#marx brothers playground

[pepperbenmin333]

Phighting oc stuff i forgot to share (lore in tags)

[plungermusic]

First floor Frippery, Sanctuary & platform boots…

... Mule and Nashville balladry, agitprop and blues. Going up!

Department stores might seem a strange analogy for an album inspired in part by Eastern mystic philosophies of enlightenment, and partly by Marx & Engels’ call for the violent overthrow of the state, but you can’t deny Mike has laid out an eye- (and ear-) catching range of shiny, varied wares (though all bearing the manufacturer’s unmistakeable imprimatur). And the music business is after all a branch of retail: there is a point where artist meets artisan, and the demands of commerce are never far away. So do market forces explain the heavier direction taken on most of his latest release, Third Eye Open?

That added heft is epitomised by the Cult-in-their-late-80s-pomp overdriven wall of power chords, eastern-spiced lead lines, and thick reverbed-up drums of I Swear, backed (or indeed ‘fronted’) by Derek Randall’s highly aggressive, to-the-fore, low-slung bass, like Allen Woody on steroids (particularly in the grinding middle break). Cool Water carries that vibe forward, filling-rattling bass and acerbic Dancing Days rhythm guitar, with unison vox-and-lead-guitar melody lines emphasised by Darren Lee’s machine-gun fills and the very Zeppish tutti ‘stabs’.

The title track’s noodling, headphone-swapping intro belies the bludgeoning riffing to come: a portentous Mule-cover-Sabbath half-tone falling chordal riff leads to a blues on PCP progression, with blistering polemical lyrics delivered with real venom and a Rocky Mountain Way chorus. There’s gentler moments though in the extended “Short, sharp shock” Dark Side midbreak of melodic slide and relaxed drums, with spoken (though not quite audible) lyrics.

Zep/Cult touches appear even in the backwoods resonator-picking of Born To Me in the bursts of unison guitar and drums, but overall the hillbilly beat and multi-voice choral harmonies (including a guesting Jack Hutchinson, who also adds to the BVs on I Swear, The Preacher and Never No More) lend an Oh Brother Where Art Thou?-after-toad-licking swamp revivalist meeting atmosphere… at least until the closing vortex of stinging slide.

A chance to catch your breath after the helter-skelter opening comes in Fallen Down: tighter snare rolls and fluid, less-in-your-face bass back a Western-badlands-tinged amble with a stadium chorus. Also marginally less explosive is Face By Your Window: originally a laid-back candidate for 2019s Clovis Limit Pt2, it returns after a gym workout - the hypnotic resonator blues picking underpinned with military rolls and a steady bass pulse, plus some superb electric slide ornamentation; the gritty, half-spoken delivery and a spare slide solo make for a very echt blues feel.

It’s back on the high octane mixture for the twin pairing of The Preacher and Ugly Brain: the former matching a James Gangesque laddish swagger with a sackload of glam glitter, particularly in the overhead slow-clap crowd-participation chorus and multi-vox terrace chant vibe, and there’s also a lovely sweet’n’sour pinch harmonic solo; the latter (rhythmically and sonically very similar but lent a boogieing swing) features Mike’s Joe Walshish playful sardonic snarl, a catchy playground vocal hook and, yes, cowbell!

Mike shows his romantic side in the Nashville-ballad-with-a-hint-of-The-West duet (Be With You) Tonight, swapping verses with Jess Hayes (daughter of Richard and Val of Bad Influence, and leader of her own band). A little out of character with the rest of the album, (and to Plunger’s ears reminiscent of Pussycat’s Mississippi) it does feature excellent guitar, both in a twangsome cowboy lower register break and exquisite soaring Gary-Moore-does-Comfortably Numb sustain guitar, as well as lovely organ in an extended coda.

Things get heavy again (musically and lyrically) with the closing pair: Never No More channels Cortez The Killer in a febrile philippic against politicians, plutocrats and the powerful - a menacing, loping riff topped with howling feedback accents and highly Youngian noodling, and the return of the thick, meaty drum tone (this time from Brian Irwin); Kicks Like A Mule continues the invective assault over a Damned-cover-25 Or 6 To 4 (or While My Guitar Gently Weeps, if you prefer) descending riff, complete with fleet-fingered southern-fried soloing and two-part harmony guitars, and another lengthy coda.

The pick of the album for Plunger though is track nine, Eulogy - a brutal Belew-era-Crimson aural bombardment in sevens (and this is by no means the only track that flirts with tricksy timings!), with appropriately angular ascending riff: alternating a bruising bass-led near-spoken Thorazine Shuffle verse with a searing wall-of-fuzz screamed ‘chorus’ and highly complex very Frippish atonal solo… stunning stuff, and indicative of Mike’s boundary-stretching versatility and invention.

As with all Mike’s band albums the production throughout is lush and many-layered, from the multi-tracked harmony (and non-harmony) vocals and doubled- or tripled-up guitar parts to quirky touches like the something-that-sounds-like-jew’s-harp (actually a Hohner Clavinet through a wah pedal, like Cripple Creek by The Band) on Born To Me or the washboard ‘snare rolls’ on Face At Your Window. The guitar work is sublime (natch!) even if there’s understandably less discursive soloing than on Peach Jam - the range of ferocity, expression and tone is an object lesson in taste and artistry (particularly his slide playing), while the vocals are more vitriolic and passionate than Plunger think they’ve ever been…

… and that’s likely the real key to the heftier nature of Third Eye Open: the times we live in (and Mike’s obvious disgust with them) are probably reasons enough to go full tonto on the heaviness front… 

Whatever the inspiration, as young Mr Grace says, it’s ‘all done very well!’

Third Eye Open is released on Friday 28th April, available from the usual online suspects and is available to pre-order here: https://shop.mikerossmusic.co.uk/product/third-eye-open-cd for CD and here: https://shop.mikerossmusic.co.uk/product/third-eye-open-vinyl for marble vinyl 12″ album.

[notesonnewyork]

Editor’s Note (7)

East Harlem, April 28, 1947. You’re looking at the Marx Brothers Playground on Second Avenue between East 96th and 97th Streets. This image was taken a few days before it opened to the public on May 1st. Although dubbed the “96th Street Playground” then, it would eventually be renamed after comedic legends Harpo, Groucho, and Chico who grew up a few blocks away at 179 East 93rd Street. Today, the playground is the subject of a serious land use debate: Is it a piece of protected parkland or just a playground that generates floor area for development? On October 23, 2017, Governor Cuomo directed Rose Harvey, State Commissioner of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, to find out. 

I’ve been doing research on the topic for the past few months, and City Limits just published my investigation. You can check out the whole story here:

https://citylimits.org/2017/11/14/manhattan-parcel-with-murky-origins-could-frame-a-debate-over-parks-and-development-in-the-city/

A special shout out to Jarrett Murphy, who allowed my writing to appear in his paper’s pages. Thank you so much!

-----

(Screenshot taken from The New York Times’ article introducing the new playground on April 28, 1947. Retouched for clarity by Riff Chorusriff.)

[agoddamn]

I'm interested in how Fates does different storytelling from other games in the series and how a mystery writer influences it. I'm not a big fan of Fates hate and I love how the character designs inform the characters so much...but I struggle to like the story of Fates itself. I'm admittedly someone who plays super casual. I like doing as many supports in games to get character interactions/backstories, which is hard to do in Nohr storyline. I had a hard time getting past the whole (1/2)

“If we tell anyone Garon is an evil fake, we’ll die” Like that feels like weak writing. Which isn’t fair to hold against all of Fates, but really put me out of the story. I want to like Fates, but things keep pushing me against it. Is there a way I should approach it differently? (2/2)

The first thing I wanna say is that sometimes a story isn't for you and there's nothing at all wrong with that. There's nothing necessarily wrong with either you or the piece of media you're trying to get into if it just doesn't click with you.

I think it's important to look at Fates as a character-driven story, first and foremost. You ever watch, I dunno, Power Rangers or something? I'm not saying that Fates is Saban-level storytelling, but it's something where your attention is on what the characters are going through moreso than the details of how every gadget works.

Mystery writers tend to dispense only the details you absolutely need to tell the story. Even your red herrings should mean something, not be wasted space. Clues are disguised as basic elements you're supposed to overlook, so spewing loads of irrelevant information at the reader just isn't...artful, for lack of a better word. You want your readers to be making sensible deductions, not drowning under unrelated noise. 

