#he did not go through 60 years of fearless leading for this to be all he’s worth

[platossoulmates]

every comic i read gets me more and more angry about his portrayal in the movies and media

[bluejeanlouis]

Kiddle’s Fanfic Masterpost

I thought I’d make a little collection of my fics on Ao3 that I’m most proud of. I added a few major tags, but please check the proper fic tags for trigger warnings. Thank you so much for reading and sharing, past and present 💛

📺 We Were Such Fools (98k, M)

Time travel, 1980s

Rule #1: The Rewind Machine cannot be used to change the past, only to experience it. History will reset itself to the original timeline every 24 hours.

On his fiftieth birthday, two things are consuming Harry’s mind: what he’s going to make the kids for dinner tonight, and the fact that his marriage is crumbling at his feet.

So, when his best friend gifts him the trip of a lifetime, Harry chooses to venture off to the summer that set his life on its course—all the way back in 1987, California.

It only took him one summer to fall in love with his husband the first time around. How hard could starting all over really be?

📀 Remember Me Fondly (73k, M)

Enemies to lovers, famous/famous, 1990s

“You’ve told the beginning of the story so many times. I want to hear the end.” Louis laughed, scratching at his chin. “I can’t say I really know when the end happened.” “How about the tour of ninety-five?” “Alright.” Louis took a deep breath. “But it took a few steps to get there. What would you like to know?” Penny cleared her throat. “How did you first meet Harry Styles?”

Grunge legends Fearless Doe topped the rock charts in the ‘90s, but they spent the decade kicking Smudge off their heels. From lawsuits to jaw-dropping scandals and a surprising joint world tour, the two bands share a complicated history.

Twenty-five years later, frontmen Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are finally ready to sit down and tell the world their two sides of the same story.

Truth may vary.

🎸 Half a Million Strong (Woodstock Series) (100k, M)

Enemies to lovers, famous/non-famous, 1960s

August 15th, 1969, New York.

Louis Tomlinson is a young writer for a relatively new-on-the-scene rock magazine called Rolling Stone. His assignment is to fly across the country to cover the highly anticipated Woodstock Music and Art Festival. Armed with a notebook, audio recorder, and a camera, Louis just needs one big interview.

Harry Styles. A new name in rock music and a future name in rock history. His first album sold tens of thousands and his interviews attract audiences across the country. He has the poetry of Jim Morrison and the stage presence of Mick Jagger. And after seeing him perform at the festival, Louis is willing to jump through hoops to put Harry on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Part 2: Gather No Moss

🎧 Godless, Graceless, and Young (110k, M)

Friends to lovers, musician Harry (non-famous), 1990s

Seattle, Washington, 1991

It takes a special breed to have a slacker persona and still be a millionaire rockstar. Harry is about halfway there. He’s the guitarist in a Seattle grunge band that could finally be headed somewhere, but he’s also been sleeping on his bassist’s sofa for the last three months and has been fired from every day-job he’s had. Money doesn’t equal success, but it does pay the bills.

When a job offer and a new lead singer stumble into Harry’s life, he might be getting a lot more than he bargained for. Like a couple of extra gigs and a boy who can teach him more than just how to mix a few drinks, but it’s gonna take a few band brawls and a whole lot of heart-searching to get there.

He’s gotta have one somewhere…

🌼 Under the Yellow Roof (42k)

Road trip AU, enemies to lovers (kinda), ‘60s and ‘70s

“Are we really going to do this?” “Louis, you’re asking me to run away with you. You realize that?” “I’m not asking anyone else.”

Colorado, 1972: Louis is a gifted musician spending his days on the wrong side of a drive-thru window. Harry is the lead singer of a band in need of a little talent. Their big break is a thousand miles away.

Colorado, 1962: First day of middle school.

A lot can happen in ten years.

📼 What Happened to ‘Never Say Die’? (28k, T)

Friends to lovers, high school AU, 1980s

The 80s were one of the best decades to be a teenager in America. Just ask anyone who’s seen a John Hughes movie. Louis would beg to differ. At least today he would, while he was stuck cleaning out his family’s basement - part of his grounding after a senior prank gone wrong. But when he finds a box containing details of the biggest unsolved crime in Luna Hills, he and his friends decide to sneak out for one last adventure before they’re all off to college. That is, as long as the mayor, who also happens to be Louis’ mother, doesn’t stop them before they discover the truth.

Or, a coming of age American AU inspired by classic 80s movies like The Goonies and Stand By Me where everyone has a secret and no one wants to get caught.

📝 The Inevitability of Life (Fuck-It List) (60k, M)

Strangers to lovers, bucket list AU

Harry is not dying.

Well, he is, but in the same sense that everyone else is. Inevitably. Although, he’s not really living, either. Harry’s life is a routine. Every day he wakes up, eats the same breakfast, makes the same commute to work, works the same eight-hour shift, and goes to bed at the same time. But when an accident on a train leaves Harry nearly looking death in the eyes, he realizes, theoretically, any day could be his last. Something needs to change. So he makes a list.

The Fuck-It List: ten things he wishes he would’ve done if he were to die tomorrow. In the next ten days, he wants to cross all of them off. Number one is to quit his job. The rest might require the help of the stranger who almost accidentally killed him.

Or, Harry wants to remember what it’s like to feel alive again, and Louis has just the adventurous spirit he’s looking for.

[hljournal]

Today’s author is kiddle / @bluejeanlouis ! Don’t forget to give the fics kudos and leave a comment!

Remember Me Fondly (73k)

“You’ve told the beginning of the story so many times. I want to hear the end.” Louis laughed, scratching at his chin. “I can’t say I really know when the end happened.” “How about the tour of ninety-five?” “Alright.” Louis took a deep breath. “But it took a few steps to get there. What would you like to know?” Penny cleared her throat. “How did you first meet Harry Styles?” Grunge legends Fearless Doe topped the rock charts in the ‘90s, but they spent the decade kicking Smudge off their heels. From lawsuits to jaw-dropping scandals and a surprising joint world tour, the two bands share a complicated history.

Twenty-five years later, frontmen Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are finally ready to sit down and tell the world their two sides of the same story.

Truth may vary.

Under the Yellow Roof (42k)

Colorado, 1972: Louis is a gifted musician spending his days on the wrong side of a drive-thru window. Harry is the lead singer of a band in need of a little talent. Their big break is a thousand miles away.

Colorado, 1962: First day of middle school.

A lot can happen in ten years.

Godless, Graceless, and Young (110k)

Seattle, Washington, 1991

It takes a special breed to have a slacker persona and still be a millionaire rockstar. Harry is about halfway there. He's the guitarist in a Seattle grunge band that could finally be headed somewhere, but he's also been sleeping on his bassist's sofa for the last three months and has been fired from every day-job he's had. Money doesn't equal success, but it does pay the bills.

When a job offer and a new lead singer stumble into Harry's life, he might be getting a lot more than he bargained for. Like a couple of extra gigs and a boy who can teach him more than just how to mix a few drinks, and it's gonna take a few band brawls and a whole lot of heart-searching to get there.

He's gotta have one somewhere...

Half a Million Strong (50k)

Louis Tomlinson is a young writer for a relatively new-on-the-scene rock magazine called Rolling Stone. His assignment is to fly across the country to cover the highly anticipated Woodstock Music and Art Festival. Armed with a notebook, audio recorder, and a camera, Louis just needs one big interview. Harry Styles. A new name in rock music and a future name in rock history. His first album sold tens of thousands and his interviews attract audiences across the country. He has the poetry of Jim Morrison and the stage presence of Mick Jagger. And after seeing him perform at the festival, Louis is willing to jump through hoops to put Harry on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Gather No Moss (50k)

Music journalist Louis Tomlinson will do just about anything to get a story he’s passionate about. Including spending a week on tour with the hard-to-manage rockstar-in-the-making Harry Styles. In the late ‘60s, every long-haired kid thinks they can make it in music, and Louis’ job is to figure out what exactly makes Harry so special. That is if he can get him to put down the bottles and guitars to answer a question truthfully.

What Happened to ‘Never Say Die’? (28k)

Or, a coming of age American AU inspired by classic ‘80s movies like The Goonies and Stand By Me where everyone has a secret and no one wants to get caught.

The Inevitability of Life (The Fuck-It List) (62k)

Or, Harry wants to remember what it's like to feel alive again, and Louis has just the adventurous spirit he's looking for.

Born on Third Base (115k)

All his life Harry figured the recipe for success was to work hard, follow the rules, and have a plan. In school he always had the top marks in his class. He knew what university he wanted to get into, and he knew what he wanted to study. What was not part of his plan was getting accepted for a scholarship to the most elite private boarding school in the country. So, deciding that the opportunity best not go to waste, Harry shows up for his first and last year at Rockcrest Academy for Boys. There, he meets his roommate, Louis, who is seemingly popular, rich, rebellious, on the football team, and has a thing for movies from the 80s and 90s. They shouldn't be friends. They come from two different worlds. But with help from a secret off-campus car, and a determination to break the rules, they hit it off. And somehow along the way, they show each other the parts of life they're each missing out on.  

All You Get Is Sound (51k)

A month ago, Harry kissed his best friend. He didn't think it through at the time. His girlfriend just cheated on him, he was drunk and vulnerable, and Louis was telling him everything he needed to hear. Now he can't stop thinking about how much he wants it to happen again.

Louis is not in love with his best friend. There's no way it could ever work out, he tells himself over and over. Besides, Harry probably doesn't even remember the kiss happened. It shouldn't have happened. He can't lose Harry because of it.

As competition season comes to an end, the pair are about to leave on their school's year-end band trip- the final one they'll be attending before heading off to university. Spending that much constant time together can create a lot of tension, both negative and otherwise.

Can’t Slow Down (18k)

Harry is a drug dealer who's bad at his job and Louis is a waiter at a late-night diner who's just trying to make it through university. After a bad first impression and an accidental bag switch, the two are forced to spend the whole night together trying to finish the deal and get Louis his textbooks back. As well as his half of the profit, of course.

Long Way Down (4k)

After a devastating break-up, Louis remembers some of the best and worst moments he and Harry shared from the day it started to the night it all went down in flames.

[tcm]

Cantinflas in Hollywood By Raquel Stecher

Comic film star Mario Moreno, AKA Cantinflas, was affectionately referred to as the “Mexican Charlie Chaplin”. With his baggy pants tied up with a rope instead of a belt, his signature cap and distinctive mustache, Cantinflas became famous for his on-screen persona as a pelado, a Mexican slang term for an urban bum. The name Cantinflas, which he gave himself as a way to hide his show business career from his disapproving parents, became a term in its own right. Cantinflismo or to cantinflear was to talk like Cantinflas; in other words, to deliver rapid-fire dialogue in a way that would make a simple conversation more complicated, ultimately leading nowhere to great comedic effect. Cantinflas got his start as a teenager performing song-and-dance numbers in a traveling carpa, or tent show. He also performed as a circus clown, acrobat and a bullfighter which would later serve him well in his acting career.

Cantinflas was a huge star in Mexico and in the Spanish-speaking world in general. His appeal, besides his talents for verbal and physical humor, was the common theme of his Everyman character outwitting authorities. In an interview with the actor he once said, “Cantinflas no tiene edad… yo no me quito los años. Lo que pasas es que no me lo pongo./Cantinflas has no age… I didn’t take the years off. What happened is that I never added them on.” The ageless Cantinflas character served Mario Moreno well in a career that spanned over four decades.

Producer Michael Todd was looking for an international star for what would be the biggest project of his career: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (‘56). Todd took notice of Cantinflas and cast him in the film in the part of Passepartout, the fearless and clever assistant to Phileas Fogg, played by David Niven. Cantinflas received second billing for his first Hollywood movie but his role was expanded and he was given additional scenes not featured in Jules Verne’s novel, including a bullfighting sequence, to showcase Cantinflas’ talents and give him more screen time. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS was a lavish production complete with an all-star cast. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture the following year. Cantinflas excelled in the role of Passepartout and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical. It was a huge box office success and Cantinflas received top billing for the film in international markets to better capitalize on his worldwide fame.

Todd and Cantinflas became close. Cantinflas even helped coordinate Todd’s wedding to actress Elizabeth Taylor in Mexico, served as a witness for the ceremony and arranged a firework display for the reception. Todd would have overseen Cantinflas��� next Hollywood project had it not been for his untimely demise in a plane crash in 1958. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS was so successful that director George Sidney was able to convince Columbia Pictures to invest $5 million in Cantinflas’ next movie PEPE (‘60). This time, the film would boast even more all-star cameos and have Cantinflas as the top-billed star.

Based on an Austrian play Broadway Zauber, PEPE stars Cantinflas as a horse handler who loses his beloved horse, whom he affectionately refers to as his son, to washed up actor turned director Ted Holt (Dan Dailey). Shirley Jones plays Suzie, the love interest to both Pepe and Ted Holt. Sidney took cameos to the next level by involving big names such as Greer Garson, Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemmon, Janet Leigh, Bing Crosby, Kim Novak, etc. in scenes that would help move the plot forward. PEPE was shot over six months with five weeks of on location shooting in Mexico. For all intents and purposes, PEPE was meant to be a big vehicle for the international star. Bolstered by a big budget and a bevvy of stars, the intention was to not only capitalize on the successful formula of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS but to make Cantinflas famous in the US.

Unfortunately, PEPE did Cantinflas no favors. The film was filled with tired Mexican stereotypes. The character Pepe is presented as a simpleton who means well and serves to help the troubled Tim Holt and aspiring actress Suzie achieve their dreams. According to Cantinflas biographer Jeffrey M. Pilcher, “Moreno lacked the confidence to try fast-talking in English, and throughout the filming he retained his Mexican director, Miguel Delgado, who spoke the language fluently, to coach him through the uninspired dialogue.” Perhaps 1960s Hollywood wasn’t quite ready for Cantinflas to play Cantinflas and tried to manufacture a character with Pepe that would be safe for the American moviegoing public. Unfortunately, the critics panned the film and it didn’t drive audiences to the theater quite like AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS did. The film was released on Christmas Day in 1960 and earned $4.8 million at the box office which was not enough to break even. It did go on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards, although it lost all seven, and Cantinflas was once again nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS was a much better platform for Cantinflas to showcase his talents whereas PEPE was a sad finale to Cantinflas’ short lived Hollywood career. Cantinflas never made another American film although he was to play a part in the obscure film THE GREAT SEX WAR (‘69) that was never released. Cantinflas returned to his native Mexico where he made films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Despite only making two films in the United States, he was recognized for his achievements with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980.

[steadytigerobject]

Elgin Baylor wasn't going to be the beginning of anything. He certainly didn't set out to be the beginning of everything: the superstar who saved the Lakers and brought them to the NBA, L. A.; the transcendent athlete who "reinvented everything but the rim game" and changed the geometry of the sport; the avant-garde innovator who was, in the words of legendary Hoops writer Bob Ryan, “the most influential offensive lineman of the last 60 years.” He was fair ... Let's go. Trying to use the tools at his disposal to put the ball in the hole, in any way he can.

“The way I played the game was just natural, " Baylor told Bleacher Report's Dave Schilling in 2018 . "I never sat down and thought about what I was going to do. I was just reacting to the situation, to the way the guys were guarding me. I've done things that people have probably never done before. I just instinctively did it.”

These instincts, combined with a considerable amount of skill, strength, and athleticism, have produced one of the greatest and most important players in the history of basketball. They sketched out a plan that generations of super-sports wing scorers would follow-and, in fact, still do.

