#i hope justice roberts realizes that *this* will be his legacy

[departmentq]

“...Lithwick referenced a report by CNN's Joan Biskupic. He “was shaken by the adverse public reaction to his decision affording [Donald] Trump substantial immunity from criminal prosecution," she wrote...”

[gavincastleton]

My children like to play an age-old game with me called, “Why?” I’ll tell them, for instance, that I need them to finish breakfast, and they’ll say why, and I’ll say so that you receive adequate nutrition and hydration, and they’ll say why, and I’ll say because as your parent I feel obligated to protect your health, and they’ll say why, and I’ll say partly because I love you and partly because of evolutionary imperatives baked into my biology, and they’ll say why, and I’ll say because the species wants to go on, and they’ll say why, and I’ll pause for a long time before saying, “I don’t know. I guess I believe in spite of it all the human enterprise has value.” And then there will be a silence. A blessed and beautiful silence will spread across the breakfast table. I might even see a kid pick up a fork. And then, just as the silence seems ready to take off its coat and stay awhile, one of my kids will say, 'Why?' My brain likes to play a somewhat similar game. That game is called, 'What’s even the point?' There’s an Edna St. Vincent Millay poem I’ve quoted in two of my novels and will now quote again, because I’ve never come across anything that describes my depressive blizzards so perfectly. 'The chill is in the air,' the poem begins, 'which the wise know well and have even learned to bear. This joy, I know, will soon be under snow.' I’m in an airport when suddenly I feel the chill in the air. What’s even the point? I’m about to fly to Milwaukee on a Tuesday afternoon, about to herd with other moderately intelligent apes into a tube that will spew a truly astonishing amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in order to transport us from one population center to a different one. Nothing that anyone has to do in Milwaukee really matters, because nothing really matters. There’s no point to the human endeavor in the largest sense. We will leave no permanent legacy in this impermanent universe, and our central lasting contribution to Earth will be that we were the first species to grow powerful enough to muck up the planet. When my mind starts playing What’s Even the Point, I can’t find a point to making art—which is just using the finite resources of our planet to decorate, and I can’t find a point to planting gardens, which is just inefficiently creating food that will sustain our useless vessels for a little while longer, and I can’t find a point to falling in love—which is just a desperate attempt to stave off the loneliness that you can never really solve for, because you are always alone in what Robert Penn Warren called, 'the darkness, which is you.' Except it’s not really a darkness. It’s much worse than that. The writer Jacqueline Woodson has said that we need to consider carefully what we construct as dark, and she’s right. When my brain plays What’s Even the Point, what really descends upon me is a blizzard of blinding, frozen white light. Being in the dark doesn’t hurt, but this does, like staring at the sun. That Millay poem refers to 'the eye’s bright trouble.' It seems to me that bright trouble is the light you see the first time you open your eyes after birth, the light that makes you cry your first tears, the light that is your first and greatest fear. What’s even the point? All this trial and travail for what will become nothing, and soon. Sitting in this airport, I’m disgusted by my excesses, my failures, my pathetic attempts to forge some meaning or hope from the materials of this meaningless world. I’ve been tricking myself, thinking there was some reason for all of it, thinking that consciousness was a miracle when it’s really a burden, thinking that to be alive was wondrous when it’s really a terror. The plain fact, my brain tells me when it plays this game, is that the universe doesn’t care if I’m here. Night falls fast, Millay wrote. Today is in the past. The thing about this game is that once my brain starts playing it, I can’t seem to find a way to stop. Any defense I try to mount is destroyed instantaneously by the blinding light. It feels like the only way to survive life is to cultivate an ironic detachment from it. If I can’t be happy, I at least want to be cool. When my brain is playing What’s Even the Point, hope feels so flimsy and naïve—especially in the face of the endless outrages and horrors of human life. What kind of mouth-breathing jackass looks at the state of human experience and responds with anything other than nihilistic despair? But of course the problem with despair is that it isn’t very productive. Like a replicating virus, all despair makes is more of itself. If playing What’s Even the Point made me a more committed advocate for justice or environmental protection, I’d be all for it. But the white light of despair instead renders me inert and apathetic. I struggle to do anything. I often can’t find a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Philosophical questions—what’s the point of being alive, what should we seek from life, how can we know what we know, how and where should we seek meaning—are often dismissed as pointless. What’s the difference between a philosophy degree and a pepperoni pizza? The pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four. And so on. But I think those questions are genuinely important, because I need to be able to survive my mind playing What’s Even the Point. I don’t want to give it to despair; I don’t want to take refuge in detached ridicule of unironized emotion. I don’t want to be cool if cool means being cold to or distant from the reality of experience. I want to feel what there is to feel while I am here. You don’t choose when your kids play the Why game, and you don’t choose when your brain plays What’s Even the Point. It’s exhausting. It gets old so fast, listening to the elaborate prose of your brain tell you that you’re an idiot for even trying. When the game is being played, it feels like it will never end, like you will be in active combat with your brain for what remains of your wretched life. But no. No. Now always feels infinite and never is. You keep going. You go to therapy. You try a different medication. You meditate, even though you dislike meditation. You exercise. You wait. Your mind keeps playing What’s Even the Point, and you keep refusing to give in to it, battling it with philosophy and self-help books and religion and whatever else that works. And then one day, the air is a bit warmer, and the sky is not so blindingly bright. It’s overcast, and you’re walking through a forested park with your children. Your nine-year-old points out two squirrels racing up an immense American Sycamore tree, its white bark peeling in patches, its leaves bigger than dinner plates. You think, my God that’s a beautiful tree. It must be a hundred years old, maybe more. Later, you’ll go home and read up on sycamores and learn that there are sycamore trees alive today that date back more than three hundred years, trees that are older than your nation. You’ll learn that George Washington once measured a sycamore tree that was over thirteen meters in circumference. You’ll read that Herodotus wrote 2,400 years ago that the Persian emperor Xerxes was marching his army through a grove of sycamore trees when he came across one of 'such beauty that he was moved to decorate it with golden ornaments and to leave behind one of his soldiers to guard it.' But for now you’re just looking up at that tree, thinking about how it turned dirt and water and sunshine into wood and bark and leaves, how it turned nothing into a place where squirrels play, and you realize you are in the vast dark shade of this giant tree, and that’s the point.

John Green, The Anthropocene Reviewed (ep. “Air Conditioning and Sycamore Trees“)

[bountyofbeads]

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/crime_police/article_43bd1dc0-a568-11e9-8544-c7703a9aa15b.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

Tragic story out of Baton Rouge: Sadie Roberts-Joseph was found dead in the trunk of a car Friday evening.

She was the founder of Baton Rouge's African American history museum.

This is so unbelievably heartbreaking. Why isn’t this getting more attention? This woman was a pillar of strength, a voice for peace, and an amazing leader. #JusticeForSadie

Ms. Sadie Roberts-Joseph is her name and every major media outlet need to be covering this right now. #justiceforsadie

What we know so far: https://t.co/O4wfUFmT6i

Woman found dead in trunk of car was founder of Baton Rouge African American history museum

BY LEA SKENE and ELLYN COUVILLION|

Published Jul 13, 2019 1:30 PM ET | The Advocate | Posted July 14, 2019 |

A woman found dead in the trunk of a car Friday evening was the founder of Baton Rouge's African American history museum who helped jumpstart annual Juneteenth celebrations during her work as "a tireless advocate of peace."

Baton Rouge police said Saturday morning that the body of Sadie Roberts-Joseph, 75, had been found in the 2300 block of North 20th Street, about three miles away from her home. The cause of death has not been determined.

The Baton Rouge Police Department mourned Roberts-Joseph in a Facebook post not long after releasing her name, calling her "a treasure to our community."

"Our detectives are working diligently to bring the person or persons responsible for this heinous act to justice," the agency said.

State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle said in a Facebook post that that Roberts-Joseph had raised awareness of African American history and the civil rights movement. "My heart is empty … as I learned last night that Ms. Sadie Roberts Joseph was found murdered!" Marcelle wrote. "This woman was amazing and loved her history. She never bothered anyone."

Roberts-Joseph founded the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African-American History Museum in 2001. The museum, now known as the Baton Rouge African-American History Museum, is part of the New St. Luke Baptist Church campus on South Boulevard, where Roberts-Joseph's brother serves as pastor. It sits in the shade of elevated Interstate 10 that bisects the historically black neighborhood of Old South Baton Rouge.

Roberts-Joseph also organized an annual Juneteenth festival at the museum. She told The Advocate during the 2018 celebration that she led a "rebirth of Juneteenth" in 1991. The day commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers delivered belated news of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation to Texas. The document had been signed more than two years earlier, on Jan. 1, 1863 — declaring that all slaves in the South were free.

"News of freedom trickled down very slowly," Roberts-Joseph said in 2018.

Through her decades of leadership in the Baton Rouge area, Roberts-Joseph presented a consistent message of unity and togetherness aimed at, in her words, helping communities "heal from the legacy of slavery and move forward." She encouraged black residents to embrace their heritage, acknowledge past injustices and use their voices to close racial divides and create a brighter future: "If you don't know where you come from, you don't know where you're going."

"We have to be educated about our history and other people's history," she told The Advocate in 2016. "Across racial lines, the community can help to build a better Baton Rouge, a better state and a better nation."

She celebrated the election of President Barack Obama, who is featured prominently in the museum. She said his presidency "gives children in particular a sense of hope. As we inspire and as we educate them, we will see our youth doing greater things."

Just a month before her death, Roberts-Joseph was photographed doing what she loved: educating Baton Rouge residents about their heritage at this year's Juneteenth celebration. She led a procession to the Mississippi River to raise the official Juneteenth flag as part of an effort with 45 other states and Washington, D.C., to create a national holiday.

On Saturday morning, Beatrice Johnson, one of Roberts-Joseph's 11 siblings, tried to absorb the tragic and unexpected loss. Johnson lives just two doors down from Roberts-Joseph's home on a quiet street in Scotlandville and said she saw her sister often.

"She would come by here every day," Johnson said. "Friday, she came by (because) she had mixed some cornbread, but her oven went out, and she brought it here to put in the oven.

"The bread is still there," Johnson said, gesturing toward her kitchen. "She never came back to get it."

The siblings grew up in Woodville, Mississippi, before their family moved to Baton Rouge. Roberts-Joseph attended the Baton Rouge Vocational-Technical School and Southern University, where she studied education and speech pathology. She later served in several volunteer roles within the local black community and as minority business officer for the city of Baton Rouge. She worked for decades as a certified respiratory therapy technician.

Roberts-Joseph is survived by two children, Jason Roberts and Angela Roberts Mechan, who is a commissioner on the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission.

Johnson said she had already lost two brothers within the past year. On Friday she learned about the loss of her big sister.

In addition to the Juneteenth festival, Roberts-Joseph organized an annual Veterans Day celebration at the Port Hudson National Cemetery, honoring veterans of all races who fought in the Civil War.

"When I try to do something, God always opens doors, and I try to do the very best that I can, not necessarily for me but particularly to help inspire and educate the younger generation," she told The Advocate at the ceremony in 2016. "I find gratification that we are coming together and realizing our differences are not as great as our commonalities."

A community activist, Roberts-Joseph also ran, in two unsuccessful bids, for Louisiana public office, for the U.S. Senate in 1996 and for lieutenant governor in 1999.

Together Baton Rouge said in a statement Saturday that "while her death is a tragedy, it would be an even greater injustice to let her death overshadow her tremendous life that left behind a legacy of activism and black pride that endeared her to the Baton Rouge community."

"She was what was right about Baton Rouge and the magnitude of her loss to our whole community is a testament to that," the Together Baton Rouge coalition of church congregations and community organizations said.

Baton Rouge police described her as "a tireless advocate of peace."

Roberts-Joseph died as Hurricane Barry approached the state and residents made final preparations for possible flooding. But Johnson said she had more on her mind.

"Yesterday was a storm enough for us," she said.

Police are asking anyone with information on the case to call the Police Department at (225) 389-4869 or Baton Rouge Crime Stoppers at (225) 344-7867.

[austencello]

My Name is Emiko Queen - Arrow Music Notes 7x10

Oliver discovers that the new Green Arrow is his half-sister Emiko as she pursues justice/revenge for her mother’s death. Since the mystery of who is under the hood is revealed, this episode establishes themes and instruments for Emiko both giving her own voice but closely tying it to Oliver as well.

Emiko Queen

While Emiko’s face was first revealed as the person under the Green Hood in 7x08, her theme was fully introduced in this episode now that the audience knows that she is related to Oliver Queen.  Her theme is made up of two repeated notes that are punctuated by rests in-between. The rhythm is an important aspect and helps distinguish it from Oliver’s Arrow theme which is slightly syncopated (often groups of 3,3,2) while hers is firmly in 2 or 4. One of the reasons this is important is because they share most of the same instruments: strings, brass, electronics, hammered dulcimer, electric guitar and even the drum kit which played during both of their voiceovers (reminiscent of Season 1 - “Setting Up the Lair”).  This helps establish the Green Arrow sound but also connects them as family, especially with the hammered dulcimer and electric guitar.  The hammered dulcimer was introduced with Emiko as she fought William Glenmorgan who she believed killed her mother.  Just as Oliver’s crusade was righting the wrongs for his father, Emiko’s was to bring justice for her mother.

A variation and introduction of her theme began in 7x08 as she ran away from Oliver, using the basic underline of notes and using rests in the brass as well as using drums (the tom-toms and tabla) that will be featured throughout the episode.  These drum patterns are an aspect that separate her from Oliver.  While it is a similar sound to many Nanda Parbat fighting scenes, there is a little finger action that sets it apart near the end of the episode. The tabla (an Indian hand drum) was used as she sought justice looking up information on the computer, attacking the house, and then as she fought alone, angry at the end that she had failed.  This unique color could be used to give a little non-Western sound to set her apart from Oliver or a hint to her training. Or Blake Neely thought it sounded cool. 

After Emiko is shot, she reveals her face and asks for help from Rene.  When she wakes up in his house and Rene offers to help her crusade, she responds that she doesn’t need help, despite that she turned to him after being shot. As they talk, a slow melody plays in an higher electronic instrument. The music is first introduced with the celeste (a bell-like keyboard) over an electric guitar sound used in sadder moments between Oliver and Felicity “Someone You Love” (3x12).  This melody returns later when she asks why Rene wants to help her and her cause.  He responded that he had found purpose through Oliver Queen’s team to channel his grief and anger into justice for the city and that he missed being a part of that as Wild Dog.  He wants to help make his city, especially the Glades, a safer place and he knows it is better to work as a team than solo.  This could be a melody just for this episode or for their talks as a team.  However, using the same instruments (and the same first three notes as “Someone You Love”) to lead into their theme (which is quite different) seems to imply that this is a team-up in many ways emulating Olicity.  The brooding GA who wants to work alone and the person she turned to after being shot determined to keep helping so that she is not alone, helping to make the city a better place seems quite familiar. The music seems to show that there is a partnership and trust that will grow between these two people.