So, because Fates is a character-driven story, a lot of the setting is informed by implication; the writer isn't going to hand you a list of Nohr's resources, but he expects you to notice that only Nohr uses heavy armor. He expects you to notice that the Nohrsibs are used to lying to their father to protect themselves and realize the nightmare of their family life without having to say "Garon is abusive".

It's also possibly relevant--though this is totally me spitballing--that Japan, as both a culture and language, is really into being oblique. You are literally encouraged to drop subjects and objects from sentences because the listener should know what you're talking about by context. Look at haiku--purposely limited amounts of information communicating almost entirely through symbolism and intertextuality.

Or the story about the translator who said that it wasn't appropriate to translate "I love you" to Japanese because it's too direct, and instead "the moon is beautiful" should be used. It communicates the sentiment through contextual clues (you are supposed to imagine lovers walking together on a moonlit night), which is much more appropriate to Japanese. So this might also partly be a Japanese storytelling thing that comes across much more strongly in Fates than other games because Kibayashi is much more dyed in literary experience.

Third is that Fates has a genuinely bad localization, like, Christ. You take a character-driven game and remove ⅔ of the character dialog? Yeah, that's gonna fuck some things up! 

There were also "localization choices" to make several elements of the game more consumable that also tore up the character drama. They downplayed the trauma of the Nohrsibs by rewriting Xander as a friendly, relatable big brother, which fundamentally ruins the tension of the Nohr family because Marx is supposed to be faintly scary.

The Nohrsibs are fundamentally abused children, and Marx, as the oldest, is the one most mired in his inability to confront that. He's the guy who's told in chapter 2 to execute his younger sibling and just goes "welp...guess I gotta". You are supposed to be worried throughout the game that he's going to side with Garon when the chips go down. But this makes him sound like a pussy, I guess, so they added a bunch of lines where early/midgame/support Xander explicitly says he wants to rebel against Garon--which confuses the shit out of the emotional arc of Conquest.

This is partly why the "we can't tell anyone about Garon because reasons" thing sounds so cheap to you. To be clear, I also find the crystal-of-plot-revealing-you-can-only-use-once pretty damn lame, but the underlying emotional tension there is supposed to be "we genuinely don't know if Marx or any of the other siblings will side with us against Garon". But you can't have that when Xander has already been established as a nice big bro who totally wants to take out Garon.

On the Hoshido side, they "edited" out mentions of explicit systemic sexism, I guess because sexism bad? But that sexism informs the bitter tragedy of "Queen Hinoka" and other female characters, where the English rewrite of "Hinoka had already decided that if Ryouma died she would pass up the throne" makes her sound selfish and lazy (not to mention callous, like you already were planning what you'd do if your brother died? Yeesh).

And in general a lot of jokes/purposely goofy lines were added, which is another thing that dilutes the character-driven moments.

Finally I do freely admit that it's a game with writing issues. It relies on plot devices like the Rainbow Sage or whatever's in Aqua's pockets too much, the kids are non-canon, and the earlygame is a bit too fast. These aren't dealbreakers for me, but they might be for you, and there's not really anything to do about that except suggesting you approach from a different angle.

So I guess my recommendations are these: try to think of it first and foremost as a character-driven story, a playground for these characters to express themselves and show emotion; check out some supports you don't have the energy to grind out on YouTube (all the royal ones are extremely good, and most of the C-A ones are great); and try looking up some of the translations of cut lines, which can sometimes give you a much more rounded understanding of a character. The fan translations tend to be on the dry side because they're being written by normal people without any kind of overseeing editor, so cut them a little slack for that, too.

[nothingnothingaaa]

‘We all have Hoop Dreams’: Bittersweet tale of first 'reality TV show'

By Motez Bishara, May 4 2019 (CNN)

When Dwyane Wade was a 12-year-old shooting jumpers on the playgrounds of Chicago, a movie came out that would help navigate him through his future Hall of Fame career.

Released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" shadowed the bumpy fortunes of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two inner-city Chicago youths dreaming of NBA stardom.

Wade's path to the Final Four with Marquette and championships with the Miami Heat would be lined with the same challenges faced by Agee and Gates, including the pressures of injury and young parenting, and the avoidance of drugs and gun violence.

Twenty-five years since its premier, "Hoop Dreams" still impacts Wade. "I watched it many times, and it resonated with me because we all have hoop dreams," the recently retired three-time NBA champion tells CNN.

"Growing up in Chicago you struggle," he adds, "I look at "Hoop Dreams" and I can see myself in those individuals at the time."

Film critics like the late Roger Ebert lauded the three-hour documentary for exposing a side of America rarely depicted at the time: A class system stacked against the poor, coinciding with rising corruption in youth basketball.

Filmmakers Steve James (left), Peter Gilbert (centre) and Fred Marx worked on a very thin budget until three years into "Hoop Dreams," when they were able to secure enough funding for the project.

So what has changed since then?

College basketball is coming off a thrilling season, but faces intense scrutiny as a second corruption trial involving shady figures and illicit payments around the sport unravels in court. Meanwhile, Agee and Gates remain close -- bonded not just by their fame from "Hoop Dreams," but two devastating murders in their families.

"You can't script this stuff," says Gates, 47, a youth basketball coach in San Antonio, Texas, to CNN. "Our stories continue to (overlap) like that, because he lost Bo and we lost Curtis."

Gates' brother Curtis, a former high school star who flamed out, and Agee's father Bo were both featured on screen. Curtis was shot in 2001, reportedly in a dispute over a woman, while Bo - whose redemption from crack addiction and jail time was a seminal part of the film - was killed in a robbery three years later.

"It was very heartbreaking," adds Agee, who still lives in the West Side of Chicago, not far from where he grew up. "It's so eerie that me and William always say "Hoop Dreams" was a gift and a curse, and we both lost people that played a big part of our lives.

"And then for both of us not to make the NBA, you know, that eeriness, that gift and a curse is there."

Though neither athlete played in the NBA, both received college scholarships -- no small feat coming from the dire housing projects they grew up in.

Agee, 46, who attended Arkansas State, went on to play professionally in the now-defunct USBL and had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. He then turned to acting, with small parts in a film and commercials.

Agee remains tied to "Hoop Dreams," which provides his motivational speaking platform in schools, and still inspires viewers to send warm messages from places as far off as Australia and China. He also sells apparel inspired by the film, including a throwback jersey from his school days.

Gates was the more heralded of the two, receiving interest from top college basketball programs and a grant to attend the prestigious St. Joseph's high school -- the same school that is shown releasing Agee, seemingly for not playing well enough as a freshman.

But Gates blew out his knee at 16, then rushed back to the court after surgery and re-injured it. Though he played at Marquette University, the injury crippled his pro potential.

"For me, it's bittersweet on many levels," says Gates about the film which he has not watched in over 16 years. "It was a constant reminder of what could have been and what didn't happen, and also a reminder that Curtis is no longer here to hear his voice."

Nevertheless, he looks back on "Hoop Dreams" as a "life turning situation," one that led to an allegiance with Michael Jordan, who invited him to pickup games before his comeback with the Washington Wizards. (An injury derailed Gates' own tryout with the Wizards, however.)

"It has opened doors," he says. "It has done things that I never thought would happen in my life."

Dwyane Wade is pictured dunking the ball.

THE FIRST REALITY SHOW

What began as a short film idea from director Steve James and producer Frederick Marx to shoot Chicago playground basketball in 1987 with a budget of $2,000 quickly took on greater ambitions.

The pair hired Peter Gilbert as a cinematographer (later added as a producer), and the trio followed Gates and Agee on and off for nearly five years. With 250 hours of footage to edit, the production took seven years in total, eventually raising the $750,000 necessary for completion.

When it was finally released in 1994, "Hoop Dreams" went viral, though the term had not yet been coined. It was nominated for best film editing at the Oscars, but snubbed for best documentary and picture, which had critics like Ebert up in arms.

"I've actually gotten way more mileage personally as a filmmaker out of not being nominated than I ever would have by getting nominated," says James, who stays in contact with Agee and Gates. "Over the years a lot more people seem to be upset on our behalf than I was personally."

By the time it ended its theatrical run, "Hoop Dreams" became the then-highest grossing documentary of all time, paving the way for hundreds of sports documentaries and streaming series currently on air.

"I call it the first reality show," says Gates. "I think it was groundbreaking."

Gates' enrollment in Marquette was mirrored exactly 10 years later by Wade, who also struggled to qualify academically for an NCAA scholarship and sat out his first year for academic reasons, the university confirmed.

