#clare raymond

[gible-love-nibles-archive]

Eternal Diva Fic (Part 12)

We're winding down now, getting to the end. This is where the "AU" part really comes in. There's only one part here I might consider """canon""" here, and that's. Right at the very end.

Trigger warnings for brief mention of death (thought of it happening, not actually happening), mentions of falling from a great height, food and a brief bit of choking

Word Count: 1.5k / Previous / Next

He didn't plan to depart exactly like that, but Descole still managed to escape the professor and his group on top of his robot.  Victory was so close in his grasp… a few tiny mistakes had cost him everything.  How ironic.

The sting of defeat still clung to the masked man as he located and picked up his cape; it had whipped off him during the fall.  But as he was dusting himself off, he spotted a familiar head of dark brown hair.

“Clare…!” He said breathlessly as he ran over to her.  

Oh.  Oh no.  That’s right, she had fallen with him!  Was it an accident?  Heaven forbid she had dove after him…!

Checking her pulse thankfully confirmed she was still alive, but it was weak.  Doctors were on the mainland; there was no one on the island to take care of her… except…

With barely a second thought, Descole collected Clare up in his arms, wrapping her up in his cape like a blanket.  

Were this any other situation, he might've made a witty comment about fate tying them together yet again.  But now was not the time.

He hurried back to his sub as fast as his own injured body could carry him. “Come on,” he muttered to himself. “You’ll be fine.  You have to be fine.”

His men stood at attention when he approached, but some of them got confused when they saw the “package” he carried.  “None of you are to say a word about this.” Descole stated it coldly and matter-of-factly.  The men mumbled their confirmation, and pretty soon, the sub took off.

~

“Aye, I remember her.  She was in Misthallery.” Raymond had come in with a first aid kit just as Descole requested.  The butler wasted no time patching up Clare. “What was she doing here?  I thought you only sold those tickets to the rich.”

“…I invited her.”

Raymond smirked. “You wanted to see her again, did ya lad?”

Descole didn't respond at first, and he partly buried his face in his boa. “I… wanted to test her.  See if she was worthy of travelling around with Layton.”

“Whatever you say, sir.” The butler was thoroughly not convinced.  The masked man rapidly changed the subject.

“How is she?”

“She's stable.  She'll need plenty of rest to heal.  You two will be stuck together for a while.”

“…Fine.  If you're all done, you're dismissed Raymond.”

“Aye.  I'll start making dinner for you both.” With that, Raymond left the room, gently shutting the door on the way out.

Now that he was alone, Descole simply stared at his guest with an unreadable expression.  She looked tranquil as she slept.  She didn't know how lucky she was that he had found her. 

The thought of her dying alone on that island, all because of him-- No, shake that off.  It didn't happen.  It worked out… at least this did.

He sighed curtly. “You are extremely irritating.” A pause.  

He found his hand wandering to hers.  He didn't try to hold it or even cover it; instead, he played with her fingers. “…But I suppose that's part of your charm.”

A stretch of silence.

“You really are some kind of masterpiece,” he finally said, barely above a whisper.  “Intelligent, bold, kindhearted, radiant: maybe not conventionally beautiful to most, but those fools just can't see the real you.”

After another beat of silence, Descole stood up and walked out the room, pausing at the door.

“…Sleep well dear.”

~

I woke up a little while later, immediately noticing the pain all over my body.  That made sense; I fell off a giant robot from who knows how high up.  It was a miracle I was still alive. 

But then I noticed the pain was not as much as it probably should’ve been.  That must mean someone found me and patched me up.  Probably Layton or Luke or Emmy or one of my friends.

But when my eyesight focused, I was instead met with an unfamiliar metal room and an unfamiliar older gentleman sitting in a chair near my bedside.  I knew I probably should’ve been a little suspicious of this, but my brain was foggy from all the pain.

“Ah wonderful.  You’re awake, Miss Clare,” the man said.  He had grey-brown hair with a mustache and goatee, a short stature, and a dark red suit. “Sir… Your host will be very pleased.  I heard you took quite the tumble."

"Tumble doesn't even begin to describe it," I grumbled, trying to wake up more.

"I apologize for thrusting this on you so soon, but you should have something to eat.  As I understand, you were eating very lightly during your adventure.”

In his hands was a warm bowl of soup, judging by the bit of steam coming off it.  He put it down and started to fill up a spoon, but I gently grabbed it from him.

“It’s… fine.  I… got it.  Thank you.” I was trying not to sound as weak as I felt.

The man just chuckled a bit. “Very stubborn.  Just like he is.”

I started to eat, being extremely careful not to drop anything with my shaky hands.  It was chicken noodle soup, I immediately determined.  And I also determined it was absolutely delicious.  Warm, comforting, hearty-- amazing.

“Oh, this is wonderful.”

“Thank you, Miss Clare.  Please let me know if you need anything else.”

“Maybe some water, please?”

“Of course.  I’ll let him know you’re awake and eating well.” He stood up, turned the giant wheel in the middle of the door, and walked out.

…Giant wheel?  Weird.

I knew I should’ve found this more than weird, but with the dull throbbing of all my injuries and the warm soup sending a nice calming feeling through me, I couldn’t bring myself to question anything.

I had almost cleaned out the bowl when the door opened again.  I nearly choked on a noodle when I saw it was Descole, holding a glass of water.

“WhaAT-” A cough. “-arE YOu-” A hack.

“Breathe,” he said simply. “No one here wants you to choke.”

It took a bit, but I eventually cleared out my windpipe. “What are YOU doing here?”

“Well technically, you’re the intruder here dear.  This happens to be my submarine.”

“WHAT?  What do you mean your submarine?”

“I found you passed out and wounded from your fall.  Your friends were on top of a giant robot; besides, it’s not like they could’ve gotten you to a doctor speedily.  I took it upon myself to nurse you back to health.  You’re welcome.” His tone only got a tiny bit smug at the end.

“Why?”

“To quote my greatest enemy: is it not the duty of a gentleman to help a lady in need?”

“...You’re an enigma.”

“Thank you.  I’ve been told that’s one of my more charming points.” I groaned and turned away from him as he laughed a bit. 

...I was stuck on a submarine out in the middle of the ocean with no way of calling for help. At Descole's mercy. The warm feeling the soup had given me started to ebb away for something much colder.

Descole had walked over to the other side of the bed and set my glass down.  He kneeled down to look me in the face. He must have seen me starting to spiral because he put on a small, easy smile. “How is the soup?  Raymond put his heart and soul in it for you.”

I decided to humor him. “...It’s good.”

“...If I had said I made it, would you have said it was bad?”

I grinned a bit. “Maybe.”

“Of course.” His tone suggested annoyance, but his expression said amusement.  He grabbed the empty bowl and stood up. “I suggest you get more rest.  Your injuries were quite severe.  You’ll need quite a bit of time before you’re ready to leave.”

“You’re… going to let me go?  After all this?” After a second, I jolted remembering everyone else. “Does anyone else know I’m here?”

“I’m going to inform Layton and his friends.  I’ll tell them you’ll be returned safe and sound once you’ve healed.”

I just… stared at him. I had too many questions and not enough energy, so I asked him the only one I could at the moment: “Why are you being so nice to me?”

He entirely avoided the question. “I put Raymond in charge of this kind of thing, but… are you comfortable?  Do you need anything?”