They propelled Baylor, who died Monday of natural causes at age 86, through a remarkable Hall of Fame career that helped lay the groundwork for the NBA’s transformation into a nightly highlight factory but that, for several reasons, has never quite seemed to get its proper respect.

These days, Baylor is most often discussed in the language of ancestry and lineage. In the NBA’s creation myth, he’s a Promethean figure—an early skywalker who, in the years before frequent nationally televised games and widely distributed video footage, helped pave a path toward the sort of eye-popping feats we now see every night.

“He just might be the best player I ever saw,” legendary Lakers play-by-play man Chick Hearn once said. “He was doing things that Dr. Julius Erving made famous 20 years later, the hang time and so forth. But Elgin didn’t have the TV exposure. Nobody did in those days.”

Those who did see him, though, never forgot it—and learned from the experience.

“In basketball, you watch and emulate the things other players do,” Michael Goldberg, former head of the National Basketball Coaches Association, said in Basketball: A Love Story. “Once one player can do a ‘wow’ move, then every kid in every school yard tries to do that themselves. Those that can refine it take it to the next level, and so on down the line. I would say that Elgin Baylor begat Connie Hawkins, and Hawkins begat Earl Monroe, and Monroe begat Dr. J, and Dr. J begat David Thompson, and Thompson begat Michael Jordan, and Jordan begat Kobe Bryant, and there’s more begats going on.”

Off the court, he was a fearless trailblazer who fought against the racist, segregationist policies of the Jim Crow era. On it, he was a groundbreaking slasher who, as Ryan wrote in the foreword to Bijan C. Bayne’s 2015 biography of Baylor, took “a game that was essentially horizontal and occasionally vertical and [made] it diagonal.” He was a tradition-flouting talent, an improvisational creator constantly unlocking new possibilities.

“His ballhandling ability at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds made him a one-man revolution,” Bayne wrote. “He had all the fakes and a sure handle, and some of his spectacular plays culminated in twisting, hanging, or gliding near or past the basket. Yet, it was the combination of those elements—the yo-yo dribbling, the subtle feints, the knifing reverse layups between taller defenders—that set Baylor apart from his predecessors and peers. Where such players as Hawkins, Erving, and, of course, Jordan became known for their trademark dunks, Baylor scored on one-hand push shots, banks, floaters, and fallaways.”

Baylor had the deepest off-the-dribble bag of his era, and he used every trick in it to score a ton. He totaled 23,149 points over 14 seasons—all after entering the NBA at age 24, all compiled without a 3-point line—which made him the third-leading scorer in NBA history behind Wilt and Oscar when he retired in 1972. (He now ranks 36th on the all-time NBA/ABA leaderboard.) He averaged 38.3 points per game during the 1961-62 season, the fourth-highest single-season average in NBA history, while spending a large chunk of it as an active-duty Army reservist who could play only on weekends and when given special clearance.

There was a bitter irony in that: Baylor performing at an all-time-superstar level while on leave from serving a country that continued to treat him and people who looked like him as second-class citizens.

Two years earlier, on January 16, 1959, the Lakers were scheduled to play the Cincinnati Royals in Charleston, West Virginia. When they arrived at the Kanawha Hotel, the desk clerk took one look at them—specifically Baylor, Boo Ellis, and Ed Fleming—and told team captain Vern Mikkelsen, “The three colored boys will have to go somewhere else. This is a nice, respectable hotel. We can’t take the colored boys.”

Rather than submit to the discriminatory policy, the entire Lakers team left, staying instead in a motel that welcomed Black guests. Later, Baylor went out with his teammates to get something to eat, only to be denied service at a restaurant, too. An incensed Baylor decided not to play in the game, boycotting to call attention to the inequality and mistreatment he and other Black people faced in the town.

“I'm human, " he told his friend and teammate Hot Rod Hundley, who was white. "All I want is to be treated like a human being. I am not an animal that is put in a cage and released on the show. They won't treat me like an animal.”

The NBA and the Lakers stood by Baylor. From then on, the Lakers will require that there be no segregation clauses in their contracts when organizing games. Soon after, then-NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff " promised to make sure that such treatment of black players in hotels is a thing of the past when they represent the League.”

” Of course, I don't regret doing it, " Baylor said in a March 1963 sports magazine op - ed. "I'm not a trailblazer or anything, but I'm interested in my people and progress. My name is Elgin Baylor, and I don't want anything more than I have a right to.”

That perseverance is evident again at the 1964 NBA All-Star Game in Boston, when Baylor, Robertson, Jerry West, and other star players “barricaded themselves in the locker room and announced that they would not play unless they were guaranteed benefits originally directed by the commissioner last summer”—namely , improved playing conditions, athletic coaches on all teams, and a retirement plan.

“[Lakers owner Bob Short] said to an Irish cop that guarded the door, ‘Tell Elgin Baylor if he doesn’t get out there, he’s through,’” Celtics All-Star Tommy Heinsohn told Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times in 2011. Baylor didn’t budge. The stoppage worked.

“For Elgin, in particular, the Black athletes, they had to be crusaders in this league and in many cases were vilified for it,” West told Sam Smith in his 2017 book Hard Labor: The Battle That Birthed the Billion-Dollar NBA. “That day has always resonated with me as one of the seminal points of this league. … That day in Boston probably was the beginning of something that few could comprehend.”

Baylor represented an inflection point on the court, too. In the early years of the NBA, the run of play was dominated by towering post players like George Mikan and Dolph Schayes, or sweet-shooting perimeter playmakers like “Jumpin’” Joe Fulks, Paul Arizin, and Bob Cousy. Baylor split the difference, combining the bulldozing strength and rebounding of the league’s best bigs with the speed, quickness, passing, and shotmaking of its top guards, all in a bruising 6-foot-5, 225-pound package. You know how James Harden is sometimes described as being built like a tank? Baylor was the same size and, in his day, just as tough to stop; Knicks forward Richie Guerin, a Hall of Famer in his own right, once said defending Baylor was “like guarding a flood.”

The way Baylor moved could move people. Stylistic successor Julius Erving described it as “just ballet in basketball.” To Hall of Fame guard Charlie Scott, watching Baylor was “like watching poetry.” They weren’t alone in their hosannas; Baylor’s play inspired some delightfully creative and high-minded descriptions from the ink-stained wretches tasked with capturing his brilliance. One favorite: “When Baylor gets the ball, the opposition scatters like quail at the sight of the hunter.”

You can only earn prose that purple with pure production. Baylor is one of only four players to average more than 25 points and 10 rebounds per game in his career, joined by Chamberlain, Karl Malone, and Bob Pettit. Of that group, only Wilt delivered as many assists per game as Baylor, a heady passer who still ranks 20th on the all-time triple-double list:

Baylor is one of only 10 players ever to have at least 10 appearances on an NBA first team; only LeBron James, Bryant and Malone have more. Nearly 50 years after his retirement, his career scoring average of 27.4 points per game still ranks third, behind only Wilt and Jordan. He still ranks 11th in rebounds per game, and in the top 30 in player efficiency, field goals, free throws, and total rebounds.

[simonamelville]

Sex Pistols

Leaving the peace-sign-holding 60s and entering the anarchy-filled 70s, one of the most influential punk bands of all time had been born in 1975.

The two consecutive decades could not be more different from one another; whilst the hippie 60s featured soft edges, colourful and pattern filled clothes as well as flowy fabrics, such as loose fitting jackets, flared jeans and trousers, and long hair the 70s did the exact opposite, and this was prominent mostly in the UK. Ripped-up-controversial- slogan t-shirts were a massive hit, paired with tight ripped trousers and of course a studded, short, black leather jackets and of course to finish off the look, messy-gelled spiky hair.

In 1974 a boutique run by Malcolm McLaren his girlfriend-at-the-time Vivienne Westwood had opened on Kings Road in London. This clothing brand was the start of the punk movement. The two high-school friends Steve Jones and Paul Cook had decided to form a band originally called The Strand, who mainly took inspiration from The Who and 60s mod music. The boys would always be seen hanging out at the shop owned by McLaren, as well Glen Matlock who worked there at the time. The Sex Pistols established themselves as a band when one day Steve Jones saw John Lydon in the Sex shop where they would all frequently hag out, Steve liked the look of John, who look “a bit different”, with green hair and a self-made ‘I HATE Pink Floyd’ t-shit which appealed to the band members. And this when they became the Sex Pistols. Malcolm McLaren stayed as they manager and they set off to perform live at any clubs and venues that would take them, due to their extreme style and ‘rough-around-the-edges’ music.

The band affected everyone they performed in front of, no matter if they liked the Sex Pistols music or not, they were purely influenced by their raw aesthetic and sound. The young kids represented the UK’s deteriorating economy at the time, and their aesthetic was heavily influenced by that. Anti-social behaviour was very prominent due to the lack of money that most people experienced at the time, and the Sex Pistols were no exception. Paul Cook remembers the times when him and the rest of the band were left with no choice but to steal music equipment, and who’s a better person to steal from than David Bowie. Cook remembers going backstage after the shows where the equipment were left over night and taking them for themselves. As these times were hard for everyone, people had to become a lot more creative at obtaining clothes. This what the band did, they would get most their clothes from the Malcolm McLaren owned shop, however, the rest they would make themselves. John Rotten would rip up his old trousers or saw them up in different fashions, and pin them with safety pins, as he didn’t want them to fall down and expose his arse.

Later the shop Sex went through a rebranding period and changed their name to Seditionaries, this when Vivienne Westwood started to create t-shirts with controversial slogans and image on them. One of the most famous one is the two cowboys who had each others genitals touching, which of course, in the mid 70s was highly unacceptable and contentious. However, the band loved these designs especially Sid Vicious, who’s most iconic look was the red t-shirt with a Nazi swastika on it and a black leather jacket, this look sparks debates even in today's day.

When the song ‘Anarchy In The UK’ came out it reached number 38 in the charts before getting removed by the record label. Around the same time Vivienne Westwood designed and released a top that was called ‘Anarchy in the UK’ shirt, which featured the slogan “Only Anarchists Are Pretty” on the front of it, as well as an image of Karl Marx who was a famous economist.

The Sex Pistols ended up breaking up 3 years later in 1978, after the lead singer John Rotten left the band due to many disagreements with McLaren. Even though the band had a short run they will always be seen as one of the most influential bands to ever exist, as they represented the whole entirety of the punk movement with they contentious music, as well as their rebellious style and aesthetic which encouraged young teenagers to be themselves and be brave and fearless, which I believe was very important especially in that economic climate in the UK, as the youths needed something to cling onto and this style seemed like a head-turning and fashionable option at the time.

[enchi-elm]

This is a summary of some of the historical research I did for Chapter 4: WWCD? of my Turn:Washington's Spies fanfic, You've Caught Me Between Wind and Water.

Disclaimer: my information is the result of only two weeks extensive googling. I have focused on Oneida sources for the Oneida material. This is meant as an overview, and I heavily recommend looking into the events and subjects described to supplement your own understanding.

I'm not going to talk about the dozens of articles I read about supply problems the Continental Army endured during Valley Forge because enough is enough. The information is easy to find. It's practically an origin myth.

In this post:

Native/Indigenous Involvement in the American Revolution

Oneida Language

Tehawenkaragwen, or Han Yerry (Hanyery, Honyery, Han Ury)

Sea Shanties

Sackett's Cryptography

Native/Indigenous Involvement in the American Revolution

I cannot overstate the importance of Indigenous contributions to the American fight for independence and the British attempts to quell it. 

By the 18th Century, the many Indigenous nations were a powerful political force in their own right. They were vital trade partners and it behooved both the colonists and the colonizers to make important and life-saving trade and political alliances with them.

For the start of the American Revolution, the Indigenous tribes (loosely comprising here the Six Nations (Oneida, Mohawk, Tuscarora, Seneca, Onondaga and Cayuga) along the other tribes, such as the Algonquin, the Mikmak, etc.) were neutral--and this was a lot of political pressure they wielded, because they could often threaten to side with the others if trade agreements were unfavourable. Eventually though, and I'll be narrowing in on the Six Nations, cause that's kind of what I understand the best from my research, sides were taken.

The Six Nations overwhelmingly sided with the British: Cayuga, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Seneca and Mohawk, often making up almost half the fighting force on the field. The Oneida, due to where they were living, i.e. in closer proximity to and having stronger trade ties with the Continentals, sided with the Patriots. Now--this was not clear cut. Individuals within the tribes could lean either way. And often, this provided a means to parlay formally between the British and the Americans, for example, through Mohawk-Oneida connections.

The Battle of Oriskany featured such a pre-battle parlay, between the Oneida teenager Paulus and the Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. This link provides some great information on the Oneida-Mohawk relationships in the Revolution, particularly leading up to the Battle of Oriskany.

You really get the sense that, despite how contemporary portrayals brush it under the rug, political ties within the Six Nations and other Indigenous tribes hugely affected allegiances and outcomes of the war. 

This quote really says it best:

During the Revolutionary War, Oneidas bound themselves “to hold the Covenant Chain with the United States, and with them to be buried in the same, or to enjoy the fruits of victory and peace” (Duane, 1778). Choosing to ally with the young United States, the Oneida Nation served the American cause with fidelity, effectiveness, and at terrible cost.

The Oneida also famously arrived at Valley Forge in May 1778 with, it is said, anywhere between 60 and 600 bushels of corn for the army. It was a relief mission.

In my story, I’ve massaged events a little (mostly because I completely messed up the timeline while I was researching, mea culpa) and the Oneida will save the day much earlier. I figure a little gratitude is overdue, so I’m not fussed with this detail.

Oneida Language

The two phrases used in the story were chosen after looking through an Oneida language source (useful, but beyond what I needed) and then consulting an Oneida-made youtube video. Languages evolve with time, and it is worth noting that Oneida now likely sounded different than Oneida in 1777.

Tehawenkaragwen, or Han Yerry (Hanyery, Honyery, Han Ury)

I had the toughest time researching this man. Considering he was a chief warrior in one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution, not to mention an important political ally, the fact that he is memorialized as an "Indian guide” is... deeply unsatisfying and undignified. 

There's also very little known, or at least available to read, about things a fiction author would value: his demeanor, his appearance, his values.

His characterization in my story I have based mostly on this account, see "Hanyery at Oriskany." He's described as being in his fifties, fearless, competent and evidently much admired. His wife, Tyonajanegen, and his son fought with him at Oriskany. When Han Yerry was shot through his wrist, on horseback, his wife would load his gun for him so he could still shoot.

There is only one other specific account of Han Yerry in his role as a chief and interlocutor. It is... horribly biased, awfully phrased, and reads like... *flaps hands, shakes head* Forget it. All I took from it is that Han Yerry is referred to as the "leading chief of the Confederacy" and interfaced with Patriot magistrates. My description of him is deliberately light, as there are no paintings or accounts I could find that suggest what dress or ceremonial/practical items he would keep on him in his capacity as a chief, or as a warrior. (And frankly, I'm not sure that I would trust a Western portrait.)

I also wanted him to speak words that were spoken through Oneida oral tradition:

As the Oneidas expressed it: “In the late war with the people on the other side of the great water and at a period when thick darkness overspread this country, your brothers the Oneidas stepped forth, and uninvited took up the hatchet in your defense. We fought by your side, our blood flowed together, and the bones of our warriors mingled with yours” (Hough 1861 1:124).

In 2x01, Caleb calls him Han Yerry, and he is credited as such, so I used this version of his name.

Sea Shanties

To start with, please behold this glorious master post by @gerrydelano​. 