Wade shared other similarities with both Agee and Gates, including feeling the pressure to rush back to action after knee injury which required surgery at Marquette. Though the operation was successful, Wade later said it led to complications as a pro.

"I watched it when I was at Marquette from a different (angle), knowing that (Gates) was staying in the same dorm that I was standing in," says Wade, who -- also like Gates -- was caring for a child (son Zaire) while in college.

Wade was separated from his mother Jolinda at a young age when she succumbed to drugs, leading to spells in jail. Like Agee's father Bo, she turned to religion after getting clean, now serving as a church minister.

"Obviously, I was able to make it," but there are challenges, he adds. "What I learned at the time is you learn a lot about other people sharing their story."

William Gates was a 17-year-old high school junior when his daughter Alicia was born.

CONTROLLED CORRUPTION

Rewatching "Hoop Dreams" 25 years later lends perspective to how fast top college recruits are forced to grow up, and how much is at stake early on.

Gates' daughter was born when he was 17, during his junior year of high school. Trying to be a father and student while rehabilitating from two knee surgeries to make it as the next Isiah Thomas -- the former St Joe's and NBA star who makes a cameo in the movie -- became too much to bear.

By the movie's final scene, with his passion for the game already waning, Gates remarks, "When somebody says, 'When you get to the NBA, don't forget about me,' I should say to them, 'Well if I don't make it, you don't forget about me."

It's no wonder he needed a break from the sport by his third year at Marquette.

"I didn't feel like a 19 or 20 year-old-kid, I felt like a kid who had been working 10 to 12 years at a job," Gates says, estimating that basketball practice and travel would take up to 60 hours a week in college. "I had a lot on my plate."

Agee had his own growing up to do, with his academics thrown into disarray after his brief spell at St Joe's, followed by Bo walking out and his mother Sheila losing her job.

In one scene, Sheila cannot pay her electricity bill and the family is left without power, while a clearly humiliated Agee broods at the camera.

(The filmmakers pitched in to get the power back on, leaving that detail out of the film. "We didn't want to look self-serving, but we felt an obligation to do that much for them," says James.)

Agee transferred to Marshall High, leading the team on an improbable city championship and state semifinal run.

In recent years the public high school has been rocked by gun violence, leaving seven former basketball players dead and two paralysed, including Agee's ex-teammate Shawn Harrington.

"I didn't let St. Joe's defeat me; I didn't let my neighbourhood and my environment pull me in to gain drugs, carrying the guns -- that whole lifestyle," Agee reflects.

It helped that the teenagers had the right people on their sides. Gates and Agee admit they were given cash during their basketball ascent by the likes of so-called street agents, drug dealers and university affiliates who often helped promising players.

In "Hoop Dreams" Agee pays for Air Jordan gear at a store with money received from drug pushers. While at Arkansas State, he says a "big street pharmacist" whose team he played for in a high school summer league bought him a car.

"That was part of the deal," says Gates of being offered gifts from universities as a highly touted recruit, before committing to Marquette. "It was like, 'Hey, you need anything let us know.' And you let them know and they took care of stuff.

"Hey I need transportation, hey I need clothes, I need shoes. They figured out how to get it to you," he says. "They did it through a friend of the program that you didn't even know was a friend of the program. That's the way it was."

In response, Marquette said it "is committed to the highest ethical standards for the recruitment and retention of our student-athletes," while Arkansas State said it had no knowledge of Agee's car purchase and that "there are too many unknown variables to comment further about a relationship from approximately 25 years ago."

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Arthur Agee was recruited to play at St Joseph's prep school as an eighth grader. A year later he was asked to leave, and his parents were billed for tuition they struggled to pay for.

Somewhat fittingly, Gates is now a full-time coach in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the collection of summer leagues that insiders say has replaced high school basketball as the launching pad for college prospects.

Among the players that have passed through Team Hoop Dreams are all three of Gates' sons, William Jr., a recent graduate of Houston Baptist University, Jalon, a junior guard at Houston Baptist, and Marques, currently in high school.

AAU has come under fire by an ongoing FBI investigation involving sneaker companies funnelling money towards recruits to land at big university programs. The AAU told CNN it does not fund its teams, calling the situation an "apparel company scandal, not an AAU scandal."

"People are buying and selling players; it's a human trafficking market." says Michael Sokolove, author of "The Last Temptation of Rick Pitino," which sheds light on college basketball corruption.

Multiple federal investigations have led to guilty pleas from four college assistants on bribery charges, the conviction of an Adidas executive, and the firing of Pitino from Louisville.

Pitino maintains he had "no knowledge" of infractions during his tenure as Louisville's head coach. James Gatto, Adidas' former head of global sports marketing, is appealing his nine-month prison sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy charges in connection with a $100,000 offer to the father of a Louisville recruit.

With athletic wear companies paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to support top AAU programs, the potential to use them as a means to distribute money to the families of top players or an influential coach is high, says Sokolove.

"Some of this is laundered money. These teams can be used as pass through," he says, adding that the ultimate goal is to breed loyalty with players who become walking advertisements for the shoe companies on the court.

The stakes have become much higher to land top recruits like Gates was in the days of "Hoop Dreams," notes Sokolove. "There are more people with their hands in the cookie jar and the kids are largely pawns in this whole endeavour."

In 2017 the NCAA surpassed $1 billion in revenue, mostly through TV rights, while top players like Zion Williamson of Duke are limited to a compensation of tuition, room and board with a modest stipend.

Like many around the sport, Gates thinks college players need to get paid. He suggests universities contribute $100,000 towards a "graduation fund" for the player if he stays in school four years "to get prepared to live life."

Gates sees the current NBA age requirement of 19 as an obstacle towards paying black athletes, calling it a "controlled corruption" not seen in mostly white sports like baseball, tennis, golf or soccer.

"The two sports that are heavily dominated by African-Americans, it seems like there is always an issue when it comes to money," he says. (The NFL enforces a three-year rule before most college football players can turn pro.)

NCAA president Mark Emmert told the Associated Press this month that the organisation has "serious issues which require serious change," but paying players will remain unlikely.

William Gates (centre) is now an AAU coach in Texas. His sons William Jr. (left) and Jalon played together at Houston Baptist University.

PART OF A BIGGER STORY

Coinciding with the movie's anniversary, Gates and his wife Catherine just celebrated their 25th year of marriage. The eldest of their four children Alicia, who was born during filming, is 30 and works as a dental hygienist.

For years Gates would not allow his sons to watch all of "Hoop Dreams," fearing the scenes of his injuries would spook them. He finally relented, though Will Jr underwent four knee procedures of his own in college.

Agee has fathered five children, with his youngest Devin a budding youth basketball player in his own right. Devin's mother Jennifer Genovesi stood by Agee in the wake of a 2017 arrest after a woman accused him of battery.

Agee was quick to call James -- who he refers to as an uncle -- to assure him of his innocence. The charges were dropped shortly afterward.

"I'm part of a bigger story in this film. I never want to bring any despair or negativity into the story," Agee says. "He was like, 'We'll get through it together,' and that was good as that."

"I feel like they know that I'm here for them," says James, the film's director.

The special bond between the parties involved in the film was reflected once "Hoop Dreams," which was never expected to be a commercial success, caught fire. In a highly unusual step, Agee and Gates were made equal partners by the producers.

"They weren't just filmmakers," says Agee. "They came in over a period of time and got to know me and my family, and then stayed in touch."

Arthur Agee bought his mother Sheila a house with royalties earned from "Hoop Dreams." He now uses the film as material for his job in motivational speaking.

Gates and Agee first received nearly $200,000 each, and Agee promptly brought his parents a four-bedroom house in a suburb.

His mother, Sheila Agee, who was seen at the end of the movie graduating tops in her nursing class, relocated to Alabama in the wake of Bo's death.

After Curtis' murder, Gates was given an unlikely last shot at the NBA at age 29 with a tryout with the Chicago Bulls. But bad luck struck again when he caught the flu on the day of the workout.

"I said maybe God doesn't want me to play basketball," he reflects. "That's when my ministry life began to open up."

Gates received his master's in biblical studies and worked as a pastor at the Cabrini Green housing project he grew up in before settling in Texas.

He is thankful that Curtis got to meet Jordan before he was killed -- another imprint tied to his fame from the film.

"What came along with that was the responsibility to teach, educate, be a friend, have some compassion and show some understanding," Gates says.

"I've been very honoured, privileged and grateful to be part of "Hoop Dreams," he reflects. "It's been super amazing to be a part of something that has withstood the test of time."

