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Brush Teeth | First Job at 5 AM | Second Job at 9 AM | Work the Days Stress Off With Some Yoga | Read At The Library | Set Up A Blind Date

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I'm Playing in the RatSave 1.1 by @ratboysims !! Its really beautiful with great sims I definitely recommend it🥰

[3416]

Inside the strange and secretive business of team-mandated NHL fines

By Joshua Kloke | Mar 27, 2023 | The Athletic

Ryan Hartman walked into the Minnesota Wild practice facility with a sense of resolve. The nine-year NHL forward had been a healthy scratch the previous evening against the Philadelphia Flyers.

But righting a wrong was only one of the items on his to-do list.

“Today,” Hartman said, nodding while looking around the Wild dressing room, “is tax day.”

As he does once a month, Hartman will work his way around the Wild dressing room and collect money from his teammates.

The previous night, Hartman pored over a spreadsheet with updated tallies of who owes what. He sent out a flurry of text messages to teammates: “This is what you owe. I’m coming for you tomorrow.”

Call Hartman what you want: the taxman, the team treasurer, the fine master. Hartman has a volunteer position in charge of handling a consistently growing pot of money accrued from Wild players. Most teams require a player like Hartman because large amounts of money changing hands among teammates is a tradition in the NHL. That money is gathered in large part to encourage team building. Part of the money collected is because players voluntarily have put “money on board,” a practice of promising an amount of money before a game a player will owe should the team win, be it for playing in their hometown or, say, if they’re playing in a milestone game.

And then there’s another practice: getting fined for a variety of unconventional infractions.

“There’s so many things you get fined for,” Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano said.

Not every team fines players. And many that do see it as a dwindling yet good-natured practice. It’s one some veterans believe has merit.

Welcome to the strange, almost-secretive world of team-mandated NHL fines.

–––

Almost a generation ago, Marc-André Fleury was a reserved young goalie trying to man his way through the rules of his new life in the NHL: the unflappable importance of being on time for meetings and flights, the heightened dress codes compared to junior hockey — and, um, being well-mannered.

“There was a guy on Pittsburgh who would always pick his nose in the locker room,” Fleury said. The embarrassment of being caught wasn’t punishment enough. “So every time, guys would shout at him, ‘Hey, 10 bucks.’”

Early in Fleury’s rookie year, he got hit with his own first hefty fine.

“I couldn’t tie my tie,” Fleury said, recalling how then-veteran teammate Marc Bergevin would chirp him relentlessly. “So, I got fined because my tie looked terrible.”

A large percentage of team-directed fines remains contingent on wardrobe choices.

Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese remembered a former teammate getting fined for wearing Cole Haan shoes. Even with the slowly shifting dress codes among NHL teams, teammates aren’t afraid to dole out fines if a player’s look starts to slip. That goes for accessories, too.

“At training camp, you get a (swag) bag with a bunch of stuff in it,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. A former teammate was using it as his travel bag. “We said if he showed up for the next flight with that bag, it’s a $500 fine.”

Most players surveyed for this story agree $500 is the de facto fine amount.

Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk said one of his teammates might get fined this season because “all of his clothes and all of his luggage are either team-issued or NHLPA-issued.”

“You’re in the NHL,” Rielly said. “You’re not supposed to be wearing the same shirt six days in a row. I always think that’s pretty funny.”

It’s always veterans who enforce these kinds of fines.

“This year, we had a younger guy who had a little incident with his wardrobe choice at a dinner,” Buffalo Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. “Sweatpants on the road. That’s worth a fine. He’s learning.”

Fines don’t stop at wardrobe-related infractions.

“I’m a big believer in the common sense fine,” Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “A cheap one.”

Example: Should an NHL player get caught wearing white socks with dress shoes or leave their towel on the floor after coming out of the shower, these are fineable offenses according to Gudbranson, even if it’s just $50.

“Sometimes it can be funny,” Gudbranson said. “But it can also be a sign of respect.”

Not every team takes this approach, however.

New Jersey Devils defenseman Damon Severson was adamant that the Devils don’t have a strict dress code and, therefore, have barely had to fine any players this season.

