#context i am at a countryside - basically in a village

[alligaytorswamp]

hand update: everything still sucks

[dailyaudiobible]

03/21/2023 DAB Transcript

Numbers 32:1-33:39, Luke 4:31-5:11, Psalms 64:1-10, Proverbs 11:22

Today is the 21st day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is fantastic to be here with you today as we gather around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together. And our next step is leading us to the final chapters of the book of Numbers. I believe the day after tomorrow is when we will transition out of Numbers and into the next book in the Torah, Deuteronomy. But for now, we are squarely in the book of Numbers. And today Numbers chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 39.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there are some things in the gospel of Luke today that are just so beautiful, so beautiful and so important for us to look at and examine and apply to our own lives and in our own contexts. So, yesterday Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted then He came to Nazareth where He announced His ministry and the fulfillment of prophecy, which ultimately, after a conversation took place, had Jesus on the edge of a precipice where the…the other Nazarenes who lived in Nazareth were going to throw Him off the mountain and He passed right through them and went on His way. Today we open up the gospel of Luke and we find Jesus, about 20 miles northeast of Nazareth on the north, northwest edge of the Sea of Galilee, in a village called Capernaum. And Capernaum would become Jesus’ adult home and sort of like home base for his ministry. And let’s not get lost in the story because we read Matthew and Mark and so we kind of know how this flows. This is the very beginning. Jesus is just announcing. He's been baptized. He’s announcing what He’s here to do. Everywhere he goes He's doing that and the word is beginning to spread quickly. But Jesus isn't walking around the countryside as a rabbi with 12 disciples following him around yet. He doesn't have disciples yet. That's what’s so beautiful about all we got to see in today's reading. So, Jesus is in Capernaum. He is teaching. The people, they are amazed. They are bringing their sick to Him. The sick are being healed and recovering and being restored to health and wholeness. And, so, by the next morning the village is full of people and Jesus is like, I got a go to other places too. Like, I was sent here to do what I'm doing here all over the place and the crowds are pressing in on Jesus until they basically press Him all the way down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, which is called Lake Gennesaret. You see that in some of your translations. They’re the same. The Sea of Galilee, Lake of Gennesaret. The crowds are pushing Jesus down to the shore. There are fishermen who are on the shore with their boats cleaning their nets. They've come in from fishing. They fish at night. They have to fish at night. The sea of Galilee’s a deep lake. So, during the day as the sun is warming the water, the fish will go lower down deeper further down than nets could reach. And, so, they go out at night when the fish come up to the warmer water that remains in the evening where the nets can catch them. And, so, this is the next morning and they’ve been working all night and they don't have a big catch and they're putting their stuff away and getting ready to go to bed so that he can get up at nighttime and go back fishing. Meanwhile, Jesus is being pressed by a crowd down to the shore and there's a couple of boats there and He climbs into a boat like just randomly. Like, that’s so funny to me because…I don't know…in this day and age you just don't climb into the back of somebody's pickup truck. You don't just get into the passenger side of their car just because the car happens to be sitting there. So, here's some fishermen cleaning their nets. They're not in the boat. Here comes this guy. And they would've understood what the commotion was about, who this person is. Like, this is somebody doing something important. Jesus ends up in the boat and He’s just like, hey, will you take me out away from the shore a little bit. Like, basically what Jesus is wanting is to put some distance between the crowd and Him so that he could teach them, He could say what He is going to say to them without getting mobbed. And, so, they do they do. They row them out a little ways and He sits down in the boat and He teaches the crowd. It’s also just a beautiful acoustical thing since I’m an audio engineer and I love this stuff. I love that Jesus rowed out a little ways, just a little bit in the water and used the water as like natural amplification, so that he could sit down in the boat and just talk to the people and that they could all hear Him. It’s a beautiful thing. And that's what Jesus does is He teaches from the boat and then when he's done teaching, He asks Simon, who will become Simon Peter, who will become a disciple of Jesus because it happens to be His boat that He climbed into if they would go out and cast their nets again. And these are professional fishermen Jesus is talking to, fishermen who had worked all night and it is now day and they’re being asked to go out counterintuitively and…and fish again. And, so, they're not disrespectful. They're just like, you know, we've been fishing all night but if this is what you want this...this is what we’ll do. We’ll go out and we’ll show you how fishing looks up close and personal. And they cast their nets and it is unbelievable, the hall of fish. It takes to boats to fill them all up. And they bring them to shore, and this is astonishing to them. The amount of fish and the time that the fish were caught, this is astonishing and the implications are astonishing because this is a big catch. This is the moment when they finally broke through to a financial victory with some level of hope. They were just rewarded amazingly for the use of their boats for a little while. Peter though, Simon, he's thinking deeper. Like, there's other things going on inside of him. Like he’s not just a simple person. He may speak before he thinks but he's…he’s not shallow and he's…he's the one seeing what's going on here. He's the one that's actually understanding the deeper implications, like this is more than fish, this is more than money, this is a miracle. Whoever this person is, whoever this Jesus is there’s something else going on here. There…God is showing up in our midst. And Peter can see that and Peter comes before Jesus, gets down upon his knees and just asks Jesus to…to leave him, that he's a sinner, that he does not deserve to be in this man's presence. That is the moment though. That is the moment Jesus looks for in each of us and that is the moment that Jesus immediately tells Peter, don't be afraid you’ll be catching people now. This is Jesus’ invitation to come and follow Him. At the moment when Peter realizes that he has just been blessed of God he is also presented with a choice because there is the invitation of God to come and follow. And as the gospel of Luke tells us, and I quote, “when they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed Him.” They left it all on the shore. They left the windfall. They left this blessing. They left this alternative life. They were in the presence of something that was more important than any life they could create for themselves and they…they knew it in the moment and they made a decision because they had an invitation and they left what they had. They left the life they had and the life that they were preparing for for an adventure with God. This is such a beautiful depiction, a beautiful picture for each of us because this is the moment. This is the moment of faith that we all come to where we look at the life that we have and the life that we are trying to arrange for and we realize we are in the presence of something holy, something bigger, something cosmic, something greater and more pervasive and more present than anything we've ever felt. And the words fail but the reach, the leap, the jump, the freefall into the adventure with God through faith. The leap of faith helps us to realize we’re actually safe for the first time. We’re where we belong for the first time. Things were difficult for Jesus and His ministry. We know how the story ends. Things were difficult for Jesus disciples, especially after He had ascended to the Father, and they were to go into all the world. Things got very difficult for every one of these people, but they had experienced God, and it was irreversible and may that be our story brothers and sisters. May that be our story.

Prayer:

Jesus we long for that to be our story and that is our story. You came near. Whether we were expecting it or not, You came near. And in that moment, we had eyes to see, and we could see well beyond what we were seeing. We could see for a moment what it might be like to be reunited with You and become whole again. Often when we face challenging hardship and difficulty it's confusing to us. The wilderness and the lessons in the wilderness, they become confusing to us because we lose our eyes to see and ears to hear, we become distracted. Holy Spirit, come. Remind us that we are invited to encounter You every day always, that You will never leave or forsake us, that there is nowhere that we can flee from Your presence, that You are always with us and that we get to enjoy this dance of life together following You, leaving behind the life that we were making for ourselves in exchange for a life with God. Come Holy Spirit. Remind us of what's going on here. What's real here. We get so distracted so often. Return us to the moment when we knew, return us to the moment and the joy of our salvation we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning, everyone this is Abby from Maryland it's been a while since I called but I'm calling. Val in Vegas actually made me call this morning just listening to the podcast from March 17th. And she really just spoke live to me, you know just this morning on the 18th I'm here just thinking about how I didn't do this, I didn't do that, I need to do this, you know, I'm just slacking off and things like that. But she made me really think about the goodness of God, the fact that I'm alive, I'm awake, I have air in my lungs. I mean, like she said God's just sprinkled lots of joy into us. I just really, really love and appreciate you Val in Vegas. Every time I listen to you there's just this excitement in your voice and I pray that the joy of the Lord will continue to be yours, friend. And I pray for everyone in my community DAB. I may not call in but I'm listening. I'm praying along and I pray that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guide all of your hearts and mind in Jesus’ name. And I pay for Brian and his family that the joy of the Lord will continue to be his strength, that the anointing of God will continue to rest upon him and his family. I'm praying for you all. Blind Tony, Biola from Maryland. I mean there's too many…Diane Oliver I think that's her name. You all are amazing. You all inspire me. Continue to just continue to encourage each other and pray for each other. God bless you all. You all have a blessed day, week, year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hello, my Daily Audio Bible family this is Blessed Assurance calling Saturday March 18th in the evening. I'm calling because Sparky gave some advice a few weeks ago about how we should call in our prayer requests. I've been a listener for 10 years and this is only about the third time I've called in. This may sound like a trivial matter to many people, but I know a lot of you are in the same boat as I am. I'm really struggling with all this inflation. And I know…I’m very grateful for all the blessings God has given me. I really am, but as so many of you also know it's really hard for us going from paycheck to paycheck to meet our bills. And tonight, I just found out that my…my home insurance has gone up $124 a month and I just don't know how I'm going to make that payment. I'm using tonight to pray and commune with my savior. And that's awesome and I do his feel His comfort, His arms around me but I'm just asking for a hug from Victoria Soldier and Val in Vegas and Sparky and the rest of you because you guys know what we're going through here. I love you all so much. Until we meet again. Love you. Bye-bye.

I'm basking in the spirit while I'm lying in bed the sun hasn't risen yet and I'm glad that I'm not dead it's quiet and it's dark and it seems like the world's asleep but I can feel you all around me God inside too real deep it feels like I'm glowing but I know that can't be true pre-dawn is my favorite time to come in prayer to you there are no real distractions no voices cars or lights no human interference no arguments or fights only me reflecting thoughts that spring from deep within thoughts now filled with gratitude that used to be about sin I come to you for power I come to you for grace I come to you my father because there really is no other place I lift you up for what you've done you've done so much for me I praise you God for who you are and how you've set me free it seems like I just can't get enough I'm praising you every day the closer that I get to you the more I love to pray thank you God for lifting me for loving me for setting free thank you God my eyes can see a concept like eternity the sun's up now and I'm still in prayer and I can still feel you everywhere inside outside all around even deep below the ground you truly are awesome

blindtony1016@gmail.com. Like to give a shout out to Deborah Canney and your sister Judy. And my condolences Judy on the loss of your husband. And I'd like to give a shout out to your brother Beau and his wife. Know that you all are daily in my prayers and often in my thoughts. And once again Brian and the Hardin family thank you for this wonderful…

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Chantelle calling from London. First of all, I just want to say this is my first time doing this and it's exciting and encouraging to know that I have a family all around the world who is praying just as I am praying for you all as well. I've been a part of the DAB family for the last two years now and it's been such a blessing to my life. And, so, I really felt lead the other day as I was listening to…to share my prayer request, which is for my brother who has been struggling with suicidal thoughts and just mental health issues for the last, I would say, about a year. And he has been raised in the ways of the Lord. He knows the word of the Lord. I think the enemy really attacks him when it comes to his thoughts about himself, self-belief, and you know, his place and in God's heart and knowing that there's nothing that he could do that we'll ever separate him from the love of Christ. So, I just wanted to ask you all to help me to pray that the word of God would rise up in his heart, that he would just become that mighty man that God has ordained and destined him to be and be able to speak the truth over the lies that the enemy is just spouting in his mind. And I just pray. I know that God gave me a vision and I know that he's going to be such a pillar for his generation. He's only 15 years old but he's such an intelligent lovely creative young man and I know that the enemy is at work in trying to attack what God has put in his life. But I reject that in Jesus’ name and I would just be so grateful for your prayers. Thank you so much. I love you guys.

[so-tell-me-will]

The cave is very interesting it is all about where you are secure and protected, that’s not where you do your work. You can in the modern context but I am going back in the primitive context. The insecurity was to go out into the world and come back in and rush back to your cave and hope you weren’t eaten by something, or killed by something. So what was the natural flow in this, the natural flow in this is the combination of many caves together. As a matter of fact many caves with a wall around them.

It started in Ur in Mesopotamia. What is called the actual first city, not that you would call it a city. It was a town basically, it was 5, 6, 20 dwellings, very simple dwellings and yet each family in that sense had their space, and of course it’s something to understand about this movement from cave to Market is that you are really talking about something very, very important having to take place in order for this to be possible.

And of course in this transition if we look at it in an evolutionary point of view is the husbandry of animals. The husbandry of animals and the understanding of the natural growth cycle. In other words agriculture. Those things were essential elements. We’ve got all kinds of timing for them, basically sometime between 14,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago the understanding of agriculture, the domestication of animals was pretty much set in place. All of that was the by-product of the insecurity of the cave. Leading to a larger cave in that sense, leading to the communal cave. Leading to what we would call the village, the town, the city and ultimately the mega city. This is Markets.

And it is something to understand about being Market environment, is that you need to be integrated into the community. And the underlying theme of Market is that it is about the way in which you survive. Not the way in which you protect yourself and remain secure, the way in which you supply yourself with the things that you need in your life. In other words food, shelter, and so forth and so on. And of course the moment that we had a way of guaranteeing that we had food resources, agriculture and the control of animals is the moment that the independent potential to develop and to succeed in crafts and trades and all of these things began to emerge.

The whole thing about the cave thing is that with the cave thing all the hunters had to get up and go out and spend all their time trying to find something to eat and bring it back. The moment that you shift to Markets you’ve got a very different world. You’ve got a world that’s says we are a community, we are part of the community and in order to be functional we have to do something.

So this is something to understand about being in the Market, that your environment is also establishing the quality of life for you. Remember something about environment, you can never separate environment from tis nodal relationship. That’s what it is all about, it is your life, it is your storyline. It is how your life is going to unfold in the most nurtured geometry. That means markets and being in those markets.

