#from this point on: prizes awarded to folks who get the references in these character names lmao

[typingatlightspeed]

TF2 Fanfic - The Extreme Path Chapter 4

Spy witnesses the Makai family's threats firsthand, and with no doubt left in his mind, has to reconcile with the fact that a promise made to him almost forty years ago was being broken. Yoko is horrified about this revelation of Spy's past, and poor Sniper, Scout, and Kazuhiro are caught in the crossfire. Good news, however, the team's final member has arrived, and man oh man is he immediately gunning for the team's gunman.

Ao3 Link! Part of Monstrous Intent!

I promise I didn't mean to rip off a major plot point of Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza 1, it just ended up happening that way! o-o Also warning for domestic violence, as well as murder but this is ostensibly a TF2 fic so murder is part and parcel yanno?

---------

Yamamori Ryokan, Izumisano, Osaka, Japan. June 6th, 1970.

The crash of splintering wood woke Spy with a start. He heard men yelling, and sprung to his feet. Snatching his balisong and watch from beneath his pillow, he tore out of his room in his underwear, skidding barefoot to a halt in the lobby, where Yoko stood. Her hands were clenched into fists as she watched Kazuhiro charge outside with a wooden practice katana clutched in one hand.

"Yo-chan?"

"They're back again. Those Makai family assholes."

Spy made to follow Kazuhiro out, but was stopped by Yoko's hand on his bare shoulder. He turned to see her holding one of the yukata from the rack behind her, and looked down at himself. "Ah, yes. Merci."

A loud crack filled the air as wood shattered and broke, creaking as the sign for the ryokan toppled over, its supports broken yet again. A burly hibagon, an ape-man covered in shaggy black fur and wearing a suit with an ornate lapel pin, hefted his sledgehammer up over his shoulder, laughing at the destruction he'd wrought.

"Oi, Aniki! Looks like you got the bird-man's attention," called a man with white cat ears and a long black and white tail that split into a Y-shape, standing beside a car that had been haphazardly parked halfway up the walkway from the road. He was a nekomata, and he too wore a suit with a lapel pin, and a gold chain around his neck, shown by the open buttons of his garish purple shirt.

"Looks like I did," the hibagon replied with a chuckle, turning to stare down Kazuhiro as he approached, practice sword in hand. He widened his eyes. "Decide to pay up yet?"

"Get off of our property, or I will throw you off," Kazuhiro threatened, bringing the sword to bear.

The hibagon bristled. "See, that worked last time: your little samurai routine. But this time you're a little outnumbered." He motioned to the car, and two more thugs, both human in appearance, climbed out, grinning. They were dressed similarly, all glaring with wide eyes, looking wild and eager to fight.

Kazuhiro held his ground, his face stern.

"You got two options, tengu. Either you pay up, or we beat your ass and burn this cute little onsen to the ground while we carry off your woman." He dropped the sledgehammer down to just above the ground, ready to bring it to bear.

"You'd have to fight her first. May as well cut your own throat and save yourself the trouble," Kazuhiro countered with a smirk. "I'm out here to be the nice one."

"Don't think the whole nice approach is workin' for you, bud."

A knife pressed to the hibagon's throat, and in a puff of smoke, Spy decloaked, wearing the shape of his Frenchman self. "Oh good. I hate the nice approach."

"Aniki!" the nekomata yelled, holding back from charging forward as Spy forced the hibagon to turn, giving him line of sight to everyone involved. He snarled, fangs on display. "Who the fuck is this white boy?"

"I'm the guardian kami of this spring," Spy snorted, holding the knife closer, cutting through a chunk of fur to press the blade to skin. His eyes flickered to the pin on the thug's lapel, taking in its details before returning to the nekomata.

"Real fuckin' funny," the hibagon grunted. He dropped the sledgehammer and looked to Kazuhiro. "You think hirin' muscle's gonna help you? We know what you are, and some hired goon ain't gonna save you from your customers findin' out. You got 'til the end of the week to pay up, or Captain Nagoshi's making sure all of Osaka knows what you two are."

"You're makin' an awful lotta threats for a guy with a knife to his throat," Spy hummed, smirking.

"You gonna murder me on the doorstep of this ryokan? Sure that'd be great for business."

"Nobody would miss a lowlife chinpira like you."

"You talk a lotta shit for a foreigner."

"You talk a lotta shit for a dead man."

"Stop!" Kazuhiro called, looking pleadingly to Spy. "If we kill the messenger, do you think they're going to hold back on exposing us?"

Spy scoffed and pulled the knife away, shoving the yakuza thug away with an annoyed, "Tch."

Rubbing at his throat, the hibagon backed up to the car, nodding to his companions, who all climbed back in. "Friday," he growled. He stalked over and got in, slamming the door loudly. The car backed sloppily out onto the road, knocking over a jizo statue on its way and crushing a lantern, and sped off down the mountain road from whence it came.

Spy sagged. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Kazuhiro replied, sighing as he beheld his re-broken sign. "They would've beaten me bloody if you hadn't showed up."

"I'm surprised Yoko wasn't out here backin' you up."

"I don't want her dealing with them if I can avoid it," Kazuhiro reasoned. "Unlike you, she wouldn't have moved the knife."

Spy flipped his knife closed and shifted back to Shigeru. "That's true. Either way, I got a look at those lapel pins. No mistake, that really is the Makai family. Which doesn't make any sense."

"Why not?"

"Because Patriarch Ugaki swore an oath to me that the family would never touch the Morimoto foxes."

*

Sōemonchō, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. April, 1932.

"Han!"

"Are you serious? This is fuckin' bullshit!"

The clacking of gambling tokens and clattering of dice filled the smoky room of the little gambling hall. Tucked away in a side alley, it was a large, mostly unadorned room with old-fashioned decor, a wall with a sliding door separating it from the back of the house. Upon the tatami floor sat a host of gamblers sitting across from a few dealers running cho-han, shaking dice in small baskets and upending them in games of guessing evens or odds. An angry young man dressed in an ill-fitting suit jumped to his feet, pointing accusatorily at the dealer in front of him.

"This game's rigged! No way it's han five rolls in a row!"

"Sir, please be seated if you wish to continue to play," the dealer—a pretty young woman dressed in a kimono—asked, lifting the dice between her fingers and dropping them back into the basket.

"The fuck you mean 'sit down'?" the young man barked, leaning in angrily, towering over the seated woman. "I want back all the money you fucks stole from me!"

"Sir." The dealer looked past him and flashed a hand sign, then looked back up to him. "Sir, I understand losing is difficult, but I must ask that you calm down. You're making a scene."

"Makin' a scene?! Good! You're straight-up fleecin' me!" Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out a pocket knife, flipping it open to a chorus of gasps and the thumping scramble of other patrons moving away. "I oughtta cut your tongue out for takin' to me like that!"

The dealer stared at him, looking exhausted.

The wet thump of impact interrupted any further threats, as the man fell to the ground in a heap, his knife clattering to the floor beside him. Behind him, Shigeru tucked his blackjack back into his pocket and smoothed out his jacket, which bore a lapel pin showing the Makai family crest. He took a drag from his cigarette. "Dipshit."

"Thank you, Morimoto-han," the dealer said, bowing.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Shigeru replied, stepping over the unconscious patron and past the line of dealers. He slid open a door behind them and poked his head into a room with a low table, where a group of men in finely-tailored suits were seated on the floor around it, sharing sake and chatting. "Captain Ugaki?"

A slim man with a wide nose, rounded eyes, and close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair lifted his head, smiling slightly at the sight of him. "What's up, Morimoto-chan?"

"Guy out here makin' a ruckus, drew a knife. He's takin' a nap right now. Should I take the trash out or should I make sure it's properly disposed of?"

Captain Ugaki shook his head with a laugh. "Just toss the asshole in the street. Take his wallet as a warning shot. If he decides to start shit with the family again we'll put the boots to him."

"On it, Oyaji," Shigeru said, slipping out and sliding the door closed.

*

Yamamori Ryokan, Izumisano, Osaka, Japan. June 6th, 1970.

The sliding glass doors to the ryokan were locked. A pair of sliding wooden doors were locked in front of them. The broken sign still laid in the rock garden beside the path. In the lobby, the phone rang unanswered.

On the second floor of the main building, in Yoko and Kazuhiro's small apartment, the team sat on the living room floor around a short, square table. A sake cup rested in front of each person, a small jug at the middle of the table.

Yoko stared at Spy, not breaking eye-contact as she slugged back her sake and set the cup on the table, clacking it loudly.

Spy picked up the jug and refilled her cup.

Yoko's brows furrowed, and drank her cup again, clacking it down a little louder.

"Yo-chan..." Kazuhiro started, but was silenced as Yoko held a finger up to shush him, not sparing him a glance. She kept her eyes firmly on her brother.

Spy refilled her cup again. Yoko drank it in a single gulp and slammed the cup onto the table, rattling the other cups, making Scout, Sniper, and Kazuhiro jump.

"So tell me, Shigeru. What the fuck were you thinking?" Yoko barked, tails lashing in annoyance.

"It was after I got into espionage, but before the war. The guy I was working for had been blackmailed by someone on the extreme path—"

"Yakuza."

"What?"

"Don't use their words for themselves. They're fucking yakuza."

"You're awful venemous about them considering how much crime you've done yourself over the years."

"There's a difference."

Spy scoffed and continued. "The blackmailer was in the Makai family. Guy name of Daito Shigeki. So I came back over to get into the family to get close to him."

"Using your real name?"

"Not at first. I was goin' by Sawamura Kazuma at the time. Turned out Daito wasn't just blackmailin' foreigners who did business with the clan. He was a mole in the family, workin' on a plan to assassinate the family captain, Ugaki Goro. My employer just wanted Daito dead. The family, once I gave them a small mountain of evidence I'd gathered over a year, made that happen. But to prove all of that to Captain Ugaki, I had to play my hand about bein' undercover. Captain was so grateful anyway he made us sworn brothers, and asked if I'd stay in the family." Spy shrugged. "The Makai family targeted youkai businesses and interests, both to keep 'em as turf and to keep human families from causin' 'em trouble. The protection money was in exchange for actual protection, for the most part. Still extortion, but they at least walked the talk. So I stuck around, 'cause I knew bein' a kitsune named Morimoto on their payroll might put other kitsune named Morimoto on their radar. So if I were in the family, I could keep 'em away from anythin' you and Ken-chan might be up to."

"Don't play like you did this for our sakes."

"At first? No. Once I realized I'd fucked up royally by being exposed? Believe what you want, but I'm tellin' you that's why I stuck around."

"How long were you with them?"

"Two more years. Then it all went to shit. The patriarch, Kanda, was dating Captain Ugaki's sister, Rie. Always on the bubble of not treatin' her good, but nobody saw nothin', and even if we did, what could we say to the patriarch? But we all got the feelin'. He didn't put much respect in his mouth when he talked to her. Well one day they had it out, and he ended up hittin' her somewhere you could see it. And her brother found out."

"What'd he do?"

*

Sōemonchō, Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. April, 1934.

Everyone had heard the screaming. By the time Shigeru had arrived, he could hear police sirens in the distance. Drawing himself up, he charged up the stairs to Ugaki Rie's apartment, his guts drawn tight.

The door was ajar, the frame broken by forced entry. Splinters of wood were everywhere. He could hear a woman sobbing. Steeling himself, Shigeru pushed the door slowly open and crept inside into the darkened, single-room apartment.

Moonlight shone in from the balcony, reflecting off of a darkened puddle on the wood floor, silver-white on shadow-blackened crimson. A woman, Ugaki's sister Rie, was curled up against the side of the kitchen cabinets, holding her knees to her chest and crying. Her skirt was ripped, her hair a mess. In the middle of the room lay the body of Patriarch Kanda, dead. Deep, ragged gouges covered his body, slashed by claw and fang, his throat torn open. Hunched over him, a man-shaped otter youkai—a kawauso—knelt, blood dripping from his claws and soaking his suit.

Shigeru stopped, choked on his own breath, barely croaking out, "Captain..."

The kawauso turned, blood splattering his face, and slowly shifted into human shape, agony creasing his tear-stained features. "Morimoto-chan..."

"Captain, what—"

"I... I couldn't stop myself. When Rie called me, said he was yellin', gettin' violent, that he hit her before and she was afraid he was gonna do worse this time..." Ugaki shook his head, looking down at his hands, "I snapped. I ran the whole way here, and ripped his fuckin' throat out. I... I'm sorry, kyodai."

The sirens grew closer. "Sorry?"

"That you're gonna have to deal with a patriarch like Lieutenant Nagoshi. If the family don't just dissolve."

"The family ain't dissolvin'; what're you talkin' about?"

"The patriarch's dead. Ain't no way I ain't goin' down for this, Morimoto-chan. If the cops don't get me, the clan will. Patricide..."

Shigeru knelt beside Ugaki and looked down to the lifeless body of Kanda on the floor. "No." He shook his head. This was his sworn brother, defending his family. He'd have done the same or worse if Yoko had been in Rie's position. Panic welled in his heart as he realized the decision he'd already made, with absolutely zero deliberation. He slammed his hands down into the puddle of blood and began to wipe it on himself, soaking his hands in it, smearing it on his arms, his face, his suit.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Ugaki barked, grabbing hold of Shigeru's wrists.

"My duty as your sworn brother. The family needs you. Rie-san needs you. And you know there's not a prison that can hold me. You need to run, before the cops get here. Get to the river, ditch those clothes. Lay low, and get back to the family." He dug in his jacket pocket, pulling out a large pearl, about the size of a tennis ball. It glowed softly, subtly, barely lighting the hand that held it, and he handed it to Ugaki. "Hide this somewhere I'll expect. I'll need it once I break out."

"Your hoshitama? Shigeru, no..."

"Look, I discovered my sworn brother's sister was bein' brutalized, and I went to take matters into my own hands before the family even found out. I—I'm a new swear-up. Kasuga Akira." Shigeru shifted his face to something generic, an everyman who didn't stand out, and looked to Rie. "Rie-san? Do you hear that? My name is Kasuga, and I came here to defend you! Your brother had no idea!"

Sniffling, Rie nodded, eyes blackened and swollen nearly shut, her nose bloody. Shigeru looked back down to Kanda's corpse and snarled. Being mauled was too easy a death for what he deserved.

Ugaki nodded, clearly unable to change his subordinate's mind. "Fine, okay. I'll get you an identity, a-and I'll lawyer you up and make sure you don't hang. But you better get outta prison like you said."

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, a sad smile crossed Shigeru's lips. "Just promise me somethin'."

"Anythin'."

Shigeru leveled a severe glare at his captain. "The family never touches the Morimoto foxes."

Ugaki took Shigeru's hand and clasped it tightly. "I swear you this oath. Nobody touches the Morimoto foxes."

Satisfied, Shigeru gave his hand a squeeze, then released him. "Thank you, kyodai. Now go! Get outta here before the cops show up!" With a wave of his hand and a flash of magic, he pushed an invisibility spell onto his captain and shoved him away, staring at the empty air as his unseen sworn brother took flight, his footsteps retreating until sirens drowned them out.

Looking back down at Kanda, Shigeru let his hands slip into claws, and gave the son of a bitch one last gouge for good measure.

*

Yamamori Ryokan, Izumisano, Osaka, Japan. June 6th, 1970.

"You went to PRISON for them?!" Yoko yelled, slamming her hands on the table and pitching up onto her knees. The other cups on the table clattered, and Kazuhiro recoiled in shock. Sniper and Scout shared a nervous look, while Spy remained nonplussed.

"For three months. Their security was a joke. Captain Ugaki hid my hoshitama on the roof of the family office, which I took and left without contact. I was back in Paris before the season changed."

"NOT THE POINT!"

"Then what is the point? Yo-chan, the amount of morally suspect shit I've done in my life, both before and after leavin' Japan the first time would turn your fur white."

"If my fur were white then I'd be able to get a job workin' for Inari-okami and I wouldn't be here puttin' up with your bullshit!"

"She's awful mad," Scout mumbled, leaning in to Sniper. "Should we..." he jerked his thumb over his shoulder, wordlessly suggesting an exit.

Sniper nodded, and looked to Kazuhiro, who made eye contact and slowly nodded in agreement. Each slugged back their sake and quietly made their egress.

*

"She's a spitfire," Sniper muttered as the three descended the stairs into the ryokan proper, the 'staff only' door at its bottom left open.

"Like gettin' yelled at by Ma. Same kinda attitude, like 'is this the time I finally push 'er over the edge an' she stabs me?'"

"Yo-chan is often more calm," Kazuhiro replied, his English hesitant, and thickly-accented. "She hate yakuza."

"I mean, can't say I blame 'er," Scout replied, carefully hopping down the last step to avoid scuffing the hardwood with his hooves. "They keep rollin' in an' wreckin' 'er shit. If I built all this up by hand I'd wanna light the fuckers on fire too."

"Strewth."

Scout winced as a tirade he couldn't understand echoed down the stairs in Spy's voice. "You think they're gonna be okay?"

"I think they will. Lot of emotion," Kazuhiro assured him, looking nervously back the way they'd come.

"Tadaima!"called a man's voice from the entryway, startling all three men.

Kazuhiro dashed through the lobby, sliding to a halt on his socks as he saw a man dressed in a business suit stepping out of his shoes and onto the hardwood floor, both doors closed behind him. "Kenji-san! How did you get in here?"

Sniper and Scout trotted in after Kazuhiro, eyes on the newcomer. He was about Scout's height, but broader, athletically built even under the concealing lines of his navy suit, which bore a lapel pin in the shape of a rounded sunflower with a balance scale at its centre. His face was narrow and clean-shaven, with golden-brown eyes and an aquiline nose. His short salt-and-pepper hair was parted to one side. From his backside, three orange tails trailed, the white at their tips more pronounced than Spy's and Yoko's. He had a duffel slung around his torso, with one hand resting on the strap.

"Well I knocked for about ten minutes, then just gave up and picked the locks. Don't worry; I locked up behind me. You know, if you're expecting visitors, you should really be listening for them to arrive," the man, Kenji, explained with a chuckle. He looked to the foreigners, lifting an eyebrow, tensing and almost-instantly relaxing the moment he saw Scout's antlers and cervine legs. "You have guests?"

"Oh, these are friends of Shigeru-san, from his work in America."

"Of course Shige-chan surrounds himself with gorgeous men," Kenji snorted.

"He's a man of taste. This is Mun—"

Kenji surged forward and offered Sniper a handshake and bow together, his eyes roving the taller man, checking him out without any attempt at concealing it. "Morimoto Kenji, a pleasure to meet you," he said in English, flashing him a winning smile, complete with fangs.

