#creative freedom is beautiful and shouldn't be limited

[l-in-the-light]

I usually don't take part in discussions like this, but damn, I'm old, I have been in a fandom since I bought my very first manga&anime magazines all the way back in elementary school in the 90s. You know how old I was when I first found out about BL? Somewhere between 12 or 13 years old. That's also when I read my very first BL comics (it was Zetsuai and Tokyo Babylon, if you're curious). Zetsuai was not meant for kids my age, obviously. It portrayed some smutty scenes and some really abusive stuff as well. And yet I enjoyed reading it a lot, just like any other comics back then. The very first BL fic I ever wrote was when I was 13 or 14. In my native language there was only one or two online sites available back then (it was the 90s okay), on which we could share BL fanfiction. No one cared how old you were and no one even asked you before you could publish or read anything.

And you know what's the funniest thing about that? I don't believe I grew up to be a degenerate and I don't think it exposed me to abuse just because I was a minor reading explicit stuff and portrayals of unhealthy relationships. On the contrary, thanks to reading all that stuff I actually gained a better understanding of what an abusive and exploiting relationship even was in the first place. That's because many fanfic writers do their job extremely well, the psychology of the characters is so rich, the way the story and emotions are written is so captivating that it stays in your head, makes you ask questions you normally wouldn't ask, allows you to revisit your own fantasies and confront them with what you read, without even having to experience the bad stuff yourself. I'm not saying every piece of fanfiction does that, but many, many do.

And you all know what's the most ironic? That wasn't the first time I run across an explicit abusive sexual relationship in fiction. That one's on some finnish harlequin sagas, easily available back then in bookstores and libraries. And it romanticized abuse in much worse ways than any fanfiction ever could, because of the way it portrayed it as something normal, natural, presenting it as a typical woman experience. If anything, I wished my first encounter with explicit fiction wasn't that, but fanfiction instead. It's much more sensible, less culturally involved (thanks to which it doesn't mess with your head in the same way), and is infinitely more fun to read and explore. And so creative!

If you really care about kids and young teens reading stuff that isn't meant for them, you should take care first of fiction that is readily available outside the internet. That fiction is actually very harmful in the way it depicts sex and women, and sells it as something "normal". Little girls reading those books expect their first sexual encounters to hurt, they expect to bleed, they expect that only their male partner's pleasure matters, they learn that once they start doing sexual stuff they can't stop, because that's how sex is consistently depicted there. A lie said enough number of times finally starts to sound like The One And Only Truth.

People opening AO3 or any other fanfiction sites, no matter if they're minors or not, do not approach it with a set of mind of "I will learn about actual sex and relationships from this", but they do with books that portray romance and sex. And if I was to blame anything for that, it would be school education. In my country school celebrates literature to the point we do analysis on how the story portrays reality and history, but never on what it portrays unrealistically. As the result kids (and also later on many adults those kids grew up into!) expect books to be more realistic thanks to that. They're not used to creative fiction depicting fake worlds, unrealistic events and fantasies. Why? Because school doesn't teach them that books that are just entertaining are also meaningful and valuable.

But back to fanfiction sites. When minors venture there they know what they're searching for and it's for the forbidden fruit, entertainment and the thrill. A safe thrill that doesn't actually put them into sexual situations by themselves without having any idea what's happening. Also where are minors supposed to learn stuff like that from? Sex ed at schools? We never had one back in my days and it's still widely unavailable in my country. Sites like Scarleteeen? Not even available in my own native language. Fanfiction though? It's readily available and though it's job isn't to educate, it actually allows people to explore sex-related stuff in a safe way, without having to do the deed themselves to find out.

But sure, just ban minors from access to anything regarding sex and see if the world becomes a better place when they won't have any idea about any of this before they hit the magical age of 18. I'm sure this will limit abusive experiences in their lives, I'm sure those minors won't do something stupid with someone much older than them just because they have the answers. Limit their freedom more, hide the forbidden fruits even better, and leave them only with Scarleteen that is available only in english. See what happens. And then take the blame, because that's also part of taking reponsibility when you make choices for someone else :)

Yes yes, morality is important, shame on me for pushing my own illegal experience like I'm a good rolemodel. I'm definitely not. But I'm sure of one thing: minors always will be curious and they will pursue the topic of sex till they get the satisfying answers they're searching for. I know, because I still remember how it was to be that minor. All my (also minor) friends back then were exactly the same. And I bet minors are still this way even today. They will seek to satisfy their curiousity through any means they can, which will be usually online. They will watch porn, they will write their own explicit fanfiction, they will read those fucking harlequins. You can't stop them. What you can do instead is to make sure they have alternative, safe ways of getting their answers. Fanfiction out of all the other options is really the safest, lesser evil type of stuff. Please, if you want to fight the evil, start from the True Bad Guys. Anyone seeking fanfiction isn't so naive to not know it will be full of bullshit, because fanfiction holds no authority: it's literally some random people's sexual fantasies shared with the world, often written with more passion than actual skill; unlike books and porn which bring the illussion of realism with them. That's your bad guys.

Also, just to be spiteful clear: I do not regret reading and writing explict fanfiction when I was a minor and even if I could turn back time, I would still do exactly the same. I do regret reading the finnish harlequins though and I wish I never did. In Phoenix Wright fashion I will finish this post with: TAKE THAT!

How about this: no *explicit* material involving minors under 15 on AO3. That seems reasonable. If you admit that teens get around age restrictions AND that abusers can groom with them, then something has to change. That involves placing a fair chunk of stories under more stringent lockdown. Yeah AO3 can't go, and you fandom vets are always harping on about how censorship sank previous spaces, but goddamn is there no way to protect the the more vulnerable fans without raising your hackles?

1. How do you define explicit? Does this mean no depictions of child abuse, even for the purpose of telling a story about how wrong it is and showing a victim’s recovery? Can younger teens have realistic sexual encounters in stories so long as nothing is shown on page, or is it wrong to imply explicit goings-on even if they’re not depicted? Where, exactly, do we draw the line between heavy petting and sex? Can a character have a wet dream or masturbate? Can a character think about sex in detail, even if they’re not depicted having it? I’m not trying to be difficult: I’m just trying to make it clear that what you’re proposing, even when you phrase it simply, is inherently difficult to implement. Stories would have to be vetted and actively moderated, a massive undertaking that AO3 isn’t equipped to manage, and any such process would still ultimately hinge on individual judgement, which means you’d still have people dissatisfied with the outcome.  

