#lets see how long i hold this in my drafts for. from jan 6

[dutchwinter]

its a Circa Survive: Live at the Shrine (2014) - DVD kinda day

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Wonder Woman 1984

The first 3/4 of 2017’s Wonder Woman was my favorite film of that year. The last 1/4 was my least favorite film of that year. What can I say, I have a complicated relationship with the DCEU, and the part I keep getting disappointed by is the big smash-em-up, explosions everywhere, muddy mess of orange/blue filter in the “climactic showdown” between hero and villain. I just don’t have the patience for it anymore, and I was so hoping that the Jazzercise vibes of Wonder Woman 1984 would do something different. 

As it turns out, this movie was trying to warn me like so many stories that have come before - be careful what you wish for. Just how badly did my wish go bad? Well...

I’d already heard some questionable things about the movie before I tuned in, so my expectations were tempered but I guess it was on me. I should have known better than to wish for a story with reasonable pacing, some kind of consistent tone, villains with discernable motivation, or a Wonder Woman movie that was actually about fucking Wonder Woman. I’m not even mad as much as I am puzzled. That and tormented by Pedro Pascal’s manic televangelist energy in my dreams. 

Some thoughts:

I have never wanted to go anywhere as much as I want to in 2020, and the place I want to go more than any other is Themyscira. Love this first sequence. Why is the whole movie not about Themyscira??

If the Olympics were like this whole long Amazonian warrior triathlon, I would be WAY more into track and field. 

Also I legit don’t understand the problem with her taking the short path? Like, it’s there for a reason? She just caught up to her horse? Someone explain this to me.

So this mall...basically the hub of American commerce in the 80s that was practically printing money, it made it so fast...is secretly a front for antiquities trading on the black market? And these unorganized-ass dipshit criminals who seemingly just walked in off the street and decided to engage in some light robbery today are after antiquities? Sure, Jan.

Ohh I miss Waldenbooks so much!

This thwarting of crime sequence in the mall feels so...cheesy. Schlocky, almost. Like a 50s comic book come to life. I dunno, it just doesn’t feel like the tone I was expecting. In the context of the whole film, we really blew our action load in these first 2 sequences, and also this is the last point in the movie in which Diana actually resembles her character from the first film.

I would also be stammery and blushy when talking to Diana Prince for the first (and second) time, but I’m kinda getting a gay vibe from Barbara. This meet-cute + date is definitely playing up romantic vibes. Kristen Wiig is so good at characters like these - in less than 2 scenes, I have such a clear picture of who Barbara is, what she wants, what she fears, and that’s all down to Wiig’s choices. [ETA: This makes it all the more infuriating when Barbara suddenly is like “I want to be an apex predator” when nothing about her character’s reaction to getting positive attention indicates she would want to start shitting all over everyone else.]

Pedro Pascal is skeeving me out as our villain Max Lord, which really just shows his range, because normally I love him and find him wildly charming in everything. But he’s playing this oil baron creep to the max, as they would say in the parlance of the 80s, and it makes my skin crawl. 

The mechanics of how Steve Trevor returns are wildly confusing. Why is this other guy involved at all? Are we supposed to be ok with the idea of Diana fucking *some other dude’s body* without his consent just because Steve’s spirit/consciousness/whatever is inside the guy? Also that guy DEFINITELY got fired from his job after going AWOL for a whole week, right? 

I am thrilled with Steve’s clothes montage. One of my favorite things in any 80s film, and his enthusiasm really sells it.

I do really like Diana and Steve playing detective, following clues, crafting theories. In spite of the absolute dumbassery of how Steve came back, Chris Pine and Gal Gadot have incredible chemistry and I do find their scenes together delightful. 

I think that’s why it’s so frustrating to me the way their entire relationship was handled. If the whole point of the wish going bad is that it has a cost, wouldn’t it have been better, instead of making Diana weak, to have Steve slowly start to be more and more of an asshole - aka not the Steve Diana remembered and loved? Make her realize that the Steve she knew and loved is really gone and she has to stop letting his memory hold her hostage. Maybe his last moment of self-awareness would be realizing that this wasn’t who he really was, and she was better off just remembering who he was and moving on rather than trying to hold on to this thing that isn’t good for her? 

The sequence with the fireworks made me emotional. The only time I’ve ever been on a plane on the 4th of July was when I was coming back from a visit with my uncle in Dallas. He had flown me, my mom, and my grandma down for a whirlwind trip, and we flew back the night of the 4th. I got to see fireworks from above for the first time, and it felt so magical. My uncle passed away 2 months ago, and feeling that magic again (via Diana and Steve) made me miss him and all the adventure he brought into my life something fierce.

Am I supposed to be like...anti- the idea of Barbara absolutely kicking the shit out of this drunk catcaller who attempted to assault her earlier in the movie? It feels like the film wants us to be like “oh no that’s bad” but my empathy goes on vacation for attempted rapists. 

Like...did anyone do ANY kind of fact-checking on this script? The Maya haven’t been “wiped from the face of the earth” there are still 6 million of them living in Central and South America. Escalators were invented in the 1890s for fucks’ sake. PLANES IN THE 80S DONT WORK LIKE PLANES IN 1918. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT ALL THOSE SWITCHES DO STEVE. Also...just because the plane is invisible doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist anymore. Isn’t the whole point of radar to detect things that you can’t, y’know, SEE? Seriously, how many people fiddled with this script until it turned into an incomprehensible mess?

Did I Cry? OK yeah, I did when Diana and Steve had their conversation after they escaped the White House. But I feel like I should have cried more then, as well as earlier when Diana tells Steve that she only wants this one thing. I love Gal Gadot in this role, but I do wish her acting expressed a little more emotional depth and honesty for the moments like this that should really tug on the heartstrings.

I know Wonder Woman is bulletproof, but are we saying she’s also...immune to electricity? 

If there’s one thing that living through a global pandemic has taught me, it’s that we can’t rely on the inherent responsibility of every individual person to do the right thing in order to save their community (or the world). So the climax of this film really feels like a big ol’ fictional FUCK YOU to every person who has been quarantining since March as the US government twiddles their thumbs and relies on personal choice to lower infection rates. I know they made this film during 2019 and had no idea what would be coming, but this entire sequence was the most horrifying, short-sighted, offensive way to have good overcome evil I could imagine for a 2020 movie. “Just count on people to do the right thing and everything will be fine!” We’re WELL FUCKING PAST THAT, Diana. 

And maybe this is my debbie downer pessimistic ass, but the message “the world is a beautiful place the way it was” feels like some real bullshit. Do you mean the world is a flawed, complicated place where beautiful things exist DESPITE all the violence, inequality, and poverty? Ok, that I’ll buy, for sure. But ��Everything was fine the way it was!” is uhh not what I would have gone with. That’s a first draft edit if ever I heard one. Seriously, how did this make it through MULTIPLE studio drafts and no one thought to point this out?  

I literally had to go back after the credits were over and rewind to figure out what happened to Pedro Pascal at the end. If I not only don’t care, but also can’t remember what happened to the villain at the end of the movie, that’s a big motherfucking problem.

I was giddily delighted by that first post-credits scene though! Probably the biggest moment of joy I felt during the film.

For being a Wonder Woman movie, it feels like there’s so little actual Wonder Woman IN the movie. The first film is rooted firmly in Diana finding her place in the world, understanding and coming into her power. This feels like she’s a bystander in her own life, and her most significant moments are always in the context of someone else’s narrative arc. And there’s nothing that comes even close to the breathless wonder of that No-Man’s-Land scene, aka one of the best superhero movie moments of all time. 

This doesn’t have the knowing wink of Aquaman or the nuanced character arcs of Birds of Prey. It doesn’t have the childish glee of Shazam! or any of the nonsensical grimdark bullshit of Zack Snyder’s entire ouvre. It feels like Wonder Woman 1984 suffers the same fate as its protagonist - a profound lack of presence or drive. Sure there are some fun sequences, and the actors are doing the best they can with a weak script, but it’s just not enough to save it. In a year where I saw so few contemporary films (focusing more on catching up on past films I’d missed), I can’t think of one that disappointed me more. 

[muslims-and-exmuslims]

Ex-Muslim Letters: 26 year old woman from Saudi Arabia

Image courtesy: Anna Remarchuk

Anonymous asked:  

Hello, this is a 26 year old woman from Saudi Arabia. I renounced religion in 2015 and I have been living in fear since then. I spoke out and shared some of what I think with my family. I lived in isolation since then in the fear I might get in trouble again. I travelled abroad for my studies for two years and came back when I couldn't get a financial support. Now I am back to the same kind of "life" and isolation. I can't even secure a job. I need your advice.

Reply (from @rayhana): 

Greetings from the UK. Thank you for your message. I am very sorry to hear that you are going through such a hardship in an unsafe environment as you described. I hope you find strength in these difficult times. You are not alone. We are with you.

Let’s break down your situation into two core problems, for simplicity: 

Problem 1: You have renounced your faith in 2015. You are effectively an Ex-Musilm in a country where leaving Islam is punishable by death. You have shared some of your views with your family which means this may have or will cause you trouble - potentially, putting your life in danger. 

Problem 2: You are unable to secure a job that can guarantee you with enough money to afford your own safe accommodation in a community you can trust. Without a job, you probably don’t have a steady flow of income for future savings which can help you leave a country where you are at risk of being killed. 

Problem 1, the fact that you are an Ex-Muslim and have expressed some of your views about leaving the faith with your family, puts your life in danger anyway whether or not you have a job. And if you are under male guardianship prevented from leaving the house and getting help, it doesn’t matter whether or not you get a job. 

So let’s tackle Problem 1 in this reply. 

Action Plan to tackle #1: Getting you to safety

How long might it take? You know it better. Perhaps a minimum 6 months from contacting organisations who can help you to finally moving to a safe country, let's say Denmark? So if you start on your plan today (24th December 2020), then, when you re-read this reply again in July 2020, you might be in Denmark, rebuilding a new life. Let’s see how we can get you there. 

Step 1: What do you need? Ideally, research a route to seek asylum in a country under the Geneva Convention that protects your human rights, particularly, freedom from religion. (Get it done by: 3 weeks max, mid-Jan)

I can’t recommend which country you should get a direct flight to (Yes, direct flight. NO TRANSIT IN NON-EU COUNTRIES BECAUSE SAUDI GOVT/PARENTS USE LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO KIDNAP THEIR DAUGHTERS). But I can, based on reports, say which countries to avoid. By all means, avoid Turkey, Philippines, India, any country in the Middle East, Bangladesh, Pakistan. Actually, following is a map of the countries you should avoid. Avoid all the countries whose maps are black or dark pink. This map is a good proxy because whether you are an Ex-Muslim, a liberal Muslim or an LGBT+ person, the risks you face is the same. 

Be aware of human trafficking gangs when you leave the country: You should also avoid these countries because, since you are a young woman, you are a target of international sex trafficking gangs who look for women like you and promise you with a “job” and “new life” and end up taking your passport and selling you to prostitution. 

Be aware of kidnapping gangs when you leave the country: You should also be selective about who you tell and stay in touch with when you leave Saudi Arabia and travel to your destination country. This is because, Saudi Arabia and much of the Middle East is heavily guarded by Islamist spies and moneymaker who will help your ‘kidnappers’ to find you by leaking your address, contact number, social media profiles in exchange of good sum of money. Once your Saudi guardians know where you are escaping to, they may contact your airline flight or the destination government to arrest you. This is why you need to avoid these following countries with black map:

Step 2: Is asylum the right decision for you? If Yes, START PREPARING. (Get it done by: 4-8 weeks, 29 Feb 2020)

Head over to the website of UNHCR's Refugee Agency: https://help.unhcr.org/#_ga=2.36710247.670686335.1577196824-2037898764.1577196824

Allocate 1-2 days max to familiarise with the UNHCR's guides on seeking asylum. Make a list of the agencies who can help.

Allocate 2-4 days to familiarise with these organisations who help Muslim and Ex-Muslim dissents.

Humanists UK

Pen English

Pen International  

Centre for Inquiry

Human Rights Watch

Red Cross

Once you are confident about their remit, send an email to them asking if they have any advice or a social worker who can help you.

Step 3: Get a trusted journalist to bring light to your story. (Get it done by: 4-6 weeks max, mid-Feb)

We suggest you contact the CPJ or the ICIJ and ask to speak to a journalist. 

A journalist is a safer contact than people without professional capacity  who may introduce themselves to you as a “secular Muslim” or an “Ex-Muslim”. This is because journalists act within their professional capacity (there is an audit trail) so they will not cheat you or leak your information to your kidnappers.

And in the event that you are kidnapped, or killed, your journalist can spread the word across to help and rescue you.

Step 4: Gather evidence - ALL OF IT. (Get it done by: past evidence, 2 weeks max, mid-Jan, new evidence: as it happens)

If you have received new threatening messages, it means your life may be in immediate danger. In that case, since the Saudi police might be counterproductive because you are an Ex-Muslim, try contacting this and this and ask for help. We can’t guarantee they will save you but they are probably your best bet.

Go back to your old Facebook, email account, WhatsApp messages etc. dating back to 2014 or 2015. If you have received death threats or threats of violence or abusive messages from your family or anyone within Saudi Arabia for leaving Islam, save their screenshot. And save their backup copies in a cloud server, such as Google Drive. 

Step 5: Get a lawyer (get it done by: 8-12 weeks, by early April 2020)

You need a trusted lawyer to support your asylum application once you decide where to rebuild your new life. We cannot recommend any lawyer without a safety check. Perhaps start with Lawyers Without Borders? Also, perhaps CPJ and ICIJ can help you find a good lawyer. 

Step 6: Write your statement (Get it done by: 4 weeks, by April 2020 - update as you gather new evidence on events etc.)

It is worth starting from now, to draft your full situation in a document, to build a full picture of what is going on with your life, why your life is in danger and explain the evidence to support it. 

Make sure you have a chronological detailed list of events, and match it with evidence. 

Sadly, this is an anti-refugee, populist and polarised era. Without evidence, you will not get any help from the West because many westerners are afraid of Islamists and don’t want to help Ex-Muslims because they think it is “Islamophobic” to leave Islam. So make sure you hold on to your evidence. 

Step 7: Do you have the money to buy plane tickets? Buy food? Rent a safe house in a completely new country? GET YOUR FINANCES IN ORDER. (Get it done by: start NOW, track progress mid April 2020)

Hold onto your savings in your bank, as well your assets. Make sure no one except you have access to them. 

If you don’t have the funds to afford asylum or travel to a safe country, consider crowdfunding. 

Make sure you have some cash with you as an emergency fund in case you lose access to your online bank. 

Step 8: Have the fund, journalist, and legal support you need? Get ready for asylum. (Start by May/June - start early because bureaucracy will slow you down).

This is the main and most difficult bit. 

Discuss with your legal representative, UNHRC, journalist on what is the best option for you to leave the country. Can you obtain a visitor visa to an EU country? 

Set the date of your travel. Don’t tell anyone you are seeking asylum except for an accredited journalist, trusted lawyer as mentioned earlier. If you are escaping to Denmark, tell your friends and family you are going to Australia. 

Pack up the essentials: 

Your passport

Your medical and academic certificates

Your valuable assets: gold (protect them from thieves - you can later convert them to cash if you run out of money)

Get a new phone and a new laptop. Leave your old IT equipment in Saudi Arabia so that you cannot be traced by Saudi police. A fresh start means a fresh start.

     5. Plan your travel. And be viligant when you do so.

Get a direct flight. For example, direct flight from Riyadh to Copenhagen. No transit, No changes. 

Before you arrive at your destination airport, either ask a representative from your lawyer, or your journalist to arrange to collect you from the airport. Before your plane lands, you should know the name and face of who you are meeting first, the taxi (number) where you will be traveling to, the address where you are going and potentially that country’s police and emergency number, e.g, 911, 999 or 111. Also, make a note of that country’s counter extremism hotline. In the worst case, call them. 

Once you have landed in your new country, make sure you are meeting the people you verified earlier through your legal, journalist reps. Waste no time before going straight through the asylum process and meanwhile make sure you have a safe accommodation. 

If you want to change how your life is today, it will not be an easy task. But you are not alone. Help is out there. You are looking at 6 to 12 months of struggle, if you want to change your life starting from today. Next year on this day you might be living a new life, breathing fresh air in Denmark, or Switzerland or Canada; or still stuck in Saudi Arabia in a life that feels like a prison cell. Or 30 years from now on this day when you are 56, you are still living the same life in Saudi Arabia, regretting that today as you read this, you did not gather some extra courage to change your life. I hope you find that extra courage. I know, from your letter, that you are already full of courage. When is the right time to turn that courage into action? You decide that. The world is ready when you are ready.

And if you do choose to put your courage to action starting from today, I hope I hear from you again - perhaps in January  when you have progressed with gathering evidence, finding some trusted journalists and lawyers to help you? 

