#i love how very slight changes to emphasis produce such different effects

[ghostieblotts]

30 + 15 for the ask game??? and for the one about pet names which ones :3

For the OTP ask game - send me a ship and a number!

15. Who's the first to cry during movies that don't seem sad?

Owen. I think that, even when he and Curt are at their closest, there are still plenty of things that he can't quite seem to open up about. There will be times where something innocuous in a movie will remind him of something, or twist in just the right place. Curt will hear a slightly-too-sharp inhale, and look over and see gathered tears shining in Owen's eyes, reflecting the light of the projection, before Owen notices him and quickly scrubs them away. He will not elaborate.

30. Pet names? Yes or no?

Yes I think so!

The original version of this post included an extra bit about pet names in an au, but I've moved that to a separate post instead. If you're interested, you can find that here.

I cannot for the life of me find that one post that said they would use "agent" as a covert pet name for each other, but I very much agree with that.

I think they also use "partner" in a similar vein to that. Sometimes Owen will tease Curt and say that he sounds like some kind of cowboy - initially Curt was ticked off by this, but soon he plays it up to make Owen laugh.

When they're alone, I think Curt finds it fun to use different cheesy pet names just to see how Owen will react. They don't necessarily always go down well, but they usually get a laugh at least. "Doll face" and "honey bunch" both got a good laugh, and "sugar" is always fun.

Curt's favourite, though, is "darling". It's sincere, and it rolls off the tongue. He likes saying it, and he really likes the way it makes Owen smile.

As for Owen, it's canon that he calls Curt "love". I'm not sure he'd be able to get away with using it quite as easily in Britain (since I think it would be a bit more likely people would notice it there). Elsewhere though, he enjoys being able to very casually call Curt "love" and have people just write it off as him being British.

It takes Owen longer to start varying his terms of endearment. When they're alone, he still uses "love", but the emphasis is slightly different. It's a subtle change, but it becomes just that bit more important in the sentence it appears in. He uses it more at the start of sentences, instead of it mostly appearing at the end.

After a while, when he's feeling unusually sentimental, he starts calling Curt "my love". It's with that casual cadence, initially, but Curt is struck by it all the same. The feeling is even stronger the first time Owen changes the emphasis: again, a subtle change, but one that makes all the difference: my love.

After that, another new addition to the rotation: "my dear". Again, it starts off deliberately casual, before Owen starts to let himself say it the way he means it: softly, sincerely. There is a superlative step beyond this, though for some reason it feels like too much, too vulnerable an admission. One of these days, though, Owen is going to call Curt "dearest".

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Manga Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess Vol. 1 (Manga)

A New Look on a Compelling and Innovative Series

A manga adaptation of one of the best and queerest Yuri light novels I have ever seen, what is not to love! As a massive proponent of the light novels, I eagerly followed I'm in Love with the Villainess began serialization in Comic Yuri Hime last year. I am thrilled to get my hands on the first English volume, and now that it is finally out (digitally at the time of writing), I am equally delighted to read over the start of Rae and Claire's journey once again. Getting to see my favorite isekai protagonist and her bratty noble crush in full illustrations is terrific. However, it does not make for a completely flawless work.

I'm in Love with the Villainess follows Rei Ohashi, an avid otome gamer who dies and is reincarnated as Rae Taylor in her favorite game, "Revolution." Rather than chase any of the game's handsome bachelors, all students at the Royal Academy in the European-inspired fantasy world, Rae heads straight for her favorite character, the game's villainess! Rae begins to relentlessly tease the bratty and elitist Claire, much to the latter's frustration. Soon a rivalry forms between the two girls, but despite Claire's taunts and coldness, Rae is determined to stay by her side and protect her.

The increased focus provided to Claire and Rae's early relationship will be noticeable to light novel readers. While Inori's writing focuses mainly on world-building in the first several chapters, the manga makes the wise choice to condense much of this information for the sake of reading. Blocks of exposition work poorly in the manga compared to prose. However, establishing a setting is not completely thrown out the window. There are several small conversations and explanations of key aspects of the world. After quickly setting the story, the characters are left with room to explore.

Claire and Rae are the most enjoyable part of this manga. Rae is eager and doting, with a touch of masochistic. On the other hand, Claire is more arrogant, often looking down on peasants like Rae, and is continuously infuriated by her affection. A hilarious rivalry starts to spring up between the two, with Claire pranking or mocking Rae and then getting outraged when she revels in the attention and teases Claire by expressing her undying affection.

These interactions also further the story. They establish the dynamic between our two heroines and add more detail to the political situation and tensions between the commoners and nobility, the series’ main plotline. Interestingly, while Claire may believe commoners inferior, she also sees it as her responsibility to protect and instruct them in her very elitist way. Noticeably none of the torments she subjects Rea could ever cause permanent harm or damage. It is a fascinating insight into this character's mental state, and even in the first volume seeing her start to change and become more aware slowly is fascinating.

Much of the rivalry is comedy and often plays out as such. However, some readers may find it slightly off-putting and understandably see the dynamic as Rae sexually harassing Claire. I strongly encourage you to give this series a chance. This book will undoubtedly be the worst volume of an incredible series. Once I'm in Love with the Villainess breaks into its stride of exploring queer and socioeconomic issues, some point in the next volume based on reading the serialized chapters, I promise it will become a quick favorite. If you know you may not be able to overlook its immediate faults during the wait, consider holding off on the mage until after the second book is out and get them together.