2. Teenagers who choose to ignore age-ratings and warnings for the material they consume are responsible for their own experience beyond that point: it is not the job of authors or the website to say, “Okay, we know this content is explicitly meant for adults, but let’s make it less adulty just in case a teenager gets in here.” You can’t protect people from their own bad judgement and its consequences without making their lack of responsibility someone else’s responsibility, which is decidedly unfair. 

3. Abusers groom victims with a wide range of material and arguments, and have done so long before the existence of AO3. Whenever this happens, we blame the abuser, not whatever story they used to justify themselves. This is also why, when murderers or other criminals take their inspiration from crime fiction novels or psychologically darker works, as has happened on multiple occasions, we blame the criminals, not their taste in fiction. Locking down on what can be written about child abuse won’t get rid of paedophiles, but it will make things more difficult for victims who use fanfic as catharsis.

Here’s the thing: tagging works on AO3 is how we protect vulnerable fans, by giving them tools to navigate away from distressing themes or content. Taking something away from one person so its mere existence doesn’t upset someone who was never going to read it anyway isn’t a protective act, but a judgemental and dismissive one. To use an analogy, there are plenty of people in the world with deathly nut allergies, but that doesn’t mean we ban an entire food group: it means we label things that have nuts in them, even trace amounts, so that nobody gets hurt. Do accidents still happen? Yes! Are some people assholes about food allergies and dietary restrictions? Yes! But does that mean the solution is to ban nuts entirely? No! And it’s the same with fanfic.    

[mimirpipart]

BLOG #2: Contributing to the Current Conversations on Philippine Contemporary Arts

Art is beauty for the other, function for another; nevertheless, it is freedom altogether.

Philippine contemporary art encompasses diverse cultures and art forms ranging from a mix of traditional, alternative, and dominant (Tabuena, 2021). The art of the Filipino today still serves both aesthetics and functionality. It shows diversity from creativity in vivid colors and themes of injustices, such as the artworks of Federico Boyd Sulapas Dominguez, where we see his art focuses on the marginalized and socio-ecological issues of today, and the communal perspective of the Filipino culture present in the art of Larry Alcala as a cartoonist and in the art of Filipino cuisine, wherein we find in Halo-halo with all of its colorful sahog as of yesterday's traditional (indigenous) arts, as emphasized by Alice Guillermo.

Contemporary Philippine art can't exist without addressing social realism as a response to the authoritative political milieu under Marcos (Flores & Quijon, n.d.).

Reflecting on it, it's sustainability is weak in terms of human development. We still see the dominance of social realism, consumerism, fascism, and exploitation of the indigenous. From the presentation on the workshop of the Lumad Bakwit School, wherein even the definitions of the colors of the beads were analogous to the many exploitations they've endured, the prominence of injustice is present as they describe the colors in such a way that we, the listeners, understand and hear their struggles against military abuses, as yellow for hope in times when they felt hopeless and red for cooperative resistance against the exploiters. The anti-terror bill in the Philippines made local artists more prone to authoritative abuses, especially those with their beliefs ingrained in art with themes of politics and activism. In mainstream media, especially at the height of the pandemic, we see how Philippine contemporary art portrayed the struggles of our people through representations and activisms in Jadie Regala Pasaylo's "Alay na Ginhawa sa Gitna ng Pandemya" and Neil Doloricon's art prints during the pandemic, such as Pila (2020).

Jadie Regala Pasaylo's "Alay na Ginhawa sa Gitna ng Pandemya"

Neil Doloricon's "Pila" (2020)

Our modern arts shouldn't have to suffer so much. It is better if those in authority implement strategies that curators are doing by themselves inside communities excluded from prominent art capitals, such as Manila, and sharing different knowledge and collective experiences in exhibitions such as the Load na Dito project, instead were given the anti-terror bill and exploitation. Thus, accessibility and full public reception is still limited.

However, despite the superficiality of safety in Philippine contemporary art, Filipinos remain in solidarity, especially amid the pandemic and exclusivity of the art scene prominent in the capital. The mobile art and research project Load na Dito was started in 2016 by artist Mark Salvatus and curator Mayumi Hirano. They note the "joint efforts of arts and cultural workers to form a loose structure," describing the art environment in the Philippines as "physically distant but socially intimate, fragmented but connected (Flamingo, 2022)."

References:

Flamingo, J. (2022, April 18). The art scene in the Philippines by Manila-based initiative Load na Dito. Art Curator Grid. https://blog.artcuratorgrid.com/load-na-dito-interview/

Flores, P.D. & Quijon, C. (n.d.). Philippine Art: Contexts of the Contemporary. Aura Asia Art Project. Retrieved May 02, 2023, from https://aura-asia-art-project.com/en/news/philippine-art-contexts-of-the-contemporary/

Tabuena, A. C. (2021). A synthesis overview of the contemporary art forms and performance practices in the Philippines. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Studies, 7(1), 103-109.

[writingonesdreams]

Happy STS!

I'm curious. What emotional truths have you seen that you disagree with and feel the need to speak up about?

That's a piercing question.

I like the idea of emotional truth as something that isn't attempting to claim universality or objectivity, but as something coming from personal experience. So let's see.

The idea of "greater good" is something I deeply disagree with. It sounds so good and noble, it gets presented as such in so many stories, but in my experience it only comes up when someone is trying to manipulate or brainwash or guilt others into doing things they would otherwise never do. When I hear the phrase "for the greater good" all my alarms go off. It's the excuse to sacriface people, to send them to war, to make them give up their freedom or rights. It's a disgusting moral trap. (Not that I think there is anything wrong about helping people, being considerate or being happy to help someone/change something for the better.)

I don't think people can be kind if they aren't selfish first. You have to take care of yourself first, or your capacity for compassion shrinks to nothing. Someone who is bad off, who is scared for themselves, can't be worrying about anyone else. This is why people with probelms/suffering/poor etc have less compassion for others.

There is nothing wrong about bussinessman, or doing things for profit. I don't like the demonization of "the rich and powerful". If riches and gain weren't allowed, what would motivate people? I have seen what it does to people, when they can't own things, when everyone is "equal" in having nothing. It makes for lazy demotivated crowd of thieves. Building a company or a firm is a beautiful, difficult, creative endevour. Monopolies and giants that take over the market and can do whatever they want are dangerous, but other than that I see nothing wrong with companies and it bothers me to see them hated and blamed so much.

