#jerome marshall

[sinceileftyoublog]

Yakuza, Oxbow, & Sybris Live Show Review: 2/25, Thalia Hall, Chicago

Yakuza's Jerome Marshall & Bruce Lamont

BY JORDAN MAINZER

For two Chicago bands, Sunday night was all about reflection. First and foremost, local metal legends Yakuza were there to celebrate 25 years of existence. They first caught the eyes and ears of listeners with their independently released debut album Amount to Nothing before signing to a label for 2002's Way of the Dead, an album that truly introduced them as a hard rock band with elements of avant-garde and jazz. On Yakuza records, folks like Ken Vandermark and Fred Lonberg-Holm would rub elbows with members of Mastodon; founding member Bruce Lamont, the lead singer and saxophonist/clarinetist, was the tying thread between the musical worlds. Yakuza steadily released records for the next 10 years before taking a decade-long break, while Lamont would stay active, playing saxophone, participating in bands like Bloodiest and Corrections House, and tending bar at Empty Bottle. Finally, last year, Yakuza picked up where they left off with Sutra (Svart), a record that again dipped its toes into seemingly disparate genres--thrash, prog, free jazz--and managed to churn out a cohesive stew.

From left to right: Marshall, James Staffel, Lamont, Matt McClelland

Sunday night, the Sutra songs sounded among the best, standing tall with Yakuza's back catalog. Set opener "Capricorn Rising" gradually built into a chug, Lamont alternating between sax flourishes and a chanted vocal. Matt McClelland's brawny guitar carried "Burn Before Reading". In general, the rhythm section--bassist Jerome Marshall and drummer James Staffel--provided steadily swirling noise to contrast the unpredictability of McClelland's riffs and Lamont's incantations. Perhaps the most moving moment of the night was when Lamont, visibly choked up, dedicated a song to the late Mars Williams, a fellow Chicago area journeyman saxophonist who passed away late last year.

McClelland

Lamont, Staffel, & McClelland

Lamont, Staffel, & McClelland

Sybris' Shaun Podgurski and Angela Mullenhour

Speaking of decades of inactivity, how about Sybris? The local stalwarts, who have released only two records, 2005's self-titled LP and 2008's Into the Trees, played their first Chicago show in 10 years last summer and are now gearing up to release their long-shelved third album Gold on Hold (Absolutely Kosher), recorded in 2011. It's very easy to play "what if?" with the four-piece, as their unique mix of epic, feelings-heavy indie rock and nervy rhythms could have seen them further soar among beloved sounds and bands of the 2010s: the early 2010s emo revival, the late 2010s post-punk revival, Screaming Females, and Hop Along, to name a few. On Sunday, they primed the passionate crowd with clear old favorites, like the jagged "Hurt Hawk", country-tinged burner "Burnout Babies", slow love song "Blame It On The Baseball", and the thunderous "Something About A Darkhorse Or Whatever". As if to whet our appetites for what's to come, they ended their set with two Gold on Hold tracks: the unreleased "Dance" and driving album opener "Watermelon". For music fans all over the globe, Gold on Hold should be one of the more anticipated upcoming releases of the remaining year.

From left to right: Podgurski, Mullenhour, Clayton DeMuth, Phil Naumann

Naumann

Podgurski, Mullenhour, Naumann

From left to right: Oxbow's Dan Adams, Eugene Robinson, Greg Davis, & Niko Wenner

In between the two Windy City phoenixes? None other than San Francisco experimentalists Oxbow, who used the most of their 40-minute set, not limiting the sensory experiences and media to just music. Indeed, for five-plus minutes, they played a short film, whose images, sound-tracked by a droning instrumental, repeatedly cut to black, as if they were pulsating. All this time, they were burning incense. When guitarist/keyboardist Niko Wenner, bassist Dan Adams, and drummer Greg Davis finally entered the stage, they launched into the pseudo funk of Thin Black Duke highlight "A Gentleman's Gentleman". Eventually, vocalist Eugene Robinson sauntered on and did what he does: screech and wail devastating lyrics, his voice raw as hell, and expressively dance and convulse. Similar to Yakuza, Oxbow's most recent songs, from last year's Love's Holiday (Ipecac), sounded the most fresh and urgent: "The Night the Room Started Burning", "Icy White & Crystalline", and "Lovely Murk". The album version of the last one features Kristin Hayter, who Robinson made sure to mention was not there but is playing Thalia Hall in a couple months. Nonetheless, Wenner admirably filled in, emulating her soulful vocal turn. And the band took time to remember another experimental genius and collaborator who passed last year, Peter Brötzmann, but made sure to take advantage of Lamont's saxophone prowess, having him fill in on tempo-changing freak-out "Cat and Mouse". (Though "Cat and Mouse" was released on their sophomore album King of the Jews, their live version with Brötzmann has become well known.) While the three bands who played on Sunday might have constituted an odd group on paper, all share one of the preeminent qualities of good performers: unbridled passion.

Robinson

Robinson & Wenner

Wenner & Robinson

[derputy]

Far Cry 5 as Parks & Rec* - Part 4 (Pt. 1/2/3) || As usual, tagging some awesome inspirations @racheljo47 @ms-rampage @i-am-the-balancing-point @yeetslovescheese - they never once asked to be tagged but they (so far) still let me for some reason <3

(commercial voice) **beware probable inconsistencies & spelling errors. the following meme video may not accurately depict op's feelings towards certain characters. canon accuracies may vary.

[usergreenpixel]

MALMAISON MEDIA SALON SOIRÉE 15: NEEDING NAPOLEON (2020)

1. The Introduction

Hello, Neighbors! Welcome back to Malmaison Media Salon! At last we’re here and today is a bit of a special review. Why special?

Let me explain:

1. Firstly, it’s one of those cases where I stumble upon a media piece via recommendation from another community member. This time it was @suburbanbeatnik , who interviewed the author of the book and there was a contest where the first 3 users to comment would get a free ebook copy via email.

I was the first to comment because I was given the link and because I was really excited about what sounded like a promising story, considering my soft spot for the adventure genre, time travel and alternative history. So yeah, I became one of the lucky three users.

Unfortunately, the book is only available in English and has to be purchased through websites like Amazon, so those who don’t speak English too well might be out of luck for now.

2. Secondly, it’s one of the few anglophone (British, to boot!) media pieces that DO NOT paint Napoleon as a villain! How cool is that?! For newcomers, stumbling upon a gem like that is about as likely as seeing a UFO, so you can bet your asses that I HAD to check out the book!