Interesting, friends of my wife, friends of mine as well have known them for many years. came by they don’t live here…ended up living a relatively conservative life in a tiny mountain village in Austria and running a ski resort. And it was so funny to see their charts because they were both Markets. And both of them always had this fantasy of doing what people bellow always want to do, they always want to be here. In other words you are hardscape and you think, ‘oh god I don’t want to live in this village where everybody knows everybody else and don’t want to make my living dealing with these people all the time, I want to live in the wide open spaces where nobody ever sees me and nobody knows me.” And of course that not the way it works. And they both had markets and it was very funny to see that…

Some people get lucky because if you are in an adult partnership and you have different environments theoretically it works, but it is not an easy thing because they are very distinct in the way they point to in terms of what you see and what that leads to. But anyway to get back to the theme of markets, markets are really about remember one of the things I taught you about what it is to have a 2nd color dietary regimen. Everything about the 2nd color dietary regimen is that you need to have good access to local markets, where you get local produce, and of course these are the local markets.

If you are going to be 2nd color environment you really need to be part of your community now that doesn’t have to be an isolated village somewhere, you can be a part of your community by simply being part of your neighborhood if you know what I mean. It is really important that you are integrated into the community and that it is in that integration into that community that you do your work.

What is interesting in markets is that it is antithetical to the web business and the way in which the internet has changed the way in which consumer habits work. We can online order things that are no longer in our village, we can do business with people who we never have to meet on the street, all these kinds of things had an impact on the nature of markets.

You can see what happened. There is something that is called the gentrification movement. Where run down areas of city cores in north America cause that’s where I saw it the most that they were refurbished brought back to life, made into shinny quant major neighborhoods and these are classic markets being built inside communities where people could live there work there, know their neighbors, feel like they were in a connected community, those kinds of things and it is really about this market. And in any of those places you will see that they always made room for having a natural market, or natural food stores, all these kinds of things and again it goes back to the underlying thematic of what community is supposed to be about..

There is so many things that depth brings to those who have skills. I love to sit down with city planners. It is one of those beautiful things that you see in environments, it is understanding the nature of market.

If you are going to build a super city that is going to have a life, that is not going to be oppressive by its very nature you need to build that neighborhood by neighborhood and you need to build it on market constructs because that was the way it evolved. If we went back to that we would see its success.

Everybody knows that if you go into a city on every other corner of that city you are going to have some kind of market stall, little shop on some corner that is run by first generation immigrants, these kinds of things. And one of the things that is missing in all of that is that markets was built around food resources. So basically when you looked at these first communities that came into existence they were surrounded by their food resources. And the food resources were brought into the core of the city into the center of the village because that was the market place. And of course that market place would expand. Now we have strip malls, we have all the modern accoutrement of it.

But for market people to feel comfortable this is why these people love to be in the countryside somewhere in the valleys and the mountains in that little community up there because this is what they are dreaming of and yet they belong in the city.

If we abandon the markets in the city and they can only be found out here, the cities die, and the communities don’t exist. Neighborhoods don’t exist…

One of the most amazing things I have watched as I grew up was this transformation of the southwest. I can remember places like las Vegas and phoenix they were tiny dessert places. You cannot just build housing. You cannot just build endless neighborhoods of houses that all go off somewhere to some market place. Neighborhoods that don’t have markets. And I don’t mean just foods. No markets no shops no this or that.

It’s one of the things to grasp about why cities are so sterile. And why we gravitate to those centers where food and shops are. It is the natural thing to do. And of course what has happened is that we have these zone cities where everybody goes and feels safe relatively speaking.. but the moment that you go into these neighborhoods where there is nothing, a corner shop there maybe a corner shop over there everybody is much more nervous and they are much more uncomfortable. And they no longer have a sense that they are in a place where people know them and they can be protected. It is in these neighborhoods when something horrible is happening on the streets and there is these cries for help that nobody listens.

It is because the markets aren’t there. It is one of the most important things, this is the core after all. These bottom 3 (color 1, 2, 3) these are all about urban life. This is all the offices and apartments, and condos, and it goes on and on and on, all those caves built one on top of the other, this is just the expansion of that at that level. But where I see the deep dysfunction is in the lack of the markets. It is just something that is missing.

I have a place in Toronto and I live in a gentrified area called Yorkville and it has everything. and it is such a pleasure to walk out into the street, and it’s a big city, dangerous as any big city and as full as the darkness that any big city has and at the same time it is a place where all kinds of people feel very safe and where all kinds of people fill the streets to shop, to look or whatever. This is what markets do…

If you want to find those places that are alive in a city you will find in around the markets. You will find it where there is material life taking place. So if you’ve got a Market environment you’ve got to be part of that. this is what you are part of.

If you’ve got a market environment and you go into a neighborhood where there is nothing and you set something up you are going to do really well and you will start a trend…

One of my favorites is to walk down the Ramblas in Barcelona wow, is that ever full of life. In the summer eh? And this was the essential nature of the core of what city life was supposed to be about. Of course now it has become completely sterilized. People get into their cars to go buy a loaf of bread. Everything is someplace else. Nothing is around the corner from you and if there is something around the corner for you it is an exception and it is limited…

There is a difference the internal markets and the external markets. And it is really about different ways that capitalism works. Inside trading and outside trading…

It is really about understanding that this internal is much more suited for example somebody that is going to be in their shop or in their place of business in the community as opposed to somebody who goes out and works that community. You’ve got 2 sides of the coin. But again it is very connected to material because it is very connected to security. This is protection and this is long term survival. Again this is an evolutionary process that we are looking at…

Markets nourishes your material life. If you are a Markets person the fact is that your environment is going to be the key for you. and it is either that you are going to be busy in your environment doing your thing, or you are going to be connected int hat way to the external, again through the right these are people who talk to people on the telephone and communicate with them over the web because its rightness it is very modern, it is about making money, it is about making money in your community being part of the community, paying taxes in the community all that kind of stuff otherwise you can’t build a city...

If you are a Market person you really need to be part of your market, your community, part of the supply and demand of that community. The more integrated you are in that community the more successful you are going to be and the longer your life…

One of the interesting things about internal markets is that these are the people that if you are working inside and you are making deals, this is when you are making the best deals, literally…it’s all about materialism, markets that’s why I keep on going back to cities and my concern for them because fi cities become dysfunctional societies will immediately break down...

Until we have self-sustaining environments and again everybody benefits from that, again this is really the core. Because when you get here (color 3)...you are really dealing with something else you are dealing with the local environment exports itself out beyond itself. This is about keeping the environment whole and healthy and one can only do that by being able to establish viable and healthy communities, that are dying every day…

For the first time in our history more than half the population on the planet is living in cities. This puts enormous pressure on Markets. And of course we are dealing with the not-self world so all of these market people are just dreaming of being somewhere else. They think that they can, that their life is going to be so much better for them if they leave the material world and they go sit somewhere out in nature. And so we have a real dilemma. And of course the people that are supposed to be out there in the landscape environment are the people that are trying to grind it out in the market world and they don’t have the tools to do it. The perversity of our plane…

People are not living out who they are. The people who are born with markets are up here in the 5 (valleys). They are not living this out it is all distorted for them. They are running away from the very thing that calls them. They are anti-capitalist, anti-city all that kind of shit. It is a mad world.

~Ra Uru Hu

[svankmajerbaby]

13, 20, 30, 40 !!

thank you so much for the ask!!!!!!

13.  Describe your writing process from idea to polished i’m not really sure, but i think i’d go something like this: i get the idea usually by either being obsessed with a property (whether it’s frankenstein, beetlejuice or barbie) or by thinking up characters and adding traits and backstory to them, and then thinking up possible dynamics for them to have with other characters. then, i try to figure out a particular context (place and time) that could fit these characters, and i make sure to think it up in such a way that it doesn’t really conflict with the source material (for my barbie-frankenstein fanfic, for example, i didn’t want to set it in early 19th century, because i wanted vivianna to be able to become barbara roberts at some point, and as such it was more comfortable to preserve the victorian aesthetic while also being closer to the 20th century); if there’s not a proper space and time these characters can feel comfortable in (whether because of a particularly tense political situation, persecution, or simply The Wrong Aesthetic Choice), i make up one. after that i begin to write dialogues and location descriptions, try to picture it all in my head as clearly as possible. then, after i have some scenes written and some interactions done, i try to organize them, thinking what should come first, what can lead to a good finale, what would be the most important moment for each character and so on. when this is done, i usually already figure out the ending and can structure everything to lead up to it. after that, it’s all a matter of sitting down and writing between the scenes i’ve already done, editing them and adding whatever new ideas i get in the meantime. usually this is what takes the longest, because by this point i’m losing steam and interest and become distracted by new projects... but sometimes i manage to finish it and by then the editing process starts on full, checking for any grammar or spelling mistakes, wrong pronouns or words or names, usually cutting down on redundant descriptions or dialogues, adding things if i think something is not clear enough or erasing things if they seem too on the nose, and then i do this over and over until i feel it’s good enough.

20.  How many WIPs and story ideas do you have? oh boy do i have plenty. i’ve sorta finished the first novel of the story of Olimpia Gómez -the first one is simply called “La Ejecutora, 1938″; i’m currently writing the second, the third and the fourth ones -”La Ejecutora, 1946″, “La Ejecutora, 1954″, and “La Ejecutora, 1966″ respectively. then i also have almost finished my stage adaptation version of “Corpse Bride”, which i renamed “Death and Marriage”. i’m a chapter away at finishing my toy story fanfic, “Sitting On The Shelf”. i’ve written a single chapter of a beetlejuice fanfic about the maitlands that i still haven’t found a proper name fore, but which i’m very excited about. i’m writing several chapters at once of a massive addams family fanfic, focused on most of the main family characters’ backstories or developments beyond the nineties movies, which i’m calling “Family Beyond Blood”. i’ve started a little princess tutu fanfic that i’m not sure if i should continue, but which is a stylistic deviation of what i’ve been writing so far, so that’s good. i’ve kind of abandoned another fanfic idea i had, “Vulnavia & Vulnavia”, from one of my favorite horror movies, “abominable dr phibes”, which i have to come back to... and like the madwoman i am, i’m planning on rewriting the star wars sequel trilogy, so i got that in my to do list, as well. besides those fanfics, i got a sci-fi novel being developed, called “Los Prototipos”, about two twins that escape the enclosure where they had been raised to find out they were being studied to make a single-minded working force (kind of like the replicants in blade runner) with an expiration date -all this set in a dystopic 1960s country somewhere in latinamerica, tackling issues of economic imperalism, forced labor and independece through revolution. this is one of my most political works, so i’m giving it a lot of space to breathe. i’ve also began some time ago a series of noir/horror short stories set in Buenos Aires, one of them based on a short movie script i’ve written, which i’m really excited to do -because i’m usually crap at writing short stories -but i’ve left it in standby until i finish the bigger projects first... and then I Have Scripts, Baby! “Mi Amiga Carolina”, about a possessed doll that emotionally manipulates a depressed teenager that moves alone into her grandmother’s old house; “El Moderno Prometeo”, a (mostly) faithful retelling of frankenstein set in Argentina, focused on the family drama of the frankenstein family and on the relationships between victor, daniela (justine, here being his older sister), quique (henry) and elsa (elizabeth); a screen adaptation of a novel of a friend of mine, “La Chica Que Trabajaba Los Sábados”, about a non-practising jewish woman in Buenos Aires who falls in love with a rabbi, and how their relationship ebbs and flows; and “Verano en los Manzanos”, about a boy who lives in rural Córdoba who falls in love with a girl from Buenos Aires (i try to write what i know, usually), and who as they grow up become a couple, have a kid, and ultimately wind up apart due to his struggle with depression and her own struggle with acute anxiety, all of this interweaved with his own return to the little forgotten village he grew up on, where he reflects on the life he used to have. so, in total... 16 WIP. plenty.

30.  Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet i just now realized that i forgot to mention it in the last point, but technically i havent’ even started, so yeah, it’s just an idea: a series of sci-fi books about a parallel history in which India was the first country to go to the moon, and in which South America has the ASADE (Asociação Sul-Americana D’exploração Espacial), where they train cosmonauts to explore the vastness of space: set in an alternate 1930, a team of specialists on several fields and from several countries (the ones I got thought up already are captain Alfonsina Shua, from argentina, and copilot Adolfo Chaviano, from a paraguayan-argentinean couple) go on the fifth ever tripulated voyage. on an exploration, copilot Chaviano gets lost and disappears in space, cut off from his crew, and ends up going through a wormhole and crossing a threshold between sci-fi and fantasy of a blooming star -rendering him immortal but extremely radiated, which allows him to continue exploring space (ending up in several planets, registering his encounters with varied extraterrestrial cultures) while back in Earth the ASADE and his family try to locate him and bring him back home -it’s basically “The Martian” meets “The Little Prince”. and then, there’s the sequel series, about the three grandchildren of Adolfo Chaviano, who, after his death, discover that their grandfather had been developing a time machine alongside Alfonsina to go back in time and look for a way to revert the effects of the radiation in him, in order for him to live longer -and, perhaps, to find the way to become immortal and continue exploring the deepest limits of space. set in an alternate 1971, where space travel is now commonplace, the three siblings, Lena, Majo and Laucha embark on a space mission, meeting all sorts of new characters similarly affected by radiation and some mysterious magical/space properties, in order to find Alfonsina and ask her to give them one more chance to ask questions and say goodbye to their grandfather. so yeah, i got a lot of ideas, but i haven’t been writing any scenes yet -it’s still all in my head so far.

40.  Share some backstory for one of your characters well, the original character i’ve got developed the most is Olimpia Gómez (whose birth name is Beatriz Moreno), the orphaned daughter of two spanish union workers who were killed in the Semana Trágica on 1919 by the mysterious Society (of course, working in cahoots with the repressive government), and taken in by that same Society and raised to kill supposed “criminals and dangerous subjects”. trained in the countryside, taught to always be ready to die an honorable death for peace and justice while on duty, she’s taken to Buenos Aires to prove herself by stealth-killing the targets she is given, who she is told are people beyond salvation. she’s never been popular, but her closest friend, Eugenia Menéndez, always tries to get her to open up and join her own attempts at having a normal social life -which is quite difficult when being a spy and “executioner”. Olimpia has a boyfriend, fellow agent Evaristo Gutiérrez, but by the time they’re nineteen their relationship feels cold and strained, and at the same time there’s the pull of one of the most powerful members of the organization, Azucena Velázquez, daughter of two high-ranking agents: she’s kind-of out as a lesbian (only able to be so because of her high status), and has always been interested in Olimpia; Olimpia has to wrestle with her own internalized homophobia, feelings of guilt and bisexuality in order to finally decide who she wants to be, alongside her discovery of precisely how the Society is corrupt and extremely politically motivated when electing its “targets”, which leads Olimpia to try to escape it -despite knowing that the Society is everywhere, and if she can manage to escape, it’s because the Society allows it in the first place.