There is no reason for Caleb to be singing "Santiana" other than that it is currently my favourite shanty. "Santiana" describes events that take place during the Mexican-American War in 1846-1848. So, you know, a good seventy years after this story is set. I was going to look up era-appropriate songs, then ran into this baffling article that declares that sea shanties were a thing that had fallen into disuse by 1777. Given the highly romanticized and very lucrative economy of whaling and seafaring in the 18th Century, I find that hard to believe. And at any point, I remembered that this is fanfic and I can do what I want, so, Santiana it is.

Sackett's Cryptography

In 1x06 "Mr. Culpeper", Sackett discusses his favourite methods of encryption, including Rossignol, Trithemius, and Dumas then promptly roasts Ben for not using any encryption at all. These are all single substitution ciphers, where individual letters, syllables or words are substituted by numbers.

The Spartan scytale, which I name-dropped, is a transposition cipher, where the text itself is unaltered but the letters are put out of order. It indeed, as the name suggests, dates back to fifth century B.C.E.

A polyalphabetic cipher like the Vigenère cipher, a very complicated substitution cipher, had already been invented by the 18th Century, and wouldn't be cracked until 1863. A downside of this cipher is its complexity and the time it takes to compose a message (though I'm not sure it's less secure than keeping copies of codebooks with multiple agents).

[dazzlinghaze528-blog]

Lovin’ Lover: A Taylor Swift superfan’s review of Lover

Lover moved me so that I had to write a review of it. Figured it belonged on here just as much as it did on my personal blog. I hope it speaks to some fellow Swifties and maybe even someday Taylor herself. 

I’ve identified as a Taylor Swift super fan for an appropriate 13 years now. I specifically recall being in the seventh grade, checking my hot pink iPod Nano at 11:00 PM sharp to listen to the launch of Fearless single “You Belong With Me”- the first of many times I would come to dance this dance.

As much as I know she has meant to so many of the young women who have grown up with her, I have to admit I still sometimes feel as though there is something special about the bond we share as artist and fan. Something almost cosmic or spiritual. There are so many similar, specific ways that we both seem to interact with the world. Something in the way that melodies and words and storytelling keep us moving forward. Something in the way we analyze the complexities of the lives we’ve found ourselves in and the way that can feed anxiety if we’re not carefully waiting for it. Something in the bubbly personalities, the love of cats and vintage fashion. Something in the golden hair and indigo eyes.

Something in the way that we LOVE love.

This album is arguably Taylor Swift’s most mature, personal analysis of love of any of her albums thus far. It’s not just snakes transforming into butterflies and paper rings and golden hours. It’s an inside look at the rainbow spectrum of ways that love can manifest itself in real lives, not just in storybooks. And that moved me to the point where I had to (literally) take a note out of Taylor’s book and write about it. So here we go:

“I Forgot That You Existed”

Taylor has described this opener as the track that transitions the listener out of her previous Reputation era. It’s sonically very bright and buoyant, with perhaps the melody that most easily rolls of the voice. And it settles in the emotion that most are striving for when recovering from drama or a betrayal: indifference. Some will call this song ‘petty,’ but I challenge all who listen to think back to the first time they thought about someone who wronged them after months, or maybe even years of occupancy in their minds and thought, “Oh- I forgot about them.” Is there any stronger sense of relief?

“Cruel Summer”

Littered with sharp imagery and cutting lyrics, this is (in my opinion) the album’s most epic track. I don’t have a particularly eloquent way of explaining this, but the production sounds like neon- ala the intro music to HBO’s Sharp Objects. And the story is one that 20-somethings know, excuse the joke, all too well. This story is one of a summer fling that you find yourself wanting to grow up into something real, and the very real fear that you could get cut when you let the other person know. When TS said, “I’m drunk in the back of the car, and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar. Said I’m fine but it wasn’t true; I don’t wanna keep secrets just to keep you,” …I felt that.

“Lover”

I can’t say enough glowing things about this song. It’s a waltz that sounds straight out of the 60s and uses some of my all time favorite words. Words that sound straight out of a Jane Austen novel. Between “there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear” and “my heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue; all’s well that ends well to end up with you,” wedding related Instagram captions are set for the next couple of years. As beautiful as this song is, I admit that it really is a song meant for lovers. You love it more when you are in love yourself.

“The Man”

I’ve yet to hear a song quite like this yet, which is surprising given the time that we’re living in. It’s even more striking coming from Taylor Swift, a woman who was named this past year’s highest paid celebrity. Period. It’s a fascinating observation that many of the things that Taylor Swift has been attacked for over the years: dating a handful of high-profile men, being outspoken about musicians’ financial and artistic rights, engaging with and strategically planning for a wildly intense and devoted fanbase, are lauded when done by men in the industry. Additionally, NO ONE seems to want to write about how incredibly wealthy TS is. As though it will make the reader uncomfortable. But journalists have no problem writing about the wealth and affluence of male celebrities. Food for thought; this song should be required listening.

“The Archer”

“The Archer” is a song that I truly listened to death upon its early release. I was particularly struck by the line, “And all of my heroes died all alone. Help me hold on to you.” As bizarre a connection this may be, it reminded me of one of my new favorite shows The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the way the heroine wrestles with wether or not greatness in her art equates to a life lived alone, as she begins to achieve success with her stand-up comedy career. This isn’t all the song is about- it’s truly a very wide range of introspection, but it is what stuck with me the most as a creative who also dreams of one day falling in love and having a family.

“I Think He Knows”

Okay- this song truly fits the modern day definition of a BOP. This is probably the song on the album that most frequently gets stuck in my head upon listening.“Wanna see what’s under that attitude,” is a totally swoon worthy line. There’s also a bridge that reminds me of “Treacherous,” one of my favorite songs off of her album Red. With that song we start with “Nothing safe is worth the drive, and I will follow you, follow you home,” and end up at “Lyrical smile, indigo eyes, hand on my thigh we can follow the sparks, I’ll drive.” in Lover. I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again, “Treacherous” ran so “I Think He Knows” could SPRINT!

7. “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince”

I truly have so many thoughts about this song. I would argue this is the album’s smartest song, as it likens America’s current political climate to the world of an American high school- with popularity contests, school spirit chants, and clique mentality. The first time I listened to it I went, “…is this about Hilary Clinton? No…wait?” Lines like “I’m feeling helpless, the damsels are depressed. Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?” and “They whisper in the hallway she’s a bad, bad girl. The whole school is rolling fake dice. You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes,” were screaming 2016 election to me. The song really encapsulates the moment you realize that American politics is filled with people who manipulate the system- and how that can lead to the conclusion that the prize isn’t real either.

“Paper Rings”

“Paper Rings” has grown on me since my first listen. It’s got a slight British pop-punk vibe that I wasn’t sure I was that into at first. But the more I listened, the more I fell for all of the specific, tiny details of the love that she’s found for herself. The line, “Went home and tried to stalk you on the internet. Now I’ve read all of the books beside your bed,” held so much weight to me as an amateur Internet sleuth and a lover of the written word. I found myself going “Woah- look how far they’ve COME!” It’s also just plain fun and will be awesome to see live.

“Cornelia Street”

It’s pretty incredible to know that Taylor Swift wrote this massive, sweeping song all by her lonesome. But it’s just a reminder that underneath all of the awesome production on this album, there’s just truly great songwriting. This track really leans on the idea that memories can become attached to places, impossible to separate. Ala her Red era masterpiece, “All Too Well,” TS so vividly paints a picture of the memories made on Cornelia Street that once she says “I’d never walk Cornelia Street again,” you immediately understand why.

“Death By A Thousand Cuts”

There’s a pretty amazing story behind this track. Long story short, Taylor was inspired by an incredible (and completely underrated) Netflix Rom-Com called Someone Great to write this song. But BEFORE that, a film-maker named Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was inspired to write Someone Great after soothing a heartache with Taylor’s album 1989– specifically the iconic song, “Clean.” So this tune already carries the legacy of art made by powerful women. Additionally, I find that it has some of the most tragically relatable lyrics. “My heart, my hips, my body, my love. Tryna’ find a part of me that you didn’t touch,” and “Quiet my fears with the touch of your hand. Paper cut stains from our paper thin plans,” so well articulate the paper-cut pain of the dissolution of a once cherished relationship.

“London Boy”

“London Boy” is by far the cheekiest song on the album. It’s clever as all get out, and a welcome buffer between tracks 10 and 12. An interesting observation by country singer-songwriter, Ryan Hurd: “Feels like it’s written like a country song, but it’s all dressed up like a pop song. Super cool.” As a massive country music fan, I can attest to this. “London Boy” has a crystal clear story, extremely bright lyrics, and it spends most of its time listing the best parts of a particular place- all lovable tropes of the country music genre.

“Soon You’ll Get Better”

So I have yet to make it through this song without crying…and I’ve probably listened to the album at least seven times now. I often think of skipping it, but it is sonically catnip to me. A collaboration with the Dixie Chicks, this track is entirely acoustic, has tight female harmonies, and violin- what am I to do? This wildly personal song is about Taylor’s mother’s battle with cancer and the denial and grief she’s experienced around that so far. The song is stunning and more than anything, universal. Come to it prepared.

“False God”

Saxophone in a Taylor Swift song? Yes. “False God” sounds like it belongs specifically in a Speakeasy. It’s got breathy vocals, a slightly rambling melody, and extremely sexy lyrics. It’s not the most relatable song on the album; most of us aren’t superstars managing bi-continental relationships. But I like the world that it sucked me into.

“You Need to Calm Down”

Not only is this song pure Pop fun, “You Need to Calm Down” addresses three whole categories of internet haters. Those who make a habit of shooting mean tweets at celebrities and people they don’t know first thing in the morning, those who are anti-LGBTQ equality, and those who constantly pin female artists against each other- as though people don’t have the capacity to like more than one at a time. In the context of Lover, this is the song that most enforces “Spread love; not hate.”

“Afterglow”

I’m of the opinion that “Afterglow” has been a bit underrated since the arrival of the album. It’s a simple melody, but what’s incredible about this song is that it is notably the best her voice has ever sounded. Her instrument really shines here. It’s also one of the first Taylor Swift songs I’ve ever loved despite not relating to the content in the slightest. TS writes here from the perspective of someone who is tending to a relationship she wounded by relaxing so much into it that she lets anxiety get the better of her and lashes out. It’s a very specific relationship milestone that I’ve yet to ever reach myself, but she sings about it with such passion that I’m totally invested.

“ME!”

“ME!” is truly a Dr. Seuss book come to life. Not just because of the cartoonish joy in the video, but because of that same cartoonish joy that comes through in the vocals of both her and Brenden Urie. It’s not the most lyrically complex or dynamic song of the album, but by gosh it’s positive and catchy and it makes people happy. It also serves it’s purpose post Afterglow beautifully- acknowledging that even when she is a “handful,” her lover loves her still.

“It’s Nice to Have a Friend”

My favorite thing about this song is the ghostly background vocals and string instruments, both of which were provided by students at a not-for-profit after school music program in Toronto. Proceeds from the track are going to support the program and help keep arts education afloat. Knowing this took this song from a song that I liked to a song that I love. The song also truly captures the hope of the beginning so well and in so few words. “Twenty questions, we tell the truth. You’ve been stressed out lately, yeah me too. Something gave you the nerve to touch my hand, it’s nice to have a friend.”

“Daylight”

“Daylight” sounds like a sunrise. It makes you feel as though her life is finally beginning as this album is ending. The most enjoyable part of this song is the bridge where she compares what she once thought true love would be to what she knows it to be now. She calls back to her old self by singing, “I once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden.” It’s simultaneously the most nostalgic track on the album and also the most hopeful, and I breathe with her when she sings “You gotta step into the daylight and let it go.”  To quote her past life, “…in the death of her reputation she felt truly alive.”

Here’s a link to the blog post in case you wanna share with other Swifties <3

 https://annalehnhoff.wordpress.com/2019/08/27/lovin-lover-a-taylor-swift-enthusiasts-review-of-new-album-lover/

[fandammit]

With sorrows to impart (10/?)

[A/N: Alright, I split this chapter because it was getting crazy long. Even just this chapter is close to 5K words. Fair warning: lots of angst ahead! Thanks to @actuallylorelaigilmore for her lovely beta work!]

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9

They slowly make their way to where the chairs are set up. She isn’t really paying attention to where they’re going, just follows Schneider’s lead as she studies the crowd of people around them. It’s an eclectic mix of people -- anywhere from young hipsters in their early 20s to middle-aged men who look like they would be cast in heartburn commercial, to old, wealthy white women in gaudy jewelry.

She finds herself so interested in the groups of people slowly making their way to the seating that she doesn’t even notice that Schneider’s standing stock still in the middle of the lawn until she nearly trips and falls because she’s kept moving when he hasn’t. It’s only the firm grasp he has on her hand that keeps her from doing so, and it occurs to her that he has a surprising amount of strength given the leanness of his frame.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, glancing down at her before looking back up at something a few feet away from them.

She follows his gaze to a large portrait of who she assumes is his mother, propped up on a stand just before the very back row of chairs.

The crowd of people is bunching up into something resembling a line to file into the divided section of chairs, a group of ushers handing out programs and gesturing to open seats.

“Hey,” she murmurs, squeezing his hand and leaning close to him. “We can go around the side and just find a seat ourselves if you want. We don’t need a program.”

He glances over to the far side of the chairs and bites his lip before shaking his head.

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s just -- .” He clears his throat. “I got caught off guard, but it’s fine. I’m fine.”

He takes a deep breath and visibly steels himself before looking down at her and nodding, gently tugging her forward as he files in behind the clump of people in front of them.

The line is moving slowly enough, and they’re at an angle where she can study the portrait of his mom.

She doesn’t know when the photo was taken because his mom has that same preternatural agelessness that both Schneider and Emily have, so she might be anywhere from her mid 40s to early 60s in the photo. Either way, she is stunningly beautiful -- with flawless skin and bright green eyes, all offset by long waves of deep red hair.

But what comes across the most -- even just in that photograph -- is how genuinely likable she looks. Charismatic, even, like some 50’s era movie star or effervescent, which is a word she’s only recently learned from helping Elena study for the SATs but seems the best way to describe the photo in front of her.

It makes her so angry.

Because while it may just be a photo, it’s that coupled with the amount of people here today and the fact that every single one of them looks genuinely upset that makes it so obvious that his mother was not just likable but well-liked. Loved, even, given the amount of people who start crying the minute they see her picture.

And it's the complete opposite of what she thought she'd find, given that what she mostly knows about the woman is that she'd only ever reached out to her son once a year, every year since he was 12.

It was easier to stomach when she cast his mother as some distant, unknowable woman who kept everyone at arm's length. But a quick glance around at the very real sadness on the faces of those around her proves to her that isn't true.

As they walk over to two empty seats towards the back of the setup, she thinks: how could a woman this magnetic and this loved and this missed have missed out on her own son’s life for the last 30 years?

A man in his 60’s steps up to the front and begins welcoming them all and she glances over at Schneider to see if he recognizes him at all, but his face just registers an empty blankness that’s weird and disconcerting. She bites her lip and looks around to the bereft expressions on the faces of everyone around her. She tries to pay attention to whatever it is the next man at the front is saying, but all she can hear, over and over again in her mind, is Schneider’s small, quiet voice asking --

Why didn’t she love me?

She wishes there was an easy answer to it. She’d hoped that coming here would provide her with one, had figured that Schneider’s mother was unlovable and therefore had little love to dole out to the one person who needed it and deserved it the most.