3. Thirdly, I already mentioned that I’m a sucker for adventure, time travel, historical fiction and alternative history so that really boosted my excitement… as well as my worries. I prayed that the book would turn out to be good. Luckily, it did! More on that later though.

Anyway, before we proceed, this review is dedicated to @suburbanbeatnik and @garethwilliamsauthor . Not only is the latter, well, the author, but he also graciously gave me permission to write said review and I’m thankful for this.

Okay, with formalities out of the way, let’s begin!

2. The Summary

The novel tells the story of one Richard Davey, an ordinary schoolteacher who admires Napoleon and lives a very boring, lonely life.

However, during a fateful holiday in Paris, he gets a chance to leave his old life behind, meet his hero and maybe even change the course of history.

To me, the idea sounds very interesting, so let’s move onto the deeper analysis and see if the execution matches the potential.

3. The Story

Although the beginning of the story did confuse me a bit because we jump straight into action, I. Fucking. Love. This. Book. I was extremely hooked when reading and felt like I was back in my childhood, reading my favorite swashbuckling stories. The excitement is REAL.

The pacing is excellent, most loose ends get tied up in the end, the ending is satisfying yet also realistic and we don’t have the protagonist getting everything he wanted, which is awesome!

I did have a problem with the flashbacks though, mainly because they kept popping up and breaking the storyline immersion, but that’s just me.

Also, there’s a good mix of gritty artlessness (in a good way because it doesn’t gloss over war), a swashbuckling adventure, romance and down time (we can’t have action ALL the time).

The romantic subplot is very well-written and realistic, even though my asexual self still didn’t care much because I don’t normally like romance. Spoiler, it’s one of the few times where the protagonist doesn’t get the love interest in the end, for a lot of reasons.

So yeah, only minor complaints here and there.

(Oh, and tiny bonus for the Frev community: Frev isn’t demonized either!!! Yay!!!)

(P. S. Also there were a lot of moments that cracked me up, like the pun with HMS Bellerophon being called Billy Ruffian.)

4. The Characters

Richard Davey is by far one of the most relatable characters ever, since I can relate to his loneliness (me during the worse days of depression) and love for History (I’m a Frev and Napoleonic nerd). He’s flawed, reacts realistically and in his own way to situations and has a great character arc, from a man just going with the motions of life to a hero who can and does make a difference in history, just not in the way he first planned.

Emile Béraud, a soldier Richard befriends in the past, is an absolute sweetheart. Loyal to a fault, friendly and just as lonely as Richard, he takes part in the adventures and is a very compelling character.

Aunt Patricia, Richard’s only living relative, might be a minor character who doesn’t personally appear, but her presence is felt throughout the story and Richard constantly imagines what she would have to say in his position and how she would judge him.

Madame Odillet, the owner of an antique shop who helps Richard get back in time, is a mysterious woman with a troubled past, who definitely knows more than she first lets on. I like the book parallels between her and witches, even though she’s just a regular human.

Napoleon starts out as an insufferable punchable prick, but later on his portrayal becomes nuanced. He loves and misses his son, has a soft spot for kids, has a temper and at times alternates between acceptance of his fate and resolve to fight back. He’s not in a good place mentally nor physically, but he’s portrayed as someone flawed yet far from being a bad person.

Jerome is an arrogant hedonistic ass. Full stop. But he’s a minor character so I can understand why he’s not as nuanced, even if I wish there was a bit more complexity.

Gourgaud is an impulsive and arrogant bastard who is loyal to his emperor yet entitled due to having saved said emperor twice.

Bertrand and Fanny are extremely sweet.

Las Cases… I found him unpleasant and arrogant.

Murat and Caroline are mentioned and, LUCKILY, not depicted as traitors.

Ney in his cameo is his usual post-Russia reckless self (he possibly had PTSD, I believe).

Overall, the cast is memorable and I did enjoy the portrayals for the most part.

5. The Setting

The descriptions really sell the setting here, in my opinion. I particularly enjoyed the scenes at Malmaison where Napoleon essentially is Richard’s tour guide.

Always nice to see that the author really did their research and has a way with language to make immersion that much easier to achieve.

6. The Writing

Once again, the descriptions. Short, sweet, to the point.

The language is mostly easily understandable, but there are French words sprinkled in that (fortunately) can be more or less understood in context. I wish there were footnotes with translations though. Oh, and some words were unfamiliar to me as a foreigner so please keep that in mind too.

7. The Conclusion

If you can, please give the book a go. Remarkable adventures, nuanced characters and believable settings that are reminiscent of swashbuckling novels are definitely worth your money, in my humble opinion.

Of course, no work is perfect but I throughly enjoyed this one despite some flaws and I look forward to reading the sequel. It’s not every day we get an anglophone pro-Naps media piece, after all.

On that note, let us conclude today’s soirée. Please stay tuned for updates on future reviews, my dearest Neighbors.

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel

[anyathefandom]

I've come to conclusion that I want to see ava and Marshall try to counsel Trina about Spencer at the same time. I just feel like it would be chaos.😂

[pupsmailbox]

1970's ID PACK

NAMES︰ adanna. adonis. adrienne. alan. alberto. alice. ama. amara. andrew. angela. antonio. april. arlo. asha. aspen. audre. august. bella. betty. bianca. brody. bruce. calvin. cass. chester. chika. chris. claudia. craig. curtis. dahlila. dahlilah. daisy. dale. daniel. darryl. dean. del. dennis. desta. diana. dolores. don. donna. doris. dorothy. duane. dylan. eddie. edwin. enrique. eric. fez. flower. frank. franklin. freddie. gary. gene. glenn. gloria. guy. harvey. hooper. hyde. imani. jack. jackie. jacqueline. jamie. janet. janice. janis. javier. jay. jean. jerome. jerry. jo. joe. joel. johnny. joni. joreen. jorge. judith. julio. keith. kelly. kelso. kenneth. kirk. kurk. lawrence. lee. lelise. leon. leslie. liza. lois. lonnie. louis. louise. luce. marilyn. marjorie. mark. marla. marshall. martha. max. mona. neil. nia. omar. pat. patti. perry. quint. randy. raul. ray. ricky. rita.. robin. rodney. roland. ronnie. roy. russell. ruth. sergio. shirley. sid. sidney. simone. stan. stanley. steven. stevie. stuart. ted. terri. terry. thandi. thema. theodore. timothy. vincent. virginia. warren. wayne. wes. zuri.