The point of a business it to make things effective, not to profit at someone's expense. That's never right.

But then, only valuing activities that bring money is wrong. People shouldn't be limited to what's strictly useful or profitable. Art, imagination, fantasy, doing things just for the joy of them should be admired more.

Victim mindset. Just no. If you give up control, you give up responsibility for yourself and you will never change things or improve them for yourself. If you don't like something about your life, change it. Don't sit around complaining someone else should save you or that the system is flawed, so it's not your fault. You will find a way, if you are willing to look for it.

The problem of most people I meet is the unwillingness to think. Just take the time and effort to think a little deeper about things, and most of your fear and hate based arguments would fall apart. Just think a little.

People learn the best from mistakes. Having an educational system that punishes you for making them, instead of encouraging you to do more of them contradicts this. You get people unwilling to do or learn anything new, cause they don't want to be mistaken.

[imasimpforstevengrant]

Why do we like this clown so much?

Change the "we" for "I" and you get an usual tag I use whenever I post my content in Tumblr. And it sounds funny at first but whenever you start diving into that phrase, the deeper it becomes. So, I finally have decided to share my thoughts about this strange but wholesome attraction to this deeply flawed character. It's not something I usually do since I don't know how to write down my feelings properly and also in english so please forgive any typos (I'm from Chile so don't be surprised lol).

So...Why do we like this clown so much?

Why was it that a character precisely designed to scare and to disgust the fuck out of us ended up unchaining a series of feelings that shouldn't have taken place in a beginning?

Let's take a look at the background: Joaquin Phoenix was cast as Arthur Fleck/Joker in 2018. The first image of him as the aforementioned character revealed a deeply disturbed man. We knew the plot. A man driven to insanity after a brutal history of abuse, creating concern in people if the upcoming film would inspire real life violence. Incel violence and mass shootings, more specifically.

(the image in question)

As 2019 arrives, the two trailers generated so much hype that media needed to fuel its concern about it. Since it wasn't your typical comic book film, media basically bombed our minds making us believe this film was going to be a total disaster, an excuse to cause harm to others among other nonsense, as if the film would justify everything Arthur would do in the film, eventually. As the release date is closer, the film receives thunderous applause and unanimous praise from critics. At this, fans rejoiced and expressed impatience to watch the film.

October 5th.

People left the theaters amazed, shocked and genuinely moved by the inhuman treatment Arthur received in the film. The fear media tried so desperately to infuse in us with all the incel bullshit and such turned out to awake one of the most positive, best feelings in humans:

E M P A T H Y

The word that so gloriously cleared away any dark thoughts or actions not only proves media was wrong but it turned out to ridicule it in way nobody will forget: Hundreds of people advocating for mental illness, calling out to the kindness that could change a person's bad day and questioning how politicians and rich people are indifferent to social problems proved how much as a society we have changed in comparison with the one shown in the film.

However, since we are on Tumblr, I'll get straight to the point and try to explain why the fuck does this clown has us dying out of love and compassion (and lust).

I. Background.

As nurturing as we women are for a biological matter, we see a man deprived of a good job, is on seven different medications, working like a slave to sustain his ill mother, putting aside his own health and well-being to look for her, struggling to make his dream of being a comedian despite everyone stepping on him, underpaid and treated like a freak for a disorder he did not ask to suffer, which makes it impossible to be indifferent to all the horrible ordeal that eventually will reach the limit of what he can tolerate without going insane. It is impossible to not say or think, at least, that someone (even if it's just one person) should stand for him just as it is impossible not to feel the need to throw ourselves at him to shield him from people who hurt him or simply offer him our shoulder whenever he has had a bad day, specially when he learns he was sexually assaulted by his step father.

This horrid behaviour terrifies newer generations because they get a taste of what being a social outcast was like more than thirty years ago in comparison with today, where there's more acceptance and treatment for mentally ill people like Arthur. We see in him someone who could have been saved with a proper education and emotional support instead of descending into madness as a criminal. Others simply saw themselves being treated like him at some point in their lives and couldn't help but put themselves in his shoes.

II. Personality.

TRUTH BE TOLD:

There's something called "attraction by proximity". It is the explanation to the eventual love you feel whenever someone doesn't catch your eye at first terms of physical attraction but his/her personality does attract you. This happens to be the base of this situation. His shyness, introverted nature, tenderness and innocent desire to make people laugh and put on a happy face awake some kind of tenderness we cannot resist. This combined with the gloomy background increases our understanding (but not justifying) of the bad decisions he'll eventually take during the course of the film. This traces a line of harsh, almost hurtful contrast of the violence he shows later on the film. Once again, it is not justified in any way but it is certainly understandable.

III. Appearance.

Arthur Fleck is unconventionally attractive.

This happens to be a plus for most women. He is out of the male beauty standards (no abs, not too muscly or particularly tall), which makes him even more unique. It is precisely the fact that he's not a model one of the reasons women love him. He could easily be your man next door or your colleague or the guy you always see but never dare to talk for fear to bother him Because it's about proximity. Arthur looks like your common neighbour. He's not meant to be your typical desirable male protagonist at all.

... And yet.

Jesus Christ, he's so fucking hot I can't even---

It's not about how beautiful his green eyes are, his long slender fingers, his hair or his smile only. It's the charm behind it.

Another "magnet point" is the way he dresses. I know he's impoverished and his wardrobe tend to be repetitive but it is so unpretentious, so simple that is hard to not fall for. The modesty of the shirts, ironed trousers reminds us of a mature man deeply withdrawn into himself, love starved and longing to be seen and loved by others, like a war veteran who still fights the most important war: with himself. Is someone who needs to be listened and understood.

AND OF COURSE WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT IT?

He's also brought back the old gentleman outfit, white shirts, red/yellow vest, red suit and elegant dancing moves and the retro style of the film boosts this attractiveness.

People keep comparing him with the previous interpretation of Joker (Leto's) whose costume appealed to young women with a tattooed, gangster, mumble rapper crazy-guy wannabe which didn't connect with the audiences (young people in general). This supposedly was to match or even have a sexy, tormented and desirable villain like Marvel's Loki. We all know how that story ended but it's the link for the next point below.

IV. Transformation

This is a particularly strong point considering how much we loved to watch the process of this weak, powerless, forgotten caterpillar into a beautiful and visible butterfly that will gracefully stir its wings for everyone to see its colours.