But it isn’t that at all.

She looks down at the program for the first time since it was handed to her and is surprised at how short the entire thing is. Given the amount of people here today, she’d figured there’d be a couple of slots reserved for people standing up and talking about her. But there’s only one speaker listed -- Emily -- and only the very bare minimum of elements on the program -- a welcome, a prayer, a reading, a eulogy.

In fact, by the time she looks up from the program, the reading is already over, and it’s Emily who’s slowly climbing out of her chair and making her way up to the front.

Penelope sits up straight and looks over at Schneider, the expression on his face at least no longer that measured sort of blankness but instead a mixture of heartache and fondness.

She squeezes his hand and shifts over closer to him, turning her head slightly to drop a soft kiss onto his shoulder before looking back up at the podium. Schneider squeezes her hand in return; then, after a moment’s hesitation, lifts their hands and kisses the back of hers before resting their intertwined hands on his thigh.

Emily looks out into the crowd and takes a quick, sharp breath before she begins speaking.

”I know there are a lot of people out there who could help talk about my sister -- what she did for you, how she touched your life, what she meant to you. But one of her last wishes was that this all be as short as possible -- and when your dying younger sister asks something of you, it's basically impossible to say no.”

Emily’s voice shakes at the end, and she takes a deep breath before continuing on.

“And you know, Dana didn't even want to have a funeral at all. She told me that she didn't want people to stand up here and make up a bunch of ridiculous things about her just because she'd died.”

She looks up at the audience, a smile ghosting across her lips.

“I told her that they wouldn't have to make up any ridiculous things -- there were plenty of ridiculous things about her that were true.”

Laughter runs through the crowd, and Emily lets a small smile form at the edges of her mouth.

“I'm pretty sure saying that is the reason she let me be the one person to say something here today.

Whatever you say, she told me, I want it to be honest.”

Emily looks down at the paper in her hands and licks her lips before continuing.  

“So, I'm up here today to be honest with all of you about Dana Walsh, in a way that only sisters can be. Those of you -- anyone here who has a sister knows what I mean.”

She takes another deep breath before she starts speaking.

“I looked it up the other day and I found out that Dana means bold in Irish. I don't think my parents did that on purpose, but I have to say that it turned out to be a pretty prophetic name because my sister was bold. She would say and do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and no one could convince her otherwise. She wasn't afraid of trying new things, she wasn't afraid of failure, she wasn't afraid of what people thought of her. She was bold to the point of fearlessness, and because of that, she did and saw and accomplished so much in her life.”

A wistful smile crosses her features.  

“And because she wasn't afraid to fail and because she never second-guessed herself, my sister approached everything in her life with a level of enthusiasm that was inspiring, even if it did get exhausting at times. It was always all or nothing with Dana -- if she was getting a chocolate cake, it would be the best chocolate cake; if she was throwing you a birthday party, it was going to be the birthday party you'd never forget. If she was curating an exhibit, it would win award after award after award.”

Emily looks across the crowd, and for the first time her smile is neither small nor measured -- just wide and bright with love and memory.  

“She had this ability to celebrate -- really celebrate -- any and everything. It could be your first child or your first kiss; it could be your fifth child or fifteenth kiss. It could be the fact that the sun was shining when the news had said it was going to be cloudy. If there was something to celebrate, Dana was ready to celebrate with you. And her ability to celebrate made you -- made all of us -- feel like no matter what, life was pretty damn good.”   

Her smile dims as she sighs.

“But these things about her that made her so much fun, that made her such a vibrant person - they were also the things that could sometimes make it difficult to be her friend, her coworker, her sister…her son.”

She flicks her eyes up and meets Schneider’s, and even from where they’re sitting, Penelope can see the sorrow and apology in them.

“My sister's fearlessness also made her the most stubborn person in this universe -- and maybe in the next couple of universes over as well. Once she made a decision, no one -- pretty sure not even God himself -- could get her to change it. It used to drive me absolutely crazy -- how you couldn’t get her to make a decision if she didn’t want to make it at that exact moment or change course if things needed to change.”

She shakes her head.  

“And my sister…”

Her voice falters for a moment and she has to swallow thickly a few times before she continues.

“That enthusiasm that she approached all the great thing things in her life, that had the ability to make you feel like the world was a fantastic place to be in at any given time...well, that had a downside, too. A tremendous one.”

She takes a deep, shuddering breath in as if steeling herself before she looks back up.

“Many of you know this, but some of you don't.”

Emily holds up her hand, a small object in between her thumb and forefinger that reflects the light of the noonday sun. Penelope’s not quite sure what it is at first, but then she feels Schneider stiffen next to her, hears him draw in a sharp breath, and immediately recognizes what Emily is holding.

It's the exact same thing Schneider is currently spinning in his own hand: an AA chip.

“Dana struggled with addiction her entire adult life. That same enthusiasm that made it so fun to be around her became the thing that dragged her into her addictions. That boldness that made her so successful was the same thing that kept her from admitting it, that kept her from getting the help that she needed for so long.”

She bites her lip and looks out, unseeing into the crowd.

“Addiction took her away from so many people. It kept her from being the best version of herself -- the best daughter, sister, mother, friend -- that we all knew she could be.” She takes a deep breath and let’s the sentence trail off for a long moment while she finds Schneider in the crowd once more. Penelope looks over at him, her heart breaking at the absolutely stricken expression on his face. She can almost see him steadily traveling over all the memories in his mind, looking at them in a new light. She glances back up at Emily, sees that same look of sorrow and apology from before. Emily meets her eye and bites her lip before taking a deep breath and looking back down at her notes. “But, uh, ten years ago, Dana took all that stubbornness and fearlessness and enthusiasm, and she funneled it into her recovery instead. And because of that, I’ve since had one more thing to admire my sister for -- her strength.” She finally looks back up.

“The strength to keep pushing on, moment after moment, day after day no matter how awful you feel or how hard it seems. The strength to always try and become better than you were before. The strength…” She blows out a harsh breath and shakes her head before going on. “The strength to recognize all the mistakes you’ve made, all the wrong choices, all the paths you wish you had taken and own them instead of making excuses for them.”

She holds up the chip again.

“Dana picked up her ten year chip three months before she died. She kept it beside her all throughout her hospital stay, kept it in her hand all throughout hospice. And the night she died, she gave it to me.” She bites her lip and looks over at it. “I’ve kept it in my hand almost constantly since she died because it reminds me so much of her -- her addiction, her stubborn refusal to recognize it for so long...but also her dedication, her enthusiasm, her strength going into recovery.”

She takes a deep breath and looks out across the crowd.

“And I know that that’s how Dana would want us to remember her -- to appreciate all the best parts, to acknowledge all the worst. To know that, above all, she loved us -- imperfectly and flawed as she was -- with all the strength and enthusiasm that she exhibited in all other parts of her life.”

She gives one last, tremulous smile before she takes a deep breath and steps down from the audience, her eyes connecting with Schneider’s every step of the way until she turns back around and sits down.

There isn’t much left of the funeral after that -- a few more closing remarks from the same guy that gave the welcome as well as a quick explanation of where the wake is being held.

She doesn’t hear much of it though -- she’s more preoccupied with worriedly looking over at Schneider while also pretending that she isn’t doing that at all. She doesn’t think she needs to  be as covert as she’s trying to be about it, given that the expression on Schneider’s face is currently cycling through blankness and bewilderment and bleakness, his eyes looking off in the distance, likely marching through some parade of unseen memories that he probably feels like he can’t even really trust any more.

And the thing is, he probably can’t. Or at least, they’ll tell a story he never could’ve known to look for before.

Because while she’s isn’t sure what exactly it changes for her in thinking about his mother, she knows that it changes something. It doesn’t completely excuse the last 30 years -- and the last 10 years in particular are still subject to that same level of scrutiny as before -- but she can’t help the way that it shifts her thinking. Forces her to reframe it all, to see his mother’s absence as deliberate restraint rather than an acute sort of carelessness.

She still has a laundry list of questions that are simmering at the top of her mind, but the tenor of them has changed now -- if not conciliatory, then at least less accusatory.

And if that’s how she’s feeling -- she, who had no real knowledge of this woman until four days ago, who knows nothing real about her other than secondhand stories from a man who only ever knew her as a child -- then she can’t even begin to imagine the thoughts running through Schneider’s mind.

She’s shaken out of her introspective spiral when everyone starts standing up around them. Schneider doesn’t move, just stays seated with an empty, faraway look on his face.

She gets up slowly and squeezes his hand, sees him blink slowly then shake his head, like he’s waking up from a long, deep sleep. He looks up at her, the blankness on his face gone, replaced by a mixture of sorrow and confusion muddying the blueness of his eyes.

“You didn't know.”

She doesn't phrase it like a question, but he nods in answer to it anyway.

“No idea.” He looks down at the seven year chip in his own hand. “But I'm thinking about it now and so many of the memories I have with her -- especially after the divorce...and it just makes sense.” He shakes his head, draws in a shaky breath. “I feel kinda dumb that I never really thought about it before.”

“Don't, Schneider. It seems like she probably tried to hide it from you.”

“She did,” a voice says from behind him, and they both turn to find Emily standing there, her fingers running over the edges of his mother's chip.

“Why?” And Penelope doesn’t think she’s imagining the hurt and betrayal in his voice, the unspoken question of -- why did you?

Emily answers it anyway, as though he’d said it aloud rather than just let it linger at the edges of his gaze.  

“She wanted to be the one to tell you. She kept…” Emily sighs. “She said she’d tell you, and I thought she should be the one to do it. But --.”

“She never did. Why? I -- .” He swallows thickly and shakes his head. “It would’ve helped -- not just because it would’ve explained a lot from when I was young but --.” He looks down at the chip in his hand. “It would’ve helped to know that she’d gone through it, too. That recovery wasn’t something that I was doing alone.” He pockets the chip and looks up at Emily, and for the first time this entire trip, he actually looks upset instead of sad. Almost angry, even. “I shouldn’t have had to do it alone.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am that we did that to you.” She hesitates, then sits down next to him. “Your mother and I -- we both… we made a lot of wrong choices...when it came to one another, when it came to you. And I’m so, so incredibly sorry.”

“Why did it have to be a secret at all? Basically everyone here knew.” He scrubs his hand across his beard. “How is it fair that I'm the last to know everything about my own mother? How is it fair that everyone here seems to have a better relationship with her than I did? How is any of this fair?”

Emily pulls her lips between her teeth and nods -- slowly, sadly, helplessly.

“It wasn’t fair. Isn’t fair. Not at all. Not in any way. But...it’s --.” She sighs again. “Alex mango dear, I’m just not the best person to explain it to you. And truthfully, even if I were, I can’t.”

“Then who can?”

She stares at him and takes a deep breath.

“Your father.”

Schneider blinks rapidly, obviously caught off-balance by the reply. Penelope is too, truthfully. As far as she knows, Schneider’s father had very little do with his mother once the divorce was final. What insight he could possibly offer on a woman he barely cared about, if at all, seems limited.

Schneider shakes his head.

“He’s the last person I’d even want to ask.” He steps closer to Emily, his expression pleading and lost. “Can’t you explain it to me please?”

Emily shakes her head, the movement hesitating, tinged with melancholy.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

She sighs heavily, gives a small, helpless shrug.

“It’s complicated, mango.”

“Can you at least try, Auntie Em? Please.”

She stares at him, her eyes wide with sadness, lined with regret and shame. She opens and shuts her mouth once, twice, three times before she simply shakes her head and sighs.

“It’s not --.” She takes a deep breath. “It’s just -- complicated. ”

Schneider drops his head and lets go of Penelope’s hand, runs his fingers through his hair a few times before he shakes his head angrily and stands up.

“What does all that even mean? What exactly could be complicated about this?”

Emily just stares up at him, that same conflicted sort of sorrow and regret in her eyes.

Schneider sighs sharply and turns away from her, running his hands roughly over his beard as he shakes his head.

“I don’t understand -- .”

He stops suddenly and grabs his phone from his pocket, his brows furrowing when he looks at the name on the screen.

“It’s father,” he says, glancing up at Emily, her expression suddenly a mix of relief and regret.

“Answer it,” she says quietly, the order somehow gentle despite the firmness underlying it.

Schneider clicks the screen and brings the phone to his ear, the movement jerky -- as though his arm is trying to fight him on it.

“Hello, father.”

His voice holds none of the emotion from before -- no sadness or anger or pleading. In fact, it holds hardly any emotion at all, is flat almost to the point of monotone, stripped of any markers of the man she normally sees and hears.

It’s completely unnerving.

And while she can’t hear the other side of the conversation, Schneider’s responses and expressions are enough so that she can fill in.

(Are you at your mother’s funeral?)

“Yes, it just finished.” He nods. “Yes, I’m here with Aunt Emily.”

(I need you to come to the house. We need to talk.)

Schneider squints, a look of confusion in his eyes.

“Come to the house? To talk about what? I thought you were away on business until Wednesday.”

(Clearly I’m not.)

Schneider bites his lip and shakes his head.

“There’s mom’s wake.” And even though his face falls into lines of sadness, his voice still maintains that same empty tone.

Penelope isn’t standing all that closely to Schneider, but even she hears the noise his father makes at that -- a cross between a laugh and a scoff. Then, a pained look crosses his face.

“No, father,” he says quietly, emotion creeping into his words for the first time. “You’re right. I guess I’m not really in a place right now to drink to mom’s memory or reminisce about all the great times I had with her.”

And, yes, that’s true, but the way Schneider says it -- heartbroken and lonely, like he’s just remembered all over again what he had and what he’s lost and what he never knew -- makes her want to hit something. Preferably someone. Specifically Schneider’s father.

(See you soon.)

“Do you need to speak with me so soon? Can this wait a bit?”

She doesn’t know if his father actually says no, or just hangs up as a response. Either way, Schneider just stares blankly at his phone for a long moment before sitting down and glancing back up at Emily.

“I’m guessing whatever it is that’s complicated is about to get very uncomplicated in the worst possible way.”

“With this --.” She lets out a long, slow breath. “With this situation, there really is no good way to uncomplicate it. I wish that weren’t true, but it is.”

“But there is a better way than to hear it from my father. Whatever it is -- whatever any of this is -- I know that has to be true.” He shakes his head. “Why does it have to be him?”

“Because that’s who your father is, my darling mango.” She stands up and slowly, carefully -- in a way that he at any point could step back or turn away from her -- cups his face in her hands. He doesn’t turn away or shake her off, and Penelope’s glad for it. Whatever is behind the complicated nature of this entire mess, she has a strong feeling that Emily was only ever a bystander caught in the crossfire, a survivor left to pick up the pieces.   

And while she doesn’t know exactly how he was involved or what he did, she’s pretty sure that she’ll be able to lump a healthy dose of the blame on Schneider’s father.

Well, she hopes she’ll be able to at least. Nothing she’s heard -- either first or secondhand -- endears the man to her at all.

Emily leans forward, Schneider’s face still in her hands, and softly kisses him on the forehead.

“I’m sorry, Alex mango. I’m sorry for the secrets and the pain. I’m sorry you had to go through any of this.” She chews on the corner of her lip. “And I’m sorry I can’t be the one to uncomplicate this for you.”

He gives her a long look.

“But you would if you could?”

She nods.

“Absolutely.”

“But you can’t?”  

She shakes her head.

“I cannot.”

He sucks on his teeth, then takes a deep breath.

“Can you answer something else for me, then?”