“Uh… I'm fine.  Just… hand me my bag, I guess?” He complied and put it right beside me.

“You really should get some rest,” he repeated. “I… understand you don’t trust me.  But at least trust that you’ll be feeling better soon.”

I didn’t respond, and he didn’t say anything else.  You could cut the awkward atmosphere with a butter knife.  Eventually, Descole said goodbye and left me alone.  I didn’t feel like drawing, so I just settled down and fell asleep again.

[claresedwards]

Aw my babies had no idea

[poemaseletras]

ENCONTRE UM AUTOR:

Envie sugestões. Leia uma citação no modo aleatório.

Autores Desconhecidos

Adélia Prado

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Affonso Romano de Sant’anna

Alain de Botton

Albert Einstein

Aldous Huxley

Alexander Pushkin

Amanda Gorman

Anaïs Nin

Andy Warhol

Andy Wootea

Anna Quindlen

Anne Frank

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Aristóteles

Arnaldo Jabor

Arthur Schopenhauer

Augusto Cury

Ben Howard

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Benjamin Rush

Bill Keane

Bob Dylan

Brigitte Nicole

C. JoyBell C.

C.S. Lewis

Carl Jung

Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Carlos Fuentes

Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Rifka Brunt

Carolina Maria de Jesus

Caroline Kennedy

Cassandra Clare

Cecelia Ahern

Cecília Meireles

Cesare Pavese

Charles Baudelaire

Charles Chaplin

Charlotte Nsingi

Cheryl Strayed

Clarice Lispector

Claude Debussy

Coco Chanel

Connor Franta

Coolleen Hoover

Cora Coralina

Czesław Miłosz

Dale Carnegie

David Hume

Deborah Levy

Djuna Barnes

Dmitri Shostakovich

Douglas Coupland

Dream Hampton

E. E. Cummings

E. Grin

E. Lockhart

EA Bucchianeri

Edith Wharton

Ekta Somera

Elbert Hubbard

Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Strout

Emile Coue

Emily Brontë

Ernest Hemingway

Esther Hicks

Faraaz Kazi

Farah Gabdon

Fernando Pessoa

Fiódor Dostoiévski

Florbela Espanca

Franz Kafka

Frédéric Chopin

Fredrik Backman

Friedrich Nietzsche

Galileu Galilei

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

George Orwell  

Hafiz

Hanif Abdurraqib

Helen Oyeyemi

Henry Miller

Henry Rollins

Hilda Hilst

Iain Thomas

Immanuel Kant

Jacki Joyner-Kersee

James Baldwin

James Patterson

Jane Austen

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean Rhys

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jeremy Hammond

JK Rowling

João Guimarães Rosa

Joe Brock

Johannes Brahms

John Banville

John C. Maxwell

John Green

John Wooden

Jojo Moyes

Jorge Amado

José Leite Lopes

Joy Harjo

Juan Ramón Jiménez

Juansen Dizon

Katrina Mayer

Kurt Cobain

L.J. Smith

L.M. Montgomery

Leo Tolstoy

Lisa Kleypas

Lord Byron

Lord Huron

Louise Glück

Lucille Clifton

Ludwig van Beethoven

Lya Luft

Machado de Assis

Maggi Myers

Mahmoud Darwish

Manila Luzon

Manuel Bandeira

Marcel Proust

Margaret Mead

Marina Abramović

Mario Quintana

Mark Yakich

Marla de Queiroz

Martha Medeiros

Martin Luther King

Mary Oliver

Mattia

Maya Angelou

Mehdi Akhavan-Sales

Melissa Cox

Michaela Chung

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Mitch Albom

N.K. Jemisin

Neal Shusterman

Neil Gaiman

Nicholas Sparks

Nietzsche

Nikita Gill

Nora Roberts

Ocean Vuong

Osho

Pablo Neruda

Patrick Rothfuss

Patti Smith

Paulo Coelho

Paulo Leminski

Perina

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Phil Good

Pierre Ronsard

Platão

Poe

R.M. Drake

Raamai

Rabindranath Tagore

Rachel de Queiroz

Ralph Emerson

Raymond Chandler

René Descartes

Reyna Biddy

Richard Kadrey

Richard Wagner

Ritu Ghatourey

Roald Dahl

Robert Schumann

Roy T. Bennett

Rumi

Ruth Rendell

Sage Francis

Séneca

Sérgio Vaz

Shirley Jackson

Sigmund Freud

Simone de Beauvoir

Spike Jonze

Stars Go Dim

Steve Jobs

Stephen Chbosky

Stevie Nicks

Sumaiya

Susan Gale

Sydney J. Harris

Sylvester McNutt

Sylvia Plath

Sysanna Kaysen  

Ted Chiang

Thomas Keneally

Thomas Mann

Truman Capote

Tyler Knott Gregson

Veronica Roth

Victor Hugo

Vincent van Gogh

Virgílio Ferreira

Virginia Woolf

Vladimir Nabokov

Voltaire

Wale Ayinla

Warsan Shire

William C. Hannan

William Shakespeare

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Yasmin Mogahed

Yoke Lore

Yoko Ogawa

[book--brackets]

Author Stats for BFB

When putting together the Best Fantasy Book polls, I noticed that a lot of authors were popular choices, so I thought I'd do a little post about our most popular authors from ones that are in the list only twice to the most common author we have!

The preliminary round for BFB starts tomorrow!

2 Times

J. R. R. Tolkien

Erin Morgenstern

Cassandra Clare

Eoin Colfer

Terry Pratchett

Laini Taylor

Jim Butcher

Robin Hobb

R. F. Kuang

Samantha Shannon

Shannon Hale

Jonathan Stroud

Seanan McGuire

Enid Blyton

Clive Barker

Alix E. Harrow

Scott Westerfeld

Raymond E. Feist

Wayne Thomas Batson

Xiran Jay Zhao

Lloyd Alexander

Meagan Spooner

Katherine Addison

Christina Henry

Gene Wolfe

N. D. Wilson

Emily Rodda

Jude Watson

Ellen Kushner

Cliff McNish

C. J. Cherryh

Garry Kilworth

3 Times

Rick Riordan

Roald Dahl

Brandon Sanderson

Cornelia Funke

Gail Carson Levine

Garth Nix

T. Kingfisher

Patricia C. Wrede

Robin McKinley

Kieron Gillen

Francis Hardinge

4 Times

Holly Black

V. E. Schwab

Naomi Novik

5 Times

Diana Wynne Jones

6 Times

Tamora Pierce

9 Times

Neil Gaiman

Mercedes Lackey

[brokehorrorfan]

Lionsgate and Bloody Disgusting are teaming up to release Wolf Creek, Hannibal Rising, I Spit on Your Grave, You're Next, Sinister, Texas Chainsaw, and Leatherface on Steelbook Blu-ray + Digital exclusively at Walmart.

Featuring artwork by Bond, all seven titles will be released on August 20 for $24.99 each. Existing special features are included.

Be sure to check your local Walmart now for a Bloody Disgusting shelf in the electronics section, where you'll find an exclusive edition of Broke Horror Fan's Terrifier 2 VHS.

2005's Wolf Creek is written and directed by Greg McLean. John Jarratt, Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, and Kestie Morassi star.

