#lisa james model

[beautifulfaces2020]

Lisa james at Identity models NY

I love how angular and sharp she is 😍

[crimescrimson]

Red's Favourite Women Of All Time: Angela Orosco

"Or maybe... You think you can save me? Will you love me? Take care of me? Heal all my pain? Hmph. That's what I thought."

[celebratingwomen]

Quinta Brunson, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Janelle James, and Lisa Ann Walter for the LA Times

[therunwayarchive]

Lisa James & Kate Demianova for Alice + Olivia, Spring 2022

[guysunderwearstories]

Story #23

“Pajama day? What are we, five years old?”

Aaron was disgusted. Not only was his boss making them work all day on a Saturday, but he was trying to insult him and the other employees by making it a “fun pajama day.” This job was supposed to be a part-time thing to put on his resume, but here it was ruining his social life.

“I just thought if we all had to be here on a Saturday, we could all dress comfortably,” said his boss, Vincent. Though Vincent founded the small startup, he looked like he couldn’t be a day over thirty. With an imposing figure and brown hair shaved into a buzz cut, his constant sternness juxtaposed what could only be described as a youthful face. Both his seriousness and his youth described exactly a person that would find pajama day fun.

“Again, since I’m not a toddler, I don’t own any pajamas, so I guess I have to work on a Saturday AND be uncomfortable doing it,” replied Aaron. Brock and Sam, the other two guys his age in the office, nodded emphatically.

“Can you guys bring sweatpants or something?” Vincent was looking flustered.

“Why do we have different rules we have to follow than everyone else?” Brock fake whined. His carefully styled black hair and Egyptian features made him look more like he belonged in a modeling agency than a startup. He, like Aaron, clearly just wanted to push Vincent’s buttons.

“If I’m going to wear pants, I’m not going to wear sweatpants. I’m going to actually commit to the bit,” laughed Sam. Sam had a slight Australian accent, dark hair shaved into a fade, and charming enough looks and personality that no one really noticed that what he said didn’t make a thing of sense.

“Well if you boys don’t wear pajamas, what do you wear to sleep?” inquired Luis. He was the one older man in the office. “I”m genuinely curious,” he said innocently to a clearly exasperated Vincent.

“Boxers,” said Aaron proudly.

“Undies,” said Brock with a grin.

“What kind?” asked Sam. “Panties? Budgie smugglers?”

“Nah, boxers too,” laughed Brock as he gave Sam a punch on the arm.

“This meeting has gone off the rails!” Vincent wasn’t happy about having to work all day Saturday either and all this backtalk wasn’t helping his mood. “If you boys really want to come in Saturday wearing your actual sleepwear, be my guest! Karen is still on maternity leave, so it’s not like anyone is going to mind!” Lisa, who they all called Karen, was the only woman in the office.

“Boo ya!” Aaron, Brock and Sam all high fived each other.

“Not that I think you boys have the balls to do it,” muttered Vincent under his breath.

“Carefully, Vinny, that’s an HR violation,” teased Aaron.

Aaron drove home, his displeasure at working Saturday completely alleviated by the knowledge he could cause havoc at work showing up in his boxers. As soon as Aaron walked in the door, he shed his khakis and waltzed around in his blue boxers with red lobsters on them. If he was going to spend all day in his underwear, he might as well get the practice in now. He plopped down on the couch, but the sudden movement caused a family jewel to plop out the bottom of his underpants, which he hastily readjusted. He frowned. Even if his office was willing to bend the dress code rules tomorrow, there was only so far they’d be willing to go. He got an idea and walked upstairs.

He knocked on his roommate James’ door. James, in the middle of a video game, laughed when he saw Aaron, though it was almost bitter. “Nice outfit,” said James. After all, Aaron was standing there in his plaid button down work shirt and crustacean boxers.

“Well, I have to get used to it don’t I?” laughed Aaron. He quickly filled in James on the events of the day.

“Why are you telling me all this?” asked James.

“Well, while boxers are pretty similar to shorts, there’s always the possibility that something might pop out the bottom,” Aaron grinned. “You would know that if you ever wore boxers.”

James glared at him.

Aaron continued, “I was wondering if you would loan me a pair of briefs I could wear underneath. I don’t own any.”

James looked at you in horror. “Loan you a pair of my underwear?”

“What?” asked Aaron. “You’ve loaned me bathing suits. If you don’t, I’m going to have to go to the store and actually spend money on those things. And I don’t want to encourage any future production of them.”

James scoffed. “Remind me to burn those bathing suits.”

Both boys stared at each other in awkward silence. It was time to address the elephant in the room.

Last weekend, after a breakup with his girlfriend, James drank way too much and somehow ended up filming an Instagram Live at 2 am featuring all his unsuspecting roommates. Only issue was James was in his underwear and all of his roommates were in their various sleeping attire (for the majority of them, their underpants). It’s not that Aaron was embarrassed to be seen in his underwear (he was going to work pantsless tomorrow, after all), but it was the principle of the thing; even if James was drunk, his instincts were try to embarrass his friend.

But even Aaron had to admit that the guys’ retaliation may have gone a bit too far. They picked up a fast asleep James and left him in nothing but his briefs on the porch of their attractive neighbor, June. As James angrily informed them all the morning after, he woke up (quite cold) to a disgusted looking June, clutching her bathrobe tightly to her body and poking him with a broomstick. James merely ran away. He still has never spoken to her and after that he probably never would.

“Listen. It was none of our finest hours,” Aaron said slowly.

“Get out of here. Not doing anything for you after that shit,” snapped James.

Aaron wasn’t too bothered. James had a bit of a temper but he was fiercely loyal to his friends and he knew their “bromance” wasn’t in any danger. But he was slightly annoyed that now he had to go to Walmart to buy briefs, something he has never done.

