#joel crawford one shot

[thegreenwallrabbit-blog]

A  List of TTRPG’s Luis Carazo has been in (updated September 2024)

Note these are not listed by date made, click underlined to go to youtube (if link doesn’t work for some reason you can just search for underlined title)

upcoming work

One shots/Charity events/Streamed Con events

LEGO DND- The adventure starts here. Witness history as we stream the first ever LEGO® Dungeons & Dragons game night. Featuring the incredible Dungeon Master debut of Anjali Bhimani. Joining her are @GinnyDi and Luis Carazo. Rounding the party are The LEGO Group Design Manager Jordan Scott and LEGO Ideas design winner Lucas Bolt. April 6th 2024.

Fallout DND | Pixel Circus- One Shot from Pixel Circus staring Luis Carazo, Persephone Valentine, Saige Ryan, Anthony Carboni and Sarah Chaffee in a Fallout DND one shot from May 2024.

GenCon 2023 | All Stars- Call of Cthulhu Live from GenCon 2023! Join Keeper Mark Meer as he guides investigators Harli Kane, Josephine McAdam, Luis Carazo, and Noura Ibrahim through The Dead Boarder! (Nov 23, 2023)

Live at GenCon(2023) W/Brennan Lee Mulliagan/ D&D (new) Join DM Brennan Lee Mulliagan for a Giant sized adventure played live at GenCon 2023 w/ players Jeremy Crawford, Dael Kingsmill, Erika Ishii, Luis Carazo and Gabe Hicks! Follow a group of determined seekers from the world below as they quest through a cloud giants castle for knowledge, family and adventure in this original adventure featuring elements from the new book “Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants”

Pixel Circus Plays Frosthaven (July 2023) New Welcome to the Gloomhaven Grand Festival! Join the Pixel Circus crew as they battle enemies to escape a sinking ship, in a very special Frosthaven scenario! Players: Saige Ryan,  Kailey Bray, Luis Carazo, Paula Deming.

 Dice Throne Adventures LIVE from the MEGA STAGE at Game Con Canada 2023 in Calgary, AB featuring:  Jason Azevedo as the Host, Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Daredevil) as The Pyromancer, Luis Carazo as a The Vampire Lord, Noura Ibrahim (Into the Mist, LA by Night) as The Seraph, Omega Jones (Critical Bard) as The

 Gloomhaven Rolepaying Game LIVE from Game Con Canada 2023| RealmSmith | Cephalofair Join us for this epic one-shot adventure set in the new Gloomhaven RPG LIVE from the MEGA STAGE at Game Con Canada in Calgary, AB featuring: Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood, Daredevil) as Savvas Elementalist, Luis Carazo (Critical Role) as a Human Scoundrel, Noura Ibrahim (Into the Mist, LA by Night) as an Inbox Bruiser, Joel Augé as a Vermling Soothsinger and our very own Jason Azevedo as the Gloom Master! This actual play takes place during the much-anticipated BackerKit campaign for the Gloomhaven Roleplaying Game.

Humblewood 5e Deck of Many Things- Join Trisha and friends (Xander Jeanneret (DM) , Erika Ishii, Luis Carazo and Whitney Moore) on an epic adventure through the Humblewood setting of D&D 5th edition. 

B Dave Walter’s One on One Shots With Luis Carazo. Come and Join B Dave Walters and his amazing list of guests! This week's guest is actor, performer, Werewolf killer... Luis Carazo! 

The Missing Heart - A Tale of Oz | D&D 5E Welcome to the magical world of Oz! This whimsical one-shot is presented in partnership with Andrews McMeel Publishing to celebrate the launch of their new Dungeons & Dragons book "OZ: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting". Markeia McCarty, Luis Carazo( he plays a bear named Brawny), Desirée Strother, and Andrew Strother, are led on a magical adventure through the land of Oz by Dungeon Master Joe Nuzzo. Our players' goal? To recover a stolen artifact and return it to Glinda, the Good Litch of the South, before the thief uses it to strip magic from Oz FOREVER!

Prisoner 13 One Shot | Keys from the Golden Vault | D&D Beyond Join Dungeon Master Lexi McQueen and our heist crew Luis Carazo,  Omar Najam, Michael Galvis & Sarah Chaffee as they travel to Revel's End prison in search of the key to a dwarven fortune! Prisoner 13 is one of thirteen exhilarating heist-themed Dungeons and Dragons adventures in Keys From the Golden Vault. Vancover By Night Wavaw Charity Werewolf Stream- The Cubs are lost in the Umbra, what will happen? Who will save them? Is that an Ashtray?Special Guests, Mark Meer, Erika Ishii, Jake Kile, & Luis Carazo Saturday Night One-Shot: Call of Cthulhu | The Mummy: Redux | Charity Stream benefiting RAINN 95 years after Rick, Evelyn, Jonathan, and Ardeth defeat Imhotep and preventing him from resurrecting Anck-su-namun, six tourists in Spain stumble upon a secret hidden within the Temple of Debod. Bringing the Mummy's Curse down upon them... will they survive the ordeal? Cast:  Ian E. Muller (GM), Diana DiMicco as Phillipa Branch, Cynthia Marie as Mel Nais, Luis Carazo as Emmanuel "Manny" Martinez, Noordin Ali as Zahir Ayad Adham, Justus Hughes as Rick O'Connell, Andrew Strother as Roy Carnahan. 

Ms. Pixel's Fantastical Circus: Call of Cthulhu One Shot Saige Ryan takes Aabria Iyengar, Alex Ward, Emme Montgomery, Luis Carazo, and Kailey Bray through an eldritch nightmare beneath the Big Top. Luis plays against type as a selfish, trapeze artist contortionist Freddy who performs in Ms. Pixel’s circus along side his twin brother bobby.  Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! 3 one shot episodes where level one character face off against a threat they have no chance of beating in a improve comedy show.

Fallout D&D One shot Fallout Dungeons & Dragons by PixelCircus with Luis Carazo, Persephone Valentine, Saige Ryan, Anthony Carboni, Sarah Chaffee. Aired May 2, 2024.

Longer Series, Main Cast: 

Good Time Society

Endymion's Gate (completed 6 episodes) ( cast  Ash MinnickI(story teller) Alejandra Cejudo, Luis Carazo, Xander Jeanneret, Aabria Iyengar and Becca Scott ) Join the crew of the starship Endymion as they embark on a mind-bending mission filled with mystery and intrigue as they navigate the dangers and wonders of Dream Space! Based on the Hillfolk system by Pelgrane Press, Endymion's Gate explores an original, science fiction TTRPG setting with a cast full of familiar faces that you'll recognize from throughout the roleplaying community! Each week  Story Moderator, Ash Minnick, leads the players through a surreal storytelling experience that will thrust them into a parallel universe of shared consciousness and dreams!  Come aboard and prepare yourself for Dream Space! 

Critical Role

Exandria Unlimited: Calamity (completed 4 part) The flying city of Avalir begins its triumphant return to the continent of Domunas while the Ring of Brass, a group of eminent city dignitaries, begin to uncover hints of something rotten within their gilded home. Cast: Brennan Lee Mulligan( Game Master), Luis Carazo, Aabria Iyengar, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, Lou Wilson.

Candela Obsurca chapter 2 ( premiere August 31 7PM PST) starting Luis Carazo, Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Spencer Starke, Zehra Fazel. The Circle of Needle and Thread will face off against the duplicates threat that wreaks havoc on the war torn Fairelands. Season 2 is indecent of the events of Season one but if interested this is the link to candela Obscura chapter one (which he’s not in) to watch (3episodes, complete) to get an idea of the setting and game system.

Penny Arcade

Seattle by Night, Season 2 Welcome to the second season of our Vampire the Masquerade chronicles! Join us on Tuesdays at 5pm PT on twitch.tv/pennyarcade for a new live episode, or subscribe on YouTube for the latest videos as they go live. Starring Jason Carl as The Storyteller Mike Krahulik as Tom Hollandaise, Toreador Luis Carazo as Enrique "Rico" Suarez, Brujah Jasmine Bhullar as Betty Lancaster, Lasombra Jerry Holkins as Jamison Keen, Nosferatu

Catalyst Game Labs/RealmSmith

Series Intro | Shadowrun: Excommunication | Shadowrun RPG 2023 | RealmSmith (8 part) Shadowrun is a cyberpunk-fantasy ttrpg that takes place in our world, 60 years in the future. It combines cybernetic technology and magic in a dystopian setting. CAST: Anjali Bhimani as Trigger Christian Navarro as Rio Luis Carazo as Frayne Noura Ibrahim as Liv Talon Coleman as Blaze

Johnny Stanton IV

Of Dawn & Dusk(complete 4 episodes) Journey with us, as we take you on an adventure of Gods and mortals. Cast: Johnny Stanton(Dungeon Master),Persephone Valentine as Holly "Midnight" Danes( Kalashtar sorcerer/artificer/rouge ), Jasmine Bhullar as Mildred Mulvahill( hypochondriac dragonborn druid), Christian Navarro as Leo Goldleaf( half elf paladin, brother of Narrex ),Luis Carazo as Narrex of the Vatrai (half orc barbarian, brother of Leo).

Renegade Game Studios

Hunter: The Reckoning - The Day Shift (Complete 4 episodes) Hunter: The Reckoning is a horror tabletop role-playing game set in modern times, in which players take the roles of regular human characters who become aware of the existence of the supernatural, including vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, and fight back as monster hunters. It is set in the World of darkness (Vampire the masquerade, Werewolf the apocalypse, ect.)Cast: Diana DiMicco( storyteller),Luis Carazo, Briana DeCoster, Justus Hughes, and Markeia McCarty. Luis plays the most adorably dorky bookworm history professor... 

Questline

DragonLance: Shadow Of War (complete 4 parts) Cast:Kevin Parr (Dungeon Master), Luis Carazo as Velzin Alara(Half elf rune knight fighter), Michelle Nguyen Bradley as Strigid( Shifter Lunar sorcerer), Tank Tolman as Tyran Iron-Skull (Dwarven ancestral guardian barbarian), QuincysTavern as Felix "Clubfoot" Chance (Harengon arcane trickster rogue), Roz Young as Tango Flux(Rock gnome artificer), Trevor Gemma as Wayreth Rolligtide (Hill dwarf Druid).

ThatBronzeGirl

Mörk Bronze (Complete 4 episodes)-Welcome to Mörk Bronze: a Mörk Borg experience sponsored and powered by Role! Join us through trials and tribulations as these three unfortunate souls attempt to survive in the city of Unguent. Cast: Jasmine Bhullar(fire keeper),Tanya Depass, Luis Carazo, Xander Jeanneret.

Hunters Entertainment 

Outbreak: Undead.. is a Survival Horror Simulation RPG, focusing on practical experience and scarcity of resources - rather than sensationalist hero fulfillment. ZOMBV, the first entry of the Strain Series, is world book exploring opponents, a unique virus, locations, and rules to immediately jump into a game of Outbreak: Undead - with you and your friends at the center of the story

Outbreak: Undead- Strain Series: ZOMBV  (complete 4 episodes) Cast:B Dave Walters (DM), Luis Carazo, May Leigh, Markeia Mcarthy, Michelle Nguyen Bradley

Outbreak: Undead (season 1) Rag & Bone (complete 60 episodes)Cast: Noxweiler Berf(Game master) Luis Carazo, May Leigh, Markeia Mcarthy, Michelle Nguyen Bradley.  Luis plays as Lampwick-(or as the DM once put it bullshit Jesus, Luis RP in this is amazing).

Outbreak: Undead (season 2) United States of the Dead (Complete 13 ep) Cast: Noxweiler Berf (Game master) Luis Carazo, Sarah Chaffee, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Markeia McCarty,Chelsea. (Luis becomes a main cast member after after the third episode were he is once again playing Lampwick SO do no watch unless you’ve finished season 1: rag and bone. Also season 2 and 3 are running at the same time like parallel events .

Outbreak: Undead (season 3 ) PROJECT NERO-(complete 12 ep) Cast: Noxweiler Berf(Game  Master), Luis Carazo, Sarah Chaffee, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Markeia McCarty, Saige Ryan,May Leigh. Luis plays different characters(but as of yet not Lampwick in this season but still should watch as other characters from season 1 show up.)

Altered Carbon - Osaka Eternal (complete 3 episodes) In this transhumanist neo-noir vision of the future, the human mind is nothing more than digital codeDigital Human Freight saved and stored in a Cortical Stack, advanced technology that allows you to "re-sleeve" your entire consciousness into a new body. Cast: Xander Jeanneret (DM), Luis Carazo, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Markeia McCarty, May Leigh.

Kids on Bikes: Autumn Rites (Complete  3 episodes)-Strange Adventures in Small TownsChoose your OWN destiny in this storytelling rules-light tabletop role-playing game where adventure is a bike ride away!​Kids on Bikes is a Collaborative World Building RPG set in small towns with big mysteries. Written and created by celebrated game designers Jon Gilmour (Dead of Winter, Atari: Centipede/Missile Command/Asteroids) & Doug Levandowski (Gothic Doctor, Seven Minutes in Hell). Cast: Mika Midgett (Game Master), Luis Carazo, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Markeia McCarty, May Leigh.

Gods of Metal: Ragnarock - Masquerade of Madness (Complete 3 episodes, fist episode only)A bombastic heavy metal-inspired RPG of epic proportions. Bust out the D4's, turn up the volume and live out your rock fantasy! Cast: Ivan Van Norman (Game Master) Luis Carazo, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Markeia McCarty, May Leigh.

Guest star

Vampire: The Masquerade - L.A. By Night ( first appearance in season 2 episode 6)  portraying  Nines Rodrigues the famous, charismatic, werewolf killing Brujah Anarch baron of Downtown/East Los Angeles and owner of the Last Round Bar.

ECLIPSE (S2) Episode 11: Escape from Vicom Station

DesiQuest - Fantasy/late 19th early 20th century setting. The story and setting are fictional relm based of mythology from Indian subcontinent. In this, the pilot episode to the South Asian mythology inspired TTRPG actual play, DesiQuest starring @ThatBronzeGirl @sweeetanj @RekhaShankar @omarnajam @SandeepParikh , our adventurers take the perilous journey to pickup one of their squad from the busy port of Chaand Bay. And as most travelers to India can attest to just getting out of the airport can be harrowing. Luis plays a guest character Namir in season 1, episode 2 and 3.