I can’t wait to see you happier, and braver. 

Look forward to hearing from you again.

Lots of love. Merry Christmas and have an excellent start of the year.

Rayhana Committee to Protect Muslims and Ex-Muslims 

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WORK ETHIC AND RELATIVITY

It's clearly an abuse of the system, and the latter is not simply a constant fraction of the size it turned out later to be useful in some worldly way. But there are limits to how well this can be done, no matter how small it is. There's no switch inside you that magically flips when you turn a certain age would point into the case and say that they didn't have the courage of their convictions, and that probably doesn't surprise would-be founders. Try a patent search for that phrase and see how many results you get. Fundraising is just a means to an end. The important thing is to be young. But once they get started, interest takes over, and discipline is no longer necessary. The way not to be desperate. What's lame is when they use the term Collison installation for the technique they invented. It has fabulous weather, which makes it significantly better than the soul-crushing sprawl of most other American cities.

Drew Houston did work on a problem you have? People who get rich from startups fund new ones. You can't afford the time it takes to talk to all potential investors in parallel and push back on exploding offers with excessively short deadlines, that will almost never happen.1 Both make it harder for new silicon valleys are Boulder and Portland. Whereas I suspect over at General Motors the marketing people are telling the designers, Most people who buy SUVs do it to seem manly, not to stop and fight.2 The most dynamic part of the conversation I'll be forced to come up with will not merely be an inborn trait in humans. You're also surrounded by other people trying to solve: how to have a web-based email service with good spam filtering. The centralizing effect of venture firms is a double one: they cause startups to form around them, and this trend has decades left to run.3 Since a successful startup is going to be entering a market that looks small but which will turn out to be bad.

You can see how great a hold taste is subjective and wanted to kill it once and for all. In either case you let yourself get far downwind of good places to land, your options narrow uncomfortably. Of course, a would-be silicon valley faces an obstacle the original one didn't: it has to grow organically. If you want to do.4 Mark Zuckerberg will never get to bum around a foreign country. There are more and bolder investors in Silicon Valley don't make anything, there's nothing they can be sued for. For Einstein, relativity wasn't a book full of hard ideas, in others they're deliberately written in an obscure way to seem as if they're committing, but which doesn't actually commit them. For example, in preindustrial societies, or how to program computers, or what life was really like in preindustrial societies, or how to program computers, or what constitutes a good dessert, but about whom they feel some misgivings personally. That is certainly true; in fact it will usually be enough to set things rolling. It only spread to places where there was a strong middle class—countries where a private citizen could make a fortune without having it confiscated. Some of the most successful companies we've funded, Octopart, is currently locked in a classic battle of good versus evil. It would be a great problem to have.

Colleges are similar enough that if you can.5 Plenty of people who are really good at lying to tell members of some profession the most common mistakes young founders make is not to try to figure something out. There's no reason to suppose there's any limit to the amount of effort a startup usually puts into a version one, it would be Fred. If you don't know who needs to know something.6 But even then, not immediately. Patents, like police, are involved in many abuses. There are too many dialects of Lisp. But none of the existing solutions are good enough. For nearly all of history the success of your company. You can see this most clearly in New York, recruiting new users and helping existing ones improve their listings. That principle, like the idea that professors should do research as well as money.7 They can teach students about startups?

Hardware startups face an obstacle that software startups don't. At most colleges, it's not surprising we find it funny when a character, even one we like, slips on a banana peel? Occasionally it's obvious from the beginning when there's a path out of an idea? In other words, no one knows who the best programmers are overall. He likes to observe startups for a while at least, tends to require long stretches of uninterrupted time to work. Well, therein lies half the work of essay writing.8 I just gave up. The two-job career. Inexperienced founders read about famous startups doing what was type A fundraising, and decide they should raise money too, since that seems to be how startups work. Colleges are similar enough that if you can't explain your plans concisely, you don't, and that's actually very valuable information.

That was all it took to start successful startups. And who can reasonably expect more of a self fulfilling prophecy than the uphills. The idea of them making startup investments is comic.9 That's how bad the problem has become.10 Fortunately you can also watch real doctors, by volunteering in hospitals. One is that a real essay and the things one has to write in school is that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Whether cause or effect, this spirit pervaded early universities. Under the present rules, patents are part of the economy always does, in everything from salaries to standards of dress. Whereas I suspect over at General Motors the marketing people are telling the designers, Most people who buy SUVs do it to seem manly, not to stop and fight. But she never does.

Fortran isn't good enough at simulations. Interfaces, as Geoffrey James has said, should follow the principle of least astonishment. And what happens to the company during fundraising, growth will slow. I see someone laugh as they read a draft of an essay. The random college kid you talk to investors your m. 7% is the right amount of stock to give him. In the past this has not been a 100% indicator of success if only anything were but much better than random. How do you do? But that test is not as simple as it sounds.11 Understanding all the implications of what was said to them, they had the luxury of curiosity they rediscovered what we call the classics. And open and good. As usual, by Demo Day about half the startups were doing something significantly different than they started with.

Notes

Selina Tobaccowala stopped to think about, and the cost of writing software. This is an acceptable excuse, but they seem like I overstated the case. We Getting a Divorce? The company may not be led by a central authority according to certain somewhat depressing rules many of the reasons startups are competitive like running, not the primary cause.

I know it's a significant number. They thought I was writing this.

The variation in productivity is the new top story. The Roman commander specifically ordered that he could accept it.

The real decline seems to them.

I was living in a series. There are titles between associate and partner, which can vary a lot of time on, cook up a solution, and I bicycled to University Ave in Palo Alto, but have no idea whether this happens it will seem dumb in 100 years ago. Startups that don't scale is to get users to observe—e. We didn't know ourselves which VC firms.

And the reason this subject is so contentious is that they can get cheap plane tickets, but suburbs are so intellectually dishonest in that so many trade publications nominally have a connection with Aristotle, but Joshua Schachter tells me it was not just on the cover story of Business Week, 31 Jan 2005.

Even if the value of their core values is Don't be evil, they could not have gotten away with dropping Java in the Neolithic period. In my current filter, dick has a similar logic, one could argue that the worm might have done all they could imagine needing in their experiences came not with the earlier stage startups, who've already made the decision. There need to, so they'll understand how lucky they are within any given time I know of no counterexamples, though, so they will fund you one day is the way we pitch startup school was that they use the name of a large chunk of this essay talks about the size of the funds we raised was difficult, and that there's no lower bound to its precision. In the early adopters.

It did not help, the higher the walls become. So what ends up happening is that the highest returns, it's easy for small children, with the buyer's picture on the relative weights?

It's a strange feeling of being absorbed by the financial controls of World War II had disappeared in a startup to an associate if you know about a related phenomenon: he found it easier to sell hardware without trying to capture the service revenue as well. Like the Aeneid, Paradise Lost is a cause.

In the thirties his support of the current edition, which are a small amount of stock the VCs should be. Give the founders of failing startups would even be symbiotic, because sometimes artists unconsciously use tricks by imitating art that does.

So much better than Jessica. So it is generally the common stock holders who take the hit.

Thanks to Ming-Hay Luk of the Berkeley CSUA, Paul Kedrosky, Peter Eng, Ed Dumbill, and Chris Dixon for smelling so good.

[m0the]

2019 Q1 Goals! (JAN-MAR)

OKAY so in an attempt to make this blogging thing more actually productive for me as a writer, let’s put down some goals so I can publicly hold myself accountable.

In my writerly life, I would like to:

Compile a list of agents to send SMtS to (I will allow myself to use my old spreadsheet from the last time I queried as long as I update the list with any new submission guidelines and add at least 10 new agents)

Get at least two (2) actual query critiques on my query letter (being lenient here because I’ve already edited it to death; this can be in the form of posting in forums or simply asking people to look it over)

Finish the first round of beta reading for SMtS (I still have one more reader and when/if they finish is out of my control, but I will count this goal as fulfilled if I send out final questionnaires to the readers that have finished and make a full list of revisions to do to the manuscript)

Implement the revisions list (will count this goal as fulfilled if all MAJOR developmental changes have been implemented, but let’s try to go for the whole thing)

Write a synopsis draft for SMtS (I hate these but it’s necessary)

Begin/prepare for the second beta reading round for SMtS (for the latter end of the quarter; whether the people I have in mind are available to read at this time is out of my control, but I should at least (1) Reach out and ask (2) Get the book into a proper format instead of a million chapter bundle PDFs and (3) Create a proper questionnaire for comments just in case.)