[tuscanwalker]

Humshaugh or Bust! - August 29 After a couple of train rides and a local bus, I arrived in Humshaugh (founded 1279) which is your stereotypical, impossibly quaint English village. It comes complete with a Town Hall, a pub and a community owed shop (e.g. Convenience store) run by local volunteers and only open from 09:00 to 13:00 on weekdays. I assume that the working folks don't buy groceries but instead simply drink at the pub. As I arrived in mid-morning and check-in at my B&B wasn't until 4pm, I stashed my suitcase in the potting shed and headed out to explore. My first destination was Chesters Roman Fort a couple of km away. This was a major cavalry post (500 Spanish Auxiliaries) on Hadrian's Wall that guarded a bridge across the Tyne River and provided quick response to any major incursions of raiders into the region. These soldiers were veterans of the wars in Pononia (Hungary) and I am pretty sure that they were the toughest gang in town. The fact that Spaniards had served at opposite ends of the empire brings up an interesting issue. Wherever I travel in Europe with LuAnne or wherever I walk with Kim, we keep running into Roman infrastructure. I have seen ruins in the Tower of London, the harbour of Malaga (Spain), Vindebona (Vienna), Arelate (Arles) and Nimes in Provence, on Isle de Cite in Paris and, of course in The Province of Asia (Turkey). I wonder if, in 2000 years, there will be much left of what we have built. Hadrian’s Wall to keep the Blue Celts out, Trump’s wall to keep the Mexicans out, once again Déjà Vu? The Fort was discovered by a local landowner (John Clayton) in 1830 when his workmen at The Chesters estate uncovered a staircase leading down into a large Roman Bath next to the Fort. What you see today are the the foundations and lower walls of the gate fortifications, barracks and stables, commanders residence and workshop areas. In the adjoining museum, built in 1896, are many of the artifacts discovered on the site but basically with less interpretive information than you would expect. Like most amateur archeologists of 18th and 19th century, Mr. Clayton did not keep notes on the location or context of things that he discovered. As well, he reburied things that did not interest him or, in the case or a huge collection of pottery shards, simply tipped them into the river. One should not be too critical though as he bought up and preserved a large number of the major sites along the wall that were being destroyed by agriculture or quarried for their well dressed stone. Much of Chesters Fort is still unexcavated and it appears from aerial photographs that a significant civilian town is still buried next to the Fort. I am such a compete geek that I walked several km from the Fort to get across the river and see the bridge foundation and abutments on the other side. It was worth it, if only because of the graffiti intended as a symbol of good fortune and to ward off evil, the carving of a large erect penis. Clearly the Roman world was a man’s world, but and even then the men often acted like naughty boys. Oh yes, speaking of boys will be boys, the last picture shows the interpretive staff dressing up young children as soldiers and barbarians and encouraging them to bash at one another with wooden weapons. Lu-Anne and I have seen similar things in Italy but I doubt very much whether it could happen in North America without lawyers and signed disclaimers. After a nice pub meal at the Crown, I am ensconced at my quaint B&B which is a converted 17th century barn. Tomorrow, what you have all been waiting for, your opportunity to laugh at me as I trudge across the English countryside.

[imparatiavine]

Context

Religion in the Middle Ages

It’s no secret that Christianity dominates the world in the 21st century. Not surprisingly, Christianity as a cultural, political, and religious phenomenon played a major role in Medieval Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire. This fall, to many Christians, did not come as a surprise since it was prophesied about many times in the Old and New Testaments in books such as Daniel and Revelations. Now, to anyone who is familiar with these books, there is a lot that goes on which might make you think ‘wow am I still reading the Bible or is this some World of Warcraft stuff?’ From colossal statues to dragons and many-headed beasts, the Bible has stories that, if you’re as into it as I am, will keep you at the edge of your seat. This book was a major part in the daily life of any Christian, and I dare say non-Christian, living in Medieval Europe. His entire existence was pretty much based on what this single book said and as we discussed in class, it is all interconnected. Much of the Old Testament makes sense because of the New Testament and vice versa.

Although there weren’t as many denominations as today, there was still diversity within the Roman Catholic and Orthodox sects of the religion and these matters could be traced back to the previous religions of the country. Yes. You read that right. There are many themes in Christianity tracing back to Pagan religions in Egypt, Germany, and everywhere else. And to many modern faithful individuals such as myself, I don’t think about this often, mostly because it makes me uncomfortable. But that’s the truth, during the past and now. Part of the discussion was also around how much of these pagan themes infiltrated the practices of Christians and how some themes weren’t completely Christianized and remained alive in the liturgy and praises and “magical” texts. All of this to say that, as the title of the course suggests, there is a lot of mythology in Christianity and after attending class for ten weeks, I can say with ease that Christianity would probably lose a big part of its identity if we stripped it of mythology. And I think Medieval Christians would agree...I could be wrong.

Medieval Monasteries and the Bible

As I said earlier, Christianity spread like a wildfire in Medieval Europe and that was largely due to Monasteries and Monastic circles. Monasticism was based on many different rules in case you didn’t know but at its core, it depended on asceticism. The term asceticism comes from the Greek word "askesis" meaning "exercise" or "training." It implies that the individual is training for something. In all its forms and in terms of monastic life, it is not only training the body but the mind as well. The objective is to gain control of oneself in order to pray without distraction. The term monk comes from the word "monachos" meaning "single alone." The oddity is that most monks did not live alone. In general, the monks that get most of the attention tend to be the anchorites. They are living alone for long periods of time. Numerically,  most monks lived in monasteries and in groups. The term hermit is usually reserved to those living in solitary and are desert dwellers. Finally, the term anchorite comes from the Greek verb "anachoreo" meaning to "withdraw or go up." Anchorite is also someone living in solitary.

Now that I got some definitions out of the way, I want to focus on a specific type of monk, the type which evangelized and taught the sons of rich merchants and aristocracy. See monks were actually more useful to their communities than in modern day and I don’t mean in that in a negative way or anything. On the contrary, if you visit countries like Egypt and go to the poor countrysides, you’ll see that the monks of the nearby monastery are the ones that help wherever is needed and go out of their way to support struggling individuals, whether Christian or Muslim or any other religion. But back then, monks and friars and men in training were tasked to educate the youth and produce and illuminate manuscripts and books of many types, not just the Bible. And that’s how Christianity spread! Each time a monk visited a village, alongside selling the works of his hands not for himself but more for his community and his basic needs, he’d evangelize and spread the Gospel. And more often than not, he would go into houses of rich men and teach the children how to read and write...and I would like to think that he snuck the Bible in between sessions or probably used scriptures to test the children. But that’s just a theory. Again, I could be wrong. For the purposes of this assignment/story, however, this is the case. It’s like the beginning of a joke.

Two monks walk into an aristocrat’s home...

Anyway, Monasticism, as an institution, spearheaded missionary activity in several locations. Much of Nubia and Ethiopia, for example, is evangelized by Egyptian monks, and Asia & China by the Syrian monks. The bulk of Anatolia and Russia are also evangelized through the monastic movement. Where monasticism goes, they are evangelizing, and where they are evangelizing, they need to have the Bible in the vernacular, along with basic liturgical and patristic texts. In all of those locations mentioned, the Old and New Testaments need to have been translated in order for the monks to interact and preach to the population. They are not only spreading education but harnessing it through the copying and decoration of manuscripts. From the 6th century on, monks have a monopoly on the higher offices which leads to ecclesiastical leadership mainly by the bishops but also by the priests. This is also one of the reasons why I picked this part of the story of Christ to write about. Not much is known about the forty days Christ spent in the desert and I’d like to think it went a little something like this. And since this is meant to be graded, I based it on a discussion we had for one meeting: the connections between the Old and New Testaments.

The Rule of St. Benedict

So the order which followed the teachings of St. Benedict was the most common during this era and it encouraged its members to live as simply as possible, in every aspect of their life. For the purposes of this story, the two monks speaking to the little kid are Benedictine monks which went out to sell their daily labor so they could buy food and water for their community of monks. For a closer look into the Benedictine Order, please visit this website.

[lawyernovelist]

The Battle of Helm’s Deep

Another in my occasional spontaneous-shredding-of-specific-scenes series! And this time, just for a change, I'm going to talk about the Lord of the Rings movies.

So I was thinking about warped perceptions of masculinity and their subversion in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit combined with their embodiment in the changes made in the corresponding movies. Then I thought about the movies' presentation of the Battle of Helm's Deep. Then I got really angry.

Spoilers for Lord of the Rings (book and movies) and the Hobbit movies. Passing talk of child soldiers.

Now, this isn't going to be a book-fan!rage, they-changed-it-so-it-sucked thing. I have problems with the changes they made, but not just because they're changes but because they fundamentally change aspects of the story, the tone, the world, and the characters. That having been said... I am going to address the fact that it was fine the way it was.

My main impression when I went to watch it again is that this sequence is long. To be fair, it's spaced out a lot because it's interspersed with other plots, but it still occupies most of the second half of the film, at least in my Extended Edition.

Yeah, unlike the Hobbit movies, I did jump on the Extended Editions for the Lord of the Rings movies. I'm basing my comments on those unless I state otherwise (and I did check - in all cases where I ask why a scene wasn't cut, it was present in the theatrical edition).

Anyway, the battle doesn't actually take a lot of time in the book; it's a pretty major setpiece, but at the same time it's not one that Tolkien actually thought was that important; he once commented that it should be cut to make room if necessary. However, I do actually get this - not only do we need an action climax for the movie, but there's the other plots to consider; in the book, it occurs in a single sequence, not interspersed with anything.

Now, I've talked before about interspersing major action setpieces with other scenes. Specifically, it was Thorin's death scene in Battle of the Five Armies, which was cut with Legolas' combat with Bolg. The thing is that this is actually a different proposition: instead of cutting between two very similar action scenes (both single combat in similar terrain), this is cutting between the preparations for and progress of the major battle and more restful scenes:

Events in Rivendell with Elrond and Arwen

Frodo and Faramir

Merry, Pippin, and the Ents

Of these, the most common one is the Entmoot sequence, which has a very different tone to the battle. this means that it's a relief from the high adrenaline of the battle and allows that high to be sustained for longer. I know some people find it annoying that we keep cutting back to the boring scenes, but I disagree - I think it's actually a pretty good way of breaking up what would otherwise be very over-intense.

So that was a very positive beginning for something I said annoyed me so much. Now we get less positive: While I get that we needed an action setpiece as a climax and The Two Towers might otherwise have ended up a touch thin, I still thought that there was way too much fluff around this battle, much of it clearly there to ramp up the tension and add fake conflict where none was really needed.

The biggest, most glaring fake conflicts were the confrontations between Aragorn and Theoden and Aragorn and Legolas before the battle. Both of these were largely pointless and served mostly to make Aragorn look like the only person who hasn't completely given up and emphasise that THEY'RE ALL GOING TO DIE AND YOU SHOULD CHEER WHEN IT TURNS OUT THEY'RE NOT ALL GOING TO DIE.

First, some background. Gandalf has freed Theoden from being possessed by Saruman and they've decided to all go and hole up in Helm's Deep as a compromise between Gandalf's insistence that Theoden should ride out and meet Saruman's forces head-on (with Aragorn backing him up) and Theoden's determination to avoid open war. On the way, we have a random action scene with warg-riders and Aragorn is left for dead. This serves two purposes:

Love Triangle

Allowing Aragorn to see Saruman's army and bring news of its approach

This is where we then stand at the beginning of Unnecessary Confrontation Round 1: Aragorn v Theoden.

Now, we're actually in for a bit of a treat with this one: it's the only time Theoden actually seems to be optimistic about their chances. He's showing Our Heroes his great ancestral fortress and talking about how it will never fall while men still defend it, and how Saruman's army will break upon it like water on rock; no matter what they do in the way of pillaging and burning the countryside, the people of Rohan will endure.

I actually rather like that speech, by the way. It's nice to see this side of Theoden's bloody-minded Saxon worldview.

But we can't have nice things, so Gimli immediately casts doubt on Theoden's assertions in one of his few dignified moments in the whole sequence, pointing out that the Uruk-hai are better-armoured and well-disciplined. Theoden cites his own experience and knowledge of the keep, and continues the tour, finishing the speech I mentioned. Once again, one of Our Heroes attempts to shoot him down, and this is where Aragorn v Theoden begins:

[Thoeden is walking away and Aragorn calls after him]

Aragorn: They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages. They come to destroy its people down to the last child.

[Theoden walks back towards Aragorn and grabs his arm]

Theoden: What would you have me do? Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance.

[Theoden starts to walk away]

Aragorn: Send out riders, my lord. You must call for aid.

Theoden: And who will come? Elves? Dwarves? We are not so lucky in our friends as you. The old alliances are dead.

Aragorn: Gondor will answer.

[Theoden puts his face up to Aragorn's and speaks angrily]

Theoden: Gondor? Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Gon--? [Pauses. More calmly] No, my Lord Aragorn. We are alone.

First, what do you people have against good morale? I get that realism is important, but Theoden has a point: his people are already frightened, why announce loudly that they're all doomed and that this fortification they're relying on is incapable of protecting them as their king claims? You're standing among people who are about to have to rely on Theoden to lead them in war; why undermine him this way? At least when Gimli said his piece it was in a low voice and a relatively private setting. First Gandalf, now Aragorn, will you people leave Theoden any authority?

But Theoden doesn't get away from this in one piece either because of the level of pissing he puts into his insistence that they were not going to send for help.

I really don't get why he has such a hang-up about this. In the book it made sense that they never sent for help: time was much tighter. In the book Theoden and co. arrived at Helm's Deep with the enemy almost on their tails. It was impossible to send for help. In the movie they seem to have plenty of time, and certainly the movie acts like Aragorn's not an idiot on a practical level for suggesting sending to Gondor (several days' journey, by the way - the movie might not have acted it, but Aragorn was being an idiot). What's more, "that's a waste of a rider; they'd not get here in time" isn't Theoden's argument. His argument is "Well, they're not already here, so evidently they don't care about us".

Look, uh... Theoden. Honey. Sweetie. How the hell are they going to know you need help if you refuse to tell them?