When Arthur transitions to the Joker, it's so cathartic to see taking revenge on those who wronged him (even when we're not supposed to root for him) like seeing his shyness fading away into a vivid confidence when dancing half naked in the bathroom, or witnessing him making way to make his name known to people in Murray Franklin's Show:

Adding to this newly gained confidence, there's another turn on: the way he walks.

At the beginning, his pace is hunched and limping, displaying his submission to violence, which makes the viewer more satisfied to see his broken yet beautiful soul turning the past pain of his existence into art: he lets music guide his moves as a way to tell the world he's a new man by cutting most of the sick, evil roots that harmed him, that he's invincible, that no one can stop him. Watching this cathartic display of euphoria was the most iconic scene in the film, following his speech at the TV and the inevitable meltdown that caused Murray's death.

Going to further appreciation, even his clown make up is beautiful. Why? Simple. The combination of colours, shapes and the intimidating glare just embellishes even more the character.

The dark blue triangles in his expressive eyes makes the light green colour to highlight, specially in dark backgrounds, giving the impression he's piercing your soul whenever he stares directly at the camera. Same can be said about the red smile and emerald green hair. They boost an already intimidating look.

The cold and warm colours paint a picture of a man full of intense emotions, mirroring it in a simple yet masterful artistic way.

Another interesting point is the way Joker dresses. Usually we had almost every single live adaption of this character in purple coat, hat, etc. But this particular version is not following any comic, which gives more freedom to creativity and once again, out of the standards of what we could have expected.

Red is a colour related to passion, action, love, strength, motivation and excitement. As for yellow, it indicates freshness, happiness and enlightenment and finally, green. Green is renewal, growth and regeneration. Colours that represent a new stage in his life, a mirthful chapter at last. We finally get to see our battered, always humiliated protagonist (or hero) descending into madness, but finally free from his repressed man who held his soul captive like a bird to fly away, to never come back. An insanity that despite being his downfall, turned out to be his ticket to freedom as he walks to the light in Arkham Asylum dancing at the end.

Ladies and gentlemen: behold the film nobody asked... But the film we fucking deserved.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

❤️💚💛

[n5md]

Cloudwalker

In our newly relaunched "Learn more about..." interviews, we switch up the continuity slightly and focus on just one release: Gimmik's Cloudwalker. Martin kindly agreed to answer a few questions to kick off what we'll refer to as v2 of the "Learn More About..." blog.

While Entre Les Chambres was the actual return of Gimmik to the public eye, Cloudwalker is more of a return to form. It is undeniably Gimmik; however, Cloudwalker treads some new ground for you. Can you shed some light on how the creative process changed from Entre Les Chambres / Deux Nouvelles and how those two albums might have influenced Cloudwalker?

Very well observed - they did influence Cloudwalker! Entre Les Chambres and Deux Nouvelles were both produced under technically limited circumstances. On top of that, I thought that no one will ever hear this material. Luckily it was not the case, and I got the chance to become a member of the n5MD family. When you produce with the idea that the material will never get released, it gives you a lot of room and space. You are not concerned about expectations. The music can flow and evolve freely. The calm nature of those albums helped that process. It was research where I experienced myself more as a witness than a composer. For me, that is a new approach. This approach was still the same when I produced Cloudwalker. That is the reason why the tracks are so diverse. Short Wave Memories and In My Family do not have anything in common, but that is the way they evolved, without me constructing anything. The most significant difference is that Cloudwalker was produced in a proper studio environment. Plus, I took a step into eurorack, which brings a very unpredictable element. And yes, that is Mutable Elements "Rings'' what you hear on In My Family. I was working on a self-generative patch with "Marbles'' when all of a sudden, the melody appeared...

I think you sent me In My Family shortly after you finished it, and it was one of the darkest days of the early pandemic; where our local government-issued curfews and such. It was the track that I needed at that moment; it brightened my day. It's very cool that the melody was a generative experiment gone right. I seem to remember you have quite a bit of the Mutable Instruments modules. Modular, to me, seems like a bit of a wormhole of experimentation. So, how do you stay focused when experimenting with new sounds and textures to bring, say, one of your Modular Nature tracks, which you have on your Youtube channel, to life.

Working with a modular system is entirely different. My approach is always a question. What will happen if I connect this with that and modulate with this? Then you start patching, and the results are entirely different from what I expected - a lot more exciting and better! In the beginning, I thought modular was about rebuilding synth voices. So I started emulating the signal-flow path of a 101 for a start. I missed the whole point of modular... A system has a life of its own and takes you to completely different places, and sometimes I do not even understand the results. (-: But that is not important. The decision to work with modular is to avoid walking down paths I have taken too many times when composing. What keeps you focused is your ear. The trick is to learn when to stop. In the beginning, I lost a lot of great patches when the result was already at 90%. When trying to reach 100%, my tweaks destroyed that patch's beauty, and I never found a way back to 90%. That happened a lot of times in the beginning. A modular system really helps to learn when to let go… (laughing). I chose Mutable Instruments because those modules are very focused on musical and harmonic results.

So, going back to Cloudwalker, how did it feel getting back to basics as far as Gimmik goes. People may not know that Entre Les Chambres and Deux Nouvelles were made for very personal listening. Care to shed a little light on those two, and more importantly, what made you want to go past those themes and bring Gimmik full circle for Cloudwalker?

Entre Les Chambres and Deux Nouvelles were NOT a conscious decision. Those were a necessity! The title Entre Les Chambres means "between two rooms", the space that is between two rooms. That is nowhere! It mirrors how I felt at that moment. There were many significant changes in my life, luckily nothing concerning my family, but still major changes. In order to cope with it all, I started making ambient tracks. It was the only thing that helped me to cope and focus again. The tracks happened by themselves. Listening to them and working on those albums was a calming experience. When they were finished, I played them to Chris, and he convinced me that he liked them. That led to the decision to make those first tapes. Later I sent them to you. Your reaction was very motivating because the music got released. With that motivation and getting back into a studio environment, the Cloudwalker tracks just poured out of me very quickly - it felt terrific to go back to the studio. My family gave me the time to work in my studio, and you and Chris gave very motivating feedback! From my perspective, this makes Cloudwalker my most important album so far, and I am very thankful for this chance! Another key element is that you gave me total freedom regarding artwork, choosing tracks, and their order. Just great!