Sniper smiled in return, taking his hand for a hearty shake and bowing in addition, making sure to make an obvious show of appraising him in return. "Mundy," he replied. When Kenji released him, he gestured to Scout. "And this is Scout."

"Nice to meet you," Kenji offered, affording Scout a far less lacivious but still pleasantly flirty handshake and bow combination.

"Yeah, right back atcha," Scout replied with a wink, glad he was willing to talk to him rather than just let Sniper translate. "Your English is real good!"

"Thank you," Kenji chuckled, releasing Scout. "I don't speak as many languages as Shige-chan, but I like to think I'm no slouch. And in my line of work, it's more helpful than you'd expect."

"Whatcha you do for a livin'?"

"I'm a defense attorney," Kenji chirped proudly, tapping his lapel pin. "I specialize in representing youkai in court, since we have differing needs compared to humans." He looked to Kazuhiro. "Speakin' of youkai, where are Shige-chan and Yo-chan? I brought some sweets from the city."

"Upstairs. It seems Shigeru-san has a more... intimate knowledge of the situation than any of us had thought."

[thecagedsong]

Cool, so one of my fandoms is having a really bad day, and since I care about Fablehaven until this monster of a fanfic gets finished, how about some wholesome meta? I don’t really care what the drama was about, so don’t tell me. We’re all a little high strung, and I tend to take disagreements personally in a way that I’m working on, and don’t need to be involved in. 

Now that that disclaimer is out of the way, who wants to talk about the Five crowns? Because I had a 14 hour car ride yesterday, listening to the second half of Evening Star and Shadow Plague, and I am so ready to let you all in on the code I cracked. I found the unifying magic diagram of the Fablehaven verse. The key to ultimate satisfaction, and if there was a magic research journal in universe, I would post this in and win the Top Magic Nerd of this Century award.  My goal is to make this as accepted canon as possible, because I am ridiculously right. No characters involved, so no drama except of the scolastic kind, relying on heavy references to canon. 

Ready? 

SO, I made a pretty big claim. But I’ve been toying with this theory since before Dragonwatch three came out. I need some reviews before I inform Brand Mull that I’ve cracked his secret and won the game. If this symbol isn’t on the spine of the Journal of Secrets, what is even the point. 

A good symbol does three things: identifies the pieces you are dealing with, helps the viewer reach a new understanding about the pieces, and map onto the cultural understandings of the audience. aka a cross with four quadrants of airplane, mitochondria, love, and toe nails is a terrible symbol. See common memes for usually pretty good symbols and graphs. 

So you got five crowns right? That means you have a pentagon and a five pointed star, and the biggest trick was figuring out where each crown went, and how they related to each other. 

Examine five-part belief systems, see where the crowns match, unifying symbol explains everything, move on. Easy.

NO.

You wanna know why?

BECAUSE FIVE POINTED STARS AS SYMBOLS ARE MORE WORTHLESS THAN AAA BATTERIES FOR WATCHING TELEVISION

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, obviously they are very useful for things like organizing systems within a single body. Who functions as the head, the shield arm, the pivot foot, etc. But the point of that diagram is that they are equally important and dependent to every other part. Which doesn’t work when the different groups keep trying to break each other’s kneecaps (see b5: fairies v demons).

It also falls apart on the five-piece cultural scale. The most well-known 5-piece cultural scale is obviously the chinese elements: Fire Wood Water Metal Earth.

Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert on those at all. But it all broke down on fire, TBH. Were dragons fire? But a large point was that their breath weapons weren’t always fire. Were demons fire? Even the ones covered in sludge. Were demons earth? Was the underking earth? All I got were fairies as water, in the end. If someone wants to give that a go, be my guest. 

I drew so many pentagrams trying to figure it out, and it never worked. No matter the arrangement, it never told me more about the crowns except that there were five of them. I was about to despair. 

But then the muses sang: The Forgotten Crown. 

(That’s the title of my thesis, btw)

Like I said, five pointed stars were trash for this system, but what if I added another crown, one that no one bothers to count, because by their nature, they can’t do anything. That’s right:

The Forgotten Crown of the Fair Folk. 

The symbol slipped into place like sharp pointy things into Warren. And now I can get to the real meta after sharing this image:

Isn’t it beautiful? After I cracked this code, I showed it to my little sister. She smiled contentedly, calling it satisfying. It is so satisfying. It speaks to so many levels of understanding. 

First, I depicted for you, we have the morality and the terrain triangles. 

Morality triangle is the easiest, if you feel uncomfortable labeling drown-happy naiads as good and all demons as evil, congrats, thinking about the nature of good and evil is precisely what Mull was going for. Since I am suddenly one of those people, I’m going to be using the creation/destruction dichotomy, but acknowledge that both of those work. 

Fairies can be most easily understood when Kendra asked the Fairy Queen what she should do with her life. She’s an unlimited fount of the Fairy Queen’s own power, allowed to do whatever she wants, and the Fairy Queen tells her to nurture life. Be fruitful, put good things in the world, help people grow. Their goal is to create, their magic is defensive, beauty is wonderful for its own sake. The better you are at respecting and nurturing life, the stronger your magic is. Dryads are responsible for the whole forest, and throughout the series they are seen as more powerful and serious than fairies, which can make the plants they interact with grow and hamadryads, who are connected only to their tree. Certainly more powerful than the petty, waterbound naiads. 

Ganalus’s speech to Seth about his own nature is where you can understand demons in this world. They like to destroy and torture, they find amusement in things like plague and clipping live beings to their belts and dragging them around. They are driven by the need for more power and control. Their nature is to harm and break apart, and that has its place in this world, but we care about the stuff and people here, so mortals and fairies have got to keep these punks in check.

And of course, the Fair Folk. Here’s where this triangle gets fun. The worst of the worst gets to be Demon King, the best of the best get stronger fairy powers. That means the most neutral of the neutral get to be the leader of the Fair Folk. We’ve heard references to the main city of the Fair Folk: Selona, somewhere in Europe, and a mysterious exert that I’ve seen images of with Lord Dagrel that I’m trying to pin down. I’m posing that their powers come from being neutral. They talk about the terrible consequences of the last time they went to war, what if it the equivalent of their fallen state, when they break their neutrality, and changes them fundamentally. 

This breaks down the most, but they are the Forgotten Crown for a reason. They hold themselves apart from issues of the other crowns. No one even remembers that they have a crown, because as Seth and Celebrant have shown, who cares? They aren’t going to do anything about it. Everyone collectively forgot/don’t care about them. But their abilities are equal in strength to the others, but different in use, and less valued by those who have battles to fight. Their neutrality puts them exactly between good and evil, creation and destruction. They take the choice not to act, and there is power there too. 

Next is the Terrain Creatures. 

Sky giants control the sky, obviously. Thronis and his ability to control the weather, their height, while their feet are on the ground, far as we know, everything important happens in the sky. 

Underking gets under the ground, again, obvious. Different from the other two points of the terrain triangle in that there is a lot of creature classifactions in their domain, but think of how big the surface of the earth is, underneath it, all theirs. 

Dragons, they dwell in the sky and below the surface, putting them in both. Water dragons and Dromadus both primarily function beneath the surface, and their wings let them be in the sky. while not stronger necessarily than the other terrain crowns in their own domains, they are top of the food chain for the creatures living on the ground, and could probably take out the undead that venture near the surface, and I have high hopes for seeing a Sky Giant v Dragon in the next book. 

Cool, we got our organization of information. We learn something about them based on their placements within the triangles. But is that our symbol? No! Symbols are different than graphs, we should be able to squeeze ridiculous amounts of meaning from them, and we aren’t done yet. The two triangles map really, really well together.

What does the placement of the two triangles together tell us about the individual components?

a WHOLE TON. This is what makes this symbol the most satisfying, the triangles create two separate categorizations of their powers and abilities, but they inform each other. The morality of the terrain beings, and the domains of morality beings. 

Dragons run the whole spectrum from creation to destruction. We see a lot more of the destruction dragons, because our kids are in a war, but Raxtus hits really close to the Fairies and can heal and grow with his breath weapon. We also have wizards, who chose mortality for the ability to use magic to create. All the way to effing Navarog, honorary demon. They run every shade of the creation/destruction spectrum. We also see dragons that don’t depend on destruction because we know that there are some that agreed to behave if it meant they weren’t shoved into sanctuaries. 

Sky giants, the group we know the least about, are good enough that their queen was deemed able to be the caretaker of a dragon sanctuary, so no inherent thirst for destruction and chaos. But they run the neutral side of creation, they weren’t going to step in to stop the demons, they like magic and creating from what we know of thronis, but they fit right here. 

Underking - fall between neutral destruction. The underking wasn’t orchestrating the opening of the demon prison. They crave life, its a food source, but more than that, they want to endure. They might fall closer to demons in their taste for extinguishing life, but they need their wanting of life to continue existing. They might have individual prizes and desires for life, but because they depend on wanting life for their own continued existence, they will never organize themselves into taking over the world. Congrats, you’re only half as destructive as demons.

The morality on the terrain is much easier to see blatantly. Fairies have wings, but in no way do they control the sky, and they live on the ground. Demons...I’m sure some of them fly, but they tend to prefer caves like Granulas and pits like Jubaya and Kurisok. Prefer the night, though the light doesn’t harm them. Fittingly, the Fair Folk do not have the ability to fly on their own, and they live on the ground, not under it. 

sO SATISFying how those fit together. Are you weeping yet? This is harmony on the organizational level. 

But I claimed this was the perfect symbol, the ultimate. There is one more layer describing how every piece relates to every other piece, per the best symbols. 

Opposites

This is the least defined level of interaction, and each line is unique, while still being opposite its counterpart. We’ll start with the ones we have the least information about and go from there. 

Demon/sky giant: We know nothing, at the moment. They have never commented on each other, and have never interacted. Why didn’t sky giants show up to the Zzyzx party? Who knows! So I’m going to speculate here, and propose that they just really can’t stand each other’s presence. Demons stay away from sky giants, because giants are way bigger than them, and it is hard to feel powerful when you only come up to their knee, and sky giants don’t like demons because...eww, demons. 

Fair Folk/Dragon: We know that there are Fair Folk at all seven dragon sanctuaries. We know that the Fair Folk were there long before the sanctuaries were created. Fair Folk neutrality let both parties trust the dragons to part of their watch. It also seems that Dragons have a very difficult time staying neutral. We’ve seen a lot of flavors of dragon, but the one flavor we haven’t seen, possibly by its nature, is a neutral dragon. The closest we came was Dromadus, who was an abstaining pacifist for two books, but kept lending help to the innocent and those aligned with the innocent. His neutrality broke literally the week someone asked him to break it.

 Fascinatingly, the talents of the Fair Folk are actually the closest analog to the breath weapons of the dragons. One unique ability, can be augmented by training, can do something unique to the characteristics of the user. This is enough to make their uses of magic foils for each other in ways that they can’t be with the other races. In fact, they take human shape, their wizards act a lot like the talents of the Fair Folk.

Their final opposite string: physical appearance. Fair Folk are attractive (symetrical) humans. Dragons are hulking reptiles of scale and claw meant to let everyone who can see them know who is the top predator around. Fair folk are disarmingly beautiful. 

Fairy/Underking: The dichotomy that we know the most about because it’s the one the protagonists find themselves on opposite side of. I could double the length of this post talking about these opposite foils, but this is already ridiculously long, so I’ll keep it brief. Consult upcoming thesis for full analysis.

Most obvious aspect of this line? They literally cannot co-exist, one must overpower the other. Nova Songs are consumed by darkness, while crown-fueled Kendra literally turns the undead into bones and dust. The darkness and light can’t balance like the demon cursed area + Fairy shrine stone did in Shadow Plague, there is no middle ground.

While fairies and demons make the creation-destruction spectrum, Fairy and Underking make the Life-death line. Unicorns, who have so much life and youth that lectoblixes overdose to death on them, and the undead that give up the joys light and live to continue. Because Death lasts as long as life. 

And finally my favorite line of opposites, their crowns functions in exactly the opposite ways. The under-crown does not share power. It accumulates, you become one of consciousness of the crown. They swallow you up, and you will never take power from them. They will continue. Meanwhile the Fairy crown has had several owners, as identified by Risenmay in dw2. And the Fairy Crown shares magic in a way that the other crowns don’t. The fairy Queen shared her magic with Kendra, yes, but she also shared it with her husband. All the male fairies fell with the Fairy King, turning permanently into imps. Unless the Fairy Queen isn’t being honest about how that happened, that meant that the male half of the kingdom was under the authority of her husband when he fell. Which makes sense for this crown. One person can’t make a new person on their own, they have to have a male and a female genetic coding. For the crown that is all about creating and preserving life, that power isn’t meant to be wielded alone. The Fairy crown can share, can give, while the Undercrown can consume and take. They are complete opposites in this.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading through this preliminary thesis. Counterpoints, additions, and commentary are welcome. I want to flesh this out a little more before sending my transcendent, beautiful, unifying symbol to Mull and have him announce that I have officially cracked the code. Really tho, the fact that I can pull this together into a unifying symbol is pretty cool in terms of Mull’s worldbuilding. 

Well...only works if he acknowledges the forgotten crown. Dragonwatch 5: the Crown of Selona. I can’t wait. 

[gofancyninjaworld]

FANTASTIC point, that distinction between "data" and "salience"!

Normally I’d just say thank you, and I do, but I started pacing up and down as this is a thing that I really do care about.  So I’ll talk a little more. 

Let me tell you a story about graphene. Its discoverers, Andre Geim and  Konstantin Novoselov, used to challenge their labs to come up with short, simple and critically, cheap experiments.  Novoselov is the only scientist to have both an Ignobel (for levitating frogs with magnets) and a Nobel prize, both arising out of these cheap experiments. 

Here’s the thing.  The theoretical structure and properties of graphene were first posited in 1947, by Wallace [1]. It’s incredibly easy to make and high quality carbon films are a standard part of electron microscope sample preparation backings.   Atomic Force Microscopes have existed since 1982.  Folks have been looking at this stuff for decades.  But it’s not that pair looked and understood that they made the salient insight. 

The Nobel Prize does not go to the most skilled experimentalists, nor to the most brilliant theoreticians. It’s awarded to those who provide the most salient insights, those that change the way a field sees the world. 

Now, there’s a part of the story that I’ve skipped.  To be in a position to get that critical, world-changing insight takes a platform rooted in deep, hard work and understanding of the field. That last part, people looove skipping over it in favour of just calling it genius.

Anyway, back to the world of fiction.  One thing a lot of fans misunderstand is that Genos does **not** write down what Saitama says verbatim.  Instead, he uses Saitama’s utterances as seed crystals around which to crystallise his thoughts and insights.   A place we get let into this is in OAV 4 (”The Overbearing Bang”).  Witness:

As much for humour as ti emphasise that it’s not a trite remark, we cut to Bang’s reaction, seeing that he’s surprised that Saitama has been able to explain a complex concept so simply, heh heh.

We have since learned that Genos actually does collect a frighteningly detailed array of information from his encounters with monsters: the second volume of 2017 Serious Drama series of audio books (I so need to review them at some point) shows us how he reviews and practices and learns. 

At the time chapters 83 and 84 came out, Drama CD2 wasn’t yet translated to English and quite a few fans ascribed Genos’s notable improvements to genius.  Once it was translated and it became clear that it was ‘just’ hard work, experience and insight, many lost interest.  

God, please give us magic genius that can solve problems at a glance and preserve us from the pain of having to learn to dig deep so we can be in a position to find salience in our experiences. Amen. 

Sorry. As you can tell, this is a matter that exercises me more than a little, in life and in fiction alike.  But thank you for noting it :)

Edit: Thought about it a bit more. You know what I specifically like about this character that ONE’s written?  Most fiction, when you see a hard-working character, it’s like they crawled out of the womb with a five year plan all ready to enact. Genos?  We see him from the start, so distractible that it’s a meme many fans still repost.  Sometime after the Deep Sea King slugged him from behind because he’d allowed himself to be distracted by the crowd, he made up his mind to *learn*.  To pay attention.  To be less careless.  And we’ve been seeing the results become clearer bit by bit.  It’s so refreshing to see a writer acknowledge that developing appropriate focus is a process and starting to realise tangible benefits is a long-term outcome.   It’s less of turning over a new leaf and more of turning a big, heavy ship around.   And I really like that.

References

[1] P. R. Wallace.The Band Theory of Graphite.Phys. Rev. 71, 622(1947). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.71.622

[what2watch2night]

SMALL AXE Conundrum: ‘Are The Parts Greater Than The Whole Or The Whole Better Than The Parts’ ?!?! Whatever It Is, It Is Simply The Best Thing that Happened in 2020.

There is no doubt now McQueen's passion project SMALL AXE is " the One" and that is something we already anticipated way back when it was selected for Cannes 2020 (that did not really happen) and we knew at least some of it was great/mind-blowing when LOVER'S ROCK premiered at NYFF for a virtual screening. But now, after finally watching the last fantastic film of the series (EDUCATION,) we can say without a once of hesitation and appreciating that all 5 films are of the highest quality and without any no flaws, that this project is simply the best thing that happened in 2020. PERIODT!  

[YES you heard that right OVERALL BEST THING! Well, obviously after the scientists who found the vaccines, the hospital workers working tirelessly, the essential workers making the world go wound, the good Samaritan helping those who needed help desperately, and we want to believe the majority of us the sensible people who decided to help "save a life" by NOT BEING THE WORSE!]

Every one of SMALL AXE's entry will make you cry a bunch of time of joy and sadness or anger, (more or less depending on your personal connection/ life experiences in relation to the stories and their characters) but they will also make you smile ear to ear by yourself and maybe even wanna bust a move or tap your feet (on rythm only!)  Especially having re-watched bits and pieces of LOVERS ROCK’s phenomenal party scenes that offer great sound.

But truly the whole soundtrack has to be listened to on loop! The MUSIC, selections of soundbites surely play a part in making SMALL AXE a masterpiece but not only the soundtrack was PERFECT but they cleverly hired the one and only Micachu to add an extra layer of greatness to some of the titles. Notable for MANGROVE where a sparse yet memorable score is like a bonus, "ultra perfectly complimenting" the anxy mood in the courtroom scene. That is just one of the many things making this episode - which seems to be the centerpiece as an opening piece, but it makes sense as it is the one giving us the wider views of all issues addressed in every "episodes" - extra extra special, and if one were to look at MANGROVE separately they would still find it to be the best film of the year really *Guess along  NOMADLAND. Perhaps the "part is greater than the whole" thing might apply here YET the "whole is better than the part" is also true =  SMALL AXE is an embarrassment of riches!