And that goes double for later when you suggest you're going to refuse to ride to Gondor's aid on the grounds that they never came to help you. You didn't ask. You explicitly and angrily refused to ask. Twit.

Actually, I'm not done. Theoden's specific remark on the subject of whether Rohan will ride to Gondor's aid is "Tell me, why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours? What do we owe Gondor?"

First, says the canon nut, you owe Gondor your kingdom. This was the deal when Cirion and Eorl swore that oath and the land that is now Rohan was given to your ancestors: you would defend the northern border and help Gondor in its wars. Wilt thou prove thyself faithless in the test, Theoden King?

Second, the point I already made: you didn't ask Gondor for help; you didn't even tell Gondor you needed help. They somehow knew, but that made no sense either.

Third: is that really how you decide whether or not you're going to help stop a world-destroying evil, you selfish waste of skin?

The use of Boromir is highly appropriate here.

But really, Movie, tell me why I'm supposed to hate Thranduil, but not Theoden? Thranduil tried not to get involved because he valued the lives of his own people. Theoden apparently just didn't see what was in it for him.

Back on target, back on target. But dammit, the movies just made me hate cavalry grandpa. I'm angry.

But the basic purpose of this was to inject some conflict (where conflict is defined as characters arguing) and make Aragorn look good at Theoden's expense. And, incidentally, characters arguing can be a pretty good way of injecting conflict. It's certainly better than random action scenes for no reason.

For example, this scene:

in which Aragorn and Boromir argue about the route is actually pretty good. It's understated, it plays into and develops their characters, and it's a reasonable disagreement in context (as shown by the fact that it's also there in the book). But one of the things I like best is that, especially in context, both these men have fair points. Aragorn has been presented as shying away from his responsibilities, especially vis-a-vis Gondor, so Boromir has a point, and Aragorn does have reason to worry about taking the Ring to Gondor, however he might feel about going there himself.

This argument scene is not good. It's not out of character, but it is a poor setting for this conversation and it's not a reasonable disagreement. As I've mentioned above, Aragorn is making an insane suggestion, while Theoden is making a reasonable attempt to keep morale up. However, the framing indicates that we're supposed to find Aragorn reasonable and think Theoden is being unreasonable - this is highlighted by the fact that later reinforcements do arrive, contradicting Theoden's claim that the old alliances are dead.

Oh, I have a lot to say about the elves, believe me. And one of the things I'm going to say is about those "old alliances".

Anyway, that's why I say that this is a fake conflict and a manufactured confrontation: there's no need for this argument except to try to keep things tense and to make Aragorn look good when later his hope is proved correct and they do indeed get reinforcements, contrary to Theoden's - not entirely unreasonable - assumption that they had been abandoned to fight alone.

Theoden, however, at least has fatalism as a character trait. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that's his major defining feature: before every battle, you can find Theoden talking about how they're all going to die. And I actually don't mind that most of the time (though he can be pretty clumsy about how he does it). It's actually an interesting philosophy: If death is inevitable, let's go out with a bang. It's also there in the book, and something that in the book he shares with the other major Rohirric characters. The best example is Eowyn, who for a lot of her time would like nothing better than the glorious death in battle her menfolk aspire to. This is clearly a major part of Rohirric culture and it's useful context for her actions.

So the drumbeat of "It's all hopeless and we're all going to die" does make any sense at all coming from that direction. However, that doesn't mean it's not overplayed, especially since it comes from multiple directions. Over and over, we get to hear about how it's all hopeless and they're all going to die, and after a bit it starts to not only be repetitive but to undermine itself. It's almost a dead herring: attempting to provide a red herring by misdirecting the reader/viewer, but overdoing the misdirection so that instead the reader/viewer's attention is drawn to the thing. In this case, insistence that everything's hopeless becomes a transparent attempt to surprise us when things turn out not to be hopeless after all.

But as I said, at least fatalism is in character for Theoden.

After that, we see all the men of Rohan being conscripted, as well as the ten-year-old boys of Rohan, because what you really need in a hand-to-hand battle in cramped quarters is a large number of terrified kids in armour that doesn't fit them, using weapons that are too heavy for them and which they don't know how to use -

yeah, he's going to be a great help - but what do I know? Anyway, in the armoury, in front of all these people, this conversation takes place:

Aragorn: Farmers, farriers, stable boys. These are no soldiers.

Gimli: Most have seen too many winters.

Legolas: Or too few. Look at them. They’re frightened. You can see it in their eyes.

[The men around them fell silent.]

Legolas (Elvish, subtitled): And they should be. Three hundred against ten thousand?

Aragorn (Elvish, subtitled): They have more hope of defending themselves here than at Edoras.

Legolas (Elvish, subtitled): Aragorn, they cannot win this battle. They are all going to die!

Aragorn: Then I shall die as one them!

[He pauses and then walks away. Legolas makes as if to go after him, but Gimli stops him.]

Gimli: Let him go, lad. Let him be.

I have questions.

Aragorn, where do you of all people get off dismissing anyone's capabilities because they're not a soldier?

Legolas, eat a Snickers or something; where did this come from?

On the subject, Aragorn, at least Legolas stepped into a language that wouldn't be understood by those around him for his prophecies of doom and destruction. What made you think it was a good idea to drop back into Westron and let everyone know you agree they're all going to die?

What made any of you think this was an appropriate place to have this argument?

Why wasn't this scene cut?

So let me go through those in order.

First, Aragorn's comment about these people not being soldiers. I know I was just sneering about kids being conscripted into this army, but I'm not talking about the kids here; I'm talking about the men and older teenagers. Especially, I'm talking about the farmers and farriers, since I'm pretty sure that "stable boys" was meant to refer to younger teenagers and kids.

Aragorn, these people are the ones who survived orc and Dunlending raids. They live a rough existence on this... prairie verging on moorland which somehow produces large horses rather than tough little ponies like this sort of terrain does in real life... and the people you described are ones who are going to be using tools and doing manual work. No, they're not soldiers, but nor are any of you. Do you mean to say that they're not experienced in fortress-based combat? No, but nor are you. Do you mean to say that they're not experienced in combat at all? Well... you actually have no way of knowing that. We see even in the movie that the Rohirrim have enemies other than Uruk-hai. I know for simplicity they had Saruman be the power behind everything, but I don't see a claim that he pulled the Dunlendings out of nowhere. Theoden clearly is an experienced warrior, and clearly does think that this idea isn't insane. I'm not sure where you get off declaring that it is clearly insane.

OK, I'm saying that after the child-soldiers rant, but that's not the part Aragorn's taking exception to, so there.

Yes, Rohan does seem to have an organised (and well-drilled) standing cavalry, and this is not them. You still have no business just dismissing them. No, they're not soldiers. You know who else isn't a soldier? You.

But OK, that's just something that rubbed me the wrong way.

Next, Legolas. Now, movie!Legolas isn't the cheerful, sarcastic elf I liked in the book - in fact, he's a bit short of personality generally in the Lord of the Rings movies - but he never seemed to have a fatalistic streak, and he never does again. This is the first and last time he's concerned about overwhelming odds. This is certainly the first and last time he throws his hands up and declares that this is all going to end in death and failure.

Where the hell does this come from?

Well, it comes from all that stuff I was saying earlier about dinning in about how hopeless this all is, combined with the continuing quest to make Aragorn look good for being the only one who still has any hope. But this means that this argument is actually even worse than the argument between Theoden and Aragorn - this actually is not only pointless and badly placed, but actually is out of character. It's even more of a crappy and contrived conflict.

It's also actually in an even worse setting than Aragorn v Theoden, which brings me on to the third and fourth things.

It's a bad sign when Legolas announcing in Westron that he can see all these people are frightened and then dropping into angry-sounding Sindarin was actually the better-handled side of the argument. At least he was unloading prophecies of doom in a language he could reasonably assume that none of the newly-conscripted civilians (including frightened children) will understand.

Side comment: That's rude, especially since it's not like Aragorn and Legolas are having a side conversation in hushed voices or something - they go to opposite sides of a crowded room and shout at each other - and I really don't know why they don't do this as a side conversation. You could have had the same dialogue:

Aragorn: Farmers, farriers, stable boys. These are no soldiers.

Gimli: Most have seen too many winters.

Legolas: Or too few.

[Legolas goes out into the corridor. Aragorn follows]

Aragorn: Legolas, what is it?

Legolas: Look at them. They’re frightened. You can see it in their eyes.

[Legolas and Aragorn glance back towards the door, then continue in hushed voices]

Legolas (Elvish, subtitled): And they should be. Three hundred against ten thousand?

Aragorn (Elvish, subtitled): They have more hope of defending themselves here than at Edoras.

Legolas (Elvish, subtitled): Aragorn, they cannot win this battle. They are all going to die!

Aragorn: Then I shall die as one them!

[He pauses and then walks away as Gimli joins them. Legolas makes as if to go after him, but Gimli stops him.]

Gimli: Let him go, lad. Let him be.

See? Way more tactful.

But for some reason this had to be a big public confrontation rather than a private conversation, so at least Legolas was talking so that only his tone of voice could be understood. And then Aragorn, master of diplomacy and public relations, inspirational leader, comes along.

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Well done, dipstick. Way to announce that you agree they're all doomed and going to die.

Finally, why wasn't this scene cut?

No, really; it has no long-term repercussions whatsoever. It doesn't develop Legolas because his behaviours is out of character. It doesn't add anything to the feelings of doom and gloom (if Legolas was the only one saying this, it might have more impact). It actually contradicts what Aragorn seemed to be saying to Theoden.

The one actual bit of new conflict it could have added would be tension between Aragorn and Legolas. And that would have been some solid tension - these two friends now going into battle after this argument, and instead of "Your friends are with you, Aragorn", you could have had a moment where each reflects on the fact that potentially those angry words are the last he'll ever have said to his friend. Or "Your friends are with you" could have been a last-minute patching up, followed not by Gimli making a joke but Aragorn looking at Legolas and them smiling at each other as it's taken as such, with the additional urgency of the upcoming battle and wanting to have their affairs in order.

Instead, the next time we see these two, they patch it up at once with an apology from Legolas and the whole thing disappears.

Now, I'm not being entirely fair, because especially combined with Aragorn v Theoden we potentially do get a couple of things out of all this. The first is the highlighting of Aragorn. I even wondered whether he was being set up as a Cassandra character (a character who is the only one who knows The Truth but is doubted by everyone else, only to be proved right later). I concluded that he's not; he is actually joining in on the doom train, and his only insistence that someone will come to help them relates to Gondor and is conditional. If he were a Cassandra, I'd have expected him to have contradicted Theden's sarcasm about whether elves would come.

However, there is a sense that Aragorn's the only one who hasn't given up - even his "I shall die as one of them" is defiant, not resigned. Theoden's wrong for refusing to send for help despite being told that at least one of the old alliances isn't dead; Legolas is wrong for completely giving up hope. Only Aragorn is right.

That's mostly a feeling, though, just because I have difficulty thinking of reasons for these arguments and conflicts to be there and to be so prominent, especially the one between Aragorn and Legolas. But I do also have another theory for that one, and that's that this is supposed to be the moment that Aragorn embraces humanity.

Let me back up. This is why my example earlier of a good argument scene is extra relevant - the movies have kind of had this vague thing about Aragorn having more of an affinity for elves than humans, and that argument with Boromir is almost the only place where it's made explicit: "You were quick enough to trust the elves; why have so little faith in your own people?". It's a question that Aragorn never really answers. In this conversation it's specific to Minas Tirith, but it is still a question.

I suspect that this may also be connected with his unwillingness to become king, but I don't actually know. However, if this is what's going on, it actually explains a lot:

Aragorn insisting that the Rohirrim will be OK, even if only relatively, when earlier he was telling Theoden that they couldn't rely on Helm's Deep

Aragorn dropping into Westron when he does

The importance placed on that last statement and its tone

The switch in language now becomes symbolic. He's been discussing this in elvish, with an elf, but now he returns to the human language in order to explicitly declare his solidarity with humans. It does actually make sense as a symbolic gesture, and this is why - unlike a lot of mid-conversation language switches in these movies - I actually don't have a problem with the language switch qua language switch.

The apparent switch in optimism can also be explained this way, almost as an "Only I'm allowed to say that about humans!" He'll criticise Theoden, but still take his side when an elf does it, even when that elf is Legolas.

Now, I don't know if this was intentional, but I think it does make sense. However, given that this was apparently Aragorn's big moment of moving away from his elvish upbringing (it's not explicit in the movies that Aragorn was raised as a member of Elrond's household, but given that Aragorn's mother has at least a memorial in Rivendell and Elrond talks as if he knew her well, we can make some assumptions) and embracing his human heritage... it's pretty weird to then have him welcome and stand among their elven reinforcements, isn't it?

Let's talk about those elves. First of all, why? Why was this change made?

Well, here's one theory for which I'm indebted to Thomas Shippey's Road to Middle-Earth: the geopolitical context has changed.

In the book, the men of Rohan (plus Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) fight this battle alone. They get no help from Gondor, Lothlorien, or anywhere else, and nor do they expect it. They're cornered, they're alone, their enemy may well be stronger than them, and they fight anyway. That's what Tolkien, an Englishman with thoughts of the Nazis marching across Europe, wrote. Lord of the Rings isn't an allegory, but you're not going to look me in the eye and tell me that the events occurring around Tolkien won't have influenced what he wrote.

Fast forward through half a century of NATO. By the time the Two Towers movie rolled around, it was unthinkable to an American audience that the good guys would have to face evil alone. Of course the elves honour their old alliance with men and march to their aid and die in their defence, barely noticed or mourned.

Let me just put my canon-nut hat on for a moment before I dive into this: the elves of Lothlorien didn't have a pact with the men of Rohan. Those two groups had as little to do with each other as possible. I assume all these references to alliance refer to the Last Alliance, but that was with the men of fledgeling Gondor, long before Rohan as a realm was even thought of. Also, I think Lorien was only involved in that because Gil-Galad was, and it was for the express purpose of yanking Sauron out of Mordor, and it was the Last Alliance, with no mention I recall of it being in perpetuity.

But OK, fine. All elves have an alliance with all men, for all fighting of all evil.

Which, now I think about it, fits with that The-Last-Alliance-Is-NATO thing.