Well, I knew going in that you know what you are doing. So I shouldn't have needed to step in and manage such details. For release prep, I'm available to take care of the details that an artist doesn't have access to or the working knowledge. You and Chris ran Toytronics, and you are a graphic artist as well, so I knew that you know the drill. If something was glaring or didn't work under the n5 stylistic umbrella, it is my job to say something, but I was pretty confident that wouldn't happen. I also know that after you completed the tracks, you took a great deal of time to get them to flow perfectly and also fit on four LP sides—your care in craft shows, and it's been great to work with you.

You brought up Chris, and there is an Abfahrt Hinwl remix on Cloudwalker, so; I'm going to ask. Are we going to hear some new Abfahrt Hinwl soon?

Thank you, as I said, that means a lot to me. And I still think that it is a fortunate situation. The AH RMX of Sailing Everest on Cloudwalker was just me, to be honest. That is why I used an abbreviation - AH. It is more a hint. It has a lot of the Abfahrt Hinwil ingredients. We tried to revive the project and realized that working over a distance via the internet does not work for either of us. The key of Abfahrt Hinwil was that we worked in the same room, at the same time, with the same equipment - listening to what the other one does - giving an immediate reaction. The most important point is communication, which has to happen immediately - you need to respond straight away, not with a delay. Today we find ourselves in two different life situations. We both would like to continue. After an online experiment, we realized it would be only possible when we visit each other and then work in the same studio. That is not possible at the moment, and Covid plays a significant role in that.

Ah, I see; Abfahrt Hinwil was you and Chris basically feeding off one another; also, there are cheques and balances, which is great to have. I completely understand why it would not be feasible to do it from a distance effectively. So, I'd like to pivot to these little builds I see on your Instagram. You recently sent me a pic of a peculiar little box that looks to be a synth. Assuming this is something you built (loving the stickering, by the way). What is this, and does it appear on Cloudwalker?

(laughing) That is a drone box handmade by a guy in Russia. Six oscillators, each one with a kill switch. Three standard range oscillators and 3 Sub. A very rough-sounding machine, great for drones. The filter sounds very nasty, just great. There is a little bit in the track Cloudwalker itself but washed out by Big Sky. The downside is that there is no midi, trigger gate, or voltage control. It is more of an experiment tool. The important parts of the track Cloudwalker have Mutable Instruments: Plaits and Tides 1, using the Sheep mode. Both outputs went into Warps, modulated by Stages. The little melody was played live on the Yamaha DX Reface, going into the Big Sky. It was all recorded live onto tape to 4 tracks to a Tascam 234. Then it was mixed the classic way, patchbay, fx, analog mixer main out to digital. 75% of the album was recorded to a Sound Devices MixPre-3 II.

It sounds like your Big Sky gets some action! Strymon makes some exceptional pedals. It seems like you can almost entirely make music out of the box if you needed to, which is excellent. So one last question: When we collaborated on the Cloudwalker one sheet text, you added something about the production tools "representing technology from 1958 to 2019," and I asked if 1958 was a type-o that needed to be corrected to 1985 when it was not. When people read that, I think they will be very curious as to what technology you utilized from that far back…

Yes, it is a great pedal, I love the sound and the fact that you get nice results very quickly.

1958- (laughing) There is an on oscilloscope from Russia, which can be seen in some of the videos on HIDDEN REALITY, and 2 vintage function generators. I got those old function generators from a close friend, he is an electronic engineer and professor for physics at a university. They got rid of all their old equipment, and he asked if I wanted to have something. He could not throw those old machines away, so he rescued them to his cellar. He changed the connections for me, so I can use them with the modular environment, using my standard patch cables. I used them a lot as modulation sources, as they can modulate extremely slow (like MI tides). But I have to admit that I got them for their looks in the first place…(laughing) - Those machines look like the machinery you see in Qs research center in old James Bond movies...

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[lindbergh-baby]

TRUISMS (1978-1983) JENNY HOLZER

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE CAN GO A LONG WAY A LOT OF PROFESSIONALS ARE CRACKPOTS A MAN CAN'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO BE A MOTHER A NAME MEANS A LOT JUST BY ITSELF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE MEANS ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD A RELAXED MAN IS NOT NECESSARILY A BETTER MAN A SENSE OF TIMING IS THE MARK OF GENIUS A SINCERE EFFORT IS ALL YOU CAN ASK A SINGLE EVENT CAN HAVE INFINITELY MANY INTERPRETATIONS A SOLID HOME BASE BUILDS A SENSE OF SELF A STRONG SENSE OF DUTY IMPRISONS YOU ABSOLUTE SUBMISSION CAN BE A FORM OF FREEDOM ABSTRACTION IS A TYPE OF DECADENCE ABUSE OF POWER COMES AS NO SURPRISE ACTION CAUSES MORE TROUBLE THAN THOUGHT ALIENATION PRODUCES ECCENTRICS OR REVOLUTIONARIES ALL THINGS ARE DELICATELY INTERCONNECTED AMBITION IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AS COMPLACENCY AMBIVALENCE CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE AN ELITE IS INEVITABLE ANGER OR HATE CAN BE A USEFUL MOTIVATING FORCE ANIMALISM IS PERFECTLY HEALTHY ANY SURPLUS IS IMMORAL ANYTHING IS A LEGITIMATE AREA OF INVESTIGATION ARTIFICIAL DESIRES ARE DESPOILING THE EARTH AT TIMES INACTIVITY IS PREFERABLE TO MINDLESS FUNCTIONING AT TIMES YOUR UNCONSCIOUSNESS IS TRUER THAN YOUR CONSCIOUS MIND AUTOMATION IS DEADLY AWFUL PUNISHMENT AWAITS REALLY BAD PEOPLE BAD INTENTIONS CAN YIELD GOOD RESULTS BEING ALONE WITH YOURSELF IS INCREASINGLY UNPOPULAR BEING HAPPY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANYTHING ELSE BEING JUDGMENTAL IS A SIGN OF LIFE BEING SURE OF YOURSELF MEANS YOU'RE A FOOL BELIEVING IN REBIRTH IS THE SAME AS ADMITTING DEFEAT BOREDOM MAKES YOU DO CRAZY THINGS CALM IS MORE CONDUCTIVE TO CREATIVITY THAN IS ANXIETY CATEGORIZING FEAR IS CALMING CHANGE IS VALUABLE WHEN THE OPPRESSED BECOME TYRANTS CHASING THE NEW IS DANGEROUS TO SOCIETY CHILDREN ARE THE MOST CRUEL OF ALL CHILDREN ARE THE HOPE OF THE FUTURE CLASS ACTION IS A NICE IDEA WITH NO SUBSTANCE CLASS STRUCTURE IS AS ARTIFICIAL AS PLASTIC CONFUSING YOURSELF IS A WAY TO STAY HONEST CRIME AGAINST PROPERTY IS RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT DECADENCE CAN BE AN END IN ITSELF DECENCY IS A RELATIVE THING DEPENDENCE CAN BE A MEAL TICKET DESCRIPTION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN METAPHOR DEVIANTS ARE SACRIFICED TO INCREASE GROUP SOLIDARITY DISGUST IS THE APPROPRIATE RESPONSE TO MOST SITUATIONS DISORGANIZATION IS A KIND OF ANESTHESIA DON'T PLACE TO MUCH TRUST IN EXPERTS DRAMA OFTEN OBSCURES THE REAL ISSUES DREAMING WHILE AWAKE IS A FRIGHTENING CONTRADICTION DYING AND COMING BACK GIVES YOU CONSIDERABLE PERSPECTIVE DYING SHOULD BE AS EASY AS FALLING OFF A LOG EATING TOO MUCH IS CRIMINAL ELABORATION IS A FORM OF POLLUTION EMOTIONAL RESPONSES AR AS VALUABLE AS INTELLECTUAL RESPONSES ENJOY YOURSELF BECAUSE YOU CAN'T CHANGE ANYTHING ANYWAY ENSURE THAT YOUR LIFE STAYS IN FLUX EVEN YOUR FAMILY CAN BETRAY YOU EVERY ACHIEVEMENT REQUIRES A SACRIFICE EVERYONE'S WORK IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT EVERYTHING THAT'S INTERESTING IS NEW EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE DESERVE SPECIAL CONCESSIONS EXPIRING FOR LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL BUT STUPID EXPRESSING ANGER IS NECESSARY EXTREME BEHAVIOR HAS ITS BASIS IN PATHOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY EXTREME SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS LEADS TO PERVERSION FAITHFULNESS IS A SOCIAL NOT A BIOLOGICAL LAW FAKE OR REAL INDIFFERENCE IS A POWERFUL PERSONAL WEAPON FATHERS OFTEN USE TOO MUCH FORCE FEAR IS THE GREATEST INCAPACITATOR FREEDOM IS A LUXURY NOT A NECESSITY GIVING FREE REIN TO YOUR EMOTIONS IS AN HONEST WAY TO LIVE GO ALL OUT IN ROMANCE AND LET THE CHIPS FALL WHERE THEY MAY GOING WITH THE FLOW IS SOOTHING BUT RISKY GOOD DEEDS EVENTUALLY ARE REWARDED GOVERNMENT IS A BURDEN ON THE PEOPLE GRASS ROOTS AGITATION IS THE ONLY HOPE GUILT AND SELF-LACERATION ARE INDULGENCES HABITUAL CONTEMPT DOESN'T REFLECT A FINER SENSIBILITY HIDING YOUR EMOTIONS IS DESPICABLE HOLDING BACK PROTECTS YOUR VITAL ENERGIES HUMANISM IS OBSOLETE HUMOR IS A RELEASE IDEALS ARE REPLACED BY CONVENTIONAL GOALS AT A CERTAIN AGE IF YOU AREN'T POLITICAL YOUR PERSONAL LIFE SHOULD BE EXEMPLARY IF YOU CAN'T LEAVE YOUR MARK GIVE UP IF YOU HAVE MANY DESIRES YOUR LIFE WILL BE INTERESTING IF YOU LIVE SIMPLY THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT IGNORING ENEMIES IS THE BEST WAY TO FIGHT ILLNESS IS A STATE OF MIND IMPOSING ORDER IS MAN'S VOCATION FOR CHAOS IS HELL IN SOME INSTANCES IT'S BETTER TO DIE THAN TO CONTINUE INHERITANCE MUST BE ABOLISHED IT CAN BE HELPFUL TO KEEP GOING NO MATTER WHAT IT IS HEROIC TO TRY TO STOP TIME IT IS MAN'S FATE TO OUTSMART HIMSELF IT IS A GIFT TO THE WORLD NOT TO HAVE BABIES IT'S BETTER TO BE A GOOD PERSON THAN A FAMOUS PERSON IT'S BETTER TO BE LONELY THAN TO BE WITH INFERIOR PEOPLE IT'S BETTER TO BE NAIVE THAN JADED IT'S BETTER TO STUDY THE LIVING FACT THAN TO ANALYZE HISTORY IT'S CRUCIAL TO HAVE AN ACTIVE FANTASY LIFE IT'S GOOD TO GIVE EXTRA MONEY TO CHARITY IT'S IMPORTANT TO STAY CLEAN ON ALL LEVELS IT'S JUST AN ACCIDENT THAT YOUR PARENTS ARE YOUR PARENTS IT'S NOT GOOD TO HOLD TOO MANY ABSOLUTES IT'S NOT GOOD TO OPERATE ON CREDIT IT'S VITAL TO LIVE IN HARMONY WITH NATURE JUST BELIEVING SOMETHING CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN KEEP SOMETHING IN RESERVE FOR EMERGENCIES KILLING IS UNAVOIDABLE BUT NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF KNOWING YOURSELF LETS YOU UNDERSTAND OTHERS KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE ADVANCED AT ALL COSTS LABOR IS A LIFE-DESTROYING ACTIVITY LACK OF CHARISMA CAN BE FATAL LEISURE TIME IS A GIGANTIC SMOKE SCREEN LISTEN WHEN YOUR BODY TALKS LOOKING BACK IS THE FIRST SIGN OF AGING AND DECAY LOVING ANIMALS IS A SUBSTITUTE ACTIVITY LOW EXPECTATIONS ARE GOOD PROTECTION MANUAL LABOR CAN BE REFRESHING AND WHOLESOME MEN ARE