, confident. I also sometimes wish I were more like Jane Villanueva, because Jane’s so outgoing and friendly.

7)  Favorite Christmas song(s)?

I’m not sure that I have favorite Christmas songs. I definitely have least favorite Christmas songs...

8) What’s one kind thing you did in the past week?

Is it kind if it’s a bit self-serving, too? I’ve been trying to be as helpful and flexible as I can be at work because I can tell that my supervisors are busy/stressed. 

(I’m a bit worried that that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Actually, the first thing that came to mind was that the other day I was waiting for a bus and saw someone running to catch the bus, so I motioned to the driver to wait for the person who was running. But that’s such a small thing!) 

9) When’s your birthday?

December.

10) Favorite quote(s)?

Hmmm. I’ve always wanted to have a favorite quote, but I don’t think I have one! I have favorite lines of dialogue (”Poetry is easy; it’s the parent-teacher conferences that are hard”) but those don’t feel like appropriate answers here. 

11) How are you today? :)

I feel really tense and I can’t figure out why. My theory is that I got used to having lots of downtime at work, and now that I’m consistently busy (which is a good thing-- the downtime sucked), I don’t have a good method/routine for “unwinding” yet. 

[irenenorth]

New Post has been published on Irene North

New Post has been published on http://www.irenenorth.com/writings/2017/09/there-are-no-signs-of-the-times-and-the-world-is-not-ending/

There are no "signs of the times" and the world is not ending

Far too many people are caught up in speculation about the end of the world. While we are doing a good job at ignoring actual climate change, the hurricanes currently ravaging parts of Earth are not the end of the world, nor do they have anything to do with Jesus Christ, the book of Revelation, or any other such nonsense. Yet, in a letter to the editor to the Star-Herald, a reader thinks that is exactly what is happening.

We have heard the term, “Sign of the Times are everywhere.” We also know that Jesus said we cannot know the day of his return.

Well, right there you should stop writing, because you’re also going to start telling us what those signs were. You don’t even see that the bible says there are going to be signs everywhere, but you won’t know when he’s returning. Why does that statement not make your head hurt?

He also said in Matthew 16:3: “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky. But you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matthew 25 encourages us to be ready, not like the unwise five virgins who had no oil in their lamp when the bridegroom arrives. God has always warned His people of judgment to come.

Did you also know Matthew 16: 2b-3 does not appear in many early manuscripts? When you look at contextual and grammatical similarities and differences between the passage and Luke 12:54-56, they seem similar in English. But we all know the bible wasn’t written in English. Some scholars, such as Bernard Weiss, professor emeritus of languages and literature at the University of Utah, argue the Matthew passage is older than the Luke passage and came from an earlier source.

In “Q: A Reconstruction And Commentary,” Harry Fleddermann argued, “In addition the form πυρραζει appears only in Byzantine writers, a further sign that the passage is a late interpolation into Matthew’s text.” (Pg. 652)

You can’t quote from something that shouldn’t be in your holy book. However, both this passage and the quote from Matthew 25 are dealing with the end of the world. Matthew 25 is telling you to be prepared for the day of judgment, which you don’t know when it will occur.

It’s supposed to be a lesson about being good every day. By not knowing when this judgment is coming, you’ll be good all the time.

Are you aware that some Jewish Rabbis and others who have spent their lives studying the Word of God, believe that a total eclipse is a sign, a warning of judgment to a nation?

It’s not just Jewish Rabbis who spend their lives studying. Many ultra orthodox Jewish men do this while their wives do all the work, in and outside the home. It’s a bit controversial. Also, they are studying the Torah, not the Christian bible, so Old Testament only.

Is it supposed to make a difference that two religions misinterpret the same information? Have you researched every single eclipse in history and what happened after to a nation which had experienced such a scientific phenomenon? If you have, you wouldn’t says it’s a, “sign, a warning of judgment to a nation” because you would know that’s wrong.

His protection may no longer be present for a nation who chooses to take him out of their schools, kill unborn babies, disobey his law regarding marriage, live lives of immoral behavior and lawlessness. We reap what we sow.

Here we go with this bullshit again. God was not taken out of schools. Anyone in a school is allowed to pray to their god. What is not allowed is for faculty or staff to preach to children in the school. It’s a form of proselytizing and is illegal. As long as my tax dollars are going toward public schools – about 70 percent in Scotts Bluff County – you’re not preaching any religion within a public school.

We shouldn’t kill unborn babies? Tell that to your god. There are many examples of the bible being pro-abortion. And don’t give me that bullshit excuse “it’s in the Old Testament” because you follow the entire bible. You don’t get to pick the nice bits out or the bits that adhere to your personal beliefs. You take the whole thing.

Hosea 13:16: The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.

II Kings 15: 16: At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

Numbers 5:11-21 describes how to induce an abortion. In Numbers 31:17, Moses is commanded by God to kill women that might be pregnant. Hosea prays for God’s intervention in Hosea 9:11-16. God responds by making all the women who are pregnant miscarry.

God has also clearly laid out what biblical marriage is, yet Christians get upset at same-sex marriage. I’m more horrified by biblical marriage. If we are bad people because we “disobey his law regarding marriage” then I’m a terrible person because I don’t want any part of it.

Within a few days after the eclipse, I was not surprised to hear words like “unprecedented,” in describing the flooding.

Yeah, people always say this when catastrophic things happen. Also, please go read some books about climate change. This has nothing to do with total solar eclipses or a god, or anything else “end timers” people want to grasp onto.

Are you aware that after the last total eclipse in 1918 approximately 670,000 people lost their lives from a pandemic flu?

There are total solar eclipses every few years. You don’t see most of them because they occur over the ocean and/or are difficult to get to. The last total solar eclipse in the United States was February 26, 1979.

“After the last total solar eclipse in 1918” is an inaccurate statement. Here’s a list of other total solar eclipses that touched some part of the United States:

June 24, 1778 October 27, 1780 July 18, 1860 August 7, 1869 July 29, 1878 Jan 24, 1925 Aug 31, 1932 July 20, 1963 March 7, 1970 February 26, 1979 July 11, 1991 August 21, 2017

Do you notice something missing there? Oh yeah, there’s nothing around the time of the Spanish Flu in the United States. So let’s look at the entire world. Looking at NASA’s website on May 29, 1919, we have a total solar eclipse passing through South America and Africa. It also touched a teeny bit into Central America. It was during this eclipse that Einstein tested his theory of relativity.

Okay, we have a date, but the author of the letter to the editor is claiming “670,000 people lost their lives from a pandemic flu” after a total solar eclipse in 1918. I’ve already shown there was no total solar eclipse in 1918. It was in 1919. So let’s look at the claim.

The Spanish Flu pandemic lasted from January 1918 to December 1920. It infected 500 million people worldwide and killed 50-100 million people, or 3-5 percent of the world’s population at that time. The letter’s claim of 670,000 is not accurate. According to a page that no longer exists for the U.S. Government, “An estimated 675,000 Americans were among the dead.” Stanford University concurs with this number.

This claim still isn’t completely accurate, because the letter to the editor claims these deaths happened after the eclipse, which I, scientists, and people who were there, established as happening in 1919. Researching before writing the letter to the editor would have helped clear up this erroneous information.

There never has been any correlation between a solar eclipse and deaths of any kind, flu or otherwise. It’s delusional to think this is true.

The only place you’re going to find any connection between the 1919 total solar eclipse and the Spanish Flu is on websites filled with fear about “the end times.” You won’t find it anywhere logical, thinking human beings go.

How I feel right now. (Photo: http://cdn.iwastesomuchtime.com/October-18-2011-20-12-49-DoubleFacePalm.jpg)

I read an article recently by Anne Graham Lot. I quote in part: “A few years ago I was teaching through the book of Joel when the ancient words of his prophesy came up off the page. Joel 2: 31: ‘The sun will be turned to darkness … before the coming of the great dreadful day of the Lord.’”

So what? Do you realize how many eclipses – lunar, solar, and hybrid – have occurred over the centuries? Which one was supposed to be this dreadful day? Are we supposed to cower in fear each time an eclipse happens?

Most of us are not knowledgeable of the relevance of the Jewish feasts and God’s appointed times.

Then why bring it up? Are you just taking someone’s word for it instead of doing your own research? I’m sorry you like to be ignorant of these things.

We are not aware of the signs in the heavens that speak of his program. (Not the astrology that is commonplace.) The wise men of the Christmas story used their knowledge of the star that led them to the Christ child.

What the hell do these two sentences have to do with each other or the overall point? Seriously. You’re just writing word salad at this point.

The year 2017 is the year of Jubilee of Israel’s being back in their homeland as a nation. (1967)

No. This is not happening. You’re misinterpreting the 49th and 50th year listed in the bible and assuming it’s going to happen. According to biblical law, the year of Jubilee cannot happen because the 12 tribes of Israel are not united. It doesn’t matter that some people think it can happen when some of the tribes are united.

The Revelation 12 woman is seen in the constellation for the first time since the approximate time of Adam and Eve.

Again, this is more “end times” bullshit. The book of Revelation doesn’t have anything to do with the end times.

If you want to get a grasp on the book of Revelation, you should read “Revelations” by Elaine Pagels. This partial review in Salon will give you an idea of what Pagel’s book is about.