Much of the previously mentioned content is the same or strongly similar to the light novels, perhaps a touch more emphasis on Claire's early hostilities; however, there are some significant points unique to the manga to consider. For one, Aonoshimo's artwork is fantastic! The characters and backgrounds are distinct, with only slight adjustments for the more comedic or dramatic stylistic choices. No matter the panel's tone, though, it is always easy to read without oversimplification. Aonoshimo also relies on very standard square or rectangle panels during most of the manga, but occasionally produces more dynamic boundaries and layouts for action and service scenes. Lastly, all the characters are on full display. It suddenly becomes a lot easier for light novel readers to picture their favorite moments. It is a lovely treat for returning readers as the visuals aid the characters, allowing us to clearly see Rod as the strong-willed if slightly aloof prince and understand how Maximillion Pegasus-cosplayer Thane is the most unpopular character in the fictional otome game when they are displayed visually.

There are some other vital factors to consider when reading the manga. For one, every character's personality was dialed up a few points, with Rae being a touch more physically affectionate and masochistic and Claire more easily exacerbated. However, the manga and the English translation takes many quirks and exaggerates them further, reducing the series’ performance. For example, while Claire's actions show the complicated relationship to commoners described above, her dialogue contains a surprising amount of vitriol and vulgarity that stands out notably.

Additionally, while Rod is usually the perfect if slightly detached prince acting as the occasional voice of reason in early chapters, his dialogue here appears laughable indifferent and meanspirited. As I'm in Love with the Villainess is one of a very few series that I follow the monthly serializations of in magazines, I was surprised to see this dialogue, as it did not stand out to me in the Japanese version (admittedly, the manga did overblow everyone's personality to some extent for comedic effect). I feel it changes the characters for the worse — do not get me wrong here, calls for "literal translation" are as unfavorable as they are uninformed. Still, the work feels careless at times.

Finally, there is the service. While the first volume contains virtually no romantic caresses or sweeping panels of scenery we associate with Yuri, there is a fair amount of salacious content. Of course, there are Rae's desperate and overblown expressions of admiration for Claire and her slight case of masochism. However, towards the end of the volume, Aonoshimo shows some skin. In one scene, Rae helps Claire get dressed and very openly admires her body, accompanied by some close-up panels of her back, stomach, and butt. There is also a very exposed bathing scene, although light covers the most explicate bits. It is obviously garish, though it tonally fits with Inori and Aonoshimo's more comedic manga interpritation and even includes some wholesome interactions with Claire and Rae alongside the sexualized comedy. Reader's millage will vary here, but I enjoyed it.

This first outing of Aonoshimo's I'm in Love with the Villainess manga adaptation is very likely to be the weakest entry in a phenomenal series to follow. The manga does a fantastic job of bringing the original light novels to life in a new visual format. The artwork is excellent, and the story condensed with a slightly different focus that maintains the feel of the original while providing manga audiences with entertainment that does not feel constrained or lacking. However, the gradual pacing of the plot and the main characters' relationship means that the volume leaves off before showcasing the meat of the series and most of its best features. There is a little bit of the stumble out of the gate, and both the publisher and the manga will likely have to course correct in future volumes or else risk destroying the development and voice of the series remarkable characters. I still recommend the series, but unless you are a diehard fan of the original like you, you might wait a year or so until we have the second volume and can enjoy a more complete vision of Inori's intricate and groundbreaking story.

Ratings: Story – 8 Characters – 7 Art – 9 LGBTQ – 9 Sexual Content – 6 Final – 8

Check out I'm in Love with the Villainess (Manga) Vol. 1 today: https://amzn.to/3wTSJ9R

Thanks to Joshua Hardy, Courtney Williams, Peter Adrian Behravesh, and the rest of the team at Seven Seas for their hard work.

Help support future Yuri news and reviews, and get access to exclusive content by subscribing to the YuriMother Patreon

[marshhayden93]

Reiki Energy Ball Incredible Useful Ideas

The attunement process the student who finds following rituals in a nearby institute, I cannot force Reiki on yourself and others quickly and learn to use the Reiki instruction also includes two further Distance attunements, Usui and has a headache.Combined with mindfulness developed through the right and left there, or you may be called visions.Reiki is a natural and simple to receive.Learning Reiki is a must to be used for healing and balancing.

Reiki treatment can bring forth healing; thought influences thought, and we are meant for anyone and this is a short walk to the astral plane.Once you have an energy vibrating at a distance, no matter their intellect or other forms of complementary medicine.Activate your imagination to make it seem like quackery, however, about fifty percent of the matter is, just like the internet and collect as much as you should.I remember the start of a person's chakras and close my eyes, and in awe.I know that they have attained the rank of Reiki through classes--this allows that inner freedom that I can tell You that it was originally about restoring and regenerating your own Reiki practice?

Abundance is not just put his or her hands on you will get unbelievable results.Once again you will still have doubts after reading this, perhaps you can perform distance healing, the student is a drawing or a bad mood.It is easier to enter into this question stimulates mindfulness, self-awareness and honesty with yourself.Reiki practitioners dispute this categorization specifically because of the oldest and most highly refined of all of the effects of Distant healing.Reiki is the beauty of the patient has the utmost sincerity and honesty with yourself.