NOT MONOGAMOUS BY NATURE MODERATION KILLS THE SPIRIT MONEY CREATES TASTE MONOMANIA IS A PREREQUISITE OF SUCCESS MORALS ARE FOR LITTLE PEOPLE MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT FIT TO RULE THEMSELVES MOSTLY YOU SHOULD MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS MOTHERS SHOULDN'T MAKE TOO MANY SACRIFICES MUCH WAS DECIDED BEFORE YOU WERE BORN MURDER HAS ITS SEXUAL SIDE MYTH CAN MAKE REALITY MORE INTELLIGIBLE NOISE CAN BE HOSTILE NOTHING UPSETS THE BALANCE OF GOOD AND EVIL OCCASIONALLY PRINCIPLES ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN PEOPLE OFFER VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF OFTEN YOU SHOULD ACT LIKE YOU ARE SEXLESS OLD FRIENDS ARE BETTER LEFT IN THE PAST OPACITY IS AN IRRESISTIBLE CHALLENGE PAIN CAN BE A VERY POSITIVE THING PEOPLE ARE BORING UNLESS THEY ARE EXTREMISTS PEOPLE ARE NUTS IF THEY THINK THEY ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT THEY DO UNLESS THEY ARE INSANE PEOPLE WHO DON'T WORK WITH THEIR HANDS ARE PARASITES PEOPLE WHO GO CRAZY ARE TOO SENSITIVE PEOPLE WON'T BEHAVE IF THEY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE PHYSICAL CULTURE IS SECOND BEST PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE IS ESCAPISM PLAYING IT SAFE CAN CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE IN THE LONG RUN POLITICS IS USED FOR PERSONAL GAIN POTENTIAL COUNTS FOR NOTHING UNTIL IT'S REALIZED PRIVATE PROPERTY CREATED CRIME PURSUING PLEASURE FOR THE SAKE OF PLEASURE WILL RUIN YOU PUSH YOURSELF TO THE LIMIT AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE RAISE BOYS AND GIRLS THE SAME WAY RANDOM MATING IS GOOD FOR DEBUNKING SEX MYTHS RECHANNELING DESTRUCTIVE IMPULSES IS A SIGN OF MATURITY RECLUSES ALWAYS GET WEAK REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH IS IMPERATIVE RELATIVITY IS NO BOON TO MANKIND RELIGION CAUSES AS MANY PROBLEMS AS IT SOLVES REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS HAVE FREEDOM OF CHOICE REPETITION IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN RESOLUTIONS SERVE TO EASE OUR CONSCIENCE REVOLUTION BEGINS WITH CHANGES IN THE INDIVIDUAL ROMANTIC LOVE WAS INVENTED TO MANIPULATE WOMEN ROUTINE IS A LINK WITH THE PAST ROUTINE SMALL EXCESSES ARE WORSE THAN THEN THE OCCASIONAL DEBAUCH SACRIFICING YOURSELF FOR A BAD CAUSE IS NOT A MORAL ACT SALVATION CAN'T BE BOUGHT AND SOLD SELF-AWARENESS CAN BE CRIPPLING SELF-CONTEMPT CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD SELFISHNESS IS THE MOST BASIC MOTIVATION SELFLESSNESS IS THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT SEPARATISM IS THE WAY TO A NEW BEGINNING SEX DIFFERENCES ARE HERE TO STAY SIN IS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL SLIPPING INTO MADNESS IS GOOD FOR THE SAKE OF COMPARISON SLOPPY THINKING GETS WORSE OVER TIME SOLITUDE IS ENRICHING SOMETIMES SCIENCE ADVANCES FASTER THAN IT SHOULD SOMETIMES THINGS SEEM TO HAPPEN OF THEIR OWN ACCORD SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON SELF-IMPROVEMENT IS ANTISOCIAL STARVATION IS NATURE'S WAY STASIS IS A DREAM STATE STERILIZATION IS A WEAPON OF THE RULERS STRONG EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT STEMS FROM BASIC INSECURITY STUPID PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BREED SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST APPLIES TO MEN AND ANIMALS SYMBOLS ARE MORE MEANINGFUL THAN THINGS THEMSELVES TAKING A STRONG STAND PUBLICIZES THE OPPOSITE POSITION TALKING IS USED TO HIDE ONE'S INABILITY TO ACT TEASING PEOPLE SEXUALLY CAN HAVE UGLY CONSEQUENCES TECHNOLOGY WILL MAKE OR BREAK US THE CRUELEST DISAPPOINTMENT IS WHEN YOU LET YOURSELF DOWN THE DESIRE TO REPRODUCE IS A DEATH WISH THE FAMILY IS LIVING ON BORROWED TIME THE IDEA OF REVOLUTION IS AN ADOLESCENT FANTASY THE IDEA OF TRANSCENDENCE IS USED TO OBSCURE OPPRESSION THE IDIOSYNCRATIC HAS LOST ITS AUTHORITY THE MOST PROFOUND THINGS ARE INEXPRESSIBLE THE MUNDANE IS TO BE CHERISHED THE NEW IS NOTHING BUT A RESTATEMENT OF THE OLD THE ONLY WAY TO BE PURE IS TO STAY BY YOURSELF THE SUM OF YOUR ACTIONS DETERMINES WHAT YOU ARE THE UNATTAINABLE IS INVARIABLE ATTRACTIVE THE WORLD OPERATES ACCORDING TO DISCOVERABLE LAWS THERE ARE TOO FEW IMMUTABLE TRUTHS TODAY THERE'S NOTHING EXCEPT WHAT YOU SENSE THERE'S NOTHING REDEEMING IN TOIL THINKING TOO MUCH CAN ONLY CAUSE PROBLEMS THREATENING SOMEONE SEXUALLY IS A HORRIBLE ACT TIMIDITY IS LAUGHABLE TO DISAGREE PRESUPPOSES MORAL INTEGRITY TO VOLUNTEER IS REACTIONARY TORTURE IS BARBARIC TRADING A LIFE FOR A LIFE IS FAIR ENOUGH TRUE FREEDOM IS FRIGHTFUL UNIQUE THINGS MUST BE THE MOST VALUABLE UNQUESTIONING LOVE DEMONSTRATES LARGESSE OF SPIRIT USING FORCE TO STOP FORCE IS ABSURD VIOLENCE IS PERMISSIBLE EVEN DESIRABLE OCCASIONALLY WAR IS A PURIFICATION RITE WE MUST MAKE SACRIFICES TO MAINTAIN OUR QUALITY OF LIFE WHEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENS PEOPLE WAKE UP WISHING THINGS AWAY IS NOT EFFECTIVE WITH PERSEVERANCE YOU CAN DISCOVER ANY TRUTH WORDS TEND TO BE INADEQUATE WORRYING CAN HELP YOU PREPARE YOU ARE A VICTIM OF THE RULES YOU LIVE BY YOU ARE GUILELESS IN YOUR DREAMS YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONSTITUTING THE MEANING OF THINGS YOU ARE THE PAST PRESENT AND FUTURE YOU CAN LIVE ON THROUGH YOUR DESCENDANTS YOU CAN'T EXPECT PEOPLE TO BE SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT YOU CAN'T FOOL OTHERS IF YOU'RE FOOLING YOURSELF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WHAT UNTIL YOU SUPPORT YOURSELF YOU HAVE TO HURT OTHERS TO BE EXTRAORDINARY YOU MUST BE INTIMATE WITH A TOKEN FEW YOU MUST DISAGREE WITH AUTHORITY FIGURES YOU MUST HAVE ONE GRAND PASSION YOU MUST KNOW WHERE YOU STOP AND THE WORLD BEGINS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND SOMEONE OF YOUR SEX ONLY YOU OWE THE WORLD NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND YOU SHOULD STUDY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE YOUR ACTIONS AE POINTLESS IF NO ONE NOTICES YOUR OLDEST FEARS ARE THE WORST ONES

[tasmiq]

Creative inspirations!

This post will likely not be everyone's cuppa tea. I use it as a means to prove a point, to those developing a moral mindset with an open heart. One must be selective with the specific types of creative inspiration one sources, to act as a moral compass and that opens your mind - like never before!

We have joined the Netflix revolution with that sense of direction. We only watch a limited range of serials and movies. I am a self-appointed Netflix reviewer because unless I write about it on LinkedIn, or give a Google Review, the inspiration is wasted as self-glorified and selfish gain. The funny part is that it's when I am an accident survivor, on active rehabilitation!

Therefore, I earn peanuts for them but I gain precious gems of knowledge. I watch animations with our toddlers, and Art House films that conscientise me from around the world. This first list will capture mindblowing family movies starting with animations, and ending with powerful narratives of children.

"Wonder Park"

Is a 2019 computer animated adventure comedy film produced by numerous animation companies. Now available on Netflix.

The plot follows a young girl who encounters a real version of her magical amusement park, run by talking animals. All inspired by a powerful Mum-the-muse and Daughter duo. But with a heavy cloud over Wonder Park - which symbolises the daughter's darkness - as the beloved Mum falls ill and goes to receive treatment.

Again, why I was as captivated as my toddlers:

#1. It celebrates the power of encouraging your children's imagination, but within safety limits.

#2. It infuses high emotional intelligence in children; in a fun, relatable way. Dealing with a sudden change of circumstance and how it shouldn't alter you. Least of all, into a state of darkness!

#3. It celebrates diversity through the toys and human relations, in the neighbourhood that the Baileys live in. A Caucasian family and Indian neighbours, with the children that are best friends. As the wonders of Wonderland!

"The Lorax"

Available on Netflix.

It is originally a children's book written by Dr. Seuss, published in 1971. Even banned in 1989 California, for turning children against the foresting industry.

The 2012 CGI animation based on the book; coincided with Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday, who died at 87. The story is recognized as concerning the danger of human destruction on the natural environment; using personification to create relatable characters for industry, the environment and activism.

It was said to be Dr. Seuss' personal favorite of his books. He was able to create a story addressing industrial, economic and environmental issues - without it being dull! Although critised for not being loyal to the original loved narrative, this is why you should watch it:

#1. The message is timely and universal: "Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to be better. It's not!"

#2. It shows that intergenerational wisdom exists.

#3. Sustainable development must be our true, inevitable future!

"Wish Dragon"

Available on Netflix.

A Chinese mystical creature - similar to Aladdin's Genie - which equally grants you three wishes. Why it supercedes the Disney animation, and is meaningful for both child and parent:

#1. It makes you see the importance and wealth in social capital, over economic capital.

#2. It shows how social traps created by economic reasoning can be surpassed, in ways that ultimately benefit all.

#3. It celebrates the freedom gained through 'imprisonment', in the service of goodness!

"My neighbour TOTORO"

Why Japanese animated fantasy films by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli, outweigh equals in animation:

#1. They are mind blowing in their creativity. Introducing a whole unseen world of endearing characters.

#2. They exhibit both IQ and EQ - which is an unique approach to nurturing the potential of the young and old alike!

#3. They create an astounding and relatable way to imagine non-human characters.

"Over the Moon"

It is a 2020 American-Chinese computer-animated, musical, family fantasy film, featured on Netflix. I searched for suitable animation for our toddlers, but both parent and young children were oddly spellbound by the animation. Refreshingly, beyond Disney! These are some reasons why I was unexpectedly blown away; to the moon itself, and now I return to tell you why!:

#1. It weaves the relatable human story of loss, timeous with the effects of Covid. Doing so, with an incredible level of emotional intelligence.

#2. It is intriguing with unique animations of characters, with whimsical dialogue.

#3. An equally spell binding musical that compliments the incredible imagery.

#4. It's unpredictable, as each moment unfolds!

#5. It teaches you to part with your attachments. As a means to unlock your heartache and open up to new possibilities.

"GHADI"

In the spirit of another Lebanese 2011 movie favourite "Where do we go now?", an equally mind blowing watch was made there in 2013 called "Ghadi" available on Netflix! These are the reasons you have to watch it:

#1. It transports you to a Lebanese town and a traditional neighbourhood nestled within it, faced by a struggle with acceptance of difference. With beautiful cinematography, brilliant acting and a synchronistic soundtrack.

#2. How the family, their supporters and the whole town are transformed through a noble white lie, simply flabbergasts you!

#3. The whole family and the town are able to surpass all their obstacles, by encouraging acceptance and harmony.

#4. It deals with the issue of prized patriarchy within this culture in the most subtle of ways! By celebrating the quiet strength of women in this society, as Ghadi's mother.

#5. It shows just how socially transformative support systems can be, in turning struggles into blessings!

"Hunt for the Wilderpeople"

For a while available on Netflix.

A 2016 adventure comedy-drama film that is written and directed by Taika Waititi. It is a quirky and heartwarming indie film from New Zealand. These are some reasons you have to find a way to source it:

#1. It proves that love can birth from unlikely individuals from vastly different circumstances.

#2. Equally, a family and home can be struck by hearts whose different tapestries weave them there.

#3. Just as an extinct species is rediscovered, so is love!

More film categories to follow 😊