Anyway, that's not an entirely unreasonable explanation - can't keep just ignoring those alliances - and I have difficulty coming up with a better one. And I did try; there are lots of changes for the Lord of the Rings that I disagree with but understand: Arwen, Warrior Princess, for example: I get that they wanted to add a female face to the screen, and that they needed to give Arwen a bit more establishment before she turned up to marry Aragorn. I think they went about it the wrong way, but I understand their decisions. I even get why they decided to derail Faramir's character by having him originally decide to take the Ring to Gondor, though I could have some words about what I think of that. However, Movie, I do not understand why you needed to have the elves of Lothlorien come to Helm's Deep. Was it to make up for the fact that Eomer and his forces weren't there (they were in the book), so you needed to bulk out the Rohirrim with something? Well, it's not like you removed the fact that by the time Gandalf arrives with reinforcements (Eomer in the movie, Erkenbrand in the book), the battle had reached a desperate last stand. Just have that.

As a result, we really are left with the meta explanation.

The thing is that this explanation only really works given that change: the movie is the one that made a big fuss about these old alliances existing, so it only has to justify and deal with its own choices. Movie, you made the choice to include the Last Alliance being secretly NATO. You made the decision that Elrond should have decided to abandon Middle-earth and be persuaded otherwise by Galadriel - remind me to come back to that, by the way - and you decided to pretend that this was a one-front-per-antagonist war.

Now, I like showing lots of teamwork and characters working together against a common threat, so you'd think I'd like this change, but that simplification is a major reason that I don't. While Lord of the Rings values working together, it also acknowledges the fact that multi-front wars exist. During the Battle for Helm's Deep, the elves of Lothlorien were fighting for their own survival, not just sitting at home. I acknowledge that you couldn't show that in the movie, but Tolkien didn't show it in the book, he just stated it. And this was fine and understood and real. Part of the desperation of this war was its multi-front nature: for a lot of the time, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. The elves and dwarves have no need to march to war; it's coming to them.

In the movies, there is one front to every war, and anyone who doesn't come to fight on that front is acting from cowardice and apathy.

Juuuust leaving this here real quick.

This is a lack of empathy that suggests that nobody else can have their own problems, and as I suggested there it comes to a head in those bastions of fail, the Hobbit Movies, in which we get to hear about how Thranduil's refusal to fight a dragon and get hundreds of his own people killed for no reason (since there's absolutely no chance of winning that fight) is unpardonable selfishness. Throughout, Thranduil's desire to protect his own people is treated as cowardice and selfishness, and it's made clear by everyone who comes into contact with him that because his people are not the main characters, they're cannon fodder.

That brings me to my next point, and this lack of empathy is where I start moving away from the adaptation thing and into internal problems.

I mentioned that the elves of Lothlorien died unnoticed and unmourned. And I'm pretty sure they all died. Once everyone's inside the keep, the only elf anywhere is Legolas. Aragorn mourns Haldir's death for a moment, but after he's driven away by orcs, you never see him go back to find the body of someone who had had been treating as a friend. To all appearances, after the battle the elves are left for the crows.

Man, who doesn't treat their allies that way?

Again, there's a startling lack of empathy or valuing of these lives that have been lost, implying that the elves are somehow worth less than the humans. This isn't an alliance of equals, it's Real People and their cannon fodder. Note the possessive.

You know, considering the content of Lord of the Rings, the movie adaptation is astonishingly anthrocentric. I was about to say that of the Hobbit movies too, but those aren't anthrocentric, they're Thorin-centric. But to be honest he's not all that culturally or even aesthetically non-human, so I almost count him; it's not like the Hobbit movies didn't go out of their way to make the three dwarves we were clearly supposed to like best look like humans.

Interesting trivia fact, by the way: when making these movies, in order to give some sense of cohesiveness within races and differences between races, they gave them different accents: the idea was that the elves would sound slightly Welsh, the hobbits English (no accounting for Billy Boyd), the dwarves Scottish, and the humans American. It's a nice idea, though it completely ignores the fact that these different races are not cultural and linguistic monoliths. After all, the hobbits are designed to be very English, and Sindarin - the most common Elvish language - is partially based on Welsh. And great chunks of the movies do seem to be aimed towards emphasising the importance of the race with the American accents. Not saying it's deliberate, just saying it's true.

Anyway, I'll take my conspiracy hat back off now and go back to Elrond and Galadriel. This is another very irritating thing about the involvement of the elves at Helm's Deep. And even given that change, it's an entirely unforced irritation.

So for reasons best known to themselves they've decided to write Elrond as having decided to abandon Middle-earth and let men make the best of a bad job. This is probably in order to add tension to the Aragorn/Arwen love story by the time-old method of having her dad oppose the match. Did I mention I hate that cliche? This is a particularly bad example because it so badly derails Elrond's character, as well as in many ways denying the point of the story: yes, there is very little chance of success against Sauron, but even in such a bleak scenario these people still had hope. But nope! Elrond Peredhel, Ringbearer, one of the Wise, has given up and is going to run away.

Anyway, before Helm's Deep, they then illustrate this further by having Galadriel need to persuade Elrond that they shouldn't abandon Middle-earth. And even leaving aside the abandonment thing I just touched on... why the hell does Galadriel need to persuade Elrond of anything?

Seriously, from what we've seen in the movies up to this point, those two have next to nothing to do with each other. What's more, Elrond continues to have no involvement when it comes to Helm's Deep. The only involvement he does have is later bringing Aragorn Anduril, and that was because Arwen persuaded him to because if she's going to die anyway then he might as well do something to help Middle-earth. After all, this means he has to keep a personal stake in its future.

Stay on target, LN.

Anyway, the army that comes to Helm's Deep from the elves is from Lothlorien, not Rivendell. It's led by an elf of Lothlorien, not Rivendell. Why did Galadriel need to persuade Elrond that this was a good idea? If she was persuading anyone, it should have been Celeborn. Heck, by all logic Elrond should have been persuading Galadriel: he's the one with human blood in his veins, he's the one whose foster-son is on the front lines, and she's the one who rules an actual military power.

It might then have made more sense for Haldir to be bringing a message from Elrond about how they came to honour that alliance. Not, by the way, that allegiance. Yes, "allegiance" technically means "Loyalty or commitment to a superior or to a group or cause." (Source), and this can be read as loyalty to a group, but the word "allegiance" is commonly used of something you owe to an overlord of some sort or a group of which you are a member: you swear allegiance to a monarch or a country. It doesn't just mean that you'll keep your word.

But anyway, why is Haldir bringing a message from Elrond when he's Galadriel's subject (he owes allegiance to her and Celeborn, you see)? Especially when it's not like it's something specific for Aragorn or something like that. There was no reason for that.

Now, I do actually have some idea of why this weird little cul-de-sac was put in. What I don't know is why it was kept in.

OK, possibly controversial opinion time. I am so glad they came to their senses and did not have Arwen fighting at Helm's Deep. I already don't like the Arwen Warrior Princess thing they had going on with her, and especially here she and Eowyn would have clashed badly, especially since they just made a big deal of Eowyn having to go to the Caves with the other women.

I know a lot of people are annoyed about this cut and say it's anti-feminist and Arwen would have been so much cooler if we'd got to see her fight, but no. Not the only definition of a strong woman. Not Arwen.

Anyway, Elrond's involvement probably made a lot more sense when his daughter was going to be marching with that army. When she was cut, Elrond's involvement should have been cut. It's not like he contributes anything to the on-screen conversation with Galadriel anyway; she just monologues at him. The main point of this sequence ends up being a plot update.

But the fact that Haldir speaks as if Elrond were his lord and were responsible for sending him when both of those things actually apply to Galadriel annoys me deeply, no matter what the reason. And now I'll just link to the appropriate tags in my various Hobbit Movie scene remixes and move on.

By the way, I'll admit that if Arwen had been with that army then I'd have been better able to see the reason for this change, even if I didn't agree with it.

So I've talked a lot about the setup surrounding the battle, how about the battle? Well, I touched on this a bit when I talked about the length earlier, but short version is that I actually do think the battle itself was fairly well handled. Caveat for almost everything to do with the elves, but once I'm over that a lot of this does work well.

Several different parts of the battlefield, each with characters we've had a chance to get to know

Several different parts of the battle, each with its own threats

We see main characters in real danger

With a couple of exceptions, nobody is stupid

These are all really important aspects of making a battle sequence work, in my opinion, especially combined with breaks. I'll address the first three first because I have more to say about the last one.

First of all, when they're not dinning into us how doomed they all are, the tension is actually pretty good. We get the culvert introduced nice and early and that Saruman has a plan for it, so we know that Helm's Deep isn't impregnable, which actually adds quite enough shadow to the claims that the fortress will never fall while it's defended. That's well handled, and I like it.

Second, the battle itself. When I talked about death scenes, I gave the example of Boromir's death scene and said that one of the things that stopped it becoming monotonous was that it was staged: we see him fighting, he gets struck with one arrow and goes down, but then struggles back up, and every time it gets harder and more painful. It makes the whole scene more interesting than if he'd just been fighting for the same length of time. On a much larger scale, the Battle of Helm's Deep sequence does the same thing: we see the setup for the battle, including the elves arriving. We have the square-off against the Uruk-hai and the beginning of the battle, with archery and fighting on the walls. Then the wall gets blown open and the fighting spreads into the bailey. Meanwhile, there are attacks on the gate and the keep. The keep is broken into and everyone retreats inside, then finally they do their big sortie and Gandalf arrives with Eomer. Each stage comes with its own threats and style of combat, and that keeps the whole thing interesting.

This is actually a great benefit of the setting, incidentally - the structure of Helm's Deep allows for multiple defences to be breached to allow the heroes to be beaten back, and also means there's only one line of assault and therefore the whole thing can stay pretty focussed and linear. This was a problem with - you knew it was coming - movie!Battle of the Five Armies: everything was very confused, and most of the combat was just people hitting each other on the open field.

The different areas also allowed variety in what was happening: we had Aragorn and co. fighting hand to hand on the battlements, we had Rohirric men and boys trying to keep the Uruk-hai away from the gate, we had Theoden overseeing things from a vantage point, at least to start off with, and we also got to see the women and children in the caves. That was another good decision, by the way, and handled well - I didn't think they overdid it. It was enough to remind us of the additional stakes behind the battle without feeling maudlin.

But the other great thing was that throughout we had a named character with whom we had spent some time in every location. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and (arguably) Haldir on the walls, Theoden in the keep, Eowyn in the caves. That then makes the whole thing feel a lot more personal, especially since those characters stayed in the thick of the action, even in Eowyn's case where we just saw her comforting another frightened woman as the Uruk-hai are breaking in up above. Again, contrast that other battle, where all the characters we cared about abandoned the battle as soon as they arrived.

Again, this adds to the stakes - we care about how this battle goes because characters we care about are in danger. And they actually seemed to be in real danger: the impacts feel real, the struggle feels real, the emotion feels real.

When you see that, you feel it. The situation affects the characters, so it affects the audience. I can't say enough how important it is that the characters feel the situation they're in.

Also, by the way, the scale of the whole thing. I went back and rewatched while writing this, and I'm glad I did because I'd forgotten how much use the movie makes of big, sweeping wide shots. Especially since there's a focus on Helm's Deep itself, it feels big. It feels like this is a big, desperate struggle. Also, I think this sequence was helped a lot by the fact that the actors were all actually there. Of course there was CG, but when people are fighting they are actually fighting. These guys actually went and stood on a set in the pouring rain and hit each other and it shows because everything feels so much realer.

I'm going to laser in on a few things in no particular order, then conclude, and this is where I do have to mention those few moments where someone does something clearly stupid.

First: The elves have a commanding officer. He even has a name and doesn't wear a helmet, so you know he's a real character (though, movie, you didn't do Haldir's death scene well. He's not a major enough character to carry the weight, and the extra slow-mo and Our Lady of Soundtrack Sorrow didn't help). So why is Aragorn giving the orders? Why does Theoden refer to the elves as Aragorn's men? Who the hell is he to the elves of Lothlorien? I could get this if command had devolved to Legolas - he is a Silvan prince so I could buy Silvan elves deferring to him - but why Aragorn?

I know it's because he's the hero, but it doesn't make a lot of sense, and really undermines any kind of solidarity-with-humans thing they might have been going for.

Second: That sally-port will never not be funny. I know that the sequence where Aragorn and Gimli sneak out of a little side door to hold the gate is based on a similar sequence from the book where it's Aragorn, Eomer, and some others, and Gimli tags along, but no matter how many times I see the orcs hammering on the gate and then this little door opens and Our Heros sneak out I still snigger.

I will say, though, that this scene is badass and is actually a genuine moment when a couple of brave men can pull off this kind of incredible battle-turning achievement: they're holding a narrow bridge, so the enemy loses the advantage of numbers.

I do have to give some eyebrow to Theoden yelling at Aragorn and Gimli to get out of there... through a gap in the barricade the size of a letterbox. At that point they're on a suicide mission, Theoden; if they could make it back to their sally-port then the whole thing would have been rendered unnecessary anyway. Though I do get wanting to let them know that the mission has been accomplished. Also, to take a moment's detour back to an earlier point, this would have been another great moment for Aragorn and Legolas to patch things up: they went into battle still with the argument between them, then at this moment Legolas comes to Aragorn and Gimli's rescue and all is well.

Just to hit a favourite comment: Dwarf-tossing joke was unnecessary. Aragorn throwing Gimli into the middle of the orcish army like a grenade filled with axes and fury was admittedly pretty cool.

Third: Space is warped and time is bendable.

Here's an external shot of Helm's Deep:

Note how it's clearly broad daylight, albeit on a cloudy day. Which makes it weird when minutes later Gimli announces that the sun is rising.

Fourth: Pikes. Let me tell you my basic understanding of the trump system of medieval combat. It goes like this:

Cavalry trumps infantry

Massed pikes trump cavalry

Archers trump massed pikes

Obviously, there are variations and exceptions, especially where shields are involved and bearing in mind that if enough horses get past the volleys of arrows and the archers aren't behind stakes, they can turn very quickly into infantry, but that seems to work pretty well as a rule of thumb. Note the position in the pecking order of pikes: above cavalry and infantry, below archers.

So what are you two doing, Aragorn and Gandalf?