Olicity and the discovery of more family secrets

Oliver gets a blood sample of the new Green Arrow and asks Felicity to analyze it help expedite the SPCD process. As she looks at the DNA, electronic music matching many of her hacking/Overwatch moments accompanies the score.

As Oliver processes the news that he has a sister from his father’s side, piano (Oliver’s instrument) plays his hero theme as he realizes there is yet another secret his family kept. This variation was used in 4x01 “The Ring and the Grave” as Oliver wrestled with the grief and loss of a close friend. In both cases, he is wrestling with emotions and information that affects him greatly but was not of his own making. Harp (Felicity’s instrument) plays as Felicity offers to help find answers. As she finds information about a hidden storage unit, electric bass and string patterns begin and then guitar harmonics (another instrument for Oliver) follow as they realize that it was hidden by his mother.

Oliver and Felicity find a letter written by Robert to Walter Steele about Emiko, asking Walter to take care of her, recognizing that had he failed her and her mother.  Oliver begins to read as hammered dulcimer and piano accompany him and then it switches to strings as Robert’s voice takes over following Emiko entering her lair, showing Rene her mother’s picture and murder board.

Oliver is quite upset to find his father had another family and abandoned that family.  As he processes this with Felicity, being quite hurt, the cellos begin a variation of “I forgot who I was” (1x05).  This theme accompanied many moments of Queen secrets including Thea’s parentage, the discovery of William and later sending him away. This variation has pauses between each three notes as Oliver talks about how hard he has tried to clear the family’s name after so many terrible things.  This is variation that played is used only in a handful of moments including “Never Without Me” (2x20) when Moira comforted Oliver in the Flashbacks about the loss of William as a baby, promising to be always with him and then the end theme in the piano played as Moira died, completely devastating her children in her loss.  The piano theme is also at the end of “Need to Know” (1x23) when Oliver confronts Moira about the Undertaking, telling her how Robert died for him. It is a theme that connects the death of his parents, the loss and the weight of guilt that their deaths placed on him. While he has moved past a lot of the guilt, reopening wounds and secrets bring much of the emotion back in his compassion for his sister, especially now that he is a father himself. Moira and Robert left behind a legacy of lies and abandonment, hiding Oliver’s son and the existence of Emiko, to preserve the Queen family, leaving those two abandoned by their fathers.

Later on, Oliver looks at over the balcony uncertain if he should reach out to his sister as their electronic background music is joined by strings.  Felicity urges him to right his Father’s wrongs by reaching out and reminding him that he is a better man than his father.

At the end, Oliver greets Emiko at their father’s grave as his hero theme plays.  Then his Arrow string pattern begins followed by his Arrow glissando which in turn is answered by Emiko’s theme in the brass.  The two Green Arrows, the two Queens, are finally meeting.

John Diggle and the Ghost Initiative

Oh John Diggle.  In trying to pursue Dante as well as cover their searching for him from the Deputy Director, he tells Director Bell that they are recruiting Diaz for a new version of the Suicide Squad.  Lyla is less than thrilled with this initiative as she had scrubbed the program never to be used again.  As she walks away saying “Nice job...Agent” the first two notes of Diggle’s theme is played but not the third.  The hero is in there but has also changed his tune a lot since his interaction with the suicide square in Seasons 2 and 3.  In a similar vein, this happens again when Lyla confronts him about this decision saying: “I thought I was the one in danger of becoming Amanda Waller.” 

As they put the bomb in Diaz’s head, the theme of the Suicide Squad begins “Forming a Squad” (2x12) followed by low strings, similar to Diaz’s music but not quite as he promises to come after her.

Extra Notes:

 - There was a very nice melody as Dinah talks to Rene about the Mark of Four in the future.  We shall see if that returns or was just for this episode.  It turned hopeful as she spoke of what it stood for, supporting each other but then took a minor turn as Rene refused to help.

- Wow, there was a shortage of gifs for this episode especially anything non-Olicity!

- I was hoping to get this done before the latest episode but I ran into technical difficulty connected to winter storms. Ah well!

@smoakmonster @ah-maa-zing @academyofshipping @herskirtsarentthatshort @mel-loves-all @jorahandal @almondblossomme @scu11y22 @dmichellewrites @green-arrows-of-karamel

[storiesofwildfire]

@likesbeingbad - continued from (x)

He never really understood it. Books, literature, the entire fascination and frankly snobbish nature of the book lovers world. Hyde tried it once, bored within twenty pages and itching to go outside and live. There’s a lack of love when the stories are being told through dead wood and musty dust. Awfully lonely. You have a universe to experience! Tales to tell with grand gestures and highly amusing voices.

After all the old lessons were never made to silent. They were made to roar! To tear from the heart and the throat and to keep an audience wide eyed, engrossed in the world you build them. Swayed by the view presented, a gorgeous manipulation, a cautionary telling.

It was boring, all of it. The whole thing was utter nonsense, such a Jekyll way of passing the time really, leaving his skin itching, aching to go and speak to someone, find entertainment, find a dance. The night was young, the day was bright and oh how someone sings with the right hand. No book could mimic that.

But Loki liked them, of course they did, dull pastimes always fascinated minds looking to go silent when left with too much time to think. Driving yourself barmey on what ifs and maybes but he never lived in maybes, didn’t care for what ifs. Hyde could handle those changes, that thrill and ride of the unknown. He never had to try and escape his own head, only Robert dearests, always half asleep with Jekyll, half bored and then? Half alive when his time came. No time to be wasted in rotting pages and the smell of bitter ink.

Loki’s love for it was getting - hm, not annoying, oddly the little thing was far less annoying than he anticipated which was curious, intriguing, amusing to all end. A Hyde and a Norse? Quite the delicious mix for chaos, for fun if Loki would just put down that dead tree and pay him some bloody attention!

How long had it been since he was given true delight? Whiled away across the recliner just needing, clawing in his throat, biting sharp at his heels. To get out, to go and run, to find someone to hold his attention the way slender fingers held that damn chopping block and firmly ignored him.

Ignored him.

Hyde drapes himself over the back, clicks his tongue once more and waits. Still as anything, watching, listening through the stillness of his chest and not a peek! Not a care in the world, what good did that do him? What fun was that? He could be out with thighs about his waist or a sweet voice in his ear but no! No he’s here, bored out of his mind, out of his skin, snapping to sink fangs into a throat and shake the sense of the world into his typically lovely company.

Jekyll’s desire to stay, to enjoy company. It had to be because Hyde would never be so careless with sentimentality a Hyde never could. Caring for them so warmly, until it seeped into Hyde’s chest and cut deep the urge to run. Cursing him surely, oh, but it is something to follow. Something to hear, something to hunt. To wonder why and chase the answer on the curve of an all too smug smile.

He’s bored and Loki’s books are the cause of this travesty of an evening. So the answer is simply, truly, deliciously so. For dead things burn just as brightly as the living and it would be a shame if something were to happen to the attention thieves sitting so innocently on the shelf.

Hyde is out of the chair in seconds, naturally, quicker than Jekyll, quicker than Loki because his feet were made to carry adventure. Made to enjoy and seek and bring about the world to its knees not waste his time in a silent room with nothing to do, nothing to say, only deadly, echoing, ugly boredom.

It’s innocent enough the first touch, isn’t it? Just touching, seeking, having a little drag of his fingers against the spines. Letting them curl, letting them tear just so. A threat and a promise because these things, this unnecessary recording of thoughts, this pathetic excuse for entertainment? They wouldn’t last much longer not whilst he was left to his own devices.

Loki doesn’t look up at the first touch, nor the second and Hyde turns one over in his hands. Stench of mould, a loss of life what a poor waste of a perfectly good tree, of something to sing and live and breathe. Mmm, but humans did love doing that didn’t they? Taking, taking, hating when they were taken in turn.

It hits the floor with a thud and Blue eyes glint when Loki finally looks up but it’s only for a moment the bastard, right back to ignoring him, to watching pages with words in a language that would last only a thousand or so years and then it would be gone, it would fade. The paper would waste away and the world would continue around it because books did not last, no, nothing ever did.

Darling to think otherwise. Another thud and Hyde’s smile widens as he pushes his hand behind a good few volumes. Teetering so precariously on the edge, begging for rescue, ah but time never was a friend and he’s just so… close.

It’s an order he thinks, no - no. He knows it is. Said in a tone that’s cutting and runs a shiver up his spine, defiance in the way he purses his lips in contemplation and pushes another just that sliver bit closer to the edge. Sad, drab, lost little trees. When they’re burnt and fallen to ashes perhaps he’ll mingle them, mix them to paste and let the forests boom from their corpses.

Oh now that’s an image!

“I’m not doing anything untoward. Just… looking.”

Another volume falls at the word, a tap of his finger and so very, very blatantly and invitation to stop him. To make him stop, challenge him for it. Give him some for of interaction before he becomes as domestic and tamed as is whiney human other half. Loki was always so attractive when angry with him.

“Whoopsie! Now is it really my fault if they fall when I’m studying? Just slipfrom my grip. Right to the floor?”

Hyde brings up a finger, pushing harder now, letting the next fall further, harder, clicking his tongue at tutting at Loki like a condescending little Lilly trying to make him behave. He never did and if there was any true justice in the world, any hope left then Loki wouldn’t either.

Why resist after all? When the temptation seeps from his pores and he breathes in that lovely, mingled scent. Not quite female, not quite male but everything he needs to move with new vigor, prowling over to where Loki remained so delicate, poised, perfectly prim and beautifully ready to ruin.

“And if I don’t knock them? If I leave your precious little collection all alone and stagnant in their place in the world, what will that get me? Hm? I’m ever so curious. What is your price for those tedious books of yours?”

♔—- Loki and Hyde represented two very different forms of chaos, as the Norse Chaos Goddess had come to realize. While they derived from the same sort of ideologies, Loki still possessed much more discipline and structure whereas Hyde... Well, if he didn’t have something to keep his immediate attention for five minutes, he’d start itching, start looking for ways to cause a mess, and purposefully seek out the opportunity to cause an uproar because it was fun.

Loki understood that notion more than most. When left to her own devices without anything to keep her occupied, she often found it difficult not to go a bit mad. Endless possibilities and she found herself stuck doing anything but seeing even a single one of those outcomes to fruition. Her mind wandered, sometimes took a turn for the worst, and when she grew bored, so did her magic.

Restless seidr proved to be as dangerous as an unoccupied Goddess who’s mind moved far more quickly than most.

She, however, represented so much more than Chaos. She embodied so many ideas and desires and groups of people that she could not simply focus on moving forward and doing whatever she pleased whenever she pleased without stopping to take a few breaths. Books always helped her keep calm and stay level headed. Without many of her spellbooks and texts, learning to control her magic would have been an impossible task, especially when she so quickly surpassed every other sorcerer who happened to be available to teach her.

They occupied her mind, gave her something to focus on at the worst of times, taught her, and provided her with entertainment. As the Goddess of Storytelling, how could something as simple and trivial as a book not mean the world to her? In a way, it represented everything she was and every legacy she would leave behind. 

Hyde didn’t get that. He didn’t understand Loki’s love of reading and studying, didn’t understand that there was as much value tucked away in the pages of some of her books as there was in spending an entire day exploring a new world. Loki tried a few times, to explain to him why they were so important to her, why she needed them, but he didn’t get it. Trying to get through to him about topics he didn’t understand was something of a chore and when it came to Loki’s love of books? And Loki’s ties to them? It was like talking to a brick wall.

All right, perhaps completely ignoring Hyde for the text in her hands was a bit rude, but she’d been reading long before he showed up, and she hadn’t been secretive about wanting to take a quiet day to herself to study. Hyde staring at her while dramatically throwing himself over a chair to catch her attention did little to do so. She was aware of his presence, of the theatrics he put on in hopes of capturing her attention, but like a child needlessly begging for attention at the worst of times, she refused to give it to him.

He could wait until she was finished and then they could go out, find something to eat, and enjoy their evening together, but before then? Loki needed some Loki time and Hyde wasn’t part of that equation.

She knew he pushed himself up from the chair after realizing he wasn’t getting her attention and she listened to the sound of his footsteps as he made his way over to a wall of shelving that housed some of Loki’s most loved texts. The first thud had her clenching her jaw, her teeth grinding together at the sound of the sheer and utter disrespect of her personal belongings, but she wasn’t inclined to play Hyde’s games right then. She looked up for the briefest of moments, silently shooting him a cold glare, before returning her gaze to the page in front of her.

Though, please know, it nearly killed her to ignore one of her old books being haphazardly tossed on the floor as if it meant nothing at all.

To Hyde, she supposed it didn’t. It was just an obstacle that stood in the way of what he wanted: her attention.

The second thud finally succeeded in capturing her attention, so much so that she promised not to speak to Hyde for an entire week if he knocked anymore of her books down. Threaten him with the one thing he wanted most, right? He was acting out to get her attention, because he wanted her to focus on him and entertain his whims, so threatening to withhold that for a week? He wouldn’t like that.

Though her threats, it seemed, did little to discourage him, as he challenged her demands by inching a few more volumes towards the edge of the shelf, threatening to drop them in their entirety to the floor. Her eye twitched and she did nothing to try and stop that.

She doesn’t move from her seat, but she does set her book aside. Emerald magic surrounds the next two books to tumble from the shelf, allowing them to levitate mid-air before impacting with the ground. The same energy appears around the two volumes already on the floor, carefully hoisting them up so the entire group of books can move to a little table beside Loki.

Her eyes, however--just as brightly intense as her magic--never left Hyde threatening to tumble more books over the edge.

“I am not going to reward you for pissing me off, Hyde. I’m not going to give you anything. I’m not going to make a bargain with you to not destroy my things because I’m not negotiating this. You’re being a right, proper arse. You don’t deserve nice things from me because you stopped holding my books hostage,” she snarled, clearly angry despite a tiny voice at the back of her mind telling her not to be. That’s what Hyde wanted, in reality. He so did seem to love getting off on the notion that Loki was angry with him.

She hadn’t quite figured out the best ways to get Hyde to stop when he got like this. Their relationship was still new enough that she was learning about him and he was learning about her in turn and while it would have been far more effective to just... grow upset with her lover, get sad, pout, maybe shed a tear or two, she hadn’t done that enough to establish a pattern of him really not liking it.

And she was oh-so protective of her beloved books, many of which were actually older than her and needed to be handled with care. Fortunately, Hyde hadn’t selected any issues that were too fragile to toss on the floor. If he had, she likely would have already been beating him.

She did, however, go the extra mile to move the rest of the books that Hyde pushed towards the edge, allowing them to float across the room and stack up on the table beside her along with the four he’d already disrespected. He hardly seemed to notice, as he was already charging across the room to where she sat, poised as elegantly and effortlessly as ever.