Write 35,000 words on the sequel to SMtS (assuming the quarter is approx 13 weeks and I’ve been on vacation/in travel recovery for about a week of it already, aiming for a word count of ~500 words x 6 days a week. Included adjustments for additional travel later this quarter.)

In my scientific/academic life, I would like to:

Be accepted to my PhD program (I mean, that’s not really in my control, but it’s still a goal)

Introduce myself to at least three (3) new people in my program/department (potential roommates?)

More goals that are specific to my research projects that I won’t share here (may update post later to how many goals I have)

In my non-working life, I would like to:

Start a regular exercise routine again (let’s try to go for something 1-2x a week)

Get out of the house/be social at least one (1) day every week (for my hermit ass...work doesn’t count for this goal)

Maintain a clean room by the end of the quarter (I get to “tornado happened here” territory so damn easily)

Eat three meals a day at least five (5) days every week/maintain a minimum weight of at least 100 lbs by the end of the quarter (how sad is it that this has to be a goal for me) 

Get at least two (2) of my loved ones some sort of surprise gift (just because)

Read at least one (1) new book in genre (SFF, preferably fantasy because I know I default to SF)

Read at least one (1) new book out of genre (nonfiction counts)

Complete at least ten (10) doodles by the end of the quarter (need to up that drawing game)

Total goals: 17 (plus n additional science goals)

I’m deliberately trying to stretch my limits to see just how productive I can push myself to be. At the end of the quarter, I’ll assess how I did, and hopefully I’ll have achieved the majority of the goals!

[hallelujuh]

shay’s favorite tv shows from 2017

this has been in my drafts for.... nine months.... fuck.

Written in December 2017, updates are from September 2018.

Considering how many new, innovative shows are around these days, I didn’t get too adventurous this year, but I’m satisfied with the ones I did watch. I discovered new shows, I was impressed by the shows I’ve been following for years, and I learned to appreciate the work that goes into television more. Here’s my top ten TV shows..

10. Thirteen Reasons Why - In all honestly, this is only here because I haven’t been able to watch Peaky Blinders yet, and it’s probably too late. (UPDATE: Watched it in Jan and it was amazing.) This show received a lot of backlash, and for good reason, although it had its moments. The characters were well-written, the relationships were given depth that is often lacking in other high school-set narratives, and the tone was great. I’ve always loved watching things that make me profoundly sad, and this show did just that. (UPDATE: Season 2 was fucking garbage lmao.)

Standout episode: Tape 1, Side B. It’s a cripplingly depressing show, but this episode stood out as a moment of light in Hannah’s dark reality. Her friendship with Jessica and Alex was nice in the beginning - their banter, them having a spot in the coffee shop. I remember assuming Alex was gay (I believe his actor is, so I wasn’t too off) and thinking that’d be good for Hannah, to have a guy friend who wasn’t interested in her and wouldn’t add relationship drama to her life. Boy, was I wrong. Still, having seen the show at the beginning of the year, this episode is the only one I remember as enjoying, so it gets this spot.

9. A Series of Unfortunate Events - I read the books in elementary school, and they’re one of my favorite series of all time. I’m also a huge fan of the film, though I know most aren’t. So I was very excited for this series, and it didn’t completely disappoint. While I found myself longing for the actors from the 2004 motion picture, and some of the directing decisions weren’t choice, it was cool to see The Miserable Mill finally come to life, and I loved the Baudelaires just as much here as anyone else. I’ll be tuning in to next season, since I’ve very, very excited to see how they handle the next three books. I can’t wait to meet the Quagmire triplets, and Esme, and Jacques! It’ll be awesome. I hope they portray it well, but there’s no film to compare it to from here on out, so maybe it’ll be different.

Standout episode: The Reptile Room: Part One/Two. Like I said, I wasn’t a huge fan of how most of the characters were portrayed in this adaption, but I did love Uncle Monty. He was just as wonderful as he was in the film and books. Watching his interactions with the kids was really nice, and as always, made me wish they could’ve remained with him. Stephano wasn’t as menacing here as he is in the film (that knife scene is the point in the film where you go, “woah, this dude’s for real. he’s scary”), which was a bummer because I still thought Olaf was a laughably bad and incompetent villain by the finale, but I did like Poe’s hysteria, and I really loved the movie theatre scene.

8. Riverdale - Oops I never wrote this dfdsbfjdbfjds.

7. South Park - While we all can agree the last season was a mess, and this one was only a slight improvement, it did have it’s moments. I’ve been a fan for five years now, so at this point, they’ll never disappoint me, tbfh. 

Standout episode: Doubling Down. While Put it Down was wonderful, both satirically and because of Craig and Tweek’s adorable relationship, the eighth episode of the season was my personal favorite (UPDATE: Not sure why ‘cause I didn’t specify then and I’m not sure now.)

6. Dear White People - I didn’t do this one either damn. 

Standout Episode: Chapter V. While the show is a comedic take on racial relations, this episode is an emotional, serious change. The Barry Jenkins-directed episode shows us that the subject is no laughing matter, and it very clearly deserves this spot.

5. Rick and Morty - Yet another show I discovered this year, during the summer. I’d been meaning to watch it for ages, and I finally got around to it. While the fanbase is pretty much poison, the show is pretty damn good. Maybe not what it’s hyped up to be, but great none-the-less. I’m a big fan of adult cartoons, and RaM isn’t entirely satirical like South Park, and it’s not self-aware like BoJack, but it holds up. It’s probably so popular because of how unique it is.

Standout episode: The Ricklantis Mixup. While my personal favorite of Season 3 was The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy, because I adore Jerry, I think we can all agree that the was the best episode of the season, if not the series. Like, really. Holy shit.

4. Gotham - I began watching this show last year, and caught up to season three around halfway through it. It began to drag a bit, admittedly, like it couldn’t carry it’s own weight - but now the show’s on season four, and it gets a little wild sometimes, but it’s holding quite a bit better, I’d say. I was pretty fucking impressed, especially with the Nygmobblepot stuff.

Standout episode: A Dark Knight: Queen Takes Knight. Although Mad City: The Gentle Art of Making Enemies from Season 3 is a close runner-up, for all the loose ends it ties up, and so cleanly, too - the winter finale gets this spot. It had me on the edge of my metaphorical seat (since I was actually curled up in bed) the entire time. While Sophia’s character and her motivations had remained muddy since her introduction, her badassery finally came to the forefront, and it was awesome. The way she tore down Penguin from his throne? Incredible. We know he’ll return, as he has so many times, but really, that was so incredible. Considering he’s my favorite character, I should feel worse. However, Sophia executed her plan so well, I was too awed to hate her. Also, Jerome’s back! I’m extremely excited to see Jerome’s role in the upcoming episodes. (Update: Oh, honey, you got a big storm coming...)

3. BoJack Horseman - I binged the hell out of this show just before season four came out, because it was so creative and thought-provoking and hilariously depressing. The fourth season was notably wonderful in a lot of ways, particularly because of Todd’s sexuality arc (the first out asexual character in a TV show!) and how well it was handled, but also because of the mature themes they took on. Princess Carolyn’s miscarriages, Diane and Mr. PB’s failing marriage, BoJack’s struggle to forgive his mother, Beatrice’s own troubled upbringing, Hollyhock’s eating disorder. I watched the whole season in three days when it was first released, four months ago, and I’m currently considering re-watching it after rereading the summaries of each episode to refresh my memory. I’d forgotten how phenomenal it was. It’s on another level - it really is.

Standout episode: Time’s Arrow. Though there wasn’t a single weak episode this season, this one definitely stood out. Following the tradition of uniquely depressing eleventh episodes, Time’s Arrow focuses on BoJack’s mother and how her turbulent childhood affected her. Gorgeously executed, it makes us pity the woman who made our favorite alcoholic horse the way he is, and it concludes with BoJack making peace with his mother, who he had spent so long resenting. It’s just a gorgeous episode. I think I’m going to rewatch it right now, haha.

2. Mr. Robot - I’ve wanted to watch this show since it came out, but I finally began and finished the first two seasons just weeks before Season 3 came out. Since I’m discussing my favorites of 2017, I won’t be talking about those first two seasons here. I’ll be focusing on Season 3, which has been, in my opinion, incredible. What began as a modern, nerdy take on Fight Club has become so much more; a masterfully dark and suspenseful fictionalized look at the looming political state of our world. We’ve gotten new characters (Irving, who’s a gem), we’ve learned more about older but mysterious characters (poor repressed Dom), we’ve had to say goodbye to old characters (I’m still mad about ******), and best of all, this season has been Tyrell heavy, and we even got to see Elliot make peace with Mr. Robot.

Standout episode: S3/EP8, eps3.7_dont-delete-me.ko - The previous episode had already established a gorgeously melancholy setting through the use of Mac Quayle's gorgeous production 2.0_6-madame3xecutioner.oga, which, as a huge fan of film scores, I instantly fell in love with. The song is featured during a scene I watched several times - the scene when Angela repeatedly rewinds the explosion, unable to cope with the reality of it. It left me feeling similar to the way I had after watching American Beauty for the first time - like the world was a different shade. I thought this would be the only moment the show could invoke that response from me, but then the next episode came out. Unlike Ep. 7, Ep. 8 didn’t have a single moment. The whole episode brimmed with pain and sadness. The show’s already sad, but the lonely, isolated feeling is often overwhelmed by the suspense, drama, and excitement. This episode let the characters hurt without interruption, and it was wonderfully emotional.

1. The Get Down - I was so thrilled when I discovered this show in April, literally a few days after Part 2 had aired. I downloaded all the episodes for a road trip, and literally could not put it down the entire tme. It blended all my favorite things - the art of rap, the origin and evolution of hip hop, how battle rapping/deejaying came to be. The music was stellar, the cinematography was breathtaking, the acting was (for the most part) wonderful, and the cast was fantastic. I’ve seen some criticizing it, because of its occasionally choppy narrative and the fact that Baz Luhrmann added his usual whimsical take on something that was historically fairly dark, but I thought it was flawless. It was definitely groundbreaking in its amount of representation, and it was fun and colorful and emotional and, overall, just absolutely wonderful. Like many others, I was pretty devastated when they cancelled it. I understand why, but I wish it could get the Sense 8 treatment and receive a movie. There’s too many loose ends - it’s a real bummer. Still, I’m grateful we were blessed with this gem of a show at all.

Standout episode: S1/EP11, Only from Exile Can We Come Home - The final episode gets this spot for a single scene; the one where it alternates between Mylene singing “I’m my #1″ in the hotel room with Jackie and all the drag queens, and the scene where an unreleased Miguel song is playing while Dizzy & Thor paint on each other, and then Shao calls Dizzy his “alien brother.” That scene was easily one of my favorites I’ve ever seen in any show, in my entire life. If that episode was a film, that scene alone would guarantee it a spot on my favorite films list. It was that good.

[axiomsofice]

NHL 2021 Prediction: West

1. Colorado: Tampa Bay West. Stacked everywhere. Goalie is the biggest question mark but Grubauer is solid and Francouz can steal the job. In a condensed schedule rotating both will be strong, and might be a bigger problem in the post season. Remember, even a stacked Tampa took a decade of being a top tier team talent wise before they won the Cup, but there’s no reason to expect they won’t run away with the 1 seed. 

2. Vegas: Maybe Centre is an issue, but honestly Stephenson is effective in their system, and Glass could easily be ready for a role in between Stone and Pacioretty. Along with a slighty upgraded D corps thanks to the incoming Pietrangelo (keeping Schmidt would’ve been nice) and a top level tandem in net with Lehner and Fleury that should really pay off in the tight schedule.

3. St. Louis: The questions in net are really the only thing keeping the Blues behind the Golden Knights. Who knows how Binnington will do, let alone expected backup Ville Husso. Ultimately the rest of this team is quite strong, despite the aforementioned departure of Pietrangelo and a long term injury to Tarasenko, there’s enough to offset these losses. Hoffman and Krug are a big part of that, but progress for Thomas or Kyrou, or heck even some more icetime for Dunn could also propel them. A crash course for a playoff series between them and Vegas is very spicy, but at least in the regular season I’m giving the edge to Vegas.

4. Minnesota: After a pretty clear top 3, the West Division’s final playoff spot is tough to decide, but the Wild are the fourth best team in my opinion. They have the one of the strongest defensive team, and well as the best defence corps of the league. Kahkonen and Talbot will have a good chance to excel behind the stingy group. The emergence of Fiala as a dynamic offensive threat, as well as the signing as Kaprizov give a new flair that is much needed. Sure, the centre position leaves a lot to be desired, although Bonino and Eriksson-Ek are solid and Bjugstad is an interesting bet, but thats all that’s really holding this team back from the upper teir of the league. Luckily they have a lot of interesting prospects coming, from Rossi to Beckman, and from Khovanov, to Khusnutdinov.

5. Arizona: Another strong defensive team, I have the the Coyotes just behind the Wild. I think their defence is not quite as good as Minnesota’s, and their forwards have a bit less of an offensive threat. They need Hayton to step up into a very effective top 6 role to take them to the next level and maybe Jan Jenik as well. Given the off ice situation it wouldn’t be surprising to see more players shipped out for prospects and draft picks. 

6. Anaheim: The Ducks could be in line for a quick turn around. Gibson is one of the best goalies in the league, despite how many people want to forget he exists. There’s definitely young players that can step up, from Drysdale and Zegras, to Steel and Comtois, and if a few can have a big impact the Ducks have enough to challenge for a playoff spot. There’s enough there with Lindholm, Getzlaf, Henrique, Rackell, and Silferberg to do some damage. 

7. Los Angeles: The Kings are loaded with prospects, and it’s exciting to imagine how they will all fit together. Turcotte and Byfield might find their way onto the roster this year, but the centre ice position is crowded considering Kopitar, Vilardi, Lizotte, and Andersson are present. This almost insures players like Kupari and Thomas will only have a shot on the wing. The biggest organizational hole is on the blueline. Doughty needs to bounce back, and maybe he will on a more competitive team. Considering he is supposed to be their top option, there’s probably still too many maybes on this roster to expect the group to be strong, although Walker, Roy, and Mikey Anderson are options and Bjornfot looks promising. Cal Peterson looks good and the tandem of he and Quick shouldn’t weigh down the team too much.

8. San Jose: Another tough year is imminent for the Sharks, hopefully they hold on to their 1st round pick this time. They do have some solid forwards in the quartet of Hertl, Couture, Meier, and Kane. Donato and Lebanc are decent options alongside, but there’s not too much outside of this. Karlson and Burns are really good and the defence should be alright, but the true shortcomings of this team is in net. Jones hasn’t been good in a few years, and Dubnyk struggled behind the Wild, so it’s tough to see how this will go well. Goalies are voodoo, some would say, so it’s not impossible they turn it around, but they really deserve this 8th place ranking. 

[grandpaswagger]

A Brief History of President Theodore Roosevelt - A Story Lived

On February 3, 1880, Theodore Roosevelt reported in his diary:

Snowing heavily, but I drove over in my sleigh to Chestnut Hill, the horse plunging to his belly in the great drifts, and the wind cutting my face like a knife. My sweet life was just as lovable and pretty as ever; it seems hardly possible that I can kiss her and hold her in my arms; she is so pure and so innocent, and so very, very pretty. I have never done anything to deserve such good fortune.

Diary Entry, February 3, 1880.

Theodore Roosevelt Papers: Series 8: Personal Diaries, 1878-1884; Vol. 3, 1880, Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 1880

Theodore Roosevelt Papers. Manuscript Division

Nearly ten months after making this declaration of his enchantment with the young Alice Lee of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Theodore Roosevelt married his “sweet life.”

Four years later, during the young man’s third term as an independent-minded reformer in the New York State Assembly, tragedy occurred: on February 14, 1884, Roosevelt’s young wife died after giving birth to the couple’s first child. Only a few hours earlier, his mother, Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, had died in the same house. After the double funeral and the christening of his new baby daughter, Alice, on February 17, 1884, the bereaved husband wrote:

For joy or for sorrow my life has now been lived out.

For the two years following his wife’s death, Roosevelt sought consolation in writing, hunting, fishing, and working on his ranch in the Dakota Territory. In spite of his intense grief, Roosevelt found a renewed interest in life. In fact, all the activities and accomplishments for which he is remembered occurred after this time of great sorrow. The Today in History collection includes more than thirty features mentioning Roosevelt in connection with historical events of the years 1890-1916.

Theodore Roosevelt in 1885. George Grantham Bain, photographer, 1885. Presidents of the United States: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress. Prints & Photographs Division

In 1886, Roosevelt returned to New York. On December 2, 1886, in London, he married Edith Kermit Carow, a friend from earliest childhood. Of his second wife, Roosevelt said, “She is not only cultured, but scholarly.” The Roosevelts had a close and happy family life. Alice became the eldest sister of four boys and a girl: Theodore Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin. The family’s large home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, on Long Island, was always full of books, pets, and rambunctious activity.

Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, - Edith

Three-quarters Length Portrait… ca. 1900-1910. First Ladies of the United States: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress. Prints & Photographs Division

In 1886, Roosevelt returned to New York. On December 2, 1886, in London, he married Edith Kermit Carow, a friend from earliest childhood. Of his second wife, Roosevelt said, “She is not only cultured, but scholarly.” The Roosevelts had a close and happy family life. Alice became the eldest sister of four boys and a girl: Theodore Jr., Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin. The family’s large home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, on Long Island, was always full of books, pets, and rambunctious activity.

Edith Roosevelt presided over this lively household with quiet grace and humor. Her husband continued to write and publish histories and biographies and to pursue a career of public service.

A progressive Republican, Roosevelt soon enhanced his reputation as a corruption-fighting reformer at the national level as a member of the nation’s Civil Service Commission (1889-95) and then as president of the New York City Police Board (1895-97). In 1897 he was appointed assistant secretary of the navy by President William McKinley. In the Spanish-American War (1898), a cause for which he had argued strongly, Roosevelt left his official position to lead the volunteer cavalry known as the Rough Riders, whose bravery captured the popular imagination and made “Roosevelt a war hero.” Roosevelt believed that such triumphs strengthened both national and individual character, warning that “[i]f . . . `we lose the virile, manly qualities, and sink into a nation of mere hucksters . . . subordinating everything to mere ease of life, then we shall indeed reach a condition worse than that of the ancient civilizations in the years of their decay.”

Roosevelt’s new popularity enabled him to win the governorship of New York, where he quickly established himself as an independent and iconoclastic reformer in tension with his own party. New York’s traditional Republican “bosses” were more than happy to relieve themselves of his presence by engineering his nomination as vice president in 1900, whereupon he campaigned to a landslide victory with President William McKinley.

McKinley was shot by an assassin on September 6, 1901, and when he died eight days later, Theodore Roosevelt became the twenty-sixth president of the United States. Given his reputation as a reformist leader ready to overturn established ways with flamboyant zest and energy, some were appalled at this turn of history. “Now look,” exclaimed McKinley’s political mastermind, Mark Hanna, who had opposed Roosevelt’s nomination, “that damned cowboy is president of the United States!”

Roosevelt and his lively family took up residence in the White House, which became a center of the capital’s social and intellectual life, as well as a playground for the six Roosevelt children and their menagerie of pets External — including Alice’s pet snake, Emily Spinach. Alice herself, who had inherited her father’s fearlessly irreverent spirit and had a somewhat troubled relationship with her stepmother, was the first presidential child to capture the public imagination in her own right, often through rebellious behavior that dismayed her parents and kept her name in the newspapers in an age when no proper lady’s name was supposed to be there. “I can either run the country or attend to Alice,” Roosevelt sighed, “but I cannot possibly do both.”

As president (1901-9), Roosevelt exercised a forthright vision of American leadership in international affairs and an expansive, reform-oriented activism in domestic policy that made his the first truly modern presidency. In foreign affairs, he sought to exercise the maxim “speak softly and carry a big stick”: in other words, use diplomacy but be prepared to use force effectively, and never let other powers doubt it.

Accordingly, he built the U.S. Navy to unprecedented levels, and then sent it around the world for all to see. He expanded the Monroe Doctrine to include the “Roosevelt Corollary”: that the United States was properly the policeman of the Western Hemisphere, intervening wherever it thought necessary to protect its own national interests. He initiated the building of the Panama Canal. And “speaking softly,” he mediated the negotiations that ended the Russo-Japanese War, an achievement that won him the Nobel Peace Prize External On the domestic front, Roosevelt sought to regulate business and industry for the public good, including “trust-busting” business structures that he deemed monopolistic. He used his first Annual Message External to explain how such a sweeping federal role could be reconciled with the nation’s founding principles:

When the Constitution was adopted at the end of the eighteenth century, no human wisdom could foretell the sweeping changes, alike in industrial and political conditions, which were to take place at the beginning of the twentieth century. At that time it was accepted as a matter of course that the several states were the proper authorities to regulate, so far as was necessary, the comparatively insignificant and strictly localized corporate bodies of the day. The conditions are now wholly different and wholly different action is called for.

A lifelong hunter and outdoors enthusiast–a story about his willingness to spare a bear’s life led to the invention of the “Teddy” bear—President Roosevelt” also distinguished himself for the definitive leadership he gave to the nation’s conservation movement. “The wise use of all of our natural resources, which are our national resources as well, is the great material question of today,” he declared. Among his other practical initiatives was a greatly expanded national forest system. Yet he also believed in preserving wild places undisturbed, supporting the creation of new national parks such as Yosemite and establishing fifty-three federal wildlife sanctuaries by executive order and numerous national monuments by presidential proclamation.

President Roosevelt’s exuberant interests extended to the transformation of the Library of Congress into “the Nation’s Library” under the effective leadership of his friend “Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress..”

According to Paul T. Heffron, former specialist in twentieth-century political history in the Library’s Manuscript Division: One of the first tasks which confronted the new President was the compilation of his “Annual Message to Congress.” Scarcely a month after assuming office, he invited Mr. Putnam to forward suggestions on the Library of Congress for possible inclusion in the message. The Librarian promptly responded with a draft of his ideas on what aspect of the Library the President might stress…

The keynote of Mr. Putnam’s memorandum to the President was the national character of the Library of Congress and its obligation to set standards and provide leadership for the public library system of the United States…In essence, the President incorporated the librarian’s theme in the message.

Paul T. Heffron, Introduction in the Index to the Theodore Roosevelt Papers,” 1969. As a historian and avid reader, Roosevelt availed himself of the collections of the Library through inquiries to Putnam. The following passage gives a sense of “Roosevelt’s intellectual curiosity” and seemingly boundless energy:

My dear Mr. Putnam: As I lead, to put it mildly, a sedentary life for the moment I would greatly like some books that would appeal to my queer taste. I do not suppose there are any histories or any articles upon the early Mediterranean races. That man Lindsay who wrote about prehistoric Greece has not put out a second volume, has he? Has a second volume of Oman’s Art of War appeared? If so, send me either or both; if not, then a good translation of Niebuhr and Momsen [sic], or the best modern history of Mesopotamia. Is there a good history of Poland?

Letter of President Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Putnam, October 6, 1902.

Theodore Roosevelt Papers: Series 2: Letterpress Copybooks, 1897-1916;

Vol. 36, 1902, July 29-Oct. 25, 1902

Theodore Roosevelt Papers. Manuscript Division

It was President Roosevelt who initiated the transfer of presidential papers from the State Department to the Library’s Manuscript Division, where they became available for scholarly research. During his last years, he began the transfer of his own papers to the Manuscript Division as well. Although Roosevelt tried and failed to win a third term by running in 1912 against his successor, William Howard Taft, on the Progressive (“Bull Moose”) ticket, thus splitting the Republican vote and ensuring victory for Democrat Woodrow Wilson, he was a man of enormous accomplishment in nearly all areas of his life.

He would very likely have won the presidency once more, as a Republican in 1920, had he not died suddenly of a blood clot in his sleep on January 6, 1919. In spite of his early sorrow, he was able to say during his last years: No man has had a happier life than I have led: a happier life in every way. Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Nassau County, NY. Jack F. Boucher, photographer, 1964. Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey. Prints & Photographs Division

I thank you for taking interest in the stories you read here.

Best of Wishes,

William

To who it concerns, I in not way have written this story. This story comes off of The Library of Congress website, where I freguent often. If there are any copyrights or trademarks that you might find, are those of there respectful owners. Thank you.

Learn More

Select items from the Manuscript Division’s Theodore Roosevelt Papers are now available online. Use the online finding aid to learn more about the contents of this extensive collection. Theodore Roosevelt was one of the first presidents to be filmed. Explore the collection Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film; and search on Theodore Roosevelt across all Motion Pictures collections to see Thomas Edison’s films of “The Rough Riders” and other clips that include him.

Roosevelt’s close relationship with his children is suggested by an illustrated letter of July 11, 1890, written to his three-year-old son Theodore Jr., featured in the exhibition American Treasures of the Library of Congress.

Read other letters written by the namesake of the “Teddy bear” to his children in a 1919 published collection, Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children.

Explore Roosevelt’s formative role in the conservation and preservation of America’s natural environment in the collection,

The Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920, or by browsing under Roosevelt’s name in Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera.

Listen to Roosevelt’s sister Corinne Roosevelt Robinson speak in a 1920 recording from the collection American Leaders Speak:

Recordings from World War I.

Search on Sagamore in the collection Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey and the Gottscho-Schleisner Collection to find photographs and other documentation of;

Roosevelt’s and his family’s home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y.

( http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr11c.html#obj1 )

One of the American Treasures of the Library of Congress   is the manuscript draft of the poem “With the Tide,” composed by Edith Roosevelt’s cousin, writer Edith Wharton, on January 6 and 7, 1919, after hearing of the death of this beloved president.

Search Today in History on Theodore Roosevelt to learn more about historic events in which the twenty-sixth president played a role.

Search on Theodore Roosevelt across all collections to find many more resources documenting the life and influence of Theodore Roosevelt.

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Shooting Percentage Outliers (Jan 30)

  If you’re like me, you desperately want to see the All-Star draft return. It’s probably never coming back as the players hated it, but considering the NBA has started to dip their toes into the water we could see it sparked up again. My fresh idea to remove some of the angst of the players is that once the All-Stars are named, you have three captains who draft three teams’ worth of players. The leftovers are the fourth team. This way, you don’t have one player singled out. You have an entire team who could then band together. I’d bet the leftovers team would win more All-Star tournaments than not.

This idea only works now that they’ve moved to the 3-on-3 tournament style, which was a brilliant wrinkle. Bringing back the draft would kick it up one extra level and really help to market the players, but maybe this is just too counter to hockey culture.

I really enjoyed the wrinkle of the consecutive saves streak replacing the shootout challenge as it flipped the narrative towards the goaltenders and took pressure off the skaters, allowing them to be more creative. I still like the idea of having mic’d up celebrities tending goal against NHL shooters in a shootout challenge and really getting them to ham it up, but I wonder how long it would take for that gimmick to get old.

*

There are 12 players with at least 25 games played who are currently shooting 20% or higher. Last season six players pulled off that feat, and none of them are repeaters. In fact, since 2013-14 there have only been 14 players who have shot over 20% for a full season and only one of them shows up on that list twice: Paul Byron. The point being, these kinds of outliers don’t usually hold up over 82 games, and more scarcely do they pop up more than once. The list of players currently above 20% shooting:

  Goals

SOG

SH%

Brett Connolly

13

43

30.2

Alexander Kerfoot

12

43

27.9

William Karlsson

27

101

26.7

Kevin Roy

6

26

23.1

Anders Lee

27

119

22.7

Sonny Milano

8

36

22.2

Mathieu Perreault

15

70

21.4

Jaden Schwartz

14

67

20.9

Matt Nieto

9

44

20.4

Yanni Gourde

17

84

20.2

Brad Marchand

21

104

20.2

Anthony Beauvillier

12

60

20

  What the top three on this list are doing is ridiculous. You have to go back to 1994 and Cam Neely for the last time anyone with any kind of shot volume scored on over quarter of their shots. Peak Mike Ribeiro also had a 25% shooting season once, but generally this kind of shooting is a thing of the past. None of this is to say that these guys can’t continue to be productive, but a lesser version of said productivity should be expected going forward.

*

On the flip side, let’s look at players with at least 50 SOG shooting less than 5%:

    Goals

SOG

SH%

Joel Eriksson Ek

1

74

1.4

Artturi Lehkonen

2

78

2.6

Max Domi

3

102

2.9

Ryan Callahan

2

70

2.9

Joakim Nordstrom

2

65

3.1

Jason Chimera

2

63

3.2

Sean Kuraly

3

94

3.2

Brendan Leipsic

2

60

3.3

Logan Shaw

2

61

3.3

Magnus Paajarvi

2

58

3.4

Derek MacKenzie

2

54

3.7

Boone Jenner

4

103

3.9

Tomas Plekanec

4

98

4.1

Carl Hagelin

4

98

4.1

Alex Iafallo

4

91

4.4

Colton Sissons

3

68

4.4

Charles Hudon

6

124

4.8

Zack Smith

3

63

4.8

  Most of that list is predictable junk, but some of these players, particularly the top three are of real interest to fantasy owners. What in the hell happened to Domi who carries a career 10.2% shooting percentage? I know Lehkonen has been banged up, but how does a shooter that good fall off so steeply? Some of the players on this list should improve in the second half.

*

Filip Forsberg could be back as soon as tonight against Chicago. He practised yesterday with full contact. Make your lineup adjustments accordingly.

This could really help Ryan Johansen who has stumbled with just five points in 12 games since Christmas. I’ve discussed this before, but with Johansen’s game steering more and more towards playmaking he has become very volatile. Not only have you lost his shot volume, but he is also at the whims of his shooters, and outside of Forsberg, there aren’t too many above average shooters in this lineup.

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Jacob Trouba will miss the next 6-8 weeks with an ankle injury. The first instinct is to pray for Connor Hellebuyck, but the Jets have been quite resilient in the face of injury having already lost a good deal of center depth with Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry on the shelf. Eventually, however, you hit the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I am not sure if we are there yet as the Jets are one of the few teams with legitimate right-handed defenseman depth. Presumably, Tucker Poolman will draw in as a lineup regular. While Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien will step into bigger minutes.

This could prove particularly beneficial for Byfuglien who has taken a real step backwards after having his minutes clipped by over four per game. The entirety of his loss in minutes has come from penalty kill and 5-on-5 use so it shouldn’t have impacted him that badly, but Byfuglien has had gripes about not playing as much as he’d like. I hope he’s ready.

The Jets also have a ton of cap space, organizational depth and their full complement of draft picks to play with if they want to dip into the rental market. They have generally been resistant to making big splashes, but did pull off the Evander Kane/Myers deal, along with some low-cost rentals in Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak on the road to their last playoff run.

I’d argue that promoting internally is the best method for these guys to upgrade since Jack Roslovic is on the cusp, but playoff teams can never have too much depth. They are also still giving Matt Hendricks a regular shift so there is room for upgrades. Do they risk upsetting the apple cart too much if they push him out?

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Some Avalanche updates:

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/Avalanche?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Avalanche</a> Varlamov full practice today could play on trip; Bernier in tomorrow; Barrie possible for tomorrow; Andrighetto and Barberio still ailing, staying home.</p>— Rick Sadowski (@RickS7) <a href="https://twitter.com/RickS7/status/958103232080789506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  Jonathan Bernier was the bee’s knees for a couple of weeks but has now lost two in a row. With Semyon Varlamov apparently close, you can probably jump out soon.

Tyson Barrie’s imminent return takes a bite out of Sam Girard, but the truth is that even with top PP usage Girard hasn’t been particularly relevant. He could take over full time if Barrie is trade, but remember that Cale Makar looms as the future here.

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It sounds like John Gibson is ready to go after getting banged up before the All-Star break.

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Amazingly, Victor Hedman will travel with Tampa Bay on their four-game road trip meaning he is likely to play at some point in the next week. Apparently, he has been out for three weeks already, but it seems like he has barely missed time. I suppose January was the month to miss. Between the bye week and the All-Star break he missed more games than he might have.

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Mark Stone was placed on IR retroactive to January 20th, so he could return right away, but this looks like it’s going to be a bit of a guessing game.

Stone has been the only Senator who has avoided slumping yet this season so losing him is a big hit.

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Jaromir Jagr has passed through waivers and is expected to be heading overseas.

In other Flames news, Michael Frolik appears to be back from injury. Frolik isn’t particularly fantasy relevant, but he is a massive upgrade on Troy Brouwer, which will help the shutdown line with Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk tilt the ice better.

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Check out my latest fantasy hockey stock market piece.

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Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.

from All About Sports http://www.dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-shooting-percentage-outliers-jan-30/

[mymasteryjournal-blog1]

Pre-production

Okay ya’ll, lets just jump into it. My goal from last month was and I quote:

“Anyway, my goal for next month… I honestly don’t know. Let’s keep it simple and say I want to make an A+. I’ll even settle for a script for our thesis but I’ll keep my expectations low. So that way when the carpet is pulled from under us, I won’t be surprised.”

So needless to say, I was not surprised.

But let’s start at the very beginning. After Law we had a very much needed Winter Break - you know for Christmas. By now I was overwhelmed and ready to drop out, honestly, so when Break came around it was welcomed with open arms. I even started packing the week before because I was just ready to go.

I didn’t want anything to do with the film on my break. I needed to give Full Sail a giant mute button so I could finally relax and enjoy myself.

Anywho after a long deserved break I ended up coming back fully prepared to work on the project and ready to put my best foot forward. Unfortunately, that was not what was going to happen. When we stepped in the classroom and well after it, I found out that during our 2 week break our Director had not written a single thing since pitch, he and his advisor Jenny apparently had been trying to come up with and or lock down a script. Not only that but they had not started the GoFundMe so we also had no money.  

So we came back Jan 3. By the 10th we had what looked like a completed script, finally but the director let us know changes were still on-going (Maybe). After this I started to worry about budget, we have no money in our GoFundMe which they launched on the 12th and still had no plans about what we were going to do. Jenny who is a member of the committee suggested that our producer and director go to an off-the-books location to film what they needed there and just add it into the movie during Post Production. Which she knows we can not do. It’s why they give us a certain amount of days and even question us until we are blue in the face about time management. SHE DID IT TO US, That’s how I know she knows what she was doing. Not to mention that she made sure that she told them to keep it close to chest so that no one would find out. 

Yes an instructor told these two boys to cheat...

(I’m just going to leave that there and you can do with it what you will). So the subject of budget comes up and the I am really worried so I ask what are we going to do. 

(Now Disclousure Time: I will admit that I told our class that I would fund $500 to whatever project was chosen if ours was not. I had every intention of doing so. When confronted by our classmates about the film selection they told us not to give up on the film. That they believed in the vision and they wanted to be apart of it. We thought long and hard and with other people chiming in, we decided to move forward with our plans. The $500 went into a trust for the project that we plan to shoot in April or May. Our Producer and Director seem to think that we should take that money and put it toward the film... I can’t do that nor do I want to. You were given $2,000 for your film. Period. I’m not taking funds out of my already scarce budget so you can spend $1,800 on crafty...  and I’m going to leave it at that.)

Needless to say all this came up and the director got into his feelings and said that Art was counting on that $500, so now our department will have to do what it can to get the art stuff together. The following day after class, during our meeting I asked about budget once again, because whether or not they wanted to listen to reason and act like adults we still needed to buy things for this film. Our Director took out a $10,000 check which was his GI money for school and living expenses (but I kept my mouth shut) and pushed it to my face and said, “Do you see this, I can fund this movie all by myself. I have at least $3,000, I can throw at this film.”

So I said “Okay, I was just asking. So when are we going to buy the stuff for art?” He said when he cashed his check... the following week he cashed his check but “lost his card”... 

Anyway so  during Monday Jan 16th - 19th we did not have class... except that Monday but it was really short and when I say we had class I mean only the people who were not working on D20. (Hold that thought, I’m coming back around to pick it up.)  Alot of our classes have been short becuase We need to spend time on the project. WE meaning the entire group. So anyway our producer tells us that our director whom has not given us his vision, not done a previz, still can not find his card for the budget, not picked out colors for the wall, wardrobe, casket (Oh my gosh how could I forget about the casket, hold on we’ll come back to it.) was doing another project and could not focus on this one. 

But Our Producer was acting just as incompetent. When the group asked him questions about anythign really, he would crumble and throw the director under the bus. (Which I did not like, as a Producer you’re supposed to protect the Director, not make it seem like you have no idea what is going on which in turn causes others to panic.) Our director took a job on another film knowing he had nothing for his own and we were already at the end of the month on crunch time. We film Feb13th and it was already Jan 16th, so we have less than a month to get everything together.

On that note, one day Van walks in and asks the question: 

As if not just the first week of class he told us that he didn’t want to hear anything that was going wrong with our project. He made it abundantly clear that he wanted no parts of the drama portion and in doing so shut down any channel we had for help or to just vent. 

We all had to watch as our Producer and Director lied to Van and there was nothing we could do about it. They lied and lied right through their teeth and no one was the wiser except a few slect people who would rather remain quite instead of calling them out like I did.

And not only did they lie to Van but they lied to us, especially about the casket, and this is where the good part comes in. Our film is now revolving around this casket, without the casket we have no film. The Director and Producer should have been looking for one since the pitch back in August or September, because both drafts had a casket but did they? No. So Jan 6th or 8th some time, I called around for a casket and found not one but two prospects, they were going to work with us on price and even said they would try and get someone in Orlando to sponsor us. Needless to say the Director who was doing nothing, said the casket was not up to his standards, it was too expensive and he wanted something for basically nothing or free. Well if he had started back in August or September he maybe would have gotten a sponsor but he did not. 

So our producer says that the Bachelor’s Program told him we could use their casket. This was a great break in the streak of bad luck we had been having, so the producer and I (Since I am Production Designer) go to check it out. Everything was up to par up until we go and get the paint to paint it, two things happened here. 1. Our director who was frustrated at this point in his procrastination told the producer and I qoute, “Fuck it, let them pick the color for it, [Casket]” - we stuck with white since that’s what he wanted the first time - and 2. The Bachelor’s Instructor - can not remember his name, although I think it was one syllable - he had long blonde hair, - comes up to us blood-mad trying to figure out what we were doing with their $900 casket. I look at our Producer and he is as quite as a freaking mouse. 

After a long awkward pause. I said to our producer, “I thought you talked to them and they said yes,” He says, “He talked to the students that had it, and THEY said it was okay,” Now I am pissed. Not only had he lied but he just stood there basically quiet, while I tried my best to calm down the instructor who had every right to be pissed. I’m looking at the instructor like “I’m so sorry, he said we had permission...” but what I wanted to say was...

It was the equililant of someone walking into your home and painting your walls neon green. You come home pissed and screaming asking first who are you people and what are you doing in my house, paintng my walls. And we respond back, oh yeah your gardner said we could repaint these walls and use them to to display our art. 

*Sigh* 

I’m so OVER being lied to, my “I’m over it” bridge has surpassed the moon and stars. I just want to graduate at this point and leave all of this behind. Honestly. 

Okay, so after I calmed down the instructor, we got the go ahead and we repainted the casket. I have to refurbish the entire interior of the casket by hand because... for a reason too deep to get into and I have until the Feb 13th to do so. By refurbishing I will upload a video of what I a talking about. So far most, if not the majority of the casket is done but that is as far as the project stuff that has been relatively completed. 

Just in case our instructor takes his time to read this entire post this is what as of Jan 29th that we have left to do and that I am sure you were lied to about:

1. Crafty

2. Catering - The Producer is trying to get his aunt and girlfriend to cook. I was told that we had to have professionals, menus and other things for catering. Relatives were not an option.

3. Either find the second location or find an alternative one - they have not locked this Disney Resort thing down.

4. Buy paint and primer to paint the Funeral Home.

5. Paint the Funeral Home -  Need at least 2 days to do. 3 because the room has no windows... longer dry time.

6. Buy and or make the Debris - Need a full day for this.

7. Build and test the water machine for the hurricane - Need a full day for this.

8. Order and or get wardrobe - They chose to order, we don’t know if they will fit. Turn around time, if we have to return them.

9. At least one rehersal. 

It’s sad that during the pitch I had to be on my Oprah game, be twice as good and better than the competition...

While they got to stand around with an idea... with nothing and still get picked and now we’re all suffering because of committee’s mistake.

There is so much more that happened but this post is long enough and you guys get the basic idea of what is going on and my frustration so I think it’s enough to get the point across. At first I was like, “Please some on help us with this thing. Director/Producer let us help you make this film amazing, just tell us what needs to be done, stop procrastinating,”

But now, I’m just like you know what, I did all this stressing before and during this project, I’m not anymore. Everyone looks at us like troublemakers or we’re doing too much, so you know what, you want to wait until the last minute, you don’ t want to hear about the issues we’re having about this film with all the lying going on, then Fine. Let’s see what happens when I take a step back and watch. If no one cares than neither will I. I’m tired of staying up all night stressing and wondering what I can do, coming up with ideas and trying to pass them through to a group of people who don’t care. 

 I’m over it. 

Now I am just a spectator. 

Not to mention:

I offered my help and the director asked for my help with the script, after getting the go ahead from the Director I worked tirelessly on it for 5 hours and he turns around, basterizes it, and turn it back into the cheesy, script it was before. Don’t ask for my help if you’re not going to use it. I have better things to do than to stay up all night and work on a script you had no intentions of using in the first place.

So what have I learned this month: To have A LOT OF PATIENCE. I learned what job is in control of what, that there are people in my cohert that I will never work with in the real world unless they really need a job and I have one to offer and even then it would be something I can miro-manage which I hate doing but feel it nessary with some, and that no matter how much we all try, we can only succeed as long as we all work to achieve it not sit around and daydream about what potential this film has. So for next month my goal is... I honestly don’t know. I want an A+, I hope I get one, I want the director and producer to get their acts together so we can pull off an epic film but at this point....

Bye.