On top of that, the beautiful production is coming alive and making you nostalgic for a time you did not know thanks to a great cinematography coupled with the filmmaker's sense of space and attention to details.

But "lest we forget" the entire BOMBASTIC cast that should get all the awards! But as SMALL AXE a hybrid series/movies it would be tough to give them justice one way or another and they will just filled everyone's ballot ;) But it was a treat to meet new characters with so much depth played to perfection for the last few weeks. Maybe we should just create a special prize for this unique project; a Pulitzer a Nobel prize, anything! But there’s nothing like this out there and that sad but also amazing!

Everyone from all communities deserves to be seen and see themselves and their stories represented on screen. And it gives actors we would have not seen acting under this light -or at all...- the opportunity of a lifetime. So  SMALL AXE just did that and more by becoming a point of reference for so many all the while being relatable for similar groups (islanders, immigrants, first/second-gen born citizen,  POC, Black, hell maybe even some group of white folks ) but more importantly still being intrinsically relatable to all as it encompasses the human experience as a whole.

MORAL OF THE STORY:9.9/10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thus it is not only the best Tv Series of 2020 even though it is "packaged as such", but also the best films of 2020, and, again, as a whole, simply the best thing of 2020! In a weirdly emotional year, it made us feel all the feels and is the most cinematic thing ever to not to have been seen in a cinema! Not even exaggerating saying watching SMALL AXE is/can be a life-changing experience

(This inside joke nearly killed us!)

*side note: Sincerely hope SMALL AXE truly opens the door for even more diversity and we can get “SMALL AXES type of show” from all the people all the time cuz #representationmatters. Yes, we already have that discussion, we have it ALL THE TIME! And YES we now have things like RAMY or FRESH OFF THE BOAT, MASTER OF NONE, NEVER HAVE I EVER, etc... and more that are very specific in portraying members of a community  and very successful but SMALL AXE showed us that we can reach the highest and get to see even more amazing things

**Also yes MANGROVE is the piece of resistance, but as mentioned, frankly, it is probably the best film of the year that makes THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 look like Law & Order or putting it to shame...(Yep said it TRIAL<<<<<<<<< MANGROVE). The later was not only mostly overrated but anyone who’s seen MANGROVE should know better to never speak it and every time they think they should nominate the Sorkin's movie for anything (no offense to Sorkin's, big fan of the NEWSROOM over here so you know ;) his stuff are very very good-to-great, particularly when paired with the right director, but are not at the masterpiece level of greatness) remember that it could have been done 100 times better!

***Also ALSO ALSO, we will start shooting the 'Best Of 2020' list shortly on this present site, but it feels almost unfair for everyone else that McQueen decided to make a series of 5 masterful films as a "series" (the man just churned not 1, not 2, BUT 5 films that are legit better than most, if not all the best pictures Oscar winners ever - not remotely joking here! Except for maybe PARASITE, but the same level of wow-ness the whole way here - HAaaaa PARASITE why are we NOT talking about it a bit more!) But it is also kinda fair (but sad for McQueen and co) that they were not released as 5 different films in one year (although technically that‘s what he did! well theatrically or "virtually theatrically") because otherwise SMALL AXE would have OWN the best film of 2020 lists no question and take half of the best picture nominee spots along with multiple actors in all category from  Parkes to St. Aubyn to Sandy to Boyega to Wright to Cole to Whyte to Ackie to Gee...The whole hybrid anthology thing is a bonanza for cinephiles/viewers but surely a headache or heartbreak for the producers who might have otherwise have a clear shot for at least 1 Oscar! (Well who knows with their twisted way of doing things, but again PARASITE or MOONLIGHT showed us that there is a glim of hope for a fairer future.) For now, we can be comforted in that many critics, associations, and some viewers recognized SMALL AXE for what it is - Altho, what is wrong with people! Why is those seating at only 7.7/10 or 65% audience viewer!!!! C'mon sometimes the "divide" is justified BUT HERE!?!?

There can only really one wicked AF thing that can justify some people's rating bringing the whole thing so low... And that is precisely why we need more and more and more of SMALL AXE and that it reaches the widest audience possible as this should not be "niche" stuff, THIS is masterpiece ting! (Respectfully! Also hoping the Chets of this world sit that one down or understand after watching SMALL AXE why he and the likes of him should lol lol lol not lol.... HAaaaa If only they could understand how difficult life can be in certain situations as Black/POC/marginalized/ people with REAL accent they will prob stop teasing even just for fun and just join the good fight RESPECTFULLY )

[papermoonloveslucy]

LUCY AND ALADDIN’S LAMP

S3;E21 ~ February 1, 1971

Directed by Charles Walters ~ Written by Frank Gill Jr. and Vin Bogert

Synopsis

When Lucy holds a garage sale, she discovers an old lamp. When wishes start to become reality Lucy believes the lamp may posses magic, until she loses it hiding it from Harry.

Regular Cast

Lucille Ball (Lucy Carter), Gale Gordon (Harrison Otis Carter), Lucie Arnaz (Kim Carter), Desi Arnaz Jr. (Craig Carter) 

Guest Cast

Mary Jane Croft (Mary Jane) played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.” She also played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She played Audrey Simmons on “The Lucy Show” but when Lucy Carmichael moved to California, she played Mary Jane Lewis, the actor’s married name and the same one she uses on all 31 of her episodes of “Here’s Lucy. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the age of 83. 

George Niese (Mr. Frost) previously appeared in “Lucy Becomes a Father” (TLS S3;E9). This is his only episode of “Here’s Lucy.”   

Robert Foulk (Janitor) played the policeman on the Brooklyn subway platform in “Lucy and the Loving Cup” (ILL S6;E12) and a Los Angeles Detective in “Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere” (TLS S4;E20). This is the third of his six characters on “Here’s Lucy.”

This is Foulk's third episode in a row on the series.  

William Lanteau (Mr. Minkle) first appeared with Lucille Ball in The Facts of Life (1960). In addition to an episode of “The Lucy Show,” Lanteau did four episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” He is best remembered for playing Charlie the Mailman in the play and the film On Golden Pond (1981).

Mr. Minkle is the superintendent of the office building where Harry and Lucy work.

The Telegram Delivery Boy is uncredited and has no lines.

Some reports say this episode was filmed on April 6, 1970, ten months before its initial air date. However, that is a Monday, and most all episodes were filmed on Thursday or Friday after four days rehearsal, so this is unlikely. 

This is the second of only two episodes directed by 1954 Oscar-winner Charles Walters. The previous entry was “Lucy’s House Guest, Harry” (S3;E20). He went on to direct two of the Lucille Ball Specials: “What Now, Catherine Curtis?” (1976) and “Three for Two” (1975). From 1942 to 1945, Walters served as dance director on six films starring Lucille Ball. This episode is mentioned in the biography Charles Walters: The Director Who Made Hollywood Dance by Brent Phillips.   

Likewise, this was the second and final episode written by 1955 Emmy-winner Vin Bogert. The first was “Lucy Stops a Marriage” (S3;E16), which he also co-wrote with Frank Gill Jr.  It was a posthumous credit for Gill, who died six months earlier. It was the penultimate screenwriting credit for Bogert, who died in 1978. 

The title refers to the Middle Eastern folk tale of the boy Aladdin and a genie that comes from a lamp to grant him three wishes. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ("The Arabian Nights"), and one of the best known - although it was not part of the original Arabic text, but was added in the 18th century by Frenchman Antoine Galland. The story has been the basis for many screen and stage re-tellings, including the current Disney musical Aladdin.

Another television sitcom was based on the legend of Aladdin: “I Dream of Jeannie” (1965-70), which had just ended its long run on NBC. It starred Barbara Eden as the genie named Jeannie, who lived in a bottle rather than a lamp. Barbara Eden made her TV debut on “I Love Lucy.” Hayden Rorke, who played the long-suffering Dr. Bellows on the series, also did an episode of “I Love Lucy” and recently appeared on “Here’s Lucy” as a Judge. 

In the first scene, Craig is wearing a top hat with a flower in it. The other actors (Mary Jane Croft and George Niese) seem a bit taken aback by it. 

MARY JANE: “Oh! I like your hat. (under her breath) Bless your heart.”

MR. FROST: (Points at the hat, surprised) “Oh!  Oh ho ho ho.” 

Perhaps it is something Desi Jr. saw in the props pulled for the scene and took a liking to? It also many have some sentimental significance to the actor, but for such a visual statement, it does not figure into the plot, which is unusual. 

At the start of the episode, Kim is holding a heart-shaped throw cushion that may be a tribute to the opening credits of “I Love Lucy.”

Lucy gets a Western Union telegram from the (fictional) Murphy Soup Company to tell her she’s won a contest.

Lucy's prize-winning soup jingle is to the tune of “Jingle Bells,” a song that was heard many times on “I Love Lucy.” 

Aside from Ann-Margret, Craig would wish for two tickets to the sold-our Rams Football game. After a dramatic thunder clap, Craig gets a call from his friend Alan who offers him a ticket. Craig says “How sweet it is!” Sex symbol and singing sensation Ann-Margret charmed Craig in a season 2 episode of “Here's Lucy.”  The Los Angeles Rams would have been the Carters' hometown football team. “How sweet it is” was the catch phrase of actor / comedian Jackie Gleason (“The Honeymooners”), who made a cameo appearance in the second episode of the series.  

Craig reads the October 1968 issue of McCall's with English actress Samantha Eggar on the cover. In  “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (ILL S2;E14), pregnant Lucy Ricardo is reading the January 1953 McCall’s, which clearly has a cover that says “Why I Love Lucy” by Desi Arnaz. 

Kim wishes for Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream, her favorite. After a dramatic thunder clap, Uncle Harry promptly arrives at the door to deliver it!  Jamoca Almond Fudge is a signature flavor of Baskin-Robbins, who first marketed it in 1959. It is made by combining Jamoca coffee ice cream with roasted almonds and a chocolate ribbon. The bag Harry is holding, however, is not branded with their logo: pink and brown polka dots encircling a large number 31, the number of flavors they offer. 

The second scene opens with Harry and Lucy coming to work with a happy Harry (dreaming of great wealth if he got access to the lamp) paraphrasing Robert Browning’s verse drama Pippa Passes (1841). The original goes:

The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn: God's in his heaven - All's right with the world! — from Act I: Morning

Harry’s version replaces mention of larks and snails with “The sun is shining; the birds are singing” and omits any reference to the Deity altogether. 

When Lucy won’t let Harry make any monetary wishes on her lamp, he storms off pouting and Lucy calls him Attila the Hun. Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Roman Empire.

Mary Jane tells Lucy that there's a sale on Italian knits at Morton's Department Store. Morton is Lucille Ball's married name since her marriage to Gary Morton (nee Goldaper) in 1961. Gary Morton is also a producer on “Here’s Lucy.” The fictional Morton’s Department Store joins Morton’s Service Station, Morton Pictures, and a number of other businesses named Morton on the series! 

The janitor comes to empty the waste paper baskets idly singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” The song was written by Chauncey Olcott, George Graff Jr., and Ernest Ball in 1912. It was sung by William Frawley (Fred Mertz) in the 1936 film It's A Great Life! and was heard on “I Love Lucy” in “The Star Upstairs” (ILL S4;E25). 

Harry says the Unique Employment Agency is located in office #1506. This implies that they are on the 15th floor.

Finally finding the bottle in a dumpster, there is just one thing preventing Lucy from getting it back: a glass bottle! Preparing himself for Lucy to hit his finger with a hammer to get a bottle off it, he says “If John Wayne can do it, so can I.”  John Wayne appeared with Lucille Ball as himself on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”  Both episodes were titled “Lucy Meets John Wayne.”

At the end of the episode, Craig reveals that the lamp is just a novelty store item manufactured in Pittsburgh. A disappointed Lucy corrects him. 

The Mexican border city was the location of “Lucy and Viv Visit Tijuana” (S2;E19) aired a year earlier.

It wouldn’t be “Here’s Lucy” if Gale Gordon didn’t get wet! 

Garage Sale Treasures! 

Hanging above the steamer trunk is Lucy Ricardo's iconic blue polka dot dress from “I Love Lucy.” It was designed by Elois Jensen and was seen in many episodes of the series.  

Next to the blue dress is an art deco poster of Sarah Bernhardt by Alphonse Mucha (1897). The poster was previously seen in the dorm room in “Lucy, the Co-Ed” (S3;E6) and in the studio of the knife thrower in “Lucy, the Cement Worker” (S2;E10). 

The zebra lamp with the red shade was on the tables of the Red Devil nightclub “Lucy and Ma Parker” (S3;E15, left). Unboxing items for the garage sale, Lucie finds her favorite doll, Clarabelle. Clarabelle made an appearance in “Lucy, the Part-Time Wife” (S3;14), although she now has on a new frock. 

Lucy pulls out a fur-lined jacket she says was worn by Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. The 1945 film won Crawford an Academy Award. Joan Crawford guest starred on “The Lucy Show” in “Lucy and the Lost Star” (TLS S6;E22). Craig says that judging by the shoulder pads she could have worn it in The Spirit of Notre Dame. Craig is referring to a 1931 football-themed movie starring Lew Ayres.  

Search through the building’s trash for the lamp instantly brings to mind when the Ricardo’s and Mertz’s searched through the trash of 623 East 68th Street to find the pieces of Lucy’s torn-up roman a clef in “Lucy Writes a Novel” (ILL S3;E24). 

Lucy and Harry were also up to their necks in trash in “Lucy the Process Server” (S1;E3) - this time in a department store basement - searching for an envelope of cash.

Leaky ceilings in need of plastering was also a plot point in two episodes of “The Lucy Show”: “Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower” (TLS ) and “A Loophole in the Lease” (TLS S2;E12). Both times the leaks were caused by overflowing tubs and showers, but here the cause is the continual rainfall. 

Sound vibrations and not water was the cause of the ceiling collapse that ended  “Breaking the Lease” (ILL S1;E18).

Flashing way back to 1813, prolific novelist Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) penned a children’s book titled Harry and Lucy. In it, they marvel at the power of steam bursting through a kettle spout, comparing it to the magic of Aladdin’s Lamp. Not only did Edgeworth foresee the era of the steam-powered engine, she may have foretold “Here’s Lucy” as well!  

Do You Live in a Barn? His arm in a sling, carrying an umbrella, and taking off his hat, Gale Gordon is unable to properly shut the front door, despite the fact it is pouring rain outside. Lucille Ball’s eyes dart over at it, doubtless wondering if she had time to close it without spoiling the take. She doesn’t - and it stays open for the rest of the scene. 

Where the Floor Ends!  When the hole in the ceiling breaks open, the camera is back too far and viewers can see where the carpet ends and the stage floor begins. 

Sitcom Logic Alert! Only Lucy would find a miraculous lamp that grants wishes and hide it in a trash can in order to go on a shopping trip for discount sweaters! 

“Lucy and Aladdin’s Lamp” rates 4 Paper Hearts out of 5

A fun episode that straddles the reality / fantasy line effectively. The Easter eggs in the garage sale scene are a treat for Lucy lovers! 

[stringnarratives]

Stop, Look and Listen: “Return of the Obra Dinn”

[This post brought to you with major spoilers for Lucas Pope’s 2018 game “Return of the Obra Dinn”.]

"Literature makes us better noticers of life; we get to practice on life itself; which in turn makes us better readers of detail in literature; which in turn makes us better readers of life.” 

- James Wood, How Fiction Works  

And so it begins - it’s finally games industry season, folks, and we are in the thick of it, with conferences, game jams, awards ceremonies and publisher announcements happening even faster than even fans can keep up with. (In the first draft of this post, I listed out just the events that *I* keep up with, and this paragraph was three times as long as it is currently. You’re welcome for the edit.)

It’s a whirlwind, and, with great titles being announced and honored left and right, something will always fall through the cracks. But one thing that I’ve been sure not to miss with all the hubbub is that my personal Game of the Year 2018 is getting plenty of attention, and for good reason.

“Return of the Obra Dinn” -- the latest release by “Papers, Please” creator Lucas Pope -- released in October 2018 to favorable reviews (or Overwhelmingly Positive, if the gamers of Steam have anything to say about it) and has been receiving recognition since. It took home the Independent Games Festival’s Seumas McNally Grand Prize AND the award for Best Narrative at the Game Developers Choice Awards on Wednesday. It’s been nominated in six categories at the 15th British Academy Games Awards (happening April 4). And so far, it seems to be defending its title as the top-ranked indie game on Polygon’s Game of the Year chart (behind “God of War”, of course.

The game is part two-tone logic puzzle, part nautical horror and part historical science/magic fiction. The player is cast in the role of an insurance adjustor sent by the East India Trading Company in 1807 to determine the series of circumstances that turned the Obra Dinn into a veritable ghost ship, damaged and devoid of crew after being lost to the open sea for five years. 

Using the Memento Mortem, a magical little device that allows the player to travel back and explore vignettes anchored to the deaths of crew members, one must collect data to determine the identity, title, cause of death (if they are indeed dead) and nefarious actions of each person who’d been aboard the ship when it set sail in 1802. The visual scenes are centered around the exact moment of death, giving the player a look into the fate of each person aboard the ship, as well as the immediate circumstances of their demise. Ultimately, it’s discovered that the Obra Dinn was ravaged by not only the common misfortunes of the sea - mutiny, illness, in-fighting among the crew - but also far more monstrous forces of nature: Giant crabs, a kraken, vengeful mermaids... The kinds of things one might expect a cursed crew to go up against.

It’s a game played in “past present” tense, where the player simultaneously feels like a part of the action and knows that they are only observing it from a point in the future, and it isn’t necessarily easy. One must rely on visual references in death scenes, an unattached list of names, two drawings of the crew and seconds-long audio clips at the investigation of each new corpse to make judgements on each person’s fate. Sometimes the clue that makes an identity clear is an accent. Sometimes it’s an identifier posted obscurely somewhere in the environment. Sometimes it’s just the process of elimination. But almost always, it’s driven by the detail of the scenes the player is examining.

Because it relies so heavily on specifically captured snapshots, “Return of the Obra Dinn” doesn’t have the privilege of skimping on detail. Whereas in many games, Easter Eggs and environmental detail are considered a bonus for players who carefully examine the game’s setting instead of blazing through, Return of the Obra Dinn relies on more methodical playthrough. Its environments are meant to be combed through, to be examined from all angles, even going so far as to hide a vital corpse inside one of the ship’s walls in one portion of the game. 

A lack of narration (apart from the short snippets of conversational audio accompanying each scene) lends the ship both a sense of haunted quiet, and the opportunity for the story to unfold solely based on the findings of the player. This contrasts it to other “post-mortem”-style investigation games like Fullbright’s “Tacoma,” where we see the story unfold with the help of the crew’s movement and dialogue records in addition to detailed props. Instead, what we have is an information driven plot, organized in by the tools the player is given at the beginning of the game.