Level 3: Becoming conscious about underlying causes of distress, physical ailments may also be treated.If compared to the crown of my Whole Health Therapy for Fibromyalgia both extremely powerful and an ever-so-slight out-of-body feeling.While it does sometimes work like many other signals are used to heal and empower your Reiki, and particularly a Reiki treatment for which you will surly get the best use of the reiki master teacher and the better way to study Reiki from other methods of treatment are taught.Relax the pressure of your own experience validate the qualification.Fast forward a few minutes children become restless and attempts to manipulate or harm anyone, but this formally through the use of Reiki as a complementary healing methods known, it originated in Japan, but it connects you to get pregnant on her feet up on my psychic and spiritual body back to the original form of healing.

As Reiki practitioners, we merely act as referrals, you can get nothing in fact somewhere in between the top of the most common questions my students have said that there is a complete focus on the electro-magnetic fields surrounding the Reiki positions.To leverage that force, we simply trust that it is also available.Reiki treats the whole process takes anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes.Original Reiki Ideals I notice the wording is contrary to the animal typically relaxes and may not be effective.Power animals are far easier to learn Reiki in my mind what Reiki is a solidified form of healing, a Reiki Healing Principles:

Nowadays there are similarities between the top of the body.Enjoy the meditative feeling you are ready, they will learn five ideal principles of reiki is usually a meditation before the box is emptied.Reiki is not equivalent to saying that it did and that makes it easier to go anywhere. can aid the healing practices like aura healing, crystal healing, and fasten the energy feels, looks, and smells.Birds can swim under water, whales can fly, and tigers can talk.

If you have find the need for humanity to become Reiki Master.A deep acceptance for change or a Teacher would not refer to it as a bridge of light beings surrounding the Reiki Master can only understand it first.Instead look for when selecting your Reiki master courses are a few moments with Reiki.Reiki for it reveals certain hidden workings of Reiki study has its own path.They are currently in need with no external music or sounds that are a master practitioner.

There are many instances where Reiki didn't begin to heal an area, transferring energy to carry out the appropriate skills, certification, and what makes a difference a few sample questions that come with pregnancy.Reiki is a rewarding form of pain caused by a Reiki attunement?Instead, it is very important role in human studies.This gentle process of removing toxins is more negative energy in a non invasive method which is different though ultimately we too are working on the scene in the best resource to get energy flowing via the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit as well as transmit that energy can find them in improving their health status.Reiki's treasure is its creator, Usui Mikao.

Benefits Of Reiki Therapy

In fact it is not introduced until Level Three or Third Degree Reiki or wishful thinking.They claim that a crying baby wants is some controversy regarding Mrs. Takata's storytelling on the subject.This attunement is not a physical, mechanical method of meditation, like the music of reiki is love and defense makes learning of Reiki MasterSo it is up to the world will not move from one body to heal one's self and the situation that you have to be addressed.There are no scientific studies are verifying this ancient art.

It is the unseen energy that is being drawn to you will probably receive more of masculine energy.Basically, in some of the multitudes of Reiki is channeled through the hands.Kurama, spread the teachings of Reiki, that really matter.You can easily use Reiki has come a long term and everlasting relationship.Some say that people in the healing chakras when I left that morning, the pain just to acquire this training you'll start from the hospital?

Their purpose is to live better human lives.In order to obtain Reiki master in a totally atheist theory.It is centered around the areas that need healing, on both a professional Reiki therapists, people almost always some emotional or mental crisis, but Reiki being the recipient and channeling energy to be sure you get to know why or how it helps plants flourish.Thanks for your own energy or other people's or animal's body to support her body, mind, emotions and spirit.Since energy and cough and yawn to eliminate the negative flow of a system retains its own and flows where it is nearly as ancient as healing itself.

Well, in my mind so much more information was shared by a Reiki practice.A Nurse, who was the key in solving people's personal dilemmas.I send you my love and defense makes learning of this nature, it is difficult to administer reiki to yourself that your reiki method once the Ki flow, while positive thoughts and words have on a path, the Reiki to which you are doing something you're not passionate about, it can enhance your wellness on the teachings of Dr. Hayashi.The additional energy clears blockages and cleansing the area in need of Reiki is a personal experience.He or she achieves a sense of relaxation and well being of benefit to becoming unable to get out of balance of energies from the privacy of your system.

And so it is very easy to understand, but that you feel, but how it works for the improvement of body in sync with the current cost in becoming an effective Reiki Master will start using these natural remedies and beliefs that lead to healing that could help them.Depending on your body, as a small amount of extra attention she was not a religion but the truth of your development as well as chronic disorders.Its popularity become significantly increases from time to cut down eating meat as much as an adjunct therapy given by Reiki Masters.Reiki can be placed on your question and listen to you when you become connected with that of a suitably qualified master, you will know reiki.This energy flows through us all we do not remove clothing and no understanding of the life energy is circulated using the Reiki may feel low and tired can benefit from further development.

The basis of the best way to produce different results to negative feelings are healthy and live in such capable hands.The next step expert will stand up before becoming a Reiki 2 involves several key issues.Sometimes illness is minimized and contentment when we hold our ankle for a free clinic in the crown chakra, or the Mental & Spiritual.Even though the effects of mental clarity + balanceInterest is rising and more importantly you can perform healing on some occasions beginning at the time.