She brushes her hands down his cheeks, then clasps her hands in front of her.

“Of course.”

“Did mom...did she…” He clears his throat and scrubs his hand across his beard. He looks towards the ground for a moment before lifting his eyes back up to study Emily’s face. “Did she love me?”

“Of course she did,” Emily says immediately, firmly, without a trace of hesitation in her voice. She leans down and wraps both of Schneider’s hands in hers. “Darling, she loved you so much.” She takes a deep breath and squeezes his hand hard before letting go. “Your mom didn’t always know how… She trails off and shakes her head. “Your mom didn’t make all the right choices when it came to showing you that she loved you. I think...I think it’s fair to say that she didn’t even make many right choices, but -- .” She reaches out and rests her palm on his cheek. “Please believe me when I say that she did love you -- incredibly and with her whole heart.” She stares at Schneider for a long, silent moment, her eyes never leaving his. Finally, he nods slowly.

“I believe you.”

Emily takes a deep breath and gives him a small, weary smile before she nods and backs away.

“Just…” She sighs. “Just try to remember that when you talk to your father, mango.”

They don’t say anything for almost the entire walk back to the car. She’s not even sure where to begin or what to say, and it seems as if Schneider is barely even present in that moment. There are more than a few times where it’s lucky he’s holding her hand otherwise she’s sure he would’ve wandered off in the completely wrong direction.

They’re a few feet away from the car, Silis waiting dutifully by the door to open it for them, when Schneider slows down and gently tugs on her hand to stop.

“Do you want Silis to drop you off before going to my father’s?” He gives a humorless chuckle. “I know you didn’t exactly sign up for a father-son reunion.”

She steps in front of him and studies his expression.

“Do you want to go alone?”

“Well, it isn’t fair to ask you to come to whatever this talk with my father is going to be.” He shrugs and looks away. “And, spoiler alert, but no matter what it’s basically guaranteed to be tense and weird and awkward.”

She links her other hand with his, squeezes both and waits for him to look back at her.

“You didn’t answer my question though. Do you want to go alone?”  

A long, quiet moment settles between them, Schneider staring intently at her, studying the expression on her face. Then, he shakes his head.

“No,” he says quietly. “I’d like...I want you there with me.” He bites his lip, suddenly uncertain. “If that’s ok?”

She nods decisively.

“That’s why I asked.” She smiles up at him. “I want to be there with you and for you when you hear about this whole complicated mess, but I didn’t want to force it.”

He shakes his head.

“Penelope, I al…” He stops abruptly and swallows thickly, looking away from a moment before clearing his throat. “Thank you for coming with me. For wanting to. For just -- being awesome and being with me.”  

Abruptly, her brain supplies her with always, a word that’s as unnecessary as it is out of place.

So instead she just smiles and says you’re welcome, then tugs him towards the car. Tries not to think of how honest and right the word always feels to her.

[darthsuki]

I choose these at random so sorry if I ask anything awkward. 1, 99, 6, 79, 12, 60, 25, 53, 28, 32, 46

The meaning behind my url:

To make a long story short, my url comes from a combination of ‘darth’ and a nickname I’ve had since I was in middle school: Suki! I have to thank an old friend of mine that I unfortunately haven’t been in contact with for a while (hope life is treating you well, Dex!), but they gave me that nickname when I was still very much the ‘new person’ in the school, family finally settled down from moving around constantly. It goes back to my deviantart account, honestly, as I had thought it was cool to mimic the name that my friend had used for their account at the time–thus, Darthsuki!

Have you ever met someone who didn’t seem real?

Assuming this is referring to some sort of surreal or paranormal sense, I don’t honestly know off the top of my head if I’ve ever met someone like that. I’ve certainly had my share of strange experiences, but never met someone quite like that just yet.

Favorite Band:

Answered here!

Have you ever kissed in the rain?

Surprisingly, yes I have! Specifically, it was between me and the same old friend from above–I can’t remember the specifics of when it happened in between all the chaos of my senior year of high school, but me and them were still figuring ourselves out and the kiss was, as far as I recall and understand, a bit of a spur of the moment thing that didn’t lead into much–it was still pretty cute though, looking back on it! 

Ideas of a perfect date:

Sleeping in together on a soft, warm bed with a thick blanket; it’s raining outside, the droplets are a soft, gentle patter against the glass of the windows. We go shopping together once we’re able to keep our eyes open and reject the beautiful call of slumber. The mall is probably a nice idea, lots of stores to look around--we might not buy anything, but being able to simply walk around and talk about things is nice enough to feel intimate. We eat lunch or dinner and then head home to marathon a mutually-loved anime or tv show.

Have you ever fallen asleep at work/school?

As far as I remember and know, I have not, and honestly I don’t know how I didn’t manage that for all I’ve been through. I’m a total night owl and there were plenty of nights that I stayed up really late on a school night or, now knowing I’ve had depression since I was younger, I’m surprised that hadn’t made me nod off or outright knock out into dreamland at least a time or two.

Someone you miss:

I miss my brother--we grew apart when we got into high school and, while I could count on him to hide a body for me, we don’t talk a lot since he’s across the country.

I miss my parents, and to some extent the rest of my biological family. I cut myself off from them when I went through a couple days of a meltdown a year or so ago after being diagnosed with chronic depression and anxiety--my parents didn’t exactly agree with my therapist and, ontop of me having recently come out strongly as transgender, I couldn’t deal with them berating me like they had done for so long while I was growing up. Despite everything I have to never want to talk to them again (and I honestly don’t) I do miss the good moments I had with them and being able to bond, if a little bit, with my dad.

I miss an old boyfriend that helped me feel free when I was mostly confined to be at home if I wasn’t working, around when I was 20 and shortly before I joined the military. Though he later turned out to be a total dick, he helped me feel more confident about being independent, made me feel loved and attractive for the first time in my life, and whole-heartedly pulled me into loving tabletop roleplaying as much as I do now. I hate him, but in some manner of speaking I also miss that fleeting few months of knowing him as well.

Have you ever slept in until 3?

I don’t think I ever have yet, though I’ve gotten close on a couple occasions! I think the latest I’ve ever slept till was 1 or 2, but I normally always have myself up by 10 or 11, even when I sleep in.

Favorite ice cream?

Mint!! Chocolate!! Chip!!

Have you ever painted your room?

Never had the chance--my parents wouldn’t let me paint my bedroom and I don’t really have the time (or money) to do so now as an adult. I have a little goal though to be able to do something like that when I get a house, if I ever get one. I’d want to paint a huge mural over the walls of whatever winds up being the room for my art and writing and tabletop playing--something happy and inspiring.

Have you ever left your house without telling your parents?

I only wish I had that sorta willpower and fearless courage while I was growing up. No, my parents always had me home by 8 or 9 unless I worked later, and I was scared shitless of what they’d do if I ever left the house without giving them notice, usually several days worth of notice.

Before I finally left home to join the military, I did get pretty rebelious, putting my foot down that I could be allowed a little freedom as an adult (I was working almost full-time and was almost 21, mind you)--I think that’s the closest I ever got, really.

Send me an ask to learn more about me!

[dailycandicekpatton]

On the Coastal Tip of Jamaica, actress Candice Patton stands barefoot in a sheer yellow dress before settling turquoise waters. Her arms sway back and forth as the Caribbean air billows through the thigh-high slit. She gives the camera a small smile as the sun radiates off her skin and the tide tiptoes towards the shore. The Instagram boomerang I’m glancing at has now been viewed over 200,000 times by her 1.2 million-user following.

It’s mid-June; a median between two milestones in Candice’s life - two weeks before her 29th birthday, and two weeks after the Season 3 finale of The Flash aired in homes nationwide. The superhero fiction show, based on the DC Comics character of the same name, stars Candice as Iris West, opposite Grant Gustin as the titular hero, Barry Allen. In the last three years, The Flash has garnered over 15 awards, with Candice herself most recently winning a Saturn Award for “Best Supporting Actress on Television”. It makes sense that CBS Watch! Magazine would send her over to the Caribbean for a photoshoot. 

The CW star calls me from her residence in Los Angeles on a Friday afternoon, after her trip in Jamaica. I expect her to sound exhausted from her jet setting, but she’s not. To my astoundment, there’s a lot on her mind. I come to realize that, unlike Iris West, Candice Patton is equipped with a power of her own.

The Mississippi-born and Texas-bred thespian participated in school productions and out of school drama programs throughout her entire life. In high school, Candice was a cheerleader until she tore her anterior cruciate ligament during her senior year. The injury kept her benched for the remainder of the season, but allowed her to focus on acting. She ended up pursuing theatre at Southern Methodist University in Dallas the following year.

“Acting was always something that empowered me and gave me joy,” she says. When I was younger, I never really thought about acting professionally, but it gave me a huge outlet for my own personal struggles.” After graduating with a BFA in Theatre from SMU in 2007, Candice moved to Los Angeles, where she has lived ever since. “There’s something about being young enough and innocent enough to think that anything is possible,” she says. “I don’t think I would have made the move if I was older.” As it turns out, making that move would be the first step in her journey towards her television debut.

In Los Angeles, Candice felt she was sucked into an atmosphere bathed in superficiality. To her, home was only a four-hour flight away, but felt much, much further. Immersed in a culture she had never experienced before, she didn’t feel like a perfect fit. “You’re eating new foods and everything’s so healthy and people are obsessed with the way they look,” Candice says. “It was hard for me to feel like I had a place in L.A. or that I was cool enough to think I could even be an actress and contend with all these other people.” In the midst of the culture shock and the absence of southern hospitality, Candice motivated herself to audition for anything and everything. And in doing so, she understood just how unsympathetic the entertainment industry was. “I was getting rejected day in and day out,” she continues. She pauses briefly then says, “I really don’t know how I survived.”

Between her adjusting lifestyle, ongoing rejection, and daunting insecurities, the pressure to cultivate her own niche began to rise. Candice was in the right rooms with the wrong people - managers, friends, and industry outsiders who all had hot takes on how success was achieved in that city. “I was told I had to be a certain weight, or to look more like some other girl,” she recalls. “I felt the pressure of that then and I still feel the pressure of that now.” Despite the unsolicited advice from her peers, Candice continued to do what she knew best - working hard, working well, and committing to her craft. “I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other until something turned around,” she says. “I’m glad I stuck with it as long as I did.” By 2012, Candice’s acting repertoire included appearances on Entourage, Heroes, CSI: Miami, Grey’s Anatomy, Rizzoli & Isles, and The Game. And then came 2013.

In the weeks before pilot season that year, Candice received an email from her manager. Arrow co-creators Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg were casting for their newest DC Comics series, The Flash. Grant Gustin, who appeared twice on the hooded-vigilante series as Barry Allen, reprised his lead role. The planned backdoor pilot was cancelled in favor of a traditional higher-budgeted pilot by networks executives who were impressed by early screenings of Grant’s appearances on Arrow. The e-mail from her manager read, ‘This is your role. It’s perfect for you.’

The Flash follows the chronicles of socially awkward CSI Barry Allen and the aftermath of his mother’s supernatural murder. Candice auditioned for the role of journalist Iris West, the daughter of Detective Joe West, and Barry’s childhood best friend. “I was thrilled to be going in for a lead female role that isn’t traditionally played by an African-American,” Candice says. “And deep down, I always wanted to be part of some superhero show or film.”

In Season 3 of The Flash, Barry runs back to his childhood home to prevent his mother’s murder. After saving Nora Allen from the Reverse Flash, he creates an alternate reality called Flashpoint. The famous comic crossover story arc details an altered universe in which Barry Allen is the only person aware of the differences between the original timeline and the altered one. This heart-wrenching season of was pieced around Iris’ forecasted murder and Team Flash’s attempt to stop it. It’s clear her character’s resilience is an important sticking point. “Iris is visibly fearless, even when she’s vulnerable. Strong women are capable of experiencing fear, but then choose to find the strength to move forward. That’s what Iris does,” Candice says.

She’s loyal to Barry, to Wally, to her dad, and Team Flash,” Candice continues, noting that Iris spends most of her time at S.T.A.R. Labs than she does at her actual job. “She doesn’t have powers but that doesn’t get in the way of her trying to contribute. I think she’s a character that both men and women can admire.”

The Season 3 finale of The Flash premiered on May 23, 2017, the coincidental date of Iris West’s prophesied death. Fans witnessed the loss, the betrayal, and the fate worse than death - tragedies foretold by the season’s big bad, Savitar, in previous episodes. Above all else, they watched the long-awaited development of West-Allen, the ongoing fan-favorite nickname for Barry and Iris. “This season was filled with so much emotional turmoil,” Candice says, laughing on the other end of the line. “And right when you think they’re back on track and can finally plan their wedding, they can’t.”     

In the season’s final moments, The Flash made some poignant, if not complete strides. After conquering the darkness that monopolized Barry’s entire year and the anticipated unveiling of Savitar, “Finish Line” propels the series into potential plot twists and upcoming comic book villains. Regrettably, like most season finales, it’s cut too short. The Speed Force wreaks havoc above Central City, demanding a new speedster to take the place of the beloved Jay Garrick. Barry accepts his imprisonment for creating Flashpoint, leaving Iris, Joe, Wally, and all of Team Flash behind. “It’s The Flash,” Candice laughs. “You never know what you’re going to get. There’ll be more drama.” The conflict is expected, regardless of who ends up in that revered red suit.

Among other running shows on the network, The Flash is notable for their racially diverse cast. The core ensemble is comprised of Caucasians, African-Americans, and Latinos alike, with other minorities starring as citizens or city villains. “The diversity in The Flash is indicative of the world that we live in,” Candice says. “The more we see it on television, the more we resonate with it because it looks like our real life.”

In a 2016 comprehensive report published by USC Annenberg on the Diversity in Entertainment, The CW ranked second in the Television and Digital Distributor Inclusion Index. They were titled “Largely Exclusive” if not “Fully Exclusive” in their high percentage of female character inclusion, as well as female creators and writers. On cable television alone, over 51% of 138 shows lack Asian-speaking roles with 23% lacking African-American speaking roles. As an African-American woman herself, Candice beams with pride when I mention her network’s forefront position of this landscape. “We need more women and we need more people of color in any industry,” she says. “Some people don’t even think about it, and it’s imperative that they do.”

In 2016, Huffington Post surveyed U.S. adults and found only one in five white people believed Hollywood does not provide adequate roles to minorities. Over 60% of white people were pleased by the number of films featuring racial minorities. Black Americans, however, disagreed. 87% believed the entertainment industry does not provide enough opportunities to racial minorities.  Candice is one of them. “Diversity is so imperative and I don’t think people quite understand how it changes the way people view themselves,” she says. “If you go to the movies and you see the President of the United States is Asian, you then believe that it is possible.”

After a recent phone call with producers of The Flash, Candice knows a few things about the upcoming season, mainly plot points for her character. “Other than that, I don’t know too much and I don’t want to know too much,” she says. They began filming Season 4 in Vancouver on July 3. “Think of me when you’re watching fireworks and grilling burgers,” she says to me. When filming 10 months out of the year in Canada, the cast tends to miss major holidays - Independence Day, for one. In the other two hiatus months, Candice flies back and forth between Los Angeles and Texas where her parents, brother and baby niece and nephew reside. “I love my job and I’m humbled to do this for a living, but it’s hard being away from friends and family for so long,” she says. “I really cherish the two months I have off with them.” In time, Candice hopes to write and produce her own material, as well as shifting her focus into film - two things that need to be put on hold or shot in between filming The Flash. “There’s a part of me that really wants to have a film career and do gritty, independent features,” she says. “As a woman in this business, I would love to dabble in directing. That would be challenging but fulfilling for me.”