2007's Hannibal Rising is directed by Peter Webber and written by Thomas Harris, based on his own novel. Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans, and Dominic West star.

2010's I Spit on Your Grave is directed by Steven R. Monroe and written by Stuart Morse. Sarah Butler, Jeff Branson, Daniel Franzese, Rodney Eastman, Chad Lindberg, Tracey Walter, and Andrew Howard star.

2011's You're Next is directed by Adam Wingard and written by Simon Barrett. Sharni Vinson, A.J. Bowen, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, Joe Swanberg, Barbara Crampton, and Rob Moran star.

2012's Sinister is directed by Scott Derrickson from a script he co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill. Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone, Clare Foley, and Michael Hall D'Addario star.

2013's Texas Chainsaw is directed by John Luessenhop and written by Adam Marcus, Debra Sullivan, and Kirsten Elms. Alexandra Daddario, Dan Yeager, Tremaine Neverson, Tania Raymonde, Thom Barry, Paul Rae, and Bill Moseley star.

2017's Leatherface is directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo and written by Seth M. Sherwood. Stephen Dorff, Vanessa Grasse, Sam Strike, and Lili Taylor star.

[mantislyblaca]

(Permission)

St Claire Hall Episcopal Girls School

AKA (Kemper Hall)

Kemper Hall was an Episcopal girls school for day and boarding students which recognized 1870 as the year of its official founding. The predecessor to Kemper Hall, the Kenosha Female Seminary, was chartered by the rectors, wardens, and vestry of St. Mathews Episcopal Church in 1855, but the school did not open until 1865. Mrs. H.M. Crawford operated the school as St. Claire's Hall for a short time. The school's founders purchased the home of Senator Charles Durkee and nine surrounding acres of land on the Lake Michigan shore in Kenosha. The Durkee mansion served as the school's central classroom and administration building throughout the school's 105-year history.

Bishop Jackson Kemper was elected trustee of the female seminary in 1866. Following Kemper's death in 1870, his successor, Bishop William Armitage, made an urgent request to the Milwaukee Diocesan Council to redeem and secure the school as a living monument to Bishop Kemper. At that time, the school was renamed Kemper Hall. The Reverend George M. Everhart served as the school's first headmaster from 1870 until 1878. The first graduating class celebrated commencement in the school's new chapel in 1876.

In 1878 a group of women from the Sisters of St. Mary, an Episcopal women's order located in Peekskill, New York, arrived in Kenosha to administer the school and to return it to financial solvency. Among the sisters was Mother Mary Clare who became the first headmistress in 1883 and served in that capacity until 1918. Mother Mary Ambrose, who joined the school in 1911, served as headmistress from 1931 until 1967. Other headmistresses included Sister Sarah, 1878; Sister Edith, 1879-1883; Mother Mary Maude, 1918-1920; Sister Celestine, 1920-1922; Sister Flora Therese, 1922-1931; and Sister Margaret Jane, 1967-1969. Anna J. Morse was influential in shaping the curriculum and academic policies of the school, serving as director of studies from the early 1930s until the early 1960s. A lay Board of Trustees assisted the Sisters of St. Mary with the school's administration and most of the teachers were lay persons. Several wealthy benefactors contributed to the financial support of Kemper Hall including Zalmon G. Simmons, who donated eleven acres of land to the school; Charles W. Nash, president of Nash Motors Company, who donated his home to the school in 1938; and James T. Wilson, banker and Nash Motors Company executive, who donated Wilson House, a mansion across the street from the school.

In 1969 the Sisters of St. Mary turned the school over to a Board of Trustees and the Reverend Raymond Gayle became the second headmaster. In 1970 a co-educational program for students in grade one through grade nine was initiated, accepting boys as day students only. The Reverend Russell Ingersoll succeeded the Reverend Mr. Gayle as headmaster in 1972. Kemper Hall closed in June 1975 due to financial problems. During the school's 105-year history, 1,625 students attended. A peak enrollment of 140 students was reached shortly after World War II.

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[kwebtv]

Enemy at the Door - ITV - January 21, 1978 - March 29, 1980

Drama (26 episodes)

Running Time: 60 minutes

Stars:

Alfred Burke as Major Richter

Bernard Horsfall as Dr. Philip Martel

Simon Cadell as Hauptsturmfuhrer Reinicke

John Malcolm as Oberleutnant Kluge

Simon Lack as Major Freidel

David Waller as Major General Müller

Richard Heffer as Peter Porteous

Helen Shingler as Helen Porteous

Antonia Pemberton as Olive Martel

Emily Richard as Clare Martel

Brian Osborne as Inspector Schulphor

Noel Johnson as Committee President

Richard Hurndall as John Ambrose

John Salthouse as Peter Girard

Morgan Sheppard as Raymond Girard

Martin Fisk as Eric Corbin

Elizabeth Bennett as Mrs. Corbin

Peter Williams as Vicar

Mark Christon as Gefrelte Kirst

Alvar Lidell as BBC Announcer

[uwmspeccoll]

An Egyptian Mathematics Science Saturday

While Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BCE) is often considered the first to calculate the value of Pi (π), the Egyptians got pretty darn close a millennium and a half or so earlier, as evidenced by the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. Copied by the scribe Ahmes sometime around 1650 BCE from an earlier text, the papyrus gives us a remarkable insight not only into Egyptian mathematics but also customs and culture, from taxation and farming practices to the exchange rate between beer and bread. It is named after Scottish antiquarian Alexander Henry Rhind, who acquired the papyrus sometime around 1858. Held by the British Museum since 1865, it is now suspected that the papyrus entered the antiquities market as a result of illegal excavations. 

Our facsimile of the papyrus was the result of fifteen years of scholarship by mathematician Arnold Buffum Chace. The first volume was published in Oberlin, Ohio by the Mathematical Association of America in 1927, with the second volume following in 1929. All of the above images are from the second volume, which contains photographs of the papyrus, as well as transcription transliterations and literal translations by Chace. Chace was assisted in his work by mathematician Henry Parker Manning and Egyptologist Ludlow Seguine Bull. Also included in the second volume is a supplement to the “Bibliography of Egyptian Mathematics” from the first volume, both of which were prepared by Raymond Clare Archibald. 

The first publication of the Rhind Papyrus was a translation into German in 1877 by August Eisenlohr. The Mathematical Association of America publication was part if a flurry of new scholarship surrounding the papyrus following advancements in scholarly understanding of Egyptian writing. In the preface to our edition, Chace notes the important 1923 translation by Eric Peet published by Liverpool University Press. Chace remarks that “Egyptologists ... will find philological matters fully discussed by Professor Peet,” while he intended for his work to be geared towards both mathematicians and the general public.

Both volumes were originally donated to the Library of the State Teachers College Milwaukee by the Carnegie Corporation of New York with their bookplate. 

Check out more Science Saturday posts here. 

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[sshbpodcast]

That’s what I call brain freeze: Cryostasis in Star Trek

By Ames

We’re due for our coolest blog activity yet! That’s right, we’re talking cryofreezing this week, the easy way for writers to freeze time for characters, so long spans of time go by in a snap! We see it in pretty much everything, from Alien to Aliens. On Star Trek, going into stasis can allow for people from the past to make it to the future, pause the spread of whatever ails you while your doctor logs into WebMD, and make long-distance travel without warp something survivable for someone with a normal human lifespan.

A Star to Steer Her By is digging into the freezer for some frozen snacks, so make sure to check out everything we’ve got defrosting on the counter below and listen to this week’s podcast chatter (frosty discussion starts at 1:07:29). 

I’ll say this up front as well: I wasn’t expecting to have to include a minor spoiler for season three Picard after literally the first episode, but here we are.

Cool off!

[Images © CBS/Paramount]

“Space Seed”

The villain Khan is just too much for Earth of the past, so he becomes the future’s problem when he flash freezes himself and his augmented followers. The episode in which we first see cryostasis in Trek also paved the way for one of the most popular movies in the franchise, so we’re glad that the plot device opened up the possibility of dragging people into the future. For now.

“The Neutral Zone”

...and I’ve already eaten those words. The three frozen folks from this episode are mainly here to make fish-out-of-water jokes. They don’t understand that stocks and bonds don’t exist in the future. Isn’t that funny? Sure, some of the scenes with an overwhelmed Clare Raymond are a little more intimate and thought-provoking, but this whole episode was just unfocused and tiresome.

“The Emissary”

We all loved K'Ehleyr so much (see how much here!) that it’s easy to forget the rest of the episode in which she was introduced. You’ll remember that a ship of Klingons, all in stasis, is about to get their wakeup call and someone needs to be on hand to make sure they don’t attack the Federation since they’re pretty behind on the news. And who better than our girl K’Ehleyr? Worf helped too, I guess.

“The Perfect Mate”

Sometimes, your mail-order bride comes in a well-preserved package. In the generally squicky “The Perfect Mate,” Kamala is being kept in her little cocoon in the cargo hold until pesky Ferengi accidentally break it open earlier than it’s supposed to be opened. Why did the cocoon need to float in the air where it could easily be knocked down? Hey shut up, the episode needed to move forward.

“Relics”

Do we count being stored in the transporter buffer as an equivalent to being in stasis? Well, “Relics” is on this list, so yes, yes we do. It’s actually a really ingenious plan to effectively freeze yourself using the transporter, even if it seems to only be effective 50% of the time, that we’re frequently flabbergasted that we don’t see it used more often in Trek. You’ll see it a couple more times on this list though.

“Face of the Enemy”

Like in “The Emissary,” it may be easy to forget that the driving force of “Face of the Enemy” is cryo-related, but we get too distracted by watching Marina Sirtis actually getting something really great to do for a change. But the main thrust of the episode is about transporting Romulan defectors out of Romulan space, and that’s achieved by putting them in cryo and moving them around like luggage. Go Troi!

“Vortex”

This mostly forgettable episode from early DS9 also had a mostly forgettable cryo scene. Croden’s daughter is being stored in stasis on some rock or other so that he can go pick her up when he’s escaped his shitty, shitty government. It’s a rather small inclusion, but as we’ve said before: when you’ve got this technology, you might as well use it!

“The Abandoned”

This one’s just a tiny little inclusion in an episode that veers hard in another direction once the sleeping pod element is done with. After Quark buys up a whole bunch of products and he’s started sorting through his wares, he discovers a small pod containing what turns out to be a Jem’Hadar baby. Why was he being transported in a cryochamber? The better question is: why not transport ALL babies in a cryochamber?

“Empok Nor”

We see a lot of “The Emissary” in this horror episode of DS9, especially in that “if someone wakes up, they might wreak some havoc on us” kind of way. In this case, it’s a couple of drugged-out Cardassians that have awakened from their slumber on the space station Empok Nor and the episode turns a little into Jason X: The One in Space. Which we should totally cover on the podcast one day.

“The 37s”

Boy, did we have a lot of shitty things to say about “The 37s” when we wrapped season two of Voyager, and so much of it is because of the very forced and highly unnecessary cryochamber plot. There was already too much going on in this episode, and adding unfreezing Amelia Freaking Earhart to the mix was not only convoluted, but just agonizingly bad as well. Let the poor thing rest in peace.

“The Thaw”

We talked more about this one when we discussed dreams the other week, but it has the added bonus of being a cryosleep episode as well! Like many gimmicks in which the idea is for the characters to get woken up from cryo at an appointed time, something goes terribly wrong for the sleepers and they get stuck in their worst nightmares: dreaming of clowns and not being able to wake up.

“Resolutions”

This is another brief scene, but we do get a moment at the very top when we’re dropped in in media res to see Chakotay and Janeway waking up in their pods on some paradisiacal planet. They were only in there briefly to be transported to the surface without dying of their incurable illness (score one more cross promotion to our diseases post), and then we never see the pods again.

“One”

One of our favorite Seven of Nine episodes so far has been “One” and there’s so much cryostasis that I’m feeling a little freezer burned just thinking about it. It’s such a good premise: the whole crew needs to go into cryo because they can’t survive a span of deadly nebula or other, so Seven has to pilot her sleeping crewmates to the other side without succumbing to cabin fever! Excellent!

“Counterpoint”

Well, we included “Relics” on this list because being stored in the transporter buffer is akin to being stored in a cryopod, so here we are doing it again with “Counterpoint.” Seriously, they really don’t use this technique often enough in Star Trek, but since the telepaths kept in the buffer start to suffer from cell degradation from constant use, maybe that’s a good enough reason.

“11:59”

One of the good things about this otherwise deplorable episode was the story we get from Harry Kim about his uncle Jack. The account goes that Jack was on a sleeper ship (we really don’t see enough of those!) back before space travel was quite so fast, awoke at their destination to find nothing there, so he turned the ship around and went home again. It’s quite a cute and funny little anecdote!

“Dragon’s Teeth”

The episode we covered on the podcast this week hit a lot of the same beats as previous instances from this list. A warlike race gets woken up from their slumber only to try to take over the ship, a la “Space Seed.” Their pods had been scheduled to wake them and failed like in “The Thaw.” And we had nearly no motivation to open the pods in the first place, as has happened a whole bunch!

“Precious Cargo”

An even more egregious retread comes in Enterprise when they basically try to redo the super cringe TNG episode “The Perfect Mate” that you just scrolled past, and somehow continue to be fairly cringe. Same deal: a gorgeous Kriosian woman is being transported while in stasis. Her pod gets damaged and she wakes up and eventually falls for the hunkiest guy in reach. We’ve done all this before.

Into Darkness

Since Into Darkness is just “Space Seed” / The Wrath of Khan but with more lens flare, the movie obviously has to use the cryostasis plot device since it would actually be more trouble NOT to include it and anger the fans [more]. But finding Khan’s crew in cryo inside torpedoes is at least a good touch, and the chilly resolution to the film is somehow kinder than stranding him on Ceti Alpha V.

Rukiya’s story arc

One last one that’s from the transporter buffer loophole that we’ve decided we’re using for this list, but it’s also a really good and quite sweet characterization for Doctor Mbenga to put his daughter into stasis to prolong her life. We ask every so often on the podcast why the medical staff doesn’t put patients in cryo all the time, and it took until Strange New Worlds to really make good use of it.

“Preludes”

Learning Jankom Pog’s backstory in this Prodigy episode really helped shed light on his character in a way that we didn’t realize we needed so badly. It’s a fascinating addition – especially for a kids show! – to have this Tellarite be a blast from the past who awoke accidentally from cryo to find he needed to maintain the ship. And it’s crushing to see him get no credit for it!

“The Next Generation”

Literally right after we recorded this week’s episode, the season three premiere of Picard came along to taunt me. It too contains a scene related to cryostasis. We don’t know much yet about what’s going to come about from this turn of events since, at the time I’m writing this, dear Doctor Crusher has just entered the deep freeze, so watch along with us to see what happens, I guess!

 —

Let’s get you thawed out so you can enjoy more blogtivities! You should also be keeping up with our watch-through of Voyager on SoundCloud or whatever your podcast application of choice is, hanging out with us on Facebook and Twitter, and just generally chilling out.

[darlenefblog]

Another free movie weekend on DirecTV so I watched an oldie, Mean Girls, and 2 new ones.

Marlowe - 2022 - Free Weekend movie watch

 "In 1939 Los Angeles, private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by glamorous heiress Clare Cavendish to find her missing lover, Nico Peterson, a prop master at Pacific Film Studios"

"Based on the 2014 novel The Black-Eyed Blonde by John Banville, , the film stars Liam Neeson as private detective Philip Marlowe, a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler."

Diane Kruger, Jessica Lange are excellent as the mysterious women that film noir is famous for.

Love Liam Neeson and he did a fair job as Philip Marlowe but no one can match Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep.

Mean Girls - Still Fetch.

2004 and still golden. Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams (the icon Regina George), Lacey Chabert, Amanda Seyfried (The Plastics) and Jonathan Bennett who's now a Hallmark staple. 

The Beekeeper - 2024

One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as "Beekeepers".

Staring Jason Statham who's always an excellent reason to turn into a movie.

[brookston]

Holidays 8.12

Holidays

Adam Cole Appreciation Day

Air Force Day (Russia)

Aloha Day

Awa Dance Festival begins (Tokushima, Japan)

Baseball Fans Day

Children’s Health Day

812 Day

The Glorious Twelfth (a.k.a. Grouse Day; UK)

International Drive Like a Dickhead Day

International Youth Day (UN)

Karen Martyrs’ Day (Myanmar)

Mother’s Day (Thailand)

National Code Lavender Day

National Librarian Day (India)

National Mackey Day (UK)

National Middle Child Day

National Mother’s Day (Thailand)

National Remote Sensing Day (India)

National Sewing Machine Day

National Shout Out Day

Otter Day (French Republic)

PC Day (a.k.a. IBM-PC Day)

Queen Dowager’s Day (Thailand)

Solar Alignment at Teotihuacan (Mexico; also 4.29)

Truck Driver Day

Vinyl Record Day

War of the Worlds Day

World Elephant Day

World Hirola Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Milkman Day

Modern British Beer Day

National Gooey Butter Cake Day

National Julienne Fries Day

Oreo Day

Put Peanuts In Your Coca-Cola Day

Toasted Almond Bar Day

2nd Saturday in August

Bud Billiken Parade (Chicago, Illinois) [2nd Saturday]

Celebrate Your Lakes Day (New Hampshire) [2nd Saturday]

Ferry Fair Day (Edinburgh, Scotland) [2nd Saturday]

Great Taste of the Midwest (Wisconsin) [2nd Saturday]

International Swingers Day [2nd Saturday]

National Bowling Day [2nd Saturday]

National Garage Sale Day [2nd Saturday]

National Model Aviation Day [2nd Saturday]

Yard Sale Day [2nd Saturday]

Independence Days

India (Pre-Independence Celebrations; 1947)

Feast Days

Amaranth and Quinoa Day (Pagan)

Clare (Christian; Saint)

Euplius (Christian; Saint)

Eusebius of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Prophet and His Bride (Thelema)

Festival for Venus Vitrix (Victorious Venus; Ancient Rone)

Festival of Hungry Ghosts (China) [15th of 7th lunar month]

Festival of Intoxication (Ancient Egyptian feast celebrating Sekhmet nearly destroying mankind, but stopped by being tricked into drinking a river full of red beer)

Festival of the Tooth begins (Buddhism)

Flunky (Muppetism)

Francisco Franco Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Ghost Festival (a.k.,a. Hungry Ghosts Festival) [15th Day of 7th Lunar Month]

Herculanus of Brescia (Christian; Saint)

Innocent XI, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Jænberht (Christian; Saint)

Jane Frances de Chantal (Christian; Saint)

Krishna Janmashtami (Hindu)

Light of Isis Feast (Ancient Egypt)

Lychnapsia (Birthday of Isis; Ancient Rome)

Milton (Positivist; Saint)

Muiredach (a.k.a. Murtagh; Christian; Saint)

Old Lammas Day

Osirisian Mysteries (a.k.a. Feast of the Lights of Isis; Ancient Egypt)

Porcarius II (Christian; Saint)

Sea Org Day (Scientology)

Thomas Bewick (Artology)

Vegetable Sauce Day (Pastafarian)

Zaraday (Discordian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because it’s Hitler’s mother’s birthday.)

Premieres

The Aristocrats (Documentary Film; 2005)

The Asphalt Jungle, by W.R. Burnett (Novel; 1949)

Backstreet Boys, by the Backstreet Boys (Album; 1997)

Batman: Assault on Arkham (WB Animated Film; 2014)

The Black Album, by Metallica (Album; 1991)

Bosko the Musketeer (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

Chances Are, by Johnny Mathis (Song; 1957)

Curse of the Pink Panther (Film; 1983)

Cycles (Virtual Reality Disney Cartoon; 2014)

Detroit Rock City (Film; 1999)

Dive Bomber (Film; 1941)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Film; 1941)

Emily the Criminal (Film; 2022)

Fall (Film; 2022)

Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss (Children’s Book; 1960)

Hare-um Scare-um (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Hillbilly Hare (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Horton Hears a Who!, by Dr. Seuss (Children’s Book; 1955)

Istanbul (Not Constantinople), recorded by The Four Lads (Song; 1953)

Just Dogs (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

The Lady in the Lake, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1943)

My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett (Novel; 1948)

Old Ways, by Neil Young (Album; 1985)

Sausage Party (Film; 2016)

Senna (Documentary Film; 2011)

Sixteen Candles, by recorded The Crests (Song; 1958)

The Swimming Pool, by Mary Roberts Rinehart (Novel; 1952)

Trouble Is My Business, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1939)

Wings (Film; 1927)

Young Guns (Film; 1988)

Today’s Name Days

Hilaria, Karl, Radegunde (Austria)

Anicet, Franciska, Hilarija, Ivana, Veselka (Croatia)

Klára (Czech Republic)

Clara (Denmark)

Klaara, Klaarika (Estonia)

Kiira, Klaara (Finland)

Clarisse (France)

Andreas, Innozenz, Radegunde (Germany)

Photis (Greece)

Klára (Hungary)

Chiara, Equizio, Ercolano, Onofrio (Italy)

Anisa, Klāra, Klarisa, Vizma (Latvia)

Aiškutė, Laima, Laimona, Laimonas (Lithuania)

Camilla, Klara (Norway)

Bądzisław, Hilaria, Klara, Lech, Leonida, Piotr (Poland)

Darina (Slovakia)

Hilaria, Juana (Spain)

Klara (Sweden)

Clair, Claire, Clara, Clarabel, Clare, Clarinda, Clarissa, Murdock (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 224 of 2024; 141 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 32 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 26 (Ren-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 25 Av 5783

Islamic: 25 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 14 Hasa; Sevenday [134 of 30]

Julian: 30 July 2023

Moon: 13%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 28 Dante (8th Month) [Milton]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 53 of 94)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 22 of 31)

[gible-love-nibles-archive]

What Happened After?

Safeshiptember Day 15: Reunion

Thinking about Post-A.zran L.egacy makes me unwise, and here's like. The culmination of all that. I'm still bad at titles.

This was also something I was writing pre-event, and I thought it fit way too well. Probably going to make a part 2 to this after this event because I Have More Ideas. Just, don't have the time. Mr. Sillymore aough

Word Count: 1.3k

Taglist: @crickiss @heart-of-aspiration @halsdaisy @sosawl @homosexual-fast-dancer @jocelynships @imaginemyshipswithme [If you want to added or removed, tell me in a comment or tag!]

(Please reblog! I like reading tags :])

I felt shattered, curled up on Layton's study couch. I clutched the extra snow-white mask tight. The last thing he had given me before… before…

No. No, he wasn't… gone. The man jumped off stupidly high ledges like it was his day job; it would take a miracle to kill him. But then… why did he leave…?

…How long had it been since everything in the Azran sanctuary? A couple of weeks, I think. A… lot was spilled in that sanctuary… including that De— he had loved me ever since we first saw each other back in Misthallery. He had tried to push those feelings away, tried to push me away; and knowing about his previous family made me completely understand why. But with the universe seemingly continuing to push us together, he decided to act on them a little more as… his true self.

And now he was gone again. Before, I would've felt relieved, maybe even elated. It meant one of his plans had been thwarted. Now I just felt depressed, empty.

Of course, I wasn't alone. Layton, Luke and Rosa were extremely kind to me making sure I was at least taking care of myself. Before she had to leave, Emmy reassured me that he was absolutely coming back for me (even teasing that it would be in some over-the-top, dramatic way). Grosky sent flowers and snacks, courtesy of the Yard (no doubt Emmy pulling some strings there). Even people we had met during our adventures sent postcards, telling me how they were doing and how wonderful I was helping with their problems.

It was certainly all very kind and generous, but… none of it truly helped.

There was a hole in my heart, and only one man could fill it.

~

"Clare! Clare!!"

With supreme effort, I rolled around to face Luke. He held a letter in his hand.

"Is that for me?" I asked him. He nodded. I thought about it for a second, and then started to roll over again. "Ok. I'll read it later then. Thank you, Luke."

The boy grabbed my shoulder. "Um, Clare… I think you should read this now."

I quirked an eyebrow as he handed me the envelope, took a few steps back and then left the room.

It had a cinnamon-colored wax seal with the letters "DS" inside. On the other side was my name trying to look fancy, but was clearly written by someone who didn't have the best handwriting. And it all smelled faintly of fruitcake.

I gripped the envelope like a lifeline, until my knuckles started to go white. It was him. It had to be.

Desmond.

As much as I wanted to rip the envelope open with no abandon to see what was inside… I couldn't bring myself to ruin it. I swiftly but gingerly managed to open it up without breaking the wax seal.

Inside was a letter.

"My dearest Clare,

I sincerely hope I haven't worried you these past weeks."

"Bit late for that," I couldn't help but mutter.

"All of my injuries are fully healed now, and I'm doing completely fine. Well… except for you not being here. It shattered my heart to leave you behind like that… but I had a few matters of business to take care of. I'll explain it all once we reunite."

I felt my heart leap. Reunite… with Desmond…

"I sense you may want to desperately, but please don't reply to this letter. Just come to the London Aerodrome in three days' time. I will be there, with the Bostonius and Raymond. Pack well. I promised I'd come back for you, and it's about to be fulfilled.

I don't deserve to ask anything of you now— not after everything I've done— but please… wait just a bit longer for me.

Forever and only yours,

Desmond"

~

The next three days were a complete blur of packing and re-reading the letter. "Pack well" probably meant that we were going somewhere. At the very least, somewhere. For a day? A few days? A few weeks? A few months?

…I found myself realizing that I didn't care how long or where we would be going. As long he was there, I wouldn't care.

Rosa eventually convinced me to perhaps pack a little less.

~

My alarm rang extremely early the day Desmond said he was going to come. I had set it up that way, not that I really needed the reminder. I was rushing out the door even before the crack at dawn.

The aerodrome was closed to the public at the time, but I climbed over the fence. Some chain link was not going to stop me.

And then I found a patch of grass to sit on… and waited.

The sun rose in the sky… and set. I was very glad Rosa packed me breakfast and lunch the day before.

I was getting antsier and antsier with every minute that passed.

I first reasoned that I had gotten here extremely early. Even Descole wouldn't be up this early for a scheme. So I waited.

Morning came and passed. I thought he probably wanted to be away from all the other planes and blimps, make it truly private. I still waited.

When noon came and went and the afternoon rolled in, I checked the letter again. Three days' time. I had gotten this letter three days ago. It was today, I was absolutely sure of it. I held the letter close to my chest, breathing in the fruitcake scent. I waited still.

It was only when the sun was beginning to set and the sky was alight in warm colors did I finally see the Bostonius in the sky.

It landed nearby, and I scrambled up to my feet, rushing to the ship. Rushing to him.

Once I got to the bottom of the stairs that led me up to the airship, I… paused. I wasn't really sure why. I didn't feel particularly winded. And of course, I wanted to see Desmond, so so badly. Why was I hesitating now, of all times?

Thankfully, the door at the top of the stairs opened, and right after… he stepped out.

Desmond. Looking just as he had before during the trip.

We caught each other's eyes nearly immediately, and time seemed to slow. I found I couldn't say a word. My throat was clogged up with all the words I wanted to say. My legs started to wobble a bit.

Meanwhile, Desmond's face went from surprise to sweet, soft joy and elation. "Clare…" He broke the silence by having my name pass through his lips.

And with that, I broke. Hearing him again after all this time made my knees crash to the ground, and I covered my eyes with my sleeves, trying to curl up into the smallest ball I could.

I vaguely heard the sounds of someone descending rapidly down the steps before I was swept up into someone's arms. I paused my crying to see who it was, but I didn't really need to. Of course it was Desmond. There were little tears in his eyes, but he smiled with immense brightness and warmth. "Hello, Clare," he said, just the littlest bit choked up.

I still couldn't say much; I just buried myself in his shoulder, my tears still pouring out. "S-Sorr—"

"No need to apologize, my love," he reassured me, stroking his thumb on my arm in a comforting gesture. As he made his way back up to the Bostonius, he left little kisses on the top of my head— or more accurately, he left kisses wherever his lips could reasonably reach. It barely seemed like he let himself breathe in between each one.

"You're gonna pass out if you keep that up," I joked in between deep breaths.

He started to laugh. "Oh dearest… just hearing your voice again… it makes my heart soar. I've missed you so much."

"…Me too."

