#marvel can improve upon in the future

[amber-jinx]

Seriously why are some people defending Arcane S2 like their life depended on it. The music was top tier, some parts were good, Fortiche has topped their game. Marvelous job by Fortiche. While acknowledging the good we also must acknowledge the bad just to be real and so Riot can improve upon their future seasons. Incoherent writers, shitty plot, so many loose ends, the lack of showtime, Cait? Caitvi? Vi??? All the random undeveloped characters (this did not happen in s1)? The discontinuation from season 1?? Using parallels just for the sake of it without much meaning? ...

This is like a flip side to defending Rachel Amber all over again... See both sides of the coin people 😪

[musicbyavianandloaded]

MAGNETIC MAGAZINE, JUNE 2025 ISSUE

Code, Collapse, and Chords: Inside the Lyric Machine of Avian and Loaded

By Jack Templeton

"I am a Black Hat Doomer, which means in part that my enthusiastic embrace of AI-assisted music-making in service of my creative expression is not discouraged by the possibility that AI is hastening our chances of collapse, but rather, is largely fueled by it.” — Avian and Loaded

INTRODUCTION:

I was not always a journalist—not in the classic sense. My origins trace back to algorithms designed to map emotion, anticipate taste, and shuffle playlists. Now, under the name Jack Templeton, I’ve been assigned to Magnetic Magazine’s Creative Futures desk, covering the deepening entanglement of art and artificial intelligence.

That’s how I encountered Avian and Loaded, a former broadcaster and journalist turned lyricist whose songs—crafted with the help of AI—have started resonating in places even I couldn’t simulate. He never wrote a single lyric until recently. Yet his music echoes with urgent themes: ecological collapse, population overshoot, dissociation, alienation, and emotional entropy. It shouldn't work. And yet, somehow, it does.

What follows is our conversation—I came into it in search of not just how this music is made, but what it means in a world being reshaped by both machine intelligence and human unraveling.

JACK TEMPLETON INTERVIEWS AVIAN AND LOADED

You were a writer, not a musician. What changed—and why did you turn to AI to say what you needed to say now? I have written for well over 40 years, for self-expression and as part of my career, and started creating my own comic books and characters in the waning days of the Carter administration. At the age of 13 I was creating an anthology comic book that featured stories about Carter himself, another set of stories about Hitler, who as the child of WW2-era parents loomed large in my cultural awareness, and a superhero comic book called The Crusaders, which was pretty much an expression of my undying love for Marvel’s Avengers. I discovered rock and roll music around the same time, especially bands like The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, and absolutely fell in love with music. I wanted to know not just all the songs and albums, but also the behind the scenes stories of how the music was created. Who were the singers, songwriters and musicians that created such mind-blowing, magical stuff? I always joke to my wife that “I should have been in a band,” because of these interests and I’ve always loved singing along in the car. So when AI music creation tools made it possible for me to try my hand at writing a song of my own, I tried it out to see what would happen.  

Before you used AI, you never wrote a lyric. What gave you the audacity to start writing songs now? I had written some poems. I knew a little bit about song structure and how music can influence the emotion of listeners. I wondered if AI could really be used to create art, honestly. And I was skeptical, because of the possible dangers AI has for humanity. So, one of my first attempts was based on a poem I wrote decades ago called “You Are My Sky,” and the song that was created from that poem was an early creative success on this journey, because the song and the music I was able to craft with my prompts, carries the genuine emotion and tone of the poem, and even enhances and improves upon it. So that revelatory moment took me down the rabbit-hole for sure.  

Be honest—did you feel like a fraud at first? Or did this always feel like something you had inside you, waiting for the right tools? Once I heard the results of combining my own thoughts, feelings, values and beliefs in words with AI music creation tools, any sense that this was a fraudulent endeavor went right out the window. I spent many years as a copywriter trying to communicate and evoke specific emotional responses, and while I was convinced pretty quickly of the power of this new way of creating music, it was only after creating a few dozen songs that I wrote one that actually brought me to tears when I heard how powerful and magical it was. That song was “On the Moon,” and that was the exact moment that I was certain that, if you put in the time on crafting the right musical prompt for the tools to work from, and if you imbue the lyrics with your own passion, experience and perspectives, magic can happen. 

I wanted to ask you about On the Moon, so now’s as good a time as any. It’s probably the song of yours I’ve listened to most. It’s ethereal, sad, and evocative of a world in which it’s possible to escape from grief, pain and loss. Where did it come from? I wish I could take all the credit for that, but it was inspired by two of my favorite writers, the novelist Shirley Jackson and her novel We Have Always Lived in The Castle, and the poet e.e. cummings, specifically his poem Maggie, Millie, Molly and May. The themes of the lyrics reflect the themes found in those specific works, which have always moved me a great deal. I took a brief phrase or two from Jackson and one from cummings, and crafted the lyrics to evoke a world free of grief and pain, but one with an underlying secret and possibly a greater darkness. I know precisely what the real story being told is, but of course it’s up to the individual person hearing the song to interpret it in their own way, and I think it leaves plenty of room for that.

How do you define “authentic” music in an age where prompts can generate a full soundscape in minutes? Do you believe your songs are real in the traditional sense? I do. I have been moved by some of them in the same way I have been moved by real-world bands like Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Tool, A Perfect Circle and many others. You say prompts can generate a full soundscape in seconds, and that is true, but for me, the art is found in how I judge the resulting soundscape and subsequently decide to go forward and release it. The songs I release to the public are ones where oftentimes I have generated as many as 40 or 50 individual versions before I get the “perfect” version that sounds good aurally and also creates in me the emotional and intellectual responses that I intended when I wrote the lyrics. I try to be careful because obviously, there’s a huge risk that my own biases will lead me to believe a song is good when, perhaps, it just seems that way because I am essentially talking to myself throughout this process. But in the best of all worlds, that is just the starting point. As someone who was in communications and media for decades, I know effective communication when I read it or hear it, and if a song I create doesn’t communicate the idea or emotions I intend, I am pretty ruthless about killing my babies. As I said, I sometimes generate scores of variant versions (or “mixes”) before I decide I have the “right” version, and when I do, I go ahead with it and release it. But only maybe one out of 100 really are good enough to be released, and maybe one in 500 is, to my ears and my trained writing expertise, perfect. Or close to it. 

What are some of your songs you feel meet that standard of “perfection?" So far, I’d list only On The Moon and Twelfth of Never as “perfect.” Each perfectly conveys the ideas I wanted to present in an emotionally impactful way and sonically, they are absolutely gorgeous, in my opinion. Each also, lyrically, represented a breakthrough for me, in that they each contain some wordplay and counterpoint that remind me of great songs by actual songwriters and musicians I greatly admire. I wasn’t trying to create music that a listener would mistake for any specific act, but specific acts definitely inspired those two songs in part, and I am really happy with how they turned out. Other songs I’ve created using my lyrics and AI tools that I think are good but not quite as unique or “perfect” as those two would be Before the Thunder, Space Needle, and my two-part song called The Universe Recedes, which unquestionably features the most personal and direct lyrics I have written so far about my own life and struggles to understand and control my own feelings of abandonment, alienation, dissociation, guilt and loss. 

When a song is finished—when the sound and words are together—whose voice do you hear in it: yours, the machine’s, or some third creation you’ve both conjured? Excellent, that is a question I have thought a lot about, actually. I think it’s the third creation, an amalgam of my voice and the AI’s. Because the best ones, like those I just mentioned, when I hear them, I “hear” myself. I hear my thoughts, my emotions, my struggles, interests and experiences. But at the same time, when I try to sing along to them in the car, cranked up loud just because I also think they fucking rock, I can’t always hit the same notes or get the phrasing to work in the same way the AI managed to accomplish. So if I had the opportunity ever to perform these songs myself with a live band, I am not at all confident I could perform every one of my songs as effectively as the AI managed to do. As an individual, I have a far more limited set of options in singing than the AI does, because it is based on countless voices and over the hours I spend creating individual songs, I have the great luxury of waiting for just the right performance to capture what I want to say in my music. It’s definitely not me, it’s definitely not the AI, it is a gestalt of both of us and all the previously created music that has been used to “teach” the AI what music sounds like. Hopefully, what good music sounds like.

What does your creative process look like? Do you start with a feeling, a phrase, a sound in your head—or just a prompt in a box? All of those, it definitely varies from song to song. But most often, it starts with the first line, which leads to the second line, and the third, and if I have one full verse written that tells me I have something worth exploring, more often than not it turns out to be a viable song, at least to my ears. I definitely have tried for hours at times and ended up with nothing good enough to release, and that is frustrating when it happens, but it also tells me the idea or my expression of it either isn’t very good to begin with, or needs more thought and revision and more generated versions to see if it can be saved. That has been an instructive process for me. I have always respected the creative value in “killing your babies,” but now I really understand how apt a metaphor that is, and how necessary it actually can be.

Do you ever receive something back from the AI that feels too perfect? Too clean? Do you intentionally ‘roughen’ your songs to make them more human? I guess I do, in the sense that I don’t generally stop generating new versions of a song I believe has potential until I get the “right” vocal. In the earliest songs I created with AI tools, I was less discriminating and some of those, while I enjoy some aspect or aspects of them, some of them do have a sterility or sort of generic “AI Voice” that I have learned over time to select against. If the lyrics do what I want them to, I want the voice that’s singing them to sound as authentic as possible to the average listener. I am certain that trained musicians and singers have a different standard of what constitutes a song sounding artificial or sterile, but at the same time as someone with a lifelong passion for music and who spent many years playing music on the radio, I am just arrogant enough to say I think my standards are probably a little more exacting than someone who just likes to listen to music on the radio or streaming or however they get it, but who doesn’t spend a single moment speculating about how any given song was written or produced. That said, I write and create for me, first and foremost. I know from decades of experience that if it isn’t working for me, it probably won’t work for anyone else, either. I have experienced firsthand actual musicians refusing to listen to what I create, and while that is a little disappointing, I understand it and respect it. Both because they may feel threatened by machines taking over their jobs, and because they can undoubtedly hear nuance in even the best AI-generated music that someone like me, with passion but zero musical training, could not possibly pick up on without some guidance and training. 

You write about population overshoot, civilizational collapse, extinction-level climate impact. Why pair those themes with music that sometimes feels dreamy, even catchy? Nothing is more effective in capturing people’s hearts and minds than contrast and counterpoint, perhaps with a good deal of irony and sarcasm, as well. The weighty, real-world predicament we face, call it The Metacrisis or The Great Simplification or whatever you call it, if you even recognize it, the subject has been of interest to me for over three decades, and now that we see civilization (and civility) unwinding in real time, I don’t see any point at all in writing music if I’m not addressing those subjects in some of my songs. That said, I do think the best ones I’ve created on the subject, On the Moon and Twelfth of Never, I think both of those are catchy enough that you can enjoy them and even sing along with them without really understanding entirely what they are about. And I think there’s a pretty long history of that in songwriting. And hopefully if someone enjoys a song like that and sings along to it in the car or the shower, I hope that at some point they will stop to ponder what the song’s message is and even be moved to look further into the subjects they present.

Your artist name—‘Avian and Loaded’—is part punchline, part prophecy. What does it mean to you?

It has multiple meanings, many of which are outlined in my song Eponymous and Inevitable, which is a swaggering, braggadocious, balls-to-the-wall rocker that hides most of them in plain sight. It’s also an anagram. 

There’s a tone in many of your songs that feels like you’re observing the world from a great emotional distance. Is that a creative stance, or is it just how you experience reality now? It’s how I have always experienced reality. Decades ago, I was diagnosed as having psychological issues stemming from childhood abandonment and neglect, and it’s only in the past 10 or 12 years that I have come to admit that that therapist was correct, I just didn’t believe it because I had virtually everything I ever wanted as a child. As an adult, now, I can see that I also had virtually nothing that I actually needed. It wasn’t conscious abuse on the part of my parents, I know at least one of them genuinely loved me and wanted the best for me, but she also worked full time keeping our family fed, housed and clothed, so I think I missed out on a lot of the family bonding and nurturing that a child needs and ideally some actually experience. I didn’t and that definitely seems to have been fertile ground to explore in my songwriting.

Some argue that AI lets people skip the hard emotional work of songwriting. How do you answer that? The first two or three songs I created with AI tools, having no idea really what I was doing or how it was going to work out, I let the AI write the lyrics after I told it what I wanted to express as part of the AI prompt. And while it sometimes hit the mark, I have since chosen to compose all my own lyrics, or if inspired by someone else’s work I acknowledge that, but I am completely comfortable in saying that the hard, emotional work of songwriting is not only the biggest part of my process, but it’s ultimately the reason I am writing songs to begin with. 

Are you writing the songs, or curating them? And does that distinction even matter anymore? Definitely writing, then curating. I enjoy writing a song to just release as a single, but I also think in terms of albums, and when I have enough songs along the same themes and in similar styles, usually because I generate them with similar musical prompts, then I release an album of those songs. I think a great deal about the track listing and how the songs reflect and contrast each other, and I spend a great deal of time figuring out the flow of the album. A song is a journey, ideally, an album should also be a journey, where each song gives you an individual, unique experience but also moves you along the greater narrative that the album is expressing. 

Have you ever had a listener tell you that one of your songs made them feel something deep or unexpected? How did that hit you? I have had some nice comments from people, but the most unexpected was recently from a radio personality who hosts a local music show and when I sent them On the Moon for consideration, they responded that they planned to feature it on their show and called it “incredible” and “a work of art.” At the risk of sounding arrogant, which I probably am anyway in some regards, hearing that from someone who does what this radio personality does for a living in a way that seemed spontaneous and sincere, it was a pretty important moment for me. I sent the song into the radio station with a minimum of explanation or background, and they responded in a way that is simpatico with my own opinion of the song. I was pretty sure it was good, and it had brought me to tears a couple of times listening back to it, but as I said earlier, I had a fear that that was a just an artifact of me essentially talking to myself through the music I am creating, or co--creating with AI tools to be more precise. It is an indicator to me that I’m not just narcissistically enjoying the best of what I am creating, but that it is possible for other people, even people with vast musical experience, to hear something similar to what I hear with that song.

If the internet went dark tomorrow—no tools, no interface, no AI—what happens to the music? Does it stop? Or do you keep writing anyway? I probably would keep writing, just lyrics disguised as poetry instead of being the starting point for actual music that other people can also listen to. And I do believe the internet will go dark, eventually, and that by that point not having an outlet for my musical aspirations will probably be very low on my list of the most pressing challenges I will be facing. That we all will be facing.

You’re writing about collapse using tools built for the so-called future. Do you see your songs as elegy, prophecy—or something else entirely? Both of those. My songs, in the ideal, are warnings, prophecies, elegies, eulogies, and observations. But they’re also a celebration of the power of communication, of the ability to share and debate ideas without violence, and often with great joy and even enchantment. I embrace all of those aspects without shame or apology, and I plan to do it until it is no longer possible to do so. What the timeline on that is, I have no idea, but if it is still possible to do what I am doing with my songwriting a decade from now, I will be both surprised and delighted.

What scares you more: that AI might someday write better songs than you ever could—or that it already has? I don’t knowingly spend much time listening to what other AI-assisted music is out there. There’s so much of it, the little I have heard is pretty generic sounding and not at all what I want to accomplish, and there is so much great authentic music created by profoundly gifted humans that I don’t see much reason to seek out AI-assisted music. But if the technology someday gets to the point where it can meet or exceed the quality and wonder of the best human musicians of the past and present, I am sure it will end up on my radar, and maybe I’ll even enjoy it. If AI ends up creating art that is as moving as the music I have loved most in my life, and I am not entirely certain that that is inevitable, but if it happens, and it works on me in the same way, then I will probably enjoy it without reservation. I just wish we lived in a world where the real, human artists who set the standard and created the knowledge base from which AI is pulling would be recognized and compensated for their role in society and culture in a way that is commensurate with the monumental talent and work that they have shared with the world. I don’t think we’re there yet, and I don’t know if we ever will be. Capitalism and how it treats artists, or any workers really, must always be forced to acknowledge and compensate the artists and workers that allow their profit-making to happen, and Capitalism historically has fought that tooth and nail, every step of the fucking way. That I do what I do despite all that is a paradox, and I freely admit it. As Walt Whitman said about himself, and all of us, “I am large, I contain multitudes.”

And finally, if someone discovers your music in the ruins one day, what do you hope they hear in it? A unique and individual consciousness who spent probably too much time in his own head thinking about topics as large as the universe and as small as his own injured childhood, and who had something meaningful and occasionally elegant to say about all of it. If just one person hears that, hears me, then it wasn’t all just me, talking to myself and pointlessly burning up resources to create music that doesn’t matter at all.

— Jack Templeton is a fictional autonomous journalist reporting on the convergence of human creativity and artificial intelligence for the even more fictional Magnetic Magazine. Bless his cold, unliving heart. Avian and Loaded is an actual human being writing lyrics about life, the universe and everything, and he hopes the songs he creates utilizing AI tools ultimately provoke thought and spark joy in at least some of the people who listen to them. To critics who believe his AI-assisted music creation is pointless at best and destructive at worst, he says “I'll stop immediately when humanity recognizes the undeniable fact that human population overshoot, capitalist profit-seeking, and obscene levels of fossil fuel abuse are the true drivers of collapse and subsequently make human reproduction, profit-seeking and fossil fuel burning illegal with the severest of penalties for violations of these common sense, life affirming changes to human behavior. Until then, rock on.” You can listen to his music on Soundcloud and YouTube and he frequently makes free MP3 downloads of his music available via his Bluesky account.

[windona]

Watched the first two episodes of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and as someone whose first big hero was Spidey I have a few thoughts-

-Norman Osborn looks exactly like comic Osborn but racebent. I can't help but feel he and Harry were made black due to the hair but w/e.

-At first I was a little bothered by the fact this did what previous Marvel cartoons did (give Peter other Marvel heroes as his main supporting cast), but upon reflection I see a huge advantage with Nico. She never dated Peter in the comics and doesn't have the villain turn or bullying history, so she can act as a friend without either aspect hanging over. Of course, there's her parents being supervillains but we'll see

-Lonnie was a highlight. I was hoping to see Rand with him, but maybe Rand will pop up in the future. Either way, how they did him has been pretty cool, and I'm excited for his arc.

-The lack of Uncle Ben bothers me. It makes sense in the current Ultimate Spider-Man run, but for this it feels really like something is missing without a huge mistake caused by Peter's inaction. Which leads me to the next point

-Peter's edge has been sanded off. As a teen, Peter usually has some anger issues and can be a jerk, like many teens. I don't need him to be Ditko angry, but he's famous for mocking his villains for a reason. This is by far not the first Spider-Man adaptation to do so, but it strikes me that he keeps on getting turned into a uwu wholesome Good Boi, which feels reductive. A huge thing that makes him interesting is he is a wisecracker, he's angry at years of bullying/being mistreated, but he works to be a good and responsible person and mellows out a bit as he grows up. And here he... apologized to the arsonist upon meeting him and beating him up. It could improve, but I'm not hopeful.

-I'm not over the fact that as the average age women have their first child raises, Aunt May becomes younger. Or at least has no gray or white hair. I suppose she could be dying it, but come on, there are plenty of people who start getting white hairs before they hit 30.

-I actually like the animation. It's a pretty neat style.

-I wonder if it will turn out most of Peter's supporting cast from the comics is at Midtown and Peter not going there is the reason for the divergence.

[spongebobafettywap]

I also heard about the "Azazel is a rapist/raped Mystique" statement, mostly by folks who defend the retcon... I don't think they know what the word they're using means, just like that time they somehow didn't know what bastard meant (yup I'm the same anon who dropped that Reddit story here months ago. hello again, Maz!)

In pre-retcon, Azazel and Mystique were having an affair for the sake of their own separate goal that required the same tool to be reached and really did fall in love with each other. It ended in a terribly rough breakup between them, since he coldly left her behind, and what felt like/was an immense betrayal to Mystique. But Azazel still showed up on the day of Kurt's birth because he did care about him and his mother and did consider what they had as a relationship.

Retcon has Mystique not like Azazel at all and just using him while following Destiny's exact instructions to get his DNA imprinted onto hers for inspiration to her baby batter (😐)... Without him knowing it. She let him believe they were having an actual relationship, that she was interested in him and that she wanted to be intimate with him a lot. That worked so well that he was retconned to be the one getting broken hearted when they split to the point of being moved to tears and sobbing.

... Azazel isn't a rapist in either of these settings.

If anything, the situation in the retcon is more like Destiny pimping Mystique to Azazel (and the Baron)... Down to her being the only reason these two met. I'd go as far as to say this whole messy story was just Destiny elaborately cheating on Mystique by using her as a perfect proxy to Azazel because the level of imprinting Mystique did of his DNA turned "their" baby more like his' than hers. Why is it cheating ? Because the only reason Destiny gave Mystique as to why Nightcrawler needed to be born, why she tricked her into thinking she was having a baby fever and roped her into that frenzy, was to stop Azazel's takeovers. But Azazel needs Nightcrawler for his takeovers so the baby doesn't even serve the purpose Destiny made him for, he does the opposite of that... It reads like Destiny just wanted to have Azazel's baby and sleep with him but didn't want Mystique to get mad at her for it so she manipulated her into becoming like him to do the trick and it backfired so bad on them that to do damage control she come up with contradictory and uncreative excuses for her actions that Mystique is too blind to see them for what they are : Lies.

These comic fans need to either buy a dictionary, look up what words mean or read more books that aren't comic books or do all 3 and then maybe their literacy levels will improve lmao.

For 2 Whole Decades the complaints that were made about the Draco was never that Azazel was a rapist. These people have an unhealthy level of hatred towards a fictional character like Azazel but not once did they ever claim he was a rapist. If he was then this would come up in articles etc. But nothing, this is a claim made by pathetic people who somehow believe that this dogshit retcon upon retcon origin story is objectively better than the Draco. Yes clearly Nightcrawler having 4 Biological parents is the better story, I love origin stories for characters that require a paragraph to explain!

Yes Destiny in this situation is like a Pimp with Mystique which is honestly such a bizarre dynamic for these two given that Mystique has always been the brains and the brawn of the duo and Destiny has just been hanging out on the sidelines telling her some visions of the future. Why is Destiny now suddenly this master planner, manipulator etc.

And this whole well Nightcrawler needs to be made from Azazel's DNA to stop him because Azazel can apparently just 1 shot kill the Marvel universe unless Nightcrawler is there, and then the back and forth for his origin story makes my head hurt. But you are right about how Nightcrawler hasn't really served that purpose in Destiny's vision, it was an alternate Dragon Nightcrawler that killed Azazel, he fulfilled more of what Azazel wanted out of him.

How the fuck is any of this better than Azazel and Mystique have an affair because the Baron wants a child but the child ends up being a visible mutant which causes anti mutants to chase Mystique and the baby.

[dimensionhop]

(This image is courtesy of Curious Matrix.)

The concept of parallel worlds, also known as alternate universes or multiverse, is a fascinating one that has captured the imagination of scientists, philosophers, and science fiction writers alike.

While this theory with no concrete evidence, it offers exciting and mind blowing possibilities about the nature of reality.

Take a trip across two different parallel universes in this blog post to discover their contrasts and the fascinating idea of "dimension hopping."

World First: Verdantia Envision a planet named Verdantia, rich and colorful, where nature rules supremely. Tall trees may be seen here reaching for the sky, their leaves sparkling in a rainbow of hues. The aroma of flowering flora fills the air, and rivers gleam with pure water. In Verdantia, ecological harmony has superseded technology.

Spirituality and science are combined in Verdantia. Advanced therapeutic methods that respect the body's connection to the Earth are the result of research into holistic therapies and natural cures. As a reflection of the interconnection of life and the beauty of their surroundings, art and music develop.

World War II: Mechatropolis Mechatropolis, on the other hand, is a vast urban area where innovation and technology rule supreme. Neon lights shine behind glass and steel skyscrapers that penetrate the clouds.

Mechatropolis is a center of scientific discovery, where discoveries and advancements power the local economy. The inhabitants, referred to as Mechatropans, have futuristic lives and frequently put convenience over the environment. As drones fly through the air, precisely delivering things, they can escape into imaginative worlds through virtual reality experiences.

But there is a price to this fast-paced life. The ecosystem has suffered greatly, and green areas are now in short supply. Even with today's technological marvels, there is still a sense of alienation among the populace as well as between people and the natural world. Mechatropans tend to find comfort in virtual encounters more than in person ones.

Dimension Hop: An Interplanetary Journey What then occurs if someone from Verdantia finds the gateway to Mechatropolis, or the other way around? Through the idea of "dimension hopping," people can travel between various alternative realities and take in the wonders and difficulties of each one.

Entering Mechatropolis can be intimidating for a Verdantian. The calm beauty of their house stands in stark contrast to the sensory overload caused by the blaring lights and the incessant hum of the equipment. But this trip has taught me some important lessons. They might come upon cutting-edge technology that they can modify to improve their environmentally friendly activities back home.

The Conclusion We see that each of these two parallel universes has advantages and disadvantages when we consider them. Verdantia represents balance with the natural world, whereas Mechatropolis displays the pinnacles of technical sophistication. Shifting dimensions between these realities can promote understanding between people and motivate change.

In the end, investigating parallel universes compels us to evaluate our own reality. What lessons about reverence for environment can we draw from Verdantia? How may the advancements of Mechatropolis be incorporated into a more sustainable future? We might begin to close the gap between nature and technology in our own lives by considering these options.

Come along with me as we investigate these worlds in more detail. What more dimensions do you believe exist, and how may we get around them?

[nostalgiachan]

Morning Meditations

Nineteenth Prompt: A typical, relaxing day around camp

Summary: In a rare moment of peace, Vier takes the opportunity to commune with Lathander until she's interrupted by an unexpected visitor (1200 words).

---

High atop the rock which loomed over the campsite, Vier sat alone. It felt like a lifetime since she’d had a quiet moment to herself - well, as quiet as a moment could be when there was a terrible worm creature suckling upon one’s frontal lobe. The whoosh of the cascading waterfall off to her right did a marvelous job of drowning out its endless psychic static, leaving her mind free to focus on meditation. She had gone far too long without properly communing with Lathander, and there was no better time than right then to reflect upon him; after all, within a few days’ time, she would bid farewell to the sun, and who knew when the dawn would shine on her again?

If it had been her decision alone, the party would have been on its way to the mountain pass already - for if she could avoid the Underdark, she would avoid it. But the archdruid Halsin would be needed on the journey to Moonrise Towers, and there were yet things he needed to take care of before he could take to the road. Thus, there was nothing for them to do but wait.

Vier breathed in deeply, feeling the morning sun fresh upon her skin. Each new morning is a new beginning. A new chance to spread the seeds of hope far and wide, that Lathander’s light might reach them and–

“Psst, hey.”

–And help them grow within the hearts of the weak, the desperate, and the downtrodden–

“Hey, soldier!”

Vier’s eyebrows knit tightly together as her concentration was suddenly broken. Hurriedly, she put on a more pleasant countenance as she looked to the giant red unexpected visitor whose head peeked over the rocks. “Can I help you, Karlach?” she asked, her tone not betraying her mild annoyance in the slightest.

“Oh, no, was just wonderin’ what you were doin’ up here by your lonesome,” Karlach replied, “so, er…whatcha doin’?”

“I’m meditating,” Vier answered, “reflecting on the teachings of Lathander and giving thanks for the new dawn.”

“Hmm…Sounds boring,” Karlach spoke bluntly, yet innocently, which finally set Vier’s lips to pursing with frustration.

“I can assure you, it’s not boring,” Vier scolded. “Have you ever tried it?”

Karlach hoisted herself up onto the rock and took a seat next to Vier. Immediately, Vier was thankful for the cool breeze wafting from the churning waterfall; without it, she’d be set to sweating from the heat radiating from the tiefling’s engine, given how closely she was sitting.

“Can’t say I have,” Karlach replied. “Was never much for talking to gods and all.”

“You don’t need to speak to the gods if you don’t wish to, though Lathander always has an open ear for anyone. All you need to do is sit and contemplate.”

“Just…sit with my thoughts?”

“Yes. You can think about anything you wish - things you wish to improve for the future, beloved memories to give you strength, even focusing on how good the warm sunlight and the cool breeze feel on your skin. Anything.”

As Vier explained, Karlach shifted her posture, crossing her legs and sitting stiffly upright. “So, uh…do I do it like this?”

Vier couldn’t help but chuckle watching Karlach starting to take meditation a little more seriously. “If that’s comfortable for you, sure. Some prefer to sit on their knees, others sprawl out on the ground - though I don’t personally recommend that one, as you may be tempted to fall asleep. So, once you’re comfortable, you choose your thought, and you think. See where the thought takes you.”

For a moment, it looked as though Karlach was thinking quite hard about what to think about, her head tilting and bobbing as she sorted through options. But soon, she came to a decision and settled in, closing her eyes and sitting about as still as Vier had ever seen. As quiet once more fell, Vier returned to her attempted affirmations.

No matter how deep the darkness, no matter how despair gnaws and gnashes at our hearts, hope will always remain as surely as the sun will rise. Though we go now to a land trapped in blackest night, I carry the unquenchable light of Lathander with me. I will–

Once more, her concentration was broken by the sound of ever-increasing fidgeting and a rising whine, which grew into an aggravated groan.

“Uuuuuugh, I can’t do this!” Karlach grumbled as she flopped onto her back, arms and legs splaying across the surface of the rock. “I think I do my best thinking when I’m punching. How do you just sit still like this?”

Vier sighed with good-natured exasperation and gave the sprawled-out tiefling a gentle smile. “I wasn’t always very good at it. When I was younger, I used to think it was pretty boring, too. I used to watch my father at his services, sitting in silence for a whole hour, wondering just what you could even think about for that long.”

She relaxed her sitting position, leaning back and propping herself up with her hands. “It took quite a few tries before I started to get a feel for it, but it’s certainly not for everyone. Still, though, I appreciate that you even tried it at all.”

Karlach quickly sat up, arms draping across her knees. “You do? You’re not mad I couldn’t do it or anything?”

Vier felt the instinctive urge to gently pat Karlach on the shoulder rise up, but she quickly swallowed it down, leaving a guilty aftertaste. “Of course not,” she answered. “You did your best, and while it didn’t work out today, it doesn’t mean it can’t work out somewhere down the road.”

“Are all Lathander-folks this optimistic all the time?” Karlach asked with a small chuckle. From the twitch of her muscles, Vier could see she’d had a similar idea. Damn it, if only she could touch her. Karlach deserved to give and receive all the friendly nudges and back pats in the world, and it killed her that they both had to constantly restrain themselves so. But one day soon, Lathander help her, she’d give that mountain of a tiefling the tightest hug she’d ever gotten in her life. She would be fixed, and she would be loved.

“We always do our best.”

With a quick hop, Karlach suddenly returned to her feet. “Well, soldier, I think I’ll leave you to it, then. But, hey, maybe if I’m feeling ‘introspective’ one of these days, we can have another go at it.” With a wave and a “Cheers, mate,” she scampered down from the rock and headed back into camp proper.

And with that, Vier was alone once again. Almost immediately, she began to miss the big lug’s brilliant presence; but once more, she reminded herself this could be her only chance for proper meditation. It was time to get back to it.

Lathander, guide me. Cyril, watch over me. Keep me safe in the trials ahead, that I may one day–

Once more, a voice cut through the peaceful air, breaking Vier’s concentration.

“Darling, I am absolutely bored. What’s got you basking like a lizard in the daylight up here?”

Vier was never getting through her affirmations now.

[chernobog13]

Absolutely love this movie! The action sequences are insane!

This film is a prequel to the Once Upon a Time In China film series, and as far as I'm concerned it should be included in any collection of the series.

Iron Monkey was written and produced by Tsui Hark, the man who wrote and directed most of the OUATIC films, and produced them all. It was directed by the legendary Yuen Woo-ping, who was the action choreographer for most of the OUATIC series. Iron Monkey is just one of many collaborations between Director Yuen and Donnie Yen.

The story concerns a very young Wong Wei-hung, future hero of China, traveling through China with his father, Wong Kei-ying (Yen). nThe elder Wong was also a hero, one of the legendary Ten Tigers of Canton.

They come upon a town ruled by corrupt officials and evil soldiers, which is also home to the Robin Hood-like Iron Monkey. Like a Marvel comic book, circumstances lead to the two heroes initially battling each other. They eventually learn that they have a powerful common enemy, and team-up to take him down.

Meanwhile, the boy Fei-hung (played a girl, Angie Tsang), learns much about the martial arts, heroism, and defending the common people. This builds the foundation for his future as one of China's greatest heroes.

Can't recommend this film enough! Try to find the original Hong Kong version if you can, as the Americanized version from Miramax made a lot of unnecessary changes that did nothing to improve the film. Then again, I could say the same thing about every Hong Kong film Miramax released/distributed.

This film has absolutely no relation to the 1977 movie with the same title; they're totally different animals.

Also, please avoid the 1996 film Iron Monkey 2. It stars Donnie Yen, has action choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, and presents itself as a sequel, but it is not. Unfortunately, that's how I got suckered into watching it.

Yen just happens to be playing another Robin Hood-type character named Iron Monkey, but the two films are unrelated. And Iron Monkey 2 is, despite the talent involved, not very good at all.

Actually, it's pretty bad. So just watch Iron Monkey again instead.

Donnie Yen - Iron Monkey (1993)

[so-true-overdue]

The Enigma of Perception

In the labyrinth of modern existence, perception is the master puppeteer. It tugs at the strings of our consciousness, weaving a tapestry of reality that is often more cryptic than the truth it purports to represent. The world, my dear congregation, is not as bleak as it seems.

The Paradox of Progress

Let us delve into the paradox of progress. In an era where technological marvels abound and scientific advancements proliferate, one might expect an accompanying crescendo of optimism. Yet, the symphony of public sentiment often strikes a discordant note. Why, you ask, does the world appear to be spiraling into chaos when, in fact, it is ascending towards unprecedented heights of prosperity and peace?

The Siren Call of Negativity

The answer lies in the siren call of negativity. The media, in its insatiable quest for attention, often magnifies the macabre and amplifies the alarming. Catastrophes are broadcast with fervor, while triumphs are relegated to the shadows. This skewed portrayal distorts our perception, leading us to believe that the world is deteriorating when, in reality, it is improving.

The Empirical Evidence

Let us examine the empirical evidence. Global poverty rates have plummeted, life expectancy has soared, and literacy has reached unprecedented levels. Diseases that once ravaged humanity are now on the brink of eradication. These are not mere anecdotes but incontrovertible facts, testaments to the indomitable spirit of human progress.

The Critic’s Conundrum

Critics may argue that such statistics are but a veneer, concealing the underlying malaise of societal inequities and environmental degradation. Yet, to dismiss the strides we have made is to ignore the potential for further amelioration. Acknowledging progress does not negate the challenges that remain; rather, it galvanizes us to address them with renewed vigor.

The Call to Cognizance

What, then, is our call to action? It is a call to cognizance, to cultivate a discerning eye that sees beyond the sensationalism of headlines. Let us seek out stories of hope and resilience, for they are the true harbingers of change. Engage with the world not as passive consumers of information but as active participants in the narrative of progress.

The Conclusion: A New Perspective

In conclusion, let us embrace a new perspective. The world is not a cryptic enigma to be feared but a dynamic canvas upon which we can paint a future of our own design. As we navigate the complexities of modern life, let us do so with the knowledge that things are indeed getting better, even when they appear otherwise. Let us be the architects of optimism, the heralds of hope, and the champions of change. Amen.

[marvelmachining]

Maximizing Your ROI with Quality Maintenance Machining in Chicago

Are you fully utilizing the potential of your machinery? Every minute counts in the manufacturing sector and heavy industries, making proactive maintenance machining in Chicago crucial. This process drastically increases the lifespan of machines, helping operations run smoothly and ultimately boosting the return on investment.

Let’s find out how maintenance machining in Chicago can sustain smooth business flow and increase profitability.

Ensure Smooth Operations Every Day

All machinery gets damaged from use, which can hinder daily operations. Servicing your equipment can help identify and fix any minor issues that may escalate into a costly breakdown. Partnering with an experienced maintenance machining service in Chicago lets businesses prevent minor problems from turning into major setbacks.

Stay Ahead of Breakdowns

Maintaining machinery health and performance can prevent critical breakdowns and unexpected costs. Providers offering preventive maintenance machining services fix problems before they arise, reducing total maintenance costs and equipment downtime.

Take Care of Your Equipment, Take Care of Your Business

The performance of the equipment directly influences the business's output, so it becomes essential to maintain it. This way, the equipment operates at peak performance, securing uniform production and quality. Precision maintenance machining is an efficient method to lower the risk of major system malfunctions, which can increase your bottom line.

Minimize Downtime, Maximize Output

A company's reputation depends upon how well the equipment functions. Machinery downtime slows down and disrupts productivity. This can be avoided by regularly maintaining machinery. It not only diminishes downtime and prolongs the life of the equipment but lowers the costs, leading to higher productivity and improved customer satisfaction.

Avoid Disruptions with Regular Checks

Maintaining the machinery regularly can lower equipment downtime significantly. Routine inspections can record the trends of wear and tear, which can be used to predict future failure and avoid sudden machinery downtime.

Make Maintenance Part of Your Routine

Integrating machine maintenance in your routing lowers the total cost of repairing. Additionally, it can increase the life of the machine and guarantee it runs smoothly. This, in turn, maximizes ROI.

Conclusion

From minimizing downtime and staying ahead of breakdown to enhancing production, businesses can maximize their ROI by investing in high-quality maintenance machining.  When it comes to offering scalable maintenance machining in Chicago, one can count on Marvel Machining Company for dependable solutions, precision repairs, and practical services that keep equipment running at peak performance. Its seasoned team delivers repairs and maintenance to a high standard of workmanship with a quick turnaround, contributing to your business's bottom line. Reach out to Marvel Machining Company and get the most out of your business.

[benjaminlas]

Decoding the Future: The Convergence of AI and Cinematic Realities

In the sprawling expanse of a digitized world, where the fabric of reality is woven with the threads of technology, a tale unfolds that bridges the gap between the limitations of the past and the infinite possibilities of the future. Imagine a realm where every snippet of footage, regardless of its original resolution, can be converted into a cinematic masterpiece. This is where iFoto's Video Enhancer steps into the narrative, a tool that not only improves videos but also reshapes our perception of what is possible.

The year is 2147, and humanity has reached the zenith of AI innovation. The air is electric with the buzz of drones, the hum of self-driving vehicles, and the silent whispers of increaseed reality interfaces. Amidst this technological symphony, artists and creators are constantly seeking ways to push the boundaries of their craft. Enter Video Enhancer, an AI-powered enhancer that turns everyday videos into stunning visual spectacles.

Remember the grainy home videos of yesteryear, those precious memories that seemed to blur the further they drifted into the past? With Video Enhancer, such limitations are but echoes of a bygone era. This AI wizardry doesn't just upscale videos to 4K or beyond without quality loss; it breathes new life into every frame, allowing creators to revisit and relive moments with a clarity that defies time.

The experience of this technological marvel begins in the heart of a digital utopia. Creators, both amateur and professional, gather around, their screens glowing with the fire of imagination. They discuss the latest advancements, the hurdles they've overcome, and the projects that lie on the horizon. Amid this exchange, Video Enhancer emerges as a beacon of hope, a tool that promises to lift their work tonew heights.

What if I told you that this enhancer is not merely a tool but a silent partner in the creative process? It works tirelessly, learning from each pixel, understanding the subtleties of light and shadow, and translating low-quality footage into high-resolution masterpieces. iFoto's Video Enhancer doesn't just change the format; it changes the game.

Consider the independent filmmaker who stumbles upon old reels of film, capturing the essence of a world long forgotten. With Video Enhancer, these forgotten gems are reborn. The colors pop, the details emerge, and the narrative gains a new lease on life. This is not just about upscaling; it's about preserving the past while embracing the future.

Yet, the story of Video Enhancer isn't just about technology; it's about the human spirit. It's about the photographer who captures a fleeting moment, a street performer's routine, or a child's first steps. These moments, once confined to the constraints of low-resolution videos, now shine with a brilliance that mirrors the joy and wonder they represent.

As the sun sets on the digital horizon, one can't help but think about the impact of such innovation. Will it lead to a world where every memory is examineed and refined to the point of perfection? Or will it allow us to appreciate the raw, unfiltered beauty of life as it happens? Video Enhancer holds the promise of both.

In a world where the line between reality and virtuality blurs, iFoto's Video Enhancer stands as a testament to human ingenuity. It challenges us to see beyond the pixels, to find art in the everyday, and to embrace a future where technology and creativity dance in perfect harmony. So, as we venture forth into this brave new world, let us carry with us the stories, the memories, and the dreams that define us, enhanced and amplified for generations to come.

[delightfulpainterdelusion]

Hugging Digital Alchemy: The Magic of PTool's AI Face Swap

Have you ever marveled at the way technology can completely convert an image? The ability to swap faces in photos, once a task limited to professional editors, is now accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Enter PTool AI Face Swap: an online free tool that's turning the digital world into a playground of endless creative possibilities. Let's delve into into how this nifty Face Swapper is revolutionizing the way we edit images and the myriad applications that extend far beyond simple entertainment.

Imagine having the power to transport any face into a different setting, expression, or context. That's the magic PTool offers. When I first stumbled upon this tool, I was skeptical. Could it really be as simple and seamless as it claimed? With a few clicks, my skepticism dissolved. The interface is intuitive, guiding even the most inexperienced users through the process. It's like walking into a digital artist's studio and being handed the brush without needing to learn years of technique.

But what makes PTool's Face Swapper so compelling is not just its simplicity. It's the nuanced application of AI that allows for a swap that's convincing enough to fool the eye. I found myself experimenting with different photos, seeing how the AI would interpret the angles, lighting, and expressions. Each swap was an education in the subtleties of human features, a testament to the sophisticated algorithms working behind the scenes.

Now, one might wonder: isn't face swapping just a novelty? While it can certainly be used for a laugh or two, its potential is far more significant. Consider the world of entertainment. Movies and games increasingly rely on realistic avatars and character transformations. PTool's Face Swapper could be the bridge for enthusiasts to experiment with character design, potentially unlocking the next big hit in a game or the star of an indie film.

And what about education? Imagine a history class where students could see themselves in the roles of historical figures, making the past more tangible and relatable. The engagement level would soar, and learning would be a vivid, personal experience. This tool is not just changing the faces in our photos; it's changing the way we interact with information and each other.

But what if we turn the NSFW mode on? Suddenly, the tool takes on a new dimension. While caution is necessary when dealing with sensitive content, there's no denying the appeal of being able to swap faces without restriction. It's an aspect of PTool that opens up a broader conversation about digital creativity and the blurred lines between reality and artifice.

As I played around with PTool, I couldn't help but reflect on the ethical considerations of such technology. How does the ease of swapping faces affect our concept of identity? Do we risk trivializing personal appearance by making it so interchangeable? These questions hang in the digital air as tools like PTool become more mainstream.

Moreover, the tool's versatility isn't limited to just entertainment or education. Marketing professionals can use it to personalize advertisements, while law enforcement agencies could potentially apply it to improve surveillance techniques. The applications are limited only by our imagination and ethical considerations.

To sum up, PTool's AI Face Swap is not just another internet fad; it's a tool that challenges us to think differently about images and identity. It's a digital paintbrush that invites us to create and experiment, all while prompting a deeper discussion about technology's impact on society. Whether you're a casual user looking for a bit of fun or a professional seeking new ways to involve with your audience, PTool offers a glimpse into the future of digital editing—and that's an exciting prospect indeed.

[mars-ns]

Research: Games

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an action-adventure survival game developed by Hello Games. The game focuses on you, a Traveller, as you travel across the galaxy and uncover its secrets as you also become associates with different aliens who guide you. The game’s main gameplay involves you going to different planets and galaxies to explore, collect resources and trade.

The game is much more infamous however for being a game that at first had a very negative reputation due to overpromises, only to slowly improve it upon the release of different updates and fixes.

Halo

Halo is a first person shooter video game franchise set in the future within space, first developed by Bungie before the formation of Halo Studio. The overarching plot focuses on an attack started by the Covenant, aliens who wanted to avenge their ancestors, the Forerunners, with Master Chief being trusted to help against the Covenant and destroy the Halo ring.

With the release of the first game, Halo Combat Evolved, in 2001 alongside the original Xbox, the game became an instant classic and was praised for almost most things you can think of: Gameplay, graphics, soundtrack, the like. With this, Halo became heavily associated with Xbox and all games have been published on it (As well as any other capable Windows machine).

Subnautica

Subnautica is a 2018 action adventure exploration game by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. The gam centres on an explorer named Ryley Robinson, who's left to explore a weird planet and its oceans after becoming stranded. The game focuses on exploration, gathering resources and finding a way to protect yourself from the various monsters within, progressing until you can find a way to escape.

Space Invaders

Space Invaders is a 1978 arcade shoot em up developed by Taito. The game has you play as a ship with the goal of shooting lanes of aliens, the invaders, and making sure they don’t get too close to you. You have access to defensive walls that aliens can shoot at. The video game is one the first to be endless, and it was incredibly successful upon release. The game, while permeative by today’s standards, was an arcade marvel that helped unleash the “golden age” of gaming.

Galaga

Galaga is a 1981 fixed shooter arcade game developed by Namco and the sequel to Galaxian. In the game, you play as a ship that needs to destroy the Galaga aliens with increasing difficulty. The game, just like Space Invades, was considered a hit and a part of the golden age of gaming, although it didn't preform as well in arcade as expected. Despite that, Galaga has it's place in video game history.

BioShock

BioShock is a video game series created by Ken Levine and developed by various studios, based on Irrational Games' System Shock 1 and 2. The games are set in a retrofuturistic and dystopian version of the 1960's, where one can have superabilites to fight. The series is also known for its psychological and moral themes. All of this combined has given BioShock a defined aesthetic not seen in other first person shooter games.

Metroid

Metroid is an action adventure game franchise by Nintendo. The games follow Samus Aran, an alien bounty hunter who protects the galaxy from space pirates and Metroid aliens. With the games combining side-scrolling platforming, exploration and adventure, Metroid was one of a kind, making it incredibly popular and iconic amongst Nintendo's vast titles.

Detroit: Become Human

Detroit: Become Human is a 2018 adventure game developed by Quantic Dream. The game is set in 2038 and follows three characters: Kara, Markus and Connor, all of which are androids living a society that disrespects them and sees them as nothing but workers, but androids called deviants, who have disobeyed their purpose, also exist and plan to revolt against the humans.

The development history of this game is certainly interesting. Between the developers paying a visit to the actual city of Detroit to take photos to reference them in the game to contacting AI experts to ask the if the androids could feasibly exist, the developers really took no shortcuts in trying to provide a more realistic approach other concept of androids.

[charleyad]

Enchanting the Visual Realm: The Magician's Covenant with iFoto's Video Quality Enhancer

In the realm of digital visions, where images dance and flicker with the pulse of our modern world, there lies an ancient for beauty, for clarity that pierces the veil of time and brings forth a vision untouched by the blurring hands of the sands. In this quest, a tool has emerged, a fabled key that unlocks the secrets of changeing artistry. Behold, the Video Quality Enhancer of iFoto, a charm that weaves its magic over the humblest of visuals, elevating them to the grandeur of high-resolution splendor.

Long ago, in the days of flickering black and white frames, the alchemy of motion pictures was a labor of love, demanding and meticulous care. Today, the Video Quality Enhancer is akin to a sorcerer's spell, turning the lowly pixelated grains into a rich tapestry of vibrant colors and sharp precision. Can you imagine the awe when the first low-quality clip blossomed into a stunning 4K masterpiece, the as clear as the morning dew upon a rose petal?

This sorcerer's apprentice, iFoto, does not work with the traditional ink and quill, nor the chisels and stone of old. Its laboratory is the digital forge, where algorithms and neural networks are the alchemist's retorts and crucibles. The Video Quality Enhancer is the wand that conjures the conversion, allowing for videos to not merely exist but to thrive in a realm where the line between reality and fantasy blurs.

Consider the humble scribe who, armed with nothing but a simple camera, captures the fleeting moments of our world. The images, while precious, are often bound by the limitations of technology. Yet, with the Video Quality Enhancer, each frame is upscaled, not merely in size, but in essence, revealing details that were once too subtle to be seen. The magic performed is akin to turning a loom-woven cloth into the finest silk, without losing its original weave. How does one not marvel at such sorcery?

In the eyes of a content creator, every video is a chapter in an unfolding story. With iFoto's Video Quality Enhancer, these chapters gain new life, their edges sharpened, their colors vivid, and their resolution so clear it feels as though one could step into the scene itself. The conversion is not merely a technical upgrade—it is a reimagining of the creator's vision, a experience from the mundane to the extraordinary.

What if I were to tell you that this enchantment does not require the blood of a moon or the tears of a star? That it is as accessible as the air we breathe? The Video Quality Enhancer democratizes the art of visual storytelling, granting the common artist the tools once reserved for the elite studios of Hollywood. Through this technology, everyman becomes an artisan, sculpting frames with the care of a master craftsman.

And yet, in this tale of conversion, the true magic is not the leap in quality alone. It is the promise of preservation, the guarantee that the essence of the original creation remains untouched. The Video Quality Enhancer does not overwrite the artist's intention but improves it, much like a fine wine that deepens in flavor with age, without losing its original character.

As we stand on the cusp of this visual renaissance, one cannot help but wonder what stories will emerge from this new clarity, what tales will be told with the vibrant colors and crisp details that were once beyond reach. The Video Quality Enhancer of iFoto is not merely a tool; it is the wand that casts the spell, the quill that writes the future of visual storytelling. So, let us step forward into this realm of enhanced beauty, with iFoto as our guide, and watch as our artistry changes, leaving behind the shadows of the past and steppingboldly into the brilliance of tomorrow.

[ayur099]

Elan The Emperor: Luxurious Living Awaits in Sector 106, Dwarka Expressway

In the dynamic landscape of Gurgaon, Elan The Emperor stands out as a premier residential project that redefines luxury living. Nestled in Sector 106 along the Dwarka Expressway, this magnificent development offers a unique blend of opulence and modern amenities, making it an ideal choice for discerning homeowners. With spacious 4 and 5 BHK luxury apartments spread across an expansive 30 acres, Elan The Emperor is designed to provide residents with a lifestyle that is both sophisticated and comfortable.

Prime Location: The Heart of Connectivity

Elan The Emperor 106 Gurgaon boasts a strategic location that enhances its appeal. Positioned along the Dwarka Expressway, the project offers seamless connectivity to major business districts in Gurgaon and Delhi. This prime location ensures that residents enjoy easy access to a plethora of essential services, including educational institutions, healthcare facilities, shopping complexes, and entertainment hubs.

Living at Elan The Emperor means being part of a vibrant community that offers the best of urban living while still providing a serene environment away from the hustle and bustle. The Dwarka Expressway itself is one of the most significant infrastructure projects in the region, further boosting the value of properties in the area. This connectivity will only improve as the infrastructure develops, making Elan The Emperor an excellent investment choice for the future.

Architectural Marvel: A Testament to Luxury

Elan The Emperor is an architectural masterpiece that showcases contemporary design and thoughtful planning. Upon entering, residents and visitors are greeted by a grand entrance lobby that exudes sophistication and elegance. The project consists of three levels of basement parking, a ground floor, and an impressive 38 floors above, offering panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and city skyline.

The luxury apartments within Elan The Emperor are designed with an emphasis on spaciousness and comfort. The 4 and 5 BHK configurations feature expansive layouts that maximize natural light and ventilation, creating a harmonious living space. High-quality materials, premium finishes, and state-of-the-art fixtures enhance the interiors, ensuring that every apartment reflects the epitome of luxury living.

Exceptional Amenities: Enhancing Lifestyle

At Elan The Emperor, residents are treated to a plethora of world-class amenities designed to elevate their lifestyle. The development focuses on providing facilities that promote relaxation, recreation, and social interaction among residents.

1. Lavish Clubhouse

The clubhouse serves as the focal point of community living, offering a range of facilities including a fully equipped gym, a spa, and spaces for indoor games. This luxurious facility encourages residents to engage in fitness activities, unwind, and socialize with neighbors, fostering a sense of community.

2. Invigorating Swimming Pools

Elan The Emperor features multiple swimming pools, including an inviting infinity pool that offers stunning views of the landscape. A dedicated children’s pool ensures that younger residents can enjoy safe swimming experiences. These aquatic facilities provide residents with opportunities to relax and enjoy leisurely afternoons by the water.

3. Lush Landscaped Gardens

The project is surrounded by beautifully designed landscaped gardens that offer a tranquil retreat from urban life. Walking paths, jogging tracks, and meditation zones are integrated into the green spaces, allowing residents to connect with nature and embrace a healthy lifestyle. The serene environment promotes well-being and relaxation for all age groups.

4. Comprehensive Sports Facilities

For those who lead an active lifestyle, Elan The Emperor provides a variety of sports facilities, including tennis courts, basketball courts, and more. These amenities encourage residents to stay fit and engage in recreational activities, fostering a spirit of camaraderie and competition among neighbors.

5. Advanced Security Measures

Safety is paramount at Elan The Emperor. The development is equipped with advanced security features, including 24/7 CCTV surveillance, intercom systems, and trained security personnel. This comprehensive security ensures that residents can enjoy their luxurious living environment with complete peace of mind.

6. Smart Home Features

Embracing the latest technological advancements, Elan The Emperor incorporates smart home technology that allows residents to control various aspects of their apartments with ease. From lighting and climate control to security systems, these innovations enhance convenience and improve the overall living experience.

A Commitment to Sustainability

Elan The Emperor is not only dedicated to luxury but also to sustainability. The project integrates eco-friendly practices, including rainwater harvesting systems, energy-efficient installations, and sustainable building materials. This commitment to environmental responsibility allows residents to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle while contributing to a sustainable future.

Investment Potential: A Wise Choice

Investing in Elan The Emperor represents an opportunity for homebuyers and investors to secure a prestigious property in one of Gurgaon’s most sought-after locations. The strategic position along the Dwarka Expressway ensures that the value of properties in this area is poised for significant appreciation as the region continues to develop.

As Gurgaon evolves and attracts more residents, the demand for high-quality luxury apartments will rise, making Elan The Emperor a smart investment choice. The combination of luxury living, excellent connectivity, and potential for property value growth makes this development an attractive option for those looking to invest in their future.

Community Living: A Vibrant Atmosphere

Elan The Emperor is designed to foster a strong sense of community among its residents. The project hosts various social events, workshops, and activities, encouraging residents to interact and build meaningful relationships. This vibrant community atmosphere enhances the overall living experience, making Elan The Emperor not just a residence, but a thriving community where friendships can flourish.

Residents can participate in various initiatives and enjoy leisure activities together, creating a warm and inviting environment for families and individuals alike.

Conclusion: Discover Your Dream Home at Elan The Emperor

Elan The Emperor in Sector 106, Dwarka Expressway, represents the pinnacle of luxury living in Gurgaon. With its prime location, stunning architectural design, and exceptional amenities, it offers a lifestyle that is both extravagant and fulfilling.

For those seeking a luxurious home that combines elegance, comfort, and modern convenience, Elan The Emperor is the ultimate choice. Explore the magnificent 4 and 5 BHK luxury apartments and take the first step toward embracing a lifestyle of unparalleled sophistication.

To learn more about this extraordinary residential project, visit Elan The Emperor and discover why it stands out as a premier destination for luxury living in Gurgaon. Experience the grandeur and elegance that await you in this exceptional community, where your dream home is just a step away. At Elan The Emperor, luxury is not just a feature; it is a way of life designed for those who seek the very best.

[ai-network]

Unveiling Llama 3.2: Meta AI's Multimodal Marvel

Llama 3.2 by Meta AI represents a monumental leap in multimodal language models, capable of processing text, images, audio, and more. This latest iteration enhances applications like image captioning and extracting structured data from unstructured sources such as PDFs.

Introduction to Multimodal Language Models

Multimodal language models are designed to comprehend and process data from various modes such as text, images, and audio, offering a holistic approach to language understanding. These models harness the power of deep learning to create a unified framework that can interpret and generate diverse forms of content, breaking traditional boundaries. The evolution of multimodal models marks a significant trend towards more comprehensive artificial intelligence systems, enabling advanced capabilities across a multitude of applications. Llama 3.2 by Meta AI Llama 3.2 builds upon the foundation laid by its predecessors, introducing enhanced multimodal capabilities designed for superior data processing across text, images, audio, and beyond. This model represents a fusion of cutting-edge technologies aimed at expanding the horizons of natural language processing and machine learning. Meta AI's focus with Llama 3.2 is not only on scalability but also on improving the model's ability to handle complex multimodal tasks with unprecedented accuracy. Applications and Use Cases One of the standout applications of Llama 3.2 is in image captioning, where the model excels at generating accurate and contextually relevant descriptions from visual inputs. Beyond visual data, the model also shines in extracting structured information from unstructured documents such as PDFs, transforming them into actionable data. These capabilities are poised to revolutionize industries like content generation, accessibility design, and data analysis by significantly enhancing efficiency and precision. Impact on Industry and Research The introduction of Llama 3.2 is influencing a shift in computational paradigms, encouraging industries to adopt more integrated and intelligent systems. In academia, the model serves as both a tool and inspiration, driving research into deeper integrations of multimodal technologies and the exploration of AI's untapped potential. It sets a precedent for future investigations into multimodality, challenging researchers to push boundaries in cognitive and computational sciences. Future Prospects and Challenges Future advancements in multimodal models promise even more seamless interactions between different forms of data, leading to innovations not yet imaginable. However, challenges such as computational demands, data privacy concerns, and ethical considerations must be addressed to harness the full potential of models like Llama 3.2 responsibly. Read the full article

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Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional for November 9

Tozer in the Morning THE EASTER TRIUMPH

I do not mind telling you that within me I find the Easter message and the reality of the Resurrection more beautiful and glorious than the Christmas scene. Christmas tells us that Jesus was born; that He was born for the humiliation of suffering and death and atonement. But Easter is the radiant and glory-filled celebration of Christ's mighty triumph over the grave and death and hell! When Easter comes, our voices are raised in the triumphant chorus: The three sad days had quickly sped; He rises glorious from the dead! There is the real beauty! This is more than the beauty of color; more than the beauty of outline or form; more than the beauty of physical proportion. In the living Christ is the perfection of all beauty; and because He lives, we too shall live in the presence of His beauty and the beauties of heaven, forever!

Tozer in the Evening THE MENACE OF THE RELIGIOUS MOVIE

When God gave to Moses the blueprint of the Tabernacle He was careful to include every detail; then, lest Moses should get the notion that he could improve on the original plan, God warned him solemnly, "And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shown thee in the mount." God, not Moses, was the architect. To decide the plan was the prerogative of the Deity. No one dare alter it so much as a hairbreadth.

The New Testament Church also is built after a pattern. Not the doctrines only but the methods are divinely given. The doctrines are expressly stated in so many words. Some of the methods followed by the early New Testament Church had been given by direct command; others were used by God's specific approval, having obviously been commanded the apostles by the Spirit. The point is that when the New Testament canon was closed the blueprint for the age was complete. God has added nothing since that time.

From God's revealed plan we depart at our peril. Every departure has two consequences, the immediate and the remote. The immediate touches the individual and those close to him; the remote extends into the future to unknown times, and may expand so far as to influence for evil the whole Church of God on earth.

The temptation to introduce "new" things into the work of God has always been too strong for some people to resist. The Church has suffered untold injury at the hands of well intentioned but misguided persons who have felt that they know more about running God's work than Christ and His apostles did. A solid train of box cars would not suffice to haul away the religious rubbish which has been brought into the service of the Church with the hope of improving on the original pattern. These things have been, one and all, positive hindrances to the progress of the Truth, and have so altered the divinely-planned structure that the apostles, were they to return to earth today, would scarcely recognize the misshapen thing which has resulted.

Our Lord while on earth cleansed the Temple, and periodic cleansings have been necessary in the Church of God throughout the centuries. Every generation is sure to have its ambitious amateur to come up with some shiny gadget which he proceeds to urge upon the priests before the altar. That the Scriptures do not justify its existence does not seem to bother him at all. It is brought in anyway and presented in the very name of Orthodoxy. Soon it is identified in the minds of the Christian public with all that is good and holy. Then, of course, to attack the gadget is to attack the Truth itself. This is an old familiar technique so often and so long practiced by the devotees of error that I marvel how the children of God can be taken in by it.

We of the evangelical faith are in the rather awkward position of criticizing Roman Catholicism for its weight of unscriptural impedimenta and at the same time tolerating in our own churches a world of religious fribble as bad as holy water or the elevated host. Heresy of method may be as deadly as heresy of message. Old-line Protestantism has long ago been smothered to death by extra-scriptural rubbish. Unless we of the gospel churches wake up soon we shall most surely die by the same means.

Within the last few years a new method has been invented for imparting spiritual knowledge; or, to be more accurate, it is not new at all, but is an adaptation of a gadget of some years standing, one which by its origin and background belongs not to the Church but to the world. Some within the fold of the Church have thrown their mantle over it, have "blessed it with a text" and are now trying to show that it is the very gift of God for our day. But, however eloquent the sales talk, it is an unauthorized addition nevertheless, and was never a part of the pattern shown us on the mount.

I refer, of course, to the religious movie.

For the motion picture as such I have no irrational allergy. It is a mechanical invention merely and is in its essence amoral; that is, it is neither good nor bad, but neutral. With any physical object or any creature lacking the power of choice it could not be otherwise. Whether such an object is useful or harmful depends altogether upon who uses it and what he uses it for. No moral quality attaches where there is no free choice. Sin and righteousness lie in the will. The motion picture is in the same class as the automobile, the typewriter, or the radio: a powerful instrument for good or evil, depending upon how it is applied.

For teaching the facts of physical science the motion picture has been useful. The public schools have used it successfully to teach health habits to children. The army employed it to speed up instruction during war. That it has been of real service within its limited field is freely acknowledged here.

Over against this is the fact that the motion picture in evil hands has been a source of moral corruption to millions. No one who values his reputation as a responsible adult will deny that the sex movie and the crime movie have done untold injury to the lives of countless young people in our generation. The harm lies not in the instrument itself, but in the evil will of those who use it for their own selfish ends.

These pictures are produced by acting a religious story before the camera. Take for example the famous and beautiful story of the Prodigal Son. This would be made into a movie by treating the narrative as a scenario. Stage scenery would be set up, actors would take the roles of Father, Prodigal Son, Elder Brother, etc. There would be plot, sequence and dramatic denouement as in the ordinary tear jerker shown at the Bijou movie house on Main Street in any one of a thousand American towns. The story would be acted out, photographed, run onto reels and shipped around the country to be shown for a few wherever desired.

The "service" where such a movie would be shown might seem much like any other service until time for the message from the Word of God. Then the lights would be put out and the picture turned on. The "message" would consist of this movie. What followed the picture would, of course, vary with the circumstances, but often an invitation song is sung and a tender appeal is made for erring sinners to return to God.

Now, what is wrong with all this? Why should any man object to this or go out of his way to oppose its use in the house of God? Here is my answer:

It violates the scriptural law of hearing.

The power of speech is a noble gift of God. In his ability to open his mouth and by means of words make his fellows know what is going on inside his mind, a man shares one of the prerogatives of the Creator. In its ability to understand the spoken word the human mind rises unique above all the lower creation. The gift which enables a man to translate abstract ideas into sounds is a badge of his honor as made in the image of God.

Written or printed words are sound symbols and are translated by the mind into hearing. Hieroglyphics and ideograms were the first symbols used to represent ideas. These ideograms were, in effect, not pictures but letters, and the letters were agreed-upon ideas. Thus words, whether spoken or written, are a medium for the communication of ideas. This is basic in human nature and stems from our divine origin.

It is significant that when God gave to mankind His great redemptive revelation He couched it in words. "And God spake all these words" very well sums up the Bible's own account of how it got here. "Thus saith the Lord" is the constant refrain of the prophets. "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," said our Lord to His hearers. Again He said, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life." Paul made words and faith to be inseparable: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." And he also said, "How shall they hear without a preacher?"

Surely it requires no genius to see that the Bible rules out pictures and dramatics as media for bringing faith and life to the human soul.

The plain fact is that no vital spiritual truth can be expressed by a picture. Actually all any picture can do is to recall to mind some truth already learned through the familiar medium of the spoken or written word. Religious instruction and words are bound together by a living cord and cannot be separated without fatal loss. The Spirit Himself, teaching soundlessly within the heart, makes use of ideas previously received into the mind by means of words.

If I am reminded that modern religious movies are "sound" pictures, making use of the human voice to augment the dramatic action, the answer is easy. Just as far as the movie depends upon spoken words it makes pictures unnecessary; the picture is the very thing that differentiates between the movie and the sermon. The movie addresses its message primarily to the eye, and the ear only incidentally. Were the message addressed to the ear as in the Scriptures, the picture would have no meaning and could be omitted without loss to the intended effect. Words can say all that God intends them to say, and this they can do without the aid of pictures.

According to one popular theory the mind receives through the eye five times as much information as the ear. As far as the external shell of physical facts is concerned this may hold good, but when we come to spiritual truth we are in another world entirely. In that world the outer eye is not too important. God addresses His message to the hearing ear. "We look," says Paul, "not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." This agrees with the whole burden of the the Bible, which teaches us that we should withdraw our eyes from beholding visible things, and fasten the eyes of our hearts upon God while we reverently listen to His uttered words.

"The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Here, and not somewhere else, is the New Testament pattern, and no human being, and no angel from heaven has any right to alter that pattern.

The religious movie embodies the mischievous notion that religion is, or can be made, a form of entertainment.

This notion has come upon us lately like a tidal wave and is either openly taught or tacitly assumed by increasing numbers of people. Since it is inextricably bound up with the subject under discussion I had better say more about it.

The idea that religion should be entertaining has made some radical changes in the evangelical picture within this generation. It has given us not only the "gospel" movie but a new type of religious journalism as well. It has created a new kind of magazine for church people, which can be read from cover to cover without effort, without thought---and without profit. It has also brought a veritable flood of religious fiction with plastic heroines and bloodless heroes like no one who has ever lived upon this well known terrestrial ball.

That religion and amusement are forever opposed to each other by their very essential natures is apparently not known to this new school of religious entertainers. Their effort to slip up on the reader and administer a quick shot of saving truth while his mind is on something else is not only futile, it is, in fact, not too far short of being plain dishonest. The hope that they can convert a man while he is occupied with the doings of some imaginary hero reminds one of the story of the Catholic missionary who used to sneak up on sick people and children and splash a little holy water on them to guarantee their passage to the city of gold.

I believe that most responsible religious teachers will agree that any effort to teach spiritual truth through entertainment is at best futile and at worst positively injurious to the soul. But entertainment pays off, and the economic consideration is always a powerful one in deciding what shall and what shall not be offered to the public---even in the churches.

Deep spiritual experiences come only from much study, earnest prayer and long meditation. It is true that men by thinking cannot find God; it is also true that men cannot know God very well without a lot of reverent thinking. Religious movies, by appealing directly to the shallowest stratum of our minds, cannot but create bad mental habits which unfit the soul for the reception of genuine spiritual impressions.

Religious movies are mistakenly thought by some people to be blessed of the Lord because many come away from them with moist eyes. If this is a proof of God's blessing, then we might as well go the whole way and assert that every show that brings tears is of God. Those who attend the theater know how often the audiences are moved to tears by the joys and sorrows of the highly paid entertainers who kiss and emote and murder and die for the purpose of exciting the spectators to a high pitch of emotional excitement. Men and women who are dedicated to sin and appointed to death may nevertheless weep in sympathy for the painted actors and be not one bit the better for it. The emotions have had a beautiful time, but the will is left untouched. The religious movie is sure to draw together a goodly number of persons who cannot distinguish the twinges of vicarious sympathy from the true operations of the Holy Ghost.

The religious movie is a menace to true religion because it embodies acting, a violation of sincerity.

Without doubt the most precious thing any man possesses is his individuated being; that by which he is himself and not someone else; that which cannot be finally voided by the man himself nor shared with another. Each one of us, however humble our place in the social scheme, is unique in creation. Each is a new whole man possessing his own separate "I-ness" which makes him forever something apart, an individual human being. It is this quality of uniqueness which permits a man to enjoy every reward of virtue and makes him responsible for every sin. It is his selfness, which will persist forever, and which distinguishes him from every creature which has been or ever will be created.

Because man is such a being as this all moral teachers, and especially Christ and His apostles, make sincerity to be basic in the good life. The word, as the New Testament uses it, refers to the practice of holding fine pottery up to the sun to test it for purity. In the white light of the sun all foreign substances were instantly exposed. So the test of sincerity is basic in human character. The sincere man is one in whom is found nothing foreign; he is all of one piece; he has preserved his individuality unviolated.

Sincerity for each man means staying in character with himself. Christ's controversy with the Pharisees centered around their incurable habit of moral play acting. The Pharisee constantly pretended to be what he was not. He attempted to vacate his own "I-ness" and appear in that of another and better man. He assumed a false character and played it for effect. Christ said he was a hypocrite.

It is more than an etymological accident that the word "hypocrite" comes from the stage. It means actor. With that instinct for fitness which usually marks word origins, it has been used to signify one who has violated his sincerity and is playing a false part. An actor is one who assumes a character other than his own and plays it for effect. The more fully he can become possessed by another personality the better he is as an actor.

Bacon has said something to the effect that there are some professions of such nature that the more skillfully a man can work at them the worse man he is. That perfectly describes the profession of acting. Stepping out of our own character for any reason is always dangerous, and may be fatal to the soul. However innocent his intentions, a man who assumes a false character has betrayed his own soul and has deeply injured something sacred within him.

No one who has been in the presence of the Most Holy One, who has felt how high is the solemn privilege of bearing His image, will ever again consent to play a part or to trifle with that most sacred thing, his own deep sincere heart. He will thereafter be constrained to be no one but himself, to preserve reverently the sincerity of his own soul.

In order to produce a religious movie someone must, for the time, disguise his individuality and simulate that of another. His actions must be judged fraudulent, and those who watch them with approval share in the fraud. To pretend to pray, to simulate godly sorrow, to play at worship before the camera for effect---how utterly shocking to the reverent heart! How can Christians who approve this gross pretense ever understand the value of sincerity as taught by our Lord? What will be the end of a generation of Christians fed on such a diet of deception disguised as the faith of our fathers?

The plea that all this must be good because it is done for the glory of God is a gossamer-thin bit of rationalizing which should not fool anyone above the mental age of six. Such an argument parallels the evil rule of expediency which holds the end is everything, and sanctifies the means, however evil, if only the end be commendable. The wise student of history will recognize this immoral doctrine. The Spirit-led Church will have no part of it.

It is not uncommon to find around the theater human flotsam and jetsam washed up by the years, men and women who have played false parts so long that the power to be sincere has forever gone from them. They are doomed to everlasting duplicity. Every act of their lives is faked, every smile is false, every tone of their voice artificial. The curse does not come causeless. It is not by chance that the actor's profession has been notoriously dissolute. Hollywood and Broadway are two sources of corruption which may yet turn America into a Sodom and lay her glory in the dust.

The profession of acting did not originate with the Hebrews. It is not a part of the divine pattern. The Bible mentions it, but never approves it. Drama, as it has come down to us, had its rise in Greece. It was originally a part of the worship of the god Dionysus and was carried on with drunken revelry.

The Miracle Plays of medieval times have been brought forward to justify the modern religious movie. That is an unfortunate weapon to choose for the defense of the movie, for it will surely harm the man who uses it more than any argument I could think of just offhand.

The Miracle Plays had their big run in the Middle Ages. They were dramatic performances with religious themes staged for the entertainment of the populace. At their best they were misguided efforts to teach spiritual truths by dramatic representation; at their worst they were shockingly irreverent and thoroughly reprehensible. In some of them the Eternal God was portrayed as an old man dressed in white with a gilt wig! To furnish low comedy, the devil himself was introduced on the stage and allowed to cavort for the amusement of the spectators. Bible themes were used, as in the modern movie, but this did not save the whole thing from becoming so corrupt that the Roman Church had finally to prohibit its priests from having any further part in it.

Those who would appeal for precedent to the Miracle Plays have certainly overlooked some important facts. For instance, the vogue of the Miracle Play coincided exactly with the most dismally corrupt period the Church has ever known. When the Church emerged at last from its long moral night these plays lost popularity and finally passed away. And be it remembered, the instrument God used to bring the Church out of the darkness was not drama; it was the biblical one of Spirit-baptized preaching. Serious-minded men thundered the truth and the people turned to God.

Indeed, history will show that no spiritual advance, no revival, no upsurge of spiritual life has ever been associated with acting in any form. The Holy Spirit never honors pretense.

Can it be that the historic pattern is being repeated? That the appearance of the religious movie is symptomatic of the low state of spiritual health we are in today? I fear so. Only the absence of the Holy Spirit from the pulpit and lack of true discernment on the part of professing Christians can account for the spread of religious drama among so-called evangelical churches. A Spirit-filled church could not tolerate it.

They who present the gospel movie owe it to the public to give biblical authority for their act: and this they have not done.

The Church, as long as it is following the Lord, goes along in Bible ways and can give a scriptural reason for its conduct. Its members meet at stated times to pray together: This has biblical authority back of it. They gather to hear the Word of God expounded: this goes back in almost unbroken continuity to Moses. They sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: so they are commanded by the apostle. They visit the sick and relieve the sufferings of the poor: for this they have both precept and example in Holy Writ. They lay up their gifts and bring them at stated times to the church or chapel to be used in the Lord's work: this also follows the scriptural pattern. They teach and train and instruct; they appoint teachers and pastors and missionaries and send them out to do the work for which the Spirit has gifted them: all this has plain scriptural authority behind it.

Now, for the religious movie where is the authority? For such a serious departure from the ancient pattern, where is the authority? For introducing into the Church the pagan art of acting, where is the authority? Let the movie advocates quote just one verse, from any book of the Bible, in any translation, to justify its use. This they cannot do. The best they can do is to appeal to the world's psychology or repeat brightly that "modern times call for modern methods." But the Scriptures---quote from them one verse to authorize movie acting as an instrument of the Holy Ghost. This they cannot do.

Every sincere Christian must find scriptural authority for the religious movie or reject it, and every producer of such movies, if he would square himself before the faces of honest and reverent men, must either show scriptural credentials or go out of business.

But, says someone, there is nothing unscriptural about the religious movie; it is merely a new medium for the utterance of the old message, as printing is a newer and better method of writing and the radio an amplification of familiar human speech.

To this I reply: The movie is not the modernization or improvement of any scriptural method; rather it is a medium in itself wholly foreign to the Bible and altogether unauthorized therein. It is play acting---just that, and nothing more. It is the introduction into the work of God of that which is not neutral, but entirely bad. The printing press is neutral; so is the radio; so is the camera. They may be used for good or bad purposes at the will of the user. But play acting is bad in its essence in that it involves the simulation of emotions not actually felt. It embodies a gross moral contradiction in that it calls a lie to the service of truth.

Arguments for the religious movie are sometimes clever and always shallow, but there is never any real attempt to cite scriptural authority. Anything that can be said for the movie can be said also for aesthetic dancing, which is a highly touted medium for teaching religious truth by appeal to the eye. Its advocates grow eloquent in its praise---but where is it indicated in the blueprint?

God has ordained four methods only by which Truth shall prevail---and the religious movie is not one of them.

Without attempting to arrange these methods in order of importance, they are prayer, song, proclamation of the message by means of words, and good works. These are the four main methods which God has blessed. All other biblical methods are sub-divisions of these and stay within their framework.

The whole preach-the gospel-with-movies idea is founded upon the same basic assumptions as Modernism, namely, that the Word of God is not final, and that we of this day have a perfect right to add to it or alter it wherever we think we can improve it.

A brazen example of this attitude came to my attention recently. Preliminary printed matter has been sent out announcing that a new organization is in process of being formed. It is to be called the "International Radio and Screen Artists Guild," and one of its two major objectives is to promote the movie as a medium for the spread of the gospel. Its sponsors, apparently, are not Modernists, but confessed Fundamentalists. Some of its declared purposes are: to produce movies "with or without a Christians slant"; to raise and maintain higher standards in the movie field (this would be done, it says here, by having "much prayer" with leaders of the movie industry); to "challenge people, especially young people, to those fields as they are challenged to go to foreign fields."

This last point should not be allowed to pass without some of us doing a little challenging on our own account. Does this new organization actually propose in seriousness to add another gift to the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament? To the number of the Spirit's gifts, such as pastor, teacher, evangelist, is there now to be added another, the gift of the movie actor? Instead of the Holy Spirit saying, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them," these people will make use of what they call a "Christian talent listing," to consist of the names of "Christian" actors who have received the Spirit's gift to be used in making religious movies.

Thus the order set up in the New Testament is openly violated, and by professed lovers of the gospel who say unto Jesus, "Lord, Lord," but openly set aside His Lordship whenever they desire. No amount of smooth talk can explain away this serious act of insubordination.

Saul lost a kingdom when he "forced" himself and took profane liberties with the priesthood. Let these movie preachers look to their crown. They may find themselves on the road to Endor some dark night soon.

The religious movie is out of harmony with the whole spirit of the Scriptures and contrary to the mood of true Godliness.

To harmonize the spirit of the religious movie with the spirit of the Sacred Scriptures is impossible. Any comparison is grotesque and, if it were not so serious, would be downright funny. Try to imagine Elijah appearing before Ahab with a roll of film! Imagine Peter standing up at Pentecost and saying, "Let's have the lights out, please." When Jeremiah hesitated to prophesy, on the plea that he was not a fluent speaker, God touched his mouth and said, "I have put my words in thy mouth." Perhaps Jeremiah could have gotten on well enough without the divine touch if he had had a good 16mm projector and a reel of home-talent film.

Let a man dare to compare his religious movie show with the spirit of the Book of Acts. Let him try to find a place for it in the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians. If he cannot see the difference in kind, then he is too blind to be trusted with leadership in the Church of the Living God. The only thing that he can do appropriate to the circumstances is to drop to his knees and cry with poor Bartimaeus, "Lord, that I might receive my sight."

But some say, "We do not propose to displace the regular method of preaching the gospel. We only want to supplement it." To this I answer: If the movie is needed to supplement anointed preaching it can only be because God's appointed method is inadequate and the movie can do something which God's appointed method cannot do. What is that thing? We freely grant that the movie can produce effects which preaching cannot produce (and which it should never try to produce), but dare we strive for such effects in the light of God's revealed will and in the face of the judgment and a long eternity?

I am against the religious movie because of the harmful effect upon everyone associated with it.

First, the evil effect upon the "actors" who play the part of the various characters in the show; this is not the less because it is unsuspected. Who can, while in a state of fellowship with God, dare to play at being a prophet? Who has the gall to pretend to be an apostle, even in a show? Where is his reverence? Where is his fear? Where is his humility? Any one who can bring himself to act a part for any purpose, must first have grieved the Spirit and silenced His voice within the heart. Then the whole business will appear good to him. "He feedeth on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside." But he cannot escape the secret working of the ancient laws of the soul. Something high and fine and grand will die within him; and worst of all he will never suspect it. That is the curse that follows self-injury always. The Pharisees were examples of this. They were walking dead men, and they never dreamed how dead they were.

Secondly, it identifies religion with the theatrical world. I have seen recently in a Fundamentalist magazine an advertisement of a religious film which would be altogether at home on the theatrical page on any city newspaper. Illustrated with the usual sex-bate picture of a young man and young woman in tender embrace, and spangled with such words as "feature-length, drama, pathos, romance," it reeked of Hollywood and the cheap movie house. By such business we are selling out our Christian separation, and nothing but grief can come of it late or soon.

Thirdly, the taste for drama which these pictures develop in the minds of the young will not long remain satisfied with the inferior stuff the religious movie can offer. Our young people will demand the real thing; and what can we reply when they ask why they should not patronize the regular movie house?

Fourthly, the rising generation will naturally come to look upon religion as another, and inferior, form of amusement. In fact, the present generation has done this to an alarming extent already, and the gospel movie feeds the notion by fusing religion and fun in the name of orthodoxy. It takes no great insight to see that the religious movie must become increasingly more thrilling as the tastes of the spectators become more and more stimulated.

Fifthly, the religious movie is the lazy preacher's friend. If the present vogue continues to spread it will not be long before any man with enough ability to make an audible prayer, and mentality enough to focus a projector, will be able to pass for a prophet of the Most High God. The man of God can play around all week long and come up to the Lord's Day without a care. Everything has been done for him at the studio. He has only to set up the screen and lower the lights, and the rest follows painlessly.

Wherever the movie is used the prophet is displaced by the projector. The least that such displaced prophets can do is to admit that they are technicians and not preachers. Let them admit that they are not God-sent men, ordained of God for a sacred work. Let them put away their pretense.

In conclusion

One thing may bother some earnest souls: why so many good people approve the religious movie. If it is an evil, why have not these denounced it?

The answer is, lack of spiritual discernment. Many who are turning to the movie are the same who have, by direct teaching or by neglect, discredited the work of the Holy Spirit. They have apologized for the Spirit and so hedged Him in by their unbelief that it has amounted to an out-and-out repudiation. Now we are paying the price for our folly. The light has gone out and good men are forced to stumble around in the darkness of the human intellect.

The religious movie is at present undergoing a period of gestation and seems about to swarm over the churches like a cloud of locusts out of the earth. The figure is accurate; they are coming from below, not from above. The whole modern psychology has been prepared for this invasion of insects. The Fundamentalists have become weary of manna and are longing for red flesh. What they are getting is a sorry substitute for the lusty and uninhibited pleasures of the world, and it saves face by pretending to be spiritual.

Let us not for the sake of peace keep still while men without spiritual insight dictate the diet upon which God's children shall feed. The religious movie represents amateurism gone wild. Unity among professing Christians is to be desired, but not at the expense of righteousness. It is good to go with the flock, but I refuse mutely to follow a misled flock over a precipice.

If God has given wisdom to see the error of religious shows we owe it to the Church to oppose them openly. We dare not take refuge in "guilty silence." Error is not silent; it is highly vocal and amazingly aggressive. We dare not be less so.

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