“You’d probably have an easier time getting me to pay attention to you if you weren’t purposefully trying to instigate a fight,” she murmured, pushing herself up so she could reach a hand up to cover his face. While her touch was soft due to how seriously she took skincare, the shove she gave him was powerful enough to force him back, giving her more than enough room to stand up so he wasn’t hovering over her anymore like some sort of predator about to pounce. 

Hunger and temptation burned in Hyde’s eyes, though. She’d seen it plenty of times before and it usually made her own blood boil. In a way, it did in this scenario as well. There was something so alluring about him purposefully trying to get her going that she found annoyingly attractive in the worst ways possible, but atop that shimmering desire was just blatant anger at him for disrespecting her things.

“I know you don’t give a damn about books, but if you give a damn about me, then you’re going to have to start respecting my possessions and what is important to me. You disrupting my studies isn’t going to make me want to go out with you and have a good time tonight, it just kind of makes me want to hit you, honestly.”

[crowkingwrites]

Bang Bang!: Guilty (Ch.3)

Pairing: Ramsay Bolton X Reader

Summary: You are now a full-fledged member of the Red Kings. After your first successful mission, Domeric comes with troubling news: they’re being watched and there’s a mole among them. The Red Kings, Ramsay, and You now stand against a new enemy: Stannis Baratheon, a high ranking FBI member out to seek justice who may have his own dark secrets he’s trying to hide.

In this next part of the series, you will be tested, face old enemies, and encounter faces you’d thought you’d never see again. You thought you were safe, but the game has just begun.

Words: 2208

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14454342/chapters/33967299

Playlist:  Grace for Sale – Terrance Zdunich

Stannis Baratheon had lived in the shadow of his brother, Robert, his entire life. At times, he felt proud of his older brother rising so high in the world. Stannis only thought of how bright the family legacy was. Robert had drive, aggression, and a charm that would land Robert in trouble.

Too much trouble.

Stannis sat at his older brother’s funeral. He shed no tears like his wife had. Stannis only sat there while others spoke of fond and thoughtful memories. He watched Cersei stood before everyone, crying her eyes out, while she re-told their love story for everyone—including the media—to hear. His nose wrinkled in disgust. He knew better than anyone that Cersei never loved Robert.

He watched one by one as Robert’s children placed flowers and spoke soft words over his casket. Each of their blonde heads decorated in their family sigil bothered Stannis. He had received contact from Ned Stark just a week earlier. Perhaps Ned Stark was right. Not a single dark hair on their heads. Maybe these were not Robert’s children after all.

Of course Stannis knew that both of his brothers led sinful lives. Renly led a particularly sinful and lustful life. He went out most nights, enjoying his wealth and status of his family. He also had a male lover. The words ‘homosexual’ had been thrown around before and it made Stannis sick to his stomach. To go against God and what was natural had been a betrayal to him and the rest of the family.

However, Robert was just the same. Robert’s political career had been successful in all ways but one. Robert’s friends and family always thought he would be president one day, but he never quite made it. His terrible reputation of gluttony and desire had ruined any chance of his career moving forward. Stannis remembers the scandals of women claiming their children were his.

“Oh let them,” Robert waved it all off. “A lion does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep. Right?” He laughed and nudged at Cersei who looked at him with disgust.

“He’s right,” Renly agreed. His tailor-made suit was cleaner than his brother’s. His moved around the whisky in the tumbler. “These women only want a piece of the pie. They only want money.” Stannis watched his brother, Renly, stare at a younger man for much longer than what was allowed.

Stannis knew better, but he kept silent.

Sadly, Stannis proved himself right. He watched people line up in the church and gave their sincerest apologies to Cersei and her children. The opinions of sheep could be louder than the lion’s roar. After Robert’s funeral, Stannis found himself in a shady neighborhood bar far from his luxurious home. He pulled up the collar of his jacket, hoping no one would recognize him. He sat down at a booth with a friend.

“You’re on the run I heard?” he posed a question.

“Sort of,” Ned Stark answered. “The police are still investigating Robert’s death. They believe I have something to do with it. I was the last person to see him alive.”

“Just because you’re the last person to see him alive doesn’t mean you did it,” Stannis expressed his opinion. “You’re a good man, Stark.”

“I only do what’s right,” Ned said. “That doesn’t make me a good man.”

“What can I help you with?” Stannis had been curious. When Ned Stark had first told him that they needed to meet in secret, Stannis became nervous. He never once believed that Ned Stark was responsible for his brother’s death, but Ned knew something.

“Jon Arryn, do you remember him?’ Ned began. Stannis nodded. “He had suspicions, and now I confirmed them. Joffery, Myrcella, Tommen. They are not Robert’s children. None of them are.”

“How do you know?” Stannis said in shock.

“Jon Arryn had collected DNA from all three of them. He sent it away to have it tested. I got a hold of the results and Robert is not the father,” Ned whispered in a low voice. “His wife, my sister-in-law, had reason to believe she was being chased for a reason. Now, the Lannisters are coming after me.”

“Do you need a place to hide?” Stannis offered.

“No,” Ned shook his head. “Thank you for your generosity, but no. I am not afraid of lions. I need something else. Your recent promotion in the FBI could help us. Cersei and her family plan to put Joffery in power. Where he can change and do what he likes and it will provide more power and wealth to the Lannisters. They would be able to abuse that power in any way they want to.”

“I understand,” Stannis nodded, realizing how grave it would be if his nephew ever held a position of power. “What do you need me to do? Open an investigation against them?”

“Anything to stop Joffery from holding a position in office,” Ned explained. “If he gets the votes to become mayor in New York City, it’s over. The Lannisters will be protected and they can do anything they want. They could ruin one of the greatest cities in America. The people are at risk.”

Stannis did the best he could in his position. They were channels he had to go through, paperwork that needed to be finished. But it was too late. An assistant laid down the newspaper for him in the morning.

NED STARK FOUND DEAD

It hit him much harder than he expected. Stannis felt his heart sink in his stomach. He watched his daughters mourn over his grave. He had heard of Arya’s disappearance shortly after. He was scared for Sansa’s safety. This was his fault. He didn’t act quickly enough.

Stannis slipped into a deep depression like stones falling into the bottom of the ocean. It weighed heavier and heavier each day. Stannis would never take it out on his wife or daughter. He was a loyal, family man. However, liquor bottles started to pile up in the garbage more than usual. He stopped attending church with his family. What was the point of believing in a God that allowed awful things like this to happen?

“How much have you drank?” Davos said to him. Stannis only grunted an answer. The bottle in his hand was running low. Davos shook his head. “You need to stop this. This isn’t you. What happened to Robert and Ned is not your fault.”

Davos was right. What happened wasn’t his fault, but he still felt responsible.

“You’re unfit to work,” Davos sighed. “HR is forcing my hand on this. They want me to take over while you heal. Everyone wants you to find help. By god, you need help.”

Stannis Baratheon wasn’t the type of man to ask for help. He wasn’t the type of man to plead and beg, but he found himself sitting in a room with a therapist across from him. He felt agitated. The withdrawal of alcohol finally hit him. The blinds were drawn, the light was dim, and even though the room provided a safe and open space mentally, Stannis felt no relief.

“Tell me about your family,” she said.

“What about them?” he asked, irritated.

“Your older brother passed recently, how did you feel about that?”

“I felt nothing,” Stannis admitted. It felt harsh to say, but it was true. “I knew his sins would catch up to him. He dug his own grave.”

“What about your daughter? Tell me about her.” Truthfully, Stannis loved Shireen. He wanted nothing more but be a good father to children. He wanted to pass on his own morals and values to his own children. He wanted to raise good people.

“Shireen is kind,” was all he could manage to say. After spending most of his life focused on nothing but his career, Stannis knew next to nothing about the daughter he claimed to love.

“Your wife?”

Stannis had truly loved his wife. But after years of disappointment, spending nights at work, drinking himself into a depression, he believed his marriage was only for show. They had been partners only in name. Stannis didn’t believe in divorce. He married in the eyes of God, and he intended to keep it that way.

At the end of session, the therapist made an appointment for the following week around the same time. She handed him a card to call in case there was a problem. Red letters stood out against the white background.

“Melissa?”

“Melissandre,” she repeated. “Melissa was a school nickname.” Her long red hair complimented her white blouse. A cross necklace sat just on top of her cleavage. Stannis stared at it for longer than he would like to admit.

“I look forward to seeing you next week,” he nodded and went off. Things would get better. He would change. He would be a better person. Stannis planned to be a better father, a better husband, and a better friend.

Until the Red Wedding happened.

Once again, Stannis watched the chaos unfold before him. He looked over Catelyn’s body before any other CSI agent could touch her. He saw the large opening at her neck. Blood had pooled where she laid. Her red hair stuck to her face and the ground. Her eyes were half open, looking to the wall. One hand she held a rosary wrapped around her hand. The other hand she held a bloodied knife. She looked more like a martyred saint than a dead mother.

“They did the counting,” Davos said, walking up to him. “Over thirty people had died here. Still more people gravely injured in the hospital.” Davos shoved his hand sin his pockets and sighed.

“She was a good woman, you know,” Stannis said, still looking over Catelyn. “An exceptional mother. A religious and loving person.”

“Shame,” Davos sighed matching Stannis’ frown.

“Any leads to what happened or who did this?”

“A couple. Some leading to the Lannisters, of course, but no hard evidence,” Davos walked away from Catelyn’s body as photographers started to come in and take pictures of the massacre. “We will have to control the media. There’s a lot here that normal people can’t find out.”

Stannis nodded and looked over more of the dead that laid across the reception area. His eyes caught hold of many friends of the Tullys, Starks, and Freys.

“This is the underbelly at work,” Stannis said after several moments of silence. Confused, Davos looked over to him.

“The underbelly?”

“Yes,” Stannis answered. “It is a slang term, but it works. The underbelly is the mafias, the crime gangs, the drug cartels, and the filth of this country that is hidden from the good citizen’s eye. They lie, steal, and kill without anyone seeing. They are close to power. They have wealth. They are not the poor or the homeless. They are your rich friends, your senators, your artists, and they hide it well.”

“Are you saying someone or a group of people did this? Someone planned to kill off this many people? Kill off Catelyn and Robb Stark?”

“Yes and more,” Stannis exited the reception hall and returned outside to the blaring sun overhead. “The Starks are a good family, but they were deep in something that they couldn’t handle.” Davos had hard time keeping up with Stannis’ quick pace.

“The Starks knew something? What? Were they involved with drugs?” Davos asked, trying to get as much information as he could.

“They knew about Cersei and her children. They were going against them. History is a good teacher, Davos. No one survives going against the Lannisters,” Stannis got into his car and drove off. He would catch them now. The Lannisters and their empire would fall, and he would br crowned a hero for it all.

From another building, Roose Bolton watched Stannis leave. He looked over the FBI agents and large police force surrounding and blocking off the area. Media and news trucks started to show up and set up space to report on the devastating event.

Roose dialed a number on a burner phone. He waited a few moments before he heard a hello.

“They’re unto us,” he said. “You told me you would cover this up.”

“I will,” the voice answered back. “The news and media need to report something. Soon, I will be able to feed them the story I have planned. Sit back, relax. Your name will never be mentioned.”

“And the payment?”

“Tonight. Be patient. You’ve done a good job, Roose. Spend it however you wish.”

“And Winterfell?”

“Will be yours soon. You will have my support to get what you want. Our alliance is strong and untouchable. Let this wash over and we can work together to secure this country.” Roose hung up the burner phone and laid it on the ground. He shot it twice with a shotgun and left the area. He did have many plans for the millions he would earn for the massacre, but first he and the rest of his men would celebrate.

“Petyr,” Roose smiled, speaking on his personal phone. “I expect everything will be ready for tomorrow?”

“Yes,” his slimy voice confirmed. “My pretty birds are very excited to meet red kings.”

Taglist: @angelicshinigami @sugarwastaken @carilov09 @disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @i-theredqueen @sleepylunarwolf @trashpandabarnes

[livehealthynewsusa]

“Power Bald” Male Celebrities – How Shaved Heads Became Trendy in 2021

Shrek is an iconic power bald head. Likewise RuPaul, host of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. But at the moment they are far from alone in their glittering splendor. Travis Barker is currently Kourtney Kardashian’s bald friend. Sean Evans is the powerful bald man from Hot Ones, while Stanley Tucci’s effortless Gravitas in Searching for Italy is just hot. And don’t forget the bald domination franchise, Fast & Furious, which features the glorious hairless heads of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson and Vin Diesel. This month Gibson and Diesel shine again with F9 in theaters.

Welcome to the world of power bald heads, a hectic but hairless community in upheaval. In fact, the summer of 2021 could just be a peak balding season, with Adam Levine hugging the hairless self-care style, four times the strongest man in the world, Brian Shaw looking slick lifting a Hyundai SUV in a car commercial. and the WWE Braun Strowman alias Adam Scherr, who posts particularly intoxicating workouts on Instagram.

For the uninitiated, power balding is an emerging movement by men who have shaved off their insecurities about being bald. While baldness has always been around, a new cultural shift, both on and off screen, has shown the power of focusing on simple, sleek appearance. One that allows value and beauty to be defined by principles other than the lush mane or the uniformity of its brush cuts.

Power bald Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel look stylish.

Buda mendesGetty Images

To be clear, power baldnesses aren’t Homer Simpsons. You will happily part with these two remaining hairs to hug their sleek heads. They’re not Voldemorts either. Your baldness is not the result of too much toxic masculinity. In fact, some of the most honorable power bald people are not men at all. Dora Milaje from Black Panther embodies the term, as does Sinéad O’Connor. As is Gossip Girl’s newest queen bee, Julien Calloway, played by Jordan Alexander. A bald head has power. They are proud of that. But above all, they try to handle it responsibly.

“Somebody who is power-bald is about the self-confidence in which you carry yourself,” says Roger Bennett, co-host of the TV show and podcast Men in Blazers, along with his “smooth guy” Michael Davies Men’s Health.

The two Britons who live in the US are the unofficial architects of the term power bald, if for no other reason than that there are few documents online that are said by anyone else. They have been using the term since around 2016, which still makes it an insider term. There are few Instagram hashtags or Reddit mentions. Urban Dictionary has no related entries.

Men-in-Blazers co-host and power-bald advocate Roger Bennett.

Courtesy of Gentlemen in Blazers

But for Men in Blazers and their nearly 231,000 Twitter followers, the term is canonical. Bennett says they have received hundreds of letters related to baldness since talking about it on their platforms. They often give their favorite smooth footballers like Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane the title “Power Bald”. “It’s probably the only thing that really binds us apart from our love of football and America,” says Bennett.

As a “third generation bald guy” Bennett had no choice but to appreciate his thinning hairline. Balding had always felt inevitable to him, so he decided to accept that. By doing this and speaking openly about it, he has turned what might otherwise feel like a source of shame into something more empowering.

Soccer star Zinedine Zidane stays limber on and off the field.

GABRIEL BOUYSGetty Images

In fact, Bennett takes so much pride in being a power bald man that he questions the implications of certain sports characters battling the aftermath. In 2016, former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher appeared on billboards and in testimonials for Restore, a hair transplant company. If you’ve been driving the toll road to O’Hare Airport outside of Chicago in the past few years, you’ve likely seen an Urlacher billboard with new turf on its head. Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders also became speakers for Restore along with other famous retired athletes.

Overcoming one’s insecurities is a battle that neither muscle mass nor IQ can win, and men should be able to change their looks as they please. But there is a far cheaper and bolder move. “People, actually [go bald] with incredible bragging rights, these are the characters we’ve always hailed as Power Bald, ”says Bennett.

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At the same time, too much is being invested in treating baldness to completely normalize it, even if it is normal. Hair restoration remains a cornerstone of the male beauty industry. Toupees have gone viral and have been rebranded as trendy hair replacements. Hims, a digital health startup, recently valued at $ 1.6 billion and spokespersons for ex-married couple Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriquez, got involved selling prescriptions for hair loss (and erectile dysfunction) Names.

It may seem easier and cheaper to simply shave everything off than the headache of finding the most appropriate hair regrowth solution, but this is a huge commitment in its own right. “The easy solution to shaving your head is not an easy solution,” said Spencer Kobren, founder of the American Hair Loss Association, a private organization committed to raising public awareness of the emotional impact of hair loss on men .

Kobren told the New York Times in 2019 that he has been using finasteride, a drug used to treat hair loss, for 25 years. (It’s worth noting that finasteride, also known under the brand name Propecia, can have notable side effects.) “I wish everyone could be confident enough to shave their hair and not worry,” Kobren told Men’s Health. “That would be incredible, but there are just so many different components that the guys are uncomfortable with.”

For many, the act of baldness proudly appears to be one of the final refusals in the body positivity movement, a crusade that men are historically reluctant to accept. No wonder: men don’t know how to talk about their bodies. “How do we create security as men?” Psychiatrist Drew Ramsey, MD says. “Great chest. Big arms. Nice hair. Is that what it means to be a safe, mature man? “

The answer is a resounding no, but our culture would tell us otherwise. Take bald jokes like those recently raised on Prince William and LeBron James. They are still not considered taboo. The “joke” here is the Samson complex. A fear that, like biblical character, once you lose your hair, your strength, virality, and agency will all be lost.

LeBron James, still GOAT.

Robert LabergeGetty Images

Prince William remains royal.

Max Mama / IndigoGetty Images

But one look at some of Hollywood’s biggest action stars and iconoclastic athletes proves the Samson complex is a bust. LL Cool J made balding (and fedoras and bucket hats) cool. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Mike Tyson have proven that strength is not tied to hair. Gandhi showed that strength arises in the head, not what is shown externally. And Mr. Clean has proven it can be squeaky clean.

There is even a YouTube channel called BaldCafe that produces sincere videos of guys shaving everything off that have gone viral and have millions of views. However, apart from the Fast and Furious crew, the power shift in Hollywood is not moving fast enough.

According to data compiled by media analytics firm The Streaming Graduate, the bald portrayal in narrative films and on television falls into three main categories: villains (Thanos, Darth Maul), action stars (Bruce Willis, Briton Bruce Willis aka Jason Statham), and cowards (Tobias Fünke, George Costanza). Often these archetypes intersect like the mischievous but clumsy Frank in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or the weak and sinister Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Jason Alexander in an episode of Seinfeld.

ABCGetty Images

Sarah-Mikal, director of analytics and strategy at Streaming Graduate, says you rarely see bald actors in romance or family films. The main exceptions are The Rock, Vin Diesel, and Dave Bautista, who have all starred in at least one kid-friendly action comedy. (Belated justice for the pacifier.)

Some pioneers of the power bald head are slowly penetrating the world of male modeling. Ben Whit is a London-based plus-size model who featured in a 2019 campaign for British men’s clothing retailer Jacamo. “I’m more of a niche market,” he says. “Since the plus-size industry is still so small at the moment, it is more difficult to find work.”

Although the market for whit has recently cooled (losing modeling due to the pandemic certainly didn’t help), it is focused on changing the perception of what baldness can look like, be it on Instagram, in interviews, or in fashion spreads. He hopes that “more men will realize, ‘I don’t really have to look like this …” [the standard model] be happy. He’s happy the way he looks and I look just like him. ‘”

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Like Whit, Bennett doesn’t view balding as a personal defect, even though it can often feel like we’re supposed to believe it. “Going bald can be a deep emotional trauma for a person,” says Bennett. But it doesn’t stay in that headspace. He refuses.

For him, it’s not his upcoming memoirs (Re) born in the USA or Men in Blazers that will be his legacy. It is co-coin and actively lives the term power bald. “Even if my own family has forgotten my name for several generations, I can look up or down… wherever I end up… and just know that if this is my contribution to the world, then it is worthwhile to approach one carve tombstone, ”he says. “I have to get myself a bigger tombstone than I imagined.” Well, this is a powerless move.

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source https://livehealthynews.com/power-bald-male-celebrities-how-shaved-heads-became-trendy-in-2021/

[jafreitag]

31 Days of Dead 2017 – Introduction & Day #1: “Terrapin Station” – San Bernardino, CA 2/26/77

Introduction

Annnnnnnnd, we’re back. Hello, friends! As the “Official 30 Days of Dead” draws to a conclusion I am getting excited to begin posting my daily selections for the Unofficial 31 Days of Dead in December as I have done in past years.

Last year, dead.net opened with a colossal “Dark Star > Brokedown Palace” from Boston Music Hall on 9/16/72. Be still my heart! I love a good challenge and a selection like that only served to motivate me to up my game. In that spirit I rolled out a new tagline for the “Unofficial 31 Days of Dead” that I think we all can get behind, “When they go high, we go higher.”

In case you are unfamiliar with the “Unofficial 31 Days of Dead” here is a description of what it’s all about:

The idea for this project was hatched after dead.net ran its “30 Days of Dead” in November 2010. While the Deadhead community at large was thrilled to receive previously unreleased tracks from the band’s vast archives, many of us were hoping for just a bit, uh, more. So, I thought it would be fun to keep the music flowing for another month by selecting my own daily picks throughout the month of December and ceremoniously ending on New Year’s Eve which was always a magical evening in the Grateful Dead’s legacy.

Daily selections will be posted here on Liner Notes, and on the Phantasy Tour Phish discussion forum.

Here are my self-imposed parameters for the selections for this project:

1. No official releases – Each year this criteria becomes increasingly challenging as new shows are officially released from the vault. Currently, there are over 75 shows that have been officially released via Dick’s Picks, Road Trips and Dave’s Picks alone. That number more than doubles when you add in box sets like 30 Trips Around The Sun, Get Shown The Light, Europe 72, May 77, Winterland 73 and 77, Spring 1990, Fillmore West 69, July 78, and the 1989 releases (Hampton, Brendan Byrne, Buffalo, JFK and RFK). Also, everything that was previously selected for dead.net’s “Official 30 Days of Dead” is obviously off the table. Whew! It’s starting to become a question of what haven’t they released yet!

2. Variety is the spice of life– I try to represent a variety of years and styles. Although it is very tempting, I make a concerted effort not to draw entirely from the “sweet spots” of 1972-74 and 1977.

3. Nothing too obvious – I’m looking at you, Cornell and Veneta. Actually, both of those are now disqualified, but I think you catch my drift.

4. Expect the unexpected – There will be plenty of classic jams that we all know and love but I also try to toss in a few surprises / lesser-known / under-appreciated jams. And, unlike dead.net’s Official version, I include some audience and matrix sources where appropriate. So, all of you SBD snobs out there will need to get over yourselves.

Finally, unlike the “Official 30 Days of Dead,” there is no contest here. Instead, the prize is the music and the winner is the listener.

Special thanks to Brian Levine (host of phish.net’s Mystery Jam Monday) for doing the awesome artwork since these projects started in 2010. I love that he used the Stranger Things theme for this year’s edition.

You know it’s gonna get stranger…

December 1 

Terrapin Station

2/26/77 – Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, CA

The iconic album, Terrapin Station, turned 40 this year. The title track, which takes up the entire second side of the LP, is about as ambitious as anything the band has ever done. Nevertheless, Terrapin Station was the first song the band played…in the first set…at the first show of 1977. As Howard F. Weiner said in his book, The Rise of Terrapin Nation, it was an “absolutely fearless choice.” It was also a telltale sign that 1977 was getting off to a magical start. The band hit it out of the park. “Terrapin” achieved instant classic status after just its first performance. It is the way I am choosing to kick off this year’s edition of the 31 Days of Dead.

Here is what Robert Hunter said about “Terrapin” in his posthumous e-mail to Jerry in August 1996, titled “One Year Later.”

Seems like you’d had the vision of the music about the same time I had the vision of the words, independently. Terrapin. Shame about the record, but the concert piece, the first night it was played, took me about as close as I ever expect to get to feeling certain we were doing what we were put here to do. One of my few regrets is that you never wanted to finish it, though you approved of the final version I eked out many years later. You said, apologetically, “I love it, but I’ll never get the time to do it justice.” I realized that was true. Time was the one thing you never had in the last decade and a half. Supporting the Grateful Dead plus your own trip took all there was of that. The rest was crashing time. Besides, as you once said, “I’d rather toss cards in a hat than compose.” But man, when you finally got down on it, you sure knew how.

Read the rest of Hunter’s e-mail HERE.

Download today’s track HERE.

Stream today’s on relisten.net HERE, or on YouTube HERE.

And stream the whole show on archive.org HERE.

#terrapinstation #debut #fearless #instantclassic #thecompassalwayspointstoterrapin #inspiration #02261977 #swingauditorium #sanbernardino #gratefuldead #roberthunter #jerrygarcia #bobweir #phillesh #billkreutzmann #keithgodchaux #donnagodchaux #theriseofterrapinnation #positivelygarcia #howardfweiner #31daysofdead

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[joie-university-rp]

Dear, MIKE CHANG,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

–

Congratulations, MEG! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklistand send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Meg, she/her

Age, Timezone: 27, EST

Activity, short explanation: I work a full-time job (36 hours) Mon-Fri but I can usually be on at least one hour a day after work and sometimes even before work - and on the weekends, as I have no life, I can be on quite a bit more.

Ships: Tike, Cherry, Bike, Fabang, Mikitty, Changrose, Mikecedes, Bike Chanderson, Rutherchang, Mikurt, Puckerchang, Mike/Chemistry, Mike/Confidence

Anti-Ships: Mike/No Chemistry

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link):https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/elle-harry-shum-jr-by-tyler-joe-001-1541717903.jpg?crop=1xw:1xh;center,top&resize=480:*

Anything else: Just that I thank you for reading this application, too :)

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Michael Robert Chang Jr.

FC: The absolutely underrated but extremely handsome Harry Shum Jr.

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): 23, Junior

Birth date: July 26th, 1996

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Chicago, Illinois

Gender/Pronouns: Cismale, He/Him

Sexuality: (Closeted) Pansexual

Major(s): Law

Minor(s) [optional]: N/A

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Double suite in the Zeebee frat house

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): Lacrosse (attacker), Football (wide receiver & co-captain), Chess Club, Mock UN, Student Government Association (Chief Justice),

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): Zeta Sigma Beta, Vice President

CHARACTER PROFILE:

As the eldest born son to Michael Robert Chang Senior and Julia Qián, there had been a lot of pressure placed upon Mike’s shoulders - pressures to live up to his father’s legacy, but also pressure to exceed it. It was his duty to become a respectable member of society, someone that would take on a great job and someone that would bring honor to the family name. It was why, even as an elementary school student, he had had tutors - tutors to ensure that Mike would stay on track and stay ahead of the other kids in his school.

But there was a side to Mike… a side that wasn’t exactly something his father was proud of. He loved to dance, something he wound up getting from his mother - though that’s not something he knew about - and whenever he was alone in his bedroom, listening to music, he would let the music move him. It didn’t matter what it was, Mike always found himself moving and it became his own little escape - his way to let the stress out.

Dancing, however, was not an extracurricular his father allowed him to have. Sports were acceptable, of course, as schools loved to have a scholar athlete, and clubs that focused on building character and resumes were allowed but dancing? Well, his father thought that dancing would be detrimental on a college application, especially to schools looking for law or medical students. And Mike… well, Mike just wanted to please his parents, so he did what he could to please them.

Applying to Joie was just one of many things Mike did to please his father, as his father was an alumni of the school - and a famous one that had donated a wing to the library - and when he was accepted, the joy that overcame his father’s face was just perfect. It was enough to have Mike know that he was doing this for the right reason… to make his father proud, and so he told Joie that he was going to attend their school as a law student.

The first year at the school seemed to go over really well - between his positions on the lacrosse and football team (and him being a quick and nimble force to be reckoned with thanks to his secret recitals in his bedroom) Mike was becoming known for being quite the scholar athlete - especially since he was in a handful of other clubs and activities, as well, and he was rushing to his father’s fraternity, Zeta Sigma Beta, too.

Unfortunately, though, just a week before classes were supposed to pick up for his sophomore year, his maternal grandmother Xiu Mei Qián, fell ill and the family packed up their bags to head to Guangzhou to spend what little time with her they could. This gave Mike a chance to take a break from his rigorous school work - though his father did manage to quiz him every week just to keep his skills sharp - and he was able to realize there was more to life than just school. And the more time he spent with his dying grandmother, the more he realized that life is short.

His grandmother lived for two years, and he returned back to Ohio shortly after turning twenty-one - just in time for what should’ve been his senior year. Thankfully, his extracurriculars were happy to have him, and even the fraternity he had been accepted into welcomed him back as a brother and not another pledge, but he worked hard to prove himself. It seemed that his time in China had been long since forgotten as he worked to claim prominent positions in his various activities - from co-captain to the football team to vice president of the Zeebees to Chief Justice in the SGA - and Mike was back to proving that he was the scholar athlete that everyone knew he was.

But now that he’s going into his third year of school, his father is already beginning to pressure him into deciding what law school to go to upon graduation, and Mike’s not sure how to tell him that he doesn’t want to be a lawyer, or a doctor. No, Mike wants to be a dancer, and he wants, by the end of the year, to find enough courage to tell his father the truth. That is his overall goal, to be able to get underneath his father’s suffocating thumb and chase after his passion…

He’s just not hopeful it’ll happen.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY: (Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? Well, my father went here… The Chang wing in the library was donated by him, and if a man as successful as my father went to school here, I knew that it would be the best thing for me.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? My…. best traits? Well, I don’t really know if I have any. I’d like to think I’m intelligent, though I guess you have to be to graduate as valedictorian of your high school class and maintain a 4.1 GPA… I’d like to think that I’m good, too, and I’m pretty hard-working. My worst traits… well, I can be pretty stubborn, I guess… and I’ve been told I’m quiet - sometimes people won’t even realize I’m in the same room as them because I’m not really one for talking and… maybe selfless? Though some could say that’s a good trait, too, so… just ignore me. (He’s also insecure)

Which of your traits do you value most? Out of all my traits, I’d value my goodness, I guess? This world needs more good people so… it’s good that I’m good, right?