“If you want to wear white shoes with dress socks, we don’t give a s— about any of that stuff here,” Severson said. “We believe just in being yourself. If you go back a few years, (former Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello) had rules with the dress code and shaving, but it’s kind of the opposite now — and that’s no disrespect to Lou. We want our personalities to be shown.”

Speaking of grooming habits, van Riemsdyk said if one of his Flyers teammates gets caught with a flashy new haircut, that’s a fine. He admits it’s a struggle for players like him who keep it tight up top. He said, almost quietly out of fear of getting found out by nearby teammates, that he got a haircut a few days prior.

“It almost works the other way: You get a haircut every two or three weeks, it doesn’t look like you’ve gotten a cut. Then you can steer clear of (a fine),” van Riemsdyk said.

Edmonton Oilers forward Derek Ryan knew he was going to get hit with a fine ahead of a game against the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 7. While taking standard laps in warmup, Ryan bumped into a teammate and fell to the ice.

“My helmet went flying everywhere, stick on the ice,” Ryan said.

Wow, that’s embarrassing, Ryan thought to himself.

Equally embarrassing would be the shame of having to pay for the mistake afterward. Every team The Athletic surveyed agreed that when players fall on the ice during warmups, they’re on the hook for $500.

“I remember I knocked (then-teammate Brendan Shanahan) over in warmups,” Islanders forward Zach Parise recalled of the one season he spent alongside the Hall of Famer. “I wasn’t about to impose a fine for that.”

The rule has taken on different iterations league-wide. Fleury said the Wild charge double if a player loses his helmet. The Nashville Predators go the other way, according to defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

“If you fall on one knee, that’s only half the fine. But if it’s a full wipeout, that’s a full fine. You’ve got to be careful out there,” McDonagh said.

Then there’s the fine players are almost terrified of: being late for a team function, a meeting or a departing bus or flight.

“A team sin,” Severson said.

Driving through downtown Columbus en route to a team gala recently, Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly realized he was well behind schedule.

“The fine just stamps that you were late,” Kuraly said. “It’s embarrassing. It’s like you’re the guy who’s not following the things that help the team.”

Leafs forward Noel Acciari remembers during his time with the Florida Panthers that if a player was late for a meeting, they’d be on the hook for the next team dinner.

But that would easily be more expensive than a standard $500 fine, no?

“Especially when you know someone else is paying for dinner,” Acciari joked.

The list of fineable offenses doesn’t stop there: If a player, before puck drop, is taking part in a game of Sewer Ball — which players try to keep a soccer ball from hitting the ground in a circle to limber up — and you kick the ball to the ceiling, that’s a fine. Getting the ball stuck in the ceiling raises the fine even more.

If a cellphone starts ringing in a team meeting? One player said that’s a fineable offense on his Western Conference team.

Fleury recalled getting a $250 fine for breaking a stick.

“I was real mad after a game, and I swung my stick,” he said. “It was a wood stick, too, so it was only $60. So, they made a profit.”

Still, plenty of players surveyed by The Athletic insist they’ve avoided being fined throughout their entire NHL careers.

“You have to really screw up to get fined,” Rielly said.

–––

OK, so you owe money for a fine, and it’s time to pay the piper. Sabres fine collector Zemgus Girgensons offers many payment options.

“I’ve got everything. Venmo, Square, check,” he said.

Every fine keeper throughout the NHL has their own manner of collecting fines, but most of them, like Predators fine keeper Colton Sissons, prefer payment electronically.

“We had to change with the times,” Sissons said, noting how he acquired a Square chip reader to accept payments. Sissons set up a separate bank account just for the team’s fine and money-on-the-board funds, and he owns a credit card for that account if he needs to make team-related purchases.

“It’s a business,” he said, only partly in jest. “I catch guys when we’re stuck on the plane together. They know I don’t take any s—.”

Hartman also uses a credit card swiper to collect fines.

“No excuses. If someone says, ‘I don’t have a check today,’ I’m like, ‘Well, hand me your wallet,’” he said.