[damoselcastel]

Off Call

Chapter 11 - Lunch Boxes summary: On the way back from the Grocery store, Takumi teases Hinoka about lunch boxes but she’s finds he can’t dish what he serves.

“Why were we sent as go-fers for groceries?” Takumi groused, looking far more put upon than walking several blocks while totting full bags in the chilly winter air should’ve merited.

Hinoka shrugged, though the motion was likely mostly hidden by her coat and favorite scarf. “Since we’re useless in the kitchen and this got us out of the way.”

“Mom didn’t banish your Nohrian, though.”

While Hinoka didn’t like it when her brothers used her husband’s race like a title, Takumi’s tone was now teasing rather than venomous so she let it slide. Instead replying, “That’s cause Marx doesn’t back talk, and he’s a good cook.”

“Oh, I know. Back when you two were dating Ryouma wouldn’t shut up about how that man made you lunch boxes-” Takumi snorted with a mocking smile. “Like a love-sick girl.”

Hinoka felt her face go hot, remembering the time their older brother had dropped by the hospital trying to treat her to lunch only to find her then-boyfriend handing her a carefully-wrapped bento box. The way Ryouma had roared with laughter, it’d made for such a spectacle her co-workers had talked about it for a month. The most annoying part was trying to explain to Marx why her brother had found it so funny, as it was one of the few times he’d taken the offense to heart.

“Hey, there’s nothing gendered about cooking!” Mulishly, she glared at Takumi. “And Marx just noticed I constantly purchased my lunches, so he thoughtfully offered an alternative.”

“He’s still cooking for you, isn’t he?” Takumi’s smile widened into a grin.

Hinoka rolled her eyes. “Groceries save money compared to eating out. And you can’t seriously expect me to not eat my husband’s cooking?”

This time Takumi shrugged. “Maybe you should try being the one to cook once and a while.”

Honestly, she had tried when they’d first moved in together, wanting to share chores evenly. But she was bad in the kitchen, even with basics. Although Marx never complained while eating something charred, or lumpy, or slightly undercooked, it’d only taken a couple nights of waking to him rushing for the bathroom to throw in the towel. And once she had, he’d been more than happy to taken over keeping them both fed.

Instead of explaining any of that, she quipped, “Then I’ll make you something to eat when we get back.”

Takumi scoffed out a laugh. “As if Mom’d risk her high-quality pans getting ruined.”

She acknowledged that truth with a sigh, but countered with her own teasing. “So what about you, Takumi? Has Oboro made you any lunch boxes?”

“It’s not-” The way he abruptly stumbled almost dropped a grocery bag, but it was funny how he suddenly blushed and bristled. “We’re not like that!”

Hinoka played coy. “Like what? Dating?” She batted her eyes as he stared glared, and then burst out laughing. “Oh c’mon, lil bro! That girl’s been in love since you met on that kindergarten playground. What’s the hold up?”

“S-shut up! It’s not that simple.”

“Why not? You’re attending the same university and are both a semester away from graduating.” Her younger brother suddenly went quiet, expression going pensive. It had Hinoka sobering, as she asked, “Takumi?”

“Oboro’s design won a competition for an internship at one of the biggest fashion magazines in Nestra. She’ll be moving there after getting her degree.” He said, clearly struggling to keep his tone even. “I’d planned on working with Ryouma at Dad’s company, but it’s not like they’ve got branches in Nestra. If I’m not doing that, I don’t… I don’t know what I’d do.”

For a moment Hinoka was struck by just how adult Takumi’s problem was, thinking long term and finding there was no easy answers. She remembered how it’d taken her an off year to figure out being the fiancée to some corporate heir wasn’t for her. How she’d rather work for her own money and live independently, then later the determination to marry whom she damned well pleased. Seeing her brother struggling with his own priorities, she took a moment to consider what words wouldn’t hurt him.

“You could always be a house husband.” She laughed at the face he made, so juvenilely offended. “Though seriously, you could try long-distance. Or just take the plunge, and go with her. I’m sure Oboro would be happier with you in her life and figuring things out rather than away and all put together.”

Takumi gave a non-committal hum, expression falling back to pensive. She let the conversation drop, instead enjoying the fairly quiet walk up the estate drive to their house properly. After taking off their coats and shoes they carried the bags to the kitchen, the air filling with the delicious smells from all the party preparations.

“Ah, you’re back!” Ikona turned away from the large pot on the stove long enough to smile at them. “Set those out on the right counter, please. And take out the leeks and tofu for the soup.” Then their mother turned back, addressing the tall man beside her. “Now that the broth dropped from a boil to a simmer it’s the perfect time to add the miso.”

Hinoka delayed in digging out the groceries to watch as her husband added the ingredient, smoothly stirring with the ladle. His face always seemed a bit more peaceful when he cooked, the activity soothing for him. She was glad he was able to share that common ground with her mother, now that Sumeragi had mellowed to the idea of having Marx as part of the family.

Takumi broke her wandering thoughts, by snatching the stalks from her hands. “I’ll chop the leeks. Uneven tofu is more survivable.”

Hinoka stuck her tongue out at him, but went over to the draining packages and cutting board. As she picked up the knife, however, a larger hand carefully covered hers.

“Would you like some help?”

The way Marx had come up behind her, he’d just need to reach his other arm around for an embrace. It sent pleasant butterflies through Hinoka, so she let herself agree with a smile. With Marx’s guiding hand on hers, the tofu managed to be divided into small, even cubes and once set aside, she leaned back against him and quietly asked, “Having fun with my mom?”

“Mmhm,” Marx curled against her, ducking to whisper into her ear. “We were talking about you.”

“Oh?”

“Ikona told me you looked happy.”

“That’s because I am!” Hinoka turned around and hugged him, smiling as his own arms looped around her to squeeze.

“Enough with the PDA.” Takumi said, doing his best to affect disgust. “The soup will never get done at this rate.”

“Takumi, dearest, you’d have less to complain about if you brought a cute girl home. “Ikona giggled, high and girlishly.

“Moooooooooom!”

[achristmasmovieaday]

A Movie for Christmas Day 2019

To Catch A Thief (1955)

Today’s themes: Charm, Joie de vive, Ridiculous hats, Bourbon, Robin’s egg blue convertible sports cars

I could, I suppose, start this off with another complaint about the state of the world today, except that’s how we got into this state. People wishing for a past that never existed, where the help knew their place and stayed there, happily satisfied with their lot and absolutely penniless. And, I suppose, I just did that, because the film for today’s Christmas viewing is exactly that, a portrait of a time and place that never really existed, but that some of us wish for. Like most things of its period, it is completely devoid of people of color, except as ornamentation, and features a cast that’s so white it might as well be made of fresh milk. I state all of this up front because it’s the type of thing we need, now, to think about whenever we dip our toes into Hollywood’s past, which was determined to pull us into the theaters not with tales of honesty and truth, but with veils of silk and tall cocktails politely tinkling in the night.

Even so, To Catch A Thief (1955) is a gorgeous whiff of the best cocaine you are ever likely to sample. Director Alfred Hitchcock is famous for many things, but chiefly for broadcasting his own shortcomings and sexual predilections up onto 80-foot screens to entertain us all, and this gentle little slip of a thing hardly even scratched the surface, but with good reason. In 1955, Hitchcock, who has already been directing films for 33 years, wanted a break. But he needed to keep working because in those days, film directors - even abnormally famous ones - didn’t command million-dollar paychecks. So, he figured, why not combine a job and a vacation in one and make a film in Monaco on the French Riviera? 

This film coasts on charm. It is smooth and glossy like a perfect lake for water-skiing. It is also chock-a-block with odd casting trivia like the fact that Brigitte Auber, who is playing a teenager trying to seduce her way into Cary Grant’s arms at the expense of the “much older” Grace Kelly was actually almost two years older than her rival. The inimitable Jessie Royce Landis, who plays Grace Kelly’s world-weary Texan mother is younger than Cary Grant, and went on to also play his mother in North By Northwest. Grant was talked into playing the part based almost solely on the shooting locale, and of course Grace Kelly met Prince Rainier during filming and married him within a year, thereby changing her name to Princess Grace of Monaco.