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? Well, it might not affect the school now but when I’m a lawyer or a judge or sitting on the supreme court, I hope to use my goodness to pass laws that will benefit the entirety of the country and not just the school - to end a lot of the things that are dividing this country and make tougher restrictions on other things.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? I hope to meet all kinds of people in the hopes to build connections with potential clients for the future… and maybe graduate as a dance major and not a law major.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? “Quiet people have the loudest minds” - Stephen King

[armeniaitn]

Armenia Culture News Digest for Wednesday, February 12, 2020

New Post has been published on https://armenia.in-the.news/daily-digests/culture-digests/armenia-culture-news-digest-for-wednesday-february-12-2020-1936-11-02-2020/

Armenia Culture News Digest for Wednesday, February 12, 2020

This is the Daily Digest of culture news for Armenia for Wednesday, February 12, 2020. The top stories are the following:

Kim Kardashian West joins SXSW 2020 speaker lineup

February 12, 2020 – 16:24 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – South By Southwest (SXSW) announced the final, jam-packed round of speakers for its annual Austin conference and festival on Tuesday, February 11, lawyer-in-training, Armenian-American reality TV star Kim Kardashian West will sound off on criminal justice reform.

South by Southwest (abbreviated as SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Texas, United States.

Newly-added keynote speakers include American singer, songwriter, rapper Janelle Monáe; Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; music multi-hyphenate St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) in conversation with Sleater-Kinney founding member Carrie Brownstein about their new film collab, The Nowhere Inn; and SM Entertainment founder Soo-Man Lee in conversation with Capitol Music Group COO Michelle Jubelirer. In addition, mega film director Michael Moore has been added to a previously-announced conversation with Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, Billboard reports.

The featured speakers list now includes Ozzy Osbourne; Stephen Colbert interviewed by Judd Apatow; electronic musician and composer Holly Herndon; music journalist Cherie Hu; Beastie Boys Story film director Spike Jonze; and Margo Price. And as for industry executives, you can count on talks from Platoon CEO/founder Denzyl Feigelson; Since the 80s co-founder Kei Henderson; 300 Entertainment founder Kevin Liles; and DropLabs founder and former Beats By Dre CEO Susan Paley.

Elsewhere, Raekwon will discuss his newest cannabusiness venture alongside The Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne tha God; and Rashida Jones will talk about her upcoming Netflix series #blackexcellence alongside co-executive producer Kenya Barris and — if you can believe it — much more.

“Today’s announcement is one of the most significant we’ve made in the 34 year history of SXSW,” said the conference’s chief programming officer, Hugh Forrest. “The Keynote and Featured Speakers added to the lineup are can’t-miss luminaries who are headed here to share the theories, strategies, and motivation behind their success. We’re honored to share the whole of this year’s stellar conference schedule with our attendees. There’s definitely something for everyone at the 2020 event.”

Previously-announced speakers include Diplo, Sonic Youth bassist-singer Kim Gordon, and Chic’s Nile Rodgers in conversation with Hipgnosis Songs founder Merck Mercuriadis. View the schedule, in its humungous entirety, here.

SXSW hits Austin for its 34th edition March 13 through 22.

Read original article here

Armenia will have its first-ever stand at Berlinale film market

February 12, 2020 – 15:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenia will have its first-ever stand at the European Film Market of the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in 2020, the country’s National Cinema Center said on Tuesday, February 11.

A film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, the EFM is the world’s third biggest industry meeting for the international film circuit.

The artistic director of the National Cinema Center, Melik Karapetyan, will also curate the Armenian stand at the event.

According to him, the booth will help Armenian producers and directors to better organize their work – meetings, presentations, events – within the film market.

The Armenian stand will be set up at Marriott Hotel.

Read original article here

Armenian Athena promises mind-blowing show: Athena Manoukian seriously aimed at the “Eurovision”

YEREVAN, 12 Feb — Sputnik. Popular Greek singer, member of the British X-Factor Athena Manoukian always wanted to represent Armenia in the Eurovision song contest. About it the singer said at a press conference in Yerevan.

This year she has a real chance to perform on the big European stage from the face of Armenia.

“Always wanted to represent Armenia at the Eurovision song contest, and this year everything turned out great, and the song was ready on time. That’s why I decided to take part in the national selection competition “the Eurovision” this year”, – said the singer told reporters.

The girl considers all the participants of the national selection are very talented, and every song is unique. However, she is confident that she will represent their homeland in the best way.

“I have a big experience of participation in international competitions. In addition, we made a huge effort to organise a great show,” said Athena.

Talking about his song, the singer said that he wrote it with his producer (she is the words and he the music) in his Studio at work on a new album. The composition of this that each of us has a diamond that sometimes we want to select, but make it Shine perhaps only those who it is given from birth.

The girl is not willing to disclose the intrigue and the question of what awaits viewers on February 15 at the national qualifying competition, with a smile replied: “It’s a surprise.”

However, the plans for the pop singer not only participation in the upcoming show. She wants to stay for some time in the historic homeland, to visit iconic places and even become a part of the Armenian show business.

She first visited Armenia in 2015, where he performed a concert, visited Swan lake, went to Tsitsernakaberd (memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915), saw the IV century monastery of Geghard and tried the local cuisine.

“Now I don’t have enough time to properly explore. But I would like to stay here for some time to be creative and, why not, to cooperate with the local stars,” said Athena.

The girl added that he wants to record a song in Armenian.

© Sputnik / Asatur Yesayants.

The participant of the project “Eurovision”, the singer Athena Manoukian

In addition, she is very artistic has demonstrated their knowledge of the Armenian language: “Hello! How are you doing? I am proud of Armenia. Proud that I was an Armenian.”

“We realized that we want more”: Sergey Arutyunov wants to go to Eurovision from Armenia>>

The singer admitted that the family is a little jealous, because while the chance to visit Armenia they had.

15 Feb live Public television of Armenia will host the final round of the project “Eurovision”, which will be attended by 12 candidates.

Read original article here.

Oscars slammed for leaving Armenian screenwriter Mardik Martin out of “In Memoriam” list

The Armenian Film Society has slammed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the failure to include the Armenian-American screenwriter Mardik Martin in the In Memoriam segment during this year’s Oscars broadcast.

The Academy has updated their website with a “full list” and he is once again not included.

The Armenian Film Society has contacted the Academy directly in hopes that they may rectify this.

Mardik Martin was not included in the In Memoriam segment during this year’s Oscars broadcast. The Academy has updated their website with a “full list” and he is once again not included. We have contacted the Academy directly in hopes that they may rectify this.

— Armenian Film Society (@armenianfilms) February 12, 2020

Canadian Armenian filmmaker Atom Egoyan said earlier that as a member of the Academy, he was disappointed not to see the passing of Mardik Martin mentioned during “In Memoriam” section of the Oscars.

“Mr. Martin was an essential collaborator on Martin Scorsese’s early work, and wrote several drafts of the masterpiece Raging Bull. In addition to continuing to write for the screen, Mr. Martin taught at USC for many years, helping to inspire and educate a new generation of writers,” Egoyan said.

Meanwhile, the Academy has responded to complaints about the exclusion of some entertainment figures from its annual In Memoriam segment on Sunday’s Oscar telecast.

“The Academy receives hundreds of requests to include loved ones and industry colleagues in the Oscars In Memoriam segment,” the organization said in a statement.

“An executive committee representing every branch considers the list and makes selections for the telecast based on limited available time. All of the submissions are included on Oscar.com and will remain on the site throughout the year,” it added.

Kobe Bryant led off the Oscar telecast’s In Memoriam segment and Kirk Douglas was the last film personality it honored.

[embedded content]

Mardik Martin, the co-screenwriter behind Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, New York, New York and Raging Bull, died in September 2019 at 84.

Of Armenian descent, Martin was born in Iran on Sept. 16, 1934, but raised in Iraq. He left for America at age 18 and studied at NYU in the early 1960s, when he met fellow student Scorsese.

After several projects made in college, including a documentary about Scorsese’s parents called Italianamerican, the duo’s first feature was the gritty drama Mean Streets, with Martin co-writing the screenplay based on a story by Scorsese.

Released in 1971 to critical acclaim, Mean Streets signaled Scorsese’s arrival as a filmmaking talent and launched the acting careers of stars Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel.

In 2008, a documentary on Martin’s life titled Mardik: Baghdad to Hollywood was released and featured contributions from Scorsese, George Lucas, Amy Heckerling and Irwin Winkler as well as author Peter Biskind.

Martin’s final film work was co-writing the screenplay to Turkish-German director Fatih Akin’s 2014 film The Cut, which explored the legacy of the Armenian Genocide, a subject close to his heart. 

Read original article here.

Martin Scorses remembers how Armenian professor inspired him

February 11, 2020 – 16:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese has told the story of how Armenian-American professor of film Haig P. Manoogian inspired him to become a filmmaker.

“Having the asthma, I was not allowed to play sports, so everything came to me through movies on television,” Scorsese said in a video prepared by Rolex to promote excellence in filmmaking.

“I lived on Elizabeth street between Prince and Houston (in New York City – Ed.), but I never went to the West Side. And so I just went to the corner of Elizabeth and Houston, made a left and walked about six blocks and was in another universe.”

The future Oscar-winning director was accepted to the Washington Square College which was part of NYU (New York University).

“And so I attended this orientation day — this was an eye-opening situation — and this gentleman got up and spoke with such passion and such energy about cinema. I became part of the cult. His name was Haig Manoogian,” he said.

“Haig really inspired us. He pushed us and he cajoled us, he beat us down and he built us back up again. He set a fire in our hearts. It’s one of the most precious gifts I have ever received.”

Scorses said that his experience with Manoogian led him to becoming a guide for other young people coming up to him.

Manoogian is the author of the book “The Film-Maker’s Art”, published in 1966.

Scorsese’s 1980 film “Raging Bull”, a winner of two Academy Awards, was dedicated to the Armenian teacher.

Read original article here

Armenian Soprano Dazzles at Dresden Event

Soprano Ruzan Mantashyan performs at the 2020 SemperOpernball festival in Dresden, Germany

Armenian soprano Ruzan Mantashyan dazzled the audience at the SemperOpernball 2020 festival in Dresden on Friday with a dramatic performance of Tatiana’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin opera.

Mantashyan became a household name last month after SemperOpernball organizers reneged her invitation when a Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov said he would not perform with the Armenian soprano because of her ethnicity. After many protests and confrontation from Mantashyan’s agents, the singer was reinstated to the program

“I am happy that the performance took place and reached its logical and triumphant end,” Mantashyan told Armenpress after the event.

Yerevan Komitas State Consevatory lecturer Margarite Sargsyan shared a video of Mantashyan’s performance on Facebook, and praised the soprano. “This was truly brilliant. Well-done….This is our school,” she said.

[embedded content]

Other musicians who performed at the concert included violinist Pavel Milyukov, soprano Yulia Muzichenko and pianist Alexander Kashpurin, as well as the Azerbaijani Eyvazov.

Read original article here.

Today on Twitter

Here is a selection of some of the tweets about Armenia. Get in touch with us via Twitter if you want to be part of this Twitter list. We retweet occasionally.

Armenia @armenia·

6h

No, not finished yet… Greco-Roman #wrestlers Karen #Aslanyan (67 kg) & Karapet #Chalyan (77 kg) ensured the presence of the Armenian flag on pedestal by taking the #bronze medals during #EuropeanChampionship. Congrats to our heroes! #wretslerome

2

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Retweet on TwitterEmbassy of Armenia to Austria/Slovakia Retweeted

Government of Armenia@armgov·

14h

PM Nikol Pashinyan has met ambassadors of @OSCE member states. During the meeting the PM has presented in detail the current situation of the Constitutional Court.

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Armenia Mission to UN@ArmeniaUN·

11 Feb

Important conversation on #education & adolescent girls, with Bono of @U2 and @ONECampaign, Mary Robinson, Chair of @TheElders. Quality #education for all named N1 priority by @antonioguterres. Armenia is committed to equal access to education #InternationalDayOfWomenInScience

2

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JAMnews@JAMnewsCaucasus·

14h

Politicians and experts call #Ugulava a “political prisoner” and assert #Georgia is departing from democracy and the western course:

https://jam-news.net/georgian-govt-going-the-way-of-repressions-arrest-of-opposition-leader-ugulava-analysis/

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Armenia at NATO@armmission_nato·

11 Feb

While celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, today we remember this remarkable #Armenian-#American woman, who dedicated her entire life to science. #WomenInScience @USNATO, @NATO_SPS, @NATO1325

Armenia @armenia

Anna L. Kazanjian – the first woman scientist in the #US in the field of controlling unmanned aerial vehicles. In the 1960s, she established the American #Saturn rocket launcher. #WomenInScience

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Artsakh Parliament@Artsakh_Parl·

11 Feb

#Accreditation_2020 #Journalists and #cameramen of National Assembly of the Republic of #Artsakh.

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Retweet on TwitterArmenia Ombudsman Retweeted

Arman Tatoyan@atatoyan·

19h

We took a decision requiring to change law & immediately stop practice when #detainees r placed in #prison #disciplinary #cells & isolated for acts of self-harm. These people should be under #psychological & #psychiatric care! The problem detected by #NPM unit. @OmbudsArmenia

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Retweet on TwitterUSC Armenian Studies Retweeted

Emil Sanamyan@emil_sanamyan·

22h

I looked at composition of Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s first elected parliament (1991-95). Some things stood out: of 81 seats, 6 were set aside for NKR’s Azerbaijani minority (3 in Shushi, 1 in Khojali, 1 in Karadagli & 1 in Umudlu); they remained vacant. https://twitter.com/ArmenianStudies/status/1227282593516621824

USC Armenian Studies@ArmenianStudies

Leading up to #elections in #Karabakh scheduled for March 31, here is a look back at electing #Artsakh’s Parliament in 1991 by @emil_sanamyan for #FocusOnKarabakh https://armenian.usc.edu/electing-artsakhs-first-parliament-conditions-and-composition/

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ArtsakhPress Agency@ArtsakhPress·

13h

#Armenia FM in #Austria, meets with #IAEA chief https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/121062/armenia-fm-in-austria-meets-with-iaea-chief.html

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Retweet on TwitterArtsakh MFA Retweeted

EAFJD@eafjd·

6 Feb

Yestreday, MEP #CostasMavrides hosted a conference with the title “The forgotten #refugees: What Happened to the #Armenians of #Baku?” in the @Europarl_EN. Keynote speakers were #BaronessCarolineCox, @AnnaATurcotte and David Babaev. Press Release https://eafjd.eu/forgottenrefugees.html

4

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Today on Facebook

These are several Facebook posts about Armenia. Contact us on Facebook if you want to be included in this list. We share posts occasionally.

This message is only visible to admins.

Problem displaying Facebook posts. Click to show errorfunction cffShowError() document.getElementById(“cff-error-reason”).style.display = “block”; document.getElementById(“cff-show-error”).style.display = “none”;

Error: (#803) Some of the aliases you requested do not exist: Armenia,ArmeniaFanPage,ArmeniaFund,BirthrightArmenia,LiveLoveArmenia,RepatArmenia Type: OAuthException Solution: See here for how to solve this error

[mallorax2]

Chernow Reflection

Mallory Shaw HIS221-01-SP19
 22 March 2019 Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is an amazing read. I wanted to start like this simply because I enjoyed reading it. It was definitely worth the time spent reading. The book is set up as your typical book. It has an author's note, a prologue, and chapters. What truly made this book worthwhile was the chapters. Each chapter to me read like their own story. Each chapter brought along its own flair. In this reflection, my hope is to highlight the best parts I found within the piece. Parts I found interesting and neat. My hope is to do justice to what I read. It is also my hope to portray what I read in a meaningful way. I want to express the best parts I found while reading. The hope is to reflect on what I learned while reading. The prologue was of course where I began reading. I was very curious of the title of the prologue. “ The Oldest Living Revolutionary War Widow,” it sparked intense curiosity. Upon reading I realized it was about his wife. This wasn’t just any widow. His wife was Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton. Within the chapter we read about her quest to preserve Alexander Hamilton's legacy. His legacy being his writings. This quest of hers was a daunting task. I think it was an important task to do. It was a task that continued even after her death. I found it interesting that she took it up. The task was not an easy one. It was also not done alone either. Why is this a best part? Her dedication to preserving his legacy. Also what caught me in the prologue was the volume of writings. On page five Chernow wrote “ Hamilton was an exuberant genius who performed at a fiendish pace and must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in forty-nine years.” (5)This showed to me how daunting a task it was. She was a awfully determined woman. She was set on preserving a legacy and she did just that. This prologue really set the stage for me. It made me want to continue reading. I think being able to start with a really good prologue it quintessential. The next noteable chapter to me was chapter two. Chapter two was titled ‘Hurricane’. The title itself does reference a hurricane. However that didn’t concern me even though it was a major factor. What caught my was Hamilton and his poetry. He had poetry published in the Royal Danish American Gazette. (Chernow 34). Hamilton published two poems on April 6, 1771. While this might seem insignificant I was enthralled. Particularly by how contrasting the poems were. Hamilton wrote such contrasting poems it seems like the authors were different. One poem was all sweet and the other scandalous. I think what caught me the difference. The difference in the style of the poems. It really highlighted his skills. Having such a range in writing is amazing. His vastly different styles within the realm of poems. Also the topics made me wonder about his lifestyle. The poems brought up many questions. This chaptered made me think critically. On why were these poems vastly different? Were these poems foreshadowing his future? We can look further into the realm of difference. His next two poems were religious. To say the least I was shocked when I read this. Hamilton has had an influence. That influence being Hugh Knox. He seemed to inspire great change in Hamilton. Why had he sparked such a major change? One Knox was a minister ( Chernow 34). Hamilton seemed to have had a divine intervention. Being able to create questions while reading makes it fun. My next chapter is chapter six. The title is A Frenzy of Valor. I was rather confused by this title. What did this chapter entail? Why was it a frenzy. Those to question stuck with me throughout the chapter. Eventually I got my answer. The answer happened to be the most notable section of the chapter. The Frenzy of Valor referred to a young Hamilton. The quote came from Charles Lee, “ famished for combat he was in a sort of frenzy of valor,”( Chernow 115). This little section was my favorite so far into the reading. The other interesting thing I found was everyone was shocked by Hamilton. Mostly by his courage. Chapter Eleven: Ghosts to say the least was a lot. It had bountiful amounts of information. The chapter title I feel hinted at something. Obviously it did not mean ghosts as the spooky character. Ghosts in this case has a deeper meaning. Meaning was the ghost himself? Looking into this it can be assumed the ghost was his past. Chernow notes how distressed Hamilton might have been to look back on his former life.(203) From this simple concept you can see the ghost it Hamilton himself. Why does he not want to look back on his former life? Why does he not want to talk to former mentors? What was he afraid of? Hamilton stopped corresponding with his mentor Hugh Knox. He simply cut out his past. That bothered me slightly. What bothered me more was when he finally received a letter from his former mentor. Hamilton in a letter said didn’t receive the letters (Chernow 208). Another thought he was practically estranged from his family. Why was it like this? Was his past to much? Chapter eleven evoked many questions I’m still currently fuming about as I write this. To briefly break from the best of’s I want to talk about the chapter titles. As I have previously stated each chapter read like it own story. The chapter titles helped this. For me they gave me something to think about. I immediately formed questions before reading. Also it is very satisfying having your questions answered in the chapter.It brought out creative ideas on why it was titled this. In the last paragraph, Ghosts helped me pinpoint an idea. An idea buried within the chapter that I might have not really got. I think that this is what really makes the book awesome. It makes me think critically on every topic. I have nothing but praise for this book. Chernow has crafted an excellent thought provoking biography. Another thing about the chapter titles in that it makes not seem like a biography. Overall I’m just pleased to have read it. Let's talk about Chapter thirteen. The chapter title is Publius. My first thought was what is Publius. I honestly didn’t know. It was a great start to the chapter. However to my credit the question was answered. It referred to the Federalist Papers. It was the pen name that Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison used. In this chapter, what caught me was and odd pair. Chernow states that Hamilton and Madison must have seemed like and odd pair (251). This caught me while I was reading. Simply put it had intrigued me. The two were profoundly different. As described by Chernow Hamilton was like a peacock and Madison was like a crow (251). The description of the two showed how different they were. While being different in clothing choice there was more. The two seemed to represent both ends in politics. However during the Federalist papers there difference was non-existent. Another difference noted by Chernow is there writing style (252). Madison boasted a style that was very complicated. Along his side Hamilton had a style that was free flowing. This small little area in the book was interesting. Two people who were vastly different came together. The descriptors used in describing them were useful. The use of birds made it relatable. Both birds have major visual aspects. Chernow did a wonderful job using them. He painted a picture with them. Fourteen was the next chapter that stood out to me. The title was Putting The Machine In Motion. This chapter was fun to read. A highlighting moment though was him targeting George Clinton. The point of the targeting was to oust him as governor ( Chernow 273). Hamilton was set on unseating him. He chose Robert Yates as the person to do the job. “ In politics, as in war, the first blow is half the battle.” Hamilton advised this to a supporter (Chernow 274). This quote I think showed his resolve to unseat Clinton. He poised this with a series of letters. Hamilton wrote sixteen scathing letters under the name H.G. Beyond the letters Clinton won and Hamiltons plan busted. To me the real kicker was Aaron Burr. He was apart of the plan to unseat Clinton. What got me was the fact Clinton offered him a job. That job being the Attorney General of New York. I guess this could be considered a stab in the back. For me I can’t imagine how I would feel. At this point Hamilton must have felt betrayed.Especially since Burr took a job from someone he campaigned against. Chernow notes that a dormant ambition has awoken in Burr (276). Chernow here seems to be foreshadowing a later event between the two. This chapter to me showed the lengths that Hamilton would go to do something. His drive to make everything work is astounding. Another tings to me was the fact that he wrote sixteen letters. That number just shocks me. Sixteen letters is an impressive feat especially when published. Dr.Pangloss is the title of chapter sixteen. This chapter was full of information. However my favorite focused on Thomas Jefferson. Chernow used the beginning of this chapter to focus on Jefferson. This had me taken aback. Yet, there was a method to the madness. It was to show the differences between Hamilton and Jefferson. Both men were vastly different. Chernow highlighted their differences by showing Jefferson's early life. From reading this chapter I understood that Jefferson had a very privileged start to life. This contradicted Hamilton's greatly. I think by highlighting this we can understand both men. I also noticed how indecisive Jefferson was. Chernow notes this by using the quotes, “Therefore I protest to you that I am not of the party of the Federalist,” he continues, “ But I am much further from that of the anti federalist.”(311). Jefferson had many issues with both sides and their plans. He however did choose the new government. His wishy washy attitude continued when in came to slaves. I found his views very hypocritical. Simply because he owned slaves. “ When an opportunity will be offered to abolish this lamentable evil,” he was talking about ending slavery ( Chernow 312). What gets me is he strongly is against slavery, yet he is a slaveholder. It boggles my mind. The beginning of this chapter bugged me. Simply put Jefferson bugs me. Moving on to chapter seventeen: The First Town In America. Hamilton's work ethic was non stop. His work never seemed to end. Chernow writes about how it has taken a toll on him weight wise (333). That small section I found to be comical. Aside from this Hamilton worked on many things. Most notable to me would be that of Native American relations. Hamilton was particularly interested in educating Native Americans. Hamilton became a trustee for the Hamilton-Oneida Academy (Chernow 338). The academy later became Hamilton College. I think his sponsorship of education for Native Americans is big.His interest also helped the Native Americans. Real Estate needed land and planned to remove them. This prompted Hamilton to warn Governor Clinton( Chernow 337). He believed having friendship was good for the peace. It is obvious Hamilton cared deeply for them. He championed reconciliation before force. The work he did to help Native Americans is amazing. His work to protect them went all the way to government policy. He wrote policy to protect Natives from the violence of those who lived in the frontier (Chernow 337). This chapter as a whole to me showed his strong ability to work for others. As well as kindness and understanding. Chernow did a great job with this chapter. The next chapter is that of chapter eighteen. This chapter continued to show his work ethic. His nonstop one at that. In the last paragraph, I talked briefly about his work ethic. Hamilton from what I have got from reading was non stop with his work. From what I get he worked at a feverish pace. His work ethic while arduous got the job done. An example of this is noted by Chernow. He notes that he fostered the market economy ( Chernow 345). What is meant by that is the cultural and legal settings that made it flourish (Chernow 345). Hamilton used this work ethic to get the job done. His work created structure for growth. The growth was focused primarily on that of economic growth. Hamilton created three clauses. The clauses are as follows: The necessary and proper clause, the general welfare clause, and the commerce clause ( Chernow 345). His work continues further from this. Hamilton wanted to set up a national bank. Well, to say the least he did just that. He did amidst many critics. I think this part of the chapter showed his perseverance. He had goals to reach and he reached them. For me that is very inspiring. It might not really pertain to the idea. However his work ethic was one many need. His ability to look past those who are against him is quite the feat. There is something to be learned from this. Whether it is his work ethic. Whether it be to not let others get you down. There is alot to look into with this chapter. The next chapter I want to focus on it chapter twenty. This chapter is titled Corrupt Squadrons. When I read the chapter title I was at a loss. From there I began to formulate what it could mean. What I was trying to figure out was who is the squadron? Before reading I guessed it would be someone who was against Hamilton's ideas. Upon reading I realized that might be the case. Chernow writes about Madison and Jefferson had begun to plan an opposition of Hamilton (389). The chapter overall was about to systems. The one being of Hamilton's ideals, and the other being of Jefferson and Madison. Another thing to look at was the beginnings of political parties. Parties were stemmed by Hamilton. Those who supported him were known as Federalist. The other party was created in opposition to Hamilton. Jefferson and Madison created the Republican party. Beyond this point the chapter shows the divide. The divide in ideas and ideals. This chapter hints on what happens when divided. With these parties they were loosely based on certain ideologies and sectional loyalties ( Chernow 392). The parties were vastly different to the parties we have today. Chernow also notes that this rise of parties concerned Hamilton, it “ hypersensitive about his personal honor.”(392). The parties from my perspective didn’t seem like they were all good. What I got from this is that they were made in a selfish manner. That bothers me a lot the more I think about it. I don’t like that idea. For me just settle your differences. Now to the wild ride that was chapter twenty-one. Exposure was the title of the chapter. This word has many context. Not all the context can be presumed as good. To mentally prepare for this chapter I simply looked up the definition of exposure. The definition I went with is as follows: the revelation of an identity or fact, especially one that is concealed or likely to arouse disapproval.I feel as though tis definition hold true for this chapter. The question after was what was being exposed? As used in the beginning of this paragraph this chapter was wild. It involved an affair with some pretty important people. One being Alexander Hamilton. I was honestly a little troubled about this at first. However was I shocked, no not really. The thing is though why have an affair. From what I have gotten throughout reading the book Hamilton cared about his image. To the point any little hiccup could cause major issues for him. Also during this affair his wife was pregnant. Chernow mentions this and mentions the birth of his fifth child(413). This boggles my mind. One why would you do this? Two why would you do this? It is just astounding to me. Chernow at the end of the chapter even condemns Hamilton calling it a, “sad and inexcusable act lapse on Hamilton’s part.”(418). Honestly, I have to agree with Chernow. The affair shouldn’t have happened. The chapter also contains more damning info. Hamilton during the affair paid hush money to his mistresses husband James Reynolds (Chernow 409). When I read this I was flabbergasted and shocked. Really how do you do this? How can you commit this behavior with a pregnant wife? Moving on this the chapter was probably the most interesting. While it made me extremely mad at Hamiltons behavior it was the best. Chapter thirty-one: An instrument of hell. When I got to this chapter I had wondered what it meant. This chapter out of all the most confusing title. Upon reading the chapter it clicked. This chapter had a lot going on in it similarly like the last chapter. To start off something was still haunting Hamilton. The fear of his affair still lingered over him. Chernow had mentioned at the beginning of the chapter a premonition of war with France(546). Why this mattered to Hamilton and his shenanigans with a lady I didn’t understand. However the man had a reason. He assumed he would have a major position and a scandal didn’t work with that ( Chernow 546). Looking past Hamilton was the issue of France. With all themat was going on everyone seemed to be preparing for war. From this point in the chapter I was utterly confused. Hamilton seemingly got what he had wanted. However later in the chapter everything seemed to turn sour. Chernow had wrote that Hamiltons judgement was deteriorating( 567). With this I looked back at the chapters title. Looking into it what was the instrument of hell? Upon that little section could it be inferred that it was Hamilton himself? Based on the reading he was the instrument of hell. The question is whose? Going out on a limb it was his. Thirty-four: In an Evil Hour. In the previous paragraph I mentioned France and war. However that didn’t end up being the case. This coming war was averted. President Adams had seemingly passed an olive branch to France (Chernow 593). Looking into this avoiding a war was the best option. However many didn’t see that way. Federalists saw President Adams acts of diplomacy as a hindrance almost. This alarmed me when reading. Chernow wrote that Adams acts of diplomacy shattered any unity he had with federalists (593). Again why did they want a war so bad? This peace with France had caused major issues for Hamilton. The reason being he wanted to lead an army. Hamilton also had this irrational fear of a French attack. At this point the likelihood of that happening was at zero. Hamilton after a run in with President Adams, that severed the relationship, seemed to have change. This man who was a workaholic had changed. His fears had seemingly gotten the best of him. Chernow shows his irrationality by Hamilton believed Virginia foes were trying dissolve the union( 599). That thought was seemingly out there. At this point Hamilton was losing his grasp. What also took a blow was the loss of his military dream. The threat France had was nonexistent. Leaving no need for his military. This chapter to me was the most confusing. I at this point i'm still trying to figure it out. Why things happened the way they did. I am trying to formulate how things could have ended differently. The last chapter I want to reflect on is that of chapter forty-two. The chapter is titled Fatal Errand. I chose this chapter because I feel it personally summed the book up for me. I was distraught by this title. Mostly I believe because of the implications of it. The thought I guess had saddened me. Upon reading the chapter it was emotional. Chernow in this chapter did an excellent job. He helped to write the emotions of it all. The chapter as one might guess in the leading up to Hamilton's death. Chernow ram through everything up to the duel. To not focus on the duel but to focus on the farewell letter to Eliza. It was a heartfelt letter. It showed that he truly loved her. That he truly loved his family. His writing in this is sorrowful for the reason he was writing it. Hamilton used this essentially to say sorry. Chernow artfully described Hamilton in this chapter. You could feel the emotions that Hamilton might have felt. At last I feel it necessary to conclude this reflection. I would lime to say again that this book was a pledge to read. It was an enjoyable read at that. When deciding on how to reflect upon this book I decided to write about chapters that I found profound and an excellent read. Each chapter I chose were ones that made me think. Throughout reading these chapters brought about the most critical of thinking. It was my hope in this reflection to write them in a manner that was meaningful. I would also again like to praise each chapter again. Each chapter read like a book. They had there own story to tell. This made the reading easy. It was made more enjoyable with this style. Chernow's writing style was unique to me. It was the first time for me to read a book in this style. Chernow’s use of titles in the book was interesting. The titles were thought provoking. They allowed me to formulate questions before each chapter. I found it satisfying to for answers to be answered within the reading. Furthermore I believe in reading this that I learned quite a bit. Going into this I knew little to nearly nothing of Alexander Hamilton. This reading allowed me to learn something new. This new information makes me happy. Overall I was delighted to have been able to read the book. I also now will look into other works by Ron Chernow.