There are other methods. Some teams such as the Blues and the Oilers take fines directly out of players’ paychecks.

“You didn’t even have to worry. Which is better, because you know it’s being taken care of,” Acciari said of his time with the Blues.

Some teams, like the Leafs, prefer to keep it old school and deal in cash only.

“It’s a hassle to go to the bank,” Leafs defenseman Justin Holl said.

To mitigate the hassle for Rielly, the Leafs collector, he had a safe built into his dressing-room stall at Scotiabank Arena. He’ll remind players of their dues on game days so he can quickly throw the money into his safe, though he openly admits “it’s hard to track guys down.”

It’s hard not to read Rielly’s efforts as him tiring of the process.

“I liked doing it (when he started),” Rielly said of being the fine keeper. “I don’t like doing it as much anymore.”

–––

So why do it? What benefit is there for the fine keeper?

“Someone’s got to do it,” Girgensons said, shrugging his shoulders.

Multiple NHL players said for a player to be appointed the fine keeper, they only have to tick a few boxes: If you’re a well-liked and trusted veteran, this glamorous job may be yours for the taking.

“It’s actually a lot more work than anyone thinks,” Sissons said.

What about some slight interest in numbers? Perhaps balancing books for an NHL team’s fine fund is a precursor to a career after hockey in finance?

“I did like math class,” Sissons said. “But that’s not why I took the job. I guess people think I’m trustworthy.”

Modest as some of the fine keepers might be, there are perks to the job if you put the effort in. If you’re able to manage large sums of money and transfer them back and forth between a bank account and a credit card, you could be in for some sneaky benefits.

“I pay for things out of my own account, and I get all the points,” Sissons said.

Hartman agrees. After collecting payments from players, he uses a credit card to use that money to shell out for team events.

“The credit card is maxed out right now. We’ve had a few trips recently … with some big dinners,” Hartman said.

He’s not bothered though. The recently-engaged Hartman is thinking long-term: Stay on top of guys, and then use that money to pay for team functions, and those points will add up.

“Maybe I’ll get a honeymoon out of it,” he said, a smile creeping out from behind his thick beard.

Hartman’s plan isn’t devious by any means. Even for him, there is a team-building element to being the collector of the fines, and some NHL players informed of his process appeared slightly jealous. Every month, Hartman will buy three $500 Best Buy gift certificates and hand them out to his three Wild teammates who paid the most money that month into the team’s fund. It’s partly an incentive both for paying on time and for contributing to the team fund, but partly born out of Hartman’s own guilt.

“It’s a discount,” he said, modestly. “I feel bad. But we do spend it.”

And spend they do. Come the end of the season, there is always an effort to put the money back in the hands of the team.

For the Leafs, perhaps that means the team taking in an NFL game on the road. There are Super Bowl parties and Masters parties, too. And on Feb. 27, multiple Leafs took in a Bruce Springsteen concert in Seattle for some team-building and to help accelerate the bonding process for newcomers. The Leafs welcomed recently acquired teammates Sam Lafferty and Jake McCabe then.

“To get into an environment like that and get to know the guys is perfect,” McCabe said of the concert.

The year-end team party often sucks the most money out of the fine fund. The amount of money teams will spend on food, drinks, event space and the event itself varies, but multiple NHL players said somewhere in the range of $50,000 for a year-end party is a fair estimate.

Gudbranson noted how after the team’s head equipment manager, Jamie Healy, logged his 2,000th professional game on Jan. 29, the team dipped into the fund to purchase him a gift.

Ultimately, many NHL veterans view the money they can raise through the fine fund as less of a benefit to the team than the practice itself.

“Us veteran guys have to hold the young guys accountable more,” McDonagh said.

Gudbranson is adamant: The practice of good habits in the NHL has been “lost a little bit.”