Aragorn in particular: what you have there is a large group of archers on slightly higher ground facing a massed group of pikemen crammed into a narrow breach in a wall which is full of water and rubble. What the hell are you doing telling those archers to drop their bows and commence melee combat, thus running onto a pike wall and also getting mired in water and rubble? Stand there and shoot the pikemen until you run out of arrows!

Gandalf (and Eomer, who should know better) then follow this up with a cavalry charge into a pike wall, and I can only give them the tiniest pass because I assume Gandalf knew that the sun would rise and dazzle the orcs at just the right moment. Oh, and one more thing about that...

Fifth: That slope.

Wow, that's terrible footing for horses. I can't think of worse that doesn't involve shards of broken glass or ice. Those horses should be tripping and going head-over-heels the whole way down that hill, not to mention the aforementioned pikes waiting at the bottom.

Sixth: The aftermath scene with Legolas and Gimli. I don't like this scene; not only does it again swap out Legolas' personality to just give him an attitude problem by making him such a sore loser that he'll rather threateningly shoot dangerously near Gimli (between his legs because hi-larious) to 'kill' an orc that was already dead in order to even up the contest, rather than, as in the book, admitting defeat but saying that he doesn't mind because he's so glad his friend came through alive, but they got a very tiny factual detail that would have been very easy to check wrong.

Gimli killed 42 orcs, not 43. Legolas killed 41, not 42.

Fail.

Seventh: Snowboarding Legolas. I'm... torn. On the one hand, it's absurd. It's absurd and I blame it for the rising ridiculousness of Legolas' battle stunts, culminating in his Super Mario impression and attacking Bolg with his crotch.

Yes, it's still funny.

On the other hand it's so damn cool. When I re-watched I was expecting to have a really good sneer at that, but instead I caught myself grinning like a maniac.

And that kind of sums this up for itself: there is so much wrong with this sequence. There is so much that annoys me if I sit down and think about it. But when I watched it I couldn't help thinking how well it's actually done, from the music to the action. And, you know, I think I've gone and talked myself back into liking it again.

[threemoonsareshining]

Today I had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, one in which I truly felt for my safety, and I have to say I am very, very lucky because it could've ended in a really bad way, and I’m glad it didn’t. Maybe now writing it, it doesn’t seem that serious but at the moment I was actually scared. 

Ok, so I went on a trip with my friend (we are both girls just to make it clear) to my grandmother's hometown, which is a really tiny village in the middle of the countryside. We’ve always loved it there, even though we don’t visit often (it’s a long drive and somehow we always have something else to do, but we try to go once a year), we enjoy taking walks, since, as I said, is a very small town, full of crumbling houses, wild fruits and steep rocks to climb. It had actually been approximately been 5 years since we last visited (I know I said we tried to go once a year but we’re a mess I’m sorry), so we were really excited to see how everything had changed and to return to our favourite spots. So that’s what we did, after lunch, we went hiking to a nice stream. But as I said, things change, and our perception of distance was no exception: we thought the river was much further than it actually was, so the hour-long trip we had planned ended up being a fifteen-minute walk. Surprised, my friend and I decide to explore a little more, so we turn back and go down a different path, in which we bump into a herd of really big cows, among which we could find a tiny calf, so we believed it would be safer if we didn’t come close the tiny creature (its mom was frighteningly big and we didn’t want to take any chances). So then again, we turn back and decide to follow a third path, one that, as the sign said, led to a famous peak, or rock, or something. 

We start walking uphill. The view was truly breathtaking, the valley was so humongous I started to feel overwhelmed and a little dizzy. We run into a flock of sheep, which was really nice (this isn’t important, I just liked it a lot, they were so cute). Anyways, we walk and walk, and although it was a really steep slope, we weren’t feeling tired at all (maybe it was the concentrated coffee we had had after lunch, we felt unstoppable). We didn’t seem to arrive at the top of the hill, so we started to wonder if we should be heading back, since my family wanted to visit some plot of land a little far from the town, but suddenly we get a call from my aunt, and they tell us they’re leaving right at that moment, and obviously we didn’t have time to arrive on time to go with them, so we agree that they would go to do whatever they had to do and we would stay and keep hiking without any pressure, as they wouldn’t be away for too long. We start walking again, with the purpose of getting to the top (now it was personal you know, we wanted to be able to say “hey, I was up there”, but that wouldn’t be possible, of course, we didn’t know that yet). 

ANYWAYS,  we walked for a long-ass time and the curves in the path would keep getting higher and higher ceaselessly, so we decided that was far enough, we had got higher than we had expected in the first place anyways (now our trip to the river seemed meaningless in comparison). Before heading back, we take some pictures of the, then again, breathtaking view. While doing so, we realise there is a tiny stone cabin with a big white car in the front in the distance, but close enough so we could see it, and so could whoever was the owner of that vehicle. I decide to ignore it (later I’d learn my friend hadn’t), so we keep taking pictures. After the last selfie, one we took in order to prove we had actually got there, (we were quite proud of our achievement I must admit), we realise the white car was no longer next to the cabin, which was actually closer than it appeared at the beginning (I’m getting nervous while writing this, I didn’t expect it, this is horrible), so after a few seconds I start feeling the ground rambling a little, like when a vehicle is getting closer, slowly. This didn’t seem to be a problem at first, we live in the countryside as well and whenever we encounter some kind of truck in one of our walks, we just step out of the road and wait until it passes us with no trouble whatsoever, except for the annoying cloud of dust it leaves behind. But this time, clearing off the road didn’t seem right, it didn’t seem safe enough. I tell my friend to move away from the path, to get deeper into the rocks, surrounded by bushes so we could hide behind one. But we had reacted too slowly, and we couldn’t get too far, the car was getting closer, so we’d have to manage with that. We kneel on the ground, behind a rock and pray that we turned tiny in the eyes of that people. But something we hadn’t bargained for was that we were in the middle of a tight turn, so they were able to see us from the rear mirror of the car. And that’s when we see them. They weren’t an old villager coming back minding his business from a long working day (which was also a little risky, since we were alone in the middle of nowhere, with our family away and no way to scape, in an unknown place full of sharp rocks and steep and slippery rocks), no. They where a group of five boys, who must have been a little older than us, in their early-mid twenties. They were screaming like animals, something we assumed was addressed to us, and something, we assumed, not too respectful. But I mean, within the worst that could happen, getting catcalled by some dudes passing by wasn’t that terrible. But then, to our surprise, the car brakes abruptly and starts pulling back. I turn pale instantly, I freeze, and I kind of black-out, since now I can’t remember clearly every detail of it, but if I could describe the scene, it was just like in movies, when a car stops that way and you simply know that character is screwed up, you think “that’s it, that girl is dead already”. But as I said above, we were lucky. They just kept screaming something like “see? I told you there was someone there! oh look at those little bunnies!”, while laughing, and then kept driving. My friend and I don’t move until we can’t see them anymore and then get up, we are both shaking and we have trouble breathing. We try to calm down and then start our way back home, a little more relaxed now, but not really. 

We talked about how badly that could’ve gone, about how pathetic we must have looked, hiding behind a fucking rock raising our heads above it like kids, but despite that, we were glad we had chosen to seem pathetic over being too exposed. Did we overreact? I don’t think so, especially at the present time, when every time we watch the news there’s always a new woman murdered, or a girl’s body found lifeless after being missing for weeks. Hell no. We didn’t overreact. Maybe those guys weren’t bad people after all, but excuse me if we didn’t want to be near to five strangers In The Middle Of Nowhere. What other choice did we have? To stay in the side of the road, even more exposed? What if they had pulled back and started talking to us? Any reaction from us could have had terrible consequences, if we had been friendly, would it seem as if we were suggesting we wanted something? If we had been defensive, they would've laughed even more at us or even made them mad. Maybe nothing would’ve happened, but I’m a person that even in a normal situation tries to avoid people, so imagine in this... bizarre context. We could’ve also run but I see that useless... I don’t know, I just wonder whether we did the right thing by hiding because they could have gotten out of the car and come to get us if they wanted to. I believe we were really lucky, maybe they saw our faces in an utter state of panic and decide it wasn’t worth it but... I just don’t know, it was very scary. Afterwards, we came back to the village and went for a short walk because our family wasn’t back yet, but we found that the white car was parked in the town square, they were having a drink in the bar, and we didn’t want to have any kind of confrontation, so we just went inside our house, still feeling uneasy and disoriented. When my uncle and aunt arrived we told them everything and they basically mocked us, saying that we were stupid for reacting that way because it wasn’t such a big deal, and then ignoring us. So we started to wonder if that was actually true. 

I still think we did the right thing by hiding, at least we made it clear we didn’t want to be approached. I’m feeling better now but it’s quite sad that a nice activity I love such as walking has been ruined by a bunch of idiots that have fun frightening people. This has also made me realise how bad I am at reacting quickly to stressful situations, and now I kinda want to take a self-defence course or something. Anyways I just wanted to tell this so I can remember it for the future (idk why maybe it’s because I don’t keep a diary anymore and I don’t want to forget stuff), my grammar is probably a mess and don’t even get me started with the verb tenses, anyways, thank for reading if you were able to make it till the end, I tried to keep the story interesting so you wouldn’t get bored but I’m not sure if I actually achieved that purpose, thank for reading regardless.

[pridge]

The Capital of Cambodia - and the Genocide!!

Right where did I leave off…..am not actually sure as I sit writing this without wifi to check! So this may remain in if I don’t decide to edit it.

Firstly, for my own recollection, I am not sure if I mentioned the very cool cocktail bar I discovered way back in Saigon. Up some dark steps directly opposite my Airbnb, no signs at all. And then just a dark door you basically had to knock to enter. All based on US speakeasy’s in probation. Very cool. Although when I say discovered….that isn’t entirely true. As its on google and tripadvisor! But Columbus discovered America, and a French guy “discovered “ Angor Wat. So I’m claiming this!! There was also a really nice craft beer place just round the corner with a 3rd floor roof bar – so a height I can cope with.

As a segway back to current timeline. I now have rest of trip booked up and mapped out. Am due back in Saigon on Friday 13th, and then start my organised tour up the coast of Vietnam. I have subsequently left Siem Reap and currently in Cambodian capital of Phonm Pen. I had a pretty relaxing time in Siem Reap. Although nothing too exciting to report. Had a few beers and meals with a cool US defence lawyer called Dalin, who was also travelling alone. A lot of politics laden conversations, as a shared interest, as well as reflecting on travelling, culture and life. We had very similar views on the world, as he comes from west coast he is lucky to be in the majority there of being as bemused by Trump as we the rest of us. I also, hopefully, got over the worst of my final MBA module, largely sat in front of/under fans drinking iced coffee in various spots. Got a couple of daytimes set aside here the next couple of days to more or less finish my final assignment. So fingers crossed I have got the hang of this corporate finance stuff now!!

Had a very easy coach journey down to Phonm Pen. Chose to go with the quicker air-conditioned option, rather than mixing with locals and most backpackers on the $4 cheaper option. Despite the hotel pick-up not turning up until after we were due to leave, that seems fine over here, and there was unseasonal rains which appeared to cause chaos on the local roads! Only minor annoyance on the coach was the woman in the seat behind me seemed to not understand the concept of earphones – and had her music playing out of some form of mini-stereo. Luckily I just hid under my sound reducing earphones – but am sure probably annoyed hell out of a lot of rest of passengers.

Having then easily found my hotel in Phonm Pen, and having to turn down dozens of requests for “tuk tuk” from the local drivers – who all seemed totally bemused I’d want to walk 1km or less to my hotel!! Perfectly ok hotel in central area – I think. Right by night market which I may go and explore one evening. Headed out having refreshed myself to Larry’s Bar & Grill. Essentially seems to be an expat establishment, run and owned by Larry. Who was actually sat out front playing chess with a friend whilst I was there it turned out. Tough life!! Anyone who’s read my Facebook will also know that at this point I allowed myself to enter into a conversation with a slightly unhinged Swedish guy. My instincts were saying not to – but also I am aware that I shouldn’t just exist in my own bubble of the world.

As it turns out he was an alcoholic, who recently gave up weed. He was also essentially on a sex tour of asia, which he appears to do on a regular basis. And it turns out he is rather right-wing compared to me. Blames immigrants for his company folding, when in fact he basically admitted that GPS meant his taxi firm folded as competition became too hot. He was then also a BMW car salesman – but lost his job after some form of argument with his boss (who I checked – was not an immigrant). He was predicting the collapse of the Swedish economy due to the number of free-loading foreigners that were breaking their social security system. I know far too little about Sweden to possibly comment on the factual accuracy of this. Anyway, I listened, I felt disgusted at his views. But interesting to hear a different view point. I also had what I think he thought was great live advice from him, where he was telling me about this crazy prostitute he’d seen a few times in Thailand. He’d broken one of his own rules, which essentially is not to spend more than one time with a prostitute. But she then started acting crazy….his words….because she had fallen in love with him….which led to his great advice of essentially “don’t allow yourself to fall in love with a prostitute, especially a Thai one”. This was seen as good advice by him as it meant he could just walk away from this apparently crazy Thai prostitute. Just a different world out there – and one I frankly can’t stand, or understand, and don’t like.

I then had a few cold beers at the extortionate price of £1 a pint vs 70p in Siem Reap, and a bite to eat. And found myself talking to a very nice Australian/New Zealand couple. Both on their last night in Cambodia before heading back to Sydney. We had some long conversations, and we were all equally bemused by the whole “ladies” bars in Phonm Pen, which I’d heard from others about, and there are similar in Saigon I think. Where basically as a western guy you pay slightly more than normal for your beer, but you end up having a number of local girls who work there hanging on your every word. They are not officially prostitutes it seems….but can be….all very confusing and weird. I think I would rather sit on my own with my book than to have women pretend to be interested in me because that’s there job!!

Anyway, enough about prostitutes. As a complete and utter opposite. Visited the S-21 museum and the Killing Fields today. Bit hard to know where to start really. Having visited German concentration camps in Poland, the holocaust museum in Jerusalem and more recently the very hard hitting Vietnam War museum in Saigon, I was wondering how this would impact me. Both were exceptionally well done – and had really great audio tours.

The  S-21 prison, was essentially an old school that was converted into a prison for interrogation. And on this they did not hold back. I’d be doing it something of a disservice if I didn’t at least try and describe it a bit – as best I can. First off, well it is a school. And they converted into into a place of torture and horror.