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.12

Holidays

Adam Cole Appreciation Day

Air Force Day (Russia)

Aloha Day

Awa Dance Festival begins (Tokushima, Japan)

Baseball Fans Day

Children’s Health Day

812 Day

The Glorious Twelfth (a.k.a. Grouse Day; UK)

International Drive Like a Dickhead Day

International Youth Day (UN)

Karen Martyrs’ Day (Myanmar)

Mother’s Day (Thailand)

National Code Lavender Day

National Librarian Day (India)

National Mackey Day (UK)

National Middle Child Day

National Mother’s Day (Thailand)

National Remote Sensing Day (India)

National Sewing Machine Day

National Shout Out Day

Otter Day (French Republic)

PC Day (a.k.a. IBM-PC Day)

Queen Dowager’s Day (Thailand)

Solar Alignment at Teotihuacan (Mexico; also 4.29)

Truck Driver Day

Vinyl Record Day

War of the Worlds Day

World Elephant Day

World Hirola Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Milkman Day

Modern British Beer Day

National Gooey Butter Cake Day

National Julienne Fries Day

Oreo Day

Put Peanuts In Your Coca-Cola Day

Toasted Almond Bar Day

2nd Saturday in August

Bud Billiken Parade (Chicago, Illinois) [2nd Saturday]

Celebrate Your Lakes Day (New Hampshire) [2nd Saturday]

Ferry Fair Day (Edinburgh, Scotland) [2nd Saturday]

Great Taste of the Midwest (Wisconsin) [2nd Saturday]

International Swingers Day [2nd Saturday]

National Bowling Day [2nd Saturday]

National Garage Sale Day [2nd Saturday]

National Model Aviation Day [2nd Saturday]

Yard Sale Day [2nd Saturday]

Independence Days

India (Pre-Independence Celebrations; 1947)

Feast Days

Amaranth and Quinoa Day (Pagan)

Clare (Christian; Saint)

Euplius (Christian; Saint)

Eusebius of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Prophet and His Bride (Thelema)

Festival for Venus Vitrix (Victorious Venus; Ancient Rone)

Festival of Hungry Ghosts (China) [15th of 7th lunar month]

Festival of Intoxication (Ancient Egyptian feast celebrating Sekhmet nearly destroying mankind, but stopped by being tricked into drinking a river full of red beer)

Festival of the Tooth begins (Buddhism)

Flunky (Muppetism)

Francisco Franco Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Ghost Festival (a.k.,a. Hungry Ghosts Festival) [15th Day of 7th Lunar Month]

Herculanus of Brescia (Christian; Saint)

Innocent XI, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Jænberht (Christian; Saint)

Jane Frances de Chantal (Christian; Saint)

Krishna Janmashtami (Hindu)

Light of Isis Feast (Ancient Egypt)

Lychnapsia (Birthday of Isis; Ancient Rome)

Milton (Positivist; Saint)

Muiredach (a.k.a. Murtagh; Christian; Saint)

Old Lammas Day

Osirisian Mysteries (a.k.a. Feast of the Lights of Isis; Ancient Egypt)

Porcarius II (Christian; Saint)

Sea Org Day (Scientology)

Thomas Bewick (Artology)

Vegetable Sauce Day (Pastafarian)

Zaraday (Discordian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because it’s Hitler’s mother’s birthday.)

Premieres

The Aristocrats (Documentary Film; 2005)

The Asphalt Jungle, by W.R. Burnett (Novel; 1949)

Backstreet Boys, by the Backstreet Boys (Album; 1997)

Batman: Assault on Arkham (WB Animated Film; 2014)

The Black Album, by Metallica (Album; 1991)

Bosko the Musketeer (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

Chances Are, by Johnny Mathis (Song; 1957)

Curse of the Pink Panther (Film; 1983)

Cycles (Virtual Reality Disney Cartoon; 2014)

Detroit Rock City (Film; 1999)

Dive Bomber (Film; 1941)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Film; 1941)

Emily the Criminal (Film; 2022)

Fall (Film; 2022)

Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss (Children’s Book; 1960)

Hare-um Scare-um (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Hillbilly Hare (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Horton Hears a Who!, by Dr. Seuss (Children’s Book; 1955)

Istanbul (Not Constantinople), recorded by The Four Lads (Song; 1953)

Just Dogs (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

The Lady in the Lake, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1943)

My Father's Dragon, by Ruth Stiles Gannett (Novel; 1948)

Old Ways, by Neil Young (Album; 1985)

Sausage Party (Film; 2016)

Senna (Documentary Film; 2011)

Sixteen Candles, by recorded The Crests (Song; 1958)

The Swimming Pool, by Mary Roberts Rinehart (Novel; 1952)

Trouble Is My Business, by Raymond Chandler (Novel; 1939)

Wings (Film; 1927)

Young Guns (Film; 1988)

Today’s Name Days

Hilaria, Karl, Radegunde (Austria)

Anicet, Franciska, Hilarija, Ivana, Veselka (Croatia)

Klára (Czech Republic)

Clara (Denmark)

Klaara, Klaarika (Estonia)

Kiira, Klaara (Finland)

Clarisse (France)

Andreas, Innozenz, Radegunde (Germany)

Photis (Greece)

Klára (Hungary)

Chiara, Equizio, Ercolano, Onofrio (Italy)

Anisa, Klāra, Klarisa, Vizma (Latvia)

Aiškutė, Laima, Laimona, Laimonas (Lithuania)

Camilla, Klara (Norway)

Bądzisław, Hilaria, Klara, Lech, Leonida, Piotr (Poland)

Darina (Slovakia)

Hilaria, Juana (Spain)

Klara (Sweden)

Clair, Claire, Clara, Clarabel, Clare, Clarinda, Clarissa, Murdock (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 224 of 2024; 141 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of week 32 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Coll (Hazel) [Day 5 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Ji-Wei), Day 26 (Ren-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 25 Av 5783

Islamic: 25 Muharram 1445

J Cal: 14 Hasa; Sevenday [134 of 30]

Julian: 30 July 2023

Moon: 13%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 28 Dante (8th Month) [Milton]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 53 of 94)

Zodiac: Leo (Day 22 of 31)

[rocklandhistoryblog]

The new episode of Crossroads is streaming now! The episode originally aired on Monday, July 17, 2023 at 9:30 AM, on WRCR 1700 AM Radio.

Here is a link to the broadcast: https://on.soundcloud.com/F158S

or find it on all major podcast platforms.

Dr. Vincent Cookingham joined host Clare Sheridan to discuss his new book, The Germond Family Murders: A Forensic Conclusion to a Cold Case. His recent appearance at the HSRC was sold out, so we wanted to give everyone another chance to hear about his forensic investigation into this ninety-year-old cold case.

Despite contemporary attention from Franklin D. Roosevelt and from Pinkerton Detectives, and more recently from amateur sleuths and the press, the Germond murders went unsolved until Dr. Cookingham’s investigation. The multiple murders of James (Husted) Germond; his wife, Mabel; and their two children, Bernice and Raymond, at their Dutchess County farm in November 1930 is one of the most famous crimes ever committed in the Hudson Valley.

About the author: Dr. Vincent Cookingham has more than fifty years of investigative and forensic science experience as a law enforcement officer, corporate executive, consultant, and university professor in forensic science. He has numerous peer-reviewed professional publications and books. He holds a PhD, with a doctoral dissertation in the forensic applications in white-collar crime. In addition, he holds an MBA and an MA from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; a BS in forensic science; and three professional board certifications. Dr. Cookingham is a veteran of the US Marine Corps, as well as a native New Yorker who currently resides in Florida.