Aaron walked into the store from his xar. He found a pack of five solid black Gildan that didn’t look to bad (saying “good looking briefs” would have been too much of an oxymoron for him). But $35! He was going to wear them under his briefs one time for a bit at work. That wasn’t worth it.

The store didn’t have a ton of briefs; mainly boxers and boxer briefs lined the shelves. While it inconvenienced him in this moment, the lack of briefs being available to the public did restore his faith in humanity just a little bit.

He involuntarily grimaced as he passed a seven pack of Hanes tighty whities. His housemates Carlos wore them, and as a result in the infamous Instagram Live he looked like a beefy baby. But he did a double take. $15?!? For a pack of 7?!? He couldn’t argue that was a better deal. He found a pack in his size and shrugged. It’s not like anyone would see them. He tried to shake off the feeling that that statement was probably some nasty foreshadowing, almost like something an amateur writer might put in some gay erotica on Tumblr.

When he got home, Aaron went into his room, took off his boxers, and pulled on the tighty whities. He had to laugh at himself. He took off his plaid work shirt and stood there in nothing but the tighty whities. They made him look a loser but he had to admit a pretty well-endowed loser.

He slid back the boxers over them. Nothing was going to pop out now. There were some faintly visible brief lines, but if anyone was going to be staring at his ass that intently they better be buying him dinner first. The Hanes waistband stuck out over the top, but he wasn’t worried, as he’d be wearing a shirt tomorrow.

His phone buzzed from inside his discarded pants. He picked it up to see a text from James.

JAMES: Sorry for being a dick.

AARON: All good. Was kind of a dick too. Can you drive me to work tomorrow lol. Eli is borrowing my car.

JAMES: Sure. Text me a time.

Aaron smiled. James really was loyal to a fault.

The next day, Aaron woke up and got “dressed” for work. He pulled on the white briefs, a pair of white boxers with red polka dots (the funniest pair he owned), and a white wifebeater tank top. Socks and sneakers completed the outfit. He didn’t even put on a coat, as he wanted everyone in the office to take in his grand entrance.

Aaron and and James walked to James’s car. They carried two large boxes of bags of potato chips. As the least senior employee, Aaron had also been charged with bringing snacks to get them through this awful Saturday workday.

James parked the car. Aaron stopped him.

“Let me carry in the boxes with you.”

“Oh please,” Aaron brushed him off. “I got it.”

“Seriously.” James looked at him. “I was mad about one person seeing me in my underwear but I put you online. I feel bad. Let me help you out. Not like you can carry in both boxes those scrawny arms anyway.”

“Fuck off,” laughed Aaron. The two guys got out of the car, bragged boxes, and started walking towards the office.

As Aaron opened the door, he heard the crunch of potato chips as James threw his box to the floor. He gripped the waistband of Aaron’s boxers and pushed him forward with all his strength. Fuck. James must actually have been stronger than him, because his boxers ripped clean off. He landed on the office floor in full view of his coworkers, wearing nothing but white socks, black sneakers, the white tank top, and the Hanes tighty whities.

“I didn’t know you brought white ones!” cackled James. He ran out the door. Aaron heard snickering coming from every guy in the office. He took a couple seconds to recover from the shock before standing up. He started to run for James, but felt Vincent’s hands on his shoulders.

“You wanted to wear your actual sleepwear to work, and now that you showed up like this, you actually have to work.” Vincent looked stern and aggressive at the same time. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.

“I don’t actually wear these,” sputtered Aaron. “I was-“

“What do you mean you don’t actually wear them, you’re wearing them right now,” said Vincent. The whole office, still listening intently to the conversation, erupted in laughter.

Most of the office opted for Vincent’s sweatpants idea. A handful of guys wore flannel pajama pants. Brock and Sam were the only two in boxers. Brock opted for a basketball jersey and some Yankee boxers. Sam wore a faded fraternity t-shirt and some dark green boxers with light green shamrocks on them. As Aaron sat at his desk in shame, the two guys walked up to him.

“Was that your boyfriend who dropped you off?” teased Brock.

“Shut up.” Aaron was fuming.

“I didn’t think guys actually wore those outside of cartoons, but good for you for being different.” It seemed like Sam was trying to be nice. In his own special way. “Kind of weird to wear them to work though.”

Brock started, “Yea I can kind of see the outline of your-“. Aaron slapped a folder in front of crotch. He was humiliated. He hadn’t worn briefs since the age of six and now at the age of 23 he had the spend the entire workday in them. This was the stuff of nightmares.

All day long, people came over to take peeks of him and chuckle. He would keep trying to cover himself with things but everyone would just take them away. He was pretty sure he saw Brock filming a Tik Tok.

Luis walked over to him. He just wore his normal work clothes.

“Now people used to wear briefs but I thought that went out of fashion years ago,” he said to Aaron.

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Aaron’s patience was waning.

“Listen here you little shit.” Luis, usually jovial, was not messing around. He opened up a pair of potato chips to reveal nothing but dust. “I am not going to take any crap from some loser who wears tighty whities to work.”

[brandonshimoda]

THE BOOKS I READ IN 2023

*I read it before

**I read it more than once this year

Aaron Caycedo-Kimura, Common Grace

Adania Shibli, Minor Detail, translated from the Arabic by Elisabeth Jaquette

Ahmad Almallah, Bitter English

Alison Lubar, It Skips a Generation

Atef Abu Saif, The Drone Eats With Me: A Gaza Diary

Brynn Saito, Under a Future Sky

Camonghne Felix, Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation

*Carolina Ebeid, You Ask Me to Talk About the Interior

Chanté L. Reid, Thot

*Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes

Christine Shan Shan Hou & Vi Khi Nao, Evolution of the Bullet

Christopher Okigbo, Labyrinths (with Paths of Thunder)

Cristina Rivera Garza, Liliana’s Invincible Summer

Dionne Brand, Chronicles of the Hostile Sun

*Dionne Brand, No Language is Neutral

Dionne Brand, Primitive Offensive

Édouard Louis, Who Killed My Father, translated from the French by Lorin Stein

**Emily Lee Luan, 回 / Return

Erin Marie Lynch, Removal Acts

Fady Joudah, Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance

Farid Tali, Prosopopoeia, translated from the French by Aditi Machado

Gabriel Palacios, A Ten Peso Burial For Which Truth Is Sign (coming out 2024)

Ghayath Almadhoun, Adrenalin, translated from the Arabic by Catherine Cobham

Hauntie, To Whitey & The Cracker Jack

Hervé Guibert, To the friend who did not save my life, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale

Hiromi Ito, Tree Spirits Grass Spirits, translated from the Japanese by Jon L. Pitt

*James Baldwin, No Name in the Street

*James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name

*James Baldwin, The Devil Finds Work

James Fujinami Moore, Indecent Hours

Jami Nakamura Lin, The Night Parade

Jawdat Fakhreddine, Lighthouse for the Drowning, translated from the Arabic by Huda Fakhreddine and Jayson Iwen

Jed Munson, Commentary on the Birds

Jennifer Hayashida, A Machine Wrote This Song

Jenny Odell, Inhabiting The Negative Space

Jenny Xie, The Rupture Tense

*Joy Kogawa, A Choice of Dreams

Joy Kogawa, A Garden of Anchors: Selected Poems

**Joy Kogawa, From the Lost and Found Department: New and Selected Poems

Joy Kogawa, Gently to Nagasaki

*Joy Kogawa, Jericho Road

*Joy Kogawa, Obasan

Joy Kogawa, The Rain Ascends

Joy Kogawa, The Splintered Moon

*Joy Kogawa, Woman in the Woods

Juan Felipe Herrera, Akrílica, eds. Farid Matuk, Carmen Giménez, Anthony Cody

Kamo-no-Chomei, Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World, translated from the Japanese by Yasuhiko Moriguchi and David Jenkins

Keorapetse Kgositsile, Collected Poems, 1969-2018

*Kiku Hughes, Displacement

Kōno Taeko, Toddler-Hunting, translated from the Japanese by Lucy North

Leila Khaled, My People Shall Live: Autobiography of a Revolutionary, as told to George Hajjar

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, Kaan and Her Sisters

**Lindsey Webb, Plat (coming out in 2024)

Lisa Hsiao Chen, Activities of Daily Living

Liyana Badr, A Balcony over the Fakihani, translated from the Arabic by Peter Clark with Christopher Tingley

Lucille Clifton, An Ordinary Woman

*Lucille Clifton, Blessing the Boats

Lucille Clifton, Good News About the Earth

Lucille Clifton, Good Times

Lucille Clifton, Two-Headed Woman

Mahmoud Darwish, The Butterfly’s Burden, translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah

Mahmoud Darwish, If I Were Another, translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah

Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine as Metaphor, translated from the Arabic by Amira El-Zein and Carolyn Forché

Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, You Can Be The Last Leaf, translated from the Arabic by Fady Joudah

Maya Marshall, All the Blood Involved in Love

Michael Prior, Model Disciple

*Mitsuye Yamada, Camp Notes and Other Poems

Mitsuye Yamada, Full Circle: New and Selected Poems

Mohammed El-Kurd, RIFQA

**Mosab Abu Toha, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear

Mourid Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah, translated from the Arabic by Ahdaf Soueif

Mourid Barghouti, I Was Born There, I Was Born Here, translated from the Arabic by Humphrey Davies

Mourid Barghouti, Midnight, translated from the Arabic by Radwa Ashour

Na Mira, The Book of Na

Najwan Darwish, Nothing More to Lose, translated from the Arabic by Kareem James Abu-Zeid

Natsume Sōseki, Kokoro, translated from the Japanese by Edwin McClellan

Nona Fernández, Voyager: Constellations of Memory, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer

Noor Hindi, DEAR GOD. DEAR BONES. DEAR YELLOW.

Osamu Dazai, No Longer Human, translated from the Japanese by Donald Keene

Osamu Dazai, The Flowers of Buffoonery, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett

The Palestinian Wedding: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Palestinian Resistance Poetry, edited and translated from the Arabic by A.M. Elmessiri

R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Kappa, translated from Japanese by Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda and Allison Markin Powell

Salim Barakat, Come, Take a Gentle Stab: Selected Poems, translated from the Arabic by Huda J. Fakhreddine and Jayson Iwen

Samih Al-Qasim, All Faces But Mine, translated from the Arabic by Abdulwahid Lu’lu’a

Samih al-Qasim, Sadder Than Water: New & Selected Poems, translated from the Arabic by Nazih Kassis

*Saretta Morgan, Alt-Nature (coming out in 2024)

Satsuki Ina, The Poet and the Silk Girl (coming out in 2024)

Sawako Ariyoshi, The Twilight Years, translated from the Japanese by Mildred Tahara

Shailja Patel, Migritude

Sham-e-Ali Nayeem, City of Pearls

Sharon Yamato, Moving Walls

Shivanee Ramlochan, Everyone Knows I Am a Haunting

**shō yamagushiku, shima (coming out in 2014)

Shuri Kido, Names and Rivers, translated from the Japanese by Tomoyuki Endo and Forrest Gander

*Solmaz Sharif, Customs

Stella Corso, Green Knife

*Taha Muhammad Ali, Never Mind: Twenty Poems and a Story, translated from the Arabic by Peter Cole, Yahya Hijazi, Gabriel Levin

Terry Watada, The Game of 100 Ghosts (Hyaku Monogatari Kwaidan-kai)

Victoria Chang, Obit

*Wong May, Superstitions

THE BOOKS I'M CURRENTLY READING, THAT I HAVEN'T FINISHED YET

Chi Rainer Bornfree and Ragini Tharoor Srinivasan, The Portal (not yet published)

Elaine Castillo, How to Read Now

Eqbal Ahmad, The Selected Writings

Essays, ed. Dorothea Lasky

Fadwa Tuqan, A Mountainous Journey: A Poet's Autobiography, translated from the Arabic by Olive Kenny

James Welch, Winter in the Blood

Lan P. Duong, Nothing Follows

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Touching the Art

Preti Taneja, Aftermath

Wanda Coleman, Wicked Enchantment

[newestcool]

Chanel f/w 2023 couture Creative Director Virginie Viard Models Yoonmi Sun & Amelia Gray Fashion Editor/Stylist Max Pearmain Makeup Artist Lisa Butler Hair Stylist James Pecis Casting Director Aurelie Duclos Photographer Daniele Oberrauch Newest Cool

[greensparty]

Movie Reviews: Blink Twice / Greedy People / Between the Temples

How is it I got to review three movies this week and Simon Rex is in two of them!?!

Blink Twice

Zoe Kravitz has been on my radar for quite sometime. The daughter of both Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz began acting and one of her earliest roles was in Neil Jordan's The Brave One, which I worked on for a few weeks when it was in pre-production. All the haters who were quick to call her a nepo baby clearly didn't see her performances on Californication season 4, Mad Max Fury Road, Kimi, or The Batman. But what really blew me away was her leading role on the 2020 TV adaptation of High Fidelity. They took the male lead of the book and movie and adapted it to be a female record store clerk dealing with relationships and it ended up being one of the best TV adaptations in a long time. Now she has made her directorial debut with an original screenplay she co-wrote with Blink Twice opening this week.

movie poster

In this psychological thriller a cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie, Star Wars Episode 9 and Master of None) shares a moment with tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum, Kravitz's real life fiance), who invites her and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to his private island for some partying. His cronies on the island include Christian Slater, Simon Rex, Haley Joel Osment, Levon Hawke and Geena Davis. But soon, the party gets mysterious and there's more questions than answers.

I am going to try my best to review this without spoilers, but overall I felt this was a missed opportunity of a movie. There was a clear canvas to comment on Jeff Epstein-types, abuse of power, cancel culture and in the end it only scratched the surface. This is clearly a movie that is bowing at the altar of Get Out. I felt like Kravitz wanted to make a Get Out approach to #MeToo, but unlike Jordan Peele's masterpiece where it was equally funny and scary, this wasn't enough of either. The cast was mostly wasted and wasn't given the chance to shine as much as they have in other movies. The big exception is Adria Arjona, who plays Sarah one of the models on the island with Frida. After an unbelievable lead role in Richard Linklater's Hit Man (read my review here), she stole the entire film here. This is clearly her It Girl star-making year! I hope Kravitz can go further in her next film she directs as she is talented and this isn't by any means bad, it's just not as good as it could be.

For info on Blink Twice

2.5 out of 5 stars

Greedy People

What got my attention about Greedy People before I even saw it was the cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Himesh Patel, Lily James, Uzo Aduba, Traci Lords, Tim Blake Nelson, Simon Rex, and Joey Lauren Adams. Wow - all of them in one movie! Directed by Potsy Ponciroli, Greedy People is being released by Lions Gate this week.

movie poster

In the small beach-side town of Providence, NC a cop Will (Patel) is about to start his first day on the police force with his new partner Terry (JGL). Will and his pregnant wife Paige (James) have just moved to the area trying to start a clean slate and get away from their past. Then, on a house call, a murder occurs and both Will and Terry stumble upon a large amount of money. I can't give away much more beyond that without getting into spoilers. But there's a lot of people in the town who have more than meets the eye and secrets of their own including Wallace (TBN) the local fishing company czar, the masseur (Rex), and the police chief (Aduba) trying to piece together whodidit.

So much about this movie felt like it was bowing at the altar of the Coen Brothers, most notably Blood Simple and Fargo. But unlike Blink Twice bowing at the alter of Get Out, Greedy People took a page from it's inspiration of what worked most: in Blood Simple it is constructed so that we, the audience, see everything that is happening but each character believes something different is happening and/or unaware of the truth. Ponciroli clearly studied that and modeled this the same way. There's a lot of movies that rip off the Coen Brothers and doing it as good as them is not that easy. The tropes of their movies (inept criminals, mixing comedy and crime, scene-stealing supporting characters, etc) are all here. But much of the time some of these supporting characters feel like they are placeholders, there to add mishaps and setbacks rather than being a real character. Some are simply thrown in, i.e. Joey Lauren Adams who is fantastic and is barely in it other than complaining about a speeding ticket. But then you have some really cool action sequences and an actor like JGL who made this so much more than it probably was on the page. For a crime comedy, this doesn't hold a candle to Coen Brothers, but it's better (and more fun) than it has any right to be!

For info on Greedy People

3 out of 5 stars

Between the Temples

Movies about religious leaders who have lost their faith are usually very serious, i.e. First Reformed. But there's something new and fresh about the subject when it's played for laughs and the funny parts are really funny, and serious parts very effective. After premiering at this year's Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, Between the Temples has been a film festival darling that Sony Pictures Classic is releasing this week.

movie poster

Cantor Ben Gotlieb (the always great Jason Schwartzman) is grieving his wife who died in the last year, works in an Upstate NY synagogue where he is losing his voice and lets Rabbi Bruce (comedy genius Robert Smigel), and he lives with his mothers (Caroline Aaron and Dolly de Leon). He's losing his singing voice and his motivation. But after a drunken haze, he's helped by his grade school music teacher Carla O'Connor (Carol Kane). Shortly thereafter, Carla asks Ben to train her as she'd like to finally get a bat mitzvah. The two form an unlikely friendship. Oh - and Ben is also being set up with Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), the daughter of Rabbi Bruce.

This is a movie that clearly studied 70s cinema. The cinematography is very in-line with grainy handheld character studies of the 70s, but not in a some retro "hey look at me - ripping off the 70s with 2024 technology" kind of a way, but more in an honest and pure way of how they would have made this in 1974. There are veiled references to similar films like Harold and Maude (and just a little bit of The Graduate), but the thing that made this movie way better than I expected is the cast. Kane has not been this funny since she was beating up Bill Murray in Scrooged. Schwartzman has mostly been doing supporting roles in ensemble films, so his leading role is a good reminder to audiences of why he was the lead in Rushmore and the underrated Bored to Death. But it's frenetic energy director Nathan Silver shows: a sweet human connection one minute, a can't-even-watch LOL cringe-fest the next. This is exactly the kind of film where it made a bit of a splash and now I'm really excited to see what the director is going to do next!

For info on Between the Temples

3.5 out of 5 stars

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

The universe on display: The powerful instruments that allow us to observe the cosmos

Starting today, the Earth will be passing through a meteor shower. But in astronomy, the human eye is very much a limited tool. But increasingly powerful instruments are allowing us to peer ever deeper into the cosmos and ever further back in time, shedding new light on the origins of the universe.

Today, scientists are able to observe an exoplanet orbiting its star, an individual galaxy and even the entire universe. "The universe is actually mostly empty space," says Jean-Paul Kneib, a professor at EPFL's Laboratory of Astrophysics. "There isn't much that's hidden."

The key is to know what you're looking for, build the right instrument, and look in the right direction. And then to do a little housekeeping.

"Our galaxy sits in the foreground of our field of vision, blocking our view beyond it," explains Kneib. "So if we want to map hydrogen in the early universe, for example, we first have to model this entire foreground then remove it from our images until we obtain a signal a million times smaller than the one emitted by the Milky Way."

Galileo could draw only what he saw with his telescope. But today, astronomers can see the universe in its entirety, right back to its very beginnings. This is largely because of rapid advancements in the instruments they use. And more developments are expected in the years ahead.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched in December 2021, aims to observe events that happened 13 billion years ago when the first stars and galaxies were forming. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope—currently under construction and scheduled for completion by the end of the decade—will look back even further to a time when there were no stars and the cosmos contained mainly hydrogen—the element that makes up 92% of all atoms in the universe.

"An easy way to detect this gas is to operate in the radio frequency range, which is exactly what the SKA will do," says Kneib. "The aim is to detect a signal a million times smaller than the foreground signals."

Another project in the pipeline is the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), run by the European Space Agency (ESA). Scheduled for launch in 2035, the antenna will observe gravitational waves, shedding light on the growth of black holes and possibly the waves created just after the Big Bang.

Playing digital catch-up

These new instruments wouldn't be so enlightening without advancements in other fields. "As things stand, we don't have the software to process data from the SKA," says Kneib, who's confident that we'll get there eventually thanks to progress in computer and computational science, artificial intelligence (AI) and processing power. AI is invaluable for sorting through vast quantities of data to find an interesting anomaly and for calculating the mass of galaxies, for example.

"Scientists can use the gravitational lensing effect, whereby a large object bends light from a distant source, to calculate the mass of galaxy clusters to within a range of one percent, just as if they were using a scale," explains Kneib. "And we can train AI models to spot distortions in images caused by gravitational lenses. Given that there are probably 200 billion galaxies in the universe, that's a huge help—even if we can measure the mass of only one galaxy in every thousand."

But do the images we see depict what's really out there? A famous image published in 2019 showed a donut-shaped ring of light surrounding a black hole. Would we actually see that ring if we got close to it?

"It wasn't an optical photo," says Kneib. "It was a purely digital rendering. In order to accurately observe the millimeter-wavelength signals emitted by the black hole, scientists had to combine multiple ground-based telescopes to create one roughly the size of the globe. The image was then reconstructed via interferometry [a measurement method using wave interference].

"But the image nevertheless represents a real signal, linked to the amount of matter in the dust cloud surrounding the black hole. In simple terms, the dark part is the black hole and the lighter part is the matter orbiting it."

Seeing in four dimensions

"Calculations are only part of the equation in astronomy—you need to be able to visualize things, which also helps you check that your calculations are correct," says Kneib, who is capable of reading the majestic image of the Lagoon Nebula, situated 4,000 light-years away, like a book.

"That image was produced using optical observations at different wavelengths to depict the various gases. Of course, there was a bit of artistry involved in enhancing the colors. But the image also has a great deal of significance for physicists. The colors indicate the presence of different gases: red for hydrogen, blue for oxygen and green for nitrogen. The compact, black areas contain large quantities of dust. These are typically the regions where stars form."

Visualization is especially important when observing objects in more than two dimensions. "By studying the cosmos in three dimensions, we're able to measure the distance between celestial objects," says Kneib.

In early April, scientists working on the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project—including astrophysicists from EPFL—announced they had created the largest ever 3D map of the universe's galaxies and quasars.

But that's not all: researchers are also studying the universe in the fourth dimension—time—and, in doing so, opening up incredible possibilities for observing bright yet fleeting phenomena. "For example, we don't really understand the origin of fast radio bursts, which are incredibly bright blasts of electromagnetic radiation that last only a few seconds at most, and sometimes just a fraction of a millisecond," says Kneib.

Will we ever find life on an exoplanet? Kneib replies, "With infrared interferometry, there's a very real prospect that we could take a photo of a planet orbiting around another star. The image would likely be blurry, but we'd be able to observe and characterize features such as clouds and structural variations on the planet's surface. That's definitely a possibility, maybe 20 or 30 years from now."

When it comes to some fundamental questions, however, we're unlikely to find the answers through imaging alone. Why is the universe expanding at an accelerating rate? Is it because of dark energy? Why is 80% of matter invisible? Are we completely wrong about gravity? Future generations of astrophysicists will keep their eyes trained on the skies or glued to their screens as they try to unravel the deepest mysteries of our universe.

IMAGE: The Lagoon Nebula. Credit: NASA, ESA, STSCI

[goldenraeofsun]

Day 22: Rain, rain

The rain pours down all around, and drenching Dean to the bone, but it doesn’t matter. He has a relationship to salvage.

He keeps running, shoes and socks squelching, hair dripping in his face.

He skids to a stop on her street.

Shit, she’s already leaving. Her house is locked up tight, and her car looks packed to the gills. He’s too late, but he breaks out into a sprint anyway.

“Lis!” he calls, his voice lost to a boom of thunder.

He jogs closer, winded and out of breath. “Elise!” he bellows, and this time he gets her attention.

She jerks her head up, her large black umbrella nearly slipping out of her hands as she spots him. Her lips part in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Don’t go.”

Her lips purse. “The deal’s done. I’ve signed a contract, and I can’t back out now.”

“Then let me go with you,” Dean says desperately.

Lisa clutches her umbrella like a lifeline. She takes a step back. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” Dean swears. He pushes the water out of his eyes. “I’ve changed.”

“James…” Lisa says, her voice unsteady.

Dean steps closer. “Don’t say my name like that.”

“Like what?” Lisa murmurs, and he’s close enough to duck under her umbrella with her.

“Like we’re already over.”

“But we are,” she says, her voice shakier than ever.

Lightning flashes, a snapshot of them frozen in time.

Lisa swallows, licks her lips.

Dean leans forward. Nose-to-nose, he stares into her big brown eyes, letting the moment build, before he closes his eyes, pictures a very different face, and leans in for the climactic kiss.

“CUT!”

The rain stops, thank fuck.

Dean wiggles the fingers wrapped around Lisa’s waist, and she jerks back, giggling. 

She punches him in the arm, nearly taking you an eyeball with a stray umbrella spoke. “You jackass.”

“C’mon,” Dean says, grimacing as he pulls his nearly translucent tee shirt (the costume department made him model at least six different ones, to Dean’s embarrassment). “At least you don’t have to deal with this.”

Lisa raises her eyebrows. “Are you seriously trying to pull the I’m-literally-too-sexy-for-my-shirt card?”

Dean snorts. He waves to Cas, arguing with Gabriel by the screens showing the footage they just shot.

Cas mouths, “What?”

“Are we done?” he calls.

Cas rolls his eyes as Gabriel lifts his megaphone (he’s the only director Dean’s worked with that commits to that particular stereotype). “That’s a wrap for today, people!” he announces to Dean’s relief. “Castiel, you’re free to go home and warm your boyfriend up. He must be cold; just look at those ni–”

Cas wrests the megaphone from Gabriel, hissing, “I’m right next to you, for God’s sake!” 

Gabriel grins. “Have a good night, Cassie.”

Cas shoves the megaphone back at Gabriel and stalks towards Dean. 

“Hey,” Dean says, slinging a wet arm around Cas’s shoulders. “You make it too easy for him. He only does it ’cause it gets a rise out of you.”

Cas grumbles something highly offensive about Gabriel’s mother and a goat.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Lisa says, leaning in to kiss Cas on the cheek. “Have a good night.”

As she leaves, Cas grimaces. “He never makes fun of Lisa.”

“Because Lisa comes from a loaded family with a team of lawyers,” Dean says cheerfully. “But the closest you and Gabe got is your second-cousin Chuck, and nobody’s waiting for him to make his My Cousin Vinny debut.”

“Definitely not,” Cas agrees. “I hardly trust Chuck to bring an appropriate present to this year’s White Elephant.”

Dean scrunches up his face. “Didn’t he bring signed copies of his own books last time?”

Castiel sighs. “Poor Muriel was dead set on taking home that spice rack.” 

Dean ducks into Wardrobe to get changed and catches up with Pam as she lets him dry off and takes his wet clothes. After a quick wipe down to get the waterproof makeup off, he’s finally free. 

“I’m all yours,” Dean announces as he emerges in his usual flannel and jeans.

Cas looks up from checking emails on his phone. “How is it that you don’t get mad at Gabriel? He usually gets to me by getting to you.”

Dean shrugs. “Once you’ve had your exes compare the size of your actual dick in TMZ, the shit Gabe pulls really seems like small potatoes.”

“Oh,” Cas says quietly.

“And I did blow up at Gabriel, more than a few times,” Dean points out as they turn towards the parking lot behind the studio sets.

“I remember.” Cas frowns. “What changed?”

“You said it was okay to go public, and I knew you were in it for the long haul.” Dean fishes around in his pockets for his keys. “It was one thing when Gabe was poking fun at me, but when he’s shitting on us, it reminds me there’s an ‘us’ to shit on in the first place, and, in my book, that mostly makes up for it.”

Cas stills Dean’s hand on the Impala door. And, as Dean looks up in confusion, Cas crushes their mouths together.

Damn, this is what a real climactic kiss feels like.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 7.1

Beer Birthdays

James Younger (1763)

Chris White (1968)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Dan Aykroyd; comedian, actor (!952)

Willie Dixon; blues singer (1915)

Indiana Jones; archeologist (1899)

Gottfried Leibniz; German mathematician (1646)

William Strunk Jr.; grammarian (1869)

Famous Birthdays

Wally Amos Jr.; "Famous Amos" cookies (1936)

Pamela Anderson; model, actor (1967)

Karen Black; actor (1939)

Louis Bleriot; aviator, inventor (1872)

Lisa Blount; actor (1957)

Genevieve Bujold; actor (1942)

Leslie Caron; actor (1931)

Thomas Green Clemson; educator (1807)

James Cotton; blues harmonica player (1935)

Olivia de Havilland; actor (1916)

Diana, Princess of Wales; 1st wife of Charles, mother of Prince Harry (1961)

Jamie Farr; actor (1934)

Clare Forlani; actor (1972)

Debbie Harry; rock singer (1945)

Estee Lauder; cosmetics entrepreneur (1906)

Charles Laughton; actor (1899)

Carl Lewis; olympic track & field athlete (1961)

Mia Malkova; adult actress (1992)

Terrence Mann; actor, dancer (1951)

Jean Marsh; actor (1934)

Lorna Patterson; actor (1956)

Sydney Pollack; film director (1934)

George Sand; French writer (1804)

Fred Schneider; rock singer (1951)

Sufjan Stevens; pop singer, songwriter (1975)

Twyla Tharp; choreographer (1941)

Liv Tyler; actor (1977)

Milhouse Van Houten; fictional character (1980)

Earle Warren; jazz saxophonist, singer (1914)

William Wyler; film director (1902)

[madame-mortician]

DBD x Silent Hill Fun Facts:

(Spoilers for SH1-SH3)

The Lisa Garland that appears in DBD isn’t the real one and is instead the monster manifestation of Lisa Garland. Why this version of Lisa was taken in unclear, since the Entity can take people before they die, but it’s most likely because of how powerful “Lisa’s” suffering was when Harry left her (which is when the Entity took her in the timeline.)

Pyramid Head is also weird, since technically he doesn’t exist and is a manifestation unique to James, so it’s possible that in canon James was taken at the same time as Cheryl despite being added much later. That or the manifestation of Pyramid Head was taken but sometime later the Entity went back for James, likely to motivate Pyramid Head more.

Another thing about Lisa is she seems very happy to be here. It’s not uncommon to see survivors that are smiling or look calm, but Lisa is smiling from ear to ear. It’s likely the reason she is so happy is because even though she’s now trapped in an alternate dimension and forced to be repeatedly killed, she is now no longer alone in Silent Hill doomed to be tortured for an eternity. At least in the Entity’s realm she is with other people, can take breaks, and has a chance to survive.

Akira Yamaoka created a unique soundtrack for the Silent Hill chapter, including lobby music and menu music, though the menu music is currently unavailable since it was only added for the release. You can still listen to it online.

Cheryl Mason was taken roughly at least three months after Silent Hill 3, after hearing Claudia Wolf’s voice on the youth hotline.

Cybil Bennet was taken during an unspecified time in Silent Hill, whilst looking for the original Cheryl Mason.

Lisa Garland was taken shortly after Harry locked her in a room and abandoned her.

James Sunderland was taken shortly after entering Silent Hill, and likely didn’t make it far.

Maria was taken after her first meeting with James. The promotional art also implies this was when James was taken too.

Pyramid Head was taken after the events of Silent Hill 2, it is unknown which ending he is from since the lore is very vague simply saying “when his duty was complete.” This confirms that despite being from the same game, the James that appears in DBD isn’t the same exact one Pyramid Head encountered.

Despite being a manifestation of James’ personal guilt, Pyramid Head in DBD is specifically after Cheryl, likely being how the Entity convinced Pyramid Head to come to the realm (assuming James didn’t arrive at the same time as Cheryl.)

Pyramid Head has a tongue model, that is unused but was likely going to be part of the mori, in reference to one death in SH2 where James is strangled by the tongue.

Eggs are randomly appearing add-ons for killers in DBD, but the two egg add-ons for Pyramid Head are actually relevant as they were dropped by the two Pyramid Head’s once they killed themselves in SH2. One was rusty and the other was clean, with the common theory that the rusty one represents his old murder of Mary, whilst the clean one represents his recent murder of Eddie.

Despite technically being a different character, the Alessa Gillespie skin isn’t a legendary but is a costume, meaning it’s just Cheryl dressed like Alessa. This was likely done because of two reasons. #1 Alessa was 14, and was too young to become an actual character. #2 Cheryl and Alessa are the same person.

If the Maria art is to be taken as canon, it means that Maria hadn’t “died” at all yet, and the James in game doesn’t know the truth about Mary yet.

Maria is the only survivor without a last name.

Maria and Lisa are the only survivors that aren’t real people.

Maria and Lisa were both taken likely because of their emotional connections to James and Cheryl respectively. (Maria for obvious reasons, Lisa because Cheryl remembers her from her past life.)

[docrotten]

SPOOKIES (1986) – Episode 257 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“We almost got our tuchus plunged!” Almost? Shoot, that would’ve made a perfect scene to go with the farting Muck Men. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss Spookies (1986)! Wait. Why haven’t we seen this before?

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 257 – Spookies (1986)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Gruesome Magazine is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/) which now includes video episodes of Decades of Horror 1980s and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

(It was going to be) A group of teens go to an abandoned house to party and do battle with spirits and creatures they accidentally release from a strange Ouija board. (Instead, it became) A wicked sorcerer tries to sacrifice a group of people inside his house to use their vitality to keep his wife alive.

  Directed by: Thomas Doran & Brendan Faulkner (footage from Twisted Souls); Genie Joseph (as Eugenie Joseph);

Writing Credits: Thomas Doran, Frank M. Farel, & Brendan Faulkner (Twisted Souls footage screenplay); Ann Burgund (additional material) (credited as Joseph Burgund)

Produced by:

Thomas Doran, Frank M. Farel, Brendan Faulkner (producers) (unfinished film Twisted Souls)

Genie Joseph (producer) (credited as Eugenie Joseph)

Michael Lee (executive producer: Miggles Corporation)

Makeup Department:

Jennifer Aspinall (makeup artist/special makeup effects) (credited as Jennifer Aspinal)

Gabriel Bartalos (special makeup effects)

Arnold Gargiulo (special makeup effects) (credited as Arnold Gargiulo II)

Vincent J. Guastini (special makeup effects) (credited as Vincent Guastini)

Nick Santeramo (assistant makeup effects)

Nancy Tong (makeup artist) (credited as Nanxy Tong)

John Dods (prosthetic makeup artist) (uncredited)

Special Effects by:

Ken Brilliant (animation model construction)

John Dods (creator: additional effects/special creature design and animation)

Ken Walker (animation model construction)

John Mathews (creature effects assistant) (uncredited)

Visual Effects by:

Al Magliochetti (special effects photography)

Larry Revene (special effects photography)

Selected Cast:

Peter Dain as Peter

Kim Merrill as Meegan

Nick Gionta as Duke

Joan Ellen Delaney as Linda

Charlotte Alexandra as Adrienne (credited as Charlotte Seeley)

Anthony Valbiro as Dave

Lisa Friede as Carol

Al Magliochetti as Lewis Wilson

Peter Iasillo Jr. as Rich

Soo Paek as The Spider Woman

James M. Glenn as The Grim Reaper

Gabriel Bartalos as Muck Man

Peter Delynn as Muck Man

John Beatty as Muck Man

Robert Epstein as Graveyard Zombie

Felix Ward as Kreon

Maria Pechukas as Isabelle

Dan Scott as Kreon’s Servant

Alec Nemser as Billy

A.J. Lowenthal as Korda/Son of Kreon & Isabelle

Pat Wesley Bryan as Drifter

If Spookies feels like two different movies, it’s because it’s one of those nightmare productions where the “making of” story might be more interesting than the movie itself. Yes, too many cooks spoil the broth and Spookies is solid evidence that too many filmmakers ruin the movie. With production being shanghaied near the beginning of post-production work and half the film reshot, Grue Believers will never know if the original crew’s vision would’ve made a better movie. Throw in some top makeup and effects people early in their careers and the Grue Crew have plenty to fuel their talkabout of this fun, mess of a movie.

At the time of this writing, Spookies is available to stream from Tubi, Shudder, ScreamBox, and AMC+, and on physical media in Blu-ray format in a 2-disc set from Vinegar Syndrome.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film chosen by Jeff, will be Just Before Dawn (1981), an underappreciated slasher from co-writer/director Jeff Lieberman (Squirm, 1976; Blue SunshineI, 1977) and starring George Kennedy, Chris Lemmon, Deborah Benson, Greg Henry, and Mike Kellin. 

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[therunwayarchive]

Lisa James for Alice + Olivia, Spring 2022

[brokehorrorfan]

Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child will be released on Blu-ray and DVD as a "backwoods double feature" on June 25 via Film Masters in partnership with Something Weird.

Common Law Wife is a 1961 exploitation film directed by Eric Sayers and Larry Buchanan and written by Grace Nolan. Annabelle Weenick, George Edgley, Max W. Anderson, and Lacey Kelly star.

Jennie, Wife/Child, also known as Albert Peckingpaw’s Revenge, is a 1968 exploitation film directed by Robert Carl Cohen and James Landis from a script by Landis. Jack Lester, Beverly Lunsford, Jim Reader, Virginia Wood, and Richard Cowl star.

Both films have been newly restored in high definition. Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Common Law Wife audio commentary by film historians Millie De Chirico and Ben Cheaves (new)

Common Law Wife audio commentary by director Larry Buchanan

Jennie Wife/Child audio commentary by film historian Millie De Chirico (new)

That’s Hicksploitation: The Origin of Southern Sinema (new)

Common Law Wife original trailer

Jennie, Wife/Child new trailer

Liner notes by Something Weird Video's Lisa Petrucci

In Common Law Wife, Shugfoot Rainey trades in his longtime girlfriend for a newer model… who just happens to be his niece, Baby Doll. Unfortunately, his mistress does her research and discovers she is his common law wife… and he won't be able to get rid of her that easily! In Jennie, Wife/Child, Albert Peckingpawtakes Jennie to be his wife… But Jennie is a whole lot younger and has her eye on the young farm hand. Old Man Peckingpaw is bound to find out what's happening on his farm sooner or later and, when he does, watch out!

Pre-order Common Law Wife and Jennie, Wife/Child.

[ald3r-wolfcak3]

Starshine rewrite but this time about the dark side;

Sabine is the second most popular girl in school. His dad rich as fuck, he often "donates" goods for the school. She likes playing the victim in every sennario. When Lisa moved to the school she tried to befriend her since Lisa and Anne had some misunderstanding and she swears "my enemy's enemy is my friend" But gladly Lisa hates Sabine. Sabine also owns Khaan and she knows, she is a natural talent in any horse riding style. Crosscountry race? Showjumping? Dressage? She will join the race no matter what!

Jessica (or Jay, they still try to figure this whole existing thing out) is a "transfer" student. They are a young star in the modeling bussiness, but no one knows where they heard about Jessica. They hate horses. They can't stand them, so can you imagine how much they hated, when Derek proposed the idea of a dressage themed photoshot. They also seem to have a somewhat father-daughter dynamic with Mr. Sands.

Katja is the ice queen of the school. She and Buck often bullying the younger students (especially James) and challenging people at the stables. She never attend to class, yet never got expalled. She is from the same area as Alex, but instead of hard work she (and her twin brother Laverne) likes sceme people. This is how she got Stalker (but before the original owner noticed she never got the money, Mr. Sands lended a helping hand)

Mr. Sands is the school history teacher, also has some connection with the oil rig company, Dark Core. He is a misterious figure, who seems to be alive since the 1800s. Linda wants to figure out the history of the Sands family, also the secret the Pine Hill Mansion holds. The kids at school likes Mr. Sands classes, he always manage to talk about the fucked up history of Jorvik. He time to time visit the stables, he seem to have good connection with horses, but when someone asks him about it his answear always the same;

"I lost it once and I'll never be able to get it back"