Actually – step back briefly. So a few bits of context for Cambodia. In a nutshell they suffered due to the Vietnam War and Cold War going on at the time – with essentially first a French and then a US back government – which always ends well. The last of these was put in power in 1970 as the Vietnam war was just going from bad to worse for the USA. At the same time there were the Khmer Rouge building up their power in the mountain and jungle villages, essentially a vaguely communist, but largely nationalist, party. Led by the secretive Pol Pot, it seems very few of his people knew his real intentions. Essentially he wanted to return Cambodia to how it was in the 10th-12th century. And by that I don’t mean being a strong empire again, although he did want that, but he wanted to do that by returning to a rural agrarian society. Essentially he wanted to dismantle the current country and rebuild it in a rose tinted image of its past.

Having come to power in 1975 – with another glorious American airlift to empty their embassy. The Khmer Rouge then proceeded to order the evacuation of all the cities and relocation of people to the countryside. Keeping in mind, for example, that Phonm Pen had approx. 3m people there at the time. Within weeks, the estimated population was 50,000 loyal Khmer Rouge. Alongside this, they decided the only way to achieve Pol Pot’s vision was to eradicate intellectuals, artists, teachers – in fact wearing glasses meant you probably just disappeared.

This eventually led to an estimated 1 in 4 people being killed either directly or indirectly (disease, starvation etc caused by the forced relocations of people to the countryside). Let that sink in. 1 in 4. That was 3m people in 4 years. 3m is a lot – although sadly other genocides have bigger numbers sadly. The figure of 1 in 4. If you still have your parents, and a sibling. That means one of you would have been dead by the end of this. Imagine losing 1 in 4 of all the people you knew, or of your friends. And often not knowing what happened to them, or if you knew they had died, where their bodies were. 25% of one countries whole population – means no-one was unaffected. No-one. It is a deep scar that it is hard to imagine how to ever heal, or even what damage it has done to the collective as well as individual psyche.

S-21. Where people were interrogated under the most terrible torture until they admitted to essentially anything. They were water-boarded (the gentle sound US name), they were locked in tanks full of biting insects, they were beaten bloody, they had fingers and toes cut off. All whilst spending most of their days either locked in unbearably tiny and hot cells, or perhaps worse, in large rooms chained to multiple other prisoners. They were not meant to be killed….as this was just meant to extract confessions. And in the end everyone confessed, which would lead to more arrests and more torture. When I say they confessed, I mean they signed that what they were being accused of was true and to give names of others. People were tortured into saying they were CIA and KGB agents (often at the same time), and often without knowing what the hell the CIA or KGB even were. Several of the blocks had barbed wire put up over the front of the building to stop people making attempts at suicide if they ever managed to get the brief chance to do so. And who could blame them for trying.

There were 12 known survivors of this place. 12, from the 100’s and 1000’s that passed through the doors. They escaped in 1979 when the Vietnamese army invaded Cambodia and overthrew Pol Pot (more on that in a bit).

The whole of S-21 was harrowing. And to see the pictures of the teenagers who basically ran the place – and to wonder how do people end up being able to justify torturing other human beings. And for what end? Did they really believe that they were getting accurate confessions. The whole thing was just a nightmare crazy.

Following that we leapt back on our bus to head to the Killing Fields. Of which there are more than 300 in Cambodia. These were the sites of mass execution that would come on the back of the torture – or just because you were an intellectual or a teacher, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. This particular one outside Phnom Pen had somewhere around 20,000 victims. And in keeping with Pol Pots vision this was not industrial genocide. This was done with crowbars, farm equipment, machetes or anything they had to hand. If Hitler’s holocaust was the disgusting pinnacle of organised industrial genocide, then this was, well I am not sure what it was. I think the only way to sum it up was one particular tree that they have evidence that shows was used to kill babies. And I literally mean by smashing their skulls against it before throwing them in a big pit. Just writing that makes me want to cry.

Once again though so many people say they were just following orders, or were scared for themselves or their own families. And who wouldn’t be under one of the most brutal regimes ever seen. The challenge for me though is how does a society allow itself to get to a stage where it even allows orders like this to become normal. How does it become normal to work as a concentration camp guard, or to work at a Stalinist gulag, or force millions of Armenians to match and starve to death in winter, or enforce the Cultural Revolution in China….and and and. The worst and though is what would any of us do differently in the circumstances. Undoubtedly there were monsters who could barely be classed as human giving the orders, or near the top, and even in the rank and file doing the doing. But that can’t explain the scale of any of this.

Similar to Nazi Germany, the Khmer Rouge deliberately dehumanized those it saw as a threat and wanted killed. For me this dehumanisation is what scares me the most. It is why I abhor racism, sexism, bigots and to a certain extent populism. As soon as you start seeing one human as less a human than you that can be a really slippy slope towards many many worse things. I believe people are fundamentally good – and often it is circumstances or context that leads people to do bad or evil things. But how do societies stop such atrocities and genocides in the future. I just don’t know. Rwanda was so recent. And the UK, USA, Russia, China, Australia and the UN were still recognising the Khmer Rouge as the “rightful government” of Cambodia as recently as 1991. 12 years after they’d actually been deposed by Vietnamese troops – and there is surely no way these atrocities were unknown. So the leaders of the world put politics and the Cold War above their own ethics and morals. And that is also scary. Again though, the context is hard, as I was too young to really remember the Cold War and the impact that had.

Overall, as you can probably tell it was a very moving and thought provoking day. Upsetting is an understatement.

To help process all that had a lovely long walk along the river here. They have a beautiful promenade that stretches quite some way. I waited for it a cool down a bit first, but was nice to stretch my legs for first time in ages. Also, it took me all the way down into what can only be described as a real locals area – but in the sense that there were lots of bars and restaurants in some sort of retail park – by a nightmarket – but all just locals there. Almost as if that is there way to avoid us tourists!

There is still obvious French influence in Phonm Pen – not just the street names, but a lot of the food and restaurants still have a very French flavour to them. So to finish on a more positive note – this place is a buzzing city, and hasn’t allowed itself to forget its past – both good and bad. But has endured and carried on. Maybe that is the essence of the human condition.

Am now just having a quiet beer and considering what to eat. Think I will retreat into a book as well as far too much thinking done today!!

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

Finland in the Summer: Quirky, Isolated, and Pretty

One question I get asked on a daily basis is, “So, what’s your favorite place?” I’m not a fan of having to answer that question constantly, but I understand why people ask me, so I have a quick go-to response: “My favorite countries are Croatia, Italy, South Africa, Thailand, and Japan.”

But that list is incomplete. It says nothing about how I feel about Finland.

A few years ago, I worked with Visit Finland to cover the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. It was my first trip to the country and I was struck by how much I connected with Finland as a whole.

What I love so much about Finland is that I feel like I understand it on an intimate level. I appreciate the quiet of its residents, how they choose their words carefully, their tendency not to make a spectacle, their outdoorsiness and athleticism, their penchant for bright colors, coffee, and Fazer chocolate.

And there’s also how well the Finns take care of their fellow residents, whether it’s a prison system that actually rehabilitates offenders, universal healthcare and free education, or the fact that everyone with a child gets 150 euros per month from the government. What I would give to have a Finnish system in the United States.

My friends at Visit Finland recently got in touch and asked if I’d like to come back for another summer trip. My instant reply: “Can I come for the Air Guitar World Championships?”

Yes, the Air Guitar World Championships. I’ve wanted to go to this event long before my blog even existed, and I knew it took place in August. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. (Visit Finland: “Of course! I don’t think we’ll be able to get you on stage, though.” Me: “THAT’S OKAY! I JUST WANT TO WATCH!”)

Löyly

It was at the championships that I learned my new favorite Finish word: löyly. It means the steam that rises from the rocks in the sauna.

It might seem like a strange word to define, but trust me — sauna is LIFE in Finland. Every Finnish home has a sauna. It’s an integral part of health, socialization, and routine. While Finnish culture has so many nuances that are hard for an outsider to identify, you can’t doubt the great influence of the sauna.

There were two hosts at the Air Guitar World Championships, a Finn speaking Finnish and a American speaking English, and the American kept repeating “löyly” over and over, his mouth twisting around the challenging vowels, as the Finns laughed. While löyly refers to the steam, in this context, it means to crank up the intensity. Imagine yelling, “Throw some more water on the rocks, man! We want to get it steamy up in here!”

If the Danes are all about hygge (coziness and bonding) and the Swedes are all about lagom (balance and egalitarianism), then the Finns are all about löyly. We need to get this to become a global thing!

Part I: Air Guitar World Championships in Oulu

Every August, air guitarists converge on a small city on the Arctic Circle with one goal in mind: to be declared the world champion. Contestants from around the world enter local competitions representing their countries; there’s also a bonus Dark Horse competition the night before the finals.

On the night of the finals, each competitor performs a one-minute song of his or her choice. From that group, 10 finalists are chosen and they each perform to the same song. A panel of judges scores the contestants.

Above is a compilation of my Instagram Stories from the championships — this is a great three-minute video of 15-second clips throughout the day and it showcases several of the best performers! I hope you watch it and enjoy it!

One of my favorites was the Jinja Assassin — a crazy Australian who rocked the stage and tied for second place! He was so intense — I thought he was going to win, to be honest.

Another one of the best and most expressive performers was Sho-Sho from Japan, who performed in full sumo wear. I was shocked to learn that he was only 15 years old!

This was a very male-dominated event, but there were two superstar female performers who made the finals: above is the Phoenix from Canada, whose look was Mad Max: Fury Road crossed with a Day of the Dead skeleton.

And here’s a hilarious offbeat performance — Fran Chopin, who performed a French routine, including baguettes and a bicycle, to “Foux de Fafa” by Flight of the Conchords. I’m so glad I got a full video of his routine!

The winner was an American named Airistotle, who actually won for the second year in a row.

Believe it or not, the festival wasn’t even my favorite part of the night — the after-parties were! After the championship, we converged on a variety of bars around the city. First a little dive bar where everyone sang karaoke, including a rousing rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The schnapps flowed, as did the beers, and eventually we moved on to a dance club. (Want to know where the after-parties are? Ask around next year!)

Also, remember how I said this was a male-dominated event? Between you and me…if you’re a single straight female, you can do extremely well at these after-parties.

I would SO love to return to this festival next year! It’s one of my favorite quirky festivals I’ve ever been to and the people were so awesome! It was big enough to be well organized but small enough to get to know the participants. Oh, what a great time!

Part II: Blissful Isolation at Jarvisydan

If there’s anything the Finns excel at that Americans could stand to do better, it’s the art of unplugging from the world. Preferably somewhere on a lake with a sauna.

So the morning after partying until 5:00 AM, having slept approximately five hours in the past 72 hours, I picked up a rental car and drove five and a half hours southeast. (Many thanks to coffee and the Hamilton soundtrack; I could not have survived that drive without either.)

Four hours in, I stopped in the city of Kuopio to go to the top of the Puijo Tower — a tower with outstanding views over the countryside. It was the perfect pit stop.

My final destination was the Hotel and Spa Järvisydän in Porosalmi on the shores of Lake Saimaa in eastern Finland, not far from the town of Savonlinna. This is part of Finland’s Lakeland region, not far from the Russian boarder, a stretch of land so streaked with lakes that it looks more like an archipelago than the mainland.

This resort has an incredible history. It’s been operated as a guesthouse continuously since 1658. SINCE 1658! Owner Markus Heiskanen is an eleventh generation hospitality employee. ELEVEN GENERATIONS OF CONTINUOUS HOSPITALITY WITH NO DEVIATION IN THE BLOODLINE. Let that sink in.

That’s the front desk. See that boat? Markus found it. (How does one “find” a boat of that size…)

While I didn’t meet Markus, I spent my time with his wife Tanya, who embodies everything a hospitality worker should be: warm and welcoming but giving you your own space; knowledgeable and passionate about the region; thoughtful enough to surprise you with a bag of Fazer chocolate after she hears how much you love it.

Järvisydän has a variety of activities in which you can take part. Tanya took me on a boat ride to some of the surrounding sites.

While many Finns choose to spend their holidays relaxing in cottages on the lake, some people are brave enough to live there year-round, spending most of their lives in solitude.

“How do they get their food?” I asked.

“They take a boat in the summer and a sledge in the winter.”

Wow.

Our destination was Laattaansaari National Park, which is entirely on an island. This island is tiny but covered in hiking trails. (On a more private note, it kills me that whenever I walk through a dense green forest like this, I think, “Wow, the Twilight vampires totally could have lived here.)

Is that not the most adorable outhouse you’ve ever seen? It has a HEART!

Next up, we visited the nearby village of Oravi.

What surprised me the most that there was a Thai restaurant in that tiny town! One of the local men is married to a Thai woman, and she started a Thai restaurant that features local Finnish ingredients from the lake, like pike perch. Can you imagine what it must be like to leave somewhere like Thailand and come to somewhere like Oravi?

By that point the chill was setting in and we turned the boat back to Järvisydän.

The rest of the afternoon was all about the sauna — and spa. While any self-respecting hotel in Finland will have a sauna for guests, Järvisydän has one of the largest and most insane spas I’ve ever experienced. (Spa image courtesy of the resort.)

Want to relax? There’s a steam room. A Turkish-style hammam. A dark room where you get sprayed with different temperatures of water in several directions as chirping birds echo above you. A room filled with coarse salt where you’re encouraged to breathe deeply. A heated yoga room. A swimming pool, and if you wanted to do the Finnish thing, you could go outside to jump in the lake before heading back inside. (I did not do the Finnish thing.)

And finally, a traditional Finnish cedar sauna, scented like fresh wood. I relaxed into the intoxicating air and felt warmer than I had ever been before. And then a teenager came in and offered me a bucket filled with water to create more löyly, more steam on the rocks.

I later learned that the bucket-wielding young man was Markus’s son, Tanya’s stepson: the twelfth generation of hospitality.

My cabin was the perfect place to relax in private. I even had my own private sauna in the bathroom!

Also — don’t bring your iPhone into a Finnish sauna. That sounds like very basic knowledge, but, well, I thought it would be cool to do a Facebook Live from my private sauna, and my iPhone overheated and nearly died. Please don’t do that. In this case, löyly nearly cost me 800 bucks.