PRONOUNS︰ atari/atari. boogie/boogie. bright/bright. cass/cassette. cassette/tape. color/color. dance/dance. disc/disco. disco/disco. flower/flower. flower/power. fresh/fresh. funk/funk. funk/funky. glam/glam. glam/glamorous. glam/rock. grease/grease. groove/groove. groove/groovy. groovy/groovy. hip/hip. hip/hippie. hip/hop. hippie/hippie. muse/music. mush/mushroom. music/music. must/mustache. oran/orange. peace/peace. pop/pop. punk/punk. rain/rainbow. rainbow/rainbow. sing/sing. spiral/spiral. stripe/stripes. sun/shine. tape/tape. tree/tree. wind/wind. ☎️. ☮. ☮️. ✌. ❀. 🌈. 🍄. 🎱. 🎵. 🎸. 💿. 📀. 📺. 📼. 🔮.

[lulu2992]

Uncovering the unreleased Far Cry 5 in-game Encyclopedia

The almost complete but unused in-game encyclopedia, reconstructed thanks to the oasisstrings file.

Please note that it’s still cut content, so some information might not be relevant anymore.

You can read the oasisstrings file here. Pictures from this encyclopedia were also extracted and posted by @xbaebsae here.

Part 6: Characters

Aaron "Tweak" Kirby

Uppers, downers, sideway-ers... Tweak is all about pushing the limits of the human condition.

Adelaide Drubman

A confident go-getter with deep pockets to do whatever she wants, like living with booze, bazookas, and boy toy Xander Flynn.

Bo Adams

A hardcore survivalist that chooses to live out in the woods and off the grid.

Boomer

A scruffy pal with unparalleled loyalty.

Cameron Burke

A U.S. Marshal with an agenda. The only thing standing between him and his political aspirations is the Project at Eden's Gate.

Casey Fixman

A grill cook with a classified past. Most locals don’t believe his outrageous war stories or the wisdom he serves up with every order.

Chad Wolanski

A self-styled prepper chef who sells food out of his food truck since his restaurant "The Grill Streak" burned down.

Dr. Charles Lindsey

A veterinarian drafted into service as a medic. There's no one else to do it, and aren't we all animals?

Cheeseburger

Orphaned as a cub and raised by Wade Fowler, he's the star attraction at the F.A.N.G. Center. He loves eating cheeseburgers.

Clutch Nixon

A legendary stuntman who left this world the way he entered it: Face first onto a pile of rocks.

Dave Fowler

Wade Fowler's brother, he runs the business end of the F.A.N.G. Center.

Richard "Dutch" Roosevelt

An old prepper who'd worked himself to the bone and lost everything even before Eden's Gate came to town. Same shit, different horse.

Dylan

(no description found)

Eli Palmer

A bonafide prepper and the leader of the Whitetail Militia. He helped Eden's Gate design their survival bunkers before he wised up.

Faith Seed

The Siren in the East. The youngest in the Seed family pacifies unruly followers to make way for the Collapse. Some believe she's only an illusion.

George Wilson

George is a Whitetail Militia and baseball enthusiast, but spends most of this time as a lookout because of his age.

Grace Armstrong

A medal-winning shooter and army sniper with a vendetta against Eden’s Gate.

Guy Marvel

A genius movie director envisioning a masterpiece of anarchy and gold statue wins. Even an auteur needs help to make movie magic.

Deputy Joey Hudson

One of your fellow Hope County Deputies who has absolutely no time for bullshit and has the fists to back herself up.

Hurk Drubman Jr.

His wit and intellect may have been blunted by paint huffing, but that hasn't stopped him from living a life of adventure.

Hurk Drubman Sr.

A retired oil baron who is the undisputed master of his domain... what's left of it after the divorce.

Jacob Seed

The Soldier in the North. The eldest Seed brother serves Joseph by creating the army that will defend the Project with their lives.

Pastor Jerome Jeffries

The local man of God who will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Hope County – even if it costs him his soul.

Jess Black

Dutch’s niece. Jess is a loner who nearly lost her life in Jacob's camps, only to discover a new talent in the process: killing Peggies.

John Seed

The Baptist in the West. The youngest of the Seed brothers, John is in charge of reaping the land of supplies that will help the Project survive.

Joseph Seed

The Father. The middle Seed brother heard a Voice that told him to initiate a great Project, to prepare for the Collapse of everything. And so he has.

Kim Rye

A world traveler who chose Hope County to put down roots, and those roots are on the way - she's in her third trimester.

Larry Parker

Genius or crackpot? Science will decide.

Mary May Fairgrave

The tough-as-nails barkeep who blames Eden's Gate for the death of her parents.

Merle Briggs

A local prepper. Merle could talk your ears off about his dream bunker, or the shelf life of canned goods.

Wilhelmina Mable

Wilhelmina Maybelline, big cat whisperer and taxidermist. The well-being of Peaches the cougar is her top priority.

Nadine Abercrombie

The last living member of a family of hoarders, though she considers herself a collector. Much classier than simply hoarding. And more selective.

Nancy

(no description found)

Nick Rye

The best dang pilot in Hope County. Give him a chance and he'll put on a show.

Peaches

The long-time pet of Miss Mable. Probably named for the color of her fur and not the sweet disposition she lacks.

Deputy Stacy Pratt (yes, his first name is actually spelled Stacy in the files)

One of your fellow Hope County Deputies who’s a good cop when his ego doesn't get in the way.

Dr. Sarah Perkins

A lone biologist determined to unravel the mysteries of how Jacob's Judge wolves are created.

Sharky Boshaw

A wanted arsonist, Charlemange Victor Boshaw IV hides out where he can live his fire-blazing, rockstar fantasies.

Sherri Woodhouse

She gave up city life, opened a fishing store, and began the hunt for her family’s missing legendary whiskey.

Skylar Kohrs

A high-powered expert fly fisher hell-bent on landing a legendary fish.

Tammy Barnes

Once a homemaker, now the chief interrogator for the Whitetail Militia. They say her marshmallow blondies are to die for.

Tracey Lader

A woman determined to bring down Eden's Gate, especially Faith. They used to be friends and the sting of betrayal fuels her wrath.

Virgil Minkler

A trusted mayor for the past 7 terms, now hell-bent on stopping the production of Bliss after it took the life of his son.

Wade Fowler

The co-owner of the F.A.N.G. Center, an animal rescue facility that takes in orphaned wild animals.

Walker

A member of Eli's Whitetail Militia.

Wendell Redler

He made it through Nam with his buddies. Now he’s an old man, his buddies are gone, and this is not the America he fought for in his youth.

Wheaty

The smart-ass quartermaster for the Whitetail Militia who also has a radio broadcast to counter the Father's propaganda.

Earl Whitehorse

The devoted sheriff of Hope County. He believes delivering justice with a gun should be a last resort. On the eve of his retirement, duty calls.

Willis Huntley

Just a man in love with the good ol' US of A.

Xander Flynn

Left California for Hope County to detox from the city life. Ended up finding "modeling" gigs at the Drubman Marina, and a cult cramping his style.

Zip Kupka

A self-proclaimed conspiracy "realist" who finds a new reason to hate the government with each passing day.

There were three more:

Coyote Nelson

Fishing is life.

In the files, Coyote Nelson is the name of the fisherman you meet at fishing spots.

Morris

A bright kid of Blackfoot heritage and the go-to person for all things computers and arcade machines. He keeps it on the down low.

The character’s full name apparently is Morris Aubrey. He’s the person who’s always near Far Cry Arcade machines and telling you how “awesome” the game is.

Scooter

A supply runner for the Whitetail Militia.

All I know about Scooter is that, according to a deleted mission objective, this character (who was also cut) was supposed to be escorted to the Wolf’s Den at some point.

[sleeplesswixard]

Rook: Y/N

Marshall: Billie (They're gonna attempt to, but not gonna die, they're gonna be a companion to reader)

Deputy Hudson (and that dude i forgot his name): Lily and Lewis

Dutch: Aristotle or Arthur

Sheriff Whitehorse: Dutch(?)

Nick Rye: Basile

Kim Rye: Pom

Boomer: Oscar

Mary May Fairgrave: Belle(?)

Pastor Jerome Jeffries: Socrates

Jess Black: Fantoccio

Sharky Boshaw: Dimitri or Scrimshaw

Hurk Drubman: Percy(?)

Grace Armstrong: Elaine Corso

Adeleide Drubman: Belle(?) (or none)

Tracey Lader: Hosea Hayes

Virgil: Grover (Maybe I'll change Grover and Hayes)

İ'm planning on making a Far Cry 5 x Billie Bust Up fanfic and im really not sure if i replace Belle with Adeleide or Mary and about the other characters, and if ı'll do it who's gonna be the one that doesn't have a role? Can you guys help me on roles if you have any ideas?

@not-the-axolotl @sunny-tano19 @dar-thestrawberry

[citizenscreen]

THE GOLDWYN FOLLIES (1938)

Starring Adolphe Menjou, The Ritz Brothers, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Andrea Leeds, Vera Zorina, Kenny Baker, Phil Baker, and Jerome Cowan. Directed by George Marshall.

[josefavomjaaga]

I just realize that a time I've read rather little about is Napoleon Bonaparte's sojourn in the castle of Mombello from May to November 1797, at the end of the First Italian campaign. Yet I feel like this looks like an interesting time frame for stories? General Bonaparte ruling like a viceroy over much of Northern Italy, plenty of interesting people gathered in one place, military action almost over since the French took Mantua... sounds like a lot of people with not much to do having plenty of time to develop sympathies and enmities...

I understand besides Napoleon and Josephine, his mother and all of his three sisters were there, also Joseph, Louis and Jerome, and Eugène Beauharnais. As to the generals and future marshals, I assume many fan favourites would also already belong to Nap's entourage? Berthier (basking in the presence of Madame Visconti!), Masséna (?), Murat, Lannes, Augéreau, Duroc (?), Marmont (?), Leclerc (getting married to Pauline!). Obviously still missing Lefèbvre, Soult and Bessières (?)... What was Davout doing at the time? Where was Bernadotte?

(Just in case somebody is looking for inspiration.)

[cinemaocd]

Movies I watched in March 2024

Under the Cherry Moon (1986)** I'm Not There (2007)*** Jingle All the Way (1996)* Three Graves to Cairo (1943)** Hitchcock (2012) ** Silent Partner (1978)** Possession (2002)** Oppenheimer (2023)** Oscar Wilde (1960)** Turning Point: The Cold War and the Bomb (2024)** Anselm (2023)*** 24 Hour Party People (2002)** Two of Us (1999)*** Remains of the Day (1993)*** Doubt (2008)*** Dune (1984)*** Dune Part II (2024)***

Under the Cherry Moon (1986)** Absolute bobbins of a script is still beautiful to look at, very gay and of course mainly a vehicle for Prince's music. Under the Cherry Moon was the follow up to Purple Rain. It was a box office flop, a critical failure that earned Razzie nominations, but is a worth another look. Prince and Jerome Beton are sex workers with a rich female clientele on the French Riviera, the kind of career that only exists in movies. Kristin Scott Thomas makes her film debut as the debutante who comes between the friends and threatens to part them. Prince's death scene, harkens back to Camille with Prince playing Garbo. Like Garbo, Prince was happy to exploit his own androgyny and like Garbo, he was doomed to only explore that in a way that could be squeezed into heteronormative films.

I'm not There: (2007)*** A fascinating look at Bob Dylan, dividing him into six personae played by six different actors. Haynes uses different film styles, the Cate Blanchett mid Sixties Dylan of Bringing it All Back Home and Blonde on Blonde is matched in style with the black and white cinematography of D.A. Pennebaker's Don't Look Back. It also has elements of the Italian Surrealists like Felinni or Antonioni with a scoch of A Hard Day's Night. The soundtrack is particularly good, avoiding for the most part, the licensing pitfalls that plagued Haynes' Bowie biopic, Velvet Goldmine. Some of the most effective moments of I'm Not There, pair landscape shots with Dylan's music. Given the catalogue and the array of talent, Haynes has gathered, one perhaps expects a bit more , but then that has always been Dylan's nature, he's mysterious and aloof, leaving us wanting more.

Jingle All the Way (1996)* We watched this Christmas movie in March because we recently learned that part of it was filmed at my son's elementary school. It had Jake Lloyd somehow being more annoying than he was in the Phantom Menace as a bonus. Phil Hartman got dragged into this unfunny mess as well.

Three Graves to Cairo (1943)** Tense war time drama about a British officer who gets trapped behind the lines and ends up hiding out in a hotel working as a waiter for Field Marshall Rommel. Billy Wilder ratchets up the tension, his script giving all the best lines to Rommel, played by Erich Von Stroheim who really owns the film though Anne Baxter and Franchot Tone nominally "star."

Hitchcock (2012)** Hichcock's struggle to make Pyscho dramatized with fantasies where he hangs out with Ed Gein, while Alma Hitchcock gets involved in a Hitchcockian romance with a hack writer. Scarlett Johannson plays an almost deliberately obtuse Janet Leigh and James Darcy captures pre-Psycho Tony Perkins. It's a bit silly but I'll never turn down Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins in anything. This has a slight, arch feel to it, like many of Hitchcock's pictures, but lurking underneath are the ordinary hates and passions of a man who fears being left behind, at the height of his career. For his long-suffering wife's part, she too feels she's being replaced by the young actresses that Hitchcock is obsessed with at the moment. The conclusion is sweet enough for the Hayes office: husband and wife rediscover the magic of their working relationship, which was always the rock upon which their relationship was built.

The Silent Partner (1978)** With Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York in the cast, this should have been better. Decent heist plot that devolves into slasher film . Christopher Plummer takes on the dubious mantels of playing a villain in a piss-poor American action film and a cross-dressing murderer.

Possession (2002)** A rather thin adaptation of a great novel, A.S. Byatt's story of two modern academics who disover a previous hidden romance between two Victorian poets. The film lacks the poetry of the novel, which I think is necessary for the story to have its full impact, but the film is full of plenty of jabs at academia as well as burning passions. Gweneth Paltrow and Aaron Ecklund play the young couple, while Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle play the poet/lovers. Tom Hollander has a small but memorable part as does Toby Stephens.

Oppenheimer (2023)** My least favorite half of Barbenheimer still damn good and the physics nerd in me reveled in seeing my dead physicist boyfriends on screen. There are better films about Oppenheimer's life (BBC did a mini series starring Sam Waterston and it's on youtube) but something about the dreamy quality of Nolan's film captures that quantum mystery kinda vibe and put it in a blockbuster package. Cool.

Oscar Wilde (1960)** Preceded the landmark film Crisis by one year, without the world shaking honesty that film managed, around the topic of homosexuality and the law. Both films hinged on blackmail of a gay man but Oscar Wilde is careful to skirt around explicit mentions of sexuality, using tricks like showing the dictionary definition of "sodomy" briefly on camera. More was needed and more was achieved a year later. Ralph Richardson contributes to the courtroom scenes admirably and Morley is a terrific Wilde, who would rather make point for style than save himself from prison.

Turning Point: The Cold War and the Bomb (2024)** Fascinating background to our current situation, most of which is terrifying and now I'm worrying about the bomb again. I took off a star for the sheer number neo-con/Reaganite talking heads in this...

Anselm (2023)*** Wim Wenders stirring mostly visual documentary about Anselm Kiefer, a German artist who has explored his childhood memories of post war Germany in a frank and intimidatingly in your face way, on a massive scale combining sculpture, painting and physical spaces, many of which he has engineered himself. As a middle aged person who feels estranged and terrified to look more deeply into her own childhood, Anselm was something to sit with for two hours.

24 Hour Party People (2002)** Steve Coogan plays Tony Wilson, the Manchester TV personality and club owner who helped launch the careers of Joy Division, New Order and The Happy Mondays. Coogan has a tendency to make all his characters Alan Partridge and this is no exception, but it kind of works? It did more to get me to listen to Joy Division that numerous goth roommates ever could...

Two of Us (1999)*** I can't stop watching this made for VH-1 fanfiction of a movie starring Jared Harris and Aidan Quinn as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, dramatizing a probably apocryphal tale that John and Paul met up in NYC in the 70s when Paul was playing Madison Square Garden. Pure fluff and nonsense. I need it like air.

Remains of the Day (1993)*** Revisiting this old favorite and finding that it's kind of pacey and funny for a Merchant Ivory pic. The movie that made me love Tony Hopkins as an actor, his Stevens is really such a fascinating, ostensibly tragic character and yet there is a weird kind of triumph to living one's life so completely to a schedule and a code, and yet never being to eliminate desire and feeling.

Doubt (2008)*** This is the second Philip Seymour Hoffman movie I've watched in the last few months that has left me utterly haunted. Like The Master, Hoffman creates a villain who charms the audience at the same time you know that he's probably done unforgivable things and is only at the start of a long career of doing unforgivable things. Meryl Streep gives a heavy handed performance (Streep never met a colloquial accent that she didn't wear like a Groucho Marx nose) that certainly gets the point across that unpleasant people usually aren't the bad guys you want them to be. Amy Adams plays a naive young nun who, like the audience, is left wondering what to believe.

Dune (1984)*** Unapologetic Lynch Dune lover here. I love the cheesy acting, the wild tonal shifts, and the attempts to put this sprawling multibook epic in the Star Wars shaped box that the studio wanted him to use. My favorite scene has become Lynch's cameo, he seems so happy just pretending to be a spice miner, in his little spice mining suit in his little unconvincing space ship. I love him and this whole stupid mess. Sorry Frank Herbert.

Dune Part II (2024)*** My prediction is that Villeneuve's probable trilogy will--like so many franchises--peak in the second film. The first part was a slow-moving visual feast, that only hinted at the potential of this cast. Things actually start moving in the plot and Chalamet's Paul does his best to cope. Unlike MacLachlan's avuncular Atreides, who takes being a Messiah as just being another Tuesday of being the Universe's Most Gifted Child, he actually seems conflicted. Zendaya continues to utterly dominate every time she's on screen. Can Channi be the focus of the movie? Please?

[opera-ghosts]

The Romance of Cavalieri and Muratore

How Lina of the Porta Salaria became a distinguished artiste, the wife of a celebrated tenor,and a renowned motion picture actress.

By Jerome Shorey

STRANGE, is it not, that while Romance is the very life of the theater, it is rarely indeed that actual romances find in the theater itself that happy climate wherein they can endure from year to year. It is one of the paradoxes of life that to a great de-gree the very men and women who bring the pictured romance to the world, are them-selves denied the emotions they por-tray. Nor is it diffi-cult to understand, for the emotions of the player, always keyed to such high pitch in his art, are too turbulent for permanence. Grop-ing for the reality they counterfeit in their profession they either demand too much, or are willing to give too little in return. The great lovers are few. The enduring romance is the exception—the attach-ment that stands the test of years. But there are exceptions, the more notable because of their rarity. Out near New London, Connecticut, there is a beautiful summer home, the grounds of which slope gently down under splendid old elms, to the shimmering Sound. Here, almost any summer’s day, you can find a man and a woman en-gaged in some light frolic. They are Lucien Muratore and his beautiful wife, Lina Cavalieri, whose romance has endured, and for this reason: that they have not forgotten how to play. And just as they have not permitted their adult years to banish the joys of childhood, they have not permitted eight years of marriage to keep them from being lovers.

In pic-turesque costumes from their operatic wardrobes they play at masquerades among the elms and beside the shore, and the chance spectator might well take it for a faery vision Of some gay creatures of the element, That in the colors of the rainbow live, And play in the plighted clouds. Eight years ago they met, Cavalieri and Muratore, at the Grand Opera in Paris, where a new opera by Giordano, “Si-beria,” was being produced. They met at rehearsal, they loved, they married. And that is all there is to tell. Happy indeed are the people whose annals are vacant. Muratore sings at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York—Cava-lieri plays in pictures for Paramount. And between times they proceed with the real business of life, which is the pursuit of happiness. For they are both of the land of eternal youth where Rome, granddam of nations, from her seven hills defies the passing years, the passing centuries—Rome, an ancient city when Christ was born, yet to-day younger than the latest upstart town of the Middle West. It was a long road, but seldom a dreary one, which Cavalieri traveled to reach this delectable destination. Glance at this picture of her earliest youth: In the poorest part of the city of Rome, near the Porta Salaria, almost under the very shadow of the great Villa Bor-ghese, in a few almost bare rooms, the family of a laborer. Nor even an unusual laborer—just a good, honest, hard-working toiler. And the family—six of them, lively, always more or less hungry. Yet not unhappy— for after all, some-how one lives, and papa is kind, and mamma is beautiful, and in the soft twi-light Lina, who is twelve, sings to the accompaniment of a cheap guitar. For this is Italy, where even the babes in their cradles are dra-matic, and when sor-row comes one looks upon it always a little with the eye of the artist, so that even suffering becomes picturesque by being somewhat self-conscious. To those who are not versed in the ro-mance of art, it may seem a remarkable career, this of Lina Cavalieri’s, from the poor quarter of Rome to the luxury of an operatic and moving picture star.

Yet it is not so remarkable after all. Did you ever hear of a great singer coming from a wealthy family? And besides, just as every soldier in the armies of Napoleon always carried the baten of a field marshal in his knapsack, so as not to be taken unawares by the great honor that he was sure would come to him eventually, so every Italian child is provided at birth with a blank contract for the Metro-politan Opera House: In Rome, where even the little children speak Italian fluently, Verdi and Donizetti are as popular as Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern are in New York, and as familiar to the whistling street boys. If, with such a background, La Cavalieri had become a disciple of Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, or had made a name for herself as a missionary to the heathen in the Malay Penin- ' sula, it would have been remarkable. That she has succeeded on the stage and in the cinemas, after all, is not so astonish-ing after you have glanced at her beautiful face and have heard her sing. For while Cavalieri is not among the greatest singers in the world, she has the sort of voice you like to hear. She herself takes her success as simply and unaffectedly as a child accepts a toy which, while it evokes real gratitude, is not entirely unexpected. And she tells about it just as simply—that is if you can describe as simple a torrent of words,in half a dozen languages, bubbling over each other, in a musical jargon as sprightly as a dewtime argument between a bluebird and a bobolink. In speech, Italian is her birthright. French her adoption, Russian her experience, and English her. antipathy. She simply will not learn to speak English, and the world is the gainer in just so much music, for while it demands the service of an agile-eared interpreter for the average uni-lingual American to un-derstand milady’s flood of conversation, it is pleasant to hear whether you understand or not. And so the story was told: Little Lina of the Ponta Salaria had reached thirteen, and her voice was beginning to round out into promises of some-thing unusual. Yet they took it as a matter of course in the buzzing family, until one evening, as Lina was warbling to the twanging of the guitar, a very great man heard her. Very great indeed was the man to Lina and her parents—though if the fact must be set down truthfully, he was merely the conductor of the orchestra at a cheap music hall—something like the ten-twent’-thirt’ of American vaudeville, only that Italian audiences, even in these cheapest resorts, demand real music. NowW every maestro is always on the lookout for a genius to discover, and the maestro of the little music hall, stopping in front of Lina’s home, murmured, or perhaps ex-claimed, “Dio mio, quel bella voce!’ and Lina’s fortune was made.

But not father died, and the family was in despair. Hunger is not recommended by singing teachers as the best means of developing a young voice, but it was on hunger that Cavatieri trained in those darkest days of ait her lite. And just when it seemed that human endurance could continue no longer, the maestro found a place tor her on the program of the ten-twent’-thirt’ house at three lire—about sixty cents —a periormance. The beginning was all she needed. Soon a better theatre discovered the little song-bird of the Porta Salaria, and ofiered five lire—a dollar a day—as much as her father had ever earned- This was wealth. Within a very tew months, Little Lina, still not sixteen, was one of the favorites at the Eden, one of the best music halls in Reme, and there she was paid a salary that set wagging the tongues of the gossips around the Salaria gate—one hundred lire a week—twenty dollars. This was fame. There is little doubt that Cavalieri would have been a much greater singer if she had not been such a great beauty. The new sensation of the Eden was soon discovered by an impresario from Paris, not for her voice, which was still in the formative stage, but for her high visibility. To the child herself, for Lina was still little more than that, this magical world that opened to her, which meant ease and comfort, not only for herself but for that recently so hungry brood over by the Porta Salaria, was not a thing to be questioned. She had not taken her voice seriously.

She had not taken anything very seriously except hunger, and now there was no more hunger. There was no wise patron to tell her that in her throat was a delicate organ which by careful development and study could be made into a voice that would thrill the world. She could sing well enough for the music-halls, much better than most of her fellow artists, and that was sufficient. But with Paris, and the sensational success at the Folies Bergere, not to mention the salary of $2,000 a month, came the realization that beauty could carry her no farther, that if she was to rise still higher in the world of the theatre, she must be carried up by her voice. She studied intermittently, but was not greatly encouraged either by friends or teachers. She was one of those favored ones of whom her friends cannot understand why they are not satisfied with their tremendous successes and why they insist upon doing something else that seems so unnecessary. But the urge of ambition drove on, and she persisted in her vocal studies. This is the most remark-able thing about the career of Lina Cavalieri—mmuch more remarkable than that she should have risen from poverty and obscurity—that in the height of her triumph in the gayest city in the world, hailed as the greatest beauty in the world, the toast of Grand Dukes and millionaires, she kept her head, insisted that there was something greater in store for her, and went on with her singing.

It was not until she visited Russia and met the tenor Mar-coni, touring with Luisa Tetrazzini, that she received her first word of encouragement. He told her she could succeed in opera if she would really study under the proper sort of teacher. She then went into the business seriously. For nine months she worked, and after an unfortunate but luckily al-most unnoticed debut in Lisbon, she made her real debut in Naples in “La Boheme.” She was a success, only partly, per-haps, through her singing, for with her beauty one could allow other prima donna a considerable handicap and win handily. Her continental triumphs brought her to the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, where she was a sensation but not an operatic success. Curiously enough, while America is not a musical nation, yet in this one operatic institution the high-est standards in the world prevail, and the truth must be admitted—Cavalieri’s voice is not one of the greatest. But she made New York sit up and take notice, just the same. It was inevitable that the moving pictures should claim such a beauty as this. Until she was added to the Paramount list of stars a year ago, she had not appeared in any pictures in America, but had been in numerous Italian productions. One of these, “The Rose of Granada,” served as a joint starring vehicle for herself and her husband, and will be released later in this country by Paramount.

Under the Zukor management she has ap-peared in four features, characterized by re-markable beauty, such as the star’s charm requires for a background. These are “Love’s Conquest,” “The Eternal Tempt-ress,’ “A Woman of Impulse” and “The Two Brides.” So there you have the twin romances of Cavalieri—the romance of her career and the romance of her marriage. Hers is the true birthright of her country—child of Italy, child of laughing skies and lyric seas, child of the land of song, and beauty, and eternal youth.

From Photoplay Magazine 1919-03: Vol 15 Iss 3

[projazznet]

Nat Adderley – That’s Nat

That’s Nat is an album by jazz cornetist Nat Adderley first released on the Savoy label featuring performances by Adderley with Jerome Richardson, Hank Jones, Wendell Marshall, and Kenny Clarke.

Nat Adderley – cornet Jerome Richardson – tenor saxophone, flute Hank Jones – piano Wendell Marshall – bass Kenny Clarke – drums

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO HANG OUT WITH PIGPEN, YOU'RE TAKING YOUR LIFE IN YOUR HANDS."

PIC(S) INFO: Part 1 of 2 -- Spotlight on a portrait of main GRATEFUL DEAD band founders, both now dearly departed, Jerome "Jerry" Garcia & Ronald "Pigpen" McKernan, photographed by the equally late, great Jim Marshall during the band's "Aoxomoxoa" era, c. 1969.

JOHN DAWSON: "Pigpen really did have the beatnik edge. Pigpen was the real beatnik. Everybody else was imitation beatniks. Pigpen got brought up on R&B; that’s why he was able to play harmonica like a black guy. He’d go hang out in East Palo Alto with black hookers. One time Garcia said, "If you’re going to hang out with Pigpen, you’re taking your life in your hands." …Pigpen was drinking Ripple. Pigpen was able to buy when he was 16 because he looked that old. That’s what ruined his liver by the time he was 25."

-- ROCK IN SOCIETY -- How Music and Society Shaped Each Other (1955-1975), "Pigpen was Heart and Soul of Grateful Dead"

Sources: www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldead/comments/19dgywx & discogs.

[beardedmrbean]

After a trial that spanned 98 days of testimony, massive amounts of evidence and 241 government witnesses, the unanimous jury’s verdict was read in Chief U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson’s court in Honolulu. The jury had deliberated for about four days.

Federal prosecutors maintained—and 49-year-old Miske denied—that he orchestrated the 2016 killing of Johnathan Fraser, best friend to Miske’s only son, Caleb. Miske blamed Fraser for the traffic accident that killed his son, prosecutors said.

The jury Thursday convicted Miske of killing Fraser, whose body has never been found.

Outside the court after the verdict was read, Ashley Wong, Fraser’s girlfriend in 2016, said, “It won’t bring him back.”

Fraser’s mother Shelly Miguel and other family and friends, many wearing “Justice for Johnny ” T-shirts, also attended and cried and embraced outside the federal court building after the verdict.

Miguel and Wong both said the verdict provided that justice for Fraser.

In all, the jury convicted Miske of 13 of 16 charges related to running a criminal enterprise.

”We, the jury, having found the defendant guilty of Count One, further unanimously find that, as part of the offense charged in Count One, the defendant committed, on or about July 30, 2016, murder in the second degree of Johnathan Fraser, ” the unanimous jury declared, according to court records.

He also was convicted of conspiracy to use chemical weapons, kidnapping for hire, murder for hire, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit assault in aid of racketeering, and other charges. He was found not guilty of bank fraud and drug charges.

The federal government alleged that starting in the late 1990s until 2020, Miske and his associates ran the “Miske Enterprise ” through a pattern of racketeering activity.

The racketeering activity included murder, kidnapping, arson, chemical warfare and robbery, according to federal prosecutors.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark A. Inciong, Michael David Nammar, William KeAupuni Akina and Aislinn Affinito prosecuted the case. Prosecutors declined comment following the verdict.

On July 11, in closing arguments, Inciong reminded jurors that there are 14 standards that can be used to convict him of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO ) conspiracy charge, but they need only two.

”One robbery, one kidnapping … only two … so I just want to be clear there were multiple incidents, ” said Inciong, speaking in court while walking the jurors through an overhead projection of the RICO conspiracy requirements.

The investigation that led to Thursday’s verdict was run by the Honolulu Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, Homeland Security Investigations, EPA-CID and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

Task force officers with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team and the Office of Investigations—Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, assisted in the years-long investigation.

Miske was defended by Lynn E. Panagakos and Michael Jerome Kennedy. They declined comment following the verdict.

Miske’s defense team told the story of a man who came up hard but mixed the tactics of the hustlers who provided his street smarts with savvy businessmen and laborers who taught him the value of honest hard work.

Miske was not a monster, his attorneys argued, but an entrepreneur with a passionate approach to his work. He did the hard jobs for local people.

His attorneys described Miske as a legitimate businessman who made sure to give back to the community he credits with raising him.

Miske built family business Kama ‘aina Termite and Pest Control into an industry leader and started solar and plumbing businesses. He fumigated numerous “cultural treasures ” in Hawaii, and highlighted his pro bono work to tent the Neal S. Blaisdell Center when the city could not afford it, his attorneys said.

But the government alleged that Miske controlled illegal markets popular in Hawaii and owned nightclubs where brawls over bar tabs were common and associates were accused of using chemical weapons against rival club owners.

The Miske enterprise made millions of dollars selling illegal commercial-­grade aerial fireworks on the black market, they told the jury.

Allegations including using fishing boats to move drugs and money were among the charges Miske faced.

Federal prosecutors also said Miske wanted other people killed, but they think many acts were never carried out.

Miske was facing 16 separate criminal charges and stood trial alone after his alleged co-conspirators John Stancil, Dae Han Moon, Preston M. Kimoto, Miske’s daughter-­in-law Delia-Anne Fabro ­-Miske, Jarrin Young and Jason K. Yoko ­yama accepted a plea deal from federal prosecutors.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office indicted Miske on June 18, 2020, on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery, murder-for-hire conspiracy, marketing illegal drugs, firearms, chemical weapons, drugs and bank fraud, they also indicted 10 of his associates.

The Miske criminal enterprise modeled itself after big-city organized crime groups, federal prosecutors told the jury.

Authorities accused the organization of using businesses to further its criminal objectives, including Kama ‘aina Termite & Pest Control, Kama ‘aina Holdings, Hawaii Partners, Kama ‘aina Plumbing and Home Renovations, Kama ‘aina Home Renovations, Makana Pacific Development and the Encore Nightclub, which was formerly known as M Nightclub.

According to federal prosecutors, Miske and the criminal enterprise waged violence against “rivals, competitors and innocent members of the community over a period spanning years, if not decades. In so doing, Miske participated in, directed and facilitated numerous assaults, kidnapping, extortion, the use of firearms, attempted murder and murder for hire.”———Star-Advertiser photographer Jamm Aquino contributed to this report.

[kwebtv]

From the Golden Age of Television

Season 1 Episode 8

My Hero - Model of Blossom (aka The Lady Editor) - NBC - December 27, 1952

Sitcom

Running Time: 30 minutes

Written by Robert Cummings, Jack Elinson and Norman Paul

Produced by Edmund Beloin, Robert Cummings and Mort Greene

Directed by Leslie Goodwins and Oscar Rudolph

Stars:

Bob Cummings as Robert Beanblossom

John Litel as Willis Thackery

Julie Bishop as Julie Marshall

Dolores Moran as Rosalind Turner

Jerome Cowan as Mr. Norman

Fritz Feld as Maitre d'

[lulu2992]

I've been doing an introspective RP with a friend and I've become very attached to Deputy Hudson. It feels like the game doesn't actually give us much info about her, since you have to dig through files and triggering her dialogue naturally is somewhat difficult.

Said friend recalls hearing a piece of dialogue somewhere suggesting or flat-out stating that John didn't actually "do much" to torture her. That she was even allowed to walk the halls of the gate and that her fear/isolation were what took the biggest toll. That John did torture her violently at least once, (the audio of which was turned into a sermon that you can hear at outposts), but other than that he mostly stuck to threats.

I was wondering if you had any thoughts on this? If you've heard the files or had any ideas about the methods of torture used. Just trying to paint a picture, since she and Staci deserve more justice than what they got.

We indeed don’t know a lot about Joey Hudson… Apparently, she and Pratt were originally supposed to be Guns for Hire, which probably explains why they have more combat lines than they need. However, I don’t remember anyone in the game saying that she was (relatively) well-treated or free in John’s Gate.

While she’s in the bunker, the Resistance and civilians are worried and hope she will be rescued soon. They say that she’s tough, but they think it’s not necessarily a good thing because “John loves a challenge”. As for cultists, one comments that Hudson is one of John’s “special projects” and another that he spends a lot of time with her. I suppose it’s because she was stubborn and therefore hard to break, so she required more “work”, but also because, as the Junior Deputy’s partner, she was bait. If they didn’t want to come for him, John hoped they’d at least want to come for her.

I believe she did receive “special treatment”, in a way, but that mostly included being broadcasted across the entire valley either looking in danger or screaming in pain so her colleague would want to save her. John often threatened to hurt her in retaliation, but in the end, I don’t know if she was tortured significantly more than the other captives. That’s clearly what he wanted the Deputy to believe, though.

I looked through oasisstrings and found what Hudson says about her time in John’s Gate:

That hell hole of a bunker -- I was trapped in it but my mind was somewhere else. I sorta just went through the motions, gliding along… Like you would in a nightmare. It never ended. I can't remember all of it… Just flashes… I begged people for help, but they just… smiled. I've never been around that many Peggies in one place, and every single one of them just smiling.

When you escaped the bunker… John didn't say it… but you could see it in his face. Failure. Things got worse from there… Like he was trying to make up for something. Prove to his brother he could… I never thought I'd make it out of there.

This is all surreal to me – being alive I mean. When I was in that bunker, all I could think about was the ways I would die. Think about who I was leaving behind. How every moment in my life came together and drove me to this point – this… end… You prepare yourself to die, because everything is telling you you're about to… But I'm not, and I just feel… numb.

She doesn’t talk about being able to walk freely in the bunker, so I’m not sure she (or any other hostage, for that matter) was allowed to do it. In comparison, it seems Pratt had more freedom, in the sense that he could walk around a bit in St. Francis and wasn’t always in a cage. That said, his mind, like the Marshal’s, wasn’t free at all…

As for what exactly John does to people, it’s unclear because the game doesn’t really give details, and neither do the people who had to Confess or say “yes” to him. What’s certain is that they still seem affected by what happened, ashamed of what he managed to make them say (even Jerome), and that most of them don’t want to talk about it.

In the Confession room, there’s a blowtorch…

…but how (or if) it was used, we don’t know. And it appears his toolbox only contains a screwdriver, a tattoo gun, and a stapler.

According to Sharky, John “knows all these pressure points and can make you feel pain beyond anything you ever imagined”. Another NPC, who Confessed, says he “messes with your head, asks you questions, makes you say shit you don’t wanna be saying”, but then refuses to elaborate. John knows how to hurt people physically, but it seems he doesn’t always need to do it. Sometimes, as we saw when he made Nick say “yes”, a few well-chosen words are just as effective, if not more.

Narratively speaking, I think it was a good idea not to tell us what John does or says to make people comply so easily. That, plus the fact that those who Confessed are too uncomfortable to talk about their experience, makes him an impactful villain. Players can only guess what his methods are and, given the circumstances, tend to imagine the worst. How exactly he tortures people, physically or psychologically, is a mystery, and that makes him look more threatening.