[michaelcoffeysthoughts]

Favorite First Time Watches of 2023

After Hours (1985) dir. Martin Scorsese

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) dir. Martin McDonagh

Black Girl (1966) dir. Ousmane Sembène

Bringing Out the Dead (1999) dir. Martin Scorsese

Cairo Station (1958) dir. Youssef Chahine

Cemetery Man (1994) dir. Michele Soavi

Chicago (2002) dir. Rob Marshall

Crimes of Passion (1984) dir. Ken Russell

Elvis (2022) dir. Baz Luhrmann

Faust (1926) dir. F.W. Murnau

Female Trouble (1974) dir. John Waters

Fire of Love (2022) dir. Sara Dosa

Footprints (on the Moon) (1975) dir. Luigi Bazzoni and Mario Fanelli

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) dir. Toshio Matsumoto

High and Low (1963) dir. Akira Kurosawa

In Search of Darkness: Part III (2022) dir.David A. Weiner

Let the Right One In (2008) dir. Tomas Alfredson

Lingua Franca (2019) dir. Isabel Sandoval

Odd Man Out (1947) dir. Carol Reed

Original Cast Album: Company (1970) dir. D.A. Pennebaker

Paper Moon (1973) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

Pearl (2022) dir. Ti West

Petite Maman (2021) dir. Céline Sciamma

Porco Roso (1992) dir. Hayao Miyazaki

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) dir. Joel Crawford

Querelle (1982) dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder

The Silent Partner (1978) dir. Daryl Duke

Slap Shot (1977) dir. George Roy Hill

Southern Comfort (2001) dir. Kate Davis

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) dir. William Friedkin

Train to Busan (2016) dir. Yeon Sang-ho

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) dir. Jacques Demy

X (2022) dir. Ti West

[stuff-diary]

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Movies watched in 2023

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022, USA)

Dir: Joel Crawford (with Januel Mercado credited as co-director)

Writers: Paul Fisher & Tommy Swerdlow (story by Tommy Swerdlow & Tom Wheeler)

Mini-review:

My expectations for this were crazy high and, thankfully, it didn't disappoint at all. The story is incredibly emotional, the characters are richly written and the animation is... WOW. Every single shot of the movie is mind-blowingly stunning. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for even a second. You can just see all the work, love and passion that went into making this film. And also, the story feels so refreshing and original. Like, from an objective point of view, I can tell it isn't that groundbreaking, but the way it's told did feel... new to me.

Another thing I want to highlight is the Wolf, cause I can't remember the last time I saw a villan that was so genuinely terrifying. The character's animation and voice work are pitch-perfect. I know the same can be said about the rest of characters, but this one was particularly striking to me. And going back to the story, I really loved its message and the way they brought all the plot threads/characters together at the end. To sum up, this movie stole my heart thanks to its story, its characters and the sheer beauty of its animation. Let's hope we get to see more stuff like that, but in the Far Far Away setting 👀

[ceragondubs]

Hello everyone! New Meet the Cast video up on our channel! Today's video features Ian Douglas: the VA of Joel Crawford and 707 in our Wizardess Heart + Mystic Messenger one-shot prologue fandubs!

[neowitcher]

3 Favourite Books and Films | Winter 2023 Releases

Some seasons, there’s just not enough media intriguing me, so here are three instead of the usual five favourites that released sometime this past winter.

1. For Her Consideration by Amy Spalding ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Since a crushing breakup three years ago, Nina Rice has written romance, friends, her dreams of scriptwriting for TV, and even L.A. proper out of her life. Instead, she’s safely out in the suburbs in her aunt’s condo working her talent agency job from home, managing celebrity email accounts, and certain that’s plenty of writing—and plot—for her life. But a surprise meeting called by Ari Fox, a young actress on everyone’s radar, stirs up all kinds of feelings Nina thought she’d deleted for good… (Storygraph)

Never hurts to start the year off right with a full package enjoyable sapphic romance. Drenched in queer culture, film business and plus-sized representation, Amy Spalding brings a sweet story with interesting, fun, and very relatable, leads and side characters. Never stressing you out with over-the-top drama, it is the perfect romance to binge if you’d like to feel something, with just the slightest bit of spice to add to that. Full review can be found here.

2. Babylon (2022) dir. Damien Chazelle ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 

A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, tracing the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood. (Letterboxd)

With the mixed reviews this had been getting, I had almost decided not to watch it, what with it being three hours long and all. Maybe if I’d remembered this is by the director of Whiplash (2016), I would have known not to be concerned. Despite the story being a bit all over, I was intrigued and the soundtrack had me more excited than I’d been in a while. It left me absolutely speechless by the end and the long watch was absolutely worth it! Incredible acting performances, especially by Diego Calva. Just wow, what a ride!

3. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022) dir. Joel Crawford ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for adventure has taken its toll: He has burned through eight of his nine lives, leaving him with only one life left. Puss sets out on an epic journey to find the mythical Last Wish and restore his nine lives. (Letterboxd)

Finally, moving away from Hollywood territory, there’s the childhood nostalgia mixed with incredible animation. Puss in Boots used to be one of my favourite characters and seeing him back on screen after all these years made me really happy. The story flew by and I was really captivated by the action sequences and the creative animation styles. Some shots actually managed to haunt me a little, which was a pleasant surprise. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon family watch!

[shall-we-imagine]

Confession. (Joel Crawford *Arranged marriage AU*)

Requested: 70. "After everything we've been through, you still don't think that I love you?" + 80. "I've always been honest with you." From the prompt list.

Genre: Angst/Fluff.

(Second Person Point of View)

The sound of your heels clicking harshly against the ceramic tiles of your hotel room's floor filled the dimly lit space, as you furiously marched towards the bedroom, more than ready to call it a night.

"Would you at least listen to me for one goddamn second?!" Your husband calls, after shutting the door behind him.

You heard his footsteps follow you into the bedroom, but you ignore him, your jaw clenching at the thought of seeing him.

Taking your relatively big earrings off, you try to keep yourself busy with any random task so you wouldn't have to face him.

Yet he didn't seem to be willing to grant your wish. "Please?" He adds to his previous 'request', now in a more controlled tone, as he grabs your wrist to gain your attention.

"Listen to what, Joel?!" Perhaps he was able to control his anger, but you weren't the best at this, especially when you were convinced it wasn't your fault, "your lame excuses?!"

He let out a humorless laugh, "lame excuses? You're the one that let a random man flirt with her throughout the night, and might I add, looked absolutely delighted during the interaction."

"He wasn't flirting! And I told you he was an old friend; we were just catching up!" You pull your wrist away, sensing his grip tightening around it.

You proceed to hastily and carelessly untie the elegant bun your hair had been pulled into, trying to avoid eye contact. You could already feel the familiar stinging in your eye: you hated how you ended up crying whenever you're angry. It made you more vulnerable, and you didn't want that.

"I'm not stupid, (Y/N)! He was eyeing you the entire night!" He refrained from trying to get you to look at him, for he was still in contact with the side of him that didn't want to make you uncomfortable, even if he was angry.

"You're just overreacting." You snap in irritation, not forgetting to mutter "as usual."

Joel wasn't one to overreact; you knew that, but angry you just seemed to want to get on his nerves as much as he was getting on yours at the moment.

"You can't even defend yourself properly; what are you hiding?" He crosses his arms, as he waits for a response, but he grows impatient when you merely stare at him with furrowed eyebrows, "is there anything between you two?! Just be fucking honest!"

"I've always been honest with you!" Your voice gets slightly louder to match his.

Guests are so gonna complain about the noise both of you are causing.

You wouldn't admit it, but you were quite hurt by the fact he'd think you were cheating on him.

"Well then, prove it! Stop letting random men flirt with you!" He argues, "You're my wife, remember?" His voice getting softer towards the end.

"It's an arranged marriage; we both know we're not in love, so stop making a big deal out of it." You roll your eyes. You knew your statement was to remind yourself as much as it was to remind him, maybe even more to yourself. It was harder to keep the tears from rolling down your face by now, so you move further away from him, proceeding with the keeping yourself busy with random tasks trick.

You sit on the edge of the bed, loosening the straps on your shoes so you could slip your feet out of the clothing item that had practically destroyed your feet. Apart from the blisters forming on the skin above your heels due to the straps, your feet generally hurt because of the position the were placed in for the entire night, but that was the least of your worries now.

"We both know we're not in love, huh.." he whispers, head hung low.

The longer he remained quiet, the worse you felt about the statement you threw at him without thinking. You knew it wasn't true. You had feelings for him, and in a way, you sensed he returned those feelings too.

"After everything we've been through, you still don't think that I love you?" Your heart twisted in a way you couldn't explain. That was the first time he directly said it.

He only ever said it in his 'be careful', his 'I'll pick you up', and his 'don't worry; I'm here for you'. This was the first time you heard him say he loves you. And boy were you happy to hear it. The way he spoke each syllable made your heart flutter in your chest, but it also pained you that this was the context he said it in.

"I'm gonna go for a walk; I'll let you calm down." He turns his back to you, merely whispering a small I'm sorry before walking out the bedroom door.

"Wait!" You rush after him and grasp his sleeves tightly, urging him to stand still.

"What is it?" He asks quietly.

You struggle to find your own voice and begin to sputter nonsense before finally blurting out what you intended to say, "I..I love you too."

The quietness that overcame the room contradicted the yelling that filled it a few moments ago.

You glance back at him with curious eyes, just to be met with the same curious gaze.

Suddenly, his eyes softened and a chuckle escapes his lips, even though it took you by surprise, you found yourself smiling back at him.

He pulls you into his chest, allowing you to feel the vibration coming from his chest as he laughs. You couldn't tell what was so funny, and you figured he couldn't either, yet you found yourself joining him.

You wondered if you'd both gone mad, or perhaps it was the exhaustion of a long day, but in the end, as long as you were both happy; who cares, right?

[grey-eyed-menace]

Wizardess Heart MC!

My interpretation of the MC with some pretty noticeable tweaks, most glaringly, her parents aren't just a faceless backdrop sob story!

They have backstories, characters, and their entire fuckshow of a courting deserves it's own damn book considering how insane it all was.

They had to kill multiple people, navigate a Decadent Court for twenty odd years, and fake their deaths before they could settle down to get married, much less have a kid.

Justina Aldebrand and Kaye Verlice were some bad bitches, man. Assuming those are their actual names.

[Yes they're repurposed OC's, no I'm not telling you what fandom these little shits crawled out of, you'd laugh at me.]

I'll get to them later, though, maybe a couple dozen one-shot's surrounding their youth...

Anyway, meet Lyra Verlice the absolute trainwreck that was the result of their union, emotionally constipated and with absolute shit fashion sense, she's probably the local equivalent to The Chosen One, and fuck if she doesn't hate every single solitary moment of it.

A pretty big change from canon, so to speak, is that she attended a preparatory academy, Bedisa Private, before her application to Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy was finally accepted, causing her to, notably, lose her collective shit because Randolph likes playing 'It's Fate' rules and she had to hold all her plans to move upwards to Bedisa's sister college until after the trial period, after which she would either cancel or go through with them depending on her results.

Grateful, yes, but she has half a mind to beat him with a broom when it's revealed.

Her first days at the Academy are actually pretty calm, due to her more solemn nature, even as a child, Joel and her kept in touch over the years, if infrequently, and they help each other throughout the first four or so days without much issue.

And then she meets Luca Orlem, and then everything goes to shit.

It should be noted that, personally, Lyra has no ill will towards Luca years down the line, that doesn't stop the pure, irreverent, rage that boils through her every time she thinks about him in the following weeks and months after the Tower of Sorrow incident.

They'll be good friends one, day, definetly, it it starts with a whole slew of things involving the Spring of Unicorns and near-murder, but that's not for another six months, and this is a now issue, and she's a teen, and she hates this green haired shit more than anyone, or anything, else for a long time.

No romantic attachments happen during that storyline, she's seathing in rage over Luca's preferential treatment and idiocy, Elias and her largely do not interact for most of this entire bullshit, and Yukiya is pretty much firmly put in the little box of 'Oh, Dear God, You Remind Me Far Too Much Of My Father To Ever Be Comfortable With A Relationship' but she does notably mention that he's attractive.

She pretty much makes it into the Academy by the skin of her teeth.

[And she still debates beating Randolph with a broom some weeks later when it comes up that her Rejection of Transfer towards Felixia College papers didn't go through properly.]

Then Joel loses his Magic and suddenly she's scrambling around for an entirely different reason, and things stop making sense pretty damn quickly.

[Meanwhile, everyone and their mother takes one look at Joel Crawford and realizes the boy is fucking gone.

Kids been like since they were six and Lyra gave him one of her rare, bashful, smiles, it's just that, now, the girl recipient to his affections in right in front of him.

Klaus calls him pathetic, Joel threatens to throw Leonelli at his fucking face shortly thereafter.]

And so on, and so forth, everything moves forward quietly progressing through the seasons, with added filler and unique storylines, until the ending date, and you know.

Lyra graduates.

At which point, their might be more, might not, there could even be less!

Who knows?

Certainly not fucking me.

[As an aside I keep imagining Lyra asking Schuyler and Luca why the latter doesn't graduate early and have the start of his world tour begin in a foreign country.]

[songsofprotestpeacerevolution]

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed by Joel Thompson

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed is a choral composition in seven movements. Thompson didn't write Seven Last Words of the Unarmed for attention, or even to make a political statement. He didn't think it would be performed at all. It began, simply, as a private expression of his grief.

He was initially inspired by Iranian-American artist Shirin Barghi’s #lastwords project, where he drew from more than a dozen of Barghi’s illustrations containing the dying words of unarmed black men shot and killed by police or other authority figures. Thompson has said that in composing the piece, he "used the liturgical format in Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ in an effort to humanize these men and to reckon with my identity as a black man in this country in relation to this specific scourge of police brutality.  Seven Last Words of Christ has a liturgical structure that represents the final phrases Jesus uttered before dying on the cross. They're intensely human: "My God, why have you forsaken me?" "I'm thirsty." "It is finished."

Thompson finished the piece in the first weeks of 2015 and put it away, "like I did the rest of my pieces," he said. That could have been the end of it. But a few months later, Freddie Gray died in the back of a police car in Baltimore, and the words came rushing back. "It was the same feelings all over again," Thompson said. "And I figured, maybe if I perform it, maybe I would feel like I am doing something about this crisis."

An acquaintance sent Dr. Eugene Rogers, the Grammy Award-winning director of choral activities at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance the piece, and at first, Rogers tried to ignore it. The subject matter was too raw, and since some people could see it as divisive, he knew it would be a hard sell.

One listen changed his mind. "It moved me so personally, as an African-American man," said Rogers, who was the director of the legendary U-M Men's Glee Club at the time. "I knew I had to present this piece. "Although some were hard to convince at first, he got others at the university to support the project by appealing to the same thing Thompson tried to convey in his music: The universal humanity of the men it honors. Eventually, the school produced a documentary about the piece that told the stories of the men in greater detail and featured several of their families.

The song’s seven movements represent the last words of seven different men:

“Why do you have your guns out?” – Kenneth Chamberlain, 66

“What are you following me for?” – Trayvon Martin, 16

“Mom, I’m going to college.” – Amadou Diallo, 23

“I don’t have a gun. Stop shooting.” – Michael Brown, 18

“You shot me! You shot me!” – Oscar Grant, 22

“It’s not real.” – John Crawford, 22

“I can’t breathe.” – Eric Garner, 43

[newagesispage]

                                                                        MAY                 2021

The Rib Page

*****

George Takei is sweatin’ with the oldies. He stars in a fitness app for gay seniors, Bar Belles. It was his April Fool’s day joke.

*****

Fox will bring us Crime Scene Kitchen on May 26 with host Joel McHale.

*****

Joel Hodgson has launched a new kick starter to create a new independent season of MTS3K, The goal is $2mil.

*****

Bob Odenkirk will release: Comedy, comedy, comedy, drama: A Memoir on Jan. 18 2022

*****

Leslie Jones will host the 2021 MTV Awards.

*****

$3 mil was raised for Next for Autism with help from Conan, Kimmel, Charlize, Chris Rock, Jack Black and Sarah Silverman.

*****

Have ya noticed that Gayle King looks great in yellow.

*****

Some people are not too happy that Elon Musk will host SNL on May 8. Miley Cyrus is the musical guest.** Musk tweeted: Let’s find out just how live SNL really is. Cast member Bowen Yang tweeted back, : What the Fuck does this even mean?

*****

Oh Seth Meyers: Every time I see the sea captain on your show, I miss him so much!!

*****

There is a spotlight on Foxconn which made a big splash for Trump at the start of his presidency. The company has done a lot of nothing but still gets tax cuts. Homes were demolished, roads were widened to nowhere and money was spent. Wisconsinites are upset that this big business is just folly and a big glass orb.

*****

Mike Lindell is a kook but he did try to appear to be a good sport on Kimmel.

*****

When will weed be legal on a federal level? When will drug testing for employment be illegal? We hear so much about personal rights with the gun laws and vaccines and masks. What about the right to do what we want with our bodies when we are not at work. Think of the administrative costs that could be saved if we just removed drug testing. Our experience and work ethic should mean more that what we do with our free time. This is not a problem at all companies. There are places in this country where it is near impossible anywhere in your area to get hired without a drug screening. One joint on a random Saturday night could keep someone from a great opportunity. A person in pain who reaches for an edible might miss out on the job that saves their lives.

*****

NASA sent the first flight to another planet. The Mars flight made history with the 30 sec feat.

*****

What? The Menendez brothers are popular again? From the Ramsey case to the Manson murders or Bundy, it all comes back around again.

*****

The Lizzie Borden house just sold for $2mil to Lance Zaal of U. S. Ghost Adventures.

*****

Quarantine and so much television et al proves one thing, the pharmaceutical and insurance companies have way too much $.

*****

Trump told everyone to boycott Coke and is later seen drinking diet Coke.** Trump sent out a statement about how bad the Oscars are. They threw it right back in his face. ** Federal agents have searched Giuliani’s Manhattan apartment. It stems from the 2 year investigation into activities in Ukraine.

*****

X-VP Pence is said to have pressured the Navy to reinstate former Mo. Gov. Eric Greitens. Greitens was accused of tying up, blindfolding, taking explicit photos of and blackmailing a woman.

*****

There is a crisis in schools with the lack of civics and history being taught.

*****

Hulk Hogan was hit with a chorus of Boo’s at his latest event.

*****

The latest sexual harassment news: Matt Gaetz  is being looked into for sex with a minor and sex trafficking.  Bill Barr opened the investigation.** Tom Reed has been accused of sexual misconduct by former lobbyist, Nicolette Davis.** Marilyn Manson has been sued by Game of Thrones, Esme Bianco for sexual abuse.

*****

What is going on with Bank of America? I am hearing from multiple people that often they do not get their statement in the mail. Is this a bad Postal service? Is this bad business practice? How many late fees had to be paid because of this? Not everybody wants to pay their bills online.

*****

Jack Hanna has revealed that he has dementia.

*****

Tiny Tim : King for a day is a new doc I must see. The film contains footage shot from Warhol’s Factory. There are excerpts from Tim’s diary read by Weird Al Yankovic and the story of how Tiny’s friend, Bob Dylan wanted to make a film with him.

*****

Lindsay Lohan’s Father, Michael has been charged with 5 counts patient brokering and 1 count of attempted patient brokering. This is an apparent scam of steering addicts into rehab for cash.

*****

Aaron Sorkin and Paulina Porizkova are dating. Pete Davidson and Phoebe Dynevor are dating.

*****

JB Smoove has a new podcast brought to you by TeamCoco.

*****

Hey.. People working on the new Law and Order: Organized Crime….. TOO MUCH MELONI!!

*****

*****

Zach Avery, actor, was arrested for his participation in a $690 mil Ponzi scheme.

*****

President Biden has restored aid to the Palestinians.

*****

MLB put up a wall in Georgia but the Masters stayed.

*****

Hank Azaria has brought Brockmire to a new podcast.

*****

Tommy Chong isn’t allowed on FB because of his weed posts but they allow an imposter to use his name to sell weed.

Pennsylvania is trying to push thru 14 voter suppression bills.

*****

Joe Manchin. Ugh!!** Marjorie Taylor- Greene has let go of her America First caucus.** Ted Cruz has allegedly used $154, 000 of his campaign funds to buy up copies of his book to boost sales. This is an old trick but still illegal.

*****

For the first time, The Carter Center became involved in a U.S. election. They published videos and live webcasts as well as deploying observers across Georgia.

*****

Most health programs in Uganda, Nigeria and Ethiopia have resumed after Covid.** Tom Vilsack from the Dept. of Agriculture has announced the USDA will provide assistance to 30 million kids.** It is sad to me that we have to entice people to vaccinate. Football games, Church’s and shot for shot in bars?? Really? Saving the lives of others should be enough. WTF?

*****

Alec Baldwin, Alec Mapa and Kelsey Grammer are shopping around a new comedy that ABC decided to pass on.

*****

Chauvin was found guilty.

*****

Days alert: C’mon Ben, calm the fuck down! Don’t prove how out of control you are like everybody thinks. ** Xander is so funny right now.** How many people will Kristen be and how many times can one person melt down?? **Bring Carrie back!! **Jackee’ seemed a bit nervous in the beginning but she is fitting right in. More!

*****

The SAG awards came and went. With the Trial of the Chicago 7 winning best ensemble, Michael Keaton is the first person to be in 3 best casts for SAG’s.** Other winners include Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Kaluuta, Youn Yuh-Jung, Mark Ruffalo, Anya Taylor- Joy, Jason Bateman, Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek and The Crown.

*****

The Oscars were held on April 25. It was a bit of a yawner and why would a show set themselves up for an awkward end?? There was a commercial from P&G right before the broadcast that stated, “ Widen the screen so we can widen our view.” Nice sentiment.  Mank had so many noms and only 2 wins. People looking their best to me were Leslie Odom Jr., Glenn Close, Riz Ahmed, LaKeith Stanfield, Colman Domingo, John Batiste, Mia Neal, Questlove (gold crocs and a mask!), Desmond Roe, Travon Free, Trish Summerville, Marlee Matlin, The Lucas Brothers, Andra Day, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Nicolette Robinson, Regina King and Margot Robbie. Laura Dern looked like Big Bird, there were just too many feathers. Tiara Thomas had feathers but they looked great.  Angela Bassett had some power sleeves and Tyer Perry looked like a little boy.  Hooray for Emerald Fennell for her win for original screenplay but not sure about the dress. And Viola Davis?? Dana Murray?? Ashley Fox?? Hmm?? Winners seemed to have trouble getting to the stage. They often refused the steps or the walkway and sort of climbed up the side. I did love the intimate setting and it did remind me of the old clips of years before. Sound of metal and Ma Rainey both won. Tyler Perry and for the first time, an organization, the motion picture and television fund, took home the humanitarian award. I was thrilled to see My Octopus Teacher win for Doc. I loved Crip Camp too, that was a hard category.  The acting winners went in all directions.  Many critics complained that the films were real downers . Nomadland won best picture. Michael Moore put it best I think. Of the films this year, he said, “They force you to look backward with 2021 eyes.”

*****

Why the Fuck do we need a militarized police force?

*****

R.I.P. victims of the multiple mass shootings, victims of police shootings, the crush in Israel, Cosette Brown, Midwin Charles, DMX, Paul Ritter, Ethel Gabriel, G. Gordon Liddy, Buddy Peppenschmidt,  Prince Philip, Anne Beatts, Diane Adler, Vartan Gregorian, Monte Hellman, Jim Steinman, Michael Collins, Michael wolf Snyder, Johnny Crawford, Eli Broad and Walter Mondale.

[glassprism]

hey gp! love your thoughtful reviews. i've been working my way through your recs and was wondering if you have any updates to your list at post/74663113337? i'm especially intrigued by your mention of performers you had to take out, but was also wondering if you have any more recent faves? thanks so much!

I think I made a similar post updating my recommended videos from that post, but you know what, I can make another! (Though given it’s been six years, I’ve completely forgotten who were the “less common faves” I took out, ha.)

All of these are videos (maybe one day I’ll make a separate post adding audios, but videos are easier right now). Some are old faves, others are newer. Some have links to them in my masterpost, but even the ones that don’t are pretty common, and if they’re not, I’ll note it. Even then, there are streams of Phantom-y bootlegs basically every week and almost all of these videos have been featured there, so even if you can’t find or trade for these, you still have opportunities to view them! Now, onto the videos themselves...

London

March 2019, Thaxton/Mathieson/Taylor: Probably the best video to come out of London in almost a decade, so it gives a great look at the London production as it is now. It also has a fantastic cast: David Thaxton is a very solid Phantom while Kelly Mathieson’s Christine is an absolute standout.

Broadway/National Tour

March 2, 2005, Panaro/Hanson/Cudia (Bway): Breaking the previous rule on not putting in Hugh Panaro, as when that post was made he had not even left. But he’s been gone a while and is getting less mentioned. However, I also put this in for Julie Hanson and John Cudia. This is a video to watch if you want to see a great trio of actors whose interpretations fit together almost perfectly - Panaro providing the slightly nutty Phantom, Hanson a traumatized, child-like Christine, and Cudia her protective guardian.

August 8, 2008, Crivello/Holden/Ragone (Las Vegas): I did not recommend any Vegas videos in the previous post, possibly because neither of the videos available at the time were that great, but now we have this! Absolutely the best video of the Vegas production, a must-see for the little tweaks they did not, not just to the script to shorten it to one act, but to the effects.

February 19, 2014, Grodin/Udine/Jacoby (National Tour): The restaged tour is gone and unlikely to come back, at least for now, so why not watch a video of what it was like? After seeing all the replicas, it makes for a fun time to see all the changes they made and compare it to the original. Plus, watching Grodin’s Phantom makes for a good roast. (You can also watch a video with almost the same cast save for Grace Morgan as Christine; she and Julia Udine are both good, but this one is slightly better filmed IMO.)

September 2018, Crawford/Ewoldt/Johnson (Bway): Probably the best of the recent Broadway videos, gives you a nice sense of what the Broadway production is like right now. Crawford is also the current Broadway Phantom, so you can see what his interpretation is, and Ali Ewoldt is fantastic, plus the first Asian-American Christine on Broadway.

International

Mexico, 2000, Vasconcelos/Terrazas/Joel: Breaking another rule... this video replaces the January 14, 2001 Mexico video, because this one blows it out of the water. Full show, professionally shot for cast and crew, featuring the principal cast all the way, and it is incredible. Saulo Vasconcelos’s Phantom needs to be seen, he does things no other Phantom has ever done. The only downside is that this video is kind of rare, but it gets streamed VERY frequently.

Hungary, 2003, Miller/Kiraly/Hommonay: I’m trying to add more non-replicas to the list, as there’s a real lack of footage and therefore attention given to them. So I’m putting in this one, even though it’s fairly old and also, I believe, from a dress rehearsal, so the actors are a little more laid-back than they would be. But it is the full show and gets you a decent look at it, and Zoltan Miller is probably my favorite of the Hungarian Phantoms, even though he noticeably lowers a lot of the score.

Russia, March 7, 2015, Ermak/Kotova/Zaycev: The Russian production had not even opened when I wrote that post, but I have to recommend something from it, as it was genuinely one of the best productions I’ve seen in recent years: enthusiastic cast, tons of photos, lots of attention from fans, and several great bootlegs. This video is not just one of the best of the production itself, it’s probably one of the best Phantom bootlegs period - great filming with tons of closeups, almost no obstruction, basically the full show, and a terrific cast. It used to be really rare but it’s getting pretty common now.

Denmark, March 2019, Kofod/Glosted/Lund: The Danish productions have always received raves from those who have seen it, but with such a lack of video footage, it never got much attention. That all changed with this boot, and let me tell you, the production deserved it. This has one of the best trios I’ve ever seen, and one of the most vibrant casts in general, where it feels like thought and detail was put into every line, every bit of blocking. Add to the fact that the video itself is great, and you have a highly recommended bootleg.

World Tour, May 23, 2019, Roxmouth/Picerno/Leisy: The only production currently running right now, but I’m also recommending this because it, and Roxmouth’s Phantom, have received massive amounts of attention. (That, and Picerno’s Christine is the current principal on Broadway, so you can have a look at her too.) This video is terrific quality and of the full show, however it does suffer from pretty bad framerate drops, so if you have a tendency to get motion-sick, you might want to refrain from seeing this. But if not, definitely check this video out.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Defend activists and organizers under attack! Defend Black lives!

As the anti-racist uprising of 2020 roiled business as usual in cities across the U.S., many protesters have been hit with severe charges after being arrested for offenses that would normally be considered violations or misdemeanors. Many arrestees are facing possible sentences of years in prison or even life sentences.

 In a dangerous attack on our right to protest, Attorney General William Barr in a recent conference call with U.S. attorneys across the country even encouraged sedition charges be widely used against anti-racist protestors. Sedition means conspiracy and intent to overthrow the U.S. government and can result in life imprisonment. 

The Socialist Unity Party has issued an appeal to all revolutionary left organizations and activists to unite in defense of those facing repression from the capitalist state and its allies in the white supremacist-fascist movement. (Read the appeal in English or Spanish) 

Please share widely. This list will be updated regularly. If you know of a case that should be added, send details to: info@struggle-la-lucha.org. 

Here are some important cases and actions that your organization or you as an individual can publicize to help: 

San Diego   

Denzel Draughn, a well-known San Diego anti-racist activist and supporter of the African People’s Socialist Party, was arrested Aug. 28 at a demonstration in solidarity with the movement in Kenosha, Wis., calling for justice for Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back by police. Draughn is charged based on the ridiculous claim that he pepper-sprayed nine cops. He is facing 19 felony charges as a result. The allegations stem from an incident when a group of demonstrators tried to defend themselves against a violent police assault. Ten people were arrested, but Draughn has been singled out for the harshest treatment. At the request of San Diego cops, his bail is set at the outrageous amount of $750,000 – an amount usually reserved for kidnapping or murder. 

●      WATCH: Interview of Muambi Tanga of African People’s Socialist Party about Denzel Draughn case

●      Donate to $ParrishDavis on CashApp, @Parrish-Davis on Venmo or the Dede McClure Community Bail Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-raise-funds-to-support-our-community

Denver 

On Sept. 17, police agencies in the Denver area arrested anti-racist organizers in a coordinated assault. Russell Ruch was arrested while in a parking lot at a Home Depot. An hour later, five police cars surrounded and arrested Lillian House while she was driving. That afternoon, S.W.A.T. teams arrived at Joel Northam’s home and arrested him. Eliza Lucero has also been arrested. All four are members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and organizers of protests to demand justice for Elijah McClain, who was brutally murdered by the Aurora Police Department. They are still in jail, with the exception of one person, and face multiple felony charges and years in prison in an obvious frame-up aimed at stopping the movement for justice for Elijah McClain. 

●      Emergency Mobilization at the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, noon Saturday Sept. 19.

●      Sign the petition to drop the charges: https://www.pslweb.org/dropthecharges

●      Donate here to the legal and political support campaigns for these organizers: https://www.pslweb.org/donate4denver

Tallahassee, Fla. 

On Sept. 5, Tallahassee police and Leon County sheriffs attacked a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration. After pulling a Black woman organizer from her car, 300 police attacked around 75-100 protesters. Fourteen were arrested on the spot and five more have been arrested since, including members of the Students for a Democratic Society and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The majority are facing multiple charges, including felonies, that could result in fines of $10,000 and 10 years in prison. Others face up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine for each misdemeanor they’re charged with. The demonstration was to protest a grand jury decision not to indict the police officers who murdered Tony McDade, Mychael Johnson and Wilburn Woodard. The three were gunned down by Tallahassee police in March and May of this year. 

●      Call State Attorney Jack Campbell at 850 606-6000, or email saotech@leoncountyfl.gov

●      Click the “File a Complaint” button on Tallahassee Police Department webpage at https://www.talgov.com/publicsafety/tpd-compliment.aspx

●      Go to the GoFundMe page to help with the legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/community-supportfor-blm-protestors-in-tally

Portland, Ore.

The battle against police racism is raging in Portland. Nightly demonstrations have entered their fourth month. Since the end of May, hundreds have been arrested. In August, hoping to quell the protests, incoming Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt dropped charges against protestors. Demonstrations continued to challenge systemic racism, arrests and brutality continued, and charges have become more severe. On Aug. 27, a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s District of Oregon office announced that it is going ahead with prosecutions of 100 people who were arrested since May, many by Trump’s federal officers. Seventy-four of them are facing felonies that could result in prison sentences of years. A Sept. 5 NPR audit of the felony charges concludes that the actions protestors were accused of and arrested for were minor and should never have resulted in felonies. 

●      Call the District Attorney’s office at (503) 727-1000 or comment on the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Oregon website by emailing usaor.webmaster@usdoj.gov to demand that charges be dropped against anti-racist protesters.

Oklahoma City

In Oklahoma, where the entire Black community of Tulsa was burned in 1919, and where a white supremacist attack killed 168 people in 1995, Oklahoma County District Attorney Lewis Prater has charged three teenagers, Malachai Davis, Haley Lin Crawford and Sydney Lynch – as well as two other participants in protests against the police murder of George Floyd -- with terrorism. The bond amounts for a dozen other arrestees are between $200,000 and $1 million. The harshest treatment has been directed at those arrestees who are African American. Terrorism convictions could mean years or even decades in prison for charges that should have been misdemeanors. In May, DA Prater refused to charge cops who killed Isaiah Lewis during a mental health crisis in September 2019. When 42-year-old Derrick Scott was in custody of Oklahoma City cops in May 2019, he told them he couldn’t breathe and asked for his medicine. The cop’s response was “I don’t care.” Scott died soon afterward, but Prater brought no charges against those cops either. In August of this year, James Harmon was shot in the head by cops, also in Prater’s jurisdiction, and there is no indication that charges will be brought against the cops who killed him.

●      Call DA Lewis Prater’s office at (405) 713-1600 and demand he drop all charges against anti-racist protesters and bring charges against killer cops.

Salt Lake City

In Salt Lake City, a group of protestors are charged with felony criminal mischief. District Attorney Sim Gill added a “gang enhancement,” which could mean life sentences for seven people who were protesting Gill’s decision not to file charges against two SLC cops who shot Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal in the back and killed him. Gill justifies the gang enhancement by saying the activists conspired to splash red paint and break the windows of a building. The gang enhancement is an inherently racist feature of the criminal justice system, and the fact that it is being used against people protesting police murders of people of color is a further travesty of justice. More than 30 others in Salt Lake City have been hit with serious charges stemming from recent anti-racist demonstrations, including some felonies.

●      Call District Attorney Sim Gill’s office at (358) 468-7600 to demand he drop charges against anti-racist protesters.

Miami

Jonathon Gartrelle, a leading gay, African American, anti-racist activist in Miami, is charged with strong-arm robbery and escape – both felonies – as well as two misdemeanors. Jonathon is accused of removing two Trump flags from parked vehicles and dropping them on the ground while counter-protesting at a pro-Trump caravan. Gartrelle himself was hit by an SUV, which drove away and was not pursued by the cops, who are falsely claiming that Gartrelle declined to press charges. Gartrelle wanted to press charges but refused to go with them in a police cruiser to fill out a report at a precinct.

●      Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/miami-police-department-justice-for-jonni

●      Call Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundel at (305) 547-0100 to demand she drop charges against Jonathon Gartrelle

Appeal to revolutionaries: We must defend each other from state attack

Llamado a los revolucionarios: debemos defendernos unos a otros del ataque estatal

[mysticalhearth]

F

Fack ju Göhte – Das Musical - Munich, Germany - July 14, 2018 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Max Hemmersdorfer (Zeki Müller), Johanna Spantzel (Lisi Schnabelstedt), Elisabeth Ebner (Frau Gerstner), Lukas Sandmann (Danger), Rebekka Corcodel (Chantal), Silvio Römer (Burak), Susi Studentkowski (Zeynep), Robin Cadet (Jerome), Sandra Leitner (Laura), Jennifer Siemann (Charlie) Falsettos - Broadway - January-February, 1993 FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Mandy Patinkin (Marvin), Stephen Bogardus (Whizzer), Barbara Walsh (Trina), Chip Zien (Mendel), Andrew Harrison Leeds (alt Jason), Heather MacRae (Dr. Charlotte), Maureen Moore (Cordelia) Falsettos - Broadway Revival - October 28, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Christian Borle (Marvin), Andrew Rannells (Whizzer), Stephanie J Block (Trina), Brandon Uranowitz (Mendel), Anthony Rosenthal (Jason), Tracie Thoms (Dr. Charlotte), Betsy Wolfe (Cordelia) NOTES: Beautiful HD capture of the Revival following opening night. Such a talented cast and the chemistry amongst them is incredible. Beautifully executed and not to be missed! A Falsettos - Broadway Revival - December 30, 2016 (Matinee) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Christian Borle (Marvin), Andrew Rannells (Whizzer), Stephanie J Block (Trina), Brandon Uranowitz (Mendel), Anthony Rosenthal (Jason), Tracie Thoms (Dr. Charlotte), Betsy Wolfe (Cordelia) Falsettos - Broadway Revival - January, 2017 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Christian Borle (Marvin), Andrew Rannells (Whizzer), Stephanie J Block (Trina), Brandon Uranowitz (Mendel), Anthony Rosenthal (Jason), Tracie Thoms (Dr. Charlotte), Betsy Wolfe (Cordelia) NOTES: Filmed in January 2017 and aired on PBS on October 27, 2017. Can be found on BroadwayHD to stream. Falsettos - Hartford Stage (March Of The Falsettos & Falsettoland) - September-November, 1991 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Evan Pappas (Marvin), Roger Bart (Whizzer), Barbara Walsh (Trina), Adam Heller (Mendel), Josh Ofrane (Jason), Andrea Frierson (Dr. Charlotte), Joanne Baum (Cordelia) NOTES: Good for its age Falsettos - Off-West End - September, 2019 (hitmewithyourbethshot's master) FORMAT:  MTS CAST: Daniel Boys (Marvin), Oliver Savile (Whizzer), Natasha O'Brien (s/b Trina), Joel Montague (Mendel), Albert Atack (Jason), James Williams (Jason), Gemma Knight-Jones (Dr. Charlotte), Natasha Barnes (Cordelia) NOTES: View partially obstructed throughout, James takes over as Jason mid-act 2 Falsettos - Second National Tour - April-July, 1994 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Michael Rupert (Marvin), Stephen Bogardus (Whizzer), Barbara Walsh (Trina), Chip Zien (Mendel), Sivan Costel (Jason), Heather MacRae (Dr. Charlotte), Carolee Carmello (Cordelia) NOTES: The same video that has been titled 1993 Los Angeles. Dates confirmed via contemporary reviews (ie: Variety) April 28-July 3, 1994 Falsettos - Third National Tour - February 16, 2019 (Highlights) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Max von Essen (Marvin), Nick Adams (Whizzer), Eden Espinosa (Trina), Nick Blaemire (Mendel), Jim Kaplan (Jason), Bryonha Marie Parham (Dr. Charlotte), Audrey Cardwell (Cordelia) NOTES: Highlight running almost five minutes long, includes What Would I Do? only. Filmed from the rear orchestra, there's a decent amount of washout and obstructions, but very clear audio. 1080p YouTube rip, gifted upon request. Falsettos - Third National Tour - April 13, 2019 (Highlights) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Max von Essen (Marvin), Nick Adams (Whizzer), Eden Espinosa (Trina), Darick Pead (u/s Mendel), Jonah Mussolino (Jason), Bryonha Marie Parham (Dr. Charlotte), Audrey Cardwell (Cordelia) NOTES: 1080p YouTube rip. 4 clips lasting approx 13 mins. Bar partially obstructs stage Falsettos - Third National Tour - April 19, 2019 (thehouseonsunset's master) FORMAT:  MOV (SD) CAST: Max von Essen (Marvin), Nick Adams (Whizzer), Eden Espinosa (Trina), Nick Blaemire (Mendel), Thatcher Jacobs (Jason), Bryonha Marie Parham (Dr. Charlotte), Audrey Cardwell (Cordelia) NOTES: Pretty much the full show. Missing the last 15 mins of Act Two. Ends at the Bar Mitzvah Scene. Occasional head blocking the right of the stage. Fame - 8th UK Tour (30th Anniversary Tour) - October, 2019 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Stephanie Rojas (Carmen), Jamal Crawford (Tyrone), Molly McGuire (Serena), Keith Jack (Nick), Albey Brookes (Joe), Hayley Johnston (Mabel), Jorgie Porter (Iris), Simon Anthony (Schlomo), Alexander Zane (Goody), Louisa Beadel (Lambchops), Mica Paris (Miss Sherman), Katie Warsop (Miss Bell), Duncan Smith (Mr Scheinkopf), Spencer Lee Osborne (Mr Myers), Courtney George, Daisy Edwards, Lauren Crooks, Morgan Jackson, Ryan Kayode, Serina Mathew, Tom Mussell NOTES: ProShot released on BroadwayHD Fame - First National Tour - January 27, 1999 FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Natasha Rennalls (Carmen), Jenn Gambatese (Serena), Gavin Creel (Nick), Jose Restrepo (Joe), Dioni Michelle Collins (Mabel), Amy Ehrlich (Lambchops) Fame - Madrid - 2009 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: - Fame - Netherlands - 1999 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Nurlaila Karim (Carmen), Gino Emnes (Tyrone), Eva Poppink (Serena), Albert Klein Kranenburg (Nick), Jim de Groot (Joe) NOTES: little generation loss. Fiddler on the Roof - Broadway (2004 Revival) - December 4, 2005 FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Harvey Fierstein (Tevye), Rosie O’Donnell (Golde), Rita Harvey (u/s Hodel), Jacob Fishel (Motel), Paul Anthony Stewart (Perchik), Sally Murphy (Tzeitel), Nancy Opel (Yente), Tricia Paoluccio (Chava) NOTES: Direct from the master, includes NY1 segments. Fiddler on the Roof - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (Pre-West End) - January, 2007 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Henry Goodman (Tevye), Beverly Klein (Golde), Alexandra Silber (Hodel), Gareth Kennerley (Motel), Damian Humbley (Perchik), Frances Thorburn (Tzeitel), Julie Legrand (Yente), Victor McGuire (Lazar Wolf), Natasha Broomfield (Chava), Michael Conway (Fyedka), Steve Fortune (Constable), Vincent Pirillo (Rabbi), Adrien Mastrosimone (Fiddler), Juliet Alderdice (Fruma Sarah), Tomm Coles (Mordcha) Fiddler on the Roof - Sixth Broadway Revival - December 29, 2015 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Danny Burstein (Tevye), Jessica Hecht (Golde), Samantha Massell (Hodel), Adam Kantor (Motel), Alexandra Silber (Tzeitel), Alix Korey (Yente), Adam Dannheisser (Lazar Wolf), Melanie Moore (Chava) NOTES: First couple minutes of Act Two are blacked out, but the show is otherwise complete; a few scenes are very dark, but the actors' faces can be seen; slight washout in the brighter scenes. Excellent picture otherwise and clear sound; good video. Finding Neverland - Broadway - April 30, 2015 (NYCG8R's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Matthew Morrison (J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Kelsey Grammer (Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Teal Wicks (Mary Barrie), Carolee Carmello (Mrs. du Maurier), Aidan Gemme (Peter Llewelyn Davies), Alex Dreier (Michael Llewelyn Davies), Christopher Paul Richards (Jack Llewelyn Davies), Sawyer Nunes (George Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Video filmed from center mezzanine with very clear picture and nice close-ups Finding Neverland - Broadway - July 22, 2015 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Kevin Kern (u/s J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Anthony Warlow (Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Teal Wicks (Mary Barrie), Carolee Carmello (Mrs. du Maurier), Christopher Paul Richards (Peter Llewelyn Davies), Alex Dreier (Michael Llewelyn Davies), Eli Tokash (Jack Llewelyn Davies), Casey Butler (George Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Beautiful HD capture of Kevin Kern in the role of Barrie. Also features Anthony taking over the role of Charles and a different set of the Davies children. A Finding Neverland - Broadway - February 28, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Tony Yazbeck (J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Paul Slade Smith (u/s Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Dana Costello (u/s Mary Barrie), Kristy Cates (u/s Mrs. du Maurier), Christopher Paul Richards (Peter Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Beautiful HD capture of Tony joining the cast with no obstructions. He gave a wonderful performance as did the understudies who were performing. A Finding Neverland - Broadway - March 31, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Alfie Boe (J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Kelsey Grammer (Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Teal Wicks (Mary Barrie), Sally Ann Triplett (Mrs. du Maurier), Christopher Paul Richards (Peter Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Beautiful capture of Alfie and Sally joining the cast. Alfie commanded the score and sang the hell out of it. So many beautiful moments and such chemistry with Laura. A Finding Neverland - Pre-Broadway / Cambridge - August 17, 2014 (Matinee) (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Jeremy Jordan (J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Michael McGrath (Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Jeanna de Waal (Mary Barrie), Carolee Carmello (Mrs. du Maurier), Aidan Gemme (Peter Llewelyn Davies), Alex Dreier (Michael Llewelyn Davies), Hayden Signoretti (Jack Llewelyn Davies), Sawyer Nunes (George Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Fantastic capture from start to finish with just a couple quick dropouts in act one; clear video with no washout or obstruction; filmed in 16:9, with a mix of wides, mediums, and close-ups. Finding Neverland - Pre-Broadway / Cambridge - September 3, 2014 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Jeremy Jordan (J.M. Barrie), Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia Llewelyn Davies), Michael McGrath (Charles Frohman/Captain James Hook), Jeanna de Waal (Mary Barrie), Carolee Carmello (Mrs. du Maurier), Aidan Gemme (Peter Llewelyn Davies), Alex Dreier (Michael Llewelyn Davies), Hayden Signoretti (Jack Llewelyn Davies), Sawyer Nunes (George Llewelyn Davies) NOTES: Beautiful HD capture of this sensational new show headed to Broadway. The performances, actors, music, book, the comedy are all divine. I think this will take 2015 Tony and also awards for Jeremy and Laura, it was that stunning! A+ First Date - Broadway - July 13, 2013 (Preview) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Zachary Levi (Aaron), Krysta Rodriguez (Casey), Sara Chase (Woman #1 (Grandma Ida/Lauren/Aaron's Mother)), Bryce Ryness (Man #1 (Gabe/Edgy British Guy)), Kate Loprest (Woman #2 (Allison/Google)), Kristoffer Cusick (Man #2 (Reggie/Aaron's Future Son/Edgy Rocker Guy)), Blake Hammond (Man #3 (Waiter/Casey's Father/Friendly Therapist)) NOTES: Excellent HD capture of this charming and fun show. Both Zachary and Krysta are adorable in the roles, as is the supporting cast! A First Date - London (Crazy Coqs) - October, 2020 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Simon Lipkin (Aaron), Samantha Barks (Casey), Danielle Steers, Nicholas McLean, Oscar Conlon Morrey, Rufus Kampa NOTES: Livestreamed virtual performance Fleabag - West End - September 12, 2019 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  M4A (untracked) CAST: Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) NOTES: Proshot - National Theater Live Flower Drum Song - Broadway Revival - February 26, 2003 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Allen Liu (Harvard), Alvin Ing (Chin), Hoon Lee (Chao), Jodi Long (Madam Liang), Jose Llana (Ta), Lea Salonga (Mei-Li), Randall Duk Kim (Wang), Sandra Allen (Linda Low), Ericka Hunter NOTES: Broadway debuts for Allen Liu, Hoon Lee, Rich Ceraulo, Marcus Choi, Telly Leung, Daniel May, and Ericka Hunter Yang Flowers For Mrs Harris - Chichester Festival Theatre - September 29, 2018 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Clare Burt (Ada Harris), Joanna Riding (Lady Dant), Joanna Riding (Madame Colbert), Gary Wilmot (Major), Gary Wilmot (Monsieur Armande), Luke Latchman (Terry), Claire Machin (Violet), Louis Maskell (Bob), Louis Maskell (Andre), Rhona McGregor (Flower Girl), Rhona McGregor (Dressmaker), Mark Meadows (Mr Harris), Mark Meadows (Marquis), Laura Pitt-Pulford (Pamela), Laura Pitt-Pulford (Natasha), Nicola Sloane (Countess), Nicola Sloane (Sybel Sullivan) NOTES: Multi-camera setup, soundboard, professionally done. Follies - Madrid - June 14, 2012 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Muntsa Rius (Sally Durant Plummer), Vicky Peña (Phyllis Rogers Stone), Pep Molina (Buddy Plummer) NOTES: Recorded for Archival purposes. Follies - National Theatre - November 16, 2017 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  Other video (see notes) CAST: Imelda Staunton (Sally Durant Plummer), Janie Dee (Phyllis Rogers Stone), Peter Forbes (Buddy Plummer), Philip Quast (Benjamin Stone), Tracie Bennett (Carlotta Campion), Di Botcher (Hattie Walker), Josephine Barstow (Heidi Schiller), Dawn Hope (Stella Deems), Adrian Grove (Sam Deems), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Solange LaFitte), Norma Atallah (Emily Whitman), Liz Izen (Dee Dee West), Gemma Page (Sandra Crane), Julie Armstrong (Christine Donovan), Gary Raymond (Dimitri Weismann), Billy Boyle (Theodore Whitman), Bruce Graham (Roscoe), Zizi Strallen (Young Phyllis), Fred Haig (Young Buddy), Adam Rhys-Charles (Young Benjamin), Emily Langham (Young Carlotta), Aimee Hodnett (Young Hattie), Alison Langer (Young Heidi), Leisha Mollyneaux (Young Stella), Sarah-Marie Maxwell (Young Solange), Kate Parr (Young Sandra), Barnaby Thompson, Edwin Ray, Emily Goodenough, Jeremy Batt, Jordan Shaw, Liz Ewing NOTES: London’s National Theatre production, broadcast live to cinemas around the world. The National Theatre revival is the first fully staged major London production of Follies to present the original Broadway version of the show. Sondheim and Goldman revised large parts of the show’s script and score for its 1987 London premiere, toning down the underlying bleakness of the Broadway original, and offering a more hopeful finale for its central characters. Director Dominic Cooke revisited early drafts of Goldman’s script, restoring original dialogue and moments that have not been seen in the production since its 1971 Broadway run. Follies - Paper Mill Playhouse - 1998 FORMAT:  MP4 (SD) CAST: Donna McKechnie (Sally Durant Plummer), Dee Hoty (Phyllis Rogers Stone), Tony Roberts (Buddy Plummer), Laurence Guittard (Benjamin Stone), Ann Miller (Carlotta Campion), Kaye Ballard (Hattie Walker), Carol Skarimbas (Heidi Schiller), Phyllis Newman (Stella Deems), Liliane Montevecchi (Solange LaFitte), Natalie Mosco (Emily Whitman), Billie Thrash (Dee Dee West), Laura Kenyon (Sandra Donovan), Ann Cunningham (Christine Crane), Eddie Bracken (Dimitri Weismann), Donald Saddler (Theodore Whitman), Danette Holden (Young Sally), Meredith Patterson (Young Phyllis), Billy Hartung (Young Buddy), Michael Gruber (Young Benjamin), Jillana Urbina (Young Carlotta), Krista Lepore (Young Hattie), Carol Skarimbas (Young Heidi), Pamela Jordan (Young Stella), Jean Marie (Young Solange), Julie Connors (Young Sandra), Pascale Faye (Young Emily), Temple Kane (Young Christine), Karen Lifshey (Young Dee Dee), Arte Phillips (Young Theodore), Peter Davenport (Young Roscoe) NOTES: Different recording than the PRO SHOT Footloose - North Shore Music Theatre - August, 2011 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: John Jeffrey Martin (Ren McCormack), Chelsea Morgan Stock (Ariel Moore), Matthew Dorsey (Willard Hewitt), George Dvorsky (Reverend Shaw Moore), Maureen Brennan (Vi Moore), Gwen Hollander (Rusty), Marissa Rosen (Wendy Jo), Sean Watkins (Chuck Cranston), Marci Reid (Ethel McCormack), Stephen Berger (Principal Clarke), Gary Lynch (Uncle Wes) Footloose - The Netherlands - March 15, 2009 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: William Spaaij (Ren McCormack), Kim-Lian Meij van der (Ariel Moore), Roy Kullick (Willard Hewitt), Jeroen Phaff (Reverend Shaw Moore), Marleen van der Loo (Vi Moore), Talita Angwarmasse (Rusty), Nicky van der Kuyp (Wendy Jo), Nadine Nijman (Urleen), Richard Rodermond (Chuck Cranston), Joyce Stevens (Ethel McCormack), Vincent de Lusenet (Travis/Cowboy Bob), Evert Jan Korving (Lyle), Michel Sorbach (Uncle Wes), Britt Lenting (Eleanor), Britt Lenting (Irene/Betty Blast) NOTES: Official DVD version Footloose - West End - 2006 (House-Cam's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Derek Hough (Ren McCormack), Lorna Want (Ariel Moore), Stephen McGann (Reverend Shaw Moore) NOTES: Recorded through the house camera, so it's a stationary full-stage shot with sound patched in directly from the soundboard Fosse - Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 2002 FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Simone Kleinsma (Ann Reinking), Stanley Burleson (Performer), Pia Douwes (Dancer & Singer) NOTES: Sung in English. Missing the first few minutes. Frankenstein (play by Nick Dear) - National Theatre - March 17, 2011 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MKV (HD) CAST: Jonny Lee Miller (Victor Frankenstein), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Creature), Ella Smith (Gretel/Clarice), John Killoran (Gustav/Constable), Steven Elliott (Klaus), Karl Johnson (De Lacey), Daniel Millar (Felix de Lacey), Lizzie Winkler (Agatha de Lacey), Andreea Padurariu (The Female Creature), William Nye (William Frankenstein), George Harris (M. Frankenstein), Naomie Harris (Elizabeth Lavenza), John Stahl (Ewan), Mark Armstrong (Rab) NOTES: Proshot for National Theatre Live. Frankenstein (play by Nick Dear) - National Theatre - March 24, 2011 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MKV (HD) CAST: Benedict Cumberbatch (Victor Frankenstein), Jonny Lee Miller (The Creature), Ella Smith (Gretel/Clarice), John Killoran (Gustav/Constable), Steven Elliott (Klaus), Karl Johnson (De Lacey), Daniel Millar (Felix de Lacey), Lizzie Winkler (Agatha de Lacey), Andreea Padurariu (The Female Creature), William Nye (William Frankenstein), George Harris (M. Frankenstein), Naomie Harris (Elizabeth Lavenza), John Stahl (Ewan), Mark Armstrong (Rab) NOTES: 24 March: Jonny Lee Miller (Creature), Benedict Cumberbatch (Victor) Frankenstein - A New Musical - Union City, New Jersey - 2001 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Shuler Hensley (The Creature), Ivan Rutherford (Dr. Frankenstein), Rita Harvey (Elisabeth), JC Hoyt NOTES: Innovative Demo Video In 2001, the team undertook a bold step to try to launch the show’s professional future: a full-length video demo that was produced and directed by Jeff Jackson and titled Frankenstein, The Musical. Staged over a four-day shoot in a rented Union City, NJ theater, the production starred Tony Award®-winning actor Shuler Hensley (Oklahoma) as The Creature and featured Broadway veterans Ivan Rutherford (Les Miserables) as Victor Frankenstein and Rita Harvey (Phantom of the Opera) as Elizabeth. The production was a hybrid of a film and a live show. Shot cinematically out-of-sequence with multiple cameras and without an audience, the show was nonetheless filmed on a single stage with traditional theatrical lighting. The final product was published on DVD in 2002, but only screened privately for potential backers of future productions. - wikipedia Freaky Friday - First National Tour - May 2, 2017 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Heidi Blickenstaff (Katherine Blake), Emma Hunton (Ellie Blake), David Jennings (Mike Harper), Chris Ramirez (Adam), Jake Heston Miller (Fletcher Blake), Jessie Hooker-Bailey (Savannah), Jeannette Bayardelle (Journalist/Ms. Meyers/Officer Sitz/Ensemble) NOTES: Excellent HD capture of the new musical on tour, based on the Disney film. Such a fun show with great music and cast. Heidi is at the top of her game and a rare master comedic actress with matching voice! She really knocked the role outta the park, as did Emma! Frozen - Broadway - May 3, 2018 (NYCG8R's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Caissie Levy (Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Greg Hildreth (Olaf), Jelani Alladin (Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), John Riddle (Hans), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Timothy Hughes (Pabbie), Olivia Phillip (Bulda), Ann Sanders (Queen Iduna) NOTES: Great capture from the Broadway transfer and a few minor changes from the Denver run. Nicely captured from the balcony. Frozen - Broadway - February, 2020 (StarCuffedJeans's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Ciara Renée (Elsa), McKenzie Kurtz (Anna), Anna Rae Haller (Young Elsa), Charlie Tassone (Young Anna), Ryann Redmond (Olaf), Noah J Ricketts (Kristoff), Adam Jepsen (Sven), Ryan McCartan (Hans), Kevin Del Aguila (Oaken), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Donald Jones Jr (Pabbie), Tracee Beazer (Bulda), Tyrone L Robinson (King Agnarr), Ann Sanders (Queen Iduna), Robin Masella (Head Handmaiden), Jacob Smith (Bishop), Anthony Sagaria, Austin Lesch, Bronwyn Tarboton, Cajai Fellows Johnson, Charissa Hogeland, Charlie Williams, Claire Camp, Ellen Marlow, Harris M Turner, Jacob Smith, Jake David Smith, Julius Anthony Rubio, Kate Bailey, Keely Beirne, Michael Fatica, Nina Lafarga, Spencer Clark Frozen - Broadway - January, 2020 (StarCuffedJeans's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Alyssa Fox (s/b Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Suri Marrero (Young Elsa), Fiona Morgan Quinn (Young Anna), Chad Burris (t/r Olaf), Harris M Turner (u/s Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), Joe Carroll (Hans), Kevin Del Aguila (Oaken), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Jeff Pew (u/s Pabbie), Keely Beirne (Bulda), Tyrone L Robinson (King Agnarr), Alicia Albright (u/s Queen Iduna), Robin Masella (Head Handmaiden), Brian Steven Shaw (s/w Bishop) NOTES: Stunning HD capture of Alyssa as Elsa, Chad’s temporary residence in the company and one of Harris’s first shows as Kristoff. Filmed from the left orchestra with a mix of wides, mediums, and many closeups. Frozen - Broadway - March, 2019 (mynewfavoriteday's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) |  TRADER'S NOTES: Act 1 only CAST: Caissie Levy (Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Jenna Weir (Young Elsa), Leila Rose Gross (Young Anna), Ryann Redmond (Olaf), Noah J Ricketts (Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), Joe Carroll (Hans), Kevin Del Aguila (Oaken), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Zach Hess (Pabbie), Olivia Phillip (Bulda), Nicholas Ward (King Agnarr), Alicia Albright (u/s Queen Iduna) NOTES: HD capture of the new replacement cast members. Filmed from center mezzanine, Act One is blind shot until "Reindeer(s) are Better than People," and Act Two is fully aimed and filmed. There are great closeups and wide shots, but there can be a bit of spotlight washout at times. Frozen - Broadway - October, 2019 (StarCuffedJeans's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Charissa Hogeland (u/s Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Winter Donnelly (Young Elsa), Fiona Morgan Quinn (Young Anna), Ryann Redmond (Olaf), Noah J Ricketts (Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), Joe Carroll (Hans), Kevin Del Aguila (Oaken), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Donald Jones Jr (Pabbie), Tracee Beazer (Bulda), Nicholas Ward (King Agnarr), MaryAnn Hu (Queen Iduna), Robin Masella (u/s Head Handmaiden), Jacob Smith (Bishop), Adam Perry, Anthony Sagaria, Austin Lesch, Cajai Fellows Johnson, Claire Camp, Jake David Smith, Jeremy Davis, Joe Beauregard, Kate Bailey, Keely Beirne, Lauren Nicole Chapman, Nicholas Edwards, Nina Lafarga NOTES: Beautiful HD capture of Maryann's last show, filmed from the right orchestra. Act One starts with Patti Murin singing at the door right before Charissa Hogeland’s entrance. Act Two starts during Hygge. Please do not post screenshots of this video on Twitter ever. Gifs on Tumblr are okay after the NFT date, but don't go linking things to actors and shows. Frozen - First National Tour - November, 2019 (Highlights) (StarCuffedJeans's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Caroline Bowman (Elsa), Caroline Innerbichler (Anna), Alyssa Kim (Young Elsa), Stella R Cobb (Young Anna), F Michael Haynie (Olaf), Mason Reeves (Kristoff), Evan Strand (Sven), Austin Colby (Hans), Michael Milkanin (Oaken), Jeremy Morse (Weselton), Tyler Jimenez (Pabbie), Brit West (Bulda), Kyle Lamar Mitchell (King Agnarr), Marina Kondo (Queen Iduna), Caelan Creaser (Head Handmaiden), Michael Milkanin (Bishop), Berklea Going, CK Edwards, Daniel Switzer, Hannah Jewel Kohn, Kelly Methven, Kyle Lamar Mitchell, Michael Allan Haggerty, Michael Everett, Naomi Rodgers, Zach Trimmer NOTES: Stunning HD capture of the First National Tour of the hit Disney stage show. The video is Act One only and starts with “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” between little Elsa and Anna. Caroline Bowman and Caroline Innerbichler both fill the lead roles very well. Please do not post screenshots of this video on Twitter ever. Gifs on Tumblr are okay after the NFT date, but don't go linking things to actors and shows. Frozen - Pre-Broadway/Denver - August 17, 2017 (Preview) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Caissie Levy (Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Ayla Schwartz (Young Elsa), Audrey Bennett (Young Anna), Greg Hildreth (Olaf), Jelani Alladin (Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), John Riddle (Hans), Kevin Del Aguila (Oaken), Robert Creighton (Weselton), Timothy Hughes (Pabbie), Olivia Phillip (Bulda), James Brown III (King Agnarr), Ann Sanders (Queen Iduna) NOTES: First Preview! The set malfunctions about 10 minutes into Act 1. Thomas Schumacher comes out to give a speech to pass the time. Act 1 then resumes. No set problems with Act 2. Audience is extremely receptive and the cast is absolutely spectacular. Frozen - Pre-Broadway/Denver - September 30, 2017 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Caissie Levy (Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Greg Hildreth (Olaf), Jelani Alladin (Kristoff), Andrew Pirozzi (Sven), John Riddle (Hans), Timothy Hughes (Pabbie) NOTES: Second to the last day. Sometimes the rail can get in the way of the shot Frozen - Pre-Broadway/Denver - October 1, 2017 (Closing Night) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Caissie Levy (Elsa), Patti Murin (Anna), Greg Hildreth (Olaf), Jelani Alladin (Kristoff), John Riddle (Hans), Timothy Hughes (Pabbie) NOTES: Beautiful capture of the Final Performance in the Pre-Broadway Denver Tryout. Some wonderful powerful vocal variations by Caissie. There are a few blackouts, and a few parts in Act 1 has something blocking the right side. But other than that, zooms and quality is perfect! Fully Committed - Broadway - May 14, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Sam and others) NOTES: Jesse Tyler Ferguson stars in this one man comedy where he works a red-hot reservation line at one of New York’s trendiest restaurants. Excellent HD capture with no obstructions and so much fun! A Fun Home - Broadway - March 29, 2015 (Preview) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Beth Malone (Alison), Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison), Sydney Lucas (Small Alison), Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Oscar Williams (Christian), Joel Perez (Roy), Zell Steele Morrow (John) NOTES: Great HD capture of the Broadway Transfer. Performed mostly in the round, the actors are all over the stage. Judy's performances are so layered and beautiful, as is the entire cast! A- Fun Home - Broadway - April 12, 2015 (Preview) (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Beth Malone (Alison), Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison), Sydney Lucas (Small Alison), Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Oscar Williams (Christian), Joel Perez (Roy), Zell Steele Morrow (John) NOTES: An okay HD capture of Original Broadway cast. There are around seven minutes of blackouts total and it is filmed around heads as best as possible. Still some great footage for fans of the show. Fun Home - Broadway - June 23, 2016 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Beth Malone (Alison), Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison), Gabriella Pizzolo (Small Alison), Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Joel Perez (Roy) NOTES: Great capture of the performance. Instead of where Sunset recorded, SJ recorded it from the other side of the stage. Fun Home - Broadway - June 23, 2016 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Beth Malone (Alison), Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison), Gabriella Pizzolo (Small Alison), Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Joel Perez (Roy) NOTES: Great capture of the performance. Instead of where Sunset recorded, SJ recorded it from the other side of the stage.  

Fun Home - Broadway - July 20, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Beth Malone (Alison), Emily Skeggs (Medium Alison), Gabriella Pizzolo (Small Alison), Michael Cerveris (Bruce), Judy Kuhn (Helen), Roberta Colindrez (Joan), Cole Grey (Christian), Joel Perez (Roy), Zell Steele Morrow (John) NOTES: Excellent HD capture of the shows final weeks before closing. Garbriella does a terrific job taking over the role of Alison, while the whole cast is still perfection. A Fun Home - First National Tour - November 3, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Kate Shindle (Alison), Abby Corrigan (Medium Alison), Alessandra Baldacchino (Small Alison), Robert Petkoff (Bruce), Susan Moniz (Helen), Karen Eilbacher (Joan), Pierson Salvador (Christian), Robert Hager (Roy) NOTES: Great HD capture of the newly launched tour. Some really beautiful performances from the entire cast. Staged differently from the Broadway production to fit touring theaters. A Fun Home - First National Tour - November 4, 2016 (SunsetBlvd79's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Kate Shindle (Alison), Abby Corrigan (Medium Alison), Carly Gold (alt Small Alison), Robert Petkoff (Bruce), Susan Moniz (Helen), Karen Eilbacher (Joan), Pierson Salvador (Christian), Robert Hager (Roy), Lennon Nate Hammond (John) NOTES: Terrific HD capture of the tour with the alternate actress playing Small Alison. Terrific work from the whole cast. Kate really is stunning in the role and doing amazing work! A   Fun Home - First National Tour - March 1, 2017 (SJ Bernly's master) FORMAT:  VOB (with smalls) (SD) CAST: Kate Shindle (Alison), Abby Corrigan (Medium Alison), Alessandra Baldacchino (Small Alison), Robert Petkoff (Bruce), Susan Moniz (Helen), Karen Eilbacher (Joan), Pierson Salvador (Christian), Robert Hager (Roy) NOTES: This is one of the recordings of the tour cast with really nice closeups. Filmed in 16:9 and includes playbill scans. This is one of the last recordings of SJ before she stopped. Fun Home - Victory Gardens, Chicago - September 21, 2017 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  MP4 (HD) CAST: Danni Smith (Alison), Hannah Starr (Medium Alison), Sage Elliot Harper (Small Alison), Rob Lindley (Bruce), McKinley Carter (Helen), Danielle Davis (Joan), Leo Gonzolez (Christian), Joe Lino (Roy), Preetish Chakraborty (John) NOTES: includes introduction by Janine Tesori and Lisa Kron. Exists as 1.5 GB file (720p) and 6.25 GB (1080p) Funny Girl - Manchester - August, 2017 (Pro-Shot's master) FORMAT:  VOB (no smalls) (SD) CAST: Sheridan Smith (Fanny Brice), Chris Peluso (Nick Arnstein), Rachel Izen (Mrs. Brice), Joshua Lay (Eddie Ryan), Zoe Ann Brown (Mrs. Meeker), Myra Sands (Mrs. Strakosh), Nigel Barber (Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.), Jennifer Harding (Emma), Abigayle Honeywell, Alexandra Waite-Roberts, Alexandra Wright, Bronte Lavine, David McIntosh, Flora Dawson, Gillian Parkhouse, Joseph Dockree, Kit Benjamin, Lloyd Davies, Nova Skipp, Peter Nash, Rhianne Alleyne, Sam Wingfield, Tom Partridge NOTES: Professionally filmed live at the Manchester Palace Theatre. There's two common copies of this being traded, one is lower quality and windowboxed (see 1st screenshot), the other is 1080p (file is 10GB)

[mst3kproject]

814: Riding With Death

Oh, goody, another compilation movie.  Who thought these were a good idea?

The super-duper high-tech Backstory-O-Matic introduces us to our hero, Special Federal Agent Sam Casey.  He’s not very interesting but he does have one superpower, the ability to become invisible.  Rather than make any use of this, however, the spy organization Intersect assigns him to drive a truck transporting a sample of Tripolodine, a new fuel additive that could revolutionize the transportation industry.  What nobody’s told him is that Tripolodine is dangerously explosive!

Having survived that, Casey’s next assignment takes him to a racetrack in Ontario, to seek the ultra-elusive saboteur Robert Denby.  Denby also has something that blows up – an unstable metal called dutrium that goes critical when it hears a certain radio frequency.  He has smuggled this stuff into the USA by having it built into a racecar, which is exactly where you want to hide an explosive. Once again, Casey finds himself having to get out of a vehicle before an experimental substance on board blows it up. Apparently the writers could only think of one plot.

All those shots of the super-duper high-tech Backstory-O-Matic are actually from Colossus: the Forbin Project, which Joel said in Master Ninja II was his favourite movie.  I wonder what he would have said about their appearance in Riding With Death.

If you’ve ever encountered The Gemini Man outside of this MST3K episode, it was probably on a list of the fastest-cancelled tv shows in history – only five episodes made it to the air, and it most definitely did not leave legions of disappointed fans clamoring for plot threads to be tied up in a movie.  Unfortunately, they gave us a movie anyway.  Rather than film a proper one, however, they made Riding With Death out of one episode that was on TV (called Smithereens) and one that never made it (Buffalo Bill Rides Again).  The result is… well, you can kinda see why they cancelled this.

I like to say at least something nice about these movies, so I’ll start by noting that direction and photography actually aren’t bad.  The Smithereens half is quite competently shot and while dialogue scenes get a little long, the more actiony sequences are nicely edited.  Despite what Mike and the bots have to say, the part where the truck has no brakes and Agent Lawrence is desperately trying to keep the Tripolodine from exploding is tense and holds the attention.  I quite like Lawrence’s resourcefulness, using the torn-up laundry bag to suspend the Tripolodine bottle.  The Buffalo Bill Rides Again half is not as well-made – the stock footage does not blend well with the stuff shot for the actual show, and there’s a distinct lack of tension in both the race and the scene of Casey and his friend Buffalo Bill trying to get the car away from people before it explodes.

The special effects are very limited, but not awful. Besides extensive pyrotechnics, the only effect they need is Casey vanishing and reappearing when he activates his invisibility watch.  There’s nothing special to the effect they use but it works well enough. In terms of just getting stuff onto the TV screen, the people who worked on The Gemini Man were good enough at their jobs.  That’s really, really faint praise, but I’ve seen so much worse doing this blog that I feel I do want to mention it.

On to the bad stuff.  The biggest problem with Riding with Death is that the characters just aren’t engaging.  I suspect part of this is because we never get to meet them properly. Instead, we arrive with the plot already getting underway, and the movie is much more interested in making sure we know why Tripolodine is important than telling us who Sam Casey or Abby Lawrence are.  There are a couple of flashbacks, but they just repeat stuff from the Backstory-O-Matic. About the only personality trait given to either of them is that they’re competent and committed to their jobs, remaining calm under pressure and finding workable solutions to the problems presented to them.  This is a good characteristic for secret agents to have, but it’s all we get.  It doesn’t help that Ben Murphy and Katherine Crawford, not among the world’s more charismatic actors to begin with, don’t seem to care very much about the project.  They turn in just barely enough of a performance to get a paycheque.

Not only do we get no idea of who the characters are, the relationships between them are also left more or less mysterious.  Is Lawrence supposed to be Casey’s love interest? One tends to suspect she is, since he thinks fondly of her in his flashbacks and even today female characters in action movies are primarily love interests.  They never have a ‘moment’, though, and Murphy and Crawford have no romantic chemistry.  The scientist in Buffalo Bill Rides Again who berates the head of Intersect, Driscoll, for harassing Denby obviously feels he has a right to lecture his boss, but if it’s because they’re old friends we’re given no clue.  There is apparently a long history between Driscoll and Denby, but this is narrated at us by the angry scientist guy rather than shown.  All this stuff would be fine on TV, where backstory has to be filled in quickly to stay in the time slot and not every episode can follow something like the romantic arc. In what’s supposed to be a movie, it just leaves us with a lot of unresolved threads and stuff we’re not sure why we ought to care about.

When I watched Cosmic Princess I noted that the attempts to marry up the two disparate episodes into one story actually worked surprisingly well.  In Riding with Death, they… don’t.  The halves are connected as both feature a guest appearance by comedian Jim Stafford as Buffalo Bill, a man whose many non-talents include trucking, country and western songwriting, and racecar driving, but neither Wild West showmanship (sadly) nor tailoring human skin (fortunately).  Buffalo Bill comes across as not too bright and somebody you’d probably find annoying if you knew him in real life, but his eclectic interests and the enthusiasm with which he tackles them does give him a lot more character than Casey.  The friendship between Casey and Buffalo Bill is also the only relationship in the story that feels even halfway real, because we see it develop rather than just being told about it.

Choosing two episodes with a character in common seems like a pretty good start – that was how Cosmic Princess did it, picking two that both featured Maya!  Like Cosmic Princess, Riding With Death also does some editing and ADR to help connect the halves, but in this case it is disastrous.  Take, for example, everybody’s favourite line – you’re as elusive as Robert Denby.  If they wanted to establish the existence of Denby in the half taken from Smithereens, they should have suggested that villain Dr. Hale was talking to him on the radio or something.  That would have implied that he was also behind Hale’s scheme, making him the overall big bad of the entire movie.  In fact, this seems to be what they’re trying to get across when they have Casey’s boss tell Denby he’s going to prison with Hale.  Throwing that 'elusive' line in the way they did is jarring and mostly just emphasizes that Denby has nothing to do with what we’ve seen so far.

Even worse is what they did with the fact that Agent Lawrence wasn’t in Buffalo Bill Rides Again. The obvious thing to do with that would have been to make an excuse for her absence.  Say she’s on vacation, on another case, on maternity leave… anything would do. Instead, the editors put in random scenes of her somehow watching what’s happening via surveillance footage at Intersect.  Why did they bother?  It only draws attention to her absence, which is the very thing they were trying to paint over!  I don’t think this could have been less competent if they’d tried.

One place where Riding with Death does manage to resemble Cosmic Princess is an unfortunate one – they have one cool idea and they don’t do anything with it.  Sam Casey has the ability to become invisible for fifteen minutes a day.  Maybe in some of the episodes that did not become part of Riding with Death, this was more useful, but in this movie he doesn’t do much with it that he couldn’t have done without it.  Any half-decent secret agent in a movie can take a couple of guys with handguns or sneak into a car unseen.  James Bond or Black Widow wouldn’t have broken a sweat. Hell, even Super Dragon could probably have pulled it off, but Sam Casey relies on his invisible wristwatch.

This is especially annoying when the opening credits claim that this story was inspired by H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man.  That was a novel that explored the corrupting influence of power, and even the worst film adaptations of it generally try to do something with that theme.  Riding With Death never even touches it, or indeed any other theme besides a brush with the 70’s energy crisis.  Again, maybe other episodes did something with this, but in Riding With Death Sam Casey is never troubled by his ability to become invisible, never examines the implications of it, never feels any temptation to use it for personal gain. It’s a big part of what makes him so outstandingly dull.

The main impression I get from Riding With Death is just that nobody really put any effort into it.  The writers didn’t bother to come up with an interesting way to use their ‘invisible guy’ premise, and stuck to mindless, often action-less plots that end in something blowing up.  The actors didn’t bother trying to infuse their characters with any personality. The bad guys’ goals are never quite clear.  It’s all very lazy and dumb, but at least it makes for good MST3K.

[shall-we-imagine]

Jealousy. (Joelxreader)

Genre: fluff, maybe a little bit of angst? Idk 😅

Summary: You were hanging out with Vincent and a specific someone (*hint* *hint* It's Joel. 😂) happened to see you, and didn't like it all that much. What was happening the entire Vincent route basically. That happened to lead to some fluffy, cutesy stuff; yeah, you get the point. 😂 That was probably the worst summary ever. Oh well.

Now on with the one shot/imagine 😂:

(This is written in first person point of view. *the reader's point of view*)

It was a sunny day; I had prepared to meet Vincent in the courtyard after class, considering it's been a while since we last hung out together properly; Lately, we've just been greeting each other, and that was it. He was mostly busy with "top secret" business at the ministry while I was busy with classes and studying, so we decided it was time to spend some time together.

I had baked some cupcakes earlier, so we can both eat them together. I walked around the courtyard, searching for my friend, but I couldn't see him anywhere. He's late. I sat down on the grass and patiently waited for him.

After a few minutes, I could see Vincent jogging towards me. He starts panting lightly after stopping right in front of me. "(Y/N), I'm so sorry I'm late! I had some work to do, and I got caught up and ended up being late." He frowns slightly. "It's okay." I gave him a cheerful smile, "I haven't been waiting for long." I assure him. "Really? Thank god." He says more to himself than to me, as he lays down right beside me.

My immediate response was to lay down too; it was something we did a lot after all. "So, how are your studies going?" Vincent looks at me with a gentle smile. "I'm still struggling a bit, but I'm doing a lot better than when I first showed up." I reply honestly. "I'm sure you can get even better." He grins, "I hope so." I sigh. "Oh! I almost forgot!" I sat up quickly. Slowly, Vincent sat up with a confused look on his face. I open up my bag while Vincent tries to peek inside it in curiosity; "What is it?" He asks, "You'll see!" I reply, getting excited.

"I made us cupcakes!" I pull out the small box that had Vincent's cupcake, "Awwhh, you know I don't like sweet things that much, but since you made them, I'm going to have some." He smiles; before I could cheer, he finishes his sentence, "Only if you feed me though." A smirk forms on his face. I felt the heat rise to my face, "Don't be silly; why can't you just eat them yourself?" I look away to hide my embarassment, "I'm tiiirreed; I've been working a lot lately!" He whines. "Please?" He looks at me with semi-pleading eyes, "ugh..fine." I mutter. He grins as I take out the cupcake and look towards him. My face was indeed still burning with embarrassment. Regardless, I still tried to hide it and brought the cupcake to his mouth. He wore a smug expression, clearly proud of how much I was blushing.

"Yup, definitely tastes better when you're the one that baked them AND fed them to me." For how long can he keep that smirk on his face? Yeah, well, we're about to find out. "J-just shut up, okay?!" My face got even more red. He chuckles before taking the cupcake from my hand; his fingers brushing across mine in the process. "That's enough blushing for you today; you're as red as a tomato." He teases before taking a bite out of the cupcake. "That's your fault!" I argue, but he only laughs in response.

"Aren't you going to eat too?" He looks at me, "Oh yeah, I got one for me too!" I say as I take mine out. I eagerly take a bite out of the cupcake and enjoy the taste. Vincent laughs lightly, "What?" I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, "Nothing." He replies. "What is it?" I playfully hit his arm; he laughs before responding, "Nothing. You look cute..and you've got something on your lips." He says. My hand immediately flies up to my lips, "Here?" I ask, "Nope." He shakes his head. "Here? I ask again after moving my hand. "No.." his fingers reach for my chin and lift my face upwards, as he draws closer to my face. "Right..about...here.." he whispers as his face moved closer to mine. He's going to kiss me! His eyes were shut while mine were quickly darting all around the place as if seeking help.

In that moment, I spotted a figure a bunch of feets away. It was Joel! My eyes made contact with his. I couldn't read his expression very well; it was either anger or pain. A few seconds after we made eye contact, he turned around and left.

As if out of instincts, I pushed Vincent away before his lips could touch mine. His eyes shot open, and he stared at me in surprise. "I..I gotta go! It was nice hanging out with you! See you later!" I blurt before grabbing my bag and dashing after Joel who was way ahead of me by now.

"Joel! Joel, wait!" I called out for him when I got closer. He kept walking and ignored me. "Joel! Please, wait!" I call out again, this time more desperately. He takes one more step before stopping. He doesn't turn around, however. My legs come to a halt before I slowly approach him. "Joel?" I ask, tentatively, "What?" He still didn't turn around.

"What's the matter?" I reach for his hand; he flinches a bit but doesn't pull away. "Nothing. Nothing at all." He replies coldly. He tries to complete walking, but I step in front of him and hold his arms, keeping him in place.

"Could you tell me what's wrong?" I look into his eyes, "Does it matter?! Vincent is who you like and care about, right?! So why does it matter if something is wrong?" He asks, annoyance clear in his voice. "But, Joel, you're my friend too! I care about you as well!" I reply. He pauses, looking at me, then proceeds to walk away. "I'm alright. Let's walk you to the dorms before you miss curfew." He replies in dismissal. I refrain from pushing it further. I quietly follow him; there was little distance between us, but we were acting as if the other didn't exist. Something was definitely wrong with him. Before long, we were already in front of the girls' dorms. "Goodnight, (Y/N)." Joel says quietly and turns around to leave. "Wait!" I held onto his sleeve, "Huh?" He looks at my hand then at my face. "Sorry!" I let go, "but..Joel, we've been friends since we were very little..I know when something is wrong with you, and right now...you're not okay.." I say while staring at the ground.

Suddenly, I found myself pushed against a wall. Joel had his hand on the wall near my head, cornering me. "The love of my life was feeding some other guy and kissing him while she considers me her friend. Just her friend. I've been loving her since we were very young, and in the end, I'm just her friend! She'll never see me as anything else. Just her friend. So yes! I'm not okay! And I can barely hold back from kissing her and claiming her as mine and no one else's! But I can't do that! You know why?! Because I'm just her friend!" I could see the anguish in his eyes very clearly. He was angry. He was jealous. But, most of all, he was hurt.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)." His hand slides off the wall, and he turns around and starts leaving. "B-but..but maybe..maybe she loves you too.." I reply quietly. The ground was the only place I could look at, currently. He stops dead in his tracks. "She was kissing another guy. I don't think so." He replies without turning around. "She wasn't. You didn't see her." I defend.

He finally turns around to look at me. It seemed like he was making sure I was serious or if the situation was real. Our eyes met, and we kept staring into each other's eyes for a few moments. "Maybe she loves me too? That's what you said?" A smile was tugging at the corners of his lips; my face started heating up as I realized I just confessed to Joel. "Uh..well..you know.." I started looking everywhere except his eyes.

He starts approaching me; my heart was beating really fast; it felt like it was gonna pop out of my chest. His hand gently touched my cheek; I looked up at him. "Does she like him? As more than just a friend? I need to know." He seemed to already know, but he just had to ask, didn't he?? "She does." I avert my gaze as I blush harder. "I like her too. A lot." Joel grins before slowly bringing his face closer to mine. In contrast to Vincent's time earlier, this time I wasn't trying to get away; I found myself drawing closer and closer until I could feel his lips on mine. After a few moments, we pulled away, grinning.

"I'm really happy you feel that way." He says; his eyes were shining brightly. So brightly that anyone could tell how happy he was. "Me too." I reply. We ended up kissing again. And again. And again. It wasn't until the dorm mother came yelling at us, that we stopped. Now we both have to do extra chores as a punishment...but at least it was a beautiful memory we could both remember and smile at. I wouldn't change anything about it.

[pemdasblog]

PEMDAS -- 11•19•20

Welcome to the new PEMDAS Blog! My work on PEMDAS keeps expanding each week so it needs a bigger home. She loves The Overwhelm.

My main goal is to have a one glance spot for all things news/entertainment. I want it to contain as much detail as possible without being too cluttered. Striking the balance is hard. If you have feedback, please share it with me.

Open below for PEMDAS!

POLITICS/NEWS 

U.S. Coronavirus Numbers

More than 11,695,500 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 251,100 have died.

The number of people who have died from Coronavirus in the U.S. is equivalent to 84 times the number of U.S. citizens who died in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It is 56 times the number of U.S. soldiers who died in the war against Iraq. It is 7 times the number of U.S. citizens who died from the flu last year.

On Nov. 18: 1,923 deaths (+52% 14-day change), 172,391 infections (+77% 14-day change)

The rates of infection and death remain disproportionately high in the Native American communities across the country. Just last weekend, 600 Native people died on the Navajo reservation.

Sen. Chuck Grassley from Iowa has contracted coronavirus. The nation mourns :-(

Global Coronavirus Numbers

The coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 56,661,800 people, according to official counts. As of Thursday afternoon, at least 1,355,100 people have died.

On Nov. 18: 11,133 deaths (+13% 14-day change), 598,877 infections (+25% 14-day change)

Election 2020

President-Elect Biden claims that Trump’s refusal to concede the election is preventing him from accessing critical data about the U.S. outbreak and that this could slow the vaccine distribution process.

President-Elect Biden names Cecilia Muñoz as part of his transition team. Muñoz served as a top immigration advisor for Obama, justifying harsh immigration policies, including the deportation of thousands of Central American children and the killing of an executive order that would have halted deportations.

Nancy Pelosi is re-elected as Speaker of the House.

World News

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toured an illegal Israeli settlement and said he has plans to tour another in the occupied Golan Heights. This violates multiple U.N. resolutions and the Geneva Conventions. He also labelled the B.D.S. movement “anti-Semitic.”

In Central America, at least 30 people have died from Hurricane Iota. About 160,000 Nicaraguans and 70,000 Hondurans were forced to flee from their homes.

The head of the Australian military has apologized to the people of Afghanistan after Australian special forces committed war crimes by killing 39 noncombatants in Afghanistan over the past 4 years.

A nearly three-decade-old ceasefire has ended in occupied Western Sahara — what many consider to be Africa’s last colony. Fighting has broken out in several areas between the Moroccan military and the Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement seeking independence, after the Moroccan military broke into a no-go buffer zone in southern Western Sahara.

Winners of the National Book Awards 2020

Fiction: Interior Chinatown •• Charles Yu

Nonfiction: The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X •• Les Payne and Tamara Payne

Translated Literature: Tokyo Ueno Station •• Yu Miri and Morgan Giles

Young People’s Literature: King and the Dragonflies •• Kacen Callender

EDUCATION — Topic: this Candace Owens tweet

“There is no society that can survive without strong men. The East knows this.“

Both of these sentences separately are not true; both of them together are not true.

Here is an article about a village in China (”the East”) with women running the show.

Here is a list of several others, mostly in “the East.”

“In the west, the steady feminization of our men at the same time that Marxism is being taught to our children is not a coincidence.“

First of all, Marx has not been an outright advocate for a gender-queer society.

Second of all, I think she’s right. Socialism and gender/queer theory are intertwined in so many ways.

“It is an outright attack.“

And I think she’s right about this, too. Socialism and gender/queer theory all are an attack on the cis-hetero white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.

“Bring back manly men.“

Okay, this is where I think she’s wrong again.

1) "Manly men” haven’t gone anywhere...

2) Is she basically arguing that a couple of men wearing dresses means every man is no longer “manly?” This makes no sense.

3) In a society, “manly men” can coexist with “feminized” men. There is enough room for everyone. And there will always be men who want to take up the “manly” MANtle. And there will be queer/trans masc people who will want to do the same, though I’m sure Candace would hate that.

MEDIA (OTHER) 

BOOKS - Tuesday, November 24

Ready Player Two •• Ernest Cline

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (Folk of the Air) •• Holly Black

Saving Freedom: Truman, the Cold War, and the Fight for Western Civilization •• Joe Scarborough

Bright Shining World •• Josh Swiller

Ruinsong •• Julia Ember

The Awakening (Dragon Heart Legacy #1) •• Nora Roberts

Dark Tides •• Philippa Gregory

Escape Pod: The Science Fiction Anthology •• edited by S.B. Divya & Mur Lafferty

The Thirty Names of Night •• Zeyn Joukhadar

MOVIES

Friday, November 20

Jiu Jitsu •• Dimitri Logothetis •• In Theaters

The Last Vermeer •• Dan Friedkin •• In Theaters

Run •• Aneesh Chaganty •• Hulu

Soros •• Jesse Dylan •• In Theaters

Sound of Metal •• Darius Marder •• In Theaters

The Twentieth Century •• Matthew Ranking •• In Theaters

Vanguard •• Stanley Tong •• In Theaters

Sunday, November 22

Belushi •• R. J. Cutler •• Showtime

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square •• Debbie Allen •• Netflix

Monday, November 23

Shawn Mendes: In Wonder •• Grant Singer •• Netflix

Tuesday, November 24

Hillbilly Elegy •• Ron Howard •• Netflix

Wednesday, November 25

The Christmas Chronicles 2 •• Chris Columbus •• Netflix

The Croods: A New Age •• Joel Crawford •• In Theaters

Happiest Season •• Clea DuVall •• Hulu

Stardust •• Gabriel Range •• In Theaters

Thursday, November 26

Mosul •• Matthew Michael Carnahan •• Netflix

Superintelligence •• Ben Falcone •• HBO Max

TV SHOWS

Friday, November 20

Animaniacs •• Season 1 •• Hulu

The Mandalorian •• Season 2, Episode 4 •• Disney+

Marvel’s 616 •• Season 1 •• Disney+

The Pack •• Season 1 •• Prime Video

Small Axe •• Mangrove •• Prime Video

Voices of Fire •• Season 1 •• Netflix

Saturday, November 21

Between the World and Me •• Special •• HBO

Sunday, November 22

American Music Awards 2020 •• Special •• ABC

Host: Taraji P. Henson

Performances

Bad Bunny x Jhay Cortez

Bebe Rexha x Doja Cat

Bell Biv DeVoe

Billie Eilish

BTS

Dan + Shay

Dua Lipa

Jennifer Lopez x Maluma

Justin Bieber x Benny Blanco

Katy Perry

Lewis Capaldi

Lil Baby

Machine Gun Kelly

Megan Thee Stallion

Nelly

Shawn Mendes

The Weeknd x Kenny G

Monday, November 23

Black Narcissus •• Miniseries •• FX

His Dark Materials •• Season 2, Episode 2 •• HBO

Tuesday, November 24

Big Sky •• Season 1, Episode 2 •• ABC

Wednesday, November 25

Saved by the Bell •• Season 1 •• Peacock

The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration 2020 •• Special •• ABC

Hosts: Derek Hough, Julianne Hough, Trevor Jackson

Sneak peek of Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure attraction and of Pixar’s Soul

VIDEO GAMES

Friday, November 20

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity •• NS

Katamari Damacy REROLL •• PS4, XBO

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin •• PS4, NS

The Skylia Prophecy •• NS

Monday, November 23

World of Warcraft: Shadowlands •• PC

Tuesday, November 24

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues •• NS

Football Manager 2021 •• XBX, XBO, PC, Mac

Just Dance 2021 •• PS5, XBX

Wednesday, November 25

Out of Space: Couch Edition •• PS4, XBO, NS

Star Renegades •• PS4

Vigor •• PS4

Thursday, November 26

Maid of Sker •• NS

DIRECT ACTIONS/DONATIONS 

Give $5 to... Unicorn Riot: on-the-ground journalists covering and capturing footage of the revolution!

ALBUMS 

separated from her twin, a dying android arrives on a mysterious island [EP] •• Ada Rook

distanceless gentleness

time dilation

total memory failure

otherworld

Self Help •• Badge Époque Ensemble

Sing a Silent Gospel (ft. Meg Remy & Dorothea Paas)

Unity (It’s Up to You) [ft. James Baley]

Cloud

The Sound Where My Head Was

Just Space for Light (ft. Jennifer Castle)

Birds Fly Through Ancient Ruins

Extinct Commune

BE •• BTS

Life Goes On

내 방을 여행하는 법

Blue & Grey

Skit

잠시

병

Stay

Dynamite

Hypoluxo •• Hypoluxo

Seth Meyers

Ridden

Nimbus

Tenderloin

Appetizer

Night Life

Pointer Finger

Shape Ups

Shock

Sweat

Harmony •• Josh Groban

The World We Knew (Over and Over)

Angels

Celebrate Me Home

Shape of My Heart (Duet with Leslie Odom Jr.)

Your Face

Both Sides Now (Duet with Sara Bareilles)

She

The Impossible Dream

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

It’s Now or Never

I Can’t Make You Love Me

The Fullest (feat. Kirk Franklin)

Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞ •• Kali Uchis

la luna enamorada

fue mejor (w/ PARTYNEXTDOOR)

//aguardiente y limón %ᵕ‿‿ᵕ%

¡aquí yo mando! (w/ Rico Nasty)

vaya con dios

que te pedí//

quiero sentirme bien

telepatía

de nadie

no eres tu (soy yo)

te pongo mal (prendelo) [w/ Jowell y Randy]

la luz (Fín) [w/ Jhay Cortez]

ángel sin cielo

III •• Lindstrøm x Prins Thomas

Grand Finale

Martin 5000

Small Stream

Oranges

Harmonia

Birdstrike

Good News •• Megan Thee Stallion

Shots Fired

Circles

Cry Baby (ft. DaBaby)

Do It on the Tip (ft. City Girls)

Sugar Baby

Movie (ft. Lil Durk)

Freaky Girls (ft. SZA)

Body

What’s New

Work That

Intercourse (ft. Popcaan)

Go Crazy (ft. Big Sean & 2 Chainz)

Don’t Rock Me To Sleep

Outside

Savage Remix (ft. Beyoncé)

Girls in the Hood

Don’t Stop (ft. Young Thug)

Copycat Killer [EP] •• Phoebe Bridgers x Rob Moose

Kyoto (Copycat Killer Version)

Savior Complex (Copycat Killer Version)

Chinese Satellite (Copycat Killer Version)

Punisher (Copycat Killer Version)

Euphoric Sad Songs [EP] •• RAYE

Love Me Again

Change Your Mind

Regardless (ft. Rudimental)

Secrets (ft. Regard)

Natalie Don’t

All Dressed Up

Please Don’t Touch

Walk on By

Love of Your Life

Dimensional Stardust •• Rob Mazurek - Exploding Star Orchestra

Sun Core Tet (Parable 99)

A Wrinkle in Time Sets Concentric Circles Reeling

Galaxy 1000

The Careening Prism Within (Parable 43)

Abstract Dark Energy (Parable 9)

Parable of Inclusion

Dimensional Stardust (Parable 33)

Minerals Bionic Stereo

Parable 3000 (We All Come From Somewhere Else)

Autumn Pleiades

While the World Was Burning •• SAINt JHN

Sucks to Be You

Switching Sides

Freedom Is Priceless

Gorgeous

High School Reunion, Prom (ft. Lil Uzi Vert)

Monica Lewinsky, Election Year (ft. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie & DaBaby)

Roses (Remix) [ft. Future]

Pray 4 Me (ft. Kanye West)

Quarantine Wifey (ft. JID)

Time for Demons

Ransom (ft. 6lack & Kehlani)

Back on the Ledge

Roses (Imanbek Remix)

ALIAS •• Shygirl

TWELVE

SLIME

FREAK

TASTY

LENG

BAWDY

SIREN

Coping Mechanisms •• Tayla Parx

Sad

Dance Alone

System

Stare

Fixerupper

Bricks

Residue

Justified

NonChalant

Nevermind

Last Words

You Don’t Know

LIVE DRUGS •• The War on Drugs

An Ocean Between the Waves (Live)

Pain (Live)

Strangest Thing (Live)

Red Eyes (Live)

Thinking of a Place (Live)

Buenos Aires Beach (Live)

Accidentally Like a Martyr (Live)

Eyes to the Wind (Live)

Under the Pressure (Live)

In Reverse (Live)

SINGLES

NEW

“Revolutionary Love” •• Ani DiFranco

“Dido’s Lament” •• Annie Lennox

“My Head & My Heart” •• Ava Max

“Endless Me, Endlessly” •• Baio

“What Do You Say When I’m Not There?” •• Baio

“45” •• Bleachers

“chinatown” •• Bleachers x Bruce Springsteen

“Thousand Pills” •• Boldy James x Stove God Cooks

“gf haircut” •• dad sports

“Scratchcard Lanyard” •• Dry Cleaning

“Angel Rock” •• Dua Saleh

“Best Rapper in the Fuckin World” •• GoldLink

“Anywhere” •• Hannah’s Little Sister

“Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” •• Jason Derulo x Nuka

“Pick Up Your Feelings” •• Jazmine Sullivan

“Daddy Boyfriend” •• Jessica Lea Mayfield

“Emotional Abandonment” •• Jessica Lea Mayfield

“Hitman” •• Kelly Rowland & NFL

“Summertime The Gershwin Version” •• Lana Del Rey

“Undone” •• Lande Hekt

“Man’s World” •• MARINA

“Prisoner” •• Miley Cyrus x Dua Lipa

“The Lighthouse Keeper” •• Sam Smith

“Is It Just Me?” •• Sasha Sloan x Charlie Puth

“Shameika Said” •• Shameika x Fiona Apple

“Monster” •• Shawn Mendes x Justin Bieber

“Hey Boy” •• Sia

“nhs” •• slowthai

“Plead Insanity” •• Spring Silver x Sad13 x Bartees Strange

“feel good” •• Tierra Whack

“Peppers and Onions” •• Tierra Whack

“Flawed” •• Wale x Gunna

“Tried to Tell You” •• The Weather Station

REMIXES

“Valley of One Thousand Perfumes (Orchestral Version)” •• Mary Timony

“Lifetime (Planningtorock ‘Let It Happen’ Remix)” •• Romy x Planningtorock

“Boys Who Don’t Wanna Be Boys (U.S. Girls Live from The Peppermint Lounge Remix)” •• Seth Bogart x U.S. Girls

COVERS

“Waverly” (Samia cover) •• Anjimile

“Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” •• Betty Who

“Deacon Blues” (Steely Dan cover) •• Bill Callahan x Bonnie Prince Billy x Bill McKay

“Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” •• Black Pumas

“Clementine” (Elliott smith cover) •• Bonny Light Horseman

“The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” (Roberta Flacke cover) •• James Blake

“The First Noel” •• Jazmine Sullivan x Cory Henry

“A Dreamer’s Holiday” (Perry Como cover) •• Julien Baker

MUSIC VIDEOS

“JUMPING SHIP” •• Amaarae x Kojey Radical x Cruel Santino (dir. Remi Laudat)

“34+35″ •• Ariana Grande (dir. Director X)

“Shameika” •• Fiona Apple (dir. Matthias Brown)

“Don’t Underestimate Midwest American Sun” •• Kevin Morby (dir. Johnny Eastlund x Dylan Isbell)

"Star” •• LOOΠΔ (dir. MOSWANTD)

“Waverly” •• Samia (dir. Samia Finnerty x Matt Hixon)

“Kerosene” •• Yves Tumor x Diana Gordon (dir. Cody Critcheloe)

[junker-town]

What to expect during the NBA’s return, in a 5-minute read

A quick scan of where all 22 teams stand ahead of the league’s return.

The NBA is almost officially back, kicking off its season on July 30. Teams have been playing in scrimmages over the last week and we are already drooling over Bol Bol balling (nods to the Pun Master Prada) and shaking our heads at Lou Williams “dining” decisions. This is your standard mix of on-court small sample size overreaction and off-court drama stories providing some measure of normalcy in these un-normal times. Thank you, NBA!

To figure out where the league stands after a four-month hiatus, we checked in with our NBA team sites from around the SB Nation network. Their intimate familiarity with their franchises, gives us an inside look about what to expect when the league kicks back off.

Eastern Conference:

The Bucks’ time has arrived

Everything in the East starts in Milwaukee which is so much fun to say after years and years of everything in the East starting in LeBron. And, of course, everything in Milwaukee starts with the MVP Giannis. But as Brew Hoop points out, the real strength of this team is its league-leading defense that dominates at the rim, hates committing fouls and gobbles up defensive rebounds. And yeah, if they turn you over good luck stopping Antetokounmpo in transition. If they have an Achilles heal (obligatory greek reference) on that end it’s allowing three-point shots. They are 13th in opponent accuracy from deep but third in attempts allowed. The Celtics, Raptors and Sixers are 3rd, 4th and 5th in three-point percentage so that might be a real problem for the Bucks.

The Raptors are still confident

The reigning NBA Champion Raptors beat the Bucks in the playoffs last year and think they have the identity, cohesion and team defense to compete again if they can muster enough offensive punch. Daniel Reynolds from Raps HQ explains the identity advantage:

There are likely to be some kinks to work out as every team retakes the floor after a months-long lay-off. Players will have to get back into their shooting groove, get their conditioning up, remind themselves of what they’re doing at any given time. The Raptors? Well, they’ve been playing this kind of defense for some time now — I’m of the opinion it won’t take as much or as long to bring it all back.

What about the Celtics and the Sixers?

Boston Exceptionalism is still very much a thing and CelticsBlog is putting their high hopes on the now broader shoulders of Jayson Tatum who reportedly from a couple of Zoom calls, is noticeably bigger and defined in the upper body area. #NBAMuscleWatch lives! Health is once again a concern for the C’s with Kemba Walker’s knee and front court size is an issue to watch.

The young Sixers benefited from the long break to rest Joel Embiid who, according to our friends at Liberty Ballers, has a “long … storied … frustrating injury history towards the end of the season” and even more notably saw Ben Simmons use the time to fully recover from a back injury suffered in February and move to power forward. The mismatches he’ll create will be pure NBA gold.

Okay, now for the rest of the East?

When you get past the top four teams in the East things get...less virulent (too soon?). And by top four we clearly are leaving out the Miami Heat who hold the actual fourth seed. Maybe we’re disrespecting Spoelstra’s squad but it’s hard to see how that roster makes much noise in the playoffs. Per Hot Hot Hoops, the Heat had success throughout the regular season by being a tough defensive team with great three-point shooting and will stick to that plan.

As for the rest, the Nets are in Orlando missing eight (8!) roster players so get ready for a lot of Caris LeVert and Jamal Crawford playing with G-league guys. At least expectations are low. Orlando is in Orlando with slightly higher hopes thanks to their depth and Aaron Gordon’s improved playmaking which, per Orlando Pinstriped Post, showed great improvement before the pause. The Pacers roster has been in flux with the maybe healthy Victor Oladipo and the sore-footed Domantas Sabonis among the many questions Indy Cornrows has for the restart. And then there’s the Wizards. They are fourth-best at forcing turnovers so that’s good but there’s everything else like having the worst NBA defense this season and other interesting facts you can read about at Bullets Forever should you be a Wizards fan or one of Bradley Beal’s large siblings.

Western Conference:

Welcome to the battle of Los Angeles

I’m a “journey is better than the destination” person but the one thing that I dislike the most about the NBA is how predictable the playoffs usually are. And this year we are on a predetermined course to the Battle of LA featuring two amazing basketball teams. It really is a shame this inevitable series won’t be played in front of a gazillion rabid Lakers fans and noted Clipper celeb Billy Crystal. But before we get to that series there are games to be played and the Lakers, according to Silver Screen and Roll, have three glaring weaknesses. 1) Team LeBron has been a below average team in the half court and 2) ranked 20th in three-point shooting accuracy (35.8%). Those could be real issues against a good defensive team like the Clippers and even more so in a Finals matchup against the Bucks. Oh, and 3) the Lakers are not great (73%) at the free-throw line but I wouldn’t lose sleep over that. On the plus side, of course, is the star power for both of these teams which is the oil that lubes the NBA machine.

For the Clippers the difference could be their depth and front court versatility with centers Ivica Zubac if they want to play big and Montrezl Harrell if they want to go small and athletic. Plus they now have Joakim Noah if they want to play a bit crazy. Combine that with noted playoff overachiever Kawhi Leonard and a fully healthy Paul George on the wing and it’s pretty easy to see how the Clips make their first conference finals in franchise history. All that depth could be a problem though. Sabreena Merchant at Clips Nation explains:

More talent is always a good thing, but Rivers will have to keep a lot of egos in check to manage his rotations.

The next four teams in the West are good. Really good.

...But they all have significant questions. Denver brings a top-ten offense lead by Nikola “Skinny” Jokic and a host of young talent. It should be a big progression year for the Nuggets but as Denver Stiffs explains they are lacking in big defensive wings to matchup with the Los Angles stars. The Rockets are famously small but The Dream Shake thinks they also suffer from a case of hot/cold shooting which doesn’t bode well for a team that can’t rebound. Chris Paul has exceeded every and any expectation in OKC but even Welcome to Loud City is worried about rust for a Thunder team with a new look and lack of three-point shooting. This brings us to the Utah Jazz who saw their two stars feuding, lost a key player to injury and per SLC Dunk aren’t exactly stable:

The Jazz apparently decided to spend 2020 doing their best audition for the title character in a stage play production of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Utah’s heavily inconsistent nature, going from great team to league bottom feeder was giving fans serious tonal whiplash.

Our friends at Mavs Moneyball, Grizzly Bear Blues and The Bird Writes will probably not enjoy being lumped together in this category of “others” but that’s just the reality in the West. Ja Morant, Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson are great fun but they do not (yet!) make great basketball teams. Sorry, friends. Meanwhile, the mature Spurs and Blazers have been pushed below the cutoff line for the playoffs but Blazers Edge rightly isn’t ready to give up on Dame Lillard, “With the Blazers’ sights set on the playoffs, their backcourt will go down fighting.” I’m sure that’s true. Also, there’s Suns and Kings who are easy to mock but never forget either of these teams in the East would be very much in the playoff hunt and fans of bad teams do interesting thing.