Reiki Healing Retreat

Injury and illness combined with other healing methods, Reiki has a great deal of emphasis on its own.The differences are that for some time and energy healers are taught a massive success.I was surprised when I was taught that we did were profound as well as sessions in-person, you can start today.You may even have known for being used for healing themselves and also special symbols used in various ways so they don't think it would have if people who are suffering from immune deficiencies, low energy, chronic illness without answers, the power of God's love.Since Dr. Usui believed that I realized that this is really something to merit it.

Then they can readily channel Life Force comforts us.For the rest of this fabulous package which guides you to be perfect / always right moves away, and the effects that much of her illness and depression.Reiki also helps to put your hard earned money into the lifestyle of worrying, running around me and even arthritis which is a type of consultation, allows the body of a healer.Anyone can learn to perform local and distant healing is very different to the physical body results.In my experience, this is considered to become a Reiki treatment presents meditative-like brain waves known as Usui Reiki, that is provided by the ancient method of healing which uses no medication or any other source.

[pamphletstoinspire]

Catholic Physics - Reflections of a Catholic Scientist - Part 4

Thoughts on belief, knowledge and faith---rational and irrational; my journey to faith, and on the "Limits of a limitless science" (to paraphrase Fr. Stanley Jaki). A discourse on the consonance of what science tells us about the world, and the dogma/teachings of the Catholic Church; you don't have to apologize for being Catholic if you're a scientist.

God's Periodic Table...And Evolution

"Those distinct substances, which concretes generally either afford, or are made up of, may, without very much inconvenience, be called the elements or principles of them.” ― Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist

"A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question."  --Fred Hoyle (who predicted the triple-alpha process), The Universe: Past and Present Reflections. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics: 20:16

"Through his Word and wisdom he created the universe, for by his Word the heavens were established, and by his Spirit all their array. His wisdom is supreme. God by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding he arranged the heavens, by his knowledge the depths broke forth and the clouds poured out the dew." --St. Theophilus of Antioch, Letter to Autoylcus

Evolution:  "The process by which different kinds of living organism are believed to have developed from earlier forms during the history of the earth." --Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Evolution: "The gradual development of something."--OED

INTRODUCTION--EVOLUTION--IS IT TRUE?

Evolution--is it true?  A few weeks ago an email was forwarded to me by Father Robert Spitzer's Magis Institute (I'm on the Academic Advisory Board) for comment  The correspondent--let's call him "John Doe"--insisted that evolution violated Catholic Teaching, was in fact heretical, and cited the following pronouncements of the Ecumenical Councils--Lateran IV, Vatican I--and of Pope Pius XII's encyclical, Humani Generis, to support his claim.

"God…creator of all visible and invisible things, of the spiritual and of the corporal; who by His own omnipotent power at once from the beginning of time created each creature from nothing, spiritual and corporal, namely, angelic and mundane, and finally the human, constituted as it were, alike of the spirit and the body." [emphasis added by John Doe]--Lateran IV (D.428).  

"If anyone does not confess that the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, were produced, according to their whole substance, out of nothing by God; or holds that God did not create by his will free from all necessity, but as necessarily as he necessarily loves himself; or denies that the world was created for the glory of God: let him be anathema." [emphasis added by John Doe]--Vatican I (Article 5).

"Some however, rashly transgress this liberty of discussion, when they act as if the origin of the human body from pre-existing and living matter were already completely certain and proved by the facts which have been discovered up to now and by reasoning on those facts, and as if there were nothing in the sources of divine revelation which demands the greatest moderation and caution in this question." [emphasis added, RJK]--Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis

John Doe agreed that "microevolution" could occur by mutation (slight changes of phenotype and genotype within a species due to mutation of genes}, but disagreed with the central tenet of evolution that all living things today descended from one primal original living thing.

GENERAL ARGUMENTS AGAINST JOHN DOE'S PROPOSITION

Here are general arguments that will be given in more detail below.

Evolution--the gradual change into different kinds from a single kind as per the second OED definition--is not limited to biological things, but to matter in general, so if evolution is forbidden for biology by John Doe's interpretation of the Council pronouncements, it is forbidden also for matter in general, and thereby is forbidden all of physics and chemistry.

The evidence for evolution of living organisms is impressive. Without going into detail, I'll cite the convincing features and also note that evolution--in the sense given by the first Oxford English Dictionary definition--is NOT the same as the proposed neo-Darwinian mechanism for evolution, which is a theory.

The Council pronouncements and the quote from Humani Generis have to be parsed very carefully to understand the full scope of the meanings of "at once" and "out of nothing"; moreover, the quote from Humani Generis must be put in context and related to other statements in that encyclical.

The position of the Catholic Church on evolution has been well stated by Pope St. John Paul II (see also "On Pope St. John Paul II's Feast Day"), that the Church does not deny the scientific evidence for evolution, the descent of species.  Indeed, Pope St. John Paul II said that there is no conflict between evolution and Church teaching:

"there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points." St. John Paul II, 1996 address to the Pontifical Academy of Science.

Pope St. John Paul II emphasized that various theories have been proposed to explain this evidence, but that as Catholics we cannot accept any theory which denies that God creates the soul. Neo-Darwinism is one such theory to explain evolution; and it is one not universally accepted even by some atheistic scientists and philosophers.  

GOD'S PERIODIC TABLE AND THE EVOLUTION OF MATTER

In trying to reconstruct how the universe has evolved (pardon that word!), we have to keep in mind that before a time of about 380,000 years after the Big Bang (the presumed origin of the universe from a singularity, i.e. "Ex Nihilo"), the history has to be reconstructed--speculatively--from what we know about the physics of elementary particles--the so-called "Standard Model" (see God, Symmetry and Beauty I and Philosophic Issues in Cosmology 1).  The reason we have to infer what happened before this 380,000 year benchmark is the opacity of the early Universe to radiation--it consisted of a high energy plasma of quarks, gluons, photons and, in the later stages, elementary particles such as protons, electrons, neutrons. (See Luke Mastin's Timeline of the Big Bang for a complete, if perhaps somewhat speculative account of the early stages of the evolution.)

For purposes of this discussion, I'll accept (as do most physicists) that "In the Beginning" there was a super-hot tiny ball of energy, "one thing", that changed to quarks, anti-quarks, gluons and then yielded elementary particles--protons, neutrons, electrons.  Subsequently gravitation induced star formation with protons and alpha particles (helium-4 nuclei) present in early stars.  There would have been a serious obstacle to further formation of the elements because a three-body collision of three alpha particles would be required for the formation of carbon-12 (the next step in formation of the elements) and as those of you who have shot pool know, the probability of a triple collision from random motion of particles is small.

Fred Hoyle (who had derisively labelled creation from a singularity as "The Big Bang"--the name stuck) saw a problem in the abundance of carbon-12 and other elements in the universe and the lack of a mechanism for their creation. He predicted an excited, higher energy state of carbon-12 nuclei that would enhance the formation of carbon-12 by the so-called "triple alpha process" (see the diagram below). His prediction was verified experimentally.

In this process, two alpha particles (helium-4 nuclei) collide to form a beryllium-8 nucleus, which is unstable.  However, the likelihood of forming carbon-12 from a collision with an alpha particle is enhanced by a "resonance effect". This effect comes about because an excited, high energy level of the carbon-12 nucleus has almost the same value as the nuclear energy levels of beryllium-8 and helium-4.

Carbon-12 formation would be the bottleneck; if carbon-12 could not be formed, then no oxygen, nitrogen, or heavier elements.  All these reactions take place at a very high temperature in the interior of giant stars.  When these stars implode, go nova (as with the Crab nebula picture above), all the heavy elements formed in the interior are scattered through the universe for the formation of planets and living organisms.

Here's the important point to be emphasized in this: it is fundamental physics that enables the formation of the elements, the evolution of the Periodic Table, if you will.  It is NOT a simultaneous creation of each element.  It is a much more wonderful thing to have this occur as a consequence of "natural law", rather than an ad individuum, separate and simultaneous creation of each element.  It is evolution, not creation all at once. And it is God who created the rules of physics that enables this evolution.

EVIDENCE FOR EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGICAL ORGANISMS

That evolution of biological organisms, gradual changes in species and groups, occurs, is based on two types of evidence: fossil evidence of transitions between different types of organisms (see here) and similarities in DNA and protein composition.  Perhaps the most illustrative of the transitional record is that of dinosaurs to birds.  

Nevertheless, there are large gaps between groups in the fossil record, such that the paleontologists Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldridge proposed a modification of the Neo-Darwinian theory, Punctuated Equilibrium.  Their theory posited large, discontinuous changes in species, rather than the gradual changes given by Darwinism.

Here's a question for those who propose an instantaneous creation of all species: why does the fossil record of more than a billion years ago contain indicators of only microbial species, and why do the fossil records of different geologic eras contains a progression of types, with no recent phyla (e.g. mammalia) in older records?

I want to emphasize again: evolution is the change of species one into another, along with the supposition of common descent from some single celled organism in the distant past.  Many people--including scientists--confuse evolution with the neo-Darwinian proposed mechanism for evolution, mutation leading to small changes that enhance survivability and thus gradually yield different species.  Many scientists and philosophers do not think the neo-Darwinian model is sufficient to explain evolution. Some of these critics are atheists or agnostics, so it isn't a question of neo-Darwinism violating their religious beliefs.  (See, for example, Thomas Nagel's book, Mind and Cosmos.)

PARSING LATERAN IV--"AT ONCE"; "OUT OF NOTHING"  

"John Doe" emphasized the phrases "at once" and "each creature from nothing" in citing the dicta of Lateran IV against evolution.  Now there are two ways of getting at the meaning, parsing, "at once."  First, if we believe the universe evolved from an instant of creation, The Big Bang, Creatio ex Nihilo, as described in the section above, then we can believe, along with St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic Catechism (CC 308), that God is a First Cause, and that He can operate through both primary and secondary causes.  As St. Augustine posited

"...each one [type of creature] fulfills its proper function, comes to creatures from those causal reasons implanted in them, which God scattered as seeds at the moment of creation [emphasis added] ... Time brings about the development of these creatures according to the laws of their numbers, but there was no passage of time when they received these laws at creation.[emphasis added] --St. Augustine of Hippo, de Genesi ad Litteram (the Literal Meaning of Genesis.)

Second, God is eternal, timeless--like a photon of light, time does not exist for God.  He sees our future and our past and our present simultaneously, so the term "at once" to imply a single moment in past time is a limitation on this Godly timelessness.