[mrmichaelchadler]

A Look Back at the 10th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival

HOLLYWOOD — Double anniversaries: This year’s TCM Film Festival marked two milestones, the 25th anniversary of the classic movie channel, which bowed on April 14, 1994, and the 10th anniversary of its namesake annual event.

In a movie landscape challenged by new platforms, industry consolidation and general entertainment overload, TCM remains a beacon for film buffs. “We’ve stayed true to our mission of showing films the way they’re meant to be seen, uncut and commercial free,” said Jennifer Dorian, TCM general manager. “That mission has not changed over 25 years. And when we started doing this festival, it made sense that it would be the context in which we started to bring people together and then showcase these films once again on these incredible screens in Hollywood.”

Held April 11-14 at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre complex, Egyptian Theatre, Cinerama Dome and the Roosevelt Hotel, the classic movie marathon featured more than a hundred films and events, with most programmed to reflect the festival’s main theme “Follow Your Heart: Love at the Movies.” That certainly was the case for the opening-night attraction “When Harry Met Sally …” (1989), with stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan and director Rob Reiner appearing at the TCL Chinese IMAX to celebrate the rom-com’s 30th anniversary. Though “Harry” might seem relatively new by TCM standards, “We had no idea back then if it would stand the test of time,” Crystal told the crowd. Reiner added, “You never know. You make a movie, and hopefully it turns out well, and hopefully others like it, too.”

Also in the opening-night audience was Ted Turner, the broadcast industry magnate whose purchase of the MGM film library in 1986 gave rise to TCM. Along with Turner, others receiving special tributes during the festival were casting director Juliet Taylor, producer Fred Roos, filmmaker Nora Ephron and film historian Kevin Brownlow. Fox Studios, founded in 1905, reincarnated as 20th Century Fox in 1935 and swallowed whole by Disney in 2019, also was feted, with screenings of landmark titles such as “Sunrise: A Story of Two Humans” (1927), “The Sound of Music” and perhaps the studio’s biggest all-time blockbuster and game-changer, “Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope: Special Edition” (1977).

Adding star power were appearances by actors and filmmakers Diane Baker, Jacqueline Bisset, Ronee Blakley, John Carpenter, Keith Carradine, Frank Darabont, Dana Delany, Angie Dickinson, Louis Gossett Jr., Bill Hader, Barbara Rush, Kurt Russell and Alex Trebek. Also scheduled to appear but unable to attend were Norman Lear, Shirley MacLaine, Gena Rowlands and Lily Tomlin.

Among the restored titles receiving world premieres were “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979), “Holiday” (1938), “The Killers” (1964), “Kind Hearts and Coronets” (1949), “Merrily We Go to Hell” (1932), “Nashville” (1975) and “Winchester ’73” (1950, U.S. premiere showing). 

Though the festival’s tent-pole titles attracted overflow crowds, some of the greatest moments came courtesy of lesser-known films, such as the many pre-Code offerings, rediscoveries and special formats (including nitrate and Cinerama). Here are 10 for the 10th:

"Night World"

Eighty the hard way: Introducing the pre-Code drama “Night World” (1932), Susan Karloff noted that her father Boris “made a lot of films like this”—movies that weren’t prestige projects but were entertaining and well-made nonetheless. A year earlier, Karloff teamed with Mae Clarke for “Frankenstein,” his breakthrough movie, and they reunited for “Night World,” which also features Lew Ayres, George Raft and Hedda Hopper, before she reinvented herself as a professional gossip-monger. “’Frankenstein’ was his 81st film,” Susan Karloff said. ”Nobody saw the first 80.”

Ted Turner on the success of TCM: It comes down to one simple truth: “People like old stuff.” That’s how the founder of Turner Broadcasting, which begat Turner Classic Movies, explained the enduring popularity of the acclaimed cable channel. Now that he’s reached his golden years, the onetime Mouth of the South admitted that he has realized “I’m old, so people finally like me.”

The low-budget bang of the Bs: A turn-away crowd flocked to “Open Secret” (1948), a film noir tinged with social activism, and screened as one of the festival’s many “Discoveries.” Eddie Muller, “The Czar of Noir” and host of TCM’s “Noir Alley,” observed: “This is probably the biggest single crowd ever to see this movie, which is as B as B gets. If they spent more than $2,000 on this film, I’d be amazed.” Despite the movie’s modest origins, “Open Secret” bravely takes aim at nativism and prejudice in post-war America. “I’m very happy to present this movie,” Muller said. “It’s as down and dirty as it gets.”

"Santo vs. the Evil Brain"

Lucha libre, viva Mexico! The midnight screening of the cult/camp classic “Santo vs. the Evil Brain” quickly turned into spectacle as two fans in lucha libre garb swarmed the theater, tossing out treats and trinkets, including El Santo masks on sticks. A Mexican folk hero, El Santo was a luchador enmascarado (masked wrestler) and fighter for justice. As portrayed by actor Rodolfo Guzman Huerta, El Santo appeared in more than 50 films, including the first in the series, “Santo Contra el Cerebro del Mal” (1961, “Santo vs. the Evil Brain”). “It’s a miracle that we’re showing this film,” said archivist Viviana Garcia Besne, whose grandfather introduced El Santo to the screen. “The Mexican film industry is not supporting these movies, despite their popularity.” Her father found the original camera negative of “Santo vs. the Evil Brain,” “so with the centennial of El Santo [Guzman Huerta] in 2017, we thought we should restore his movies.” She implored the audience to revel in the film’s over-the-top spirit: “You must react or you’ll fall asleep.”

Remembering the King of the Cowboys: Through the ’20s, Tom Mix rode tall in the saddle and revolutionized the Western by focusing on action and performing his own stunts. A century later, however, he’s all but forgotten. Introducing a double feature of “The Great K&A Train Robbery” (1926) and “Outlaws of Red River” (1927) at the Legion Theatre, TCM senior programming director Scott McGee paid tribute to “the ultimate cowboy star” and mentioned that several of his younger TCM colleagues had never heard of Mix, once nicknamed “The Rent Man” by theater exhibitors. Most of Mix’s nearly 300 films (all but nine were silent) were lost in a 1937 studio fire, so those TCM youngsters could be forgiven for their ignorance.  

Shot on location in Colorado, “The Great K&A Train Robbery” proved that “the real natural wonder was Mix himself,” McGee said. “He was a bona-fide cowboy and horseman of the highest order.” Mix’s penchant for fancy duds emphasized that he was “all about the show and the flash. He knew that clothes do make the man.” MoMa curator Anne Morra added that even though “his clothes weren’t trail-worthy, he always gets the girl,” and pointed out that Mix’s trusty steed, Tony the Wonder Horse, outlived his master, who died in a car accident in 1940, by two years.

"It Happened Here"

Speaking truth to power: Accepting the second annual Robert Osborne Award, which honors individuals crucial in maintaining the legacy and preservation of classic films, historian, author and filmmaker Kevin Brownlow warned the crowd that he was going to go off-script. “Where’s release of ‘Hollywood’?” he said, referring to his influential documentary series about the silent-film era, shown on TV in 1980 but never released in a home-video format due to rights issues.

As part of the Brownlow tribute, TCM screened his own “It Happened Here,” which imagines what might have occurred if Germany had conquered Britain during World War II. At 15, Brownlow began making the docudrama with creative partner Andrew Mollo, and over eight years, the two attracted eventual assistance from directorial lions Tony Richardson and Stanley Kubrick. As “It Happened Here” began to roll at the Egyptian, and introductory credits about the movie’s restoration identified it as a 1965 release, Brownlow from his seat shouted out “1964!”

The patriarchy strikes back: Though she was the first female to receive the Directors Guild Fellowship Award and successfully helmed seven films from 1966 to 1974, writer/director/producer Stephanie Rothman found herself on the outs by the mid-’70s. Speaking before a midnight screening of her “Student Nurses” (1970), Rothman recalled that studio chiefs thought she was “too intellectual”—even though she specialized (by necessity) in exploitation fare. In the early ’80s, one exec finally brought her in for a meeting to discuss a project for a young male director about to make his first studio film. “It sounded just like my own ‘Velvet Vampire’ [1971],” Rothman said. “So I asked them, why not hire me? They didn’t.” The filmmaker and film in question turned out to be Tony Scott and the vampire-themed “The Hunger” (1983).

"The Killers"

Taking dead aim at the truth: Always the straight shooter, actress Angie Dickinson told it like it was in her introductory remarks before “The Killers” (1964), Don Siegel’s crime thriller, loosely based on the Ernest Hemingway short story. Shot in unusually vivid Eastman Color, it follows two hit men (Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager) trying figure out the score of their score. Neither of the male leads—John Cassavetes as the mark and Ronald Reagan as the mastermind—wanted to be in this movie, she recalled. In his last film before he launched his political career, Reagan made “The Killers” “just to get out of his contract.” And Cassavetes—“that is some Greek”—“was pretty quiet,” she said. “The film wasn’t his style but he needed the work,” she added, referring to the actor-director’s preference for his own indie, iconoclastic projects. Dickinson attributes the film’s success to Siegel (“an absolute doll—adorable!”) and Cassavetes (“he was so charismatic, he didn’t have to do anything on the screen”), and not so much to Reagan: “You could tell that he was kinda dying back there.”

As for why she didn’t become a bigger star, Dickinson said, “It didn’t happen. It takes a lot of luck, and I didn’t have the drive. The parts weren’t there. So I did ‘Police Woman’”—her hit ’70s series—“which was a grind and did me in.” At that point, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz reminded her that 100 episodes of “Police Woman” was nothing to sneeze at, and Dickinson quickly corrected him: “Actually, 91.” She laughed and added, “I am such a truth buff.”

The circle of life, Tinsel Town edition: Introducing the silent film “A Woman of Affairs” (1928), starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, which was screened with a full orchestra led by Carl Davis conducting his own score, at the historic Egyptian, film scholar Leonard Maltin acknowledged a stroke of serendipity: “We have one of those only in Hollywood moments tonight. Performing on the French horn in the orchestra is the great-great grandson of John Gilbert.”

The enduring legacy of Robert Osborne: Throughout the festival, many luminaries saluted the late figurehead of TCM. “Robert loved this festival,” said Kevin Brownlow. “He lobbied for it for years and basked in its success and its shared community.” Speaking ahead of “Magnificent Obsession” (1954), in which she co-starred opposite Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman, Barbara Rush recalled, “We grew up together in the business. It was Robert who really got TCM going,” she said, reflecting on Osborne’s own magnificent obsession. “He was like a very dear brother to me. Plus, he knew everything, especially about the movies.”

from All Content http://bit.ly/2PkpYgT

[popofventi]

Ventipop #233 :: Kinky Karma, Nordic Noir & The Prison Inside Me

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever."  -- Sagan

HERE ARE THE MOST INTERESTING, HUMOROUS AND INSPIRING THINGS I FOUND ON THE NET THIS WEEK. IF YOU ENJOY, IT WOULD BE AWESOME IF YOU WOULD HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT VENTIPOP AND SHARE WITH A FRIEND.

Joy To The World

SPECIAL THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE MADE CONTRIBUTIONS TO VENTIPOP THIS WEEK:

BRYAN JAMISON, LAYDON MCGUIRE, EDNA SIGORSKY, ANTNY HARRISON & LISA MCCADE

It’s A Small World After All

South Korea - For the past five years, a mock prison facility in Hongcheon, South Korea, has been locking up paying “inmates” for brief stays in simple cells where mobile devices are prohibited, talking with other participants is not allowed, and no clocks can be found. Welcome to The Prison Inside Me

Ancient Rome - "Evidence from an archaeological dig has found," wrote Telegraph science correspondent Richard Alleyne in 2012, "that legionnaires wore socks with sandals" — ancient Roman legionnaires, that is. "Rust on a nail from a Roman sandal found in newly discovered ruins in North Yorkshire appears to contain fibres which could suggest that a sock-type garment was being worn."

Japan - In Japan, the swastika still appears on maps and buildings, in its original unflipped form, as a way of designating a variety of positive meanings including good luck, prosperity, and eternity. For Westerners, the swastika induces feelings of disgust and remorse; the tacit acknowledgement that we must not let evil consume us again. Japan is the host country for the 2020 Olympics. Should Japan modify how it culturally displays swastikas before taking the world stage? The debate is on.

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee."  -- Abraham Lincoln

Snaps & Buckles & Things

Years ago, I was working in a dive shop when this little old lady with a British accent came into the store and asked if I could direct her to the craft store located in the same shopping center. I told her where it was and after a brief back and forth, she thanked me and in her thickest Hogwart’s sounding accent said this very line: “Well, I’m off for some snaps & buckles & things”. I’ve been quoting it ever since. Sometimes it’s ok if you’re the only one that gets the joke. After all, if you can’t make the audience in your head laugh, it’s gonna be a long, lonely life. Now, “snaps & buckles & things” are the links to the small stories that also make me laugh.

Instant Karma Gonna Get You - Jerk tries to drive through giant snowman not realizing it was built on a tree stump

Poorly Researched Men’s Fiction by McSweeney’s Evan Allgood

PopQuiz, Hotshot! - How Open Minded Are You? (I’m radically open minded!)

If you scored high on the quiz above, you may be happy to hear your partner probably wants a kinkier sex life

TV’s The Office helped a Tucson, Arizona man with the last name Scott save a woman’s life

Strangest Reader Submission of the Week :: Thanks Reader Tony Clayton for submitting The Cleverlys performing “Gangham Style”.

I will sing nothing else all week.

"I don't really go out at all."  -- Jack Kerouac

Culture Vulture

Design - I had no idea my family room was Nordic Noir until I read Tiffany Lewis’ nice piece about 2019 trends in interior design over on Spacify.com.

Science - A fascinating new study claims to link gum disease as the root cause of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Goods - It’s a date! Check out this scrolling calendar that spans an entire decade. Check out more of our favorite goods here.

Food & Drink - Non-Alcoholic bars are a thing, but how do they work?

Travel - If you’re both an avid traveler and a social media influencer (not to mention somewhat of a cheap skate), Amtrak Is Searching for Travel-Lovers to Ride Its Most Scenic Train Routes for Free

Books - I’m in a literary lighter fare mood lately. Currently, I’m reading Dry by Neal & Jarrod Shusterman. It’s a true story about what happened when we all ran out of water. I also recently finished The Bomb Maker by Thomas Perry. I recommend both if you’re looking for a book that’s both entertaining and fast moving. Get more book recommendations here.

Recommendations

True Crime TV :: 3 Excellent docs To Watch

1) The Staircase :: Streaming on Netflix - Accident or murder? Author Michael Peterson claims to find his wife’s bloody body at the bottom of the staircase inside their home. The police arrive and immediately become suspicious. The events of this documentary take place between the years of 2001 and 2018. I couldn’t decide the entire time watching this doc whether or not the accused, Michael Peterson, was someone I should feel sorry for or someone I should be scared to death of.

2) Making A Murderer, Season 2 :: Streaming On Netflix - Like everyone else who watched the first season of Making A Murderer, I was pissed off on behalf of the accused. I thought the defense team did a pretty decent job on behalf of Steven Avery, but he was convicted despite their efforts due to a corrupt justice system in the state of Wisconsin. However, after watching an even more infuriating season two of the series, Avery’s new attorney, Kathleen Zellner makes it clear just how incompetent Avery’d defense team were and presents a very logical alternative explanation to the crime and those involved in the ongoing coverup.

3) The Jinx :: Streaming on HBO - This is one of the craziest docs you will ever watch. The story delves into the strange history of real estate heir Robert Durst, long suspected in the still-unsolved 1982 disappearance of his wife as well as the subsequent murders of family friend Susan Berman and neighbor Morris Black. It features an extended, revealing interview with Durst himself. He’s hard not to watch. The final moments of this doc are guaranteed to leave you sitting there with your mouth agape.

Some Long Reads

Some private colleges are doing the unthinkable: Slashing Tuition Prices

"Fox will always be best known for his Back to the Future films and his other acting roles — that's only natural. But his most important legacy is the Fox Foundation, the model it created, and the hope it has given to people who have Parkinson's disease." Joe Nocera in Bloomberg: The Michael J. Fox Foundation Gets Results

2019 Seems like the perfect year to begin using a search engine that does not track you. Nothing Can Stop Google. DuckDuckGo Is Trying Anyway

I used to go into people’s homes for a living as well, so I totally related to this story: I Was A Cable Guy. I Saw The Worst Of America.

Aeon - The Marvel of the Human Dad

Check out more Long Reads in our Mental Yoga Archive

Encore :: New Songs We Love This Week featuring new songs by Over The Rhine, Jenny Lewis, Florence + The Machine, Lady Lamb, Phoebe Bridgers, Conor Oberst & More

Ventipop #233

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[swipestream]

New Release Roundup, 17 November 2018: Science fiction

Video game mercenaries, sky race pilots, Martian private investigators, and an army of alien bears feature in this week’s roundup of the newest releases in science fiction.

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science – Alec Nevala-Lee

Astounding is the landmark account of the extraordinary partnership between four controversial writers—John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard—who set off a revolution in science fiction and forever changed our world.

Drawing on unexplored archives, thousands of unpublished letters, and dozens of interviews, Alec Nevala-Lee offers a riveting portrait of this circle of authors, their work, and their tumultuous private lives. With unprecedented scope, drama, and detail, Astounding describes how fan culture was born in the depths of the Great Depression; follows these four friends and rivals through World War II and the dawn of the atomic era; and honors such exceptional women as Doña Campbell and Leslyn Heinlein, whose pivotal roles in the history of the genre have gone largely unacknowledged. For the first time, it reveals the startling extent of Campbell’s influence on the ideas that evolved into Scientology, which prompted Asimov to observe: “I knew Campbell and I knew Hubbard, and no movement can have two Messiahs.” It looks unsparingly at the tragic final act that estranged the others from Campbell, bringing the golden age of science fiction to a close, and it illuminates how their complicated legacy continues to shape the imaginations of millions and our vision of the future itself.

Before the Shattered Gates of Heaven Part 1: Trickster’s Pit (Shattered Gates #1 Part 1) – Bryan S. Glosemeyer 

Deep in the subterranean Labyrinth of a cruel, alien world, a nameless girl has one chance to choose her fate, earn a name, and join the conquest of the stars:

Nine victories in the bloody fighting pits of the Divine Masters.

With eight kills behind her, she is one fight away from realizing her dreams. But what must be sacrificed, and what must she become, in order to survive the Trickster’s Pit?

Part 1: Trickster’s Pit is an action-packed novelette that introduces an exciting, new science fiction adventure through outer and inner space.

Daisy’s Run (The Clockwork Chimera #1) – Scott Baron

Life in deep space could be a drag sometimes, but Daisy supposed things could have been worse. They were still alive, after all, which was always a plus in her book. Now if only she could figure out who, or what, was endangering her return home, things would be just peachy.

With the powerful AI supercomputer guiding the craft beginning to show some disconcerting quirks of its own, and its unsettling cyborg assistant nosing into her affairs, Daisy’s unease was rapidly growing. Add to the mix a crew of mechanically-enhanced humans, any one of whom she suspected might not be what they seemed, and Daisy found herself with a sense of pending dread tickling the periphery of her mind.

Something was very much not right––she could feel it in her bones. The tricky part now was going to be figuring out what the threat was, before it could manifest from a mere sinking feeling in her gut into a potentially deadly reality.

Deception (Forgotten Colony #2) – M.R. Forbes

Somewhere in deep space, Caleb wakes from stasis, unprepared for what he discovers.

The Marines he was supposed to relieve are missing, something monstrous is roaming the corridors, the dead are rising, and the starship is inexplicably low on fuel.

Now Caleb is fighting time, desperate to find some way, any way, to overcome an impossible situation and get the colonists to their new home.

He’s also about to come to the most frightening realization of all:

They may have already arrived…

Dirty Deeds (The Omega War #6) – Mark Wandrey

Abraham Murdock left his home of Sheridan Arkansas at seventeen to start a merc career that spanned almost 50 years, working for dozens of companies, killing aliens and getting paid across the galaxy.

Near the end of his career, he landed a gig with Cartwright’s Cavaliers. The storied Four Horsemen unit was just coming back from near catastrophe, and the battle-proven Murdock was an ideal choice for their top sergeant. It would have been a perfect last contract, but then his dropship was destroyed in the Chimsa system, killing the flight crew and him.

Or did it?

Nobody was more surprised than Murdock when he found himself alive. After weeks of surviving in a failing CASPer, floating in space amid the ruins of dead starships, he was rescued by an alien salvage crew.

Deciding retirement was the right call, he headed to Valais, a beautiful aquatic paradise not unlike the South Pacific on Earth. Warm sun, sandy beaches—peace and quiet. That is, until the alien mercs arrived, and he suddenly found himself back in his old trade, and up to his ass in the Omega War. What good is a 70 year old merc in a star-spanning war?

Never trust an old man in a career where most die young. Murdock isn’t quite done…yet.

Embark – Jon Justice

In the not so distant future, flight culture has replaced car culture. Two of Earth’s largest corporations now supply the planet with the technology and fuel to make air and space flight available to everyone.

Taft Gaurdia spends his weekends at an abandoned flying field, racing through the skies with his three best friends and the girl he longs to be with, Kaytha Morrow. After receiving a mysterious message from her deceased NASA-scientist father, Kaytha and Taft make a shocking discovery.

With Earth now suddenly facing a great disaster, a ruthless and power hungry enemy emerges. Unwittingly, Taft, Kaytha and their friends are thrust into the middle of humanity’s fight for survival and future among the stars.

Emergence (First Colony #6) – Ken Lozito

As the colony grapples with the realization that New Earth is not as uninhabited as they’d once thought, tensions between the colonial settlements rise to new heights, and the Colonial Defense Force finds itself caught in the middle.

When Connor uncovers evidence of a militant colonial faction secretly exploiting the NEIIS, he has to investigate. Connor learns that some of the colonial settlements have been holding back discoveries of their own. He’d thought the NEIIS were a threat to the colony, but he was wrong. They all were, and the truth is beyond anything Connor could have imagined.

Meanwhile, Colonel Sean Quinn’s latest mission brings him off-world to investigate a previously discovered NEIIS settlement. When all communications from home go silent, he must return to New Earth to investigate. Cut off from everything, Sean must lead the crew of a CDF warship against a mysterious foe. Sean must forge a path into the unknown if he’s to have any hope of unraveling the mystery.

Hokas Pokas – Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson

When a human thinks he’s Napoleon Bonaparte, it’s time to get out a straightjacket. But when a Hoka thinks he’s Napoleon Bonaparte, you’d better believe it! Particularly since there’ll be hundreds of other Hokas around who know for a fact that they’re the French Army, mon amis, even if they’re on another planet lightyears away from Earth, and the forces they’re facing aren’t the British but very nasty warlike aliens who by all reason should be expected to make mincemeat out of the Hokas.

But when it comes to Hokas, reason does not compute. These friendly, fuzzy aliens who resemble large teddy bears have a very vivid imagination and have never quite grasped the difference between human fiction and reality, or (in the present case), between past history and the much later and rather different present. Always bet on the Hokas. Even when a young lad and his Hoka tutor find themselves stuck on a planet where they seem to be scheduled to fulfill and ancient (and lethal!) prophesy that neither of them had ever heard of until now. Hokas as usual find that reality is merely optional and the good guys—and bears—always win, quicker than you can say HOKAS POKAS!

Old Enemy (The Survivors #6) – Nathan Hystad

Dean Parker has brought his wife home, and he’s looking forward to relaxing and having a future with his family on New Spero. The Iskios vortex is gone, vanquished by the Hero of Earth, but unforeseen enemies linger in the universe.

The Bhlat send a warning to the humans, one that suggests the Kraski may not all be dead. All signs point to Lom of Pleva, a wealthy and very dangerous enemy to have.

Dean must unite with the Bhlat to fight against a common adversary, but when push comes to shove, can he trust them?

Join Dean and the others as they seek to save themselves from the race of beings that beamed them off Earth years ago, setting everything in motion.

Who do you turn to when everyone is trying to kill you?

Pop Kult Warlord (Soda Pop Soldier #2) – Nick Cole

It’s way more than just a game!

PerfectQuestion is back! He’s running and gunning his way across an incredible civilization-building game set on Mars. But this time he’s employed as an online ringer for a corrupt dictatorship and trying to avoid getting “disappeared” in a reckless world of intrigue, epic parties, sports cars, and women who are as dangerous as they are beautiful.

Five million in gold says he can do it and put the next Sultan on the throne by leading a rag-tag clan of gaming jihadis to victory, but revolution and revolt are afoot. The long knives are out in Calistan for the hero of Soda Pop Soldier and anyone else who gets in a murderous prince’s way.

Renegade Children (Renegade Star #8) – J.N. Chaney

People are dying.

Shortly after Captain Jace Hughes and his team recover hundreds of surviving Eternal refugees, disaster strikes. A recently unearthed fauna dome, one of many biological arks on Earth, is destroyed and several people are killed.

All proof points to the Eternals.

Meanwhile, shortly after the slip tunnel at the center of the planet is shut down for good, a strange distress signal is detected. It appears to be coming from somewhere on the planet, but the exact coordinates are unknown.

Two investigations are launched. One for the saboteur; the other for the source of the signal. With rising tensions between the colonists and the Eternals, Jace must do everything he can to prevent a bloody confrontation.

Spartan Valor (Spartan Company #2) – Toby Neighbors

Only the strong survive on the hostile planet of Apex Venandi. Space Marine Orion Porter is stranded with his Master Sergeant “Money” Eubanks and the injured Staff Sergeant Barnes. Surrounded by hostile natives, and running out of resources, their only hope is the return of the Fleet. Their call for help was beamed into space, but no reply has come. For the foreseeable future, the only help they can count on is themselves.

Apex Venandi holds an invaluable resource. Ignatius Xelum is an ultra rare element needed to power intergalactic star ships. Humanity’s fleet is dependent on IX gas, but mining it on a world filled with five intelligent species who are constantly at war with one another may be too a great a challenge, even for the vaunted Space Marines.

Thin Air – Richard K. Morgan 

On a Mars where ruthless corporate interests violently collide with a homegrown independence movement as Earth-based overlords battle for profits and power, Hakan Veil is an ex–professional enforcer equipped with military-grade body tech that’s made him a human killing machine. But he’s had enough of the turbulent red planet, and all he wants is a ticket back home—which is just what he’s offered by the Earth Oversight organization, in exchange for being the bodyguard for an EO investigator. It’s a beyond-easy gig for a heavy hitter like Veil . . . until it isn’t.

When Veil’s charge, Madison Madekwe, starts looking into the mysterious disappearance of a lottery winner, she stirs up a hornet’s nest of intrigue and murder. And the deeper Veil is drawn into the dangerous game being played, the more long-buried secrets claw their way to the Martian surface. Now it’s the expert assassin on the wrong end of a lethal weapon—as Veil stands targeted by powerful enemies hellbent on taking him down, by any means necessary.

The Titan Probe (Ice Moon #2) – Brandon Q. Morris

In 2005, the robotic probe “Huygens” lands on Saturn’s moon Titan. 40 years later, a radio telescope receives signals from the far away moon that can only come from the long forgotten lander. At the same time, an expedition returns from neighbouring moon Enceladus. The crew lands on Titan and finds a dangerous secret that risks their return to Earth. Meanwhile, on Enceladus a deathly race has started that nobody thought was possible. And its outcome can only be decided by the astronauts that are stuck on Titan.

New Release Roundup, 17 November 2018: Science fiction published first on https://medium.com/@ReloadedPCGames