The actress’ passion for diversity is evident in all she does. It’s only one of many reasons why her work in the industry is nowhere near finished, especially with other women of color combatting that same crusade. Candice is on the cutting edge of reshaping the diversity issue in Hollywood, as her idols Lena Hornes and Halle Berry did before. “They cracked the door open for me and I’m trying to keep it open for the young girls who are watching me on The Flash right now,” she says. “Future women of color will come after me and audition for a lead role opposite a white guy, too. Helping those behind you is where true success comes from.”

Two weeks after our phone call, I check Candice’s Instagram. Her most recent post is a video, likely captured by a friend. She’s half asleep on a bed, surrounded by her castmates and closest cohorts singing “Happy Birthday” to her. She briefly turns her head to face them, but almost immediately retreats back into her pillow. The caption reads, ‘When it’s ya birthday but nap is life.’ I laugh to myself before recalling something Candice said to me two weeks ago. “If I never act again, I want people to say I opened doors and broke down boundaries in this industry,” she says. “I know I’ll have succeeded then.” That nap is well deserved, Candice. You’ve got some business to take care of. 

[talabib]

Leadership journey : “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali

Few people embody the tumultuous social climate of the United States in the 1960s as well as Muhammad Ali. At the time, there was unprecedented social upheaval due to the civil rights movement and widespread protests against the war in Vietnam. And speaking up on both of these matters, with an electric presence and poetically blunt words, was Muhammad Ali, an amazing boxer who forever changed the sport with his vibrant personality and unorthodox style.

Every time Ali stepped into the ring, due in large part to the fearless public stances he took in calling for peace and equality, it felt like more than just a regular boxing match; it felt like a powerful political event, with this uncommonly gifted man somehow fighting on behalf of the disenfranchised and all those who were fed up with the status quo.

Lets go back to the turbulent 60s, when a young Cassius Clay went from being an Olympic hero to a divisive figure after making the personal and public shift to Muhammad Ali. Few people led quite as dynamic a life as the man who would come to be known simply as “The Greatest.”

Muhammad Ali had a troubled family tree.

To understand who Muhammed Ali was and what motivated him in his life, it’s important to learn about his family background. Like many other African-Americans, Ali’s family tree included slaves and slave owners.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, a name that can be traced back to his great-grandfather, John Henry Clay, a slave whose own name came from his owner, the Kentucky politician, Henry Clay.

Despite being a slave owner, Henry Clay was a close colleague of Abraham Lincoln, and held similar antislavery views. Clay was also a founder of the American Colonization Society, which proposed freeing slaves and shipping them back to Africa.

At some unknown date, Muhammad Ali’s great-grandfather, John Henry Clay, was emancipated and obtained a small amount of property where he grew his family. But in the years following emancipation, the lives of black Americans were anything but easy.

In particular, trouble followed Muhammad Ali’s grandfather, Herman Heaton Clay. As the story goes, around the year 1900, a 24-year-old Clay stole a quarter from an acquaintance by the name of Charles Dickey. Later, a friend of Dickey’s approached Herman with a heavy cane and demanded he settle his debt. Not only did Clay refuse to repay the quarter, he shot Dickey’s friend with a pistol.

For this, Herman Clay spent six years in jail. When he got out, he married Muhammad Ali’s grandmother, Edith Greathouse – but more trouble was on the way.

Herman and Edith’s first child, Everett Clay, was sent to prison for murdering his wife with a razor. But their second son, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Sr., made a living as a painter of billboards and signs, and eventually became the father of Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., who was born in January 1942, and would go on to lead a fascinating life as Muhammad Ali.

Cassius Clay was a precocious and stubborn child who experienced a relatively pleasant upbringing.

Even as a baby, Cassius Clay found ways to get attention. Legend has it that no other baby in the hospital ward screamed as loud as Cassius could. Fortunately for this rambunctious child, Cassius wouldn’t have much to scream about, as the Clays managed to carve out a life of relative peace and quiet.

While the Clays lived in a tiny house in the neighborhood of West Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay, Sr. worked hard to make it as comfortable as possible. He planted a vegetable garden, dug out a goldfish pond in the backyard and even painted the house pink, since it was his wife’s favorite color.

When Cassius Clay, Jr. was two years old, his brother, Rudolph Arnett Clay, was born. And some time afterward, their father built an extra room onto the house so that they could have more space to play.

Make no mistake: the Clays were poor. Their clothes were purchased from Goodwill and their shoes sometimes had to be mended with cardboard linings. Yet the boys were well taken care of and never went hungry.

As time went on, the boys did benefit from some extra money coming the family’s way. Cassius and Rudolph were able to get pet animals, an electric train set and even a bicycle to share.

According to his mom, Odessa Clay, young Cassius was quite the precocious and stubborn child. She remembered that he was always trying to jump out of his stroller and see what was going on around him.

By the time he was ten months old, little Cassius Jr. was already eager to make his voice heard and refused to let anyone help him. Whether it was getting dressed or eating, Cassius wanted to be independent and take care of himself. As a result, things in his bedroom and in the kitchen would often get pretty messy.

After losing his bicycle, Cassius Clay started on the path to boxing glory.

Getting your first bicycle is a common rite of passage for a lot of children, as it gives them their first taste of freedom and independence. But, unfortunately, experiencing your first stolen bike is also a common ordeal.

For Cassius Clay, Jr., the transformative event of having his bicycle stolen occurred in October 1954. Cassius, who was 12 years old at the time, was particularly upset because the bike was a treasured Christmas present from his father. Cassius and his brother had been biking through Louisville when they were suddenly caught in a bad storm that forced them to seek shelter in the Columbia Auditorium. When the storm finally passed and the boys emerged, Cassius was furious to find the bicycle gone.

As angry as Cassius was, the event had a silver lining. Adults at the scene advised the brothers to report the stolen bike to the police. And as fate would have it, the officer on duty at the auditorium that day was Joe Elsby Martin, who helped run a boxing club in the basement of the Columbia Auditorium.

Martin couldn’t help but notice how eager this scrawny, 90-pound 12-year-old was to fight whoever had stolen his bike, so he recommended that Cassius join his group of teenagers at the boxing club. Indeed, the sights, sounds and sweaty smells of the boxing club, transfixed Cassius and he eventually made the fateful decision to take Martin up on his offer. And so began the young boxing career of Cassius Clay.

Though he was at best a mediocre student at school, Cassius became a devoted trainee at the boxing club and used the sport as an opportunity to prove himself. And thanks to his passion, it wasn’t long before the young man was winning matches and working his way up the amateur rankings.

While Cassius Clay’s first amateur boxing match was in 1954, it is estimated that over a hundred matches followed in the next six years, leading up to his big break in 1960.

Cassius Clay’s big break came at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where he won gold.

In 1960, Cassius Clay was 18 years old and making a name for himself as a light-heavyweight boxer. But that year, his career got a huge boost when he was chosen to be part of the US Olympic Boxing Team.

The 1960 Olympics took place in Rome, and Clay’s boyish enthusiasm quickly made him a fan favorite – if not exactly a favorite to win gold.

While he was considered to be the best the Americans had to offer, the US team was not expected to beat contenders like Australia’s Tony Madigan, Poland’s Zbigniew Pietrzykowski or the reigning Olympic champion, Russia’s Gennadiy Shatkov.

Things got off to a brilliant start, however, when Clay beat a Belgian competitor in the second round of his first fight. Then, he surprised everyone by defeating Shatkov while barely breaking a sweat.

Things were tougher when it came time to fight Tony Madigan in the semifinals. Madigan managed to go the full distance with Clay, leaving it up to the judges to decide unanimously in Clay’s favor, since he’d been by far the more aggressive of the two.

Then came the final match against Pietrzykowski, who, like the American boxer Amos Johnson, the last man to beat Clay in the ring, was left-handed.

Clay had learned his lesson from his fight against Johnson, and this time made sure to change his game to suit his opponent. This time, Clay didn’t rely on his speed and the strength of his left arm to win the match. Instead, he held his ground and relied more on his right.

While Pietrzykowski landed some strong punches in the first two rounds, Clay remained unfazed as he stepped up his aggression in the third round, leaving his opponent’s face bruised and bloodied. The decision was again unanimous, and the gold medal was Clay’s.Now an Olympic champion, Cassius Clay was on the fast track to fame and fortune.

When Cassius Clay joined the Nation of Islam, he began to address social and political issues.

In the four years that followed the 1960 Olympics, Clay continued to win one boxing match after another. But the 60s were also a time of significant personal changes for him.

After an epic victory against Sonny Liston in 1964, Clay cemented his status as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. And it was at the after-party of this match that Clay met Malcolm X, a prominent spokesperson for the Nation of Islam and the Black Muslim movement.

It was no coincidence that Malcolm was a guest that night, since Clay had already expressed a long-held interest in joining the movement and supporting their efforts to bring dignity and independence to the black community in the United States.

Clay was not only close with Malcolm X, but also with the Nation of Islam’s leader, Elijah Muhammad. Both of these men were eager for Clay to make the public conversion to Islam, which would also mean changing his name.

For Clay, this spiritual conversion would be an opportunity for him to use his stature to address racial issues and promote the ongoing battle for civil rights. And this is exactly what he brought up at the press conference the day after meeting with Malcolm X at the party.

The press were eager to question him about his status as a so-called “Black Muslim.” Clay also firmly corrected reporters and made sure they used the movement’s correct name, the Nation of Islam. Clay then told the press about his personal beliefs. He explained that he was renouncing Christianity, that Allah was his god and that he believed in peace.

During this press conference, he also explained that, as a member of the Nation of Islam, he was opposed to the principles of integration, which suggested that black people should try to fit into white society. Instead, he wanted to promote a strong, proud black culture.

A few days after the press conference, on March 6, 1964, the bombshell dropped: Elijah Muhammad issued a statement on the radio announcing that Cassius Clay was now officially a Muslim, and would therefore now be known by his Muslim name: Muhammad Ali.

After refusing to serve in the military, Muhammad Ali was suspended from boxing.

Along with the civil rights movement, there was also social turbulence in the 1960s due to the war in Vietnam, and Muhammad Ali had strong opinions about this as well.

In April of 1967, Ali’s political and religious convictions caused him to speak out against the US military’s involvement in Vietnam. As a Muslim and a man of peace, he told the press that he would refuse to serve as a conscientious objector.

In Ali’s opinion, the military was exploiting black people in their efforts to recruit soldiers, while allowing privileged white people to avoid the draft. So Ali filed a court order saying his injunction into the Army was based on racial discrimination and should be stopped.

Nevertheless, Ali was unable to convince state courts or the US Supreme Court to consider his argument, which meant he was ordered to appear at the US military headquarters in Houston. On April 28, 1967, Ali and 26 other men were scheduled to be processed by US Armed Forces staff, though Ali was the only one to have a lawyer with him.

When they called his name, Ali refused to stand up and a Navy officer warned him that if he didn’t comply he could face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. But Ali still refused and would only present the officer with papers stating his objection.

After the incident at the recruitment office, Ali gave a press conference confirming his continued refusal. Soon afterward, he received the news that his actions caused the World Boxing Association (WBA) and all other major US boxing associations to annul his championship titles and suspended his right to fight professionally in the US for three years.

The unjustified severity of the WBA’s reaction made it clear that this was a political move on their part to punish an athlete because they didn’t agree with his beliefs.

Nevertheless, if Ali was angry, he didn’t show it. When asked for a response, he simply said he was looking forward to going home, visiting his mom and enjoying some of her cooking.

Like others, Muhammad Ali was banished due to the strict commands of his religious leader.

Muhammad Ali’s suspension from boxing was a good thing in the eyes of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. According to the guidelines of the faith, smoking, drinking and other acts of frivolity are strictly prohibited.

In March of 1969, Elijah Muhammad summoned Ali to his home, after he’d heard that Ali had been hinting at a comeback now that his suspension was coming to an end.

This sort of last-minute request was unusual, and made Ali nervous – and rightly so, as it turned out. While Elijah Muhammad was small in stature, he was an intimidating figure to many of his followers, Ali included. Plus, when he greeted Ali at his home, his usual charming smile was nowhere to be found. Elijah made it clear that he could not accept Ali’s desire to return to boxing, as the sport did not align with the values of the Nation of Islam.

So Ali was faced with a choice: either boxing or Elijah. His choice was soon made clear, as not long after the meeting, Muhammad Ali was officially banished from The Nation of Islam. According to Elijah, all followers were to go back to calling him Cassius Clay.

Muhammad Ali’s exclusion was not an isolated case – there were many others who refused to obey Elijah’s wishes and were ostracized by the people to whom they had previously devoted their lives.

Meanwhile, many other members of the Nation of Islam followed Elijah’s orders and gave up their careers and relationships in order to avoid being shunned. One such man was the Calypso singer, Louis Farrakhan. He gave up his career as a musician and eventually went on to become the new leader of the Nation of Islam after Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975.

However, Muhammad Ali would not give up his career or his legacy. Instead, he was determined to reassert his greatness.

Muhammad Ali returned in “The Fight of the Century,” which provided his first professional loss.

After three years of suspension, Ali was ready to return to the world of boxing with a high-profile fight against the heavyweight champion at the time, Joe Frazier.

The fight was scheduled to take place on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and it was to be one of the most anticipated and feverishly hyped boxing matches of all time.

The reward money for what would come to be known as “The Fight of the Century” was also unprecedented, as each fighter was guaranteed to receive $2.5 million, win or lose. This would be the equivalent of $15 million in 2018.

The ticket prices were also astronomical: after selling out in mere seconds, tickets were soon being resold at prices exceeding $700. Meanwhile, some 300 million people are believed to have watched the fight on television.

And the contenders did not disappoint; Ali and Frazier gave audiences a full 15 rounds of spectacular fighting.

Most witnesses agreed that Ali landed more punches and outperformed Frazier in the first two rounds, but it also seemed clear that Ali was the more exhausted of the two after the sixth round. In the second half of the fight, Ali spent a lot of time leaning on the ropes just to stay on his feet.

Still, Ali did indeed stay on his feet for 14 rounds, despite Frazier landing a good deal of powerful punches. But then, in the fifteenth round, Ali took a massive left hook to the head that sent him crashing to the mat. It was later revealed that this left hook shook Ali’s brain so hard that it tore some of his brain cells.

Remarkably, despite this damage, Ali somehow managed to get back on his feet in less than ten seconds. And what’s more, he stayed on his feet for the remaining two minutes of the match.

That night, the judges delivered a unanimous decision declaring Joe Frazier the winner. But another story was also told during the match: one of the greatest fighters that ever lived was still capable of going the distance.

The Rumble in the Jungle became legendary, while a rematch against Leon Spinks would be Ali’s last championship win.

Ali would go on to fight Frazier in two more hotly contested matches, winning both, and he’d also find a new rival in Ken Norton, who managed to break Ali’s jaw during their fight on March 23, 1973.

Ali’s defeat in the Norton match cost him his world championship title. But never one to back down, he was soon plotting his comeback with another epic battle, this one billed as “The Rumble in the Jungle.”

This instantly legendary fight earned its name by taking place in Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo), on October 30, 1974. And this time, Ali was fighting an undefeated George Foreman, who’d recently won the championship title by beating Norton.

Over 50,000 people turned up to watch this massively publicized fight, and in the eyes of many, Ali was definitely the underdog. But this time, he would deploy a remarkably effective tactic that became known as the rope-a-dope strategy.

During the match, as well as prior to it, Ali mercilessly taunted Foreman, while spending a lot of time playing defense and leaning back into the ropes while Foreman tried in vain to land meaningful punches. Then, in the last 30 seconds of each round, Ali would spring to life and land deadly combinations on his tired opponent.

The strategy worked like a charm, and by the eighth round, Foreman had completely exhausted himself, giving Ali the prime opportunity to land a devastating sequence of five punches that sent Foreman to the mat and down for the count.

Against all the odds and conventional wisdom, Ali had regained the heavyweight title once again, and he would hold it for the next few years until he met an up-and-coming fighter named Leon Spinks.

Leon Spinks shocked many by defeating Ali in their first match, in February of 1978. But that September, Ali got his chance at a rematch in New Orleans – and once again the hype machine was put into overdrive as the Louisiana Superdome filled to the brim with 63,000 spectators.

This time, though, the match did not live up to the high levels of anticipation. Blinded by his newfound fame, Spinks had hardly trained for the match, while Ali was himself far from prime health or fitness. During the match, Ali would frequently hook his arm around Spinks’s neck in order to lean on him and catch his breath. Still, Ali fought with a level of determination that he hadn’t been made to muster in over four years.

At the end of the match, the unanimous decision went to Ali, making him the first heavyweight to win the championship for a third time – and it would also prove be the last.

After his boxing career, Muhammad Ali continued to entertain and use his fame for good causes.

Even though Ali continued fighting into 1981, his health was rapidly deteriorating; the thousands of blows he’d taken to his head were starting to show their effects. Clearly, it was time for Ali to find a different outlet in life.

Ali’s gift for gab and his cemented status as a popular celebrity made him a perfect fit for the talk show circuit and television interviews. And even in this forum, he was able to find creative ways to overcome challenges.

It wasn’t uncommon for the ailing Ali to become drowsy and nearly fall asleep in the middle of a televised interview. But Ali found an entertaining way to make the best of his situation by pretending to actually fall asleep and be dreaming about boxing. With his eyes closed, Ali would start punching the air, gently at first but then more forcefully until he would pretend to be throwing a punch at the interviewer.

At other times, he’d act like he was nodding off and then suddenly spring to life while singing a tune from the popular 50s group, The Platters. In both scenarios, the audiences were always left laughing.

In the 80s and 90s, Muhammad Ali also put his fame and stature to work in international diplomacy.In 1985, Ali was part of an official delegation sent to Beirut, Lebanon, by Ronald Reagan, in an effort to gain the release of dozens of American hostages being held by Muslim extremists.

Along the way, Ali stopped off in London to speak with the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. After the meeting, an American hostage was released. However, the timing was later proven to be a coincidence, as Khomeini was never involved with the hostages in Lebanon.

While this operation proved unsuccessful, Ali would continue to offer his services in similar situations, determined to contribute however he could despite growing increasingly weak. Ali was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease around 1984, and it would stay with him until his death on June 3, 2016.

Until his final days, Muhammad Ali never stopped campaigning for more funding for Parkinson’s research and more peace in the world.

Muhammad Ali found remarkable success as a professional boxer, and his tremendous talent and charisma allowed him to lead an extraordinary life. He was not only one of the greatest boxers of all time, but also utilized his position in the spotlight to fight for peace, racial equality and religious freedom.

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: MOVIE REVIEW: Da 5 Bloods

(Image courtesy of Netflix)

DA 5 BLOODS— 4 STARS

In the same way this website touts “every movie has a lesson,” every movie also has its politics. Academy Award winner (damn, that sounds great to read) Spike Lee is never shy about his level of challenging civics, nor should he be. His movies are his earned and rightful rostrums. Stitched with the electrified barbed wire of echoed history, Da 5 Bloods is infused with warranted politics that make it more than its retirement adventure and war movie ingredients. With stern strength in this Netflix release, the rants of old men give way to the treatises of ghosts.  

The diatribes and tirades in question come from four Vietnam veterans in their mid-60s. Eddie (Broadway star Norm Lewis), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Otis (The Wire’s Clarke Peters), and Paul (the top-billed Delroy Lindo) were among the “Soul Brothers” who served several tours in the First Infantry. These men return to a modernized Ho Chi Minh City in the Land of the Blue Dragon for a special sort of overdue pilgrimage. Their two determined objectives are to bring back the remains of their fallen squadron leader “Stormin’” Norman Holloway (Chadwick Boseman) and to abscond with millions of dollars of gold bars they buried in the jungle nearly 50 years ago.

Forever linked by surviving the same past, each are very different men. Eddie and Melvin are the easy-going ones while Otis leads as the sympathetic organizer of the international trade operation with rediscovered familial roots in Vietnam. The loudest and surliest of this team is Paul, a bitter and ignorant conservative who wears his politics on his sleeve and on his head with a turned-back MAGA hat. He is joined by his undesired adult son David (the rising Jonathan Majors of The Last Black Man in San Francisco). Everyone is forced to bend or deal with Paul’s mouthy dominance especially when the shit hits the fan.

LESSON #1: THE BLACK EXPERIENCE OF THE VIETNAM WAR— Here’s where the treatises emerge. Black soldiers comprised 32% of American forces in Vietnam as expendable muscle. They fought an immoral war for freedoms on foreign souls that did not often equal what they had back in their home country. The reward for their service was an eternal struggle with trauma and the frowned-upon release of any perceived weakness from their experiences. In fifty years, their war never ended, in the mind or otherwise.

If you ever pondered what a filmmaker like Spike Lee could achieve in this genre, wonder no longer. Da 5 Bloods is boosted by a screenwriting assist from video game specialists Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo adding lively action pieces. Lee’s pulp has punch thanks to dynamic editing from Roma’s Adam Gough and slick shifts in filters and aspect ratios (from 2.39:1 to 1:33:1) between the time periods by Bohemian Rhapsody cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel. Beneath all that, Lee still infuses his favorite flourishes including a soundscape combining stirring Marvin Gaye tracks with a gripping score from his trusted trumpeter extraordinaire Terence Blanchard. Needless to say, Spike can hang. 

LESSON #2: SECURING OR CHANGING A LEGACY— Embarking “in country” on this quest back into the tropical terrain of their formative and macho memories, each of these men face this quest with different fears and goals. What the money means to them versus what the journey means to them defines desires and actions. Some see this with proper closure and betterment in mind. Others are selfish with greed or aim to grab their own sense of reparations. Allowing this to happen within their tight-knit camaraderie, they threaten to become their own villains.

LESSON #3: “DO RIGHT JUST TO GET RIGHT”— Through all the arguments, tail chases, and betrayals peppered with gunfire in the movie, if there is one element of Da 5 Bloods that is flattened more than its flaunted it is the spectre of Stormin’ Norman. Chadwick Boseman embodies a flashy and fearless lionheart who, when removed from the violence, orates the importance of loving one another with mantras like this lesson title or “God is Love, Love is God.” The evidence of these instilled values is present but the full swell of them is untapped in heightening this drama.

Each member of this choice ensemble glints with talent. Casting four seniors near was a coup for Da 5 Bloods. Each of the central four play their ages and personalities with natural peaks and limitations. During the war scene flashbacks, Lee chose not to recast them (or Scorsese-style de-age them) with younger actors over their venerable guises. That keen move creates the sense these characters and men, like Lesson #1, never really left the rigors and horrors they shared alongside Boseman’s animated idol. Two of the cast stand out above the rest. 

Delroy Lindo is unreservedly ferocious. Blustering with belligerence and shoving his superiority around with every drop of truth and sweat, this may very well be the best performance of his career. Parallel to Lindo and pushing right back, Clarke Peters is the sage salve that becomes the heart and soul of Da 5 Bloods. His gravely delivery and patience is remarkable. Even in this unknown and meager year, give these men proper Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor frontrunner statuses for future awards.

Re-teaming with his fellow Oscar-winning BlacKkKlansman writer Kevin Wilmott, Spike Lee puts his pungent poetry into a war film setting with dauntless theatrical results. Beyond the fictionalized exploits of hallowed brotherhood, Da 5 Bloods dispenses a parade of extra archival nuggets chronicling where and when the lightning rods of the past spoke out against atrocity and the racial plight during the Vietnam War era. While this layer elongates the running time, it is a vast history lesson of poignancy and topicality. Those goals have become two of many personified signatures of Spike Lee, and they are worth every effort.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#886)

Permalink

from REVIEW BLOG – Every Movie Has a Lesson https://ift.tt/30CfxwS via IFTTT

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2UCJOId via IFTTT

[ts1989fanatic]

Taylor Swift's New Album 'Reputation': Everything We Know, Everything We Want

Predictions, wishful thinking based off electropop lead singles, possible hints about feuds, ex-boyfriends, squad members, where Cardi B, Drake fit in

The Old Taylor can't come to the phone? Long live the New Taylor. Reputation is one of this fall's most tightly guarded secrets; Taylor Swift's sixth album is her first in three years, her longest vacation ever. So far, each Swift LP has been a major musical departure. But this time, she isn't letting any secrets slip, declining interviews and, somehow, avoiding paparazzi detection wherever she may be. All we have to go on is a quote from a source close to the project who tells Rolling Stone, "Reputation is lyrically sharper and more emotionally complex than 1989. This music has and will continue to speak for itself."

From teenage country tracks to synth-pop anthems and little-known covers, a comprehensive assessment and celebration of Swift's one-of-a-kind songbook

So what do we know about Reputation? We know it has 15 songs; "…Ready For It?" will be the first track and "Look What You Made Me Do" will be the sixth. We know it drops on November 10th, which happens to be Richard Burton's birthday. (What if that makes Reputation the Burton to Taylor's Taylor? What if she is about to marry herself and embrace her muse as her soulmate?) It's one day before the nine-year anniversary of Fearless, which came out in 2008 on November 11th, whereas she usually prefers to pounce in late October, as she did with Speak Now, Red and 1989. So here's a rundown of all the clues to the burning mysteries around Reputation – what we know for sure, what we wonder, what we want, what we hope.

The sound. The first two singles are moody electro-pop: the Hot Topic quasi-goth blare of "Look What You Made Me Do" (produced by Jack Antonoff) and the hip-hop island breeze of "…Ready for It?" (produced by Max Martin, Shellback and Ali Payami). "Look What You Made Me Do" is Sal-Tay in supervillain mode; "…Ready for It?" is sultrier and far superior. Neither sounds like any of her previous work. But drastic swerves are what Swift does. All five of her previous LPs have developed a sound she could have milked for years – but she's never made the same record twice, even when that's what everybody wanted, from her record company to her fans.

Last time the world was hoping for Red II: Fifty Shades Redder, Red III: Revenge of the Scarf or Red IV: Maple Latte Massacre, but instead she made 1989, an album as far from Red as Speak Now was from Fearless. Nobody sane would have advised her, "You know what you should do next? Make an album that sounds nothing like Red, but exactly like Erasure or the Pet Shop Boys." Yet Swift followed her own muse and turned out to be right – when it comes to high-risk moves that pay off, she's gone five for five. So whatever she tries on Reputation, it won't be what she did last time.

The romance. The line that jumps out from "…Ready For It?" is "He could be my jailer / Burton to this Taylor." Not her usual kind of love story. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor got married and divorced twice, which by 1970s standards made them the ultimate glamour couple – even Sonny and Cher only got to break up once. Their boozy jet-set affair lasted a total of (hmmm) 13 years, despite the fact that they basically loathed each other. Burton was fond of referring to Liz as "MGM's Little Miss Mammary," while she called him "the Frank Sinatra of Shakespeare." By the time Liz was Swift's age, she was on Husband Four; Burton was Five (and Six). So Liz and Dick weren't exactly Romeo and Juliet – their Shakespearean duet was a 1967 film adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Fans have speculated the song is her ode to her beau of the past year, British actor Joe Alwyn – currently filming Mary Queen of Scots, where he plays the lover of Queen Elizabeth. Burton once got an Oscar nomination playing her father, King Henry VIII.

The playlist. Her Spotify playlist "Songs Taylor Loves" is loaded with sad weepy ballads – the side of her music missing from the two new singles. It's also full of younger artists – from pals like Selena Gomez and Ed Sheeran to country upstarts like Maren Morris and Brett Young to indie brooders like the National and Bon Iver. But none of the legendary names Swift usually loves to invoke – the girl named after James Taylor isn't bumping "Fire and Rain" these days. Is the playlist representative of her new music? Or is she digging these tearful ballads because she's no longer writing them?

The cover. She's wearing black lipstick, clearly a sign that Old Taylor is dead, given her affection for the red-lip classic thing. She gazes blearily through newspaper headlines spelling her name – math experts have counted her name on the cover 899 times. The cover's weirdest detail: the Richard Hell-like torn sweatshirt, stitched up to create five triangular peaks, one for each previous album

The magazines. The exclusive Target edition comes with two different 72-page magazines full of Swift's poetry, watercolor paintings, handwritten lyrics and fashion photography. (Oh, pop stars – always secretly fantasizing about being editors of print magazines.) Judging from the cover of Reputation magazine, the typographical sensibility evokes the famously experimental (and often illegible) 1990s music mag Ray Gun.

The snakes. She's teased the album with serpentine imagery – want to buy a $60 Gold Snake Ring? Either she's a budding herpetologist or she's reviving her Kimye feud. You remember – from last summer, before Kanye's 5150 or his rock-bottom moment ass-kissing the new President. But it's safe to surmise the feud factor will be the least intriguing aspect of Reputation, since her celebrity conflicts have been fruitless musically for all the artists involved. "Look What You Made Me Do" is much stronger than Katy Perry's "Swish Swish" or Kanye's "Famous," but that's hardly an achievement given how those remarkably wretched gaffes sandbagged the albums they were intended to launch. All evidence indicates that we're in a post-beef era where nobody cares about pop-star feuds, since we've got more pressing problems. Swift sending Cardi B flowers to congratulate her on "Bodak Yellow" hitting Number One – even though it replaced "Look What You Made Me Do" – is much more in step with the 2017 zeitgeist than snake emojis, which are so last year. And you have to love how Cardi B made sure to document the flowers on Instagram, to thwart any would-be Cardor truthers.

The Drake factor. Be on guard for Drizzy content. Last year, while the rumor mill was full of reports of them hanging out and possibly working together, the two did linked Apple Music ads, one with Taylor lip-synching the Drake/Future collabo "Jumpman" and the other with Drake doing "Bad Blood." Since Aubrey Graham is the only pop star on earth who can approach Tay's feelings-per-minute ratio, the mind reels at how they might sound together – let's just say they could go from zero to 100 real quick.

The shirt. The "Look What You Made Me Do" video ends with an attention-grabbing shot of Swift in a "Junior Jewels" t-shirt decorated with her friends' names. Squadologists plotzed at the roll call, from Patrick Stewart (he's on it twice? Make it so!) to Abigail (the "Fifteen" bestie whose wedding had Swift as a bridesmaid last month). Who's lurking on the back of the shirt? And who's a blank space? The most high-profile absence was Karlie Kloss, currently seen in a new Cole Haan ad campaign with well-that-escalated-quickly pal Christy Turlington. (In Elle a few weeks ago, K.K. gushed, "I am surrounded by extraordinary women – from my mom and sisters to role models like Christy Turlington, Melinda Gates, and Sheryl Sandberg, and many more.") Will Reputation offer a state-of-the-squad update?

The exes. Just because Swift seems to be in a functional relationship, is that any reason she should keep a dignified silence about her Long List of Ex-Lovers? Dignified silence is not this lady's style. Between Tom Hiddleston and Calvin Harris, she has some real content opportunities. In the new video, Zombie Tay digs a grave marked "Nils Sjoberg," her ghostwriting pen name; there's also an empty engagement-ring box. Perhaps she's mocking Harris for both his career and love life, given that Nils Sjoberg is an anagram for "Jobless Ring"? Or maybe she's accusing him of swiping her work, since it's also an anagram for "Robs Jingles"? Or maybe – just maybe – anagrams are meaningless and dumb coincidences?

The tour. One thing Swift has made clear over the years – she's not into looking back. In the spirit of Madonna or Bowie, when she tours, she focuses on the new songs, not the hits of yesteryear. It was a shocker when she left "All Too Well" off most stops of the 1989 tour, just as she left "Enchanted" and "Long Live" off the Red tour. But given the choice between reprising the oldies or showing off her new songs, she'll go new every time. And that goes for her albums as well – she's never been an artist who repeats herself. Don't expect her to start now. "Honey, I rise up from the dead, I do it all the time"? Bring on the New Tay-stament.

[bigyack-com]

In Sonepat, women wrestlers breaking barriers on the mat - other sports

Till a week before the national selection trials for the Tokyo Olympics qualifier, Sonam Mallik was not even a starter. Sonam, just 18, had never competed at the senior level. Yet her coach, Ajmer Malik, knew she was ready—what she needed was an opportunity. Ajmer convinced the Wrestling Federation of India to give her that chance. Yet, even for Ajmer, what happened next was unexpected: Sonam went on to cause a sensational upset, beating the Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik to seal her place in the Indian team.This week, she will be at her first major tournament, the Asian Wrestling Championships from February 18-23.Sonam represents a bold new change. She comes from Sonepat district in Haryana, a fast urbanising area that borders Delhi. The area is famed for producing some of India’s finest international wrestlers. So far, those wrestlers were all men. India’s Olympic training centre for wrestling, located in Sonepat, is also meant only for men. Till very recently, none of the hundreds of akhadas in Sonepat admitted women trainees. That is now changing. Sonam, who comes from a village called Madina, learnt her wrestling at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Academy in Gohana, a town in Sonepat. The academy was started by her coach Ajmer in 2012, at a time when not a single akhada in the entire district allowed women. Following in Ajmer’s footsteps, several centres have now opened their doors to women, and three new centres are exclusively female.In Rathdhana village, a half-an-hour drive from Delhi’s border with Haryana, a maze of concrete lanes leads to Mamta Modern Sr. Sec. School. Five years back, Rajesh Saroha, a former wrestler, left his job with an insurance company to set up the women-only akhada here. Girls on their training run weave through the bylanes every morning. Around 15km away is another women’s centre, the Yudhvir Rana akhada, on the outskirts of a village called Kakroi. Another 20 minutes drive from Kakroi, and you will be at Barwasni, where there’s a third dedicated girls’ wrestling academy located at Geetanjali Sr. Secondary School. Over 120 athletes train at these three centres. Four girls from the Barwasni academy won medals at the U-23 Asian Women’s Wrestling Championships in Mongolia in March last year. Ajmer’s centre at Madina village trains both boys and girls. A retired Army subedar and a former wrestler, Ajmer built his academy entirely on his own steam, investing all his savings and doing a lot of the construction work himself. The academy features coaching in two disparate sports—wrestling and tennis. The six clay courts at the academy came up as Ajmer’s son Ajay followed tennis passionately. Ajay made it to the India junior Davis Cup team. Ajmer trains the wrestlers himself, and employs a tennis coach.“I have been a wrestler and I have competed in eight nationals. Earlier, there were hardly any facilities for girls in the district but now there are good training centres and youngsters are making use of the platform,” said Ajmer.Three girls from his centre are medallists at the national cadet championships.“These girls are fearless and they dream about winning medal at the Olympics,” he said. “Sonam is the first talent I came across a year after I opened the centre. She is not scared when she is on the mat and is always looking to attack.”Sakshi, the pioneerRajesh Saroha, who runs the Khadkhoda academy, said Sonam’s victory over the famous Sakshi will spark even greater interest in women’s wrestling in the area.“Seven years ago it was difficult even to field a 10-member girls team from Sonepat in a state competition,” Saroha said. “Now the scenario has changed. There is intense competition in each weight category and sometimes as many as 20 wrestlers fight for one place.”Sakshi’s 2016 Rio bronze was itself a catalyst for change, as was the movie Dangal, released the same year. Saroha said parents started to show more and more interest in introducing their daughters to the mat. Saroha’s daughter and his son are wrestlers. Saroha’s niece Aarti won a silver medal at the U-15 Asian Championships in Taichung City in Chinese Taipei in November.“We started with our own daughters, and after the girls started winning medals, the villagers have started taking interest,” said Saroha’s brother Balbir, who runs the school.“Initially, there were few girls and they had to train with the boys. It did not go well with the villagers but now there are no problems,” said Balbir.Now Saroha’s akhada not only has girls from Khadkhoda, but also from neighbouring states, for whom Saroha has built a hostel. It accomodates 10 girls, but Saroha has plans to expand the capacity to 60.Sunita, a wrestling coach from Haryana Sports Authority, is also posted at the centre.“Having a woman coach at the centre gives confidence to the parents that their daughter is in a safe environment,” said Sunita, who had trained to be a wrestler alongside Sakshi at Rohtak. She became a coach in 2014, and was appointed to Khadkhoda only in 2019.“Earlier, girls had to go to Jind, or Hisar or Rohtak. There was not a single akhada for girls in Sonepat. But things have changed now, especially after Sakshi’s 2016 medal. It is in these small centres that you can find talent,” she said.Girls more focusedAt the senior intra-state championship in Hisar this year, the district finished second. One of the reasons why coaches here think concentrating on girls pays more is because they are more focused than boys.“Girls are more sincere and they single-mindedly work towards their goals. They do not have distractions and in five years (of training) they are ready for senior international meets,” said Sunita.Saroha had a roadmap when he opened the centre—which features a large indoor hall with three mats and salvaged weight training equipment—and the girls are ticking off all the boxes.“My goal was to have our trainees in sub-junior international meets within five years,” he said. “Aarti is already there and representing the country in U-15 tournaments. There are others girls who are in the line.”He has set his sights on Aarti competing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The teenager has already sparred with one of the world’s top wrestlers in her category (53kg)—Vinesh Phogat. Phogat’s husband, wrestler Somveer Rathi, is from Kharkhoda, and she trained here in the village before the 2019 World Championships, where she won a bronze.Aarti grew up idolising her wrestler uncle, and Saroha encouraged her interest in the sport.“I have always liked wrestling. My tau (uncle) wanted to be an international wrestler but he could not,” Aarti said. “I want to live his dreams.”Aarti has been living the exacting, monastic life of the wrestler since she was eight. It involves waking up at 4 in the morning six days a week for a morning training session. Then comes school. A siesta later, it’s back on the mat in the evening.“We hardly get time for anything else other than wrestling and studying. Han, kabhi kabhi shaitani kar lete hain (sometimes we play pranks, of course),” says the class 9 student. “And sometimes we watch wrestling on TV. I have seen Vinesh and Sakshi’s fights,” says Aarti.Three years back she decided to cut her hair close to the scalp.“The hair used to come in front and it was irritating to remove it every time while wrestling,” Aarti said. “My friends asked me, ‘why did you do that?’ I said, kushti karni hai to kuch to karna padega (you have to make some sacrifices if you want to wrestle).”When Aarti won the sub-junior trials in Lucknow last year and made it to the team for the Asia Cadet Championships in Kazakhstan, it was a big moment for the centre. It was also a big personal moment for Aarti to watch the world outside Mamta Modern School and Sonepat. In Kazakhstan, her first international tournament, Aarti was overwhelmed by the occasion. She felt transported to a different world—the big indoor hall, the lights and the noise was unlike anything she had seen before. “Everything was new for me,” she said. “I was nervous in the beginning. I had never seen so many wrestlers together. I lost my first bout to a Japanese girl.”A family endeavourNot far off in Rathdhana village, the Yudhvir Rana wrestling centre is packed with girls in the evening inside a spacious indoor hall. This is one of the best equipped schools in the region, with two wrestling mats, residential facilities, a well-appointed gym, volleyball and basketball courts, and a traditional earthen akhada.“We also have a kitchen garden spread over 600 yards for organic farming,” said Devi Singh, a former wrestler who runs the school with his two sons and daughters-in-law.The 65-year-old former wrestler takes pride in spotting the small piece of land last year in January. “A Delhi businessman badly wanted money and was ready to give it at a throwaway price. It turned out to be a good bargain,” Singh recalls.The Singh family is into wrestling. His younger son Yudhvir represents the Indian Army, and older son Kuldeep Rana is an international wrestler. Both Yudhvir’s wife Samiksha and Kuldeep’s wife Seema are former national level wrestlers, and both coach at the centre. Kuldeep too is a coach at the centre, which has already seen one of their girls win a bronze at the World Cadets in 2019.Just a few years earlier, this would have been unthinkable in Sonepat, where only the men in the family were free to go into wrestling, but not the women.Now the women here talk of their target—the Olympics.“I saw Sushil Kumar, and saw Sakshi didi win in Rio,” says Sonam. “Since then I have been working hard because I want to win a medal at the Olympics.” Read the full article

[skistarmovies]

Attack of La Nina  (Matchstick Productions 2011)

SkiStar Movies Review: 4/5 Stars

Mark Abma, Sean Pettit, Eric Hjorleifson, Rory Bushfield, Henrik Windstedt, Cody Townsend, Jacob Wester, Ingrid Backstrom, Bobby Brown, Gus Kenworthy, Richard Permin, Colby West, James Heim, Callum Pettit, Alex Schlopy, Russ Henshaw, Torin Yater-Wallace.

 Directors: Steve Winter, Murray Wais, Scott Gaffney

 Matchstick’s ski movies are a big deal.  The have big budgets that allow them to do big things like rent loads of helicopters and fly to out of the way big mountain locations to film their crew of boss skiers as they race around like super heroes.  They can afford big things like Cineflex cameras which render mountain vistas so clearly that watching the BluRay on a big screen is like looking out a window.  It’s not a stretch to say that when autumn rolls around there’s a lot of us looking forward to what Matchstick will deliver.  Last year’s The Way I See It satisfied the cravings of all discerning ski movie heads and walked off with Powder’s 2011 Movie of the Year award as well as the Best Film and the People’s Choice Award at the 2010 IF3.  It was a movie that lived up to the hype and moved the whole genre ahead a step in its use of those wicked gyro-stabilized cameras.  Attack of La Nina arrives as a bit of mixed blessing then.  You get all the cool stuff you’d expect, as I have just described but here’s the downside: it comes in pretty much the exact same layout as last year.  “Haven’t we seen this before”, says Cody Townsend when he mockingly reprises his star turn from last year in the lead up to AOLN’s big final sequence.  Yes, Cody we did.  We saw the whole damn thing.

 In what is becoming a tradition, having been the opening slot for the past three movies is Sean Pettit tearing it up.  Then comes some big air with Bobby Brown and Gus Kenworthy popping off kickers in slow motion.  There are backcountry pillows with Hjorleifson and Abma.  There’s comedy with Cody West.  There’s more big air in Aleyska, AK.  There’s Ingrid Backstrom and crew exploring some relatively untouched British Columbian mountains: last year it was Bralorne, this year it’s the Meager Group, up past Pemberton.  And then, to wrap it all up and put a bow on it, Windstedt and Townsend do their two-man mountain slaying crew show. 

 But when you think about it, this complaint is superficial.  If you make this charge against AOLN, then what must you say about every Sunday afternoon NFL game or any mainstream pro sport broadcast for that matter.  It’s the same format because that’s what works to bring you the action.  And be honest, you’re not watching it for the format, though that plays it’s role in allowing the story of the game to unfold.  You are watching it for the action, the skill and the excitement.

 Freeskiing and the role ski movies play in freesking have a symbiosis unlike your everyday pro sports.  Action sports take place in far-flung locations.  There are no bleachers for which you can buy a ticket to watch James Heim shred 60 degree mountain faces.  You either fly the heli for him or you wait eight months for the movie to come out so you can see what level he’s skiing at.  Ski movies are the Sunday afternoon NFL game.  They might be produced by independent film crews but they serve the same role as NBC, ABC, CBS or cable sports do for the major leagues.  They are the crucial broadcasts that get the word out about the sport.   As I have argued elsewhere, at their best, these movies are art.  At a minimum, the athleticism alone makes a well-done ski movie a jaw-dropping thrill.

 So, with AOLN, I think it’s fitting that we look at some of the athletes instead of the “packaging” that surrounds their performance.  While I might not do that with every ski movie, it’s fitting with Matchstick’s crew because the skill achievements among the core group here is on par with the best of the best in any other sport.  Imagine not one Gretzky on your hockey team, but six of them. How about a half dozen Kobe Bryants?  AOLN’s roster of talent is simply awe-inspiring.

 19 year-old Sean Pettit’s audacious style continues to tighten to the point where he now resembles a Maserati whipping through mountain roads.  He has terrific control on the tightest of turns and the most vertical of pillow descents.  Whereas two years ago he’d execute a straight cliff huck, the same move this year usually comes with a 360.  He continually pushes his limits.  Factor in his class clown persona and it adds up to one thing:  Pettit’s a bona fide star.

 Richard Permin is the new guy.  After a solid intro in last year’s film he’s been given a higher profile in AOLN, skiing with Pettit.  A transplant from France he’s got boundless energy and a fearless approach to the steeps that makes him a contender for the Full Throttle Award at all times.  He also has the best line of the movie when after stomping a particularly massive hard huck, he groans “I can’t understand how Seth Morrison can do that shit everyday”.

 Mark Abma blows his knee again this year (not the same knee as last year) but not before getting a load of sequences in the can, so we’re fortunate to witness some of the most agile skiing possible.  Abma skiis powder like he’s on springs.  He’s got a little bounce that punctuates his already fluid style.   His corked spins off windblown, natural backcountry kickers in slow motion ought to be declared a national treasure by the Canadian Government.

 James Heim and Eric Hjorleifson come across like two of the easiest going guys on the planet.   Two very chill dudes.  Until you put them at the top of some gnarly big mountain line and then it’s all fireworks with balls-to-the-wall skiing. Both guys, with their helmet-cam sequences filmed at Meadow Lodge B.C., bring home some vertigo-inducing, adrenaline-spiked shots that are going to make most viewers scream “Whoa”.

 Bobby Brown’s spins and flips seem endless as he logs in a substantial amount of screen time here.  His triples now seem effortless, just pure grace in the air. 

 Lastly, Cody Townsend and Henrik Windstedt ski the bejeezus out of the mountains near Terrace, B.C.   The steep faces they go after and their cliff hucks are the highlight reel that you play for your buddies who might not watch a lot of ski movies, just to give them a taste of what’s going on in the genre.  Townsend takes a nasty hit; I’m not going to say “fall” or “spill” because he actually flies off the mountain into rocks.  Somehow he defied death.  Frankly, not the type of stuff I want to see all the time but definitely a reminder of the danger these athletes face when they walk into their “arenas”.

 Focus on the skiing and not the format this year with Matchstick.  These athletes are the shit.     By Mark “The Attorney General” Quail

  Watch the Trailer for Attack of La Nina

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNI0ZKPA48A