The Revelation of John of Patmos, however, did make it into the official Bible, and in “Revelations” Pagels explains why. It qualified not because it was written by John of Zebedee, one of Jesus’ apostles, as the text’s great champion, Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, claimed. It wasn’t. In fact, the author of the Book of Revelation “belonged to the second generation of Jesus’ followers,” part of a cohort struggling to come to terms with the fact that Jesus’ promise — that Judgment Day and the Kingdom of God would arrive within the lifetimes of some of his disciples — had not come to pass.

He was also not a Christian as we currently understand the term. Pagels makes a persuasive case, using what should be obvious to any careful reader of Revelation, that John regards himself as a Jew who has recognized Jesus as the messiah. That’s why he’s so exercised about “them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Pagels believes that these “false” Jews were, like John, members of the radical sect founded by Jesus. John regarded them as dangerously corrupt and idolatrous because they did not observe traditional Jewish strictures surrounding food and sex. Many of them, she suspects, were Gentiles converted by the faction of Jesus’ followers led by Paul, the religion’s first great evangelist.

The Book of Revelation was written at a time when the significance of Jesus’ legacy was furiously contested, and that’s one reason why it gets hauled out so readily at times of similar discord. Presented as a divinely bestowed vision, filled with rains of fire, burning mountains, seas turned to blood and angels with swords flying from their mouths, as well as costarring the ever-popular Four Horsemen, the Whore of Babylon and, of course, the Beast, the text is essentially an over-the-top cry of “You’re doing it wrong.” John of Patmos felt that his religion was being threatened by purported faithful who had assimilated into the dominant culture of the Roman Empire (eating meat from pagan temple sacrifices was a big issue for him), and he wanted to remind them of the hideous fate awaiting that evil empire and anyone who had gotten too cozy with it.

Because the prophetic imagery of the Book of Revelation — much of it derived from the Hebrew Bible and legends — is so figurative and surreal, it has proven remarkably adaptive. John had to cloak his meaning in bizarre symbols because his text was, as Pagels puts it, “anti-Roman propaganda,” of the sort that had probably gotten him exiled to begin with. In the following 400 years or so, John’s Revelation continued to be interpreted in this way, as Roman authorities smashed Jewish rebellions and persecuted Christians who refused to participate in the obligatory civic tributes to Rome’s gods.

Then Constantine converted to Christianity in 312 and gave the religion a favored place in his empire. The Book of Revelation was refitted by leaders like Athanasius for use as a hammer against Christians who did not bow to Church hierarchy. Ironically, a prophecy intended to demonize Rome (in the figure of the Whore of Babylon, that ancient oppressor of the Israelites) was used by those who, with Constantine’s approval, “adopted the Roman army’s system of rank, command and promotion to create effective control over a wide network of congregations,” a network that become the Catholic (“universal”) Church. Then, in a doubled irony, the same old Whore was, centuries later, said to symbolize the Catholic Church by Protestants who viewed Roman Catholicism as depraved and despotic.

Pagels’ sympathies clearly lie with the small religious communities that had sprung up throughout the region (though particularly in Egypt) in Athanasius’ time. These are the inward-looking, simple-living mystics who incorporated into their Christian worship spiritual ideas and practices from all over the ancient world and who preserved the gnostic texts found at Nag Hammadi. Some of those texts are as weird and visionary as the Book of Revelation, and some are far more beautiful, egalitarian and inspiring to many modern eyes. But they were not politically useful, and the Book of Revelation was. So it ended up in the New Testament and they did not.

The book of Revelation is merely a political tool to keep you in line. It has nothing to do with an eclipse or any “end times” garbage.

I’m watching with interest the Jubilee Feast of Trumpets this September.

Your “Feast of the Trumpets” is more commonly known as Rosh Hashanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה), is the Jewish New Year. Its biblical name is Yom Teruah (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה‎), literally, a day of shouting. It is the first of the Jewish high holy days, described in Leviticus 23:23-32. It is a celebration which takes place over two days and marks the traditional anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve.

The celebrations include a ram’s horn, or shofar, festive meals, symbolic food and lots of noise. The Mishnah, the first major written redaction of Jewish oral tradition and first major work of Rabbinic literature has the second known reference to Rosh Hashanah. In the Mishnah, it is known as the “day of judgement.”

So, Rosh Hashanah is the new year, but it is also Yom Hadim (sometimes seen as Yom HaDin), judgment day. On Yom Hadim, three books are opened – the book of life, the book of death, and a book for those living in doubt with non-evil sins.

During this time, God balances a person’s good deeds against their wrongdoings for the past year. Rosh Hashanah is a time of reflection, penance, and to ask God for forgiveness. (As a side note, I miss this time of year in New York. There is fresh Challah bread everywhere.)

Rosh Hashanah gets even more complicated when you learn about Yom Kippur and Sukkot and how they all relate to one another. I don’t know why the author of this letter to the editor is “watching with interest.” If they think it’s a day of judgment like in Revelation or the “end times,” that is wrong. Rosh Hashanah happens every year.

God is in control and He is faithful. I’m listening, watching and want oil in my lamp.

Then go fill your lamp. Did you not read the passage? You’re supposed to be prepared with your own oil, not waiting on other people to fill it for you.

“Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”

He’s not coming. He doesn’t exist. Stop wishing on a fantasy and live in the here and now and make a difference in the world today.

This nearly 3,000 word refutation is far longer than I intended it to be. When I read this letter to the editor, I knew instantly all the inaccurate claims. I couldn’t let it pass without refuting it.

I’m just going to say, don’t believe what you are told. Take the time to find the truth. Then, you won’t share lies and misinformation and I won’t have to spend five hours refuting you.

[minervacasterly]

Revenge of the Mary Sue (s)! Female Protagonists in Historical Dramas: “… women can hardly be blamed for not being feminists in advance of the concept, for not stepping outside their time frame or not possessing an anachronistic sense of their own worth.” ~Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort by Amy Licence ^This is something that should be taken into account by every history buff and especially feminist history fans who are easy to jump on the bandwagon of the endless Mary-Suefication of countless historical dramas where women are showing unusual behavior from what was expected of them (according to their station). This is a common trend in Hollywood. We have it in science fiction, fantasy, drama as well. Producers think they are doing us (women) a favor but in reality they are downplaying on the other women who might not have shared these ‘larger-than-life’ qualities. Take the White Queen for example. It was a good production. I enjoyed it, same as I enjoyed all of Philippa Greggory’s books, but was it accurate? Of course not. Elizabeth Woodville was presented as a quasi-feminist Mary Sue character and her second husband, Edward IV, was the Gary Stu of all Gary Stus. They were perfect, magical, loving. Sure, they had their problems, but even when the audience was tempted to sympathize with their rivals, they still felt more sympathetic towards the Yorkist couple because why not? She was fierce, loud and was not afraid to “be a match for any man.” These words are taken from secondary sources which reputedly came from Elizabeth’s contemporaries who believed she did say these things when Edward IV tried to take advantage of her. Some of you might take this as ‘proof’ that Elizabeth was a strong woman and not the typical submissive girl the Neville women were, but was she? Or is that what the White Queen really gave us? Because I just don’t see it. Let met break it down to you: Women DID wield power over their husband’s subjects and their tenants. But this power was ultimately dependent on their personality. As Amy Licence stresses out in the next paragraph, using Joan, second wife of Henry IV of England as an example: “There had been times in Joan’s life when she was able to exert her will, to shape her destiny, when the letters she wrote to Henry IV before their marriage briefly forced the female narrative to the fore, and her actions helped direct the course of national history. Nevertheless, she was powerless to speak in her own defence as an imprisoned widow, pointing towards the conclusion that any power exercised by women was something of an illusion, which they enjoyed because their men gave them permission to do so.” She also adds that whenever women acted out of the ordinary they were demonized. Those that weren’t was because they cited precedent or biblical law. Astoundingly, there are many heroines in the bible that women could take as their role models to justify their ‘rebellious’ behavior. Deborah was used as a tool of Elizabethan propaganda in the sixteenth century. The last Tudor monarch was often painted next to female saints, classical and biblical figures whose acts validated Elizabeth I’s claim and her uniqueness as an unwed female monarch. Elizabeth Woodville’s actions, if she really did say all of those things, must be viewed in the same context. She didn’t stand up to Edward IV because she thought ‘I am going to set an example to all male rogues who think of taking advantage of defenseless women’. No! She thought of her gender in the same terms as her peers did. Those words to Edward were her faith talking, nothing else. Formerly, the Earl of March, the eldest surviving son of the slain Richard Plantagenet Duke of York and Cecily Neville, had a reputation as a lady’s man. As such, Elizabeth Woodville would have been careful with how she carried herself with him. After all, she was a widow and she was dependent on the new regime’s mercy if she wanted to keep her children’s fortunes intact. After her first husband, John Grey of Grosby died, she was almost penniless. When she became untouchable -and thus, desirable- to Edward IV, she saw an opportunity to turn the tables around, back in her family’s favor. Her behavior was typical of any fifteenth century courtier, especially a widow who previously belonged to the losing party. Ironically though, the same behavior that many fans championed Elizabeth for having is condemned as her rivals. This is not strange. The White Queen acts as a Victorian retelling of the wars of the roses or as it is now popularly called “the cousins’ war”. It is a story where Elizabeth and her mother are magical women who capture the attention of a dashing royal rogue called Edward IV who deposed an evil dynasty who was corrupt and crazy (to paraphrase Margaret Beaufort’s second husband in the series). As such, every other woman who is not part of the Woodville clan, has to be by definition ‘ugly’, ‘greedy’ or simply ‘less than’. But is it fair? In entertainment you can say it is fair. It is fiction and they can do whatever they want in the name of ratings; but when it comes to history it becomes a problem. These women were not saints, neither were they power-hungry villains. They were raised to be the perfect consorts, to do anything that was in the best interest of their families. Nothing more, nothing less. They often switched sides for that same purpose and whenever they broke conventional norms, they justified by citing religious or historical precedence. And let's not get started over the Hollywood Mary Sue-fication of other historical figures like Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots. People love their larger-than-life characters. It gives us something to aspire to, something to look forward to. If they could do it, then so can we, right? But after you read about their true stories, you realize that their lives were anything but pleasant. Elizabeth I navigated through murky waters to keep her throne. Even when she defeated all of her enemies, she wasn't happy. This page, Tudor Brasil: Dinastia Tudor, Renascimento e Outros Períodos da História, The Anne Boleyn Files,Queen to History, Tudor Nerds with Glasses,Tudors: Fact vs Fiction, and many other historical pages have done many articles on how complicated her reign was. Even when she saw herself as an exception to the rule of 'women can't be good rulers' that Protestant John Knox about, she still believed that women were inferior to men because that is how she was raised to think. If she were to spouse any view that challenged this notion, she would have been deposed in her first year as Queen. This isn't to say she wasn't exceptional. She was, but not for the reasons that feminists and Hollywood portray her as. When she delivered her famous speech at Tilbury in 1588, she didn't wear full armor -as depicted in the sequel to Kapur's Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She wore simple breastplate and female dress. Some historians like John Guy in his latest biography on Elizabeth, doubt the veracity of her words, citing that Elizabeth's speeches were often written by her councilors and sometimes they put words to her mouth to make her seem as greater than she actually was. Reign's take on Mary, Queen of Scots is probably one of the best examples of Mary-Suefication with Mary, Queen of Scots being depicted as ahead of her times, self-righteous and a victim as opposed to her mother-in-law and cousin-from-hell, Catherine Medici and Elizabeth I of England respectively. And last but not least, we have Isabel in the Spanish series Isabel. And I know what you are going to say 'the series did her justice'. It did in some ways, but it also fell into the same trap that other historical dramas with a female protagonist fell into. The series gave us a nuance portrayal of the Catholic Kings, but it also gave us instances where Isabel was too perfect, showing she was ahead of her times in her line of thinking. Once again, she wasn't. Even when she did spouse progressive ideas in regards to women, she still held the same beliefs regarding gender as her husband and the rest of her peers. Even the women who took up arms against their spouses or went to court suing them (and there are various cases on the latter), still held the same convictions that they did when they were young and taught that women were inferior to men, or in some cases, a deformed version of man. For more info on this subject, I recommend the following books: 1. Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy 2. Elizabeth: The Struggle for the throne by David Starkey 3. Tudor by Leanda de Lisle 4. Tudors vs Stewarts by Linda Porter 5. Anne Boleyn Collection by Claire Ridgway 6. Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort by Amy Licence/ In Bed With the Tudors & Six Wives and the Many Mistresses of Henry VIII by Amy Licence 7. Jezebel by Kyra Cornelius Kramer 8. Isabella: Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey 9. Isabel La Catolica by Cristina Hernando 10. Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser 11. The Woodvilles by Susan Higginbotham

[travelling-trooper-blog]

First up on the agenda in Melbourne: The Immigration Museum. Melbourne has loads of really cool museum, but this was the one I was most excited about. It tells the story of how Melbourne came to be the multicultural gem that it is today by sharing the personal stories and experiences of the immigrants themselves.

Like May Vale, for example, whose parents were English migrants. Vale was one of Australia’s first female professional artists. Over the years, she went back and forth between London and Melbourne, but ultimately, she said, “I know my London well. I have lived there in all over ten years. But, as you see, I always return to Melbourne.”

In Melbourne, she was a founder and councillor of the Yarra Scultpors’ Society, as well as the councillor of the Victorian Artists Society.

Then there’s the Azzola family from Italy. The husband and wife sailed to Melbourne and made a life for themselves here that they never could have afforded back home. Edda Azzola even went on to become a big name in the fashion industry here.

Youssef came over from Lebanon with his family and started a successful taxi company with his brother.

In 2009, Nickel and Gertrude had their refugee claim accepted. After a harrowing several years trying to escape the DRC, they finally made a safe and happy life for themselves in Melbourne.

John Christie came over from Scotland back in 1863 and went on to become a badass detective. He would go undercover using various disguises to nab the bad guys. However, like much of Australia back in the day, he had a big racist streak to him. Just as the “War on Drugs” today targets African Americans, Christie went on a conquest to target opium smugglers to ramp up anti-Chinese racism–this, even though opium was totally legal in Australia, was sold over the counter, and was an important part of government revenue thanks t customs taxes.

I love that this place is so proud of its immigrant history that it has dedicated an entire museum to immigration. Sure, not all of its history is pretty, but this museum acknowledges that there would be no Australia without immigrants, and that’s a pretty big deal. They are an integral part of the nation’s DNA.  Those nationalist iditos at the White House and the fools behind Brexit could learn a thing or two from Australia.

Oh wait, the English are the ones who sent their hardened “criminals” here in the first place. (More often than not, their crimes were very minor, like stealing a loaf of bread.) The first batch was brought over to New South Wales in 1788. And the only reason they did so was because after losing the United States, they figured they should colonize Australia before Japan could sink their hands into it.

One legendary convict was William Buckley. He managed to escape, and was thought to be dead. Officers figured he couldn’t last out in the wild on his own. He ended up taking shelter among the Wathaurong people for just over 30 years. He found a walking stick that had belonged to one of their elders. When they found him in possession of the stick, they believed him to be the reincarnation of their elder. He ran with this for over thirty years. Good for him.

Another white man that duped the Aboriginals was John Batman. Batman signed a treaty with Aboriginals in the Port Phillip area and gained 250, 000 hectares of land for things like utensils and blankets. Government officials in Sydney declared this treaty invalid, since Batman didn’t have the legal rights to make such a deal. He ended up getting a pretty sweet land deal later on though. As usual, white man prevails.

In the end, Australia almost ended up being called Batmania. And while that is an AWESOME name, I’m glad they didn’t go with it. Batman seems like he was a dick.

Not only does the museum tell the personal story of migrants, though; it also tells the overall story of Australia’s growth as a country. For example, at the start of the 1850s, Victoria was declared a separate colony JUST before gold is discovered in Melbourne, leaving Sydney out in the cold. They also started charging a tax for Chinese immigrants AND they stopped bringing in immigrants from England. Victoria be ruthless.

Thankfully, they came to their senses the following decade. Anti-Chinese legislation was repealed, and Australia quit the “civilise and Christianise” game with Aborigines.

The origins of Chinese immigration to Australia is pretty tragic. They started coming over as cheap labour during the gold rush after England stopped sending over convicts in 1840.

Few were able to pay for their own voyage. Instead, village elders and families took out loans through shipping agents because they believed these young men would be raking in the dough once they got to Australia and that they’d be able to pay off their loans in no time. The men believed they’d be able to come back with enough money to build temples, homes, and schools for their villages. The truth was that they were getting exploited. The only way they could pay back the loan was through gold or labour. If they couldn’t pay back the loan, their families could be sold off as labourers as well.

The reaction by locals was pretty predictable. To quote South Park: “Dey tuk ar jarbs!” There were riots, and the government ended up limiting the number of Chinese migrants allowed into the country. And to avoid hefty head taxes at the Victorian ports, ships ended up dropping migrants off in southern Australia, leaving them to hike brutal 700 km to the gold fields. Those who couldn’t afford to pay the one pound tax were literally thrown into the water with their belongings.

Even among the Chinese immigrants themselves there was division, as there were conflicts between certain ethnic groups.

Those who fell ill during the voyage were treated by volunteers, since the Australian government didn’t want to spend money on the Chinese workers.

In the end these brave young men achieved varying level of success. Some returned home very prosperous; others never returned home because they couldn’t afford the return passage; some married European women and made a life for themselves in Australia.

But then China got put back on Australia’s bad books in the 80s, and Chinese immigration was put on lock down.

By the 90s, the gold rush has come and gone, and an economic depression hits. And where does the blame go? The immigrants, of course. One particular policy is passed that allows companies to be inspected to see if they employ Chinese workers. Any furniture made by Chinese hands must be stamped to indicate so.

Things became even worse after Federation in 1901. A national dictation test was introduced to make it difficult for non-British immigrants to migrate over. For example, a Greek person could be given the test in Gaelic. If they failed, they couldn’t enter the country.

Over the years, the racially-charged politics and policies have come and gone and come and gone again. I mean, fast forward, and there has been some level of anti-immigration rhetoric floating around since the mid-1980s. It’s gained momentum over the years, though. The One Nation party, which is proudly anti-Islam and anti-multiculturalism in general, won 4 Senate seats in 2016.

There is also some sort of offshore camp where unauthorized immigrants and refugees are indefinitely held in limbo on the islands of Nauru and Manus. Most of these asylum seekers are from the Middle East and Africa.

However, this is not how all Australians feel. Multiculturalism is embraced and welcomed here. Australia celebrates the food, heritage, and culture of all of its people.

Apparently in 2016, the US and Australia made a deal in which the US would take 1200 of Australia’s refugees, while Australia would take asylum seekers who were looking for a new home in the US. Most of these were from Central America. Not sure what the point is there. A refugee is a refugee no matter where they come from.

One of my favourite features in the museum was an interactive activity. You acted as an immigration officer and had to decide whether a family or applicant would have been approved or declined back in the day based on answers they gave in a video interview. The one I saw featured a jolly Greek man, his wife who spoke no English and kept rambling on and pleading with the officer, and their little daughter. It was really well done.

The last place I checked out before leaving this inspiring place was an exhibit that looked at the complexities of the immigrant identity–your name, your looks, the first impression you leave on others, etc.

There were some fantastic quotes from individuals that I could relate to on varying levels:

“As an adolescent growing up, my name caused me great embarrassment and I hated anything that was Asian. How I wished to be Mary Smith.”

Story of my life. As my friends and family know, I hated that bitch of a Disney mermaid growing up because of the similarity between our names. Kids can be so cruel…

It wasn’t until I got older and I learned that my name translates to Angel of Light that I came to appreciate my name. But even so, it’s a Biblical name, and I’m not really the biggest fan of the Bible and religion in general for reasons that I don’t feel like going into at this very moment. So there’s this uncomfortable connection between me and the very thing that makes me ME–my name.

I think that’s probably why I prefer to go by Uri. Well, that, and I eventually got tired of people butchering my name. But even Uri technically isn’t really accurate–at least, not the way most people pronounce it. In Spanish, my name is pronounced Oo-ree-el, meaning that the shortened version should be pronounced Oo-ree–but everybody outside of my family and our awesome neighbours calls me Yuri.

I’ll admit that this is my own fault. When I first decided to go by the shortened version, which is what my mother has always called me, Oo-ree sounded a bit goofy to me–at least, when it came out of anybody’s mouth except my family’s. I was embarrassed by how it sounded. So I gave it a Eurocentric twist and changed it to Yuri. It made sense because people always pronounced my full name Yuriel anyway. Now I’m 33 years old, and I feel like it’s a bit late to start asking everybody to call me Oo-ree.

Agh! It’s so complicated!

“I looked quite normal, I sounded like everyone else, but I had a surname which no one could ever pronounce.”

Nobody in school ever looked like me. I could name all of the Spanish speaking people I ever went to school with all the way back to Kindergarten. Grade 2: Monica and Javier. Grade 6: Isaac and Luis. Grade 9: Oscar. University: Betsabe. That’s the whole reason I decided to stop speaking Spanish once I started school–if I couldn’t look like everybody else, I at least wanted to sound like everybody else.

“I’m Joanita Da Silva or Joanita Barbosa Muniz Da Silva in full. My full name includes my god-father’s family name, my mother’s family name, and my father’s family name.”

I’m Uriel Eduardo Mendoza Ulloa. My full name includes my father’s first name and family name and my mother’s family name.

“When I look in the mirror I don’t see what other people see. I’m just Sherene. But when I meet people for the first time, they look at me differently–and the questions begin.”

This one I’m okay with. I like being asked where I’m from. I like sharing my family’s story. I’m proud of our journey and my own personal journey of acceptance of my cultural identity. I’m a proud Nicaraguan Canadian with Nicaraguan blood and a Canadian heart. In the future, as immigrant cultures mix more and more, these stories are going to become more and more complex and more and more beautiful. I think the questions are the spark to a powerful conversation.

“Even if I claim Australian citizenship people will insist on my being Chinese unless I can rip this face of its Chinese skin and replace it with something else, anything else but Chinese. Physically, though, I can’t.”

“‘But you don’t look like a Muslum’ would be the most common response. Do I look like a Christian then? Are we supposed to look our religion? I prefer to look like myself.”

These two are connected as far as I’m concerned. I was once asked by a guy in Korea where I was from. When I told him I was from Canada, he gave me a puzzled look and said, “But you don’t look Canadian.” So in his mind, a Canadian must be white. This one still irks me. Like I said, I’m proud of my Canadian-ness, so it hurts if somebody accuses me of not being “Canadian” enough. There’s no such thing as a typical Canadian.

Okay, tired of the Immigration Museum? Let’s move on to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, otherwise known as the ACMI Museum. It tells the story of the moving image, from a slide projector in the 17th century to video games like Minecraft and Super Mario Brothers today.

In the mid-17th century, a Jesuit priest by the name of Athanasius Kircher was one of the first to use a slide projector called the Magic Lantern. He used it to project religious and supernatural scenes.

A century later, entertainers used it to project images of things like severed heads and spirits floating in smoke. These shows were called phantasmagoria.

Apparently France was quite fond of puppet shows like this one in the 19th century.

Remember when you were a kid and you’d make a little flipbook animation scene? That’s basically what this does. This one is from Belgium in the 19th century.

On December 28, 1895, 33 viewers were treated to the first moving image shown in a popular cafe in Paris. Imagine seeing a moving image onscreen for the first time. The closest I can think of to that experience would be the first time I saw the Matrix in theatres. My mind was still in shock the entire drive home, trying to make sense of what it had just seen. Talk about a game changer!

The Story of the Kelly Gang is arguably one of the first feature length films ever made. In 1906, most films ran about 12 minutes long. This film ran over an hour. It was obviously a huge gamble on the part of the movie studio, but it paid off. It cost them 1000 pounds, and earned them a whopping 25000 pounds. This marked the beginning of a huge film boom in Australia. The movie tells of the notorious Kelly Gang outlaws of Australia. Ned Kelly was Australia’s Robin Hood. They came under fire when they killed a few officers though.

I had no idea that Felix the Cat was Australian! He was invented by an Australian chap named Pat Sullivan in 1917.

The Golden Age of Hollywood ran until the late 1940s. This period was marked with big movie star names, huge productions, and lavish sets.

Religion had to come in and ruin all of the fun, though, by pressuring Hollywood to clean up its act in the early 30s. First, studios agreed to adopt a set of rules that stated:

The more intimate parts of the human body are the male and female organs and the breasts of a woman. – They should never be uncovered. – They should not be covered with transparent or translucent material. – They should not be clearly and unmistakably outlined by the garment.”

While these rules were not really adhered to at first, by 1934, the Catholic Legion of Decency (REALLY?) forced Hollywood to adopt what we now know as the MPAA rating system.

Two things brought about the end of this magical period. One was the Paramount Decree. In 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that the movie studios had too much control of the industry because they could produce and promote their own movies in their own cinema houses, so they had to sell off these cinemas.

The other development was the invention of the television. Television arrived in Australia in 1956, just in time for the Olympics. But it only arrived in Melbourne and Sydney, since only they had stations. Places further out didn’t get television until much later. For example, it didn’t arrive in Darwin until 1971. 1971! That’s only six years before the first Star Wars was released! And speaking of Star Wars…

This is art.

But back to cinema for a second.

Cinemas in Australia weren’t desegregated until 1967, thanks in large part to Indigenous activist groups like the Freedom Riders, who bought tickets to the whites-only section in protest. Their refusal into the cinema and subsequent arrests were broadcasted on news channels around the country.

The ladies in Australia have also been holding it down since the 70s. The Women’s Movement was a grassroots effort that addressed issues like harassment and unequal pay by making films to raise awareness and spark discussions. (How is it that almost half a decade on, these problems still persist?)

This led to the Sydney Women’s Film Group, which produced, distributed, and exhibited women’s films throughout the 70s and 80s. They also lobbied the government for funding and training for female filmmakers. This eventually all led to the establishment of the Women’s Film Fund.

Pretty awesome, Australia!

The rest of the exhibit talked about the introduction of things like colour TV, the VCR, video games, and the digital age.

Yes, that is Jackie Chan dressed as Chun Li. Why I have never seen this movie, I have no idea.

Sadly, we missed the Alice in Wonderland exhibit by a month. It’ll be opening next month.

We left the museum just in time to meet up with Josue, a guy I met in Egypt a couple years ago. He’s now living in Melbourne at the moment. We met up for lunch and walked around downtown Melbourne for a while, catching up on the last two years.

Our walk ended back at Federation Square where we had met. We asked a woman if she wouldn’t mind taking our picture. She seemed confused by this request. “Why?” she asked.

We were confused by HER question. “Because we want a picture together…?”

“Alright. Let me put my hoodie up first.”

“……….?”

She then posed really awkwardly and uncomfortably, waiting for the shot.

“No, no, no, no, no! We want YOU to take OUR picture!”

*Everybody laughs*

And this is the crappy picture that resulted.

Overall, though, not a bad first day of exploring Melbourne. Tomorrow’s adventure would include a free walking tour.

The Travelling Trooper Explores A Couple Of Melbourne’s Many Museums First up on the agenda in Melbourne: The Immigration Museum. Melbourne has loads of really cool museum, but this was the one I was most excited about.