The argument that fining young players heightens standards of professionalism league-wide is rooted in history. Gudbranson recalls his rookie duties while playing junior hockey for the Kingston Frontenacs: Unloading equipment from the team bus, mopping floors and helping out with laundry. These duties were not rituals to make players feel beyond uncomfortable, a practice that has no place in hockey. But, according to Gudbranson, understanding the benefits of working for the team is a concept that should be applied in the NHL. And if those concepts, such as respecting the dressing room, are forgotten, Gudbranson believes “the fine system can help with that.”

“You move away from home and your parents aren’t there to parent you anymore. Those little things, they teach you a lot,” Gudbranson said.

Of course, no young NHL player is going to be asked to mop the floor as a form of punishment.

But if fining young players for otherwise asinine offenses maintains a level of professionalism in the NHL, then veterans like Gudbranson aren’t going to be afraid to remind young players to have a credit card nearby at all times.

“You’re a professional athlete,” Gudbranson said. “You’ve got to act the part.”

[cellysbookshelf]

A03 | @knightsofsliverandgoldstory | @the-slapshot-series

Knights of Silver and Gold Marc-Andre Fleury x OC

A story where a world famous goaltender with a heart and soul of gold becomes a knight in shining silver for a female hockey player in the NHL who is trying to balance being a single mother and athlete after just being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Can Marc-André Fleury show Barlow Kane he can be the father her daughter never had, help her make a home and a life in Nevada and be the love of her life she never thought she would find?

Archive of Our Own Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Somebody's Today Mordan Reilly x F!Reader Summer Fic Exchange

Y/N and Morgan had grown up next door neighbors from the time they were babies. Best of friends until they both went off as teenagers to find their path, swearing they would find each other again someday as adults. Y/N's path lead her to to America, to study art and photography. Morgan's took him to Toronto to play NHL Hockey. But one day in Toronto they run into each other after years of not seeing each other, and soon see just how much they missed one another.... Someday just became today.

Archive of Our Own Tumblr

Impact Mitch Marner x OC

Kodiak "Kody" Andersen is the younger half sister to Freddie Andersen of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Team. She is a pro snowboarder for Canada and has been to the Olympics twice for her country. Her older brother basically raised her since she was 13 and she is forever greatful for the things he has done to let her life the life of her dreams. One night she is at the rink practicing some Hockey stuff with Freddie to make him happy when she takes a shot for the goal... and ends up hitting none other the Mitch Marner with her puck.

Mitch as no idea what kind of impact he is going to have on Kody's life, and Kody has no idea how she will impact his. Two kids, trying to prove they deserve to be where they are, trying to make a team and country proud, will impact each other in ways they never dreamed possible.

Archive of Our Own Tumblr Chapters: 1

Garding her Heart Jake Gardiner x OC

Bailey Slavin had it all, an All Star Softball Pro career with the USSSA Pride, a wonderful family to support her, a college degree, 3 world series titles, 3 college titles, she felt like nothing could stop her.... Till it did. A freak accident durning a softball game put Bailey in the hospital and out of the 2020 World Championships. To help her recovery along she goes to spend time with her brother Jaccob Slavin in North Carolina and get her mind off the tragedy. With the possibility of never playing again, Bailey is left cold and bitter. But when she meets Jake Gardiner, one of her brothers teammates, he helps her slowly tear down her walls and find joy in her life again. Jake and Bailey soon find themselves falling in love, but Bailey will soon have to decide on if she stays in North Carolina with Jake and the chance to start a new life, or move back to Florida to remain in the Softball world. Only time will tell how long this defenseman can guard this broken softball players heart.

Archive of Our Own Tumblr Chapter: 1

What We Had TJ Oshie x OC Winter Fic Exchange

Emerson or Emmy as she went by, never expected to be a single mother living on her own in Nova Scotia working as a social media detector. But for the last 6 years that's what she did, raising her daughter Ivory on her own. But when her dad tells her that his best friend who works for the Washington Capitals is in need of an assistant manager of Social Media and Networking for the team, it gives her a chance to move back home and work in a bigger and more exciting Field and to work around the sport she always loved.

The catch?

Her ex boyfriend and the father of her daughter is one of their star players: TJ Oshie. Is Emmy ready to face the past and tell TJ about their daughter? Will TJ be about to handle the truth, