#i have over 100 screen shot of the 2nd part of 2nd season

[my-mt-heart]

Look I'm not a caryler but I watch the show since the beginning and I'm seeing the constant discussion here about Melissa and the spin-off and I'm just giving my unrequested two cents, I think you guys are expecting two much from a dead franchise, we all know the only spin off that will make some noise is the Rick and Michonne one and only because people are curious to know what happened to them, AMC needs to capture a new audience, TWD it's their biggest product right now and they don't want to just please segregated fandoms.

Melissa is a great actress that's for sure, no one will question that but her and Carol were never the face of the franchise like Rick, Daryl and Michonne, so it's easy for them to push her aside and make a Daryl centric show, they see how Daryl was always the most popular one and don't twice to make that happened because Daryl is AMC property, they don't have to pay Robert Kirkman and co to use him.

My opinion on her being back it's because she signed a contract and needs to fulfill that, I don't see nothing changing in terms of her and Daryl relationship, it would make sense to make them canon in the mothership show but I don't see them bothering to pull the trigger in the spin off.

To me they will remain best friends and Daryl will stay single with the constant ship baiting.

Sorry if that's too long or if you find disrespectful.

There's a lot to unpack here. Bear with me.

You're confusing "most popular" with most marketed. Just because Melissa doesn't do as much promotion, which is something she gets a say in I should add, does not mean people find her less appealing or less remarkable. Melissa is the 2nd most lauded actor on the show right after Andy. She was the most respected actor on set along with Andy, and everybody wanted to work with her.

“One of those actors that just makes you better because she has no pretence.”—Josh Hamilton

"I love working with Melissa McBride. She's a remarkable actress. You look at her, then you look at the screen and you go – how is this alchemy happening?" —Andrew Lincoln

“One of the strongest actresses I’ve ever worked with…I got lucky because she makes you look so good when you work with her.”—Norman Reedus

She was not kicked out of her own spinoff to adjust to the market. She was kicked out because no one bothered to do any market research at all. If they had, they would've anticipated the insane amount of backlash they got last year. Expecting the majority of fans to welcome a solo Daryl show with open arms says far more about the people calling the shots than it does about Melissa or Carol. It says they're incompetent, biased, and misogynistic. It says they fucked up big time, and if you pay any attention to how they're marketing the spinoff now compared to last year, you might realize there's a huge focus on Melissa and Carol. Granted, they keep fumbling big time and if they don't get themselves organized right fucking now they're going to ruin everything again, but they wouldn't be dangling Carol like a carrot if they didn't think she was going to be an essential part of the show's success. They wouldn't have brought her back at all.

You say she's in S2 to fulfill her old contract, but that's wrong. She signed a new deal that would cover seasons 2-3. I don't know what's in it, I don't trust AMC not to find new and unusual ways to screw over their female talent, but I am 100% sure it was her choice to come back and she had plenty of power to get things she wanted. The excuses "fans" come up with for her being in her rightful place again are ridiculous and very telling.

You say she's less popular, yet you, other Richonne fans, Bethyl fans, and everyone under the sun spend time visiting a Caryl/Carol/Melissa centric blog. Why? If I can manage not to waltz into the Richonne/Michonne tags to try to invalidate their fans' opinions and feelings, why can't those who strongly suggest they aren't fans of Caryl/Carol offer me the same courtesy? Because popularity isn't pure love. It includes those who "love to hate" also.

You are absolutely right that TOWL will get the most buzz compared to Dead City S1 and Le Spinoff S1 and that's because it promises everything Rick/Michonne/Richonne fans have been waiting a really long time for. I have major doubts that Gimple can do right by anyone everyone, but I still hope fans get what they want. The one thing I can't stand about TWD fandom is the insistence on pitting female characters and actresses against each other, which I suspect is the real intention behind this ask. But Carol and Michonne are friends. Melissa and Danai are friends. There is absolutely no reason we all can't support a black woman leading her own show and a woman over 50 leading her own show at the same time.

I agree the best time to make Caryl canon would've been in the flagship show and that Caryl will always be best friends. But that doesn't mean best friends can't also be romantic partners, or that the spinoff can't right the wrongs that were made in S11 for unprofessional reasons, not creative ones.

AMC will not "capture a new audience" with a knock-off version of TLOU or from borrowing American exceptionalism and white male savior tropes from 80's movies. TWDU accounts for too much of AMC's revenue for it to go anywhere right now like you said, so they need to be mindful of their built-in audience. They chose to create different spinoffs for different characters, which means they have to niche down to audiences who are invested in each character's story. Believe it or not, Caryl's fanbase is huge and definitely worth hanging onto, but in order to do that, the show has to meet their needs. Treating Melissa as if she's less than, refusing to make Caryl canon for, again, unprofessional reasons, and shipbaiting relentlessly will just drive them away. So respectfully, I disagree that we're expecting too much (you don't work for the AMPTP, do you?)

I'm sharing this poll as a reminder to never underestimate Caryl's value (I have no interest in starting a ship war).

[mysticscrystalrevelation]

Game 10 Concentrated Thurs, June 6 7pm EDT Chicago @ Washington

Starting: WASH: Atkins, Dolson, Edwards, Samuelson, Vanloo (Sykes out with ankle injury, Austin injury rest?) CHI: DeShields, Evans, Mabrey, Reese, Williams

1st Quarter Always GREAT to see former Mystic Elizabeth Williams among a just plain excellent cast of characters for the Sky. Edwards makes good cuts, she's never stagnant. Three straight possessions we find her under the hoop for the easiest $2—forcing the Sky to huddle up and figure out a response. For the first time in quite a few games, the early energy among DC players is HYPE. Stef just twirled Shakira. The best part about home games is obviously the TOP two voices in sports: the legendary, always flawlessly attired Meghan McPeak and Christy Winters-Scott. <3 <3 JVL playing with a wrapped thumb tonight, doesn't appear to be slowing her down. Edwards' jumper gives her 8 after 3 mins, 100% of our scoring power. Karlie joins the fun with a corner 3 undeterred by a leaping Diamond DeShields. Sky with only 3 pts. A miss, a moving screen, and a lost ball from us and the Sky have made up the difference. Shatori, Yish, and Jade in. We're getting some steals and stops but a bit light on offense. Cardoso is fast at 6'7". Refs starting to get frisky with the whistles. Jade misses a free throw, gets her own and puts it right up to end the 1st 21-15.

2nd Quarter I've been thinking it all year and it's time to say it: Dana Evans is not playing around this season. Respectfully, she wasn't messing around last year either but it's a vector not a point, you know? Our bench struggling against good Sky defense to start the 2nd and they tie it up. It's not pretty right now, whistles, misses, no flow both ends. Shatori hypes the crowd up with a move and a jumper. Engstler with some first-half minutes today and gets a block. We find Aaliyah under the hoop next play and it's starting to look more like the first quarter. Eeeeeeverybody touches the ball and Earl downs the trey. Cardoso to Reese just playing above the heads of everyone—can't let that take off. Shatori jukes, pulls up, scores. Cardoso to Reese repeat and Eric calls time to solve it. Starting line returns. JVL is left alone -> layup. Chennedy with some tuff buckets here in the second. JVL finds Edwards, who drops it in and then gets a block on Reese the other way. Still Sky ball and she gets ANOTHER block on Cardoso this time. Ooh Chennedy heating up, getting what she wants. It's 41-35. Aaliyah is 7 of 7. Stef hits a three, closing the half 44-35.

3rd Quarter Patience continues to pay off on O as we eventually get someone lonely under the hoop. Elizabeth Williams out with knee injury (didn't see it) get better quick E! I was wondering about the extended minutes for Cardoso as she's coming back from injury herself. I'd love to see DiDi get in here. Go-go is rocking the house but the Sky get the D and a Mabrey 3. Some consecutive empty possessions and the lead shrinks to 3. We have let go too soon of what was working—slipping a player to the hoop. Aaliyah with a big block hopefully driving a momentum shift. Sky within 1. The hoop is not accepting shots on the DC end. Foul shots give Chicago the lead. A Capital P Painful 16-0 run. Myisha breaks the curse. Jade leaps and goes sliding off into the crowd "safe at third" according to Meghan lol. Edwards making a tough shot here and we're even at 54. Criminally underrated Izzy Harrison with 6 quick points. Turnover and Angel Reese and-1 and we need a timeout with just 50 seconds left in the quarter, dragging by 6 prior to the foul shot. Reese misses the extra but we turn it over right away. 54-60. Only 10 points in the quarter for DC.

4th Quarter Shatori doing all the scoring for us by drawing fouls. We are struggling to get stops the other way. 58-64. A couple Sky misses match ours and things aren't pretty right now. Ariel shows her toughness for 2 and then we get a defensive rebound, but turn it over on a push off. Earl gets the steal and will go to the line after her shot attempt. 61-64 with 5 minutes remaining. Chennedy gets another tough bucket and she has 19 for Chicago. Things are not pretty at all. Back-to-back turns and the Sky's 2-pt lead becomes 6. 2:22 to play. Ugly gets uglier—Earl misses both free throws, Chennedy gets a shot and then we turn it over. We can't seem to find the net. 71-79. We have lost all 10 games! Nothing to say about that at this point. Aaliyah Edwards with a double-double.

[soupsopsoap]

Part Two of Episode Five of Season One of My Hero Academia: Are You Having Fun Yet? Graph Time.

Oh boy, a screen shot of Google Docs, Very Exciting! This is my chart tallying up my findings from the chart at the beginning of episode five. Obviously, in the show students were ranked on total points, with the largest jump being from Uraraka to Shiozaki, with a difference of five. So, If I were to rank everyone based on other categories, I would say that a difference of ten or larger means I could not say where the next person ranked, as the difference would be too big, and people from out of the top ten would have most likely ranked as well. Additionally, given the difference of 17 from Kirishima (second place) to Awase (10th place), a difference of 20 or more from first place would mean that person likely would not have ranked in the top ten at all. This method would exclude Bakugo and Midoriya in villain and rescue categories, respectively, because they are outliers, and should not be counted. Obviously, a zero means they would not have placed. I will now rank everyone based on each category.

The following Graphs are made using Free Bar Graph Maker (linegraphmaker.co)

Villain Points

Given each Characters villain points, Bakugo would stay in first place, while Iida, Awase, Tetsu x4, and Tokoyami would have taken 2nd through 5th, as listed. Kirishima and Shiozaki may have made it to the top ten, but Uraraka and Kendo likely would not have. Midoriya would not have placed at all.

Villain Percent

When the percent of Villain points out of total points is taken, Bakugo would likely share first place with several students who only managed to kill one or two robots but did not rescue anyone (i.e. if you killed one 1p and one 3p robots, but rescued no one, you would have 100% villain points, and tie with Bakugo). Aside from students whose data we cannot know, Awase, Iida, Tetsu x4, and Tokoyami would again take 2nd through 5th place, with Awase and Iida trading 2nd and 3rd. Kirishima and Shiozaki, who tied, have a difference of about 30 with Awase, and likely would not have ranked in the top ten. Uraraka and Kendo, also tied, have a difference of around 40 with Awase, and would not have ranked top ten, excepting extreme circumstances. Midoriya had 0% and would not have placed.

Rescue Points

Had the exam been based solely on rescue points, Midoriya would have been in first place! Uraraka, Kendo, Kirishima, and Shiozaki would have remained in 2nd to 5th place, in a significantly different order. Tetsu x4 and Tokoyami tied, but with a difference of 30 with Uraraka, would not have made top ten. Iida and Awase also would not have made top ten. Bakugo would not have placed.

Rescue Percent

Under rescue percent, Midoriya once again would take first place. For our first and only second place tie, we have Uraraka and Kendo, followed by our first and only third place tie, with Kirishima and Shiozaki. Tokoyami, Tetsu x4, Iida, and Awase, with differences of more than 40, would not have made top ten. Bakugo would not have placed.

Approximate Robot Kills

Approximate Robot Kills is the least certain of all the graphs, given that a smart student would have gone after mostly 3p robots, instead of taking out an equal amount of each type. However, given that this is the only metric where Midoriya neither scores first nor does not place, I have decided to include it.

The rankings would be as follows: Bakugo, #1. Iida, Awase, Tetsu x4, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Shiozaki, Uraraka, and Kendo in 2-9. Midoriya, having killed exactly one robot, would not have made top ten, but would have placed somewhere, likely very far down.

Well, this has been graphing with Sopl.I feel very lucky that this was the only chart we will be shown in the entire show, given the ~2.5 hours I have spent compiling the information given in this post and the last. Thats like. Fiveish episodes. Wow. Good thing thats over. Link the last post? no. suffer. no links. no tags. i dont care

[xinyuehui]

鬼灯の冷徹

Hoozuki no Reitetsu wallpaper for you to put whatever message you want on it!! 

[jakesmith-pats]

Turmoil in Tampa

“The most important relationship a head coach has on his team is with the QB. He’s the one who runs the show on the field; he’s the ultimate extension of his coach. If there isn’t a high level of mutual trust between them, both coach and QB will be doomed.”-Bruce Arians- The self proclaimed QB Whisperer

What we are witnessing in Tampa is nothing short of a disaster. Bruce Arians has continually thrown Tom Brady under the bus with taking zero accountability (which he has been known to preach on). Seems as though Arians has been trying to get out in front of all this to make excuses to keep his job. News flash, your offensive scheme blows. There has never been an NFL offense that has had the “no risk it- no biscuit” & won a Super Bowl. The chucking & slinging the ball all over the field has never & will never work. Bruce Arians has been historic in his teams interceptions. In 1998 Peyton Manning threw league & career high 28 picks with the next 2 seasons at 15 a piece. He goes to Cleveland & his QB throws 21, 22, 18 picks. Takes over in Pittsburg in 07 with 14, 15, 14, 9, 15 even with Tomlin wanting a run first offense, Arians allowed for Big Ben to be sacked an astonishing 215 times in just 5 years. Which is an issue in Tampa in itself with there being so much interior rush pressure he can’t step into his throws. News flash if you want to throw deep you have to have protection or use play action. Brady is has been hit the 5th most in the league. Back to the topic in 2012 gets Andrew Luck (the best prospect since Manning) throws 18 picks 1 behind league leader Drew Brees also gets Luck sacked 41 times. Goes to Arizona 22 picks 41 sacks, 12 picks 28 sacks, 13 picks 25 sacks, 17 picks 40 sacks, 18 picks 52 sacks. Bruce then goes to Tampa where his QB throws a historic 30 picks against 47 sacks. The down the field attack DOES NOT WORK.

PLAY ACTION

Play action allows time for the QB to get extra protection by freezing the linebackers and gives the safety’s something extra to think about, allowing the receivers to find open spaces & take those shots down the field. Seems to me when they go play action Brady is able to find the open guy down field between Godwin & Gronk.

MOTION

Everyone & their mom knows you use pre snap motion to be able to determine if the coverage is man or zone. The Bucs lead the league in the lowest usage of pre snap motion. Arians has put Brady on blast for not reading the coverage correctly, hey Bruce it makes it a little easier if you use motion so your QB can get you in the right play. Arians has also said we make our reads after the snap of the ball. What? What kind of offense operates like that. Tom Brady has made his career by knowing what the defense is in and making calls to put his team in the best spots & mythically marching the ball down the field knowing where he is going with the ball before the ball is even snapped.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO AS A COACH

The thing that separates a good coach from a great coach is the ability to use their roster to its strength. The Patriots operated in a way that allowed for Brady to make presnap calls with routes, line protection, audibles all at Bradys will. With Arians its break the huddle and snap the ball. Literally. There is no looking at the defense making line calls from Brady or Jensen, audibles, hots, nothing. Why have one of the smartest players to ever play the game not use his best asset; his brain. Over the 20 years Tom was in New England I never saw him glaze over his wristband as long as he has to after the huddle breaks. That is a sign that Tom is not comfortable with the play call or he knows it won’t work. Arians & Byron Leftwich calling these plays has to have him thinking “why am I letting this paint drinker & former scrub QB call these plays”.

THERE IS NO SCHEME

There is no game plan each week. It’s the same offensive sets, same route concepts, same predictable play calling. Receivers just running around, not being able to read coverage. Every week I watch this team on offense I see the same plays & a massive inability to adjust during the game. Live & die by no risk it- no biscuit. It is gut wrenching football to watch with all that talent the Bucs have.

WHAT TOM NEEDS TO DO

During this bye week for the Bucs he needs to walk into Arians offense telling him to put down the booze & kit kats & tell him we need to run the offense that we ran in New England. After all why would you bring in Tom Brady and tell him “hey scrap what has made you the greatest of all time and try this”. When Manning went to Denver he walked in the coaches office & told them we are running the Tom Moore offense & guess what, it worked. Why would you ask a 43 year old QB to throw in 50 yards down the field once out of every 3 plays. Doesn’t seem like a good formula.

DEFENSE

In 4 of the 5 loses the Bucs have had have been because they have played soft zone & only rushed 3 or 4 guys. Hey heres a great idea, lets sit back in soft zone against Drew Brees, Jared Goff & Nick Foles. Oh here is an even better idea, lets guard Tyreek Hill 1 on 1 with no safety help. I wonder if after they first quarter of that Chiefs game Arians wondered hmmm maybe we should double Hill & Kelce after 7 catches for 203 yards 2 TDs IN ONE QUARTER for Hill alone.

Everything is out of sync for the Bucs, offense, defense, coaching, it’s all the more evidence how much football is culture, coaching & executing.

TOM HAS PART OF THE BLAME

Shame on Tom for thinking he could make this work. To go down to Tampa where Arians has a reputation & offensive scheme that makes no sense. Shame on Tom for being so oblivious to the fact that he would be getting into an offense that is called by Byron Leftwich. Toms arm strength is still good, he still has a lot of velocity on the ball & still throws a tight spiral but the timing with his receivers & communication is very off. Mike Evans looks like he only knows how to run straight. He has no awareness on how to read a defense, get to the hot spot and sit in the correct spot; the guy just can’t figure out what he is supposed to run unless he is running a go. Gronk should have stayed retired, tho he has looked better than at the beginning of the year. The running backs are HORRIBLE. Tom has always had someone to come out of the backfield that can catch little flats, swings, screens, Texas routes etc. It’s pretty clear why no one wanted Fournette, RJ2 is so hit or miss but can’t catch passes either. The Bucs receivers & backs lead the league in drops. Tom has put the ball into tight windows all year, sometimes it comes down to being able to haul in those passes when you have tight 1 on 1 coverage. Toms glazed over look during these games I completely believe is because he knows this offense will not work unless he is the one running it how he wants to run it & unless Arians sobers up & realizes that then Tom will be trying to get Josh McDaniels down there to take over as the next head coach.

Tom Brady is #1 in the NFL in On Target Throws, Air Yards, Air Yards per play, & 2nd in Completed Air Yards. Tom Brady is playing at a high level but they don’t have everything together. They need to take the bye week, have a come to Jesus meeting & decide what they are going to be on offense & who is going to call the shots. I 100% believe if Tom runs the offense the Bucs can win a playoff game or 2. How they are looking now they are almost a sure lock for a first round exit.

[lonelybob]

First Vaccine Jab - Complete - Update: 2nd Jab - Complete

After months of waiting with anticipation I was finally able to get the first vaccine jab on July 3rd at a company organized vaccination drive in Tokyo. A bit about the company vaccination drives in Japan: The Japanese government opening up the option for companies to apply and provide vaccines to their employees, family members, and the community where they work is a game changer for those who are under 65 and have been eagerly waiting for an option to be able to get vaccinated. Before this option Vaccinations have been only available to 65+ age group for months in Japan, with a frustratingly slow roll out of vaccines to the wider population. Timelines or estimate schedules for expanding access to vaccines has been disorganized and lacking in information to say the least. Company provided vaccination drives work well for large companies with 1,000+ employees who also happen to have doctor’s on staff to give the jabs or the ability to hire doctors (these are some of the requirements for a company to hold a vaccination drive); however for small-medium sized companies that don’t have access to doctors or the resources to plan a vaccination drive it is still challenging to provide vaccines for employees. This is the case for my company with less than 40 employees wondered what the company vaccination options would mean. I was pleasantly surprised to receive an E-mail on Saturday from my companies CEO sharing information about a vaccination drive being organized by an organization that my company is members of. The organization (ICC Summit Kyoto) had applied and been approved for 1,000 vaccines for a vaccination drive for their employees, and opened up appointments for company members of their organization. I quickly jumped at the chance, and submitted my details for an appointment. I was glad I did, because the available slots filled up by Sunday night, had I not registered I would still be waiting haplessly for the Japanese government to expand vaccination appointments to my age group. The Vaccine Drive was split into 2 weekends, 500 people per day. People with appointments could check their name on the list of appointments for which day their appointment was, and an estimate time period to come to the vaccination site to start waiting. My appointment was in the second weekend group. On the day of my vaccination I arrived early (recommended especially with rainy season delaying trains), found the office building where the vaccination drive was taking place, then grabbed a take out Cafe Latte from a nearby Tully’s and waited at a nearby bench outdoors until it was my time slot. When the time came, I returned to the office building where several volunteer organizers were waiting to greet people. A volunteer checked my forms were filled in, then waited in a zig zag line like at an amusement park. After about 15 minutes I came up to the front of the line, checked my appointment time matched approximately, my temperature was checked then written down onthe pre-screening questionnaire by a vaccination drive member. After that I waited a couple minutes before a group of 4 was ushered to the building elevator and brought up to the 4th floor office. In the office I followed the line to a table where my ID was checked to match my documents. Then proceeded to the next line waiting for a doctor to check the pre-screening questionnaire. When you get up to the doctor, they will check the questions you filled in and ask you a couple of the questions from the form. After reviewing the questionnaire the doctor signs the form, and I moved onto the vaccine doctor. The vaccination was quick and painless (like a little pinch), the doctor puts a Stamp with the Vaccine Lot. # on the Record of Vaccination document. This document is your proof/verification that you received a vaccine and includes the Vaccine Lot # in case there are unexpected issues or you have questions later on. You bring the Record of Vaccination document when you get the second jab, and a second sticker will be placed on the form which is proof of your full vaccination. After receiving the vaccine jab, you go sit down for about 15 minutes to make sure there are no unexpected reactions or problems with your body responding to the jab. After 15 minutes, I got up thanked a Vaccine Drive organizer watching over us and headed out the door taking the stairs down to the first floor then headed back home on the train. In 4 weeks time looking forward to do it again, getting the 2nd jab and finally vaccinated! Things to Bring to your vaccination: - A Photo  ID: such as your Resident Card, Driver’s License, or Passport. - Your Health Insurance Card - Wear a proper mask (not clothing-style and not plastic/urethane masks). If you don’t have a proper mask on the day, buy one at a nearby pharmacy or convenience store. - Wear clothing that your upper arm is accessible, such as a T-shirt or sleeveless shirt. 1. Preparation for vaccination  a. Preparation of inoculation record Record of Vaccination for COVID-19 document: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000744276.pdf Each person should print it out, fill in only three lines: name, address, and date of birth, and bring it with you. The other parts will be filled in by the doctor. Print one sheet per person. This is a very important document. Please keep it in a clear file. When you inoculate the second time, bring this inoculation record with the record of the first inoculation. However, if you have a vaccination ticket (voucher ticket), you do not need to fill in the vaccination record document. Please bring your vaccination ticket.  b. Preparation of pre-examination slip Preliminary questionnaire slip PDF https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000739379.pdf (Japanese) English Preliminary questionnaire: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/000759454.pdf (for reference only) Print the pre-examination questionnaire slips. The Japanese version of the document is required by the health officials and they will take this for record keeping. I suggest filling in the English version, then filling the same information in the Japanese version, since the fields are the same. Bring both language documents on the day of your vaccination, the english (or your native  language) for your reference, and the Japanese for submitting. The pre-screening questionnaire is also available in other language on the Japanese Health Ministry page: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/vaccine_tagengo.html Please fill in the necessary items (DO NOT fill in body temperature field) in the thick frame and bring it with you. It is necessary to fill this for each inoculation. Therefore, it is necessary to print a second copy for the second jab. Although it is a check item on the pre-examination slip, those who have received other vaccinations 13 days before the corona vaccination date cannot be vaccinated. Frequently asked questions on the pre-examination slip are as follows. Q: Do you fill in the body temperature before the vaccination in the upper right? A: Please do not fill in the temperature. Measure your temperature at the vaccination site on the day, it will be filled in by a vaccination site member or doctor. Q: How should I fill in the second question item, "I don't have a vaccination coupon/voucher." A: You can leave it blank. No description required. Q: How to submit Vaccination voucher/coupon? A: If you are unable to submit the vaccination voucher/ticket on the day of the vaccination (because the vaccination voucher was not yet distributed by your local government), please send it to the company by August 20, 2021. Details will be sent later after vaccination.

UPDATE: Aug, 5th, 2021

Vaccine Voucher/coupon:

I finally received my Vaccine Voucher on July 26th from the city hall in Urawa, Saitama area. The Vaccine Voucher includes a number that can be used to book a COVID-19 vaccination appointment at a local doctor’s office or vaccination site run by the prefecture government, but for my age group the vaccination coupon could not be used until after August to reserve an appointment in Saitama. Another option in this case could be to use the Vaccine Voucher to reserve an appointment at one of the large scale Tokyo vaccination sites run by the Self Defense Force, however everyone in Tokyo is lining up and competing for appointments at those sites as well. Which as I mentioned above, is why I’m glad I was able to get an appointment through a company organized vaccination drive.

Vaccination 2nd Jab:

On Saturday, July 31 I got my second Moderna vaccine jab at the ICC company organized vaccination drive. The process was pretty much the same as the first time, so I won’t repeat the details already described above.

A couple of differences this time, the lines were shorter so the speed of going through the check-in process and screening questionnaire went quicker, not sure why maybe because the first vaccine people came late so there was a back up in the lines or maybe because there was slow down at one of the steps (temperature check, or questionnaire screening, or getting the vaccine jab itself). In any case, the lines were shorter this time, so it went quick and smoothly to get vaccinated. Also the Dr who reviewed my screening questionnaire this time spoke english, I didn’t have any questions to ask him, but it was nice of him to ask if I preferred english or Japanese, and then have him review the questions in english.

The first vaccine jab I didn’t have much noticeable side effects, just pain in my arm where the shot was given which is normal. For the 2nd jab I experienced more side effects, from around 24 - 36 hours after the jab I had a fever and developed a headache after a while. I laid in bed and took naps on and off, and drank Aquarius sports drinks to stay hydrated. My fever went up to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) at the peak. These are normal potential side effects of the 2nd vaccination, and the following morning when I woke up the headache was gone and fever was down. Just sharing my experience with the side effects for anecdotal reference.

Note: This was my experience with getting the vaccine jab in Japan, your experience may differ depending on the vaccination site and organization.

[amisbro]

Impressions/Review:  Shining Live

Alright...here we go friends and neighbors.  Since we have hit our main roadblock on the game right now what better time but to do an “Impressions/Review” on the game “Shining Live” from the “Uta no Prince-Sama” franchise? This impressions however isn’t just going to be about the game but we are going to give a history on the series from its inception to where we are now because all of that is going to be factored in for a specific reason Oh and since we are in this for the long haul...this is going to be under a read more as well.  Also all information comes from the wikipedia page for UtaPri as well as the .com site and Broccol.co.jp  I did my research for this piece when I knew I was going to review it With THAT out of the way...shall we get started?

Uta no Prince-Sama was announced by Broccoli in the Summer of 2009.  To be exact the post that was placed on the website is from August 8th of 2009 and you could go to the website from there.  To this day if you wanted to go to the original version of the site you could...just hit up internet wayback machine for it. The first game’s release came in June of 2010.  June 24th is the day that is referred to as the proper Anniversary of the series and this year will be 8 years for the franchise.  Can you believe it will be 10 years in 2020?  HOLY CRAP! ANYWAYS! As you will see for the rest of this review there will be release dates from the game series and there will also be dates for the Anime seasons.  This is for a reason as you will see when we actually get talking about the game but I wanted to make sure this review was a 100% thorough breakdown for everyone both old hats and new peeps coming into the fandom.  With that in mind let us continue Uta no Prince-Sama as a “Visual Novle/Otome” has currently 9 games in their “Main” series between the PSP and VITA.  The Original game (Uta no Prince-Sama has been remade 2 times since its original version and they came out on August 11th ,2011 and January 26th of 2016 respectively.  The rest of the ORIGINAL games came out around the following times Amazing Aria - 12/23/2010 Sweet Seranade - February 10 ,2011 Debut - May 24, 2012 All-Star - March 7th, 2013 All-Star After Secret - February 26, 2015 Now all of these are important because around some of these dates a season for an Anime came out and all of the Seasons fell under the “Maji Love” banner starting with 1000% in July of 2011 (July 2nd for those keeping score at home) and running to September 24th of that year.  Of the four seasons so far this is the only season to have a a “Summer” Release as the other seasons (2K ,Revolutions and Legend Star) all fell either in the Spring or Autumn season.  2K and Revolutions both released in April of 2013/15 and Legend Star was in 2016 Okay okay I know what you are all thinking “Josh we know all of this...hurry up and get on with the friggin’ review” To which I say “I’m getting there but we need to do just a LITTLE MORE setup because the next part is important to Shining Live” When the first season of the Anime (ML1K) aired it was around “Amazing Aria” and “Sweet Sernade” and so the writers were writing to introduce you to basically STARISH as a 6 Member group with Cecil being a guest start basically (because when the first game happened 6 members were dateable from the start and one in Cecil was unlockable).  When Season 2 aired in 2013 Debut and All-Star were a thing but they had to introduce QN (whom briefly appeared at STARISH’s debut concert at the end of Season 1) so they would do just that When Season 2 premiered in 2013 the first episode was titled “Poison Kiss” and in it introduced the boys of QUARTET NIGHT whom would take the roles of “Seniors” for STARISH for the season.  Later when “Revolutions” happened 2 years later they would become the “In Agency Rivals” of STARISH to try and win the sport of the performer at the Triple S. HOWEVER Season 2 also sought to bring in a new monkey wrench into the fray by introducing the group “HEAVENS” led by Eiichi Ootori as he was flanked by Kira Sumeragi and Nagi Mikado and would face off in a “Must Win” scenario at the UtaPri awards where the loser would be forced to disband.  STARISH won but HEAVENS would be spared from disbanding as the President of Shining Agency stepped in and made sure that that stipulation wasn’t fulfilled.  They WOULD come back later as a 7 person group where each member was an opposite for a particular STARISH member and this season in particular (Revolutions) would be the last season also to aired around the release of a game.  “Revolutions” aired around April of 2015 the same year that the final game for the PSP (VN wise) released which was in February. Now there is a reason we just went through this History lesson (and if I fucked anything up I apologize) but its because we NOW are going to talk about Shing Live! LET’S GO Okay when we talk about Shining Live we are going to break this down like this Story Gameplay Translation (This is a translation of a Japanese Rhythm game so this one is important) Overall fun factor Just so you know...I am tempted to talk about the translation LAST because of the fact that it is a bit of a hot button but with that in mind...LET’S GO! Story I know that UtaPri isn’t typically known to some for its story but if you pay attention enough the story and plot are some of the most interesting things in the series.  I can’t tell you how ,when I watched every episode (52 and if we count the OVA then 53), I was always looking forward to what was going to happen in the next episode because the characters were compelling as all hell (and still are) and their personalities ,while some kind of grated on me over the years, were still varied enough that you could have your favorites So what IS the story of this game?  Well QUARTET NIGHT and STARISH are performing a joint concert called “Shining Live” where they showcase the groups that President Shining Saotome has on display.  In this case those groups are STARISH and QN. When the game starts the player (that’s you) are greeting by intros with each of the characters and that is our first introduction to ,not only the new translation for the game, but also the personalities of each character that will be on display at this time.  I say “At this time” because we will be talking about the future soon enough. After an introduction from all the cast they play “Welcome to UtaPri World” which is your introduction to the gameplay.  I’ll talk more about that in bit but basically tap the buttons in accordance to the song and as you do you will eventually progress to the title screen and go about your business After this the real story begins but...which story IS IT? See the game has 3 types Main Story Side Story Event Story The one that you will play a lot (or until you run out of certain items which I will talk about in a minute) is the Main Story.  This starts with after the performance of “Welcome to UtaPri World” (which doesn’t count towards clearing songs on the setlist) and your first chapter consists of a story with STARISH AND ONE WITH QN where the STARISH boys want to try and get better than their Senpais to eventually overtake them.  To do this they know they need to get better and to do that they need to keep on having performances and getting stronger.  QN however knows this and knows they need to get better as a group themselves but of course we know they have their own issues too right? To clear a chapter of the game the player must play each song and clear them.  Now there are 4 difficulties in the game so you have to play the one you are comfortable with but remember this Higher difficulties consume more LP (That stands for Live Points in this game) and can cause problems later on higher player levels...it can also help you progress faster in the game though with the XP system. As the player progresses in the story more and more songs become available.  Remember that you need tickets to play the stories so not having them puts you in a position that is no fun so playing the songs repeatedly helps out greatly Speaking of...LET’S TALK ABOUT GAMEPLAY Gameplay The game play of this game is not unlike say...Klab’s Love Live.  Rings come from a beam of light and your job is to tap them as close to perfect as possible and get the best score possible. Now this is where we are going to have differences in the way the game scores your taps.  In the JP version the scoring went JUST PERFECT PEFECT GREAT GOOD BAD MISS Getting all “Just Perfect” and “Perfect” scores meant you got a “PERFECT COMBO” and a special purple board came around the screen.  a Full Combo was just orange text When the Global Version was released they changed up two things and one was the grade for the note taps PERFECT GREAT GOOD BAD MISS Notice something:  Yeah they removed the “JUST PERFECT” rank from the score.  The belief is that having those would confuse the International audience so they scrapped “JUST PERFECT” and just left those in.  Also now you can get “ULTIMATE COMBO” just for getting “Perfect” and “Great” grades all the way through...its the equivalent to the Crown in Music 1 or the Gold in Music 2 You also get a score rank in the game The game ranks you scorewise from D to S (although C is the first one on the rewards chart...more on that in a second) and as you score in the song the bar goes up.  The better you grade on a note the more points and the better your shot of getting the elusive S rank on a song. How high you can go on the score meter is determined by a few things How well you tap on a note (although that can be wonky sometimes) The level/Grade of your phots Your traits for you and your partner in the song The first one we already explained how that kind of works...the others might be “Huh?” for some people so let me explain Every card has 4 rarities Normal Rare Super Rare Ultra Rare The higher the rarity of the card the better you have a chance to get an S rank...thing is your level matters too because every card gets EXP that participates in a song (BTW I know they are photos but I for some reason always call them “cards”...its a Yu-Gi-Oh! problem with me) so you want them to be in as much as possible.  There is also the BOND of the card though too Alright how to explain this We all have favorite characters and we want them to get to know us better right?  Well this game has a thing where has your number in the star of each character goes up you get new voice clips and the like from them...you also get rewards from the game as the game has missions based on songs ,player level and bond level between you and a character.  The goals are always every 10 levels and you usually get 10 prisms for doing it each time so that is def something to keep in mind Oh right...that is another important aspect of the game and its getting the new cards So this game has a gacha system which involves a photoshoot (for the record B-Project also has something kind of similar too) and there are many different kinds.  Some are based off of events like an MV for a particular video or even a Gacha that has cards from previous sets in it!  Some might even be themed after a Holiday (There is an event going on right now where Natsuki is the UR for Valentine’s Day and if you are lucky enough to pull him HE WILL BE SO HAPPY!) and there is even a Photoshoot which I think was the very first one they ever did that is a standard (Its one with the Military Outfits..you’ll know it when you see it. There are also two other special ones for special tickets that you can win either in a slot machine or I think you can get those in a shop.  I know for the V-Day you could get the SR+ one for sure in exchange for Presents! Some Photoshoots have an expiration on them and some are split into “halves” meaning that they will have one half have one UR card on them and then there is another half with another.  An example of this would be Nats being the UR for this particular half of the V-Day and Ren is beginning on the 13th of this month. NOW SPEAKING OF THINGS WITH DURATIONS LETS TALK ABOUT THE EVENTS! @baku5ds asked me to talk about these so I will...ONLY COS SHE ASKED ME TOO! So the game has events that last for about a week and the way they work is not unlike the events of “Stand my Hero” (a Match 3 game with Otome Elements that has some of the UtaPri VAs in it) EXCEPT all of these are ranked! Here is how they work From about 1:59 PM JST (That’s 11:59 PM EST for us) and for the next 6 days the player engages in a battle with other players to try and win not ONE new Photo but TWO! The Photos are related to the Event Story we spoke about earlier as the characters on them are portraying characters for the story.  The stories HERE (unlike for the main story) are 10 parts long BUT you get 5 Prisms each like you do for playing a side or main story chapter...that’s 50 prisms! You’re goal is to do one of two things in these 6 days 1.  Make it all the way to the cards on your points ladder (good luck because every so often the points increase by 500 so to get to the UR card its every 3500 to get the next reward) OR 2.  Finish in the top 10% of the rankings and you get TWO nice new shiny photos.  IF you got both copies already on the points ladder this just means you get a 3rd of at least one of the photos so enjoy This is legitimately one of the most exhausting things the game can ask a player to do because you aren’t just playing other players but you are playing yourself as your will and endurance get tested because you are playing THE SAME SET OVER AND OVER AND OVER again...it can be exhausting BUT if its for cards you really want you will suffer for them and it will be worth it!  I got a nice shiny UR for my collection so I’m happy :-) Are the events LONG...yes but if you have the patience and the endurance you can get through them easily...otherwise WHY ARE THEY SO BLASTED LONG?! (again that was for @baku5ds) Now let’s address the elephant in the room Translation (I know I said I would do “fun factor but...eh put that with the events thingy) The translation in some respects seems to be a bode of contention and I can respect that.  I think for ME it hasn’t been an issue because it feels like when they did the translation they wanted to make it more “lighthearted” as an experience for new players (and potential new fans) as possible.  If the story was “Angsty” as all get out how many people outside of the general base would play it? Does it have its issues?  Well there was a part in the last event when Syo said to Natsuki “Hey want to come with?” and I mentioned this to a friend of mine and they thought it might have been some old slang that got in. One that became a meme was when Ren at the beginning of the game goes “Hello Ladies.  Ren Jinguji is in the house” and I actually chuckled which I think is something this game wanted us to do from the start.  Have a lighthearted romp through UtaPri and get to see the characters in situations that might not happen in the Anime because of the fact that the series is 13 episodes each season and 22-25 minutes a pop.  A little lighthearted fun never hurt anyone (and let’s be real...we all needed that after Season 4). So now that I wrote what is no doubt a College Thesis on this game would I rec it for a new fan? SURE! The thing that you have to get over is sometimes the hit detection is wonky af when it comes to hitting notes and if you can endure the events when they feel like a Boston Marathon then you got that going for you too! All in all Uta no Prince-Sama Shining Live is a game that ,even if you aren’t a UtaPri fan but you love Rhythm games...check it out you won’t be disappointed!

[elizabethrobertajones]

It is I, plot twisty. I was wondering if you could link me to some stuff you have written about Castiel's trench coat (bc I'm 99% sure you have) I'm just so excited because I love the new one so much. Also, I happen to be the person asking about the Winchesters and plaid shirts in season 12. I loved the way you analyzed the clothes of the characters and your attention to detail, because that stuff mostly remains unseen by my humble eyes. (Also I think you have a tag for the clothes stuff?!?)

Aaah hi! Were you why I wrote a 1000 mile long post with a screen cap of every shirt Mary wore in season 12? You are most welcome back in my inbox, that was a ton of fun :D 

I think my trenchcoat tag (the serious one not the “sam shoe saga” where all the fashion nonsense goes) has largely got other people’s meta in it because so much awesome stuff has been written before I ever got there so I mostly just summarise what everyone else has said when asked :P It’s like the Car Is Dean’s Soul thing: I’m 100% behind it but other people are way more into it so… :P I mean I will write the trenchcoat stuff and sob about it but @floatingaboveclouds​ really picked it up a while back (and sadly she’s been not around much lately) and at the moment @gneisscastiel​ is sobbing about it all the time. 

Aah my “trenchcoat meta” tag isn’t even on my tag list… See, there’s always something :P

http://floatingaboveclouds.tumblr.com/post/100097338173/cas-trench-coat-meta

This is what I always think of as the Definitive Trenchcoat Meta just because I read it first, ages ago, and it really got me into it :P 

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/133234217428/excuse-me-while-i-need-a-moment

Some thoughts about VERY early Cas and coat stuff.

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/96865417548/interruptingpanda-savingsammyhuntingdestiel

Me being sad about it in 7x17

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/147044421392/dustydreamsanddirtyscars-8x07-a-little-slice

A season 8/9x01 look at it (I mean… written at LEAST after season 10 if I remember but from the POV of 8x07 about the early Carver era trenchcoat stuff we usually skip before going right to the new trenchcoat and all the nonsense they use it for :P)

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/105554354818/today-is-one-of-those-days-i-find-myself-having-a

Oh and more on the original coat and Cas’s identity (circa 9x23 at least)

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/117930210038/jimmys-clothing-meta-10x20-edition

Some overview on Cas up to 9x09 and Jimmy in general

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/149775846930/castiel-knight-of-hell-i-know-we-all-miss

This is a like 1 line meta on the new coat in 9x10

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/161446778708/littlehollyleaf-neven-ebrez-cas-jacket-is

Here’s a season 9 original - I think the first post really yelling about the discovery of the plaid under the collar!

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/164795829481/mittensmorgul-littlehollyleaf-drsilverfish 

This is a great one from 9x18 when it aired that I stumbled on recently but remember reading at the time so it was one of my Formative Meta Experiences (I just didn’t reblog a whole lot until the season 9-10 hiatus really started so all this great stuff is kind of lost to time to me unless I’m blog snooping and stumble on it >.> Thankfully I blog snoop a lot.)

I’m so frustrated because I can’t find my reblog (if I ever did) of the deleted scene gifs of Cas sewing the trenchcoat with commentary about him doing Human Things™… >.> My blog from before like… late season 10/the hiatus after… is really badly tagged so the good stuff is all a mystery :P

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/130068247568/littlehollyleaf-4persephone-i-actually-find

(I found another!)

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/97817693623/a-deep-shade-of-blue-is-always-there

Here’s a season 9-10 hiatus post from me where I talk about how the combination of coat and song got me to ship Destiel textually because it was all so intrinsically linked and the whole deeper symbolism of what the coat means to Cas and how the lyrics in that song used it.

https://justanotheridijiton.tumblr.com/post/98218136134

And the no need for words version… >.>

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/163908715733/gneisscastiel-replied-to-your-post

This one I wrote myself recently about Metatron in 9x22 trying on the coat and what I thought it meant in this context (as you can see I am still basically in a season 9 mindset about it :P)

https://justanotheridijiton.tumblr.com/post/142607939029/the-plaid-trenchie

Mel has all the gratuitous plaid shots…

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/101030511793/deathbyspookyopen-hallowedbecastiel-10x02

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/100110462763/can-we-talk-about-how-as-soon-as-cas-went-through

This from 10x02 but the first doesn’t take into account that in the shot of Hannah putting the coat over Cas WE can see the plaid, I guess just from her perspective she misses it or doesn’t understand the symbolism (especially not that everyone leaped on the meta idea of “being draped in the flag of heaven” and what her actions were doing :P) - Floatingaboveclouds’s original Trenchcoat Meta is circa this episode and explains it best and it’s sort of the words in the back of my head about that scene all the time now.

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/147389591616/cas-crowley-trench-coats-and-parallels

Something from 10x14 which makes perfect sense because the new trenchcoat was from 9x10 but I just skim read the post and I’m not 100% sure they really got into it like I would have…

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/116643283603/cas-trench-coat-meta-10x18-edition

For 10x18 and Cas taking off his coat there :D

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/131414819958/cas-trench-coat-meta-11x02-edition

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/131982763978/cas-clothing-meta-11x03-edition-part-1

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/131983260278/cas-clothing-meta-11x03-edition-part-2

Some early season 11 meta!

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/138413634723/heey-i-rewatched-11x06-and-i-think-cas-is

Some thoughts about Cas in the start of season 11 and parallels to Casifer and how he was wearing Cas’s clothes…

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/139716966318/why-is-casifer-shown-wearing-the-coat-in-the-next

11x15 and some more thoughts on Casifer

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/158190035758/do-you-think-cas-would-change-into-another-outfit

This is from earlier this hiatus giving an overview but I think I should add now with hindsight, talking about a full wardrobe upheaval, because there’s obviously different meaning in Cas going right back to something nearly identical to his original get up, and I’d rather muse on what that means when I know HOW he ends up with his new costume for season 13, so that’s a meta I’ll only write after 13x06. No leather jacket yet. >.> 

Here’s some interesting takes on it with a different perspective:

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/163901981347/a-study-in-trench-coat

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/163903036052/heya-hope-youre-having-a-good-day-onwards-with

https://elizabethrobertajones.tumblr.com/post/163786906919/gneisscastiel-as-season-13-approaches-i-have

All of this is informing my thoughts right now on it and I know there’s a bunch of meta I missed… I mean just scrolling these posts I’m sure there’s gaps in trenchcoat-related events that I or others have talked about and uuugh even when I try and collect all the meta I’ve tagged badly in the past or was too shy when I was new to fandom and missed a whole bunch of the most important posts at the end of season 9 which drastically shaped how I read the show… I’m always happy to talk MORE about it :P

I guess adding this all up the one thing I can say about the new trenchcoat for season 13 is that is it a trenchcoat and that means it carries all this baggage, just as the 2nd one carried the baggage of the first, but it’s in a different form. If Cas picked it for himself, it will be like 9x10 and 8x07, where he chooses to go back to the original look. If it’s picked for him it will be a different story - more like 7x17 or 9x18 or 11x06 - times when he put the coat on hesitantly or was given a strong push to go for a choice that wasn’t particularly a choice, or because someone else was shaping his image for him. 

10x01-3 especially were LADEN with Cas identity stuff and included a lot of messing around with the trenchcoat, and it was also the first part of the show I enjoyed in fandom meta-ing with everyone else, so I have ideas about it very planted in my head :P I think I will always associate it with his angelic identity as the “flag of heaven” because of the 9x18/9x22/9x23 synergy about Cas, Metatron, and all the stuff going on between them. I think that whole chunk of the show with 9x14 as an outlier on one end and 10x18 on the other but mostly the end of season 9 and start of season 10 separated Cas out to tell a very specific story about who he was and what he wanted, and the trenchcoat played a huge part in that symbolism. And that starts with him picking a new one in 9x10 when re-asserting his angel identity (after joining in as a hunter in 9x09 in the same get up including the season 10-12 tie in an early appearance) and that act in itself was a sort of “be useful to the Winchesters or die human” scenario, and so I think like Dean on the phone in 9x09, I am very suspicious about Cas’s choice actually saying anything about what he WANTS when it comes to his identity, and the main block of episodes about this unpack it a lot more…

If Cas comes back in a new trenchcoat which is like the original flavour one, it might be like what it was used for in 8x07 - a “everything is okay” red flag that Cas put himself back together for appearances’ sake but of course he was being controlled by Naomi and it was the first scene Dean voices his immediate suspicions Cas did not come back naturally and there was something fishy about it - which of course he carries on worrying about until the Crypt Scene when it all becomes clear, and then Cas only stays in that outfit a handful more episodes until he becomes human and has to pick drinking water over maintaining the image and wearing his original battle armour.

There’s also the fact the trenchcoat IS the original battle armour to him and like in 9x18 or 11x06 the new one at very least feels like armour and we can see him using it as that emotionally… It’s not a bad thing for him to have a new old trenchcoat style to mimic how he used to be if it’s for his own strength and comfort… I just think that overall he’s headed in a different way than staying in the trenchcoat forever and a 3rd variation is going to be fascinating. I hope there’ll be a lot to comment on, like with the 2nd one when it was new there was like 2 seasons of heavy exploration of it as a meta subject before they sort of chilled out again and it became a more incidental feature. Or the times Cas had the original restored to him or like how it looked in Purgatory (see! even more incidents I couldn’t quickly find a post on :P)

And of course there’s the mystery about what Cas might wear while he’s dead, why he’s in a $2600 suit in the first scene of 13x06, and so on and so on. Season 13 has SO many more ways to fuck with us before we get to the new coat :P 

[d-and-s-are-bord-blog]

Better Late Than Never: 19 Must-See Movies from 1999

via WordPress ift.tt/2HJ5MjA

From 19 movie lovers to one other, here are some of our favorites from 1999.

We get a lot of emails here at Film School Rniejects, and while most of them are split pretty evenly between people curious if Kieran Fisher is a “real” person and others asking Christopher Campbell, Esq. for nudes, some are actually complimentary enough towards the site to count as fan letters.

One such example came to us recently from a young woman in the UK hoping to celebrate turning 19 years old with a writing project about movies released in 1999. Her plan was to watch or re-watch films from that year and then write about each of them whether she connected with the movie or not. As a fan of FSR and One Perfect Shot she asked if we could offer a few suggestions as to what we consider to be the must-see movies of 1999.

“Hi, I figure this email is a long shot but I’d really love your help. My name is Ellie, I’m 18, a complete film geek and I could not live without Film School Rejects or One Perfect Shot. I’m starting a project that involves me trying to watch new or rewatch 19 films from 1999 by the time I’m 19 on June 2nd and I would really love any suggestions that I can add to my list. I know its small, but this project means a lot to me and I’d love to complete it and write up about all of them, whether I’m passionate about them or whether I detest them. It would mean the world to get some help on this.

Thank you thank you thank you!

Ellie

London, United Kingdom”

The smart, easy, and nice thing to do would have been for one of us to dash off a quick list of 1999’s best films so she’d have it in time for her birthday. Unfortunately, we here at FSR prefer to complicate things and miss deadlines whenever possible, so instead of a short list we’d like to present Ellie with 19 picks from 19 members of our team. Some might seem obvious, others less so, but it’s most definitely a broad spectrum highlighting not only our staff’s eclectic tastes but also the absolute wonder that is cinema’s breadth and scope.

We write about movies because we love movies (and because Disney pays so damn well for positive Marvel coverage, but that’s a bit off topic so forget I even said it), and we’re equally excited by any opportunity to share that love with others. There are so many amazing films out there, and like everyone else, we’re still discovering new favorites every day.

So happy belated birthday Ellie! We apologize for the tardiness of our reply, but hopefully you find something new to appreciate from our picks and that they add to your already growing love for the movies. (And, yes, we did add a bonus pick for an even twenty to get a jump on your 20th birthday…)

10 Things I Hate About You (directed by Gil Junger)

Perhaps the last great teen movie of the 20th century, 10 Things I Hate About You made its debut in 1999. It’s essential viewing for any rom-com fan, but especially for young women. Kat (Julia Stiles) is a badass feminist lead unlike many we see in romantic comedies who accepts an invitation to prom from class mystery man Patrick (Heath Ledger). There’s miscommunication, true love, and a Shakespeare enthusiast. The soundtrack is the perfect time capsule of 1999, but it still rocks today. It’s a fun and adorable movie I adored when I was nineteen! – Emily Kubincanek

All About My Mother (directed by Pedro Almodóvar)

Us film writers have a bad habit of using “melodrama” like it’s a dirty word. The thing is, melodrama is most often used as a crutch—blatant appeals to viewers’ emotions made in an attempt to distract audiences from other shortcomings. It takes a skilled filmmaker to remind us of how wrong we are in conflating melodrama’s potential with the underwhelming contents in which it is most often seen, and Pedro Almodóvar is perhaps the preeminent master of melodrama working today. Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All About My Mother) is stuffed to the brim with plotting straight from a soap opera, expertly condensing the twists and turns one might expect from an entire television season into less than two hours. Gorgeously vibrant and filled with innovative cinematography that will stick in your brain long afterward, the film is a much-needed reminder that melodrama and great cinema can absolutely be one and the same. And that you should always look both ways before crossing the road. – Ciara Wardlow

Analyze This (directed by Harold Ramis)

What is the best way to understand film genre? Apart from actually sitting down and immersing oneself in its finest examples, the answer is clear: genre parodies! An overlooked classic is Harold Ramis’ Analyze This. One sentence summary: Robert De Niro plays a mob boss and Billy Crystal is his psychiatrist. It’s a ton of fun! Also, it’s a thoughtful satire, one that raises deep questions about our understanding of masculinity, especially in films about Italian-American men. In Goodfellas, De Niro plays a mobster completely devoid of emotion; here, he plays one who struggles to admit he has emotions because he believes doing so would make him weak. It’s well-worth your time, plus, if you like it, there’s a sequel! – Will DiGravio

Audition (directed by Takashi Miike)

By the time you read this, Takashi Miike’s filmography will have surpassed 100 directorial outings and some change. The Japanese maverick is a workaholic who’s willing to make any project he gets offered, though when you look at the eclectic array of titles in his oeuvre, what you see is some of the boldest and most daring cinema of the last 20 years. Audition, which is based on Ryu Murakami’s novel of the same name, is one of his foremost masterworks, as well as an example of J-horror at its smartest and most sadistic. It tells the story of a widower who’s looking to get back into the dating game, but he gets more than he bargained for when he meets a woman with a mysterious past and a willingness to go the extra mile. Part romantic comedy, part stomach-churning nightmare, Audition serves as the perfect introduction to Miike’s demented world, and it’ll either make you want to delve in further or avoid it forever. – Kieran Fisher

The Blair Witch Project (directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez)

Found footage movies get a bad wrap. Look, I get it. After the – ahem – foundational film The Blair Witch Project made its splash debut at Sundance Film Festival, screening at midnight to an unsuspecting crowd, studios every year have attempted to cash in on this low-cost way of filmmaking. But when done right, this POV format elicits a cinema verite quality that we so rarely see in the horror genre. And that’s what makes Blair Witch work so well. It just feels real. And in a time when the internet was just becoming what it is today, it was easy for the studios to really capitalize on that and make audiences believe that it was real. From the website that the filmmakers set up to the Sci-Fi Channel “documentary” The Curse of the Blair Witch that ran the week before the film released, they essentially made not only the first Augmented Reality game but also an immersive experience. Watching the film you feel like you are in the Black Hills Forest with Heather, Mike, and Josh slowly losing your sanity as the claustrophobic woods send chills down your spine. And when the woods finally come alive, the terror feels real. In a decade that was full of glossy excess, the simplistic DIY quality of The Blair Witch Project made it a breath of fresh air. This film didn’t have beautiful 20-somethings, pretending to still be in high school, running away from a hook hand or a ghost mask, this was a fear of the unknown. What’s right behind the door, or down that dark corridor. What we can’t even begin to comprehend, for fear we go mad. Often imitated, but never duplicated: The Blair Witch Project is real old-school horror. – Jacob Trussell

Dick (directed by Andrew Fleming)

After nearly 20 years, I still can’t believe Dick hasn’t become at least a cult classic. This movie has so many hilarious performances from its mix of Kids in the Hall and Saturday Night Live cast members, including Bruce McCullough and a not-yet-famous Will Ferrell as iconic journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. Ryan Reynolds is here pre-fame, as well. The political satire mashed with teen comedy stars Michelle Williams and Kirsten Dunst on the edge of their transitions from child actresses to Oscar and Emmy worthy talents, and that’s a perfect spot for them to be in while they play bubbly girls in the midst, almost Forrest Gump-like, in one of America’s most notorious scandals. It’s a hip, lampooning introduction to the Nixon Administration and Watergate for young audiences with a wonderful portrayal of Tricky Dick by Dan Hedaya, and it’s a light and entertaining take on political corruption and the well-worn story of becoming disappointed with heroes and leaders. – Christopher Campbell

Election (directed by Alexander Payne)

Hear me out: Tracy Flick did nothing wrong. Over the years, Reese Witherspoon’s portrayal of an uncannily chipper, type-A teen who will stop at nothing to become student body president has been hailed as both a cultural icon and monstrous villain – but as a profoundly dorky and overachieving teenage girl who first saw Alexander Payne’s Election when I was Flick’s age, I’ve always felt a deep kinship with her. Matthew Broderick is disarmingly convincing as its (unreliable) protagonist, a beloved teacher who can only see Flick as a vindictive seductress after an affair with his married colleague (a situation we’d recognize today as statutory rape). In retrospect, it seems to occupy a strange in-between era of teen-media canon – its sour, biting portrait of high school politics takes after the pitch-black wit of Heathers, and yet its earnest idiosyncrasy also recalls later, weirder works like the great American Vandal. It’s the rare kind of comedy whose sense of humor is dazzlingly sharp and yet never feels mean-spirited. – Aline Dolinh

Eyes Wide Shut (directed by Stanley Kubrick)

Stanley Kubrick’s final film is a salacious peekaboo exploration of the sexual desires hidden within the minds of our significant other. We recognize the deep, dark secrets that lurk inside our own fantasies, but we dare not ask our partners what delights they crave. What’s the password? You do not want to know. Eyes Wide Shut peels the curtain back on the lust that fuels humanity. The film is made all the more dangerous by casting real-life married couple (at the time anyway) Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the roles of the husband and wife reeling from the revelations laid bare after one admits their carnal wants. Their bedroom confrontation is an exposed vein that the audience both recoils from and salivates towards. We should not be privy to such horrendous intimacy. Kubrick’s passing and the prudish controversy surrounding the centerpiece orgy marred the initial response to the film. The longer I’ve sat with Eyes Wide Shut, the more time it has wormed its way into my relationships. Don’t wonder what’s going on in your lover’s head. Ask. Or suffer the torment. – Brad Gullickson

Fight Club (directed by David Fincher)

Before it became a stereotypical Film Bro signpost, this fantasia of runaway masculinity was a pulsating, bloody, controversial revelation. An essential entry into the filmographies of Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter, it was also the movie that gave David Fincher his biggest early push toward his current label as a modern auteur filmmaker. Love it or hate it, Fight Club is a pop cultural touchstone, referenced for its quotable dark humor, brutal offhand violence, anti-Capitalist ideology, and above all else, its wildly surprising ending. First and foremost, though, I think Fight Club is an example of what filmmaking can look like at its most technically brilliant. It was the movie that made me fall in love with the aesthetic side of cinema, the technical aspects which separate film from other mediums of storytelling. As with Fincher’s later works, Fight Club makes use of sounds and sights, colors and cuts that flow seamlessly together, fluid and visually dynamic, to create a rich and distinctive moviegoing experience. – Valerie Ettenhofer

Galaxy Quest (directed by Dean Parisot)

1999 was a simpler time on the verge of being more complicated. It undeniably had its eye to the future, but its special effects and grasp of a swiftly changing technological landscape haven’t all aged amazingly. Galaxy Quest actually holds up surprisingly well, but it does make for interesting viewing 19 years later. In 1999 the internet was still a new phenomenon, not yet a place where everyone and their dog had an opinion on your favorite sci-fi show. The film’s main plot, that an alien species have mistaken a tv show for reality, is inherently clever and funny, but seen from 2018, when all-consuming fandom is more visible than ever, it doesn’t feel quite so… otherworldly. That’s what makes it obligatory viewing for the end of the millennium — now officially older than its long-canceled titular show, it offers a prescient view of the world that it almost certainly didn’t intend. It’s a time capsule of accidental speculation. It’s also a fun space adventure with a lot of heart and Alan Rickman, so if you’re not in the mood for reflecting on how the world has changed drastically since your birth, you can still have a great time. – Liz Baessler

Girl, Interrupted (directed by James Mangold)

There truly aren’t many films exploring the motives and psyches of teenage girls, but alongside other 1999 releases such as 10 Things I Hate About You and The Virgin Suicides, Girl, Interrupted furthered the presence and dimensions of young women on-screen. In classic Winona Ryder style, she undertakes the role of an interesting, intellectual, and misunderstood adolescent, namely Susanna Kaysen, an eighteen-year-old who has found herself admitted to a mental institution following an overdose. She finds the women around her (an incredible supporting cast in the form of Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss, and Clea DuVall) both relatable and frightening, revealing the inner prejudices she holds within herself. The real challenge Susanna faces, however, is the charisma and allure of sociopath Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie’s Oscar-winner, and an icon on every teen’s Tumblr dashboard circa 2012). Underneath the powerhouse cast and vivid identities, however, is a focus on mental illness and coming-of-age that makes Girl, Interrupted a seminal piece for anyone trying to navigate their place in the world. Susanna is the narrator of the story in place of the audience’s inner monologue, skipping with us through the highs, and tugging us out of the lows. It shows, frankly, that with therapy, recovery is possible. It also emphasizes the importance of friendship and the solidarity of women, providing a depiction of troubled teenage years with an absorbing and truthful force. – Anya Hudson

The Iron Giant (directed by Brad Bird)

When Brad Bird’s directorial debut about a boy and his giant robot from outer space hit theatres on August 6th, 1999, it was a critical success. But Warner Brothers hadn’t had the first idea how to advertise it, and it opened in ninth place at the box office. And in all fairness, The Iron Giant doesn’t exactly fit into a marketable mold. That’s one of the film’s strengths. It’s based off a children’s story that Ted Huges wrote to comfort his children after the suicide of his wife, Sylvia Plath. It’s a Norman Rockwell-inspired political parable about a young boy befriending a metal monster who, despite his programming, doesn’t want to do harm. It had something to say about fear-mongering, violence betting violence, and the cost of peace—and it said all these things without talking down to young viewers. At its core, The Iron Giant is a story of empowerment, not as myth or destiny, but as a choice. You are who you choose to be. You can be gentle, you can defend, and you can be kind. You can be superman. – Meg Shields

Magnolia (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

Magnolia is significant in the 1999 canon for several reasons. It is arguably Paul Thomas Anderson’s best film. It has an ensemble cast that rivals some of the best actors and actresses of our time. And frankly, it contains one of the best performances from Tom Cruise. That alone would be a feat, but Magnolia is an untraditional epic that proves that nothing is written in stone. Anderson uses a short story to present audiences to the idea of strange phenomenon. An unsuccessful suicide turns into a murder by the most unlikely circumstances. That is the theme that runs through Magnolia, unlikely circumstances. Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) was a former quiz show winner whose moment of fame passed him by. The man who hosts that show, Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), has his own issues as he is slowly dying from cancer. And these two are connected to other members in the cast through coincidences. Anderson has waned back and forth on whether Magnolia is his masterpiece, but regardless of opinion, there is no denying the power of the film. Add in an iconic score by Aimee Mann — and did I already mention Tom Cruise’s performance? — and you have a movie experience quite unlike any other. – Max Covill

The Matrix (directed by The Wachowskis)

Notice how in almost every action movie there will be a slo-mo fight sequence where the protagonist is dodging bullets left and right? You can thank 1999’s The Matrix for that. Though, admittedly, later films may not exactly do it justice. Moving past those iconic visual effects (known more familiarly as “bullet time”, undeniably made most famous by The Matrix though it can be found in its predecessors) this movie is a wild ride that defined the action genre for years to come. The use of sophisticated fight scenes, heavily featuring a martial arts fighting style as per its Hong Kong cinema influence, along with incredibly complex and unique worldbuilding, The Matrix has firmly secured its spot in pop culture legend. What’s more, Keanu Reeves shines as hacker-turned-rebel against the machines, adding sci-fi badass to his already notable film career. His journey as Neo takes you from sympathizing with his 9 to 5 struggles (a good juxtaposition, as the side gig as a career cyber-criminal was probably less relatable) and seeing apart of yourself in a character going through the gray-tinged motions of a salaryman, to wanting to be him. Who wouldn’t want an alluring, mysterious stranger to plunge you into the realities of a dystopia, introducing you to a cyberpunk cult who gives you the choice to change your perception of the world forever? It seems much more appealing in The Matrix, I promise. The Wachowskis’ most famous achievement, this is a film much better viewed than dissected, particularly at the risk of revealing an amazing semi-plot twist. It’s more than just a pop culture phenomenon, still able to stand tall in 2018 as the perfect combination of action film technique and sci-fi storytelling prowess. While the gothic, cyberpunk look of the costumes and character style may admittedly date itself, the core and general appeal of the movie hold strong. Where else can you find Reeves entering a technological-underworld, filled with the expected futuristic elements coupled with a grungy exterior⎯ while also battling cryptic agents and practicing kung-fu. – Kendall Cromartie

The Mummy (directed by Stephen Sommers)

Two sequels, four Scorpion King spin-offs, and an ill-fated reboot may have diluted the Universal Mummy brand, but Stephen Sommers’ original summer blockbuster is still as ruggedly charming as its lead. Brendan Fraser is at the peak of his dopey charm here, and Sommers rips off Indiana Jones with freewheeling ease, forgoing scares in favor of all manner of swashbuckling adventure, complete with a climactic sword fight with an undead army. There’s no sweaty cinematic universe-building to be found in The Mummy, just good old-fashioned grave-robbing fun. – John DiLillo

Peppermint Candy (directed by Lee Chang-dong)

There are plenty of light and fluffy movies I love, both from the US and elsewhere, but my heart belongs to darkness. (On the screen at least… I’ll stick with light and fluffy in real life.) South Korean cinema is better than most at scratching this particular itch, and Lee Chang-dong’s beautiful but devastating look at his own country’s recent history does it in brilliant fashion. Like the more well-known Irreversible from three years later, Peppermint Candy magnifies the story’s drama and emotional effect by playing out in reverse chronological order. We start with a broken man screaming on a train track as the locomotive rushes toward him, and we work backward through his life to the young idealist he once was. It’s a personal tale of one man’s disappointment, but the events he experiences also tell the story of South Korea’s own growing pains as a young democracy. It’s a smartly crafted punch to the heart, and it’s one of 1999’s best films. – Rob Hunter

Ratcatcher (directed by Lynne Ramsay)

Too often in conversations of a year’s best films are international works forgotten. For this reason, if you’re looking at 1999 in movies, Scottish writer-director Lynne Ramsay’s feature film debut Ratcatcher is a must-see. The film is set in 1973 and tells the story of James, a young boy living with his family in a run-down housing scheme in Glasgow during the city-wide garbage strike, leaving the already dilapidated residential units in worse conditions ever. By exploring the minutiae of the sensitive James’ daily life, Ramsay creates a film that delivers an incredibly thoughtful and powerful meditation on ever-relevant themes of poverty, guilt, secret-keeping and human connection. – Madison Brek

Ravenous (directed by Antonia Bird)

It’s been a slow climb to respectability for Bird’s 19th-century cannibal classic. Universally panned on its release – the film was called a ‘stupid black comedy’ and ‘material that’s often better suited to a Monty Python skit’ – Ravenous has slowly risen in the esteem of horror fans and earned a spot as one of the better horror films of the last 20 years. And for good reason: not only does Ravenous feature the kind of onscreen talent normally reserved for high-profile chamber pieces, it also contains one of the most memorable soundtracks of any decade, a pop-infused cacophony of period instruments and chanting (co-written by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn). Equal parts black comedy and superhero-horror hybrid, Ravenous is the kind of movie that was meant to get better with time. Here’s to the cavalcade of anniversary pieces already scheduled for next spring. – Matthew Monagle

The Straight Story (directed by David Lynch)

There’s art-damaged David Lynch, there’s network TV David Lynch and even big studio David Lynch, but what if the best David Lynch is the one that Disney randomly bought at Cannes the summer of ’99 and which remains the director’s only G-rated entertainment? Shot along the route that notable Iowan Alvin Straight took by lawnmower to see his brother over in Wisconsin a few years before, The Straight Story tells this tale with the kind of look-in-your-eye sincerity that Lynch had for so long only been able to perform in various tediously ironic costumes. Richard Farnsworth, a stuntman who once played Matthew in Anne of Green Gables, is Straight, exalted here as an ordinary joe stubborn to the progress of time and old wounds. One finally triumphs over the other when Straight decides to reconcile with an estranged brother two states away, who appears, as-who-else but longtime chum Harry Dean Stanton. Because of Straight’s decimated vision, the local Man tells him he can’t drive and god knows no All-American will be caught dead on a bus in those 49 states, so Straight hitches up a lawnmower from the local John Deere affiliate and off he goes, with longtime Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti scoring this to an ambient take on that era’s popular The Oregon Trail 3rd Ed.-music. What follows is an epic Odyssian tale that offers Oscar-nominated real pain and real country patois. It was perfect for the comedown from the summer of Woodstock ’99, and it’s perfect for right now, the clouds gathering and you can see them far-off if you look, before another summer of infinite bleakness. – Andrew Karpan

The Virgin Suicides (directed by Sophia Coppola)

Sofia Coppola is known for her vested interest in girlhood and female experiences, and she’s been committed to this since her debut film in 1999. The film is haunting and achingly beautiful in its depiction of the events that led up to the Lisbon sisters taking their own lives, all before they turned eighteen. It is intimate and empathetic, characteristics that Coppola frequently employs well, but unlike her other films that take the perspectives of her characters as they grapple with loss and disillusionment, The Virgin Suicides never fully breaks through to the Lisbon sisters, leaving them as mysteries without answers, asserting how difficult it is to know each other but how important it is that we try to. Every time I revisit the film I find a new detail that reminds me how much I love Coppola as a filmmaker and how grateful I am for her work. – Anna Swanson

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Avatar's Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

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Avatar's Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

Avatar’s Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

There has not been a movie event in our lifetimes quite like Avengers: Endgame. No amount of pie-in-the-sky box office forecasting or broken pre-sales records could have prepared the industry or us for the opening weekend of Marvel’s culmination film. By the time all the money was counted on Monday morning, Avengers: Endgame had obliterated the domestic opening weekend box office record by nearly $100 million and left a sea of exhausted movie theater employees in its wake.

Avengers: Endgame shot off like a rocket and the domestic opening weekend record was just the first major victim to fall to Marvel’s decade-in-the-making achievement. One by one, the Russo Brothers film climbed the box office charts, breaking records and felling many other massive movies, including those of the MCU, on its way to the top. Records are made to be broken, and like a blow from Stormbreaker, Endgame has done plenty of breaking.

But there is one record in particular left to break. One record that cements a movie as the biggest ever and the all-time box office champ. One film that stands alone. That record is for the worldwide box office gross, and it belongs to James Cameron’s Avatar.

After an opening weekend that got it over 40% of the way there, and after it sunk James Cameron’s other box office stalwart Titanic, it seemed to many like it was a matter of ‘if’, not ‘when’ Avengers: Endgame would break Avatar’s record. That inevitability might have been premature though.

Avengers: Endgame currently sits at $2.713 billion worldwide, but Forbes’ Scott Mendelsohn does not see it having enough juice to make it to the $2.788 billion and beyond needed to match Avatar and claim the worldwide box office crown. Instead, he predicts that it will top out at a staggering, but still second-place, total $2.766 billion.

It is still a monumental achievement and no one involved has anything to hang their heads over if the film has to ‘settle’ for being 2nd to James Cameron’s 2009 film. Yet, regardless of whether the MCU film ultimately claims the top spot on the worldwide charts or comes up just short, Avatar’s box office record is even more impressive after Avengers: Endgame.

I think we sometimes hand wave Avatar’s record and take it for granted because it has become a constant in our minds. We all know that Avatar is the biggest movie of all time, but the abstract nature of that fact has made it seem at times less like something that the film achieved and more like something that just is. That detracts from how impressive its run really was.

First, it must be addressed how long Avatar’s record has lasted. Avatar was released in December of 2009 and since it ended Titanic’s reign at the top, it has never once been so much as threatened until Avengers: Endgame. That’s nearly a decade of dominance where the biggest films Hollywood could muster all failed to even sniff Avatar’s record.

The Na’vi held off the reboot of the Jurassic Park franchise, a franchise whose original 1993 film once held the worldwide record before Titanic. The end of Harry Potter, the animated phenomenon Frozen and the MCU’s finest and biggest films all fell short. Even the return of Star Wars, an incredible cultural and cinematic moment, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, wasn’t enough.

Hollywood may have become more myopically focused on tentpole blockbusters since 2009, but in that time it still couldn’t craft one that could to bring down Toruk Makto. And if Avengers: Endgame too falls short, Avatar’s long reign will continue on.

Domestically, Avengers: Endgame beat Avatar and currently sits at $815.7 million according to Box Office Mojo. That makes it the second film, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which made $936.7 million domestically, a record Endgame definitely won’t be beating) to best Avatar’s $760.5 million take.

Consider this though: Avatar got to $760.5 million domestically and that current Number 3 spot with a max domestic theater count of 3,461. At the height of its run Avengers: Endgame enjoyed a theater count of 4,662. That’s over 1,200 more theaters than Avatar had to achieve what it did. And according to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average U.S. ticket price was $7.50 in 2009 versus $9.11 last year.

Inflation means that movie tickets were less in 2009, which would be to Avatar’s benefit, but James Cameron’s movie was also the first, and arguably last, 3D event, and thus demanded premium ticket prices from audiences wanting the full experience. So to be fair, that issue gets a bit financially muddled. And domestically, when adjusted for inflation, the movie that sold the most tickets and remains and will forever remain the GOAT is Gone With the Wind.

Also, while Endgame started out with a massive bang at the box office that got it a lot of its haul very quickly, it also burned out faster. Whereas Avatar was a slow burn at the box office, with small percentage drops week to week that saw it methodically build its total. Avatar did also have a special edition re-release in the summer of 2010 that added $10.74 million domestically to its final tally.

Endgame debuted with a stunning $357.1 million and held on to the top spot on the domestic charts for 3 weeks. Avatar didn’t even crack $100 million opening weekend, making $77 million. That puts it in 97th place for opening weekends. But it stayed in first place for seven straight weeks and didn’t leave the top 10 until week 15. That’s crazy, and internationally Avatar’s accomplishments are just as impressive.

Avengers: Endgame has opened to a record $866.5 million overseas and to date has made $1.897 billion. Compare that with Avatar, which opened to a meager $164.5 million and went on to make $2.029 billion. And although blockbusters often make a huge chunk of their gross internationally, the foreign box office of 2009 wasn’t what it is today.

We often cite the ever-growing importance of the China market for Hollywood films, but Avatar only made $204.1 million there. That’s because back then China only had less than 5,000 movie theater screens. Today the Middle Kingdom has around 60,000 according to The Washington Post. That incredible market growth has given blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame greater opportunity to make money. Endgame did just that, with $614.3 million in China so far, triple what Avatar did.

More screens equals more money, and because it played on fewer screens worldwide, Avatar had to do more with less, which makes the fact that it is still Number 1, whether it stays that way or not, all the more impressive.

Those are all just quantitative measures though and when you consider the qualitative factors of Avengers: Endgame and Avatar, the latter’s worldwide record is even more admirable.

While we sing the praises of Avatar’s record, it must be said that for all the factors like inflation and theater count, James Cameron’s film did have some distinct advantages that Avengers: Endgame did not enjoy. The most obvious of those is that Avatar released in December of 2009, years before studios decided on a year-round blockbuster season. That’s something Avatar arguably started, Disney continued with Star Wars and will soon alternate holiday seasons between Star Wars movies and the Avatar sequels.

In the weeks and months that followed Avatar’s release, Sherlock Holmes, The Book of Eli, The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Dear John were released. It wasn’t really until March of 2010 when a true blockbuster arrived in the form of Alice in Wonderland. Endgame was given no such quarter, with Detective Pikachu, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Aladdin and Godzilla: King of the Monsters all following in the month or so after its release.

Nevertheless, despite its advantageous release month, Avatar still had more work to do than Endgame to reach the heights it did. Avatar was an original movie, from the filmmaker who made Titanic sure, but it had no real star power beyond James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver in a supporting role. We’ve seen other original sci-fi blockbusters from name filmmakers and some with even more star power fail to launch, and Avatar could have easily gone the way of Jupiter Ascending.

It had to succeed by selling audiences through its marketing and in the theater, and it did so with fantastic word of mouth and repeat viewings from audiences that fell in love with the spectacle of the film and wanted to live in Pandora.

Conversely, Avengers: Endgame was always guaranteed to be huge. Before we saw the first trailer, I’d say it had a good chance to snag the opening weekend record. That’s because it was the culmination of a franchise and characters audiences have invested in for over a decade. Everyone had already made up their minds to see it a long time ago.

It has the powerful Marvel branding and is the biggest film in the MCU, which is the biggest franchise in movie history. Those factors made Avengers: Endgame a true monoculture event that everyone wanted to be a part of, and the frenzy opening weekend is testament to that.

So the fact that it had all that going for it and it still might not surpass Avatar, and if it does it will be close, throws into stark relief just how impressive what Avatar did was. That’s not to take anything away from Avengers: Endgame, which has been a monumental achievement and no matter what film holds the top spot, Disney is the winner in all of this with Fox’s Avatar now under its umbrella.

That Avatar has finally been challenged though shows just how much it takes to beat it and looks to be a truly herculean and perhaps Sisyphean task. The question then becomes, if something like Marvel’s biggest film can’t beat it, can anything?

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Avatar's Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

Link Buys Now: https://kingteeshops.com/avatars-box-office-record-is-even-more-impressive-after-avengers-endgame/

Avatar's Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

Avatar’s Box Office Record Is Even More Impressive After Avengers: Endgame

There has not been a movie event in our lifetimes quite like Avengers: Endgame. No amount of pie-in-the-sky box office forecasting or broken pre-sales records could have prepared the industry or us for the opening weekend of Marvel’s culmination film. By the time all the money was counted on Monday morning, Avengers: Endgame had obliterated the domestic opening weekend box office record by nearly $100 million and left a sea of exhausted movie theater employees in its wake.

Avengers: Endgame shot off like a rocket and the domestic opening weekend record was just the first major victim to fall to Marvel’s decade-in-the-making achievement. One by one, the Russo Brothers film climbed the box office charts, breaking records and felling many other massive movies, including those of the MCU, on its way to the top. Records are made to be broken, and like a blow from Stormbreaker, Endgame has done plenty of breaking.

But there is one record in particular left to break. One record that cements a movie as the biggest ever and the all-time box office champ. One film that stands alone. That record is for the worldwide box office gross, and it belongs to James Cameron’s Avatar.

After an opening weekend that got it over 40% of the way there, and after it sunk James Cameron’s other box office stalwart Titanic, it seemed to many like it was a matter of ‘if’, not ‘when’ Avengers: Endgame would break Avatar’s record. That inevitability might have been premature though.

Avengers: Endgame currently sits at $2.713 billion worldwide, but Forbes’ Scott Mendelsohn does not see it having enough juice to make it to the $2.788 billion and beyond needed to match Avatar and claim the worldwide box office crown. Instead, he predicts that it will top out at a staggering, but still second-place, total $2.766 billion.

It is still a monumental achievement and no one involved has anything to hang their heads over if the film has to ‘settle’ for being 2nd to James Cameron’s 2009 film. Yet, regardless of whether the MCU film ultimately claims the top spot on the worldwide charts or comes up just short, Avatar’s box office record is even more impressive after Avengers: Endgame.

I think we sometimes hand wave Avatar’s record and take it for granted because it has become a constant in our minds. We all know that Avatar is the biggest movie of all time, but the abstract nature of that fact has made it seem at times less like something that the film achieved and more like something that just is. That detracts from how impressive its run really was.

First, it must be addressed how long Avatar’s record has lasted. Avatar was released in December of 2009 and since it ended Titanic’s reign at the top, it has never once been so much as threatened until Avengers: Endgame. That’s nearly a decade of dominance where the biggest films Hollywood could muster all failed to even sniff Avatar’s record.

The Na’vi held off the reboot of the Jurassic Park franchise, a franchise whose original 1993 film once held the worldwide record before Titanic. The end of Harry Potter, the animated phenomenon Frozen and the MCU’s finest and biggest films all fell short. Even the return of Star Wars, an incredible cultural and cinematic moment, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, wasn’t enough.

Hollywood may have become more myopically focused on tentpole blockbusters since 2009, but in that time it still couldn’t craft one that could to bring down Toruk Makto. And if Avengers: Endgame too falls short, Avatar’s long reign will continue on.

Domestically, Avengers: Endgame beat Avatar and currently sits at $815.7 million according to Box Office Mojo. That makes it the second film, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens (which made $936.7 million domestically, a record Endgame definitely won’t be beating) to best Avatar’s $760.5 million take.

Consider this though: Avatar got to $760.5 million domestically and that current Number 3 spot with a max domestic theater count of 3,461. At the height of its run Avengers: Endgame enjoyed a theater count of 4,662. That’s over 1,200 more theaters than Avatar had to achieve what it did. And according to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average U.S. ticket price was $7.50 in 2009 versus $9.11 last year.

Inflation means that movie tickets were less in 2009, which would be to Avatar’s benefit, but James Cameron’s movie was also the first, and arguably last, 3D event, and thus demanded premium ticket prices from audiences wanting the full experience. So to be fair, that issue gets a bit financially muddled. And domestically, when adjusted for inflation, the movie that sold the most tickets and remains and will forever remain the GOAT is Gone With the Wind.

Also, while Endgame started out with a massive bang at the box office that got it a lot of its haul very quickly, it also burned out faster. Whereas Avatar was a slow burn at the box office, with small percentage drops week to week that saw it methodically build its total. Avatar did also have a special edition re-release in the summer of 2010 that added $10.74 million domestically to its final tally.

Endgame debuted with a stunning $357.1 million and held on to the top spot on the domestic charts for 3 weeks. Avatar didn’t even crack $100 million opening weekend, making $77 million. That puts it in 97th place for opening weekends. But it stayed in first place for seven straight weeks and didn’t leave the top 10 until week 15. That’s crazy, and internationally Avatar’s accomplishments are just as impressive.

Avengers: Endgame has opened to a record $866.5 million overseas and to date has made $1.897 billion. Compare that with Avatar, which opened to a meager $164.5 million and went on to make $2.029 billion. And although blockbusters often make a huge chunk of their gross internationally, the foreign box office of 2009 wasn’t what it is today.

We often cite the ever-growing importance of the China market for Hollywood films, but Avatar only made $204.1 million there. That’s because back then China only had less than 5,000 movie theater screens. Today the Middle Kingdom has around 60,000 according to The Washington Post. That incredible market growth has given blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame greater opportunity to make money. Endgame did just that, with $614.3 million in China so far, triple what Avatar did.

More screens equals more money, and because it played on fewer screens worldwide, Avatar had to do more with less, which makes the fact that it is still Number 1, whether it stays that way or not, all the more impressive.

Those are all just quantitative measures though and when you consider the qualitative factors of Avengers: Endgame and Avatar, the latter’s worldwide record is even more admirable.

While we sing the praises of Avatar’s record, it must be said that for all the factors like inflation and theater count, James Cameron’s film did have some distinct advantages that Avengers: Endgame did not enjoy. The most obvious of those is that Avatar released in December of 2009, years before studios decided on a year-round blockbuster season. That’s something Avatar arguably started, Disney continued with Star Wars and will soon alternate holiday seasons between Star Wars movies and the Avatar sequels.

In the weeks and months that followed Avatar’s release, Sherlock Holmes, The Book of Eli, The Wolfman, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Dear John were released. It wasn’t really until March of 2010 when a true blockbuster arrived in the form of Alice in Wonderland. Endgame was given no such quarter, with Detective Pikachu, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Aladdin and Godzilla: King of the Monsters all following in the month or so after its release.

Nevertheless, despite its advantageous release month, Avatar still had more work to do than Endgame to reach the heights it did. Avatar was an original movie, from the filmmaker who made Titanic sure, but it had no real star power beyond James Cameron and Sigourney Weaver in a supporting role. We’ve seen other original sci-fi blockbusters from name filmmakers and some with even more star power fail to launch, and Avatar could have easily gone the way of Jupiter Ascending.

It had to succeed by selling audiences through its marketing and in the theater, and it did so with fantastic word of mouth and repeat viewings from audiences that fell in love with the spectacle of the film and wanted to live in Pandora.

Conversely, Avengers: Endgame was always guaranteed to be huge. Before we saw the first trailer, I’d say it had a good chance to snag the opening weekend record. That’s because it was the culmination of a franchise and characters audiences have invested in for over a decade. Everyone had already made up their minds to see it a long time ago.

It has the powerful Marvel branding and is the biggest film in the MCU, which is the biggest franchise in movie history. Those factors made Avengers: Endgame a true monoculture event that everyone wanted to be a part of, and the frenzy opening weekend is testament to that.

So the fact that it had all that going for it and it still might not surpass Avatar, and if it does it will be close, throws into stark relief just how impressive what Avatar did was. That’s not to take anything away from Avengers: Endgame, which has been a monumental achievement and no matter what film holds the top spot, Disney is the winner in all of this with Fox’s Avatar now under its umbrella.

That Avatar has finally been challenged though shows just how much it takes to beat it and looks to be a truly herculean and perhaps Sisyphean task. The question then becomes, if something like Marvel’s biggest film can’t beat it, can anything?

[flauntpage]

Road Warriors – Observations from Sixers 100, Pacers 94

Nice win for the Sixers, their first on the road and certainly the best W of the season.

They’ve now played each of the other top five Eastern Conference teams on the road, and while this only improves them to 1-3 against those squads, they’re off the mark, so to speak, with a bit of momentum now going into a weekend of winnable games against Charlotte and Memphis.

What changed last night?

turnovers – just 16 on the evening, back down to their season average after a 27-turnover game on Sunday

personal fouls – committed just 17, the second lowest number on the year

blocks – 8 total, second highest number on the year

steals – 8 total, their third highest number on the year

91.3 defensive rating – 2nd best number of the year

That’s pretty much the story.

It was a low-scoring, grinder of a game and the Sixers limited Indiana to 39% field goal shooting and a 26% three-point mark. Philly got out in transition to the tune of 19 points and got some nice contributions from non-star players as they snapped an eight-game losing skid at Bankers Life Fieldhouse dating back to the 2012-2013 season.

Dario Saric

It always works out this way, doesn’t it?

You take the time to write a story called “Dario Saric’s Slow Start is Killing the Sixers,” then he goes out and has his best game of the year.

Dario went for 18 points and 7 rebounds, shooting 46% on the night and hitting four of his six three point attempts while also turning the ball over just once.

This three-pointer stood out to me the most:

I love how he steps into that, and it’s the reason Brett Brown installed the “four point line” on the practice floors at the Sixers’ Camden facility.

The idea of the four point line is that Brown prefers having his guys a few feet off the arc, because if you move your starting point back instead of “hugging” the line, you can step forward into your shot, which Dario does with a lot of confidence in that clip.

This is what it would look like if you drew the line on the Pacers’ floor:

Good starting point, catch, step, three pointer. Dario had been front-rimming a lot of his shots this season, but he definitely got his legs into this one.

His 18 points and 7 rebounds both eclipse last year’s season averages, when he went for 14.6 and 6.7 overall. He was the third-best scorer on the team behind JJ Redick and Joel Embiid, and he really is a key to their success, even if he’s not considered to be one of the stars on the squad. Defensively, Dario is still a liability with his limited athleticism and inability to switch with the efficiency of the rest of the starting unit, but his shooting and rebounding is a part of what made the Sixers successful last year.

Rookie contribution

An 0-7 three-point shooting night for JJ Redick would normally be a killer, but he somehow managed to get to the line a bunch of times and hit a couple of two-pointers to chip in 10 points on the evening.

Leading the bench contribution was rookie Landry Shamet, who poured in 12 points on 4-8 shooting and went 3-6 from downtown.

I like his game. I really do. He just moves very well without the ball and does a lot of things that Redick does, specifically in the way he curls off of screens and works with bigs in the dribble hand-off game.

So let me show you a clip of a shot that he actually misses, just because I like the technique and the assertiveness in the half court:

Miss, but no worries.

That’s bread and butter DHO coming out of the Sixers’ base motion offense. They get Redick involved in those hand-offs a bunch of times in every game, and Shamet similarly works it pretty well coming around Embiid as a the hand-off guy and screen setter.

When I go over to practice in Camden, Redick and Shamet are usually the two guys who remain on the floor the longest, just shooting shots and working with coaches. Apparently they’ve been spending a bunch of time together and you can see Redick’s influence starting to rub off on Landry, because he’s shown a lot of confidence to seek his shot and do it within the framework of the Sixers’ offense.

Ben and Markelle

Here’s their combined shot chart.

They went 10 for 16 inside the paint and 0-3 outside the paint:

Markelle hit that jumper around the elbow.

Again you see redundancy in their shooting, with neither player willing to consistently attempt anything outside of eight feet. Ben, however, had a really nice game pushing the ball in transition, and Markelle came up with four steals, two that led to easy breakout dunks, another giving them a three point attempt in transition, and the fourth providing another offensive possession after swiping an Indiana rebound from Myles Turner.

Ben had 16, 10, and 8 with just one turnover, so this was a really nice bounce-back for him after Sunday’s clunker in Brooklyn. We still have very little to work with, however, in the department of “can Ben and Markelle play together successfully?”

Other notes:

they have some trouble on those entry passes to Ben Simmons when Markelle Fultz is standing in the strong-side corner

Wilson Chandler played 15:22 last night and got his first bucket on a bullish drive into the lane while guarded by Bojan Bogdanovic. He had two points on 1-3 shooting and added 5 rebounds.

Amir Johnson isn’t giving the Sixers much off the bench. Two turnovers, two points, two fouls, two rebounds last night.

Robert Covington finished +18 on the night and hit some big second half shots, particular the pair of late third-quarter three pointers that extended the lead to eight points

20 and 10 for Joel last night on 7-16 shooting and a 5-6 foul line mark. He did have 5 turnovers and probably could have done a better job passing out of the double team and working against mismatches, but definitely better than his performance from Sunday.

I’m a big fan of any set play where JJ Redick is the screener

The post Road Warriors – Observations from Sixers 100, Pacers 94 appeared first on Crossing Broad.

Road Warriors – Observations from Sixers 100, Pacers 94 published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[365footballorg-blog]

Fantasy: Make sure you're prepared for a wild Round 14 schedule

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

May 30, 201812:37PM EDT

Reid and Mike sit down on the Memorial Day holiday to record a quick episode before the double-game week gets started on Wednesday! They jump right to the main questions of which players will be available for Round 14 and who their player picks will be and give more insight into their thought process for each position. If you’re debating about some of the single-game week option, don’t worry, they wrap everything up by highlighting the few SGW games worth considering.

I hope everyone enjoyed Round 13, because that was the last normal MLS Fantasy week that we’re going to have for a while … and you should be excited about that!

The international call-ups that go along with the World Cup, and the DGW and bye weeks that come with the U.S. Open Cup, are exactly what make the MLS Fantasy game so exciting.

The spring season is well past its halfway point now, so it’s more important than ever to find the right player combinations to help you reach your spring Fantasy goals. Below is a list of some of the players who I think will help you get on track to finishing strong.

Double-game week teams: New England, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago, Real Salt Lake, Houston, LA Galaxy and FC Dallas

Teams on a Bye: D.C. United

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Goalkeepers

Double Home: With home games being such lucrative opportunities for fantasy points, it’s understandable if you want capitalize on a double home ‘keeper for this DGW. If that’s your strategy, my preferred option is New England’s Matt Turner ($ 7). The Revs are currently averaging conceding one goal per game at home, but with both Atlanta United (Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) and the New York Red Bulls missing some key players, Turner may be able to come away with two clean sheets.

Jesse Gonzalez | USA Today Sports Images

Split Games: If you think the double home games look too tough, then consider FC Dallas’ Jesse Gonzalez ($ 6). He earned the start for the North Texans last week and came away with a well-deserved clean sheet. His job may be easier this round as both the LA Galaxy (Wednesday, 10:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) and LAFC are missing key attackers due to suspension or international call-ups. Just keep an eye on the lineup in case there is more rotation.

Defenders

Differential: The season has not been kind to Real Salt Lake so far, but two home games will give them a chance to regroup, so consider Justen Glad ($ 7.5) if you want to diversify your backline. He’s RSL’s highest scoring defender, by far, and has shown the ability to offset poor score lines with bonus points. If you’re hoping for a clean sheet, then his second game against Seattle (Saturday, 9:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) is your best bet, but there is also a small chance that the game against the Dynamo (Wednesday, 9:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) could be low-scoring, as Rio Tinto Stadium can be a tough place to play.

SGW Option: If you really want to add a single game week player to your team, your options are going to be limited. You can go the easy, but expensive, route and grab Sporting Kansas City’s Graham Zusi ($ 11.5), who offers the highest point ceiling with changes at both a clean sheet and goals (Sunday, 8:30 pm ET | FS1 – Full TV & Streaming Info). Or you take a bit more of an unconventional path and grab Portland’s Alvas Powell ($ 8.5) and hope the Timbers can keep up their winning streak when they host the Galaxy’s 2nd game (Saturday, 5 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info).

Midfielders

Defensive: Double game weeks are usually a time when defensive midfielders shine, and there are several good options this week. My favorite is Philadelphia’s Haris Medunjanin ($ 8.9) because of his very consistent point generation. He could be on the way to another double-digit DGW score as both Chicago (Wednesday, 7:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) and Atlanta should provide plenty of opportunities to earn bonus points.

Miguel Almiron | USA Today Sports Images

Offensive: If you prefer to go with a more offensive player, then stick with Atlanta’s Miguel Almiron ($ 14.8). The extra week of rest should give him an advantage over other DGW teams that start on the road, but it’s his second game against Philadelphia (Saturday, 7 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) that offers the best chance for points as the Union will be without their starting ‘keeper.

Forwards

Autoroo Gamble: There are several strong three-man forward combinations this week, but if you’re worried about rotations, consider New England’s Cristian Penilla ($ 9.7). He’s scored three goals over his last three games and looks to have a good shot, on paper, at goals this week as both Atlanta and the Red Bulls (Saturday, 7:30 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) will be missing defensive players. However, his scoring has not always been consistent so start him on your bench as part of a two- or three-man autoroo.

On Form: If you’re looking for a low-cost and on-form forward, then start with Maximiliano Urruti ($ 9.1). He’s scored a goal or earned an assist over each of his last six games and, as previously mentioned, Dallas’ attack could benefit from the Galaxy and LAFC’s (Saturday, 8 pm ET | ESPN+ – Full TV & Streaming Info) loss of starting players to international call-ups.

WHICH PLAYERS are you considering for Round 14?

FOR MORE fantasy advice, be sure to check out the articles and charts posted at MLSFantasyBoss.com.

Stay Connected: To get all the latest Fantasy news and advice, download the MLS app and sign up for MLS Fantasy notifications. To sign up for notifications, select the main menu, then choose settings. Within the settings menu, select News & Videos notifications and turn on notifications for “Fantasy Soccer.”

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Fantasy: Make sure you're prepared for a wild Round 14 schedule was originally published on 365 Football

[rusticrevivals]

"What's the best of country life?" Many ask us daily "Is it the scenery, quiet, nature, veg?" Nope - it's celebrating gaily With our small communities, Like Perth or New Den-Mark It's singing, acting, being part Last week - we're angels! HARK! You've heard about the mass choir To mark 150 years You've read about the nursing home, And Pastor Ralph's old dears You know about the pageant And the summer's Founder's Days You've heard bits about Still Standing... (But in spring, to coin a phrase You'll hear lots more, for 'teasing' Is how telly's publicized- And as we're in the 'teaser' I'll be keeping you apprised.)

teaser screen shot for Season 4 of Still Standing, Julie, Leanne (visiting from Scotland) and Mom/Joy, beside the CBC logo. Ironically, Richard, who insisted we take these reserved seats for ‘Founders Day Organizers’, is out of shot to my right!   To see the full trailer/teaser, look at the Still Standing FB page, 2nd video, or try this link: https://www.facebook.com/stillstandingtv/videos/692295784304421/

I'd like to speak in detail About our church's 100th year And the celebration for it That many came to hear. And then I'll show you fun From the last two weeks of song With the Perth-Andover choir And the concerts we've put on! Back in the mid-summer, I was asked to c'ordinate The entertainment portion Of St. Peter's-at-the-Gate, Our little church up on the hill That I've shown you before (But will remind you once again With these photos I've in store:)

The Danish herring-bone wood designs covering every inch of the interior of St. Peter’s Lutheran on top of the hill just next to us

You’ve met her before in several blog postings. This is an amazing shot taken just after St. Peter’s 100th celebrations this fall, by our local professional photographer, Tiffany Christensen. St. Peter’s is on the right, just across the road from the slightly-older Anglican church called St. Ansgar’s.

To make up the fun night After a catered Danish meal We all put in our off'rings Of creative zest and zeal! It started with the Danish band That played some peppy tunes Then the "Minstrels" (or a handful of...) Sang a hymn with their soft croons, Then added another song I'd written for the night As a tribute to St. Peter's And its builders' strength and might.

Then Richard, in his debut Stepped up alone to sing Another piece I'd written Called "Where the Bells do Ring"

Thanks to Mom/Joy for taking most of these photos. To hear “Where the Bells Ring”, Richard’s first full solo (I add some background harmonies as well as the piano accompaniment), go to this link, which we recorded at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KStOMmr8WYs

After this bit of song, The pastor had a word About the history of the church -Then, something quite unheard! We came out to do a sketch As if from 100 years from now! (So, the 200th anniversary- It gave the crowd a WOW! Not because I'd written Such a finely-honed & gifted script, But rather, 'cause our costumes Were wild, and long - Zeb tripped! As 'teased' before, back in Sept., We all wore togas white With sashes of sparkly colour And dyed sheep wigs delight!

Richard, Zeb and myself at the meeting of the 200th Anniversary committee (sketch)

Curtain call for the 200th anniversary of St. Peter’s sketch, Pastor announcing. L to R Richard, Zeb Godbout (playing my son, Ned Kram, which is Den Mark backward) Peter Jensen, and seated, myself and Barb Christensen.

We’d had many rehearsals in our living room/meeting room at the farm and while we didn’t actually have all our lines memorized, the oddness of the skit got quite a few laughs, and the pretended ‘frustration and violence’ between us as our sketch showed that meetings don’t change much from century to century, really hit home for those in the community who sit on several boards and committees!

While we changed back out of costume The band once more would play The fiddler, 93, was sick Had been in ER all that day!

But like the true-blue Danes He would not back down, be weak There he was at suppertime To fiddle with his up-beat streak! And then some poetry I'd gathered About the early N.D. times Were read by Miss New Denmark With good old-fashioned rhymes:

But for the big finale Of this 100th year divine I asked some pastors, two from past And our current Ralph, to SHINE. Miss N.D. Megan spun the wheel That Richard made that day And the crowd laughed hard as at "Pastors' Trivia" we would play I'd written 70 questions From categories galore Like Church History, Pete the Saint, General 1917, and more... The pastors, how they struggled To come up with answers right But in the meantime, they were FUNNY And the crowd enjoyed their fright

Pastor Ralph appears to ‘give up’ on the question, as the others have a giggle…

They rang in on their buzzers (One was Smitty's squeaky toy!) But often they'd not get it, And that was JUST my ploy!

The crowd would hoot and holler, And eventually THEY won By answering the questions That the pastors hadn't done. One of the questions I best liked "1917" was the 'try'... This painting of a church was done So like our own, up high:

This painting by Georgia O’Keefe was done the same year our church was built, in 1917, and is very representative of how St. Peter’s towers over rivers and valley and nestled Appalachian homes.

    So, it's my belief that all had fun, That sweet September night When St. Peter's turned 100 With audience delight:

At this table, Megan Bach, Miss New Denmark, her grandparents,  as well as Richard sitting beside Leanne (in gold top), and across from them, Mom/Joy. Being too busy and too nervous of everything to come, I am standing in the background having some punch. Behind me is the old piano, on top of which I had made a 1917 lady’s church-going display.

The 1917 Lady's Church-Going Display:

a variety of hats from my drama trunk, along with gloves, a fan, a lace hankie, a turn-of-the-century scarf and matching hand-bag, and a special contribution from Pastor Ralph – a hymnal actually FROM 1918!

There I sit, 200 years in the future, wearing a toga and some of Mom’s sheep’s wool on my head, with the full program for the Entertainment Portion of the night written out on the wall behind me.

And so, that last event was done And while the harvest kept us crazed We still went to Perth each week To practice for our concert days. The first series, in fall, was with The Youth Orch-EST-ra grand! A full 80-piece symphony Where we joined the "150 Expand" (The same voices with which we sang For July 1st's big event. They come from towns all o'er the vale And it's Glorious, Heaven-Sent!)

Richard’s bald head 4 in at back, and I’m far left, hiding behind the curtain. We sang the Howard Shore piece Shore to Shore, which was WRITTEN for this New Brunswick Youth Orchestra for the 150th, as well as our old favourite We Rise Again (also sung July 1st for the big celebrations). We sang for school groups with a chamber orchestra, on the day before, then had this enormous concert over the weekend. You can hear a small part of We Rise Again at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEezCOAVgXE     An interesting bit of trivia, and to prove how small the Atlantic provinces are, when the conductor moves aside at 0:44, you’ll see a dark, curly-haired lad playing in the first row of the 2nd violin section. My sister started him in violin in St. John’s, Nfld 15 years ago! A neat connector!

  The choir in quaint Perth-Andover Is directed by the mayor A lovely lass from Leamington; There's many here from there!

Our Perth-Andover choir director (and mayor, and Book Club Organizer, and…) Marianne Tiessen Bell, from Ontario, warms us up before a performance.

Our Christmas series started Just at November's end. The hospital in Perth Has become our new best friend As both Mom and Richard twice a month Have teleconference talks And oncological care, so - We sang for Womens Aux.! Then just last week-end, 'Angels' sang 6 hours in the snow To raise some funds for Food Bank. "Bethlehem"'s winds did blow For this interactive nativity That's now a big crowd-thrill We entertained the masses Lined up for miles on the hill

While I’ve been in all kinds of performances in my life, I’ve never actually been able to witness my audience approaching from this far away! Police, firemen, traffic controllers and a radio station were all involved in keeping an orderly pathway to Bethlehem!

To get a really great feel for what this whole night was about, see: LIVE DRIVE-THRU:

or, slightly less exciting – the slide show:  https://www.facebook.com/perthandoverbaptist/videos/1682963368441021/

These productions were both done by the hard-working and energetic Rev. Michael Fredericks of the Perth-Andover Baptist Church.  WHAT A SHOW IT WAS !

We sang as angels in the heavens Pointing to the stable, close While Richard posed beside the inn And I got my daily livestock dose:

I'm not sure even Bethlehem Had as many farm-yard critters Some were small, like geese and hens And some were really heavy hitters!

That's right, a choir of angels sang Beside Alpaca's Paddock And beside THAT were market stalls Of bread, and tools, and haddock!

Marianne Bell front row, far, I’m right behind her. We are both ‘gettin’ down’ kinds of angels. Richard and Marianne’s husband are a little more unbendy in near back row. Notice all the alpacas are staring up at the star over the stable. Just as they should do.

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We know not where she finds the time But Mayor M.B. also made that bread! And still remains relaxed and calm As she chats with King Herrod!

  On the Sunday night’s performance at the nativity, the snow was falling beautifully and romantically and it wasn’t even that cold! I’m crouching because we’re dancing about, not freezing – plus we had a lovely barrel of fire beside us both nights!

On Tuesday night, in Johnville, We hooked up with a choir That came from just 'downriver' In a church that did aspire To give us but a chance to sing From choir lofts above As we sang in echo'd refrain To Vivaldi's Gloria of love

more amazing totally-wood-panelled church work (like St. Peter’s) in the Johnville St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic church, where we sang opposite Peter McLaughlin’s Tuesday Night Singers from the lovely choir loft. (Vivaldi’s Antiphonal Gloria)

Finally, our last big gig Was filmed upon a Woodstock pew- (How strange that in Ontario I lived near Perth & Woodstock too!) My camera propped on hymnals On the first of many pews 'Neath Saint Gertrude's glor'ous arches Marianne led our cues: Youtube wasn't working But we hope you'll link up-- though It's hard for some not on FB- Still, we think it's 'quite a show'!

Saint Gertrudes is the lovely big church in which we sang last night, in Woodstock, along the Saint John river.

    me with hat, far left, Richard with men, far right

  stunning choir loft arches of St. Gertrude’s

the sanctuary of St. Gerts 

Like our concert Tuesday night in Johnville, we sang again with/opposite The Tuesday Night Singers, Peter McLaughlin’s choir. You may remember from reading back in July that it was he who directed us all in the mass choir (150 voices)  on July 1st in Perth-Andover.

part of our choir warming up last night. We had a strong men’s section (4 is STRONG for small town N.B.!) and 3 of the 4 are all spending a lot of their spare time with horses out in the bush! What is the connection, you ask, between men singing and horsemen? Have you an answer?

Thank you to Marianne Bell and Peter McLaughlin – some brownies I made for the wrap-up party

And so, this Christmas season, But actually all year long We owe a debt of gratitude To those who led in song. For what a year it's been Full of music, drama, prayer To get us off the farm, And join pastor, teacher, mayor!

Cast of Thousands "What's the best of country life?" Many ask us daily "Is it the scenery, quiet, nature, veg?" Nope - it's celebrating gaily With our small communities, Like Perth or New Den-Mark It's singing, acting, being part Last week - we're angels!

[sassings]

Nba 2k17 Shot Creator Badges

NBA 2K17 Badges are special titles that give certain bonuses when you unlocked them. These badges usually are not arduous to get but do take some time to complete in "NBA 2K17". For starters, the Dimer badge wants the player to have 300 assists in 20 video games, Lob Metropolis Passer requires 50 ally oops inside one season, Ankle Breaker is earned by getting 200 double strikes then a rating assist in just one season, Flashy Passer could be received after 50 passes inside one season. The best one in this batch is the Decide and Roll Maestro badge where the participant only must get the Dimer first, then PNR Maestro and to the Lob City simultaneously. After this, request for a choose and do a faucet Y or Triangle button twice as your man makes a cut to the rim. Defensive Stopper - While enjoying on-ball protection, this badge drops various offensive expertise badges to decrease tiers or nullifies them utterly. Get Playmaker self-discipline to lvl 18, get at the least 5 help per game over 30 or more video games. Execute 50 alley-oops in a single season to enhance their accuracy. Get an average of 7 factors scored after coming off the bench in 6 consecutive games. I simmed the games before the all star break and that's it. I've played each sport since and I'm at first of march now.

Nba 2k17 Sharpshooter Badges

2k17 Badges Hall Of Fame Get 25 three-point shots in a single season to acquire the badge and improve 3 level shooting from the nook. How one can get it: Poke the ball free 50 times. Score 15 alley-oops during a season to unlock. After a defensive rebound, carry out and outlet pass with score 50 times. You might get any one in all these badges by playing protection. They're going to be bronze once you unlock them, but might be upgraded to silver, after which, gold. The way to get it: Get double move resulting in a rating” ankle breaker animation 200 occasions. Make the defender stumble and then cross it for an help. Lob Metropolis Finisher badge wants 15 ally oops whereas Posterizer in "NBA 2K17" wants 15 makes an attempt of contact dunks. Brick wall requires 100 good screens and One Man Fast Break wants 75 fastbreaks in one season. I sat out the 2nd half and upgraded to gold, instantly upon beginning the following recreation in my career the badge went to HOF without any pictures by either crew. The following dunk I did (quick break with no defender in sight I earned my Athletic Finisher Professional Badge or Grand Badge.

How To Get Hall Of Fame Badges

To present you a helping hand, we've put together an inventory of find out how to get all badges in NBA 2K17, in addition to what they do. So with out further ado, let's examine 'em out. Rating 50 occasions after offensive rebounds. As quickly as doable, it might be best for gamers to accumulate these NBA 2K17 badges. To assist them with such journey, below are the different badges together with their respective necessities. Ankle Breaker - Do 200 double transfer leading to score assists in a single NBA 2K17 season. Skill badges can solely be earned within the Mycareer mode and are unique to each Myplayer you create. Not like NBA 2K16 solely badges in your chosen Archetype might be upgraded to gold, IE: Glass Cleaner, Playmaker, Put up Scorer, Sharpshooter, and so forth. Every Archetype has 5 designated key badges that may be earned, after which upgraded from preliminary Bronze tier > Silver > Gold and then new this yr Corridor of fame tier (Purple). It's possible you'll be saying what I can be 7'3'' max weight middle and never have gold hustle rebounder?!?” The straightforward answer is sure in the event you're not in this case a Glass Cleaner Archetype then the best you will get is hustle rebounder bronze, however there is a silver lining.

How To Upgrade Badges In Nba 2k17

Relentless finisher - is perhaps essentially the most misunderstood badge in 2k. This badge does precisely what its description says - you lose less power when taking contact close to the rim. You lose a LOT of energy when taking contact, particularly this 12 months, so this badge is quite helpful for attacking the rim. Most individuals, nevertheless, think it affects your ability to make contested shots on the rim, which it does not. The badge for this is acrobat. So if you're somebody who likes to assault the rim, both badges are very useful.

Nba 2k17 Badges Hall Of Fame

Defensive Stopper - Whereas playing on-ball defense, this badge drops numerous offensive skills badges to lower tiers or nullifies them completely. Get Playmaker self-self-discipline to lvl 18, get a minimum of 5 help per recreation over 30 or more video games. Execute 50 alley-oops in a single season to enhance their accuracy. Get a mean of seven factors scored after coming off the bench in 6 consecutive games. I simmed the video games before the all star break and that's it. I've performed each sport since and I'm originally of march now. Throws accurate passes and gets photographs off screens at a major percentage while orchestrating a choose & roll. Make 15 profitable lobs in a single season to get the badge and slam residence an alley-oop with better accuracy. PICK DODGER - A slithery player who can get around screens simply. Making 15 contact dunks in a single season unlocks this badge and causes you to dunk at the next price over defenders. You may get any of those badges by taking part in protection. They'll be bronze when you unlock them, however might be upgraded to silver, and later, gold.

2k17 Badges Hall Of Fame

How you can get it: Rating as decide & pop man 200 instances. Talent badges are broken up throughout the next classes and they are often upgraded when you earned the bronze tier in their specific class. 2K Video games only recently released their latest flagship title NBA 2K17. And like any other games, gamers would love to know a few workarounds in an effort to dominate it. True enough, earning badges is without doubt one of the nicest things to do in the new installment. Here is how you can earn them like how pros do it.

2k17 Badges List

[shelookedlikeaart-blog]

Best ipad Mini Cases For Kids

this protective foam situation is suitable for the ipad mini cases for kids. It protects your products from scores, dirt, and streaks. You-can't stop following a fresh pay period starts and wish that you don't need to purchase it. In my opinion Walmart means out that insufficient prorating whenever you stop anytime prior to the end-of your present month. After some screening, I chose to leap to Walmart Household Cellular Although I'm not really a large lover of Walmart for buying, I can not protest concerning the cost of the Household Cellular item. Energy instances contain backup electric batteries for that system once charged-up. You may also discover instances with integral kickstands, hand cases, or custom designs. The iPad instances are constructed of especially-developed non toxic closed-cell EVA foam that absorbs effect once the iPad is fallen. When you have the newest ipadmini design, OtterBox has you lined using its common Opponent sequence. An incident such as this helps to ensure that you'll never have to be worried about your Ipadmini obtaining broken.

Telephone focus on the right discussions byop plan or am I better-off on obtaining an At&T gsm unlocked samsung-galaxy s5 telephone because of lacking the sequential number for that Samsung-Galaxy S5 SM-G900V 16GB Verizon + GSM Unlocked telephone bc I needed to obtain the sequential number for that telephone to determine if its actually suitable for right tlks anybody knos pls I'd like to understand straighttalk reps don't appear to kno shit. HHI ipadmini Kids Fun-Play Shield Protective Case: huge responsibility kid situation for the pill. Much like what Walmart does for that IPhone-6, this weekend (update: today reside) the retail giant is reducing the cost to simply $79 having a fresh 2-year agreement for select customers on AT&T, Verizon or Run, causeing the among the greatest Universe S5 offers available. Suitable for the very first three variations of the ipadmini, the iXCC Shockproof Silicon Protective Case Address is a superb cheap choice. I searched over the road and noticed the iPad inside itis defensive part, face-down on the highway.

Walking from the foam, the iXCC shockproof silicon situation is just a soft-gel substance that wraps around your iPad, with additional content for part safety. If you don't were dead set on the steel framework and advanced functions, subsequently Samsungis Universe S5 is a superb heir towards the Universe S4 within the changing Universe s-line. Your objective is the fact that these iphone-5s Instances For Females pictures selection could be helpful for you, provide you more motivation & most essential: create you've what you require. I have noticed OtterBox circumstances shot with machine pistols on facebook but still function, therefore in case your child may split an iPad in another of these, he is exceptionally powerful. Earlier this season Samsung required the phase and introduced the brand new Universe S5. Supplying a advanced smartphone much like prior edition such as the Universe S4, but with several changes and a lot of new functions. Among the major causes why I selected Walmart Household Cell was since I really could provide my own personal telephone. Disadvantages: It's only a little cumbersome versus a few of the additional instances we examined, but nothing insane.

The vibrant ArmorBox situation is seriously strengthened TPU situation with durable safety within the edges to maintain your Ipadmini secure from continuous falls and bumps. Walmart Household Cellular Customer Support is here now to aid you if you want help troubleshooting community or function problems. Create a ‘Return to' Notice together with your residence target - in this way when the Ipadmini goes absent in a friend's home, or college, it'll allow it to be super easy for individuals to come back it for you. The Nuclear situation is Waterproof, Dust-Proof, Snow-Proof, Fall Evidence, Shockproof and contains a HD obvious scratch-resistant display shield to accomplish the safety. The Pepkoo situation includes a sci fi search and it is the nearest point to some spacesuit for that Ipadmini you will discover. Your licensed repair specialists possess the knowledge and components available to displace your Universe to master working order. I purchased this phone situation for my kids iphone-5s. It's an extremely adorable and fashionable petite little situation. BUNDLE PACK OF VIBRANT COOL COOL SITUATION COLLECTION. Group of FIVE custom instances designed to healthy iphone 5C completely.

Because the launch of the iphone-5 in 2012 and also the iphone-5s in 2013, this checklist hasbeen updated many times as fresh instances have now been launched (and yes, lots of fresh instances proceed hitting the marketplace in 2014). The leading of the situation has some heavy scores inside it. Our telephone appears like your day I purchased. Situation is just a little cumbersome, however itis wroth it for that safety your cellphone gets. Location your mophie situation with cost pressure instant power-on any instant receiving platform and energy is delivered to your system on contact. Case mate claims the recording is reusable, but we'dnot wish to exchange instances also frequently because it requires a moment or two to get the Tuxedo in the back of the iPad.

For all those thatnot understand Zazzle is definitely an online publishing site where you are able to produce custom-designs onto instances (such as the Ipadmini). Rumors the Universe S5 could be made from steel, or that there will be a metal version, acquired vapor within the run up towards the major introduction. The way in which this works is by folding the leading cover back and hanging a wire to it to put on the iPad in place in the angle-you need, however it is not especially durable. For that remaining trip buying month you will want to look at Walmart to catch the Universe S5 at this type of low cost. But when you are still transporting an iPhone 4s, there is a complete new planet of instances open to add style, character, & most notably, safety for your new iPhone. Throughout the purchase, you are able to get the 16GB Wifi only ipad Atmosphere 2 in platinum for $399, a $100 discount. Because of the material 'joint', both stay jobs are a lot more functional than many folio-type circumstances. The Ipadmini Situation by Belkin allows you to regulate any stay for your own choice to help you relax and relax to see.

It could create Appleis style wiz Jonathan Ive flinch however the Kensington SafeGrip truly does dismiss Appleis good iPad design and moves alternatively for very-tough defense. They'll enjoy these instances since their IPad Minis is likely to be secured all the time. The situation consists of a light silicon and it is specially-shaped (see-the image above) to become simple for younger children to put on. I purchased a brand new Samsung-Galaxy S3 from their store using the support, and yes, it had been top dollar, but I REALLY LIKE that telephone, therefore no regrets! Then get an OtterBox discount and begin reading instances from what Forbes” called among Americais most encouraging businesses in 2013. Although Apple has since managed to move on towards the IPhone-6 and also the iPhone 6s, the iphone-5s stays a good smartphone which should attract people who need an inferior system. Integral magnets wake the iPad whenever you start it, and place it to rest whenever you shut it. Inside is just a delicate coating to safeguard the display, and there is an elastic cycle to get a stylus. I guess women will insane for this adorable red Hello Kitty situation, particularly using the phrases Cat suggests I really like you!”.

We also kept obtaining dirt between the iPad and also the display, which usually is not a large package but since this situation is really difficult to access it and down, it turned an actual task. We observe fresh instances constantly (therefore we revise this tale frequently), however for today, listed here are our top picks for instances for the new iphone-5s. And when you still have an iphone-5, these works also. Samsung devices applied to regularly thud when it found taking photos in deeper problems on automated setting. It enables therefore terrorist and it is comparable faculties and samsung-galaxy s4 telephone through the reward however, you are to test situation simply to showing the noise almost. The instances are produced from advanced eco friendly, non toxic EVA foam which is really a highly-durable yet padded content. This strong and tough situation provides 3-layer safety to avoid harm to your Ipadmini.

The cassette situation really appears fairly cool about the iphone-5, and I've had more individuals ask me wherever I first got it than with every other iPhone situation I've applied before. To safeguard the unit, the Ipadmini Situation by Belkin has a address which folds shut to get this done immediately. The STM Dux iPad situation will come in two versions: one for 2nd, 3rd and 4Th-Generation iPads; plus one for that iPad Atmosphere. Speck Products iGuy Protective Case: a totally free-position child-helpful situation for that Ipadmini. What we enjoy about that product is that it offers you more shade choices, including a definite situation. So long as the pit about the back of an iphone-5 situation is large enough to support the double sensations, it ought to be suitable. 

Hello Desray, We don't market or produce ipad mini cases for kids instances we just evaluate them for the visitors - to assist them find a very good situation that suits their requirements. But there are many Ipadmini instances that may virtually manage something your youngster may put at it.

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