The plot is paper thin. There’s a jewel thief known as The Cat who lives in a perfect and gorgeous villa atop a perfect and gorgeous hill above a perfect and gorgeous view of perfect and gorgeous Monaco. Someone else has begun to impersonate him, though he retired long ago, but it puts him back in the crosshairs of the local police, so he sets out to discover who is actually committing the crimes in his name. Along the way, he befriends a Lloyd’s of London insurance agent who provides him a list of likely future victims, including a Texas oil widow and her young daughter, “an insecure pampered woman accustomed to attracting men”. Obviously they fall in love and set out to discover the solution to this mystery together, wearing incredible fashions by Edith Head and driving around one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

The Cat is played by one of Hitchcock’s most reliable alter-egos, Cary Grant, in maybe the Cary Grantiest role ever filmed. Grant, born Archibald Leach, and probably a bisexual who lived for a dozen years with Western star Randolph Scott, was the quintessential Hollywood leading man. He had an unplaceable accent (he was born in Bristol and arrived in the U.S. when he was 16 as part of a vaudeville troupe of actors) and was by all accounts a genius with a computerized brain that remembered everything, making memorizing lines a breeze. He was a comedian on stage, drawing inspiration from The Marx Brothers, before Mae West recognized his almost inhuman beauty and natural charm and cast him in two of her films, later claiming that she discovered him. His screen résumé is almost embarrassingly full, but it might be here that his full incandescent appeal is used to full advantage.

No one is likely to place this film among the best of Hitchcock’s canon. For that, you’ll be better off watching Vertigo or North By Northwest, either of which will showcase the director’s rather low opinion of women in general and his careful construction of puzzle plots. But for a pleasant diversion, filled with great lines and a collection of actors clearly having a great time tooling around in this French playground, To Catch A Thief sets the standard for every couple caper film and TV show to come.

Watch now

[allyear-lff]

LFF2021: The list of films

I guess one has to start from the beginning, so to understand this blog read my mission statement and then feel free to peruse my reviews of the films, all listed below, I will link to my musings from here as I progress and I hope to refine them as I revisit them during the next year and beyond.

7 Days

8 Bar – The Evolution of Grime (BBC iPlayer as September 2023)

Abuela, La

Afterlight, The (only one film copy exists: https://theafterlight.xyz )

Ahed’s Knee

Ali & Ava

All About My Sisters ( available in ovid.tv in the US).

All Is Vanity (BFI PLayer)

All My Friends Hate Me (on UK cinemas from June 10th, 2022).

All These Sons (Prime Video, Roku,Plex).

Alleys, The (released 2022, cheapest Apple+, and others, Spain: Netflix).

Anachronic Chronicle: Voyages Inside/Out Asia ( https://app.curate-it.co.uk/watch/6709844389675f00260c13ed )

Ape Star, The (Rakuten Spain)

As in Heaven

Azor

Babi Yar. Context

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (BFI player, Google Play)

Banquet, A (Prime Video).

Bantú Mama

Becoming Cousteau

Belfast

Belle

Benedetta

Benediction

Bergman Island

Between Two Worlds

Boiling Point

Box, The (released 11 November 2022 in MUBI).

Brother’s Keeper (DVD spotted eBay).

Buco, Il

Bull (Chilli, Prime Video, Rakuten)

Burn It Down!

C'mon c'mon (surprise film)

Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest (Google Play & several streaming services)

Citizen Ashe

Clara Sola

Compartment No. 6 (Curzon Home)

Cop Movie, A

Cop Secret

Costa Brava Lebanon

Cow

Crossing, The

Dance, The

DASHCAM (Google Play, Apple TV)

Divide, The

Drive My Car

ear for eye

Earwig

Encounter

Enfants Terribles, Les

Europa (short, restored from 1931)

Eye Cut (short)

Faya Dayi

Feast, The

First Wave, The (Disney)

Flee

Freda

French Dispatch, The

Good Boss, The

Gravedigger’s Wife, The

Great Freedom

Hand of God, The

Harder They Fall, The

Hero, A

Hinterland

History Ni Ha

Hit the Road (Curzon Home Cinema)

Hole in the Fence, The

Holgut

Humidity Alert

I Know Where I’m Going!

Inexorable

Invisible Demons

Juju Stories (Amazon Video Spain)

King Richard

Lago Gatún

Lamb

Landscapes of Resistance (TrueStory)

Language Lessons

Last Night in Soho

Leave No Traces (BFI Player)

Lingui, the Sacred Bonds

Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege)

Lost Daughter, The

Luzzu

Martin and the Magical Forest

Marx Can Wait (confirmed in MUBI on May 2023)

Mass

Medium, The (Shudder Amazon Channel?)

Memoria

Memory Box

Mif, La

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (Sky)

Money Has Four Legs

Mothering Sunday

Mothers of the Revolution (Amazon, Google/YouTube, Apple)

Mr Bachmann and His Class (Dec. 2022 Curzon Home)

Munich – The Edge of War

Naked (re-release, BFI player, DVD).

Nascondino (TrueStory)

Natural Light

Neptune Frost

Neutral Ground, The (Freevee, Amazon,Google/YouTube,Apple).

Nitram

Nudo Mixteco

Odd-Job Men, The (Rakuten Spain)

Oliver!

Omar Amiralay: Sorrow, Time, Silence

Our Men

Outlaws, The

Outsiders The Complete Novel, The (Google Play)

Paris, 13th District

Passing (Netflix)

Pedro

Petite Maman

Petrov’s Flu

Phantom of the Open, The

Playground

Power of the Dog, The

Prayers for the Stolen

Quant

Queen of Glory (BFI Player,Google Play)

Real Charlie Chaplin, The

Red Rocket

Rehana

Ride the Wave (Google Play)

Ripples of Life

River Runs, Turns, Erases, Replaces, A

Robin Robin (Netflix)

Ron’s Gone Wrong

Sambizanga (MUBI?)

Sea Ahead, The

Sediments

See for Me (Most platforms)

She Will

Shepherd (Prime Video)

Small Body (Google play)

Souvenir: Part II, The

Spencer

Storms of Jeremy Thomas, The (Most streaming platforms)

Story of Film: A New Generation, The (Most streaming platforms)

Sundown

Taking, The

Tale of Love and Desire, A (Most French streaming platforms, BFI player in early 2023, MUBI)

Titane

Tragedy of Macbeth, The

True Things

Tsugua Diaries, The

Two Friends

Users

Velvet Underground, The

We

Welcome to Spain (Bienvenidos a España)

What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? (German-Georgian)

What We Shared

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

When a Farm Goes Aflame

White Building (MUBI)

Wild Indian (Prime Video)

Wolf Suit, The

Wood and Water (Mubi)

Worst Person in the World, The

[margaretrosegladney]

Contribution from Rose Gladney via email:

“I was born April 17, 1945, in Shreveport, Louisiana, grew up in Homer, La.,   parish seat of Claiborne Parish, where my parents, grand parents, and great grandparents lived and had graduated from public school.  I have 3 sisters(one older, 2 younger) and 3 younger brothers. 

Social life in our town of fewer than 5,000 focused around church -worship services, choir practice, youth groups (primarily Baptist, Methodist,  1 Presbyterian, 1 Catholic, 1 Jehovah's Witness), racially segregated public schools (grades 1-12) , 2 movie theatres in 1950s, a small golf course and Country Club ( whites only), school football, basketball, baseball (boys only). In sports, girls played basketball only. Softball was only on school grounds during recess.  At age 10, I liked softball and my dad took me to see the Homer Oilers play baseball one summer evening; but I found it very slow and boring.  What I most enjoyed was horseback riding. One of my favorite childhood memories is of riding with my father in  pastures on my paternal grandparents' farm.  In my early teens I had my own horse and enjoyed trail riding through woods and on back roads. I was never afraid of riding alone, until one day my aunt, who was Clerk of Court, told me not to ride off a certain dirt road near the farm because the sheriff suspected bootleggers had a still in the woods there and I might get shot!

 As the daughter and granddaughter of teachers and medical doctors, I was expected to do well in school and did; graduated from Homer High School 1963 with honors, was active in choral music, oratorical contest, academic rallies, organized Interfaith council to have prayer meetings before school, always  expected and  prepared to attend college. Attended church summer camp regularly and my in teens, I thought I would marry a doctor and he and I would be Presbyterian missionaries. Only later did I realize my sense of "calling" to be a missionary had more to do with a desire to see the world outside my home, and though I was often "homesick" when I left Homer to attend college in Memphis, and then U. of Michigan, and then U. of NM, I really wanted to change the world I called home.