Overall, Järvisydän is such a special place, and I’m so glad I got to spend two nights relaxing in this resort. Going into a quiet nature environment was like therapy for my nonstop New York life and mind that never stops overthinking. I was sad to leave and I hope to go back in the future.

Part III: Perfect Photos in Porvoo

For my final destination on this summer trip to Finland, I wanted to visit somewhere photogenic. Then it hit me — why not Porvoo? Some of my friends had been before and I knew from them that it was a beautiful city just a short bus ride from Helsinki. From Järvisydän it took me three and a half hours of driving.

Right away it reminded me so much of Rauma, my favorite place in Finland. Rauma is a seaside city with a UNESCO World Heritage-listed wooden old town filled with brightly painted buildings. I visited Rauma in 2014 with moderate expectations and it blew my mind.

Porvoo is much smaller than Rauma, but it had so much of the same beauty. Just look at it.

Porvoo is most famous for its line of little red cottages on the river. If you see any image of this city, it’s likely similar to one of my shots below!

And I got to stay in one of the little red cottages! My guesthouse, Ida Maria B&B, has several properties throughout Old Porvoo — including apartments in the famed cottages themselves. I had a wonderful house to myself with an old-fashioned stove (and a modern kitchen and bathroom) downstairs and a simple bedroom loft upstairs.

My final activity was Deep Forest Yoga — a personalized session in the forest. My teacher, Anu, took me on a short walk from the center of Porvoo to the city’s small forest. Here we would do a gentle fitness session.

Finns are incredibly active and outdoorsy, and Anu is no exception. She started her business because she believes in the curative properties of the forest. In fact, there’s scientific evidence to back her up — publicized by Finns, of course!

Anu told me that whenever she has a fever, she takes a few long walks in the forest and it helps her recover much faster than if she were relying on medicine alone.

This session reminded me of the difference between fitness in America and virtually everywhere else. In America it’s all about packing in the most intense routine into the shortest time frame possible — think HIIT, spinning, Tabata, Crossfit. In countries like Finland, it’s more about gentle exercise on a far-more-frequent basis. Exercise is a way of life, not an event you schedule.

We stretched. We did yoga moves. We breathed in the fresh forest air. Anu led me in a guided meditation. And by the time we finished, I believed in the power of the forest as well.

From that point, I returned to Helsinki to spend time with local friends before journeying on to Belarus.

The Takeaway

This trip solidified my love for Finland even more. I felt like my first trip was about getting to know the country during the summer; this second trip was about sinking into it more deeply.

I should mention that one thing disappointed me this time around — the weather. Last time I visited Finland in the summer, it was July and the weather was so warm that I was skinny-dipping in velvety lakes under the midnight sun. On this trip, by contrast, I was shivering in freezing rain in Oulu; I was bundled up in multiple coats at Järvisydän.

My Finnish friends told me that July tends to be warmer than August in general, but this was also an exceptionally chilly year. It just goes to show that you can’t rely on weather in any of the Nordic nations. If you luck out and get sunshine and warmth, consider it a bonus, not the standard.

No matter whether you visit Finland during a toasty summer or a chillier season, you’ll be spending time in a sauna. Take that time to watch the steam rise off the rocks and appreciate life’s simple pleasures, and you’ll be closer to learning what löyly is all about.

READ NEXT: A Magical Journey Through Rauma, Finland

Essential Info: The Air Guitar World Championships take place in late August each year and information on the next festival, including how to compete, can be found here. In Oulu I stayed at the Scandic Oulu, a very good and well-situated mid-range hotel that I recommend. Rates from $138. Find deals on hotels in Oulu here.

Visiting the Puijo Tower in Kuopio costs 6 EUR ($7) for adults and 3 EUR ($3.50) for children. There is a restaurant as well as a cafe on top.

My stay at Hotel and Spa Järvisydän was wonderful from start to finish. Rates from 137 EUR ($161), and do check out their promotions page for great deals that offer even more, like meals and massages, for much less than booking them a la carte. If you go, please say hi to Tanya for me.

In Porvoo I stayed at Ida Maria B&B, a wonderful guesthouse with breakfast. It was fun staying in a little red cottage. Rates from $90. While you could easily visit Porvoo as a day trip from Helsinki, I preferred staying one night — I found the atmosphere more peaceful and the light more luscious after all the day trippers had left. Find deals on hotels in Porvoo here.

Anu offers 90-minute Deep Forest Yoga, Deep Forest Relaxation, and Deep Forest Dance classes through her company, Ikimetsan Jooga. Contact her at anu [at] ikimetsanjooga.fi for rates.

I finished my time in Finland with a few days in Helsinki, staying at the Hotel Cumulus City Kaisaniemi, a terrific mid-range hotel located in the heart of the city, steps from the train station. Rates from $104. In the past I stayed at the Hotel Rivoli Jardin, which is a bit more upscale and expensive but so pretty and so nice, and in an even more central location. Rates from $149. Find deals on hotels in Helsinki here.

Be sure not to visit Finland without travel insurance. Whether you get appendicitis and need to be hospitalized, or your phone gets stolen, or an injury means you need to cancel all or part of your trip, travel insurance will help you in your time of need. I use and recommend World Nomads as travel insurance for trips to Finland.

Many thanks to Visit Finland for hosting me in full on this trip, excluding my time in Helsinki, which I paid out of pocket. All opinions, as always, are my own.

Have you been to Finland? Or is it your kind of place?

The post Finland in the Summer: Quirky, Isolated, and Pretty appeared first on Adventurous Kate.

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[nebris]

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin is a book by Yale historian Timothy D. Snyder, first published by Basic Books on October 28, 2010. In the book, Snyder examines the political, cultural and ideological context tied to a specific area of land, under which the regimes of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union and Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany committed mass killing of an estimated 14 million non-combatants between the years 1933 and 1945, the majority outside the death camps of the Holocaust. Snyder's thesis is that the "bloodlands", a region which comprised what is modern-day Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the Baltic states, is the area where the regimes of Stalin and Hitler, despite their conflicting goals, interacted to increase suffering and bloodshed many times worse than any seen in western history. Snyder notes similarities between the two totalitarian regimes, while also noting enabling interactions that reinforced the destruction and suffering brought to bear on non-combatants. Making use of many new primary and secondary sources from eastern Europe, Snyder brings scholarship to many forgotten, misunderstood, or incorrectly remembered parts of the history, particularly noting that most victims were killed outside the concentration camps of the respective regimes.[1] Snyder estimates that the Nazis were responsible for about twice as many noncombatant killings as Stalin's regime.[2]

The book earned many positive reviews and has been called "revisionist history of the best kind".[3] The book was awarded numerous prizes, including the 2013 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought.

Synopsis

The Eastern European regions that Snyder terms "Bloodlands" is the area where Hitler's vision of Racial supremacy and Lebensraum, resulting in the Final Solution and other Nazi atrocities, met, sometimes in conflict, sometimes in cooperation, with Stalin's vision of a communist ideology that resulted in the deliberate starvation, imprisonment, and murder of innocent men, women and children in Gulags and elsewhere.[1][3] The combined efforts of the two regimes resulted in the deaths of an estimated 14 million noncombatants in the Eastern Europe "Bloodlands;" Snyder documents that Nazi Germany was responsible for about two thirds of the total number of deaths.[3][4][5] 5.4m died in a well known event, the Holocaust – but many more died in more obscure circumstances.[4]

The book confronts a simplistic view of mid-20th century and World War II history that has been termed: "Nazis bad, Soviets good".[3] In addition, Snyder overturns the way that individual regimes are often analyzed as operating alone and absent influence from outside. For instance, Snyder notes that early Soviet support for the "Warsaw Uprising" against the Nazi occupation was followed by an unwillingness to aid the uprising; the Soviets were willing to have the Nazis wipe the city clean for a later Soviet occupation. Snyder notes this as an example of interaction that may have led to many more deaths than might have been the case if each regime had been acting independently.

Snyder re-examines numerous points of the war and postwar years: the Nazi–Soviet alliance of 1939; the rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust; Soviet persecution of the Polish underground, cursed soldiers and their own prisoners of war after the war.[3][5] Snyder addresses misconceptions; for example, he documents that many Jews were killed by mass shootings in villages or the countryside, in addition to those deaths achieved in the death camps.[3] As Anne Applebaum comments, "The vast majority of Hitler’s victims, Jewish and otherwise, never saw a concentration camp".[1] Similarly, all of the Soviet victims discussed were killed outside the Gulag concentration camp system; within the camps, an estimated million people died.[1] More Soviet prisoners of war died every day in Nazi camps during the Autumn of 1941 than the total number of Western Allied POWs in the entire war. Over 3 million Soviet POWs died in the Nazi camps.[1] The fate of the German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union was little better; more than half a million died in terrible conditions in the Soviet camps.[1]

Snyder focuses on three periods, summarized by Richard Rhodes as:

"deliberate mass starvation and shootings in the Soviet Union in the period from 1933 to 1938; mass shootings in occupied Poland more or less equally by Soviet and German killers in 1939 to 1941; deliberate starvation of 3.1 million Soviet prisoners of war and mass shooting and gassing of more than 5 million Jews by the Germans between 1941 and 1945".[6]

The chapter covering the early 1930s famine in the Ukraine under the Soviet Union (often termed Holodomor, a term Snyder avoids) goes into considerable detail. He recounts that in an unofficial orphanage in a village in the Kharkiv region, the children were so hungry they resorted to cannibalism. One child ate parts of himself while he was being cannibalised.[4][7] 3.3m died during the Ukrainian starvation of 1933.[3] Under his Hunger Plan, Hitler starved 4.2 million persons in the Soviet Union (including 3.1 million POWs), largely Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.[1][4][8]

The book points out similarities between the two regimes:[3]

“ Hitler and Stalin thus shared a certain politics of tyranny: they brought about catastrophes, blamed the enemy of their choice, and then used the death of millions to make the case that their policies were necessary or desirable. Each of them had a transformative Utopia, a group to be blamed when its realisation proved impossible, and then a policy of mass murder that could be proclaimed as a kind of ersatz victory.[3]

”Snyder also describes how the two regimes often collaborated and aided one another, at least until the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union (see for example the Gestapo–NKVD Conferences).[1] They collaborated in the killings of Poles (see Nazi crimes against ethnic Poles and Soviet repressions of Polish citizens (1939–1946); between the two of them, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union killed about 200,000 Polish citizens in the period 1939–1941.[1][4][9]

“ The Nazi and Soviet regimes were sometimes allies, as in the joint occupation of Poland [from 1939–1941]. They sometimes held compatible goals as foes: as when Stalin chose not to aid the rebels in Warsaw in 1944 [during the Warsaw uprising], thereby allowing the Germans to kill people who would later have resisted communist rule…. Often the Germans and the Soviets goaded each other into escalations that cost more lives than the policies of either state by itself would have.[1]

“Snyder noted that, after the Western Allies had allied themselves with Stalin against Hitler, when the war ended they did not have the will to fight the second totalitarian regime. As American and British soldiers never entered Eastern Europe, the tragedy of those lands did not become well known to the American or British populace (see Western betrayal).[1][5]

Number of victims

Timothy Snyder put the total death toll in the "Bloodlands" at 14 million victims of both Stalin and Hitler, including Jewish civilians transported to German death camps in Poland, Polish intelligentsia killed in war crimes (see Katyn massacre), disarmed military personnel in occupied countries, and prisoners of war. Snyder pointed out that "I am not counting soldiers who died on the fields of battle". He said this "is not a complete reckoning of all the death that Soviet and German power brought to the region". Snyder identifies those victims killed as a result of "deliberate policies of mass murder" by governments, such as executions, deliberate famine and death camps. Snyder said that he "generally excludes from the count" deaths due to exertion, disease, or malnutrition in concentration camps; deportations, forced labor, evacuations; people who died of hunger as a result of wartime shortfalls, and civilians killed by bombings or other acts of war. The geographic area covered by the "Bloodlands" is limited to Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and western Russian regions occupied by Germany. Regarding the figures, Snyder noted, "again, my reckoning is on the conservative side."[10]

Timothy Snyder provided a summary of the 14 million victims.[11]

3.3 million victims of the Soviet Famines- Snyder uses the term, "the Soviet Famines" in which the victims were "mostly Ukrainians"; he does not use the term Holodomor. According to Snyder, Stalin wanted to exterminate by famine those Ukrainians and ethnic Poles who resisted Collectivization in the Soviet Union.

300,000 victims in the national terror in the Soviet Union from 1937-1938- Snyder uses the term "national terror", which targeted "mostly Poles and Ukrainians", killed because of their ethnic origins (the figure does not include an additional 400,000 Great Purge deaths in areas outside the Bloodlands). According to Snyder, Stalin considered ethnic Poles in the western USSR as a potential agents of the Second Polish Republic; Ukrainian kulaks who survived the famine of 1933 were also considered to be potentially hostile to the Soviet regime in a future conflict.

200,000 Poles were killed between 1939 and 1941 in occupied Poland, with each regime responsible for about half of those deaths. The deaths included civilians and military prisoners of war killed in the Katyn massacre[12] Most of the victims were the intellectual and political elite of Poland. According to Snyder, both Stalin and Hitler worked to eliminate the leadership of the Polish nation.

4.2 million victims of the German Hunger Plan in the Soviet Union, "largely Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians," including 3.1 million Soviet POWs and 1.0 million civilian deaths in the Siege of Leningrad. Snyder does not include famine deaths outside the Soviet Union.[13] According to Snyder, Hitler intended eventually to exterminate up to 45 million Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Czechs by planned famine as part of Generalplan Ost.[14]

5.4 million Jewish victims in the Holocaust (does not include an additional 300,000 deaths outside the Bloodlands).[10]

700,000 civilians, "mostly Belarusians and Poles," shot by the Germans "in reprisals" during the Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany and the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.[15]

A review of the book in the Ottawa Citizen summarized the number of victims:

Bloodlands "is a chilling and instructive story of how 14 million unarmed men, women and children were murdered. The death toll includes two familiar victim groups -5.7 million Jews in the Holocaust and 3.3 million Ukrainians during the 1932-1933 famine engineered by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin -along with lesser-known victims that include three million Soviet prisoners of war who were deliberately starved to death".[16]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodlands