#bill bray

[boricuacherry-blog]

One particular day Michael got an impish glimmer in his eyes and announced, almost in a whisper, 'Let's trash the hotel room.' That seemed like an excellent idea, so together with Michael, before we left Istanbul, Eddie and I wreaked havoc on the hotel room. We moved couches across the room, leaving them at odd angles. We tilted pictures so they hung crooked on the walls. We scattered rose petals all over the floor. As far as trashing hotel rooms went, we weren't what anyone would call masters of our craft. Michael hauled back and threw a fork into a painting.

The next day, backstage at the concert, Eddie and I were sitting in the dressing room right behind Michael watching his makeup artist, Karen Faye, get him ready to go onstage. Michael warned us that Bill Bray was angry.

'Bill's gonna have to talk to you guys,' he told us. 'We shouldn't have trashed that room. I told him it was my fault and he should take it easy on you, but he has to talk to you.'

While Michael was onstage performing, Bill Bray showed up and gave us hell for what we'd done.

'I don't think you realize that we have to pay for the damage you did,' Bill said, suddenly looking every inch of his not inconsiderable size. 'We can't leave hotels like that. It reflects badly on Michael.'

Bill threatened to send us home, and Eddie and I started crying. I felt terrible, like it was the end of the world. And Eddie was equally devastated. Michael's nickname for him was Angel because he always tried so hard to be good and respectful. We apologized to Bill. We didn't want to cause problems. All of us, Bill included, knew that Michael had been the instigator of the trashing, but nonetheless, Bill wanted us to take responsibility for our own actions.

Bill's dressing down of Eddie and me was a turning point in my life, a moment that instilled in me an early instinct to protect Michael and his reputation, even from his own actions, if necessary. We were the kids, it was true, but when it came to Michael's impulses, sometimes we would have to be the adults. We had to think of the consequences to his image and reputation at all times, even when he didn't.

-Frank Cascio

[orchurisarts]

finally made a human bill design

the proportions are a lil’ fucked and the wrinkles I tried to give him arent. super visible but whatever

[polux-aka-hyakunana]

The Dark Future - Chapter 5 - Sketch WIPS

[esonetwork]

Popeye | Episode 390

New Post has been published on http://esonetwork.com/popeye/

Popeye | Episode 390

Mark Maddux joins Jim for a loving look back at a classic film of the fantastique from 1980 and Director Robert Altman – “Popeye,” starring Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall, Paul L. Smith, Paul Dooley, Donald Moffat, Ray Walston, Richard Libertini, Bill Irwin, Wesley Ivan Hunt, Peter Bray, Linda Hunt and Jack Mercer. Altman’s homage to the loveable cartoon character from the 1920’s takes us into the magical world of Sweet Water. Find out more on this special Holiday episode of MONSTER ATTACK!, The Podcast Dedicated To Old Monster Movies. 

[hometeamottawa]

Everything You Need to Know about Buying a Condo in Ottawa

Welcome to Everything you need to know about buying a condo in Ottawa. In this comprehensive video, Kayla Meyer, Saeideh Shabani, Reed Allen, Alex Wickham, Ryan Brown, Naj Sadaat, Sylvie Bégin, Keith Bray, & Bryanne Rheault explore the ins and outs of purchasing a condo in this vibrant and diverse city of Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Introduction to Ottawa’s Condo Market Ottawa’s real estate…

[tears-exe]

Eating disorder/poor as fuck vent in tag

[makiitoh]

wrestling video essays

Super Eyepatch Wolf

Professional Wrestling is Stupid and Beautiful and I Love it

Intro, Kayfabe, The Montreal Screwjob, The Pipebomb, The Golden ☆ Lovers

The Undertaker: Long Term Story Telling in Wrestling

The Undertaker, Time (as a concept), 90s novelty wrestling gimmicks

Villains in Wrestling: Making People Hate You

Heels (as a concept), Los Ingobernables de Japon (incl. EVIL, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA), Bullet Club, Gorgeous George, Bray Wyatt, MJF, Kagetsu

The Unreality of Pro Wrestling

Roman Reigns, The Shield (Reigns, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley), Sami Zayn

F.D. Signifier

The WWE's complex "Black" history

specific focus on Black men in the WWE

lil bill

The wild world of Black wrestlers

broader focus on Black wrestlers across multiple promotions

NeoJoshizzle

Maki Itoh pt. 1: the fired idol

Maki Itoh pt. 2: finally a happy ending?

Wrestling Colin

The Greatest Pro Wrestler Who Ever Lived Died in the Ring

Mitsuharu Misawa, AJPW, Pro Wrestling NOAH

[mersei47]

if same-sex marriage bill in my country gets to pass on April 2 I will draw jam and bray comics each with 10+ pages up

[zalia]

Experiencing Destiny 1 as a D2 player

I picked up Destiny 1 in a sale recently despite being told a lot about its problems, and honestly I'm really enjoying playing it! I feel a bit like a time traveller visiting important places and events from the past.

I also have friends who played Destiny nearly from the beginning and it's fun to go back and go 'ooooh that's what they were talking about!'. I am also very aware that if I had started playing it without already being invested, I would be having considerably less fun. (Also, being fair, much of the fun is doubtless novelty after playing *mumbletymumble* hours of D2 over the past couple of years).

But it's genuinely been really interesting from a design and narrative perspective going back to it and seeing where the story began and how things have changed and I wanted to ramble about it. Full disclosure, I have played up through the first couple of missions of The Taken King. There are also things I can't comment on such as Crucible (because getting enough players for a match has not happened yet), events (no longer happening) etc. Also haven't managed to run a raid yet but hopefully will eventually!

I will start with the bad, to get it over with. A lot of stuff here will be well known and honestly it's probably less interesting than the good/thinky stuff.

The Bad

Oh boy I have maligned D2's New Light introduction so badly since it is miles ahead of D1 just by merit of actually having one! D1 gives you the opening run through the Cosmodrome where they tell you what buttons to use and then refuses to explain anything ever again. (This very definitely ties into it being a game I enjoy now but would probably not have enjoyed if I wasn't already invested)

You don't realise how many QoL improvements D2 has until you have to go to orbit and select a new destination every single time. Also no fast travel points. And no you cannot just look at a map of the place you're traversing. Fashion is difficult too.

Up until Taken King, I am not sure why they bothered hiring voice actors for anyone except Ghost, Elsie Bray, and maybe the Speaker. And I have no idea why they hired Bill Nighy for that part (I mean I do, it's because they wanted to use Big Names for marketing but still...). The Vanguard could easily be replaced with cardboard cutouts because they are basically uninvolved in anything until Taken King begins. I know they aren't involved in every seasonal plot now, but they do appear and develop.

The story and writing is... well, it makes an attempt to exist. It does not succeed until The Taken King. I went in knowing what happens in the story and I'm still not actually sure what happens in the story because it is basically someone's pre-first draft bullet points of a narrative. The only reason I knew I was starting different storylines is because the mission popup tells you which storyline it is. 'I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain' is a meme for a reason, but another bit which I think illustrates the point well is from House of Wolves. Petra tells you that Skolas has entered the Vault of Glass and this is bad so you need to stop him. It is never explained before then what the Vault of Glass is, what it does, why it would be bad for Skolas to be in there, or... anything. While D2 can be obtuse, and sometimes leaves important info in easily overlooked lore tabs (or in vaulted content), it at least tries to tell you what the story is. I feel like D1 actively resents that players do not read the bullet points and fill in everything the writers had in their heads. Another example is the Devil's Lair strike. it's the first one you take on in D1, and after doing it in D2, I was expecting backstory and build up. Nope, you just get sent in with nothing to really explain what is going on, who the House of Devils are, what a Servitor is... I know it had troubled development and the story got torn apart and remade very close to launch, and it really shows in the early stuff. It's a series of missions that were made and then had to be strung together with the thinnest of threads. It gets better in Taken King, but at times is still not great. You first encounter the Taken on Phobos, I think Ghost asks about what they are. I was expecting more discussion about them and what they are and how horrifying it is. But nope, they just exist now and we're all fine with that.

So. Much. Grinding. The pinnacle grind was annoying in D2, the grind to just get your light up in D1 is so much worse. You will be doing bounties desperately to try to get your rep up with the various groups just so you can actually get fragments of story and quests. You will be grinding just to level up your subclass and it takes ages.

The places you visit are very expansive - even the Cosmodrome is significantly larger - which is great when they're used well, but a lot of the time they feel very empty, there to make you play for longer to get between areas than because there is anything to do.

The Good

The game is gorgeous! I'm loving getting to see Venus and Mars and the Dreadnaught. They're beautiful environments. Everything feels very expansive which can be very cool (as above, it can also be less good). When used well, it feels like there are so many mysteries and secrets hidden in this abandoned world. There are hidden bunkers and spaces, huge Vex structures and ruined cities, tunnels burrowed beneath the Cosmodrome and the Taken King's dreadnaught. It's genuinely fun to explore (up to a point).

It does an excellent job of making you genuinely feel like it's post-apocalyptic and the existence of humanity is precarious. And you, the Guardian, are brand new and everything is trying to kill you. You don't have multiple gods stored in your vault in the form of guns! Everything feels more dangerous. For example, I think if D2 is your intro, you look back at the Great Disaster and the first Crota fireteam and go 'but how did that happen when I go onto the moon and take out ogres with a single punch? The biggest threat in the Abyss in Crota's End is falling into a pit or getting hit by a pendulum! Yeah no I get it now. In D1 you are much less powerful and it makes swarming thralls and normal enemies much more of a threat. Things feel dangerous in a way that D2 rarely manages. I'll talk about this a bit more in depth later.

By making your supers and abilities less powerful, they have weirdly made them more useful. In D2 I usually save mine for bosses since it feels like a waste to use them on normal enemies. In D1, it makes absolute sense to use your abilities basically as soon as you have them. You should absolutely use your Golden Gun on a normal Hive Knight or Fallen Vandal!

There's some great atmospheric touches. I love hearing the snippets of distorted music when I'm near a Rasputin bunker. Going into some of the ruined buildings on Mars or Venus where it's dark and suddenly seeing so many red Vex eyes staring back at you is chilling.

The opening mission of Taken King is fantastic. Genuinely creepy and the Taken in general in D1 feel much scarier and threatening than in D2.

All the different enemy factions are different colours and designs! I love that!

Weapons still go brrrrr in a very pleasing way. And getting new gear feels genuinely satisfying in a way that it rarely does in D2. I junk 99% of the armour and guns I get in D2, in D1 I end up being much more considering of whether something is useful. Legendary weapons and armour feel precious!

I keep picking up random Warmind weapons to turn into Banshee that I know lead to an exotic quest and I am enjoying the feeling of that being another Secret Thing I am discovering.

Honestly, I really like Banshee's weapon bounties - you get given a prototype weapon to test out and gather data by doing certain things (killing X number of a certain enemy etc.) and that gains you rep. And you can then order a legendary version of the weapon from him to be delivered the next Wednesday.

Thoughts/Observations

Knowing that the 'original' story was seemingly going to focus more on Rasputin, and an exo version of him getting stolen by the Hive makes the appearance of some of the Hive areas on the Moon make more sense. There's some bits that are high tech in a way that feels very at-odds with what we see of the Dreadnaught and, other Hive locations which lean much more towards the organic and magical.

Similarly, Rise of Iron feels a lot more hard sci-fi than much of what Destiny has become, and has such a huge Rasputin focus. I believe it was partially developed by an outside studio, so I do wonder if it was based, at least in part, on the 'original' story of Destiny, and was either too far into development, or the other studio just never got the memo about the change in tone.

Vaguely related to the above, but way more speculative, I wonder if Banshee was originally meant to be a Rasputin exo, then that story got shifted to Felwinter, but the seeds were used for the story of Banshee having been Clovis Bray.

Honestly while it's fun to think about, in general I find the obsession parts of the Destiny community have with 'the original story' (of the 'maybe they're finally going back to the original story!' type where the unspoken idea is that this was the perfect undiluted pure story that was 100% planned and set in stone) to be fundamentally misunderstanding how creating stories work. I can guarantee that even if that first story had been used, after 10 years of multiple writers etc. it would still be in a very different place than where the people who came up with it initially thought it would go. It would have evolved and changed and shifted, even if it was following the same vague plan. That's just what stories do.

Oh wow, suddenly all the Nightmare Hunts in Shadowkeep make way more sense! I get it now!

Actually I get a lot of references now XD

Oh wow Shaxx sounds so depressed. I guess this was before he started therapy.

So many identical caves...

Thoughts on Power Creep

D1 leans much more into the post-apocalyptic setting and it does an excellent job of making the existence of the Last City, humanity, and Guardians feel precarious. Everything seems more dangerous, more of a threat. You really are part of the last bastion of humanity. And there's a few ways this is done.

First, you are much less powerful. Yes, you have supers and grenades, but they do much less damage (and are much less flashy) than in D1. There has been a huge amount of power creep! You won't be one-shotting bosses, even normal Vanguard Strike bosses with golden gun easily.

Legendary weapons feel rare and special, and I am still using Blue weapons at times because sometimes I have to just to get the higher light level. I have reached level 40 and have only just got my first exotic armour pieces which I bought from Xur! They are FR0ST-EE5, an exotic I have never bothered with in D2, but in D1 the recharge for abilities when sprinting is genuinely handy. I don't have any exotic weapons at all yet!

It leads to a very different playstyle - I play much more carefully because I cannot just charge in with something like Osteo Striga and wipe out a room with a few shots. In D2 we have killed multiple gods, taken down an Empire, and forged alliances. In D1, we're just some random Guardian and the gameplay reflects this.

And I hate to say this, but I also kind of get the YouTube/Stream BNFs who complain about things not being hard enough. It's just... they're completely wrong about the reasons and the solutions.

They seem to think that what is needed is more enemies with higher health, and nerf Divinity because it makes it too easy, and everything should be designed to stop normal players being able to do it. And it... it doesn't work? Ghosts of the Deep was fun, but holy fuck the health bars on the enemies make it feel grindy and dragged out. Legend Avalon was a slog because there's Too Much - too many elements at the same time so it's just overwhelming instead of fun. (Starcrossed on legend is tough, but feels more enjoyable and managable. I'm looking forward to doing it again instead of dreading it).

More difficulty isn't what makes D1 feel harder, being weaker is what does this. I have no doubt that if I could put my D2 stuff against D1 enemies I would decimate them. But in D1 I am a lone Guardian with scavenged gear and yes, I have the Light and can be resurrected, and it gives me an edge vs normal humans, but not a crazy amount.

In D2 I have so many exotics and weapons that I can just throw them away. I can have intricately crafted builds to take on any enemies! I am basically one of the most powerful entities in the solar system.

And that's not something you can really scale back. They did it with Red War at the start of D2. Maybe they could do it as a result of Final Shape and do smaller stories focused on Earth and recovery and what you even do after your purpose for fighting for so long is gone (and I think there is value in those stories! I would love it personally). But uh... I don't think most people would actually be happy having everything nerfed on such a scale. Give up your 999,999 Celestial Nighthawk boss damage, for a Golden Gun that with a bit of luck might one-shot a yellowbar?

Give up a lot of creativity in terms of what you use and how you play, in exchange for a tougher game with way less choice for builds, but one that is potentially more atmospheric and in-keeping with the post-apocalypse and the dangers of the solar system?

I don't have an answer for that! And it's not even the most important thing. Gamer BNFs gonna always want to prove that they're better than everyone at pressing buttons, and forget that the majority of players are casuals. But it's been interesting playing a different type of difficulty, rather than the forced difficulty of insanely high HP and Too Many Things.

Power creep is a real issue in a lot of long-running media (just look at superhero movies, or many many monster of the week TV shows). You're in a position of feeling like you need to one-up yourself every time. Every new villain has to be the biggest and baddest, and so you have to become more and more powerful to combat that, which means the next villain has to be even bigger and badder.

With Destiny we've gone from a scrappy underdog, to a god-killer.

I'm reminded of Osiris talking about Saint in The Sundial lore.

'I watched him grow from neophyte to demi-god'.

King of fitting for us to have done the same as Saint's inspiration.

[boricuacherry-blog]

During the course of his marriage to Lisa Marie, in the wake of the Jordie Chandler out-of-court settlement, Michael [Jackson] found himself embroiled in yet another lawsuit.

In December of 1994, in a "wrongful termination" suit, five former employees, including Michael's maid, Adrian McManus, filed a lawsuit against the star and seven members of his staff. The suit charged that the employees were repeatedly subjected to retribution for their agreeing to help Santa Barbara authorities with the criminal investigation of Michael and for their testimony before a grand jury.

Joining McManus in the suit were security officers Kassim Abdool and his assistants, Ralph Chacon and Melanie Bagnall, one of the few women who worked in security. The final plaintiff was longtime office manager, Sandy Domz.

In Michael's opinion, his staff "had been only too willing to cooperate with the grand jury." For doing that, the former Neverland employees cited "a pattern of intentional, willful, and malicious conduct designed to threaten and intimidate" them. The plaintiffs also charged that they had been threatened with bodily injury, even subjected to death threats.

It was also revealed that Neverland security forces had installed an elaborate "Gestapo-like" system of wiretapping, and that Michael himself often eavesdropping on the personal calls of his employees.

One Neverland employee charged that the "surveillance equipment at Neverland was so intricate, as was the telephone-tapping system, that the CIA should hire Jackson's OSS officers," a reference to the special force - known within Neverland as the Office of Special Services - that Bill Bray, Michael's most devoted employee, had brought to Neverland to "protect Michael from all harm."

All three of the female plaintiffs charged that the OSS officers had subjected them to sexual harassment. McManus also claimed that one of the officers "threatened to slice my throat if I ever revealed Michael's private life to the press."

Sandy Domz had gone so far as to call the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department to reveal that "illegal wiretaps" were being carried out at Neverland. In September of 1994, the employees, claiming they could no longer tolerate the harassment and intimidation at the ranch, quit their jobs.

It wasn't until shortly before Christmas of 1994 that they found an attorney, Michael Ring, in Santa Barbara who would take their case. In the suit, Michael was charged along with his employees, specifically Bill Bray, but also James Van Norman, Jerome Johnson, Tony Coleman, Andrew Merritt, Bettye Bailey, and Marcus Johnson (no relation to Jerome).

In his defense of the Neverland employees, Ring faced a formidable opponent in Jackson's high paid attorneys, the highest paid in California, the firm of Katten Muchin Zavis & Weitzman.

Their case may have been lost shortly after it began, when Judge Zel Canter ruled that any evidence from the Jordie Chandler civil case would not be permitted in court. Since the plaintiff's entire case depended on the harassment they were allegedly subjected to during the Chandler case, the die was cast. The trial would slog onward for a year though.

Michael's defense team suffered a near-mortal blow when Jerome Johnson, one of the co-defendants, seemingly switched sides during pre-trial hearings, claiming that he backed up the allegations of the former Neverland employees. As an elite member of the OSS, Johnson said that his sole job was to apply "pressure on the staff by harassing them." Johnson filed an official declaration with the court, backing up the allegations of the "Neverland Five," even though they were suing him. Privately, he told a reporter that he was deeply religious and "I can no longer participate in the lies of Michael Jackson. I can't sleep at night thinking about what I have done for Mr. Jackson."

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

First there was Beetlejuice from the musical, then Discorfd from MLP, and now Bill… Jeez, they love to traumatize the archetype of chaotic characters

(Sorry, I saw this gif and had to share it, it's wonderful)

Reminds me of this meme with Patrick…

But yeah, only one got therapy, so…

Now that I have your attention:

[bywandandsword]

I finally finished the Diviners by Libba Bray and 1) This book hasn't gotten nearly the amount of fandom interaction that it deserves and 2) Libba Bray does not pull any fucking punches when it comes to the uncomfortable parts of history, good lord

It's so so good. She's clearly done so much research and it makes my history nerd heart so full. And then the story! I want to know what the fuck Uncle Will is hiding and where all these character's paths will lead. Where's Sam's mom? Is Isiah really ok? What's going to happen now that Evie has gone public with her power?

Also, I'm hereby adopting Memphis Campbell. That boy is getting a warm blanket, cocoa, and therapy starting immediately. And I'll personally kick the shit out of Bill Johnson if he comes anywhere near either of the Campbell boys again. I don't care that he's an old, mostly blind man, I'll fucking do it

[destiny-aesthetics]

^ Page 03-04 of 'Cayde's Treasure Island Book'; A Copy of 'Treasure Island' by Robert Louis Stevenson, that Cayde-6 as turn into a makeshift journal.

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

Destiny [Bungie] | Taken King [Collector's Edition]

^ Sketch of Clovis Bray logo

[left page] Floating in the black I've been listening to nothing but my heart knocking for over twelve hours. EMU's low on air. I promise myself this job is the last. Promise myself this time I mean it. I feel the hull vibration through the station's thin metal skin. The airlock pump hisses. Long wait's over. Time to go to work. I'll spare you the gory details. Afterwards, fuming. Clovis Bray sends me a bill for the hull damage. My fault the target put a blast wall between us. My fault things went wrong and we had to let our rifles do the talking.

^[left] Sticker of Clovis Bray 'Morning Star'; [right] Sketch of a spade found in a deck of cards

[right page] I tear the packet open. Tattered pieces of the envelope drift to the floor. [Spade insignia pencil drawing] Surprise. It's not just a bill. There's a job offer tucked in. Seems old Bray's been looking for someone like me. Willing to forgive my debt, and not just for the orbital station.  All of it. Suddenly, I ain't so mad anymore.

[top; right page] ###-###-###

[irradiatedwarlock]

I see them everywhere.

Albatrosses tend to pair for life, and it can take a while to find the right partner. Reunited pairs go through an elaborate, synchronized ritual of braying, wing spreading, and bill tapping to reaffirm their bonds before getting down to the business of breeding. 

[vulshokbersrker]

I think I forgot to mention that the Bray Archives project I was working on is done!

It was a fun thing to make. I may come back to it later if I want to make it faster and enhance the search function. But that is something I kinda don't wanna do with it either. That's because it was mainly a way for me to learn about NextJS and how to build a complicated site with as few files as possible.

I'd share the project publicly, but the service I am using is a paid one and I'd like to keep the costs as low as possible. Having a flood of people using it and testing it might make for a big bill at the end of the month. Sorry.

(I do have another idea completely unrelated to games that would be useful in real life. Sadly just for my local area.)

[hometeamottawa]

979 Hare Avenue | Luxury Bungalow Living in Glabar Park 

Welcome to 979 Hare Avenue, where luxury living meets the warm embrace of Glabar Park’s vibrant neighbourhood. This spacious 3-bedroom bungalow sits majestically on a generous lot, inviting you to a life of elegance and comfort. Located just blocks away from Kingsmere, Glabar, and Lorry Greenberg parks, and with convenient access to shopping, cafes, restaurants, and excellent transit and highway…