  When President Eisenhower ordered federal troops to  enforce desegregation of Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas, I was in 7th grade. On the playground at lunch, discussing with classmates, I said I didn't think my parents would object to Negro students coming to our school ( I was thinking of the daughter of our family's maid with whom I had played as a young child).  That discussion continued in the classroom, and the teacher (football coach) said to me, "If that's what you think, why don't you go on over to Mayfield."  ( the school for Blacks in Homer).  I was embarrassed and in tears, and will always remember thinking, I would get up and walk out right now but I don't know where Mayfield School is!  Actually, Mayfield School was not so very far away,  only a few blocks from where my maternal grandparents lived; but I had never been to that part of town.  That's what it meant to grow up white and female in a racially segregated town in the 1950s. Year later, talking with my brother who was 7 years younger than I and who was the last of my siblings to attend and graduate(1970) from Homer High School, I learned that he knew exactly where Mayfield was.  He had played football with some of the first Black students to attend Homer High School, and as a white male, he could  go anywhere. As a white female teenager I was not supposed to go alone to town (only 2 blocks from home)on Saturday afternoon because that was when Blacks came to shop. When the public schools were desegregated, my parents, aunts and uncle, helped build Claiborne Academy; my mother taught there, and my younger brothers and sister were graduated from there (1972, '74, '76).  

 By 1961 Louisiana law required all high school students to take a 6 weeks course in Communism. I had  attended a school sponsored "Anti-Communism" crusade in Shreveport, but thought that Marx's Manifesto had some good ideas, and when I attended a Presbyterian Missionary conference in Montreat, NC and stood in line for supper next to African-American girl from Arkansas who  asked, do you believe in integration? I did not know what to say.  I wanted to say yes, but I had been taught that racial integration was part of Communist plot!  So I answered, I don't know.   

At  Southwestern (now Rhodes College) in Memphis, I continued to be active in Presbyterian youth group, and was asked to teach a Sunday school class in than African-American Presbyterian church, but was afraid to do so because I thought my parents would not approve. Likewise, I knew that older  white students were actively involved in challenging all white segregated Presbyterian churches in Memphis to welcome Black worshipers, but I was afraid to do so. By my senior year in fall of 1966 I was assigned to the racially desegregated  Humes High School  for 6 weeks practice teaching in tenth grade English. I was no longer ambivalent;  despite my parents' beliefs and commitment to racially segregated schools, I believed in public school desegregation.

 I'm not sure that all these details are necessary for your Wiki article, but when you ask how I got to sue the U. of AL for tenure, it's hard to leave out the connections between my growing awareness of what Lillian Smith called "sin, sex, and segregation"  and what others now call social constructions of gender/class/race.   So, I will  carry on. Parts of what I've told you already, only came to me because someone else in Michigan or New Mexico asked me what was I taught about race, or sex, or gender roles, or class -- none of which I had really thought about until I began at first to challenge and then unravel these concepts and realities which are so rarely examined before they have been unconsciously absorbed.

 YET....Here goes more.  At the U. of Michigan, I was immediately made aware that I am a SOUTHERNER -- which to most non- Southerners means WHITE and Talks Funny.  I was one of 4 resident advisers in Jordan Hall, a freshman all female dorm in 1967-68. The other 3 RA's - 2 white and 1 black - all midwesterners. Jennifer, African American whose parents had fled the South to live in Michigan, told me when she first learned that a white Southern girl was going to be an RA on third floor, she thought how could she get to 4th floor without being on the elevator with me. We all became good friends, and although Jennifer invited me to her wedding (a few years later), she told me she would never visit me when I moved back to Memphis. I said they all had "Easy Rider's Syndrome" i.e. all southerners are white racists.  I learned about Black Power and read The Autobiography of Malcom X  because Jennifer had his picture on her dorm room door. But after my parents came to visit me and sat with us at the RA's table in the dining hall, my father told me never to bring Jennifer home with me because it would upset his mother.  I did not believe him, but I did not challenge him then.  His real feelings came out again when after completing my M.A. in English at U. of Michigan, I applied for and accepted a position in Memphis. to teach tenth grade English at the all new Northside High School. Built  to be the  Memphis City public school model in terms of curriculum and racial composition (50/50 black and white; academic and vocational curriculum), by fall 1968 white flight had left Northside High 97% white student body with 70% white faculty. My father warned me not to invite any black students or faculty to my home, lest I be raped.  When I replied "I could just as easily be raped by a white man", my father said, "Well I would prefer it."

Summer 1969

Recommended by Northside H.S. principal, attended seminar at Memphis State U. “Teachers of English to Culturally Deprived Children,” where I met some of the most experienced and highly qualified African American teachers in Memphis city schools. From them I learned also dissatisfaction with policies of Memphis City school board,( only one black member), failure to promote blacks in upper levels of administration. Became friends with Eloise Forrester, a teacher in Albuquerque, attending the seminar because she could leave her daughter with her mother in Alabama. Eloise was a lifesaver for me when I moved to Albuquerque for graduate work in AMS, 1970. I returned to Northside HS, ready to implement new ideas in my classroom; soon impatient with what I considered unnecessary record keeping, At first faculty meeting, sat with two colleagues, Bernice Burton and Frances Gandy, heard about organizing meeting of AFT. Attended, saw several of teachers I had met thru that summer seminar. Chosen to be one of organizers, so that it would not be seen as an all black union. From then on, to the white faculty I was on “outside” a person of suspicion , naiive, sure, didn’t really know what I was into, yes, but did know more about racism in school system and police brutality on the streets where our students lived in North Memphis. Marched and supported “Black Fridays” by wearing black when students boycotted schools to protest . Ultimately testified in court in support of reinstating students who had been expelled for protesting. The students were reinstated and I was informed I would not be rehired. I challenged that, knowing I could afford to do so because I had no family to support and didn’t have to stay in Memphis, as other activist teachers did. School board met, Southwestern college students protested in my favor outside while  that school board meeting was going on. Board decided to reinstate me , dock me 2 weeks pay, and send me to one of the oldest black schools in Memphis, (Manassas) where principal was known to be very strict with teachers. That was my first law suit. I won, but chose to go to grad school rather than to Manassas High.

 At UNM 1970-74. PHD in American Studies. Went there because I was interested in studying AF- AM lit. A professor had told me no such thing as African American lit, all protest lit., but if that’s what you want, look into American Studies. Went to NM, one of the oldest AMS PHD programs, and because got scholarship there, teaching freshman English. In 1970 Women’s Studies was just beginning. First WS course taught for credit at UNM was offered through the AMS Dept, spring 1972, Women in Literature. I audited it: first question, “Are you a feminist?” Sure, I believe in women, I’m a feminist. You are from the South, you must read Lillian Smith, Killers of the Dream. That’s how I was introduced to LS. Reading KOD, weeping, told my roommate, “This woman is writing my life.” Here was a white Southern woman who could have been a younger sister to my maternal grandmother, yet she was explaining and challenging everything I was trying to understand about racism, and sexism, and she had chosen to stay in the South and challenge all its taboos, and she had managed to live and write there.She showed me it is possible to live in place you love, with people whom you both love and whose beliefs and values you see as only destructive and dehumanizing. But, I could not write my dissertation on Lillian Smith… no, her life was too large. Also, felt I had to confront my own immediate struggle with my family’s commitment to maintaining racism through building segregated private schools to avoid public school desegregation and thereby destroying public school system. My dissertation, “I’ll Take My Stand: Southern Segregation Academy Movement” was an oral history of the development of white segregated academies in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Virginia.

 After graduating with PHD in AMS, May 1974, I began teaching at U. of AL summer 1974 with joint appointment in American Studies and the New College. Although I drew on my dissertation research in teaching, I always managed to use Lillian Smith’s work in my classes. I continued using and encouraging students to use oral history as a tool to examine our culture, and especially the lives, history, and contributions of women of all classes, ethnic, religious backgrounds. My first published work drew from an undergraduate’s oral history interview with Sallie Mae Hadnott, an African American leader in school desegregation movement in Prattville, AL. See, “If it was anything for Justice,” published in the Women in South issue of Southern Changes, 1977. In that same issue, historian Jo Ann Robinson published article on LS, containing a footnote referencing the need for oral history of Laurel Falls Campers. Unlike my dissertation, that was a project I thought I could really enjoy. With Robinson’s encouragement, I contacted Lillian Smith’s sister Esther Smith and Paula Snelling, with whom LS had developed Laurel Falls Camp and published the magazine, first called Pseudopodia, then North Georgia Review, and finally South Today. Thus began my scholarly work on Lillian Smith. (do you need  a copy of my vitae for selected publications between 1977 and 2016? )

In 1978, my original joint appointment in New College and American Studies was changed to a full time appointment in American Studies in the college of Arts & Sciences specifically to allow additional time for research and publication. Although as required, I had published articles in reputable scholarly journals, I was denied tenure in May 1982. I will attempt to attach copies of the court’s decision and published coverage in local newspapers. You may have already read it as a published federal case.