*****

Crossroads of Rockland History, a program of the Historical Society of Rockland County, airs on the third Monday of each month at 9:30 AM, right after the Jeff and Will morning show, on WRCR 1700 AM Radio and www.WRCR.com. Join host Clare Sheridan as we explore, celebrate, and learn about our local history, with different topics and guest speakers every month. Our recorded broadcasts are also available for streaming on all major podcasts platforms.

[greensparty]

Movie Reviews: Marlowe / Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

This week I got to review not one but two new releases...both very different.

Marlowe

Raymond Chandler’s character Philip Marlowe was a private eye in his short stories and books in the 1930s on. Pretty soon Hollywood was adapting Marlowe stories into radio, television and films in the 1940s onward. Some of the Marlowe films I watched in my college History of Film class included Murder, My Sweet and The Big Sleep. Now Neil Jordan has adapted a 2014 Marlowe story written by John Banville into the new crime thriller Marlowe opening in theaters this week after some 2022 film festivals. 

movie poster

In 1940s Los Angeles, hardboiled private eye Marlowe (played by Liam Neeson in his 100th performance according to much press) is hired by a rich heiress Clare (Diane Kruger) to find her ex. The movie star mother (played by Jessica Lange) soon gets entangled. That’s about all I can say without getting into spoilers.

Neeson as Marlowe

Director Neil Jordan has made some great movies in the past. I actually worked for a short time in the Construction Department on his 2007 movie The Brave One. That movie wasn’t perfect by any means, but it had its moments. But his films The Crying Game (he received Oscar nominations for directing and for writing), Interview with a Vampire, and The Butcher Boy really showed his range as a director in terms of excelling in various genres. This is a terrific cast, and I was excited to see Colm Meaney and Ian Hart, both of whom were in Monument Ave (which I worked on) in small supporting roles. The production design was big and lavish. But the problem is: I wanted to like this more than I did. I think the issue is that since the Marlowe films of the 40s, there’s been so many film noir classics and this story (even with a script from William Monahan, which wrote The Departed) it felt derivative of so many other film noirs. Between the character of Marlowe, Neil Jordan and this cast there was something so much better that could’ve been.

For info on Marlowe: https://www.marlowemovie.com/

2 out of 5 stars

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Marvel Cinematic Universe is hit or miss. Some elitist have said it’s not cinema (Martin Scorsese) or it’s too bad that they are the only types of movies getting made these days (Quentin Tarantino). But hardcore fans have pushed back on that. I fall somewhere in the middle of the fans and the haters. When the movies are good they are really good. When they are bad, they are a let down. Then you have some that are just somewhere in the middle: a fun ride, but nothing I need to see again or buy on blu-ray. In 2015′s Ant-Man, Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang tries to get back to a normal life after getting out of prison and finds himself getting mixed up with a shrinking technology. The first 10-15 minutes of that felt like it was aspiring to so much more than a MCU movie: a guy trying to move on with his life but society won’t let him since he’s an ex-con. Then it just became another super hero movie. It had some fun parts, but it could’ve been so much more, even with a screenplay co-written by Rudd, Edgar Wright and Adam McKay. In 2016′s Captain America: Civil War, Ant-Man gets recruited by Capt. America and became an Avenger. In 2018′s Ant-Man and the Wasp, it was fun to see the shrinking / growing fights in San Francisco, but again it felt like there was a better movie waiting to get out. Ant-Man re-joined the Avengers in 2019′s Avengers: Endgame. Now the third Lang movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens this week.

movie poster

In this one Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) and her scientist father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) now have mother/wife Janet (Michelle Pfieffer) back from the Quantum Realm...even if she is reluctant to talk about this world she was in for 30 years. Lang’s daughter Cassie (now much older and played by Kathryn Newton) is working on a signal to the Quantum Realm, but it thrusts them all into this world, where they get separated. Janet is the most familiar with this world, but even she is fearful of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who makes a deal with Ant-Man...and things go awry.

Rudd, Newton and Lilly in the Quantum Realm

I actually like this better than the first two Ant-Man movies mainly because of Kang the Conqueror, one of the best Marvel villains we’ve had in a while, and the relationship Lang now has with his grown daughter Cassie. The idea of shrinking is nothing new, we’ve seen it in Fantastic Voyage, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, and Innerspace just to name a few, but with this one instead of reminding me of Marvel movies, it reminded me more of classic Star Trek episodes and sci-fi movies of the 50s and 60s. Returning director Peyton Reed has mixed it up with movies like Bring It On and episodes of The Mandalorian, but what first got my attention about him was the behind-the-scenes special on Back to the Future trilogy that aired on TV in 1990 and then he directed the live-action segments on the BTTF animated series. If he never directs anything else, he has my thumbs up for his contribution to the BTTF universe! But what lifts the sail of all the Ant-Man movies is Paul Rudd. He has a charm and a charisma that has served him well in romances and comedies (notably David Wain and Judd Apatow comedies), but here he’s the protective father on a grand scale. Did I mention I really dug the reference to Welcome Back Kotter too?

For info on A-M&TW:Q: https://www.marvel.com/movies/ant-man-and-the-wasp-quantumania

3 out of 5 stars

[extrabeurre]

MARLOWE de Neil Jordan: Pas de cadeau pour le privé

Créé par l’écrivain Raymond Chandler, le détective privé Philip Marlowe est apparu maintes fois au grand écran, notamment sous les traits de Humphrey Bogart dans The Big Sleep et sous ceux de Elliott Gould dans The Long Goodbye. Étroitement associé au film noir, le célèbre limier est de retour dans une nouvelle production portant son nom, cette fois-ci incarné par Liam Neeson. Sans arriver à la cheville des chefs-d’œuvre susmentionnés de Howard Hawks et Robert Altman, notamment à cause de dialogues souvent affectés et d’un rythme chancelant, Marlowe possède néanmoins un certain charme suranné. La reconstitution d’époque est plutôt élégante, plusieurs scènes sont joliment atmosphériques (celles en voiture, entre autres), et la réalisation de Neil Jordan est juste assez stylisée. Adapté de The Black-Eyed Blonde de Benjamin Black, le scénario de William Monahan se déroule à Los Angeles en 1939, où Philip Marlowe est engagé par Clare Cavendish (Diane Kruger), la fille d’une légendaire actrice hollywoodienne (Jessica Lange), pour retrouver son amant (l’acteur québécois François Arnaud), un accessoiriste de cinéma. Ce dernier est apparemment mort après que la roue d’une voiture lui ait écrabouillé la tête à la sortie d’une soirée bien arrosée, mais Clare est convaincue de l’avoir aperçu à Tijuana après son supposé trépas… Marlowe va à la rencontre de divers individus et tente d’en apprendre plus sur l’affaire, fumant des clopes et enfilant les verres de whisky au passage. Ceci étant un film qui fait partie de l’ère Vieux-Dur-à-cuire™ de Liam Neeson, il y a bien quelques brèves scènes où il casse des gueules ou joue du flingue. Mais l’intérêt principal est de visiter des clubs louches et de rencontrer des personnages truculents (Alan Cumming, Danny Huston, etc.), alors que la vérité remonte peu à peu à la surface.

Marlowe prendra l’affiche ce mercredi 15 février.