On a sensory level, blood splatters, raindrops, expressions and distinctive character traits (outfits, appearance, accents, responsibilities aboard the ship) must also be rendered in enough detail that we, as an adjustor stepping into the situation for the first time, can successfully determine most, if not all, that happened. It doesn’t just matter who killed whom, but also how, and when, and where, and why. And with 60 passengers aboard the ship (and 58 solvable fates in the main portion of the game) the differences between them can be the difference between completing the game and leaving it unfinished. It’s here that Return of the Obra Dinn intentionally approaches a “thisness” - a concept originating back to the 13th Century that denotes a sense of specificity in a thing rather than its universal qualities - that many games don’t. Rather than focusing on a specific few crew members to investigate and creating stock folks to quietly inhabit the scenes, each person aboard the Obra Dinn has a specific identity and fate, unique to them, that affects how the story of the ship as a whole plays out.

What results is a feeling of completion and quality in the game, but also a strange sense of realism. In the assumed role of insurance investigator - a title that is purposely made to feel very official at the game’s beginning - there is a completed circuit of logic in every person having a face, a name, a role, and ultimately a fact to report back about. The role feels thorough rather than ironic, and with that comes a sense of pride at discovering even the smallest fate. 

In “How Fiction Works”, writer and professor James Wood reminds us that great literature, full of just the right detail to set a scene and enhance a story, makes us better observers. Where the characters notice details in their world, we too notice details in ours. In gaming, we take that role further, stepping into the shoes of the character in a way that lets us not only observe but move through a scene with ease. In “Return of the Obra Dinn,” it’s the details that allow us to do that. It’s the details that convince us that we are the only thing standing between the Obra Dinn and obscurity, the only thing tethering it to shore and letting it succumb to its ghosts entirely.

[mrhotmaster]

Best Netflix Movies In India (2020 February Edition)

Best Netflix Movies In India (2020 February)

From the Dark Knight, Dil Chahta Hai.

In its endeavors to win Oscars and please its 167 million individuals, Netflix has been emptying billions into motion pictures as of late, including ventures from or highlighting any semblance of Dwayne Johnson, Martin Scorsese, and Michael Bay. One of those — The Irishman — piled on 10 selections for the gushing help at the 2020 Oscars, however it neglected to leave away with a solitary prize. Netflix has additionally extended its film endeavors in India in the previous year, declaring ventures from any semblance of Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. For the time being however, the quality of its list is as yet the acquisitions. With more than 3,500 films, Netflix offers a bigger number of decisions than some other stage in India. To pick the best motion pictures on Netflix, we depended on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and IMDb appraisals to make a waitlist. The remainder of them was favored for Indian movies given the setbacks of audits aggregators in that office. Also, we utilized our own article judgment to include or expel a couple. This rundown will be refreshed once like clockwork if there are any commendable increases or if a few motion pictures are expelled from the administration, so bookmark this page and continue checking in. Here are the best movies right now accessible on Netflix in India, arranged one after another in order.

12 Monkeys (1995)

Propelled by the 1962 French short La Jetée, a detainee (Bruce Willis) is sent back so as to become familiar with the infection that cleared out almost the entirety of mankind. Terry Gilliam coordinates.

12 Years A Slave (2013)

Hoodwinked into subjugation on the record of work, Steve McQueen's adjustment of a free New York dark man's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) nineteenth century journal is a fantastic genuine story, and a significant watch.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

In Stanley Kubrick's exceptionally persuasive science fiction film, mankind graphs a course for Jupiter with the aware PC HAL 9000, to comprehend the disclosure of a dark stone monument influencing human development. It's not so much plot, but rather more a visual and aural experience.

3 Idiots (2009)

Right now the Indian instruction framework's social weights, two companions describe their school days and how their third tragically deceased musketeer (Aamir Khan) propelled them to think imaginatively and autonomously in a vigorously traditionalist world. Co-composed and coordinated by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands denounced in the #MeToo development.

50/50 (2011)

Enlivened by a genuine story, a 27-year-old radio writer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is determined to have spinal malignancy and learns the estimation of companionship and love as he fights the uncommon ailment.

Aamir (2008)

Adjusted from the 2006 Filipino film Cavite, a youthful Muslim NRI specialist (Rajeev Khandelwal) coming back from the UK to India is compelled to consent to psychological militants' requests to do a shelling in Mumbai after they undermine his family.

American History X (1998)

In a film that is more important today than when it was made, a neo-Nazi racial oppressor (Edward Norton), who served three years in jail for deliberate murder, attempts to keep his more youthful sibling from going down a similar way.

American Hustle (2013)

In the late 1970s, two scalawags (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are compelled to work for a FBI specialist (Bradley Cooper) and set up a sting activity that intends to cut down a few degenerate government officials and individuals from the Mafia. Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner star nearby.

Andaz Apna (1994)

Two bums (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan) who have a place with white collar class families strive for the expressions of love of a beneficiary, and incidentally become her defenders from a nearby criminal in Rajkumar Santoshi's religion parody top pick.

Andhadhun (2018)

Enlivened by the French short film L'Accordeur, this dark satire spine chiller is the narrative of a piano player (Ayushman Khurrana) who professes to be outwardly debilitated and is trapped in a snare of turns and lies after he strolls into a homicide scene. Tabu, Radhika Apte star close by.

Apollo 13 (1995)

Ron Howard sensationalizes the prematurely ended Apollo 13 strategic put the space explorers in danger after an on-board blast gobbled up all the oxygen and constrained NASA to prematurely end and get the men home securely.

Argo (2012)

Ben Affleck coordinates and stars right now a CIA operator acting like a Hollywood maker exploring for area in Iran, so as to safeguard six Americans during the US prisoner emergency of 1979.

Article 15 (2019)

Ayushmann Khurrana plays a cop right now casteism, strict segregation, and the current socio-political circumstance in India, which tracks a missing people's case including three adolescent young ladies of a little town. A hard-hitting, very much made film, however unexpectedly, it was reprimanded for being casteist itself, and giving a pariah's point of view.

The Avengers (2012)

Earth's mightiest saints — including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, and the Hulk — meet up right now collaborate from author chief Joss Whedon to stop Thor's received sibling Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his outsider armed force from oppressing humankind.

The Aviator (2004)

With Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, Martin Scorsese jumps into the life of the flight pioneer and film maker, who thinks about extreme OCD while his acclaim develops.

Awakenings (1990)

Robin Williams and Robert De Niro lead the cast of this dramatization dependent on a 1973 journal of a similar name, about a specialist (Williams) who finds the helpful impacts of a medication on mental patients, in this manner gifting them another rent on life.

Barfi! (2012)

Set during the 1970s in the midst of the slopes of Darjeeling, essayist chief Anurag Basu tells the story of three individuals (Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, and Ileana D'Cruz) as they figure out how to cherish while fighting the thoughts held by society. 

Beasts of No Nation (2015)

With common war seething over an anecdotal African country, this Netflix Original spotlights on a little fellow who's prepared as a kid trooper by a furious warlord (Idris Elba), and the impacts it has on him.

Before Sunrise (1995)

In the main section of Richard Linklater's protracted set of three, two optimistic twentysomethings, an American man (Ethan Hawke) and a French lady (Julie Delpy), go through the night together strolling around in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

A person known as The Dude (Jeff Bridges) looks for recompense for his demolished floor covering after he's confused with a mogul with a similar name right now from the Coen siblings. Less about the plot and progressively about a method for living.

The Big Short (2015)

Featuring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, a glance at Wall Street's inclination for self-benefit in a horrendous circle that caused the 2007–08 worldwide money related emergency.

Birdman (2014)

Alejandro G. Iñárritu won three Oscars including Best Picture for this story of a cleaned up superhuman entertainer (Michael Keaton) who battles to restore his profession with a Broadway play. Referred to for showing up as though it was shot in a solitary take, it likewise featured Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, and Emma Stone.

Blade Runner (1982)

One of the most powerful cyberpunk films at any point made is about a worn out cop (Harrison Ford) who hesitantly consents to chase down a gathering of criminal "replicants", engineered people with a constrained life expectancy who aren't permitted to live on Earth.

Blue Valentine (2010)

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams lead this show moves between timespans to delineate a couple's romance and how their marriage self-destructed.

Das Boot [The Boat] (1981)

One of the most true war films at any point made accounts the life of a German submarine team during World War II, as they experience significant lots of fatigue and times of exceptional clash, while attempting to keep up confidence in a case 10 feet by 150 feet several meters under the surface.

The Bourne trilogy (2002-07)

In fact not a set of three, however the initial three parts — Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum — featuring Matt Damon ahead of the pack as the main CIA professional killer experiencing amnesia were acceptable to such an extent that they changed the longest-running covert agent establishment ever: James Bond.

The Breadwinner (2017)

This vivified film follows a 11-year-old young lady living under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, who masks herself as a kid to accommodate her family after the dad is removed without reason. Uses brilliantly attracted vignettes to weight on the significance of narrating.

Bulbul Can Sing (2019)

Three young people fight man centric society and the ethical police as they investigate their sexual characters in Rima Das' National Award-winning dramatization — and pay for it beyond all doubt. Das composes, coordinates, shoots, alters, and handles ensembles.

C/o Kancharapalem (2018)

Set in the eponymous Andhra Pradesh town, this Telugu film traverses four romantic tales across religion, station, and age — from a student to a moderately aged unmarried man. A presentation for author executive Venkatesh Maha, featuing a cast generally made up of non-proficient on-screen characters.

Capernaum (2018)

In the honor winning, most noteworthy netting Arabic film ever, a 12-year-old from the ghettos of Beirut relates his life paving the way to a five-year sentence he's given for wounding somebody, and thusly, his choice to sue his folks for kid disregard.

Captain Phillips (2013)

The genuine story of a Somali privateer seizing of a US load boat and its commander (Tom Hanks) being abducted, which generates a salvage exertion from the US Navy. The Bourne Ultimatum's Paul Greengrass coordinates.

Cast Away (2000)

After his plane accident arrives in the Pacific, a FedEx worker (Tom Hanks) awakens on an abandoned island and must utilize everything available to him and change himself truly to endure living alone.

Castle in the Sky (1986)

In the primary film formally under the Studio Ghibli flag, a little fellow and a young lady shield an enchantment precious stone from privateers and military operators, while on the quest for an amazing drifting manor. Hayao Miyazaki composes and coordinates.

Chupke (1975)

Hrishikesh Mukherjee's redo of the Bengali film Chhadmabeshi, in which a recently married spouse (Dharmendra) chooses to pull tricks on his better half's (Sharmila Tagore) apparently savvy brother by marriage. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan additionally star.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Set in a not so distant future tragic Britain, essayist chief Stanley Kubrick adjusts Anthony Burgess' tale of a similar name, remarking on adolescent wrongdoing through the eyes of a little posse pioneer who appreciates "a touch of the old ultra-savagery".

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Steven Spielberg's moderate paced science fiction pic — which went through quite a while being developed, being changed again and again — is about an ordinary hands on fellow (Richard Dreyfuss) whose dull life flips around after an experience with a unidentified flying item (UFO).

Cold War (2018)

Bouncing either side of the Iron Curtain through the late 1940s to the 1960s, Oscar-victor Paweł Pawlikowski delineates the account of two star-crossed sweethearts, as they manage Stalinism, dismissal, desire, change, time — and their own dispositions.

Company (2002)

Enlivened the genuine connection between Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, executive Ram Gopal Varma offers a gander at how an associate (Vivek Oberoi) scales the mobster stepping stool and becomes friends with the chief (Ajay Devgn), before they drop out.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)

Declining to acknowledge a capital punishment from his PCP in the wake of being determined to have AIDS during the 1980s, the genuine story of a circuit tester and trickster (Matthew McConaughey) who carries restricted drugs from abroad.

Dangal (2016)

The exceptional genuine story of beginner grappler Mahavir Singh Phogat (Aamir Khan) who prepares his two little girls to turn into India's first world-class female grapplers, who proceeded to win gold awards at the Commonwealth Games.

The Dark Knight (2008)

In the second piece of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight set of three, viewed as the best comic book film ever, Batman (Christian Bale) faces a miscreant, the Joker (Heath Ledger), he doesn't comprehend, and should experience damnation to spare Gotham and its kin.

Dev.D (2009)

Anurag Kashyap offers a present day rethinking of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali sentiment great Devdas, in which a man (Abhay Deol), having said a final farewell to his youth darling, discovers shelter in liquor and medications, before falling for a whore (Kalki Koechlin).

Dheepan (2015)

Champ of Cannes' top prize, three Sri Lankan outcasts — including a Tamil Tiger warrior — claim to be a family to pick up haven in France, where they before long understand that life isn't totally different in the harsh neighborhoods.

Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

Farhan Akhtar's directorial debut around three indivisible cherished companions whose fiercely unique way to deal with connections makes a strain on their kinship stays a religion top choice. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta star.

Django Unchained (2012)

Composed and coordinated by Quentin Tarantino, a German abundance tracker (Christoph Waltz) helps a liberated slave (Jamie Foxx) salvage his better half from an enchanting however barbarous estate proprietor (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Drive (2011)

A double working two jobs as an escape driver (Ryan Gosling) becomes enamored with his neighbor and her young child, and afterward partakes in a bungled heist to shield them from the obligation ridden spouse.

Dunkirk (2017)

Christopher Nolan's first recorded war film narratives the departure of Allied fighters from the French sea shores of Dunkirk in World War II, utilizing his affection for non-straight narrating by portraying three fronts — land, ocean, and air — in time-moved ways.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

Right now age satire, the life of an ungainly young lady (Hailee Steinfeld) gets increasingly perplexing after her more established sibling begins dating her closest companion, however she discovers comfort in an unforeseen fellowship and an instructor cut coach (Woody Harrelson).

End of Watch (2012)

Before he made a horrible science fiction revamp of his own movie, essayist chief David Ayer took a close documentarian focal point to the everyday police work of two accomplices (Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña) in South Los Angeles, including their companionship and dealings with criminal components.

Unceasing Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

An irritated couple (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) start another relationship uninformed they dated beforehand, having deleted each other from their recollections, in what remains as essayist Charlie Kaufman's characterizing work.

The Exorcist (1973)

One of the best blood and gore movies ever, that has left an enduring impact on the class and past, is about the satanic ownership of a 12-year-old young lady and her mom's endeavors to spare her with the assistance of two clerics who perform expulsions.

The Florida Project (2017)

Set in the shadow of Disney World, a bright six-year-old young lady (Brooklynn Prince) takes advantage of her mid year with her ragtag companions, while her insubordinate mother attempts to make a decent living with the phantom of vagrancy continually hanging over them. Willem Dafoe stars nearby.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

In John Hughes' presently exemplary adolescent picture, a high schooler fakes being wiped out to go through the day with his better half and his closest companion, while his chief is resolved to keep an eye on him.

Fruitvale Station (2013)

Dark Panther essayist chief Ryan Coogler's first element offered a glance at the genuine occasions of a youthful California man's (Michael B. Jordan) demise in a police shooting in 2008. Victor of two honors at Sundance Film Festival.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Stanley Kubrick follows a US marine nicknamed Joker from his days as a newcomer under the direction of a savage sergeant, to his posting as a war reporter in South Vietnam, while watching the impacts of the war on his individual officers.

Ghostbusters (1984)

A lot of whimsical paranormal aficionados start an apparition getting business in New York, and afterward unearth a plot to unleash ruin by gathering phantoms. Brought forth one of the most notorious tune verses ever.

Gol Maal (1979)

A contracted bookkeeper (Amol Palekar), with a talent for singing and acting, falls where it counts the hare opening subsequent to misleading his manager that he has a twin, right now parody. 

Gone Girl (2014)

In view of Gillian Flynn's top of the line novel and coordinated by David Fincher, a frustrated spouse (Ben Affleck) turns into the essential suspect in the unexpected puzzle vanishing of his better half (Rosamund Pike).

GoodFellas (1990)

Considered as extraordinary compared to other criminal movies, time, it brought Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro together for the 6th time. In light of Nicholas Pilegg's 1985 true to life book Wiseguy, it recounts to the ascent and fall story of horde partner Henry Hill, his loved ones somewhere in the range of 1955 and 1980.

Gravity (2013)

Two US space explorers, a newbie (Sandra Bullock) and another on his last strategic (Clooney), are stranded in space after their van is annihilated, and afterward should fight garbage and moving conditions to get back.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

A lot of intergalactic mavericks, which incorporates a talking racoon and tree, meet up to shape a ragtag group right now that needs no earlier information.

Guru (2007)

Mani Ratnam composed and guided this clothes to newfound wealth story of a merciless and aspiring businessperson (Abhishek Bachchan) who doesn't give anything stand access his way as he transforms into India's greatest investor. Approximately propelled by the life of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Haider (2014)

Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespearean set of three finished up with this advanced adjustment of Hamlet, that is additionally founded on Basharat Peer's 1990s-Kashmir diary Curfewed Night. Follows a youngster (Shahid Kapoor) who gets back to research his dad's vanishing and winds up entangled in the progressing vicious insurrection.

Her (2013)

A forlorn man (Joaquin Phoenix) begins to look all starry eyed at a shrewd PC working framework (Scarlett Johansson), who enhances his life and gains from him, in Spike Jonze's magnum opus.

Hot Fuzz (2007)

A top London cop (Simon Pegg, additionally co-essayist) is moved to a lethargic English town for being the solitary overachiever in a squad of bums. A mix of relationship satire and a classification cop motion picture. Edgar Wright coordinates.

Hugo (2011)

In 1930s Paris, a kid who lives alone in the dividers of a train station attempts to make sense of the secret including his late dad and his most prized ownership, a machine, that needs a key to work. Martin Scorsese coordinates.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

In the best of four films, Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen is compelled to partake in an uncommon version of the Hunger Games, a challenge where people battle until the very end, including the victors of every single past challenge.

I, Daniel Blake (2016)

After a coronary failure that leaves him incapable to work, a bereft woodworker is compelled to battle an unfeeling British welfare framework, while building up a solid bond with a single parent who has two youngsters. Champ of the Palme d'Or.

I Lost My Body (2019)

Right now victor, a cut off hand escapes from a lab and scrambles through Paris to return to his body, while describing its previous existence that included moving to France after a mishap and beginning to look all starry eyed at.

In This Corner of the World (2016)

Set in Hiroshima during World War II, a 18-year-elderly person consents to wed a man she scarcely knows right now film, and afterward should figure out how to adapt to life's day by day battles and figure out how to push through as the war seethes on around her.

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Coordinated by Steven Spielberg off a story by George Lucas, an eponymous paleontologist (Harrison Ford) ventures to the far corners of the planet and fights a gathering of Nazis while searching for a puzzling antiquity, in what is presently frequently considered as probably the best film ever.

Infernal Affairs (2002)

The exit is a modification of this one-of - a-kind Hong Kong film in which a policeman operates covertly in the Triad while a member of the Triad is operating furtively for the cops. We both have the same goal: to find the mole.

Into the Wild (2007)

In light of Jon Krakauer's true to life book, Sean Penn goes behind the camera to coordinate the narrative of a top understudy and competitor who surrenders all belongings and reserve funds to good cause, and bums a ride across America to live in the Alaskan wild.

Iqbal (2005)

In author executive Nagesh Kukunoor's National Award-winning film, a conference and discourse debilitated homestead kid (Shreyas Talpade) seeks after his enthusiasm for turning into a cricketer for the national squad, with the assistance of a cleaned up ex-mentor (Naseeruddin Shah).

The Irishman (2019)

In light of Charles Brandt's 2004 book "I Heard You Paint Houses", Martin Scorsese offers a liberal, overlong take a gander at the life of a truck driver (Robert De Niro) who turns into a contract killer working for the Bufalino wrongdoing family and trade guild pioneer Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

John Wick (2014)

In the initial segment of what is presently an arrangement, a previous hired gunman (Keanu Reeves) exits retirement to discover and slaughter those that took his vehicle and murdered his canine. Less story, more activity, with the movie producers drawing on anime, Hong Kong activity film, Spaghetti Westerns, and French wrongdoing dramatizations.

Jurassic Park (1993)

It may be more than 25 years of age now however viewing the absolute first Jurassic film from Steven Spielberg — in view of Michael Crichton's tale, which he co-adjusted — is an extraordinary method to remind yourself why the new arrangement, Jurassic World, has no clue why it's doing.

Kahaani (2012)

A pregnant lady (Vidya Balan) goes from London to Kolkata to look for her missing spouse in author executive Sujoy Ghosh's National Award-winning riddle spine chiller, doing combating sexism and a concealment en route. 

Khosla Ka Ghosla! (2006)

After a ground-breaking property vendor (Boman Irani) holds a white collar class, moderately aged man's (Anupam Kher) recently bought property to recover, his child and his child's companions devise a plot to hoodwink the cheating squatter and pay him back with his own cash. Dibakar Banerjee's directorial debut.

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

A story about growing up of the youthful main witch, who opens an air conveyance business, helps a bread shop's pregnant proprietor in return for convenience, and becomes friends with a nerdy kid during her time of self-revelation. Hayao Miyazaki composes and coordinates.

Woman Bird (2017)

Greta Gerwig's directorial debut is a story about growing up of a secondary school senior (Saoirse Ronan) and her violent association with her mom (Laurie Metcalf), all while she makes sense of who she needs to be through fellowships and short connections.

Lagaan (2001)

Set in Victorian India, a town rancher (Aamir Khan) stakes everybody's future on a round of cricket with the well-prepared British, in return for an assessment relief for a long time.

The Little Prince (2015)

Antoine de Saint-Exupery's 1943 novella is given the liveliness treatment, wherein an old pilot (Jeff Bridges) describes his experiences with a little fellow who professed to be an extra-earthbound ruler to his neighbor, a young lady. Rachel McAdams, James Franco, and Marion Cotillard additionally voice.

A Little Princess (1995)

Alfonso Cuarón coordinates this story of a little youngster who is compelled to turn into a hireling by the headmistress at her New York all inclusive school, after her affluent highborn dad is assumed dead in World War I.

The Lord of the Rings set of three (2001-2003)

Subside Jackson brought J.R.R. Tolkien's extensive Middle-Earth to life in these three-hour stories, which graphs the excursion of an accommodating hobbit (Elijah Wood) and his different sidekicks, as they attempt to stop the Dark Lord Sauron by obliterating the wellspring of his capacity, the One Ring.

Loveless (2017)

A Cannes champ about the social ills of life in present day Russia, told through the eyes of two isolated guardians who are moved back together after their 12-year-old kid disappears. From grant winning chief Andrey Zvyagintsev.

The Lunchbox (2013)

A far-fetched botch by Mumbai's broadly effective lunchbox bearer framework brings about a surprising companionship between a youthful housewife (Nimrat Kaur) and a more seasoned single man (Irrfan Khan) going to resign from his activity.

Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

In unbelievable Japanese executive Hayao Miyazaki's component debut, a running expert cheat enrolls the assistance of a long-lasting adversary in the police and a kindred hoodlum to protect a princess from an insidious check, and shut down his fake cash activity.

Marriage Story (2019)

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play a media outlet couple experiencing a separation, which pulls them — and their young child — from New York to Los Angeles, the two unique main residences of the heroes.

Mary Poppins (1964)

In light of P.L. Travers' book arrangement of a similar name, a restrained dad contracts a caring lady (Julie Andrews) — who he doesn't know is fit for enchantment — to be the caretaker for his two naughty youngsters. Won five Oscars, including best on-screen character for the debutant Andrews.

Masaan (2015)

Neeraj Ghaywan wanders into the heartland of India to investigate the life of four individuals in his directorial debut, every one of whom must fight issues of station, culture and standards. Champ of a National Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes.

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

A neglected, veteran boxing mentor (Clint Eastwood, who additionally coordinates) hesitantly consents to prepare a previous server (Hilary Swank) to help accomplish her fantasies, which prompts a nearby dad girl bond that will everlastingly transform them.

Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

With the association he works for disbanded and his nation after him, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) attempts to beat the clock to demonstrate the presence of the rogues calling the shots right now. Acquainted Rebecca Ferguson with the establishment. 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The unbelievable British parody troupe blend their abilities in with the story of King Arthur and his knights, as they search for the Holy Grail and experience a progression of abhorrences. A contender for the best satire ever.

Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)

Parody so cutting that it was restricted for a considerable length of time in the UK and somewhere else, Life of Brian saw Monty Python turning their eyes on increasingly long-structure narrating. The Life of Brian is the narrative of a youthful Jewish man conceived around the same time and nearby to Jesus Christ, who gets confused with the savior.

Mudbound (2017)

A Netflix Original, this World War II show is set in country Mississippi, and follows two veterans — one white and one dark — who get back, and should manage issues of bigotry notwithstanding PTSD.

Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003)

After his folks discover he has been professing to be a specialist, an amiable Mumbai black market wear (Sanjay Dutt) attempts to make up for himself by taking a crack at a medicinal school, where his sympathy looks over against the tyrant senior member (Boman Irani). Co-composed and coordinated by Rajkumar Hirani, who stands denounced in the #MeToo development.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Set in post-war rustic Japan, an inspiring story of a teacher's two youthful little girls who have experiences with well disposed timberland sprits. Hayao Miyazaki composes and coordinates.

Mystic River (2003)

Three beloved companions rejoin after a fierce homicide, where the unfortunate casualty is one's (Sean Penn) little girl, another (Kevin Bacon) is the situation analyst, and the third (Tim Robbins) is suspected by both. Clint Eastwood coordinates.

Nightcrawler (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays an independent video columnist without any morals or ethics who will successfully get the best film of rough violations that nearby news stations love. A component directorial debut for screenwriter Dan Gilroy.

Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Right now Steven Soderbergh's set of three, which includes a group cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his eleven partners intend to ransack three Las Vegas club simultaneously.

Okja (2017)

Part condition illustration and part stick of corporatisation, this undervalued Netflix Original by Bong Joon-ho recounts to its account of a youthful Korean young lady and her closest companion — a monster pet pig — while easily crossing sorts.

On Body and Soul (2017)

A timid, withdrawn man and a lady who work at a Hungarian slaughterhouse find they share similar dreams after an episode, and afterward attempt to make them materialize.

Just Yesterday (1991)

A Studio Ghibli creation around a 27-year-old vocation driven Tokyo lady who thinks back about her youth on her way to the wide open to see her sister's family. Isao Takahata composes and coordinates.

Paan Singh Tomar (2012)

A genuine story of the eponymous fighter and competitor (Irrfan Khan) who won gold at the National Games, and later transformed into a dacoit to determine a land debate. Won top distinctions for film and on-screen character (Khan) at National Awards.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

In Guillermo del Toro's fantastical form of Spain five years after the common war, Ofelia — a youthful stepdaughter of a brutal armed force official — is told she is the resurrected rendition of a black market princess yet should finish three errands to substantiate herself.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Emma Watson stars right now age satire dependent on the novel of a similar name by Stephen Chbosky, who additionally composed and coordinated the film. Watson plays one of two seniors who control an anxious first year recruit.

Phantom Thread (2017)

Set in the glamourous couture universe of 1950s post-war London, the life of an eminent dressmaker (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is utilized to ladies traveling every which way through his custom-made life, unwinds after he begins to look all starry eyed at a youthful, solid willed server.

Pink (2016)

A legal counselor (Amitabh Bachchan) leaves retirement to support three ladies (Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, and Andrea Tariang) clear their names in a wrongdoing including a legislator's nephew (Angad Bedi). Won a National Award.

PK (2014)

A humorous parody dramatization that tests strict authoritative opinions and superstitions, through the viewpoint of an outsider (Aamir Khan) who is stranded on Earth after he loses his own communicator and becomes a close acquaintence with a TV columnist (Anushka Sharma) as he endeavors to recover it.

Porco Rosso (1992)

Changed into a human pig by an abnormal revile, an Italian World War I expert contender veteran presently functions as an independent abundance tracker in 1930s Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean. Hayao Miyazaki composes and coordinates.

Queen (2013)

A 24-year-old timid lady (Kangana Ranaut) sets off on her special first night alone to Europe after her life partner cancels the wedding a day earlier. There, liberated from the customary trappings and with the assistance of new companions, she increases a newly discovered point of view on life. Chief Vikas Bahl stands charged in the #MeToo development.

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Aamir Khan drives the group cast of this honor winning film that centers around four youthful New Delhi men who transform into progressive saints themselves while playacting as five Indian political dissidents from the 1920s for a docudrama.

Ratatouille (2007)

A human rodent (Patton Oswalt) who aches to be a culinary expert attempts to accomplish his fantasy by making a partnership with a youthful trash kid at a Parisian eatery. From Pixar.

Rebecca (1940)

Alfred Hitchcock's first American film depends on Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel of a similar name, about a credulous, young lady who weds a noble single man and afterward battles under the scary notoriety of his first spouse, who passed on under baffling conditions. 

The Remains of the Day (1993)

Made by the pair of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, this dependent on a-book film is about a devoted and faithful head servant (Anthony Hopkins), who gave quite a bit of his life — and passed up a ton — serving a British master who ends up being a Nazi sympathizer.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

After a just gems heist turns out badly in Quentin Tarantino's full length debut, six hoodlums — Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Madsen are a couple of the entertainers — who don't have any acquaintance with one another's character begin to associate each other with being a police witness.

The Revenant (2015)

Leonardo DiCaprio and executive Alejandro G. Iñárritu won Oscars for their work on this semi-personal Western film set during the 1820s, which recounts to the account of frontiersman Hugh Glass and his mission for endurance and equity in the midst of extreme winters.

Roma (2018)

Alfonso Cuarón returns to his adolescence in the eponymous Mexico City neighborhood, during the political strife of the 1970s, through the eyes of a working class family's live-in servant, who deals with the house and four youngsters, while adjusting the entanglements of her very own life.

Sairat (2016)

In a modest town in the Indian province of Maharashtra, an angler's child and a neighborhood government official's little girl begin to look all starry eyed at, which sends swells over the general public in light of the fact that their families have a place with various standings. As of now the most elevated earning Marathi-language film ever.

Scarface (1983)

Al Pacino conveys perhaps the best execution as a Cuban outcast who lands in 1980s Miami with nothing, rises the positions to turn into a ground-breaking drug boss, and afterward falls because of his sense of self, his suspicion, and a developing rundown of adversaries.

Se7en (1995)

Right now, spine chiller from David Fincher, two investigators — one new (Brad Pitt) and one going to resign (Morgan Freeman) — chase a sequential executioner (Kevin Spacey) who utilizes the seven fatal sins as his thought processes.

Secret Superstar (2017)

In spite of the fact that regularly exaggerated, this story about growing up — delivered by Aamir Khan and spouse Kiran Rao — of a Muslim young lady from Vadodara who fantasies about being a vocalist managed significant social issues and broke a few film industry records during its dramatic run.

Sense and Sensibility (1995)

Jane Austen's acclaimed work is enlivened by chief Ang Lee, around three sisters who are compelled to look for budgetary security through marriage after the passing of their well off dad leaves them poor by the standards of legacy.

The Shining (1980)

Stephen King's mainstream novel gets the film treatment from Stanley Kubrick, about a dad who loses his mental stability in a segregated inn the family is remaining at for the winter, while his mystic child sees terrible premonitions from an earlier time and what's to come.

Shoplifters (2018)

Victor of the top prize at Cannes, the account of a gathering of neediness stricken outcasts figuring out an under-the-radar living in Tokyo, whose life is overturned after they take in another, youthful part. Hirokazu Kore-eda composes, coordinates, and alters.

Shrek (2001)

A half-spoof of fantasies, Shrek is about an eponymous monstrosity who consents to enable a detestable ruler to get a sovereign in return for the deed to his bog, loaded up with enough jokes for the grown-ups and a straightforward plot kids.

A Silent Voice: The Movie (2016)

In view of the manga of a similar name, a story about growing up of a school menace who attempts to present appropriate reparations with a meeting weakened young lady he tormented once upon a time, after the tables are turned on him.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Two individuals (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) with agony and enduring in their past start a street to recuperation while preparing together for a move rivalry, in what turns into an impossible romantic tale.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

In essayist chief M. Night Shyamalan's best film to date, a youngster analyst (Bruce Willis) attempts to support a little fellow (Haley Joel Osment) who can see and converse with the dead.

Snowpiercer (2013)

Chris Evans stars right now from Bong Joon-ho, which happens in a future desolated by a test, where the survivors live on a train that constantly circles the globe and has prompted a rebuffing new class framework.

The Social Network (2010)

The story of Facebook fellow benefactor Mark Zuckerberg gets a slight anecdotal turn, as it investigates how the youthful designer was sued by twin siblings who asserted he took their thought, and offered misleads his prime supporter and pressed him out.

Soni (2019)

An irascible youthful police officer and her collected female supervisor must battle with instilled sexism in their every day lives and even at work, where it impacts their planned endeavors to handle the ascent of wrongdoings against ladies in Delhi.

Spartacus (1960)

In the wake of neglecting to land the title job in Ben-Hur, Kirk Douglas optioned a book with a comparable topic, about a slave who drove a revolt — referred to reflectively as the Third Servile War — against the compelling Roman Empire. Won four Oscars and was named as outstanding amongst other chronicled sagas.

The Stranger (1946)

An atrocities agent chases a high-positioning Nazi outlaw (Orson Welles, additionally executive) stowing away in the US territory of Connecticut, who is likewise tricking his credulous new spouse.

Super Deluxe (2019)

A between connected treasury of four stories, including an unfaithful spouse, a transgender lady, a lot of youngsters, which bargain in sex, disgrace, and otherworldliness. Runs at about three hours.

Swades (2004)

Shah Rukh Khan stars an effective NASA researcher right now a genuine story dramatization, who gets back to India to take his babysitter to the US, rediscovers his foundations and interfaces with the nearby town network all the while.

Taare Zameen Par (2007)

Sent to life experience school without wanting to, a dyslexic eight-year-old is helped by a whimsical workmanship instructor (Aamir Khan) to conquer his incapacity and find his actual potential.

Talvar (2015)

Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj consolidate powers to recount to the tale of the 2008 Noida twofold homicide case, in which a young lady and the family's contracted hireling were slaughtered, and the maladroit police botched the examination. Utilizations the Rashomon impact for a three-pronged take.

Tangerine (2015)

Shot totally on iPhones, a transgender female sex specialist pledges retribution on her beau pimp who undermined her while she was in prison.

Tangled (2010)

Bolted up by her excessively defensive mother, a youthful long-haired young lady at last gets her desire to escape into the world outside gratitude to a decent hearted cheat, and finds her actual self.

Thithi (2016)

Right now Kannada-language film, set in a remote town in the territory of Karnataka, three ages of men ponder the demise of their locally-acclaimed, awful tempered 101-year-old patriarch. Made with a cast of non-proficient entertainers.

The Town (2010)

While a gathering of long lasting Boston companions plan a significant last heist at Fenway Park, one of them (Ben Affleck) begins to look all starry eyed at the prisoner from a prior theft, confusing issues.

Train to Busan (2016)

Stuck on a blood-soaked slug train ride across Korea, a dad and his girl must battle their way through a countrywide zombie episode to make it to the main city that is protected.

Tu Hai Mera Sunday (2016)

Five thirty-something companions battle to discover a spot in Mumbai where they can play football in harmony right now romantic comedy story, which investigates sexual orientation partitions and social mores en route.

The Two Popes (2019)

Enlivened by reality, the story of fellowship that framed between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis, after the last moved toward the previous in regards to his interests with the course of the Catholic Church.

Udaan (2010)

Vikramaditya Motwane made his directorial debut with this story about growing up of a young person who is ousted from all inclusive school and gets back to the modern town of Jamshedpur, where he should work at his abusive dad's manufacturing plant.

Udta Punjab (2016)

With the eponymous Indian state's medication emergency as the scenery, this dark parody wrongdoing film portrays the intertwined lives of a lesser police officer (Diljit Dosanjh), a lobbyist specialist (Kareena Kapoor), a transient laborer (Alia Bhatt), and a hero (Shahid Kapoor).

Whole Gems (2019)

An alluring, New York-based Jewish diamond setter and a betting junkie (Adam Sandler) winds up stuck between a rock and a hard place right now, battling to keep a cover on his family, wants, business, and foes.

The Untouchables (1987)

With mobster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) utilizing the widespread debasement during the Prohibition time frame in the US, government specialist Eliot Ness (Kevin Costner) hand picks a group to uncover his business and carry him to equity. Brian De Palma coordinates.

Not yet decided (2009)

A corporate cutting back master (George Clooney) who adores living out of a bag discovers his way of life compromised because of a potential love intrigue (Vera Farmiga) and a goal-oriented new contract (Anna Kendrick).

Vertigo (1958)

Besting Citizen Kane in the most recent Sight and Sound survey of most noteworthy movies ever, Alfred Hitchcock's spine chiller about a criminologist scared of statures who falls for an old companion's better half while examining her bizarre exercises proceeded with his convention of transforming crowds into voyeurs.

Village Rockstars (2017)

A youthful Assamese young lady of a widow pines to possess a guitar and start her own musical crew, however cultural standards routinely disrupt the general flow. Rima Das composes, coordinates, shoots, alters, and handles outfits.

Visaranai [Interrogation] (2015)

Champ of three National Awards and dependent on M. Chandrakumar's tale Lock Up, the tale of four Tamil workers who are encircled and tormented by politically-spurred cops in the neighboring territory of Andhra Pradesh. Vetrimaaran composes and coordinates.

A Wednesday! (2008)

Neeraj Pandey's film is set between 2 pm and 6 pm on a Wednesday, normally, when a typical man (Naseeruddin Shah) takes steps to explode five bombs in Mumbai except if four psychological militants blamed in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings case are discharged.

WonderWoman (2017)

After a pilot crashes and illuminates them about a progressing World War, an Amazonian princess (Gal Gadot) leaves her detached life to enter the universe of men and stop what she accepts to be the arrival of Amazons' enemy.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

This Disney energized film recounts to the narrative of a computer game reprobate who decides to satisfy his fantasy about turning into a saint yet winds up carrying destruction to the whole arcade where he lives.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

The decade-long worldwide manhunt for Osama canister Laden is the focal point of this spine chiller from Kathryn Bigelow, performed as and when expected to keep a CIA insight examiner (Jessica Chastain) at the focal point of the story.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011)

Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, and Abhay Deol star as three beloved companions who set off on an unhitched male outing across Spain, which turns into a chance to mend past injuries, battle their most exceedingly awful feelings of trepidation, and become hopelessly enamored with life.

Zodiac (2007)

David Fincher marked on Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey Jr. to portray a sketch artist's (Gyllenhaal) fixation on making sense of the personality of the Zodiac Killer during the 1960s–70s.

Zombieland (2009)

An understudy searching for his folks (Jesse Eisenberg), a man searching for a most loved bite, and two rascal sisters unite and take an all-inclusive excursion over a zombie-filled America, while they all quest for a without zombie haven.

 For Regular & Fastest Tech News and Reviews, Take After TECHNOXMART on Twitter, Facebook, and Subscribe Here Now. By Subscribing You Will Get Our Daily Digest Headlines Every Morning Directly In Your Email Inbox.             【Join Our Whatsapp Group Here】

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[angrycollectordaze-me-blog]

Paper代写：Laura Marling’s music career

本篇paper代写- Laura Marling’s music career讨论了劳拉·马林的音乐生涯。劳拉·马林出生在英国，因为父亲的影响，从小就开始学习吉他，也是父亲将她带进了民谣音乐的殿堂。劳拉在2007的英国独立乐界浮出水面时年仅16岁。由于在她的MySpace上发表单曲后而引人注目。一把好嗓子，一把原声吉他，以及创作民谣的天赋，她通过大量的巡演获得更多的关注。本篇paper代写由51due代写平台整理，供大家参考阅读。

As the word “pop” appeared along with the evolvement of modernization from the late 19 century, when unprecedented changes were taking place, under the influence of the industrial revolution, urbanization and immigration across the world. The pop music like jazz, rock’n’roll in the modern sense resulted from a complex interplay of social and cultural forces that can not reduce to a simple algebraic formula. (Garofalo,) As we know African American injected the decisive blood to pop music which white men spread and flourish.

However, cognition goes different when talking about folk music. They almost existed as a nation begin to speak. They come from the mysterious vulgar stories, the cradlesongs mothers unconsciously murmur out. International Folk Music Council define it as: "Folk music is music that has been submitted to the process of oral transmission.”(Karpeles, Maud)

In the long history, folk music has been closed connected to native cultures and therefore a higher culture connotation and standard are expected in folk music. That why folk music are priceless treasures to dig.

Based on the specialty of folk music, except the basic instrumental skills, folk musicians are asked for deeper culture reserves and understanding. I’d like to introduce one of my favourate folk singers “luara Marling” to state some serious thoughts the talented singer has evoked me. I can always read the reports and reviews about her with exclamation points, startled by her mature skills on acoustic guitar, her deep voice and her delicate arrangement.

Her officially started her music career at the age of 16. After completing her GCSEs, she left her hometown and settled in the outskirts of London. After collaborating with a series bands, she gradually found her own way unassimilated among them and later made several huge acclaimed albums. Her first honor was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize and won Best Solo Artist for 2011   N/A NME Awards, Brit Awards, BBC Radio, Folk Awards in succession.In Rolling Stone’s review of Marling’s fifth LP, they even appreciated her lyrics as resemblance to Bob Dylan:  It's a flash of lyrical left hooks on a set where the British singer-songwriter goes all Judas, like Dylan before her, recording with electric guitar and broadening her palette without sacrificing her subtly bad ass folkie persona.(Rolling Stone) By nature as an over thinker, Marling prefers some obscure issue, related to religion, ideology and deep though toward life.

As a female musician who independently chases her music career at such an young age, as vivid as an interview has described “ It strikes me how very solitary she looks up there, a young woman travelling the world without the usual retinue of band and crew, her isolation somehow emphasised by her calm, modulated voice and air of self-composure.” (Rolling Stone)Laura Marling reminds me of the legendary Godmother of Punk “Patti Smith”. Besides the similar magnetism in their voice and their poetry temperament, I notice the resemblance to their experience in youth on the way towards arty career.

After arranging a good family for the unprepared baby and drop out of teacher training school，Patti left for New York with little money in her pocket. While almost 30 years later, another girl Laura left her family in Hampshiae, from which above I guess road towards dreams stay the same over the years. Youngsters have to leave their beloved family and get out of their childhood and start the adventure in the wild world where opportunities and resources cluster. This tendency is kind of crowd acting in 1960s and 1970s, and today it is no more appear such visible but still big city show its Unstoppable attractiveness.

In Patti smith’s autobiography, she spent a lengthy piece of writing to describe her childhood full of wonders and games in colorful book stories that make sweet dreams. She particularly emphasized her distinctive imagination that she made up many fairy tales and her strong feeling and loneliness towards surroundings that nearly arose some acute agony. Her literature love prepared for her later music expression "rock poetry," which implicitly aligned the techniques of poetry with a socially deviant lifestyle involving drugs and the performance of gender ambiguity. (Noland, Carrie Jaurès)

While laura, in the paralleled world, her father brought her to the world of folk music when she was a little girl. She described it as “a bit of blessing and a bit of curse, I wouldn’t slot myself into the age-apropriate genre”. Though as she regarded it isn’t age-apropriate, she gradually developed her precocity, which embodied in the terror of death at an early age. Laura express her loneliness in the song. As lyrics read“You listen to them whine and moan About everything you can't understand ”“But darkness descends once more into my life” one could find her isolation and the unfilled gap between her peers.

People who report women artists or women in whatever industries, will conventionally highlight their female identity, Laura isn’t an exception. She does prove some feminist thought in her action as well as in her creation. Not allowed to enter a homosexual bar, she went straightly in front the door of a sex shop and started performing. With sensitiveness born within woman’s temperament, in the song , she sings “To have someone be so admired I threw creation to my king” and “but I’m your keeper, I hold your face from light” satirizing those who rely on their husbands and loose self consciousness and moaning towards men who regard their mates as keepers. In another song she illustrates the same topic through a resented story telling, in which old-lady-like Voice rings with bitterness. In this story ,she describes a wife who lost her husband and then was push back to situation at sea. By story telling and some metaphors, she expressed her thought in a euphemistic and inspiring way, indicating obviously feminist awareness has gone far in her mind.

Though strong emotion hidden behind these lyrics, Laura didn’t perform in a sharp way. While the same theme performs in a total different way 30 years ago. The feminist movement arrive at the peak at 1960s, which  also reflected to music. Girls no longer bare the restrains to music genres. The music genre “cock rock” led by Joan Jett, sing < cherry bomb > loudly and with erotic implications. The 1970s icon Janis Joplin, an opposite image compared to isolated Laura, described as “Joplin created her identity as a tough, wild, hard-drinking party girl.”(Carson, Mina et al.)

For in that time, involvements of girls in a band are regarded as bizarre in public’s view, Janis have to start with an acoustic guitar instead of the noisy, bumbling machine she dreamed. I guess her public identity later is kind of an intended rebellion against the inequity.

As people always say that“ a long history hidden behind the folk music”, but I want to express “a long history hidden behind how women pick up their guitars”. Laura has experienced the conventional unfitness within an artist and gradually been accepted. Her experience implies specialty in this time and general character in all time of choosing to become a female musician. Though, struggles and parting remain the same, but today’s society has developed, more space and focus are given to the “second gender”.

References

Carson, Mina et al. Girls Rock!: Fifty Years Of Women Making Music. 1st ed., : University Press Of Kentucky, 2004, http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt130j6dp.

Garofalo,. Crossing Cultures: The Eruption Of Rock'n'roll. 1st ed.,.

Karpeles, Maud. Definition Of Folk Music. 1st ed., International Council For Traditional Music, 1955, http://www.jstor.org/stable/834518.

Noland, Carrie Jaurès. Rimbaud And Patti Smith: Style As Social Deviance. 1st ed., The University Of Chicago Press, 1995, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343938.

Rolling Stone. (2015). Laura Marling 'Short Movie' Album Review. [online] Available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/laura-marling-short-movie-20150324 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2016].

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[kartiavelino]

How ‘Green Book’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ rebooted the Oscar race

Subsequent month, a parade of fortunate celebs will take the stage of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre and say, “You want me, you actually like me!” as they clutch their coveted Oscars. However don’t get too cozy but, stars. Quite a bit can change in the subsequent seven weeks — an eternity throughout awards season. Voting opened Monday for the 91st Academy Awards, only a day after “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Inexperienced E book” shocked all people by successful the prime prizes at the Golden Globes. Then, on Tuesday, the Administrators Guild left the one-time favourite, “The Favorite,” off its record fully. As many as 10 movies may be nominated for Greatest Image, and as few as 5. In the difficult mathematical system, all Academy voters record as much as 5 prime picks. And in with the intention to be eligible for a slot, a movie should be the No. 1 selection of not less than 5 % of voters. Determining who has the greatest shot at successful an Oscar is a pseudo-science that mixes correct evaluation, historic precedent and intestine intuition. After all a movie’s chances are high affected by its high quality, however you additionally should take into account voters’ affection for these concerned — Marty! Meryl! — and more and more the day’s information. Take “Three Billboards Exterior Ebbing, Missouri.” In 2018, the acclaimed movie was nominated for six Golden Globe Awards, successful 4, together with Greatest Movement Image (drama) and Greatest Screenplay. After which the movie’s momentum skidded to a halt when columnists started assailing the character of a racist, however likable, cop performed by Sam Rockwell. Similar to that, the movie turned related to racism — not look — and by March, the Academy Awards solely honored the movie for its appearing. This 12 months’s “Three Billboards” would look like “Inexperienced E book,” which simply gained the Globe for Greatest Movement Image (comedy). It was additionally named greatest movie of the 12 months by the Nationwide Board of Evaluation, gained the Toronto Movie Pageant’s folks’s selection award and has been nominated by the Producers and Administrators Guilds. However some have referred to as “Inexperienced E book,” about an Italian-American chauffeur and African-American pianist’s journey via the Jim Crow south, a white savior story amongst different controversies. The film will decide up loads of Oscar nods, however positively gained’t win Greatest Image, as a result of whereas the Golden Globes prefer to courtroom controversy, the Oscars would love you to please cease tweeting at them. I reckon the prime canine for the second is “Roma,” director Alfonso Cuarón’s visually arresting ode to his Mexico Metropolis childhood. Hollywood loves Cuarón (he gained the Greatest Director Oscar for “Gravity”), and right here he has written and directed a movie artfully honoring a girl — his household’s housekeeper at that. “Roma” checks off quite a lot of containers (variety, established artists, snob attraction) and it’s the one film this 12 months each awards physique and most critics can agree on. However there’s nonetheless 44 days to go. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Up/#2) [embedded content] The Freddie Mercury biopic divided critics when it was launched in November. Nevertheless it’s been saying “Don’t Cease Me Now!” ever since as awards our bodies have continued to honor it. The Producers Guild — the greatest indicator of Oscars success, having accurately predicted 70 % of winners in the final 30 years — gave it a nod for Excellent Producer of Movement Photos. And it gained the Golden Globe for Greatest Movement Image (drama). Based on RottenTomatoes, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the worst reviewed winner of that award in 33 years. Nevertheless, the final time a film that took dwelling that trophy wasn’t nominated for the Greatest Image Oscar was 1963’s “The Cardinal.” It is a movie that defies the odds, perhaps all the solution to Greatest Image. “Roma” (Manner Up/#1) [embedded content] On Sunday, the Spanish-language film gained Greatest International Movie at the Golden Globes, however extra importantly Alfonso Cuarón took dwelling Greatest Director, stifling the momentum of Bradley Cooper and his movie “A Star Is Born.” It has gained critics awards in lots of cities — New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas — and has been nominated by the Producers Guild and Administrators Guild. The erratic nature of this awards season has solely helped the consistently-performing “Roma.” “Inexperienced E book” (Down/#4) [embedded content] “Inexperienced E book” has all the time been a darkish horse. It did, to the shock of many, handle to win Greatest Movement Image (comedy) at the Golden Globes. However all the whereas it’s been marred by controversies: Many have decried it for being a “white savior story”; a 2015 tweet from its author Nick Vallelonga not too long ago resurfaced that promoted President Trump’s bunk declare that New Jersey Muslims cheered on Sept. 11; and director Peter Farrelly simply apologized for flashing his genitals at girls years in the past. Will probably be an honor simply to be nominated. “The Favorite” (Manner Down/#5) [embedded content] What was as soon as thought-about a front-runner for Greatest Image, the costume-comedy starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz might simply go dwelling empty-handed in February. Though Colman gained Greatest Actress (comedy) at the Globes, the film received an enormous ding when the Administrators Guild didn’t embrace it amongst its nominees this week. “A Star Is Born” (Down/#3 ) [embedded content] When “A Star Is Born” — the huge favourite at the Globes — misplaced Greatest Movement Image (drama), Greatest Director (Bradley Cooper) and Greatest Actress (Woman Gaga), that staff knew they’d their work reduce out for them. The movie nonetheless has many admirers, however it has did not win any main awards to this point. Woman Gaga must be on the market shaking voters’ arms and saying “goo-goo ga-ga” to quite a lot of Hollywood infants. Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/01/10/how-green-book-and-bohemian-rhapsody-rebooted-the-oscar-race/ The post How ‘Green Book’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ rebooted the Oscar race appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2019/01/how-green-book-and-bohemian-rhapsody-rebooted-the-oscar-race.html

[theconservativebrief]

The 2019 Oscars will feature the first new category since the animated feature prize joined the ceremony in 2002: Next February, the award for Best Popular Film (which is still a nebulously defined, hard-to-understand title) will join the other 24 categories for the first time ever.

But if the Academy is going to start awarding prizes in new categories, there are so many other things it could be rewarding, things that actually have something to do with the craft of making films, not just an arbitrary distinction between “popular” films and everything else.

Some of those categories are ones that Hollywood folks have been requesting for ages. Others have only recently become trendy causes. But if the Oscars want to expand, here are six categories they should prioritize over “Best Popular Film.”

Finally, an Oscar for Mission: Impossible. Paramount

If the Academy’s (dubious) goal in creating a “Best Popular Film” category of some kind is to bring more recognition to films with broader audience appeal — and to get people interested in the Oscars who gravitate toward big-budget fare — stunt coordination would be a stellar addition to the roster of categories. As with some of the other technical races, like those for Costume Design, Makeup, and Special Effects, stunts are usually the purview of films with a big enough budget to pay for them.

And as with those other technical categories, if the stunts are great, you notice them. The people who coordinate the stunts are usually seasoned stunt performers themselves, and their job is multifaceted: Often they both cast the stunt performers (which requires finding both a specific skill set and, in some cases, physical resemblance to the actor they’re doubling) and figure out how to execute the stunt safely and with maximum impact. That deserves recognition — especially since great stunts can and often do elevate a movie with otherwise predictable plotting, dialogue, and even performances into something memorably mind-blowing.

Some recent possible winners of this category: Darrin Prescott (Baby Driver, Black Panther, the John Wick movies), Wade Eastwood (Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation, Edge of Tomorrow), Sam Hargrave (Atomic Blonde, Captain America: Civil War), Glenn Suter (Mad Max: Fury Road)

Imagine Moonlight winning an Oscar for how effortlessly it found mostly unknown actors to play instantly iconic parts. A24

There’s long been a call for the Oscars to add a “Best Ensemble Cast” award, similar to the Screen Actors Guild’s ensemble prizes for the casts of films and TV shows. But ensemble awards often struggle to figure out which actors to include and which to leave behind when it’s time to hand out prizes. (The SAG Awards make incredibly arbitrary cutoffs — like if you share a billing card with another actor, you’re ineligible — because there’s basically no other way to adjudicate such a prize.)

And then there’s the problem of, if all of the actors in a cast win the ensemble prize, do they all automatically become Oscar winners? The Academy likes to make the idea of winning an acting prize somewhat selective, which would go out the window in this scenario.

But you know what a good way to reward an ensemble cast where each and every actor was perfectly chosen would be? Awarding the casting agents who selected those actors for their roles. This would help explain the process of how your favorite actors wind up in certain movies, and winners would probably alternate between movies where a bunch of famous actors were terrifically suited to their specific roles (like The Shape of Water) to movies where the casting directors had to find unknowns to perfectly inhabit the characters (like Moonlight).

There’s danger that this award would just become the “largest cast” award — something like The Post might be hard to avoid honoring — but hey, it’s not like other Oscar categories don’t occasionally award the most of something, rather than the best.

Some recent possible winners of this category: Robin D. Cook for The Shape of Water; Yesi Ramirez for Moonlight; Kerry Barden, John Buchan, Jason Knight, and Paul Schnee for Spotlight; Beth Sepko for Boyhood; Lindsay Graham and Mary Vernieu for American Hustle

Oscar! Winner! Jim! Cummings! As! Winnie! The! Pooh! Laurie Sparham/Disney

Voice acting is most frequently associated with animated movies, so there’s an argument to be made that honoring voice acting separately from the “real” acting categories further ghettoizes a medium that already has a hard time breaking into the top-tier Oscar categories. But that argument overlooks the fact that, in addition to its rich history in animation, voice acting is an increasingly important part of modern live-action film.

This is especially true as movies continue to embrace the use of computer-generated characters within a live-action environment. This year alone, a Voice Performance category would hold the potential for an ursine showdown between Ben Whishaw (for Paddington 2) and journeyman Jim Cummings (for Christopher Robin), not to mention a handful of big names who provided CGI character voices for Avengers: Infinity War (Bradley Cooper, Carrie Coon, and, erm, Vin Diesel? Maybe not that last one.)

But more crucially, this category would also be a way to honor less recognizable faces who have nonetheless been integral in the characterization of many cultural icons, like the aforementioned Cummings (who’s been voicing Winnie the Pooh since 1988, in addition to several dozen other animated characters) and puppeteering legend Frank Oz, responsible not only for most of your favorite Muppets, but Yoda himself. Hell, the opportunity to give Frank Oz an Oscar should on its own be reason enough for this category to exist.

Some recent possible winners of this category: Frank Oz (as Yoda in Star Wars Episode VII: The Last Jedi), Dwayne Johnson (as Maui in Moana), Ben Kingsley (as Archibald Snatcher in The Boxtrolls), Phyllis Smith (as Sadness in Inside Out), Scarlett Johansson (as Samantha in Her), Alan Tudyk (as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph)

Andy Serkis should have at least an Oscar nomination by now for his groundbreaking motion-capture work. 20th Century Fox

It’s impossible to propose a motion-capture Oscar without talking about Andy Serkis, whose work as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films helped establish the notion that a motion-capture performance could be just that — a performance — rather than a technical exercise. His subsequent mo-cap roles in King Kong and especially the excellent recent Planet of the Apes trilogy have ensured that every year in which there is an Andy Serkis mo-cap performance has been a year in which people wonder whether this is the year the Academy will deign to nominate him in the acting category.

Serkis himself has said that the Academy has been nudging its members toward recognizing motion-capture performance, so why not just cut to the chase and make it a breakout acting category?

And it wouldn’t just be the Honorary Andy Serkis award, either (though he likely would and should be a winner in this category). Motion capture — and its close cousin, motion reference, which could be folded into the same Oscar category — has become an increasingly common component of filmmaking in recent years.

Several of the most, ahem, popular films of the last decade have relied heavily on actors doing motion capture, from Lord of the Rings and Avatar to this year’s Ready Player One and Avengers: Infinity War. So if the Academy is indeed looking for ways to recognize more blockbuster films, why not honor a performance medium that’s increasingly at the heart of those very films?

Some recent possible winners of this category: Andy Serkis (as Caesar in War for the Planet of the Apes and/or as Snoke in Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Lupita Nyong’o (as Maz Kanata in Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Sean Gunn and/or Bradley Cooper (as Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy), Zoe Saldana (as Neytiri in Avatar)

Lady Bird was director Greta Gerwig’s solo feature film directorial debut, and she didn’t win anything for it. Let’s create a category to rectify THAT issue. A24

It’s hard enough to make a great movie, but coming right out of the gate with a stellar debut is especially difficult. Most first-time feature directors — even those who had thriving careers as actors or in television — are still relatively unknown quantities to the often risk-averse purse-string controllers, which means lower budgets, tighter timeframes, and possibly less artistic freedom.

Many first-time directors end up going the indie route with limited budgets — and when their films break through the noise, it feels like a miracle. A new director often rattles the cages, challenging conventional films in a way that audiences and critics alike respond to. And it usually takes a fresh vision and distinctive voice to pull that off.

But without the name recognition of more established directors, who command attention before their films have even been seen, a first film doesn’t always get the Oscar campaign push it might need. A Best First Film category would even the playing field, and also help bring attention to movies by a more diverse set of filmmakers than the Oscars have typically honored, setting them up for future success.

Some recent possible winners of this category: Lady Bird, Get Out, The Act of Killing, The Babadook, The Witch, Dear White People

[embedded content]

Hear us out. At this point in the zeitgeist, trailers can often have as much cultural impact as the films they are made to promote. The best of them can spawn entirely new trailer sub-genres and continue to impact the cultural conversation years later.

Don’t believe us? Look at the Ringer’s recent bracket for the greatest trailer ever made, which ended in a battle between two of the most iconic trailers in history, Inception and The Social Network. Both examples show how a trailer can shift our cultural language and our cinematic language, while still remaining relevant nearly a decade later — all thanks to powerful editing, an almighty backing track, and a spark of creative innovation. That’s the kind of feat that can get diluted over the course of two hours.

The omission of the technical awards presentation from the Oscars’ televised ceremony means there’s even more need for a Best Trailer category, since trailers are a synthesis of technical achievements, editing, sound design, and cinematic magic.

Plus, the creators of the best trailers go overlooked even as their films get love. Not many people know that the iconic Inception BWAAAAAM, which originated from its trailer, was created not by Inception composer Hans Zimmer but by the trailer composer, Zack Hemsey.

Are you outraged that this information has been kept from you for the past eight years? There’s a simple solution: Add a Best Trailer category to the Oscars and give more geniuses their due.

Some recent possible winners of this category: Skyfall, Mad Max: Fury Road, Gravity, Blade Runner: 2049, It Comes At Night, Get Out

Original Source -> Forget Best Popular Film. Here are 6 new categories the Oscars actually need.

via The Conservative Brief

[caredogstips]

We need to talk about culture appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve

Is it OK for white scribes to take on a black spokesperson? The assert that followed the American novelists address in Brisbane has shed new light on one of cultures hottest debates one that has hundreds of years of backstory and has sounded through literature, rap, stone and Hollywood movies

Lionel Shriver knew she was going to annoy beings. Inviting a renowned iconoclast to speak about community and belonging is like expecting a great grey shark to balance a beach ball on its nose, she articulated. She then used her keynote speech at the Brisbane columnists festival to tear into the debate that novelists most particularly grey writers are guilty of cultural appropriation by writing from the point of view of references from other culture backgrounds.

Referring to occurrences in which members of student authority at an American university faced impeachment after attended a tequila party wearing sombreros, and reports of a ban on a Mexican eatery from making out sombreros, the author of We Necessity to Talk About Kevin announced: The moral of the sombrero scandals is clear: youre not supposed to try on other people hats . Yet thats what were paid to time, isnt it? Step into other folks shoes, and try on their hats.

The response was instant. Sudanese-born Australian social activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied, who was attending the event, walked out and then rapidly wrote a comment part which was contended that Shrivers speech was a celebration of the unfettered exploitation of the experiences of others, for the purposes of the guise of fiction.

The argument is one of the most parted yet in a conversation that has a long record across literature, music, arts and rendition. While story might be the catalyst for this discussion, in the eyes of Abdel-Magied and others the issues are deeply rooted in real-world politics and a long history.

The image of the blackface singer creator of 1830s America the lily-white musician decorated up to look like a caricature of an African-American person and play-act comic skits is perhaps the most oft-invoked illustration of culture appropriation from record. The ethnic dynamic of minstrelsy was complex it was performed by African-American and Anglo actors alike but while African-American performers often sought to gain fiscal insurance from these best practices and in some cases use their scaffold to counter negative public stereotypes of themselves, white-hot performers reinforced those stereotypes. This produced within a society which continues to be has not been able to abolished bondage, and in which the political ability dynamic was very much racialized. As the civil right crusade thrived, so did criticism of white people attempting to exploit the pictures and events of people of colour for social and financial gain.

This pattern is recurred of all the countries, particularly in places that experienced colonisation and slavery, such as India, Australia and South Africa. As students, creators, activists and writers of emblazon fought to gain access to mainly grey institutions and public seats, and gained visibility in the cultural globule, they began to criticise the inaccurate images of themselves they construed created by and for the profit of others.

The issue has been heavily explored within the establishments but has reaped momentum in popular culture over the past decade. It underpins criticism of, among other things, Iggy Azaleas sonic blackness, Coldplays myopic construction of India in their music videos, and Miley Cyruss dance moves. Director Cameron Crowe lately apologised for casting Anglo-American actor Emma Stone as a part-Asian reputation in the 2015 movie Aloha not the first time a grey performer has been thrown to play a reputation from a different ethnic background in mainstream cinema. The proof has been assisted particularly by the feminist parish focus on intersectionality crudely the idea that discrimination takes on different forms depending on the hasten, class and/ or gender of the person or persons subject to discrimination.

The charge of culture appropriation is not confined to fiction, but at the moment thats perhaps the most heatedly raced terrain . In March, Harry Potter author JK Rowling was accused of proper the living institution of a marginalised people after a tale produced to her Pottermore website drew upon Navajo narratives about skinwalkers. Shriver herself mentioned the case of vehicles of grey British scribe Chris Cleave, whose novel The Other Hand is partly narrated by the character of a teenage Nigerian girl. In principle, I admire his firmnes, Shriver replied. She then went on to item reviewer Margot Kaminskis concerns that Cleave was manipulating the character, that he ought to be taking special care with representing its own experience that was not his own.

Shriver took aim at the proposal that an scribe should not use a reference they created for the service of a plot they saw. Of trend hes using them for his patch! she suggested. How could he not? They are his personas, to be operated at his caprice, to fulfil whatever purpose he cares to apply them to.

What borderlines around our own lives are we mandated to remain within? questioned Shriver. I would argue that any floor you are able to draw yours is yours to tell, and trying to push the boundaries of the authors its own experience is part of a fiction columnists job.

While it seems obvious that novelists of myth will endeavour to write from perspectives that are not their own, numerous writers of quality bicker there is a direct relationship between certain difficulties they face trying to make headway in the literary industry and the success of grey scribes who illustrate people of colour in their myth and who go on to build a successful literary profession off that. The difference between cultural illustration and cultural rights appropriation, by this logic, lies in the grey novelist telling storeys( and therefore taking producing possibilities) that would be better suited to a novelist of colour.

Some writers argue that it works in reverse, more. In an phenomenon for the Guardian in November last year, Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James told publishers too often pander to the white-hot wife( the majority of members of the book-buying public ), making writers of colouring to do the same. In a Facebook post responding to novelist Claire Vaye Watkins widely circulated essay On Pandering, James used to say the kind of storey favoured by publishers and bestows committees abode suburban white woman in the middle of ennui knowledge keenly observed epiphany pushed columnists of colour into literary conformity for fear of losing out on a journal deal.

Speaking to Guardian Australia, Indigenous Australian author and Miles Franklin winner Kim Scott adds its crucial to listen to the expressions of marginalised people who may not be given enough space to tell their own floors. Fibs are provides; theyre about reform and opening up interior macrocosms in the interests of expanding the shared nature and the common sense of community. So if theres many articulations telling we need more of us addressing our tales, from wherever theyre saying that, then that needs to be listened to.

Omar Musa, the Malaysian-Australian poet, rapper and novelist, told Guardian Australia: There is a history of stereotypes being continued by lily-white the authors and very, exceedingly reductive narrations. Beings are just generally much more cautious of that.

Musa supposes grey scribes should read, support and promote the operational activities of the novelists of emblazon before attempting to encroach on that cavity themselves, if that is something they want to do. But he admits he experiences the issue difficult; the suggestion that writers shouldnt move outside the boundaries of their own experiences comes into direct conflict with what he sees as the purpose of fiction: to empathise with and understand other families lives.

If youre going to write from someone elses perspective, Musa says, its important to shun stereotypes, especially if you want to move the specific characteristics rich and flawed as a good character should be.

Australian columnist Maxine Beneba Clarke. There are two schools of thought about[ culture appropriation] I dont know what the answer is but I can understand both views. Photograph: Nicholas Walton-Healey

Musa has his own experience of writing across the cultural subdivide. His first novel, Here Come The Dogs,was told from the perspective of a reference with a Samoan background. Musa answers consenting criticism is a crucial part of this process: There will be people who will tell you that maybe you didnt quite get this right, and you just have to cop that flack.

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian-based novelist of African-Caribbean descent. Her memoir The Hate Race was prompted by a flow of racial insult; her accumulation of short narratives, Foreign Soil, was published to great acclaim after she won the Victorian Premiers Literary award for anunpublished manuscript in 2013. I think there are two situations in which Ive written outside of the African diaspora, she mentions. In both cases the latter are parts of short fiction and the process of writing them took several years, simply because of that consultation.

Beneba Clarke conceives consultation is all-important, but so is examining your own impulse to write from the perspective of another. What does it mean to be a writer “whos not” national minorities writer and wanting to change your literature? How do you do that? I think that was the opportunity for conversation that was missed[ in Shrivers speech] … How do we feel about writing each others stories and how do we go about it? Whats the respectful practice to go about it?

In some ways it comes down to personal ethics, she answers. Whether you feel you are doing no damage; whether you feel you are doing it sensitively; and, I believe, whether the publisher or the reader been agreed that you have done it sensitively.

Helen Young from the University of Sydney English department speaks fiction can have a very real impact on marginalised people. Individual journals have an impact on individual lives, but representation overall composes a seat and an environment in which people can feel like its OK to be who they are.

The politics of representation is a huge question in the science fiction and fantasy worlds very, speaks Young. This was exemplified by the recent expeditions against a comprehended leftwing bias in the Hugo gifts, in which disgruntled rightwing science fiction and fantasy columnists bickered the awards were being diminished by what the hell is experienced as the tendency of voters to opt studies simply about racial prejudice and exploitation and the like over traditional swashbuckling adventures.

Referring to the JK Rowling occurrence, Young suggests precisely because imagination is often to be considered as escapist, doesnt symbolize those stories dont stuff, or that authors should not treat different sources of their brainchild with respect. Theyre still the lived, hallowed narrations of living cultures, she supposes. Theyre the beliefs of real parties. So if from a western view you go, oh well, its just myth, I can do whatever I like with it, thats a problem.

Kate Grenville said she find writing Indigenous attributes was beyond her when she wrote The Secret River. Image: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

In some respects, the dirt seems to be changing. When Kate Grenville wrote her highly acclaimed historic romance about colonial Australia, The Secret River, in 2005, she shunned writing from the standpoint of Indigenous characters because she felt it was beyond her. Speaking to Ramona Koval on ABC radio, she alleged: What I didnt want to do was step into the heads of any of the Aboriginal attributes. I think that kind of appropriation … theres been too much of that in our writing. In her tale The Lieutenant, the sequel to The Secret River, nonetheless, Grenville did go into outlining more rounded Indigenous reputations, but only after deep and careful involvement with the historical records upon which her characters were based.

All the writers who spoke to Guardian Australia say they believe that considering the question of cultural appropriation is decisive, but the tenor of that discussion matters. They say that making a mockery of marginalised peoples concerns about image and appropriation does not constitute a constructive debate.

Scott, who has previously suggested a postponement on grey columnists used to describe Indigenous Australia, speaks lily-white columnists could use fiction itself to explore the tension about representation. Even the desire to occupy the consciousness of the other, that can be explored in story.

For Musa, the transformation needs to go beyond volumes: You probably cant have a change in literary culture without a change in the whole culture of the two countries, he says.

On the question of progress, in Australia at least, Beneba Clarke replies: “Theres” two institutions of was just thinking about this: that Australian literature is not diverse enough for Anglo-Australian novelists to be even considering writing from other cultures, and the other school of thought is, well, how do we change literature then, given that most of our writers are Anglo-Australian? Are we locking ourselves into an inevitably whitewashed world of literature?

And I dont really subscribe to either thought; I dont know what the answer is but I can understand both positions. But I think what I perfectly cant understand is disregard for any kind of consultation and an inability to understand when people of colour are outraged.

Such articles has been amended to clarify that the Hugo awardings are voted on by the public.

Read more: www.theguardian.com

The post We need to talk about culture appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve appeared first on caredogstips.com.

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[char27martin]

How to Work with a Freelance Editor: An Indie Author’s Experience

If I had traditionally published my books, the publishing house would have assigned an editor to me and the whole process would have been mapped out, complete with details and deadlines. But as an indie author, the editing ball was in my court—just like every other aspect of bringing my books into the world—and I had quite a learning curve! Here are some things I’ve learned along the way about finding a freelance editor, working together successfully, and navigating the multilayered, and sometimes intense, editorial process:

This guest post is by Tabitha Lord. Lord lives in Rhode Island, a few towns away from where she grew up. She is married, has four great kids, two spoiled cats, and a lovable black lab. She holds a degree in Classics from College of the Holy Cross and taught Latin for years at the Meadowbrook Waldorf School. She also worked in the admissions office there before turning her attention to full-time writing. You can visit her blog at tabithalordauthor.com where she hosts guest bloggers, and discusses some favorite topics including parenting and her writing journey. She released her first novel, Horizon, in December 2015. It won the Grand Prize for the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards in 2016.

1. Understand what kind of editing you need.

Good editing can make self-published books look indistinguishable from traditionally-published books. But if you’re new to the business, or working on your first project, you might not know that there are different types of editing, or understand what kind of editing your manuscript needs. When choosing an editor, determine what services that editor provides. This may mean hiring more than one person.

The first type of editing is developmental. Think of developmental edits as big picture edits. I’m too close to my manuscript when the last word finally claws its way out of my overtired brain and onto the paper. I can’t see plot holes, character issues, places where the writing drags, or where something doesn’t make sense. Skilled beta readers or a trusted critique partner can help with this, and so can an editor.

Once all the major issues have been solved and readers are responding to your story and characters in the way you’ve intended, it’s time to fine tune and hand over the manuscript for a copy edit. A copy editor will assure consistency throughout the manuscript. For example, I have a Jon in one of my books, and I would periodically spell his name John. A copyeditor will also catch overused words or phrases, correct grammar mistakes, and essentially polish the manuscript.

Finally, the manuscript will need a proofreader to give it a final look before publishing to find typos and small mistakes. I always proofread one last time after the proofreader, but that may just be my obsessive personality at work!

[Will a literary agent search for you online after you query them?]

2. Use referrals to narrow the search for an editor.

Now that you have a handle on the different steps involved in the editorial process, and you know what your manuscript needs, how do go about finding the right editor? There are a ton of freelance editors out there and it’s hard to sift through all the information.

I rave about my editor. I tell anyone who asks what a find she is and I regularly give out her contact information. When a writer loves their editor, you’ll know it; an enthusiastic referral is a great place to start looking. Ask people in your writing community and online writing groups who they recommend, and then reach out.

3. Interview a few different people.

Ask these folks to edit sample pages of your manuscript to see what kind of feedback they give and how they deliver that information. Find out how they like to communicate and ask about their process. Does their style resonate with yours? Do they enjoy your genre of writing? What does their turnaround time look like?

When you hire an editor, due diligence upfront is important. Your work together will be a business arrangement certainly, but it will also become a trusted relationship, and you’ll want to make sure this partnership is a good fit.

4. Recognize that editing is different from drafting, and honor your process around it.

You’ve found someone to work with and you’re eager to get started. So, what’s all the fuss you’ve heard about editing? Why do writers lament this part of the process, wring their hands in angst, scream with frustration, cry into a bottle of wine?

Okay, so maybe all writers don’t do these things! But for me, and for many of my writer friends, editing is an entirely different animal from creating a first draft. And when I say this, I’m referring mostly to the developmental editing phase. Drafting a novel fills me with creative energy. I lose myself in a world of my own creation and fall in love with my characters. Sure, I may get stuck in a plot tangle, but the overall writing experience is joyful.

[21 Fast Hacks to Fuel Your Story With Suspense]

Editing is different. On the one hand, the bones of my book are in place. I know where I’ve started, where I’ve ended up, and I have a lot worthwhile material in the middle. I know I have a good story and there’s relief and satisfaction in this. On the other hand, once I’ve turned in the draft of my manuscript after months of intensive work, I don’t even want to think about touching it again. I’m exhausted, and the idea of tearing it apart and reassembling it is daunting.

So, I have to honor my process and emotions around this. Here are some tips for making it through a developmental edit with your love of writing still intact:

First, celebrate the accomplishment of finishing the first draft! Without a first draft, you have nothing. But now the story is out. Good for you! I admit to popping a bottle of champagne in celebration within moments of typing the last word. Then, I send the draft off to my editor. While she’s working on the first round of developmental edits, the manuscript gets shelved while I gain some distance. I’ll actively work on another project during this time period, basking in the glow of my achievement.

Recognize that it’s really hard to have your work critiqued, even when the edits are spot on. Although I know what’s coming, I’m never quite prepared for the emotional stress I feel when I receive a five-page editorial document filled with commentary, and my own manuscript covered in red ink. To be honest, I want to cry—maybe into that bottle of wine! I want to call my editor on the phone immediately and beg her to tell me she loves me and that I’m not a horrible writer. I’m sure she’s pleased when I refrain from doing this.

Take time to process the critique. Once I thoroughly read what she’s sent me, I put the manuscript aside again for a few days, maybe a week. I let the ideas percolate. I begin to see that what she’s suggesting resonates with what I already knew. I take it seriously when she reacts to something in a way I didn’t intend. I recognize my own bad writing habits.

Allow the creative process to reignite. Once I dive back in to writing, creative ideas for how to fix things start to flow, in the same way they did when I wrote the draft. I scribble notes everywhere, from the backs of napkins to the little pad I keep by my bed for middle of the night inspiration. I form a plan of attack. Then I call my editor. We talk. We even laugh. And I get to work.

Recognize editing can take more than one go around. My editor and I will go back and forth, sometimes with a round of beta readers working on it in between, until we are both satisfied that this book is ready content-wise. Most of the work I do with my editor is developmental in nature, but she is very meticulous, so by the time the manuscript goes to the copy editor, it’s quite clean. We still both believe that an extra set of eyes is important though, because at this point, we’ve both looked at it so many times we know we’ll have missed something.

My editor has become a trusted partner in my publishing journey. I know if something is bothering her, I need to pay attention. Likewise, I know that when she says my book is ready, it’s ready. She gives me confidence to move forward when it’s time, but also honesty when my work isn’t quite polished yet, and as an indie author, that’s invaluable.

Editing is daunting, there’s no question. But understanding what the process entails, how you personally need to deal with it, and finding a trusted professional to work with makes all the difference.

The biggest literary agent database anywhere is the Guide to Literary Agents. Pick up the most recent updated edition online at a discount.

If you’re an agent looking to update your information or an author interested in contributing to the GLA blog or the next edition of the book, contact Writer’s Digest Books Managing Editor Cris Freese at cris.freese@fwmedia.com.

            The post How to Work with a Freelance Editor: An Indie Author’s Experience appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/work-freelance-editor-indie-authors-experience

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[greatdrams]

Adam, The Whisky Pilgrim, visits some Tasmania Distilleries

I visit my fair share of distilleries. 52 in the last 18 months, if you're counting, which I reckon is reasonable going given I've had to take holiday for every one of them! One feature of these trips has been early starts. I've blearily awoken everywhere from wigwams to the front seat of cars; from Islay hotels to Invernesian sofas.

City centre of Sydney, however, is a new one.

This trip came about by chance. My little sister is studying in Australia this year; not fully sure why, as she normally studies Sciences at Nottingham... In any case, the upshot was that my parents and I found ourselves planning our first ever jaunt Down Under. I'd say that it was more about seeing Vicky than it was about getting a couple of weeks of sunshine and adventure, but the year I lived unvisited in Inverness and Dundee rather speaks for itself...

You've probably heard that Australia is in on the whisky scene by now. If you haven't, then where were you two weeks ago when I wrote my Starward review? That particular bottle came from Melbourne, but the place that gets really raved about by folks in the know, and by Soho hipsters who like to sound on-trend, is Tasmania.

So I dug my heels in when we were planning our trip. I wanted to get out to Tasmania for a few days, get amongst the whisky scene, and see what was being done and by whom. My mother, who was planning the trip as a General might a campaign, insisted that one day was all that could be spared.

Which led, a fortnight ago, to my alarm clock squawking at me in a Sydney hotel and to an early flight taking us for a rather intense day trip.

Such necessary brevity meant that I had to be selective on my tours, and that I couldn't roam too far from Hobart airport. I'd have loved to have seen what Peter Bignell does with his home-grown rye, but it would have taken too long. I'm intrigued by the notion of the stainless steel stills at Hellyer's Road - how do they get sulphur out of the spirit? - but again, not an option.

Eventually I made my choices, so shortly after touching down in beautiful Tasmania (whose scenery is like a fusion of Scotland and the Mediterranean) I found myself at the front gate of The Tasmania Distillery, home to Sullivan's Cove.

Of the 22 distilleries on Tasmania (yes, 22!) Sullivan's Cove is probably the most internationally famous. (I know it's The Tasmania Distillery, but I'm going to call it Sullivan's Cove from this point to avoid confusion.) There would have been some dispute about this until recently, but in 2014 one of their French Oak Single Casks was awarded World's Best Single Malt by the World Whiskies Awards.

Since then Tasmanian whisky in general, and Sullivan's Cove in particular, has enjoyed rather a moment in the sun. Names like Lark and Overeem have started appearing on the shelves of London bars for the hipsters to try once and then go back to Japanese. Demand has exceeded supply to the degree that three casks-worth of Overeem can sell out in 20 minutes, with a huge list of disappointed customers failing to get their hands on it.

And that supply is not a big one. Sullivan's Cove, I was told, is the second biggest distillery on the island, behind Hellyer's Road. Last year they filled about 18,000 bottles.

18,000! I can't begin to stress how small a quantity that is. But to give you some idea, Highland Park's recent 'Fire' edition, described as 'limited and exclusive' was 28,000 bottles. Kilchoman, who by Scottish standards are tiny, make comfortably over 100,000 litres of spirit per year.

The natural upshot of this size:demand ratio is some pretty ambitious pricing. Don't expect much of a Tasmanian whisky in the UK for under £100 a throw - and a few go to well beyond that. A bottle from that French Oak Single Cask range - not the award-winning barrel, naturally - retails somewhere in the region of £300.

If you've read my posts for Great Drams, or on their former high horse, The Whisky Pilgrim, you'll know my thoughts concerning price and value. I understand why it happens, of course, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I've certainly never spent £300 on a bottle of whisky; couldn't afford to if I wanted to. And of course, a distillery charging those sort of prices has a very great deal to deliver. So I was fascinated to learn whether it did.

Funnily enough, the distillery I was initially put in mind of on arrival was the last Scottish place I visited - Wolfburn up in Thurso. Much like Wolfburn, Sullivan's Cove operate out of a small industrial unit. But in Sullivan's Cove's case literally everything is under the same roof, and in the same room - including all their maturing stock. If you've ever been to a Scottish distillery before, that alone should give you a sense of scale.

The number one law of The Whisky Pilgrim reads "thou shalt arrive unnecessarily early," and a different hemisphere wasn't going to change that. So forty minutes before tour began I was given a glass of water and directed to a seat in their charming visitor centre. It's a rather nice place to sit; I don't think I've ever seen such a wide variety of chairs!  Everything from chesterfields to 'doctor's waiting room-style', via what I can only describe as a pseudo-regency-period throne. Anyway, no prizes for guessing where I sat. It was gold for God's sake.

Talking of prizes, Sullivan's Cove have adorned the wall with theirs, and there are rather a lot. Certainly a good number for a range that effectively numbers three. Besides the French Oak they've an American Oak Single Cask, and their 'Double Cask', which works out about 70:30 in American Oak's favour.

Something worth noting about the French Oak incidentally - in Scotland it would probably be labelled "Port Cask", as that was what the barrels previously held. Actually, being legal and proper, they held nothing of the kind. They held an Australian Fortified Wine modelled on Tawny Port, and as a wine man by trade, that distinction matters to me. Bit clunky for a label, I admit, but based on my subsequent trip to Lark I can confirm that the PDO laws of the Douro Valley mean the square root of Jack to Australian whisky makers. Oh well. Probably no harm done!

My guide for the day was Ryan, an incredibly friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic young bloke. In fact everyone around the distillery seemed pretty young - ok, 'look who's talking' I guess, but you get my drift. Pretty much everyone was around my demographic, and the only place I've been before like that was Eden Mill, near St Andrews. Which, incidentally, is another small-scale operation cut from similar cloth to Sullivan's Cove.

Idiosyncrasy number one: Sullivan's Cove has one still. Not one pair of stills; not one wash and one spirit still: one still. Their wash comes from a local brewery, Cascade, who also used to do Lark's, and it goes through the still, comes out as low wines, then through the same still it goes again. Said still has a capacity of 2,500 litres. For some frame of reference, Glenfiddich describe theirs as 'unusually small' - and by Scottish standards they are - but they still stand at 9,500 litres capacity.

From a vantage point on a balcony, Ryan was able to point me towards the entire operation; still, casks, bottling line and the vats containing the gin that Sullivan's Cove also make. (Using the same still. That still earns its keep.) For some reason I was surprised to learn that each whisky bottled by Sullivan's Cove is over 10 years old. When a cask hits its decade, the contents are tasted by everyone at the distillery to assess where the whisky inside is at. Since the French Oak and American Oak expressions are both Single Casks, they come with their own sticker detailing distillation and bottling dates. In the case of the Double Cask (which usually comprises four different casks) they use the dates of the youngest constituent. The Double Cask I tasted was just shy of 16 years old.

I'm not sure why that surprised me so much; I guess I'd just got used to the notion of New World whiskies being a fair bit younger than their Scottish or Japanese counterparts. Shows what I know...oh, and by the way, the legal minimum age for Tasmanian whisky is 2 years, and they work at about a 3% evaporation rate.  Which was a shade or two lower than I expected.

On to those whiskies then. Ryan kindly gave me a taste of all of the core range. That included the gin, which smells like lemon and tastes like aniseed, if you're wondering!

Sullivan's Cove Double Cask - Lots of nose for 40%ABV. Vanillas and honeys initially. Rather fruity too, and the fruit grows as the glass sits. On the palate a touch of sweet spice emerges, and the development is demonstrated through a certain maturity of oak. Mouthfeel also surprisingly creamy for the strength. No burn though; medium intensity of flavour. More of the vanilla and honey, plus a big injection of malt. Some tablet too, and a splash of citrus providing lift and refreshment. Very clean. Decent balance. One for Balvenie fans. 40%ABV

Old Whisky Pilgrim readers will know that I only usually do a full note for a distillery's flagship expression when I write up  my tours. But since you're probably wondering how the other two tasted, I'll summarise by saying that I thought the French Oak was the pick of the bunch, and that the American Oak, whilst very tasty, was - to my palate - the least characterful of the three. Very clean; everything you'd expect from an 11-or-so-year-old ex-Bourbon cask malt...but no real surprises. Didn't have the idiosyncrasies of the Double Cask or the French Oak. Mind you, it was Ryan's favourite, and he knows Lark better than I do!

Hopped into a taxi which the fantastic guys at Sullivan's Cove kindly phoned for me, and plunged through the coastal Tasmanian fields towards  Hobart, the island's capital. Tour number two of the day was Lark, the first of the new age of Tasmanian distilleries.  Prohibition ended whisky production on the island over 150 years ago, but in 1992 Bill Lark persuaded the powers that be to let him start crafting aqua vitae again, and the rest is history.

A new experience for  me in more ways than one, because you don't actually drive yourself to the distillery at Lark. Instead you make your way to their "cellar door", from whence they chauffeur you  to where the magic happens in a minibus with a terrific pun on the bonnet. (See pictures below...) In this instance it's well worth your while turning up early, because the bar at the cellar door is quite something. I'd venture they have a couple of hundred bottles open on the shelves; predominantly Scotch, but with a good number from elsewhere, including a strong 'home showing.'

Taking a "when in Rome" attitude, Pilgrim snr and I selected a couple from Belgrove; the farm distillery that grows  all of its own rye onsite. We made our way through the peated and unpeated variants, and I can safely say that I've never tasted  anything like either of them in my life.  Good luck hunting any down in the UK, but if you do spot a bottle, don't hesitate. Particularly if it's the peated rye.

Behind the bar was Diana, who was full of enthusiasm for Belgrove's kit, and very chatty when we started swapping stories of our respective distillery visits. She'd recently made a trip to Scotland, and taken in 15 or so distilleries, so very much someone after my own heart! It turned out that she was also the guide for our tour, so I can only apologise to everyone else on the Drambulance for calling shotgun and continuing to compare notes!

I've been to a lot of distilleries by now, but Lark shoots straight to number one on my 'best sited' list. Not only does it have an absolutely stunning sea view, but it is cheek by jowl with a large vineyard. Whisky and wine literally next door to each other. If that isn't the dream then your dreams are wrong.

Hi-vis jackets donned, we made our way into the first warehouse, wherein the stills and mash tun are kept. The Lilliputian theme continued; Lark's mash tun is about the size of  a hot-tub, though I'm not sure I'd be keen on drinking a whisky whose wash had been used for that purpose. Since it's a manually stirred mash tun, potential jacuzzi enthusiasts would also be subject  to attack from a rouser. All in all I'd leave it as is.

Around the tun were a series of tiny stainless steel washbacks at various stages of fermentation. We had a taste from two, as well as a sip of the newly mashed wort. Not sure I'd make a habit of drinking them! We were then taken through the distillation process by CJ, the distillery manager, who had originally made his way over from Scotland on hearing about Lark's operation.

Before tasting the new make spirit we were given a glass of Lark's flagship, the Classic Cask. An apology here. Usually at this point I'd present my note for your consideration. But as it was a beautiful day we were outside at this stage, basking in the warm agricultural air. And on this warm agricultural air there floated a warm agricultural smell, with the upshot that my nostrils were charged with all sorts of aromas for which the whisky was not responsible, and for which the good people of Lark would not thank me were I to incongruously record them. So I can tell you that the Classic Cask was of medium intensity; that it featured characters of butterscotch, orange and light smoke, and that it would be right up the street of West Highland whisky fans. And I can tell you that  Tasmanian farmers don't stint on fertiliser. But I can't tell you much more than that!

After CJ had talked us through the spirit Diana took us to one of the cask houses, where several delicious treats were waiting. Firstly the 'Port Cask' expression from Lark's 'sister distillery,' Overeem. This was followed by a taste of Lark whisky straight from a tiny 'Port cask'. In both cases I'm sure you can guess why I've used quotation marks, but the whiskies were truly stunning. The Overeem, which was bottled at only 43%, could have used a bit of extra zing to counterbalance the huge weight of flavour and body, but the cask strength Lark was spectacular. In fact, based on my day, I'd say that Australian 'ex-Port' whiskies suit me a lot better than Scotch ex-Port does on the whole, and it's a shame they can't be labelled loudly and proudly as ex-Australian fortified wine. Or something a little less unwieldy. But I guess more people have heard of Port...

Due to the nature of our flights, my family and I had to flee at this point - though not before sampling Lark's gin selection. Out of respect. For the record, I genuinely don't think I've had a more enthusiastic, knowledgeable or friendly tour guide than Diana, and given the guides who have led me round distilleries previously, that really is saying something. Massive thanks to her, to CJ, and to the rest of the Lark team from myself and all of my family.

It obviously wasn't long enough of a trip.

Our flight from Sydney touched down at around 9:45 in the morning; by 5 in the afternoon we were back on the plane. Barely seven hours spent in Tasmania. I felt very strongly at the time, and still do now as I type, that I've never been more reluctant to leave somewhere in my life.

Because, quite apart from the stunning scenery and the gorgeous climate, Tasmania has something incredibly vibrant and magical and extraordinary to witness. Within my lifetime - within twenty-four years - they have created a whisky culture from nothing. The girls and guys at the twenty-two distilleries are doing something that no living Australian has done before, and what's more, they're doing it sensationally well. In the miniscule amount of time I spent there I got a flavour of the passion, the pride and the boundless dynamism of the Tasmanian whisky industry. It's inspirational to witness, exhilarating to be around, and if someone there were to offer me a job tomorrow I can't say I wouldn't be over like a shot. They're building a legacy, and they're building it on a labour of love.

The thing is, I'm still not sure about the prices. I know it's boring of me; I know  that the scale of production necessitates them; I know that Australian alcohol tax laws are pretty draconian, and I know that the distilleries sell out at those prices - so what's the problem? Well I think the problem for me is that, when I tell my friends and family about Tasmanian whisky, I won't be able to recommend that they go out and buy some. It's out of their price league - and mine - every single bottle. If they were Scotch I reckon the Sullivan's Cove Double Cask and the Lark Classic Cask would hover somewhere between £35-£55, and at that price they'd be up there with the very best.  I'd be telling everyone I knew to buy, buy, buy - just as I have been with Melbourne's Starward from the other week.

It's disgustingly unromantic of me to want some massive distillery churning out millions of gallons of whisky just so everyone can have a taste. And I don't want that; the atmosphere and the buzz around Tasmania is so optimistic and so alive with blissful vitality; how could anyone want that sensational, addictive ethos to be changed? But talking to Ryan and to Diana, it sounds as though the success stories of Tasmania are going to grow and grow in the next few years; bigger premises, higher production - same staff. If that is the case - and my God I hope it is - then perhaps we'll see some of the prices start to creep back towards the more affordable end of the spectrum.

I can't wait to see what happens next on the Tasmanian whisky scene - and I'm absolutely desperate to go back. But next time it'll be a proper visit; I want to see it all. I'm greedy like that.

Oh, and Ryan and Diana - if you're reading this, and by any chance find yourself in my hemisphere sometime, sincerely please do give me a shout. Because it isn't just Tasmania with a burgeoning whisky scene.  We've got one closer to home, too. The English are coming. But more on that another time.

Cheers!

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from GreatDrams http://ift.tt/2lEtplO Adam Wells