Although the Judge ruled in my favor on basis of breach of contract, rather than on issues of sex discrimination, many women employees (faculty and staff whom I did not know personally) told me afterwards that they felt I had stood up for them.

 After I was granted tenure, I began editing Smith’s letters, a project which took another 10 years, in part because Smith family members were offended by my naming her relationship with Paula Snelling as lesbian. I have expressed my feelings and thoughts about that process best in the published article, “Personalizing the Political/ Politicizing the Personal: Reflections on Editing the Letters of Lillian Smith.” Carryin’ On: an anthology of Southern Lesbian and Gay History, Ed. John Howard (NYU Press, 1997), 93-103. After the Letters were published, I was promoted to associate professor. 

 Throughout my teaching career at the U. of AL I was active in development of Women Studies and African American Studies programs. For 29 years I offered a course called Women in the South, emphasizing the history, experiences and works of women of all classes, races, sexual orientations. Through several African American women students in that class, I was introduced to the work of Alabama native, dramatist and poet Billie Jean Young, and subsequently wrote the Introduction to her Fear Not the Fall Fear Not the Fall, Poems and A Two-Act Drama, Fannie Lou Hamer: This Little Light published by New South Books, 2003.

 All of my published work, and especially my writing about and editing the work of Lillian Smith is possible only because I have the love and support of Marcia Winter.

 Please let me know whether you need any further documentation.”

 Rose Gladney

[tissipropaganda]

The Top 10 preservation fights of 2018

JP Morgan’s new headquarters, the renovations to 550 Madison and rule changes at the Landmarks Preservation Commission were among the top preservation battles of 2018. Here’s a look at the year’s 10 biggest showdowns, according to Curbed: 1) Marx Brothers playground AvalonBay Communities’ plan to build a 700-foot tower on the Upper East Side rankles opponents who disagree with the developer’s plan to replace green space. 2) 270 Park Avenue Preservationists want to save 270 […]

Source: https://therealdeal.com/2018/12/23/the-top-10-preservation-fights-of-2018/

[relatedrealtychicagoblog]

via Related Chicago - Feed

THE 10 TOTALLY BEST CHICAGO MOVIES. Yup, most of them are from the 1980’s.

Robert Redford on location in Lake Forest, Illinois, directing Timothy Hutton in Ordinary People, 1980

Like Rob Gordon, from the comedy High Fidelity (2000,) we love making lists – mostly about Chicago. Rob and his cohorts’ used their “top five lists” to bring some order to a chaotic world, and we get it. We’ve defined a “Chicago” movie, as one that was actually shot in part here, and one that captured the essence of Chicago in some magical way in the process.

But, first – just a little bit of Chicago movie history.

Chicago was the original hub for movie making at the turn of the 20th century, not New York or Los Angeles. Yes, before Hollywood went on to become, well Hollywood, it was Chicago that paved the way – of course. The city was brimming with production companies and filmmakers at the time. It was the start of the silent movie era, and Essanay Studios in particular was one of the earliest and most powerful, producing fifteen short films with Charlie Chaplin, and giving Gloria Swanson her start. But soon – with the birth of the “western,”the industry headed west. Essanay Studios was eventually absorbed by Warner Brothers, and it would be nearly seventy years before a new creative swell in filmmaking would return.

The gigantic success of two movies are largely credited with jump starting that shift; Cooley High (1975,) written by Eric Monte about his experiences coming-of-age in Chicago, (Monte wrote the hit TV shows; Good Times, The Jeffersons and What’s Happening,) and The Blues Brothers (1980.) The latter in particular was considered to have been the catalyst for ushering in a golden age of filmmaking in Chicago during the 1980s. This eventually lead to the rebirth of the “teen movie” and a trove of iconic John Hughes films; from Sixteen Candles (1985,) The Breakfast Club (1986,) Uncle Buck (1988) and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1984.)

So here goes part one of our list – It’s all completely speculative – and in no particular order.

The list (part one)

10 – HIGH FIDELITY

Released 2000; Directed by Stephen Frears ; Screenplay by John Cusack, D.V. DeVincentis and Steve Pink Starring John Cusack, Jack Black, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louis, Lisa Bonet, Tim Robbins

There are probably not many lists about favorite Chicago movies that do not include High Fidelity, and with good reason. Not only does it perfectly capture a Chicagoan man-child having a thirty-something’s identity crisis at the turn of the century, but the movie’s lead, co-screenwriter and producer is hometown golden boy, John Cusack. You see his passion for the city at every turn. The script is based on the Nick Hornby novel about a record store owner with relationship issues. Originally set in London, Cusack moved the story to Chicago and set-up protagonist Rob Gordon’s shop up in a storefront on Milwaukee Avenue. With such insider touches as references to local record labels like Wax Trax! and Touch and Go Records, it’s easy to believe that Rob and his friends were an authentic part of Chicago’s outta sight music scene in the 1990s.

John Cusack in High Fidelity, 2000

9- ABOUT LAST NIGHT

Released 1986; Directed by Edward Zwick; Screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue Starring Demi Moore, Rob Lowe, Elizabeth Perkins, Jim Belushi

The film, About Last Night, is remembered for aptly reflecting an authentic Chicago-y singles scene; with its’ main characters playing softball on the weekends in Grant Park and hanging out with their pals at Lincoln Park and Division street bars, where you might find their modern-day counterparts today. Demi Moore even put on twenty pounds so she looked more like a “realistic” Chicago gal. Yeah, I know. Anyway, the script was loosely adapted from the 1974 play Sexual Perversity in Chicago, by Chicago scribe, David Mamet, and was first performed at the Organic Theatre Company. Mamet turned down the chance to adapt his drama about a twenty something couple, who fall in and out of love, with the help of their romantically cynical friends, for the screen. Still, the movie version is a moving love story, that went on to show a generation of gen-xers that love could be found in the Chicago bar scene, and even after a one night stand. Trust us, it’s Demi Moore at her very best – plus anything with Elizabeth Perkins is a go!

Demi Moore and Elizabeth Perkins in About Last Night, 1986

8 -THE BLUES BROTHERS

Released 1980; Directed by John Landis; Screenplay by Dan Aykroyd (story) and John Landis Starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd

Chicago is first and foremost, the star of the iconic film, The Blues Brothers, based on John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s band by the same name. From the films spot on depiction of the bustling late 1970s Maxwell flea market, to the climatic chase sequence that winds through Lower Wacker Drive, there is no doubt that the musical comedy was an homage to the city. It took director, and hometown boy, John Landis, just two weeks to write the script, and the movie soundtrack sounds like Chicago, with music by Aykroyd and Belushi, and tracks by Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and James Brown, who also appear in cameos. Jake and Elwood’s journey takes them many places, but most iconic is probably the duo’s epic performance of Jailhouse Rock for the prisoners at Joliet prison.

Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, Blues Brothers

7 – ORDINARY PEOPLE

Released 1980; Directed by Robert Redford; Screenplay by Alvin Sargent Starring, Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland

This was Robert Redford’s directorial debut, one so good, that no one ever thought of him as “just an actor” again. Based on the 1976 novel, Ordinary People, by then first time author, Judith Guest, try and watch this film to completion without dissolving into a pool of tears – this film invented the term “tear jerker.” Filmed largely on Chicago’s North Shore during the fall of 1979, the scenery of suburban Lake Forest is instantly recognizable for anyone who grew up in the area. The story follows a Chicago family, shattered the accidental death of its older son. The direction by Redford, and acting across-the-board, is simply sublime. Timothy Hutton plays tormented teen, Conrad, who blames himself for his brother’s death and breaks our collective hearts in the process; Mary Tyler Moore got a nomination as his ice-cold mother, who blames him too, and Donald Sutherland, the peacemaker and arguably the true protagonist of the story, is finally forced to see things as they are. Judd Hirsch played the therapist who helps him, and a very young Elizabeth McGovern plays his love interest. The film went on to sweep the 1981 Academy Awards, winning best picture, best director, best screenplay and best actor for Timothy Hutton.

Mary Tyler Moore, Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland, Ordinary People, 1980

6- HOOP DREAMS

Released 1994; Directed by Steve James Starring William Gates and Arthur Agee

Filmmakers Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert set out to film a documentary in 1986 for PBS about playground basketball, hoping to shed light on Chicago’s street culture. They ended up shooting for four years, resulting in the 1994 emotional powerhouse, Hoop Dreams. One may not think that a documentary about basketball would have that kind of impact, but we promise you it does. Director Steve James narrowed in on the lives of two young black teenagers, basketball prodigies, Arthur Agee and William Gates, who grew up in Chicago’s housing projects. After they both win scholarships to a suburban high school, their fortunes diverge. One follows the footsteps of St Joe’s favourite son, all-star Isiah Thomas and the other doesn’t make the cut. Considered one of the best films of the 1990s, it was notoriously snubbed by the Oscars, winning best editing and losing out best picture to of all things – Forrest Gump.

Arthur Agee, Hoop Dreams, 1994

[harlemcondolife]

Park-Replacing Development Sets ‘Harmful Precedent’: Opponents The debate continues surrounding plans to create a large development on the Marx Brothers Playground in East Harlem.

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Is New York City’s Marx Brothers Playground a Park?  The Answer is No Laughing Matter

A fierce legal battle is currently being waged between preservationists and the City of New York (“City”) over a parcel of land in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, known as Marx Brothers Playground. The parcel, which is located between 96th and 97th...By: Farrell Fritz, P.C. from Zoning, Planning & Land Use RSS Feed | JD Supra Law News http://ift.tt/2DFpf4i

[newsrustcom]

Park or Playground? Semantics Dispute Illuminates Preservationists’ Fight

Melissa Mark-Viverito, who until recently was the City Council speaker and whose district included the playground, said protected parkland would remain exactly that. But the Marx Brothers Playground, she said, had never been in that category.

The city plans to relocate and replace the playground, inch for inch, elsewhere on the block, she added.

Ms. Mark-Viverito said the city had worked to…

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Acquire Lite Street Dancing

There is actually an audio stage in The big apple Metropolitan area where the Marx Brothers made flick miracle and a timeless baseball playground where the game's greats the moment participated in. Playground Street Institution has actually found a ton of adjustments with the years and yet much of it stays the very same; its own splendid architecture, a few of the windows still have the outdated glass, the incomplete kind that might possess a few surges that a little contort.

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A biventricular repair for Jayce’s one-of-a-kind heart

Amanda Mattioli was working in Afghanistan as a government contractor and had just completed a whirlwind round of travel to three separate continents when she learned she was pregnant.

The helicopter unit that took her back to the main base so she could return home for her pregnancy gave her a unit sticker to commemorate her baby’s first helicopter ride. Little did she know it would also mark the beginning of a much longer journey for her and her son, William “Jayce” James.

Amanda got her first hint the ride would be bumpy at her 20-week ultrasound, when she learned Jayce’s heart was on the right side of his chest, rather than the left side. She was sent to a hospital in nearby Pittsburgh for a level 2 ultrasound, where doctors discovered Jayce had three other major heart defects: complete atrioventricular canal defect (AV canal), transposition of the great arteries (TGA) and pulmonary atresia. Amanda was also referred to a geneticist.

The geneticist told her it was very likely he had trisomy 18, a genetic disorder that causes severe birth defects. “She said he probably wouldn’t make it to birth, and if he did, he wouldn’t make it more than a few hours.”

Amanda, overwhelmed and upset by the way this news had been delivered, returned to her local doctor and was referred to a private cardiologist in Pittsburgh for a second opinion, Dr. Prapti Kanani, a former cardiology fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Finding a beacon of light

Kanani did her own ultrasound and came to another conclusion. She suspected heterotaxy syndrome, a rare, complex condition where the heart or other organs are not formed correctly or are in the wrong position within the body.

“Normally, heterotaxy is bad news for parents, but for me it was a sigh of relief. Trisomy 18 isn’t compatible with life, but heterotaxy is,” says Amanda. “It was kind of like a beacon of light.”

Further ultrasounds confirmed the diagnosis, and identified a number of other heart defects, as well as no spleen, rotated intestines, and problems with his kidneys and lungs.

Jayce gets a helicopter transport to Boston Children’s.

Armed with a diagnosis, Amanda searched the internet for support.

“I found a small group of moms in the heterotaxy community,” says Amanda. “Their advice was that hospitals with high-volume heart centers were the best, and Boston was the best of them all.”

She considered traveling to Boston for Jayce’s birth, but ultimately decided to deliver in Pittsburgh, where she would be close to home and family.

A rocky start leads to a major decision

Jayce was born on February 6, 2014. His first weeks were rocky, having gone through two open-heart surgeries and having cardiac arrest twice.

When he was discharged six weeks later, Amanda made a big decision: From then on, she would travel to Boston Children’s for Jayce’s care.

“Philadelphia is closer, but I wanted him to get the best care possible, even if it meant traveling further away from my family,” says Amanda. “I talked it over with Dr. Kanani, and she was totally supportive. She recommended we see Dr. Gerald Marx.”

Their first trip came sooner than expected. A few weeks after being discharged, Jayce wasn’t doing well, and Amanda drove him straight to Boston herself.

“Dr. Marx was really encouraging that they could do a biventricular repair on Jayce’s heart instead of the traditional single ventricle approach the other hospital was suggesting,” says Amanda.

Biventricular repair involves converting a heart that has only one working lower heart chamber (single ventricle) into one with two functioning ventricles. The Boston Children’s Biventricular Repair Program is able to achieve two-ventricle circulation in some children who are not candidates for this approach at most other hospitals.

“I liked that Boston Children’s is known for pioneering new procedures, where other hospitals like to keep people stable with single ventricle. If I could give Jayce the chance at a fully-functioning heart with two ventricles, then I was going to go for it.”

Because Jayce’s heart was so complex, his biventricular repair needed to take place in two surgeries. They scheduled a first surgery for November, and Amanda took him back home.

But in October, Jayce had another medical emergency and, once again, Amanda drove him through the night to Boston. After another close call, his surgery was moved up to the end of October.

Rocking the first complex surgery

During the first surgery, Dr. Pedro del Nido, chief of cardiac surgery at Boston Children’s began the complex process of repairing Jayce’s unusual heart.

“It was a totally intense surgery, but Jayce rocked it,” says Amanda. “He did so much better than he had during his previous two surgeries, even though this one was so much more complex. He was only in the hospital for 11 days afterwards.”

Jayce’s second surgery to complete his biventricular repair was scheduled for the following June. Amanda vividly remembers waiting to hear the surgery was complete.

“My mind went down a lot of dangerous paths that day,” she recalls. “And then Dr. del Nido was standing there telling us that the surgery was done. I just started crying; I couldn’t even talk. It felt like the journey we had been on for two years was finally done. Even though he will need more procedures, they are just for maintenance and upkeep. The major surgery was done and my son had a two-ventricle heart. It was the best news ever.”

Achieving a ‘surreal’ level of normalcy

That was a little over two years ago. These days, Jayce is a happy and rambunctious 3-year-old who loves riding his bicycle, swimming and roughhousing with his friends. This year, he also became a proud big brother to baby sister Lainey, his “best friend in the whole world.”

He did need to have a pacemaker implanted after his second surgery, to help regulate his heartbeat. But that hasn’t slowed him down.

“I used to worry that he wasn’t going to be able to keep up,” says Amanda. “But he has so much energy he wears me out. It’s a level of normalcy that almost seems surreal, especially when I was told he was incompatible with life three years ago.”

Jayce returns to Boston Children’s for intermittent cardiac catheterizations. He also needs occasional consults with other specialists for his heterotaxy.

“We’ve been really lucky,” says Amanda. “A lot of other kids with heterotaxy need bowel resections and liver transplants, but he hasn’t needed any of that.”

Because Jayce has no spleen, getting sick can be dangerous. For this reason, he hasn’t been able to attend daycare or preschool, and he may not start school until second grade. But Amanda makes sure he’s not isolated.

“Some heterotaxy moms keep their kids in, but I want him to have a normal life,” she says. He plays with friends, goes to the playground and swims at the public pool.

“I call him my one in seven billion baby, because he’s the only one with his specific heart defects combined with heterotaxy,” says Amanda. “I don’t know how Dr. del Nido was able to make Jayce’s heart a two-ventricle, four-chamber heart, but he did it. He’s brilliant.”

Learn more about Boston Children’s Biventricular Repair Program.

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