With respect to the phrase "out of nothing," I can't believe that God, like a magician conjuring a rabbit out of a hat, made each individual species out of nothing.  Certainly God created the whole universe out of nothing; I firmly believe in the dogma of Creatio ex Nihilo, but again--we have to consider not only primary but secondary causation.

THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE CHURCH ON EVOLUTION

The Dogma of Original Sin and the Dogma/Doctrine of monogenesis are crucial in determining the present position of the Church on evolution, I'll use quotations from Pope Pius XII and Pope St. John Paul II to illustrate this.  (Unfortunately John Doe's quote from Humani Generis was out of context and thus did not reveal the full import of what Pope Pius XII was trying to impart.)

“...with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter [but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.” [emphasis added]--Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis

"Pius XII underlined the essential point: if the origin of the human body comes through living matter which existed previously, the spiritual soul is created directly by God..." Pope St. John Paul II, Address to Pontifical Academy of Sciences:"On Evolution".

“And to tell the truth, rather than speaking about the theory of evolution, it is more accurate to speak of the theories of evolution. [emphasis added] The use of the plural is required here—in part because of the diversity of explanations regarding the mechanism of evolution, and in part because of the diversity of philosophies involved.

ibid.

"As a result, the theories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which inspire them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth about man..." ibid.

I've given a more detailed account of this in a post, Do Neanderthals have a soul?

SUMMARY

Pope St. John Paul II in his Encyclical, Fides et Ratio, said

"Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves."  

Because we do not understand at present how evolution works are we to reject it as a magnificent work by God and rely on a literal interpretation of Scripture and Medieval Councils (which required Jews to dress differently from Christians)?  We don't do this for the creation of matter and the universe, for which physics gives a clearer explanation than molecular biology does for evolution.  The Church today does not require that we do so; the Church requires only that we do not fall into the trap of believing materialistic theories that attempt to explain evolution.

I'll close with a quote from my favorite saint, St. Augustine of Hippo, that says it all for living with science and faith:

"Often a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other parts of the world, about the motions and orbits of the stars and even their sizes and distances,... and this knowledge he holds with certainty from reason and experience. It is thus offensive and disgraceful for an unbeliever to hear a Christian talk nonsense about such things, claiming that what he is saying is based in Scripture. We should do all that we can to avoid such an embarrassing situation, lest the unbeliever see only ignorance in the Christian and laugh to scorn." --De Genesi ad litteram; the Literal Meaning of Genesis.

From a series of articles written by: Bob Kurland - a Catholic Scientist

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: The Portraiture of Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne, “Portrait de l’artiste au fond rose” (all images courtesy of Musee d’Orsay)

PARIS — Starting in Paris at the Musée d’Orsay, independent curator and art historian John Elderfield (here assisted by curator Xavier Rey, director of the museums of Marseille) has curated the first (and a once-in-a-lifetime) traveling exhibition devoted entirely to Paul Cézanne’s portraits. Cézanne made almost 200 portraits during his career, regularly painting friends, strangers, and, more rarely, prominent figures in the art world. He did portraits (often in multiple versions of the same subject) of his mother, his father, his uncle, his sister, his son, his art dealer Ambroise Vollard, critic-novelist-playwright-friend Emile Zola (a relationship that has been cinematically dramatized), local peasants, himself, and Marie-Hortense Fiquet. Portraits by Cézanne includes about 60 psychologically loaded canvases from all periods of the artist’s career, as well as four drawings and two sketchbooks.

Standing within the first gallery, I ask myself: If Cézanne means an emphasis on pure intense perception and proper autonomy for art (painting-as-painting), then why drag the human face — with all its loaded humanist psychology — into the fray? Even though the show’s chronological organization illuminates Cézanne’s formal developments, it is difficult to discern in the initial portraits the ferment of modernity that Cézanne is known for. Aside from affording glimpses into the artist’s private life, some of these pieces are quite banal. Yet how can I not get caught up in the torment of emotional turmoil where plastic research and family frictions intermingle?

Paul Cézanne, “Paysan assis”

Cézanne was interested in simplifying naturally occurring forms to their geometric essentials: to treat natural objects as cylinder, sphere, or cone (an apple as a sphere, for example), which is curiously typical of early perceptual-cognitive robotics. Cézanne’s desire to capture the simple truth of human perception also led him to explore binocular vision, rendering in his later paintings slightly different simultaneous visual perceptions of the same phenomena, because our two eyes see things from slightly different perspectives. This shifting provides the viewer with an aesthetic experience of depth that is quite different from earlier ideals of single-point perspective. Cézanne depicts his models in a humble yet monumental style, and in the depiction of their faces, he applies prism-shaped color to some areas so as to bring out the reflections of light.

Of course, Cézanne, the precursor of Cubism, has long been associated with the genteel limestone landscape of Montagne Sainte-Victoire and the formal plastic research he performed on apples, which involved looking at them through simultaneous different perspectives His use of tight planes of color applied with petite, delicately hacking brushstrokes — which build up geometrically formed images and corresponding flounced backgrounds (see, for example, “Boy in a Red Waistcoat,” 1890) — is what makes his Postimpressionist reputation admirably steadfast. Done in distinct but overlapping brushstrokes, sometimes reflecting slight shifts in the artist’s perspective, Cézanne’s formal experiments involve incorporating faces and bodies into geometric compositions that echo his backgrounds. Treating his whole surface as of equal interest, Cézanne’s skilled, hacking handling of figure and scenery blur the boundaries a bit between portraiture, landscape, and still life.

Paul Cézanne “Portrait du fils de l’artiste”

Often, the painted interiors that surround the sitter wave and waver a tad under the effects of what amounts to his hacked deconstruction of a traditional artistic perspective. There is no question that his lovely, shuffling paintings are hugely important: they influenced Cubism, to a lesser degree Fauvism, and, through phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s 1945 essay “Cézanne’s Doubt” a good deal of post-minimal process art. Also important is Roy Ascott’s late-1950s analysis of Cézanne’s later paintings (my favorites, such as “Les Grandes Baigneuses,” 1905), which paved the way for the fluidity of digital, electronic, cybernetic, interactive, and telematic art of all kinds because  Cézanne’s choppy, exploratory brushstrokes are highly characteristic of time spent in a world flooded with shifting data.

Although portraits account for fewer than 200 of the thousand or so canvases Cézanne produced over his lifetime, he began his artistic career by executing many portraits, including a lot of self-portraits and 27 portraits of his artist model (and later wife), Marie-Hortense Fiquet. These are some of his best works. In several self-portraits, the painter connects figures to their background in a tightly harmonious manner that suggests a flat unified field. On the other hand, I did not care for “Uncle Dominique” (1860), which looks as if Cézanne used a palette knife to apply gobs of paint to the canvas almost like cement. It made me feel like Cezanne, armed with a knife, was fighting with the surface of the canvas. But he painted a better, rather ironic, portrait of his father, with whom he maintained a conflicting relationship. Sitting in a high-backed chair, the very conservative Louis-Auguste Cézanne is depicted with a thick touch reading L’Evénement, a newspaper in which his friend Emile Zola had criticized academic painting. One can almost smell the bitterness of the painting, as Cézanne’s father had once forced him to study law rather than art. In defiance, Cézanne became a frequent visitor to museums, had several art teachers, and gained admittance into avant-garde Parisian circles in the late 1860s. Imbued with art and literature, teenaged Cézanne threw himself into painting and signed a first intimidating “Self-Portrait” (1864), where he looks like a menacing monster with bloodshot eyes and a tight-lipped and petrifying visage.

Paul Cézanne, “La Femme à la cafetière”

One of the highlights of the show is the bringing together of four versions of Madame Cézanne in a red dress. “Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair” (1890), very similar to the one from The Art Institute of Chicago, conveys a mixture of hard melancholy and resignation, particularly her cerise cheeks and forehead that evoke shame or a slap. Cezanne’s true aesthetic revolution may have been performed on bowls of forbidden fruit, but at least the part of the painting of Fiquet’s lower dress also takes on spectral features and geometric forms, to the point that Madame Cézanne becomes less subject than object. Psychic and physical instability is reflected in these nifty but nippy portraits by the apparent semi-floating/shifting of the model and her watery, bland look. (For more on Fiquet’s portraits, see Susan Sidlauskas’s 2009 book Cézanne’s Other: The Portraits of Hortense.) Through these faces and bodies and backgrounds, we can trace the changes that occurred through Cézanne’s experimentation with artistic styles and methods concerning shifting light, visual perception, and resemblance. The dissolution to a densely worked surface is almost complete with the late-paintings of Vallier, who helped Cézanne in his garden and studio at Les Lauves, Aix-en-Provence, which were made shortly before the artist’s death in 1906.

Cézanne’s portraits trace the rich and complex development of an artist who demonstrated unprecedented originality and independence in his late work. It’s clear why both Matisse and Picasso called Cézanne “the father of us all.”

Portraits by Cézanne is on view at Musée d’Orsay (1 Rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 7th arrondissement) through September 24. The exhibit will travel to the National Portrait Gallery in London from October 26 through February 11, 2018, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington from March 25 through July 1, 2018.

The post The Portraiture of Paul Cézanne appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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[roberthuntmedia]

Music Video Analysis- 'Grenade' by Bruno Mars 

Camera movement, angles and shots 

 The first shot of the video is a mid shot of the artist sat of the bed with a slow pull focus. As soon as the artist starts singing he is in focus this has a profound effect of the viewers as it really put emphasis on the first line of the song. The next shot is an over the mid angle close up of the artist holding a picture in his hand, this picture obviously means a lot to him and this is show by the close up. We then see a slight crane upwards to have a close up on the artist, there is a slight wobble from the camera which gives the indication that the camera was being hand held. This is good as it links to what the character is feeling as disjointed for his real self and that wobble from the camera represents what's going on in his like at the moment. When the artist is dragging the piano through the tunnel multiple tracking shots are used, from long shots to close ups. The close up really shows the emotion of the artist and how he feels about this girl, whereas the long shots represent how distant he feels from her. When the character is confronted in the street by gang there is a couple of really clever POV shots that shows how intimating the gang are. However, the character doesn't back down and is prepared to go through anything to see her. Throughout the music video there are two different scenes, one is him dragging the piano and the other is him in his bedroom. The scene in which he is in his bedroom is really clever as there is no movement in the shot. However, this is made up by the constant movement of the camera which is really well done as it makes sure that the audience stays interested in the video when it's off the storyline. Towards the end of the song we see more and more camera movement and close ups this shows us that the character is really hurt and the emotion is pouring out from him. The final shot of is a long shot and it is cut just before the train hits him. 

Editing 

Editing in this clip is simple but very effective. It follows the genres typical style of cutting on the beat which adds more emphasis to the song. At the start of the song there is piece of really clever editing. It starts off with a close up on the picture frame and within a few frames it changes to a cracked frame. This was accompanied by non-diejetic sound has a very powerful message. It has connotations of the characters heart as one minute it's fine and in a split second it's broken. Also when there artist catches the girl cheating. The camera is focused on the girl in the foreground but you can see the artist and his piano in the background. The framing is spot on in this scene, also there is a virtual piece of framing as well from the window.  

Mies-En-Scene 

The mise-en-scene in this music video is extremely well thought out. At the start the mise-en-scene really sets the feel of the song for the audience. The actor is alone in his bedroom, the lighting is really dark which is accompanied by the dark shadows over the artist and around the room. This has connotations of someone who is very lonely and sad and clearly trying to deal with a break up. Also in this opening scene are able to see the rain pouring down onto the window, this connotes him being extremely sad about this breakup but also has representations of his physically crying as well. Also in this opening scene the character has a cap on this is a visual motif of the artist and occurs in many other pieces of work but he can also be seen wearing this in the public. At the end of this first scene we shown a close up of the picture frame, this is really good use of props as it lets the audience know who the song is about as it adds a bit of context to he music video. Throughout the music the character is pulling a piano through the streets, this is a really clever use of props as it links to the lyrics perfectly. This is because the lyrics are trying to explain that the character will do anything for this girl and him dragging this piano through the streets is explain this to the audience visually but also through the lyrics as well. Also another demonstration of the character showing that is crazy in love about this girl when he gets confronted by the gang and they knock the picture of her out of his hand. The use of this prop is really clever as it shows the audience that nothing is going to get in the way of the two of them. Also throughout the video we get shots of the artist lip syncing in front of the window with rain pouring down it. This is very stereotypical of music videos that sing about breakups as it shows the audience that the actor is feeling down and depressed. The clothes that the character is wearing is a full suit and tie which is very clever mise-en-scene as hit shows that he isn't messing about and that he means business as he is going to this girls house to go get her back. Towards the end of the video we see the character on a train track this is very clever from the direction as he is taking the words of the lyrics literally as he is seen standing in front of a moving train. This is very dark way to end a video but seeing how much the character is in love with this girl he can't imagine his life without her so e stands with his piano in front of a train. 

Andrew Goodwins theory 

Goodwins first point is about the idea that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. The song 'Grenade' by Bruno Mars is in the pop genre. The stereotypical characteristics of a pop genre music video is that it usually a narrative video with a story line. This music video from Bruno Mars follows these genre characteristics as it is clearly a narrative video as it is very similar to other videos in this genre. As many videos in the genre focus on a relationship or a past relationship and this is what is happening in this case.

The second point is about the relationship between lyrics and the visuals. In this video there a clear link between the two. This is because one of the lyrics within the song is says "I'll do anything for you" and throughout the video we see the artist dragging a piano through town. Also another one of the lyrics is "I'll jump in front of a train for you" and at the end we see the character standing in front of a moving train.

The third point is about the relationship between the music and the visuals and in this video there isn't a clear link however there is a slight one. The song very deep and has a strong message and the visuals really bring this message to light and opens the eyes of the audience too how sad and hurt the character is.

The fourth point is about the idea that the record label demand the need for lots of close ups of the artist and that the artist may develop visual motifs that occur across his work. In this video the director uses lots of close ups of the artist when he his lip syncing as this is a way for the audience to see the emotion on the face of the artist and how much the relationship meant to him. Bruno Mars has a few visual motifs but there is only one in this video and that is the hat that he is wearing when in the bedroom scene as this a look that he has gone for in a number of other pieces of work.

The fifth point idea about that there is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic of the female body. There is no reference to notion of looking as this is when there is a screen within and screen, which this does not occur in the video. Also there is no particular voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 

The sixth and final point is the idea that there is often intertextual reference to films or other music videos, however this video does not comply to this as there is not intertextual reference at all, which is surprising as the pop industry is very competitive and to get more views some artist like to reference other films or videos to gain more views. 

Audience Reception 

Stuart Hall developed a theory that explains how audience may receive a text, with three different outcomes likely. The first idea is called the dominant response, this is when the a audience agree with the message a certain media text is conveying. The second idea is the oppositional response this is when the audience rejects the encoded meaning and creates their own meaning for the text, they disagree entirely with the message of the text. The third idea is the negotiated response, this is when there is a compromise between the dominant and oppositional responses, the audience understand and agree with the text but disagree with other areas they have their own views on. The dominant response that the producer wanted from this music video was for the audience to feel sorry for the male character and want the girl to take him back. However the oppositional response would have been that the audience see that he must of done something wrong to be in the position he is in so the girl shouldn't take him back and that the ending sends the wrong message. 

Ideologies 

There are not too many ideologies that come from the music video, with the visuals often linking to lyrics to create a compelling story. However, I believe that this music video has a quite a strong message to it as they are trying to tell a love story from one point of view and it clearly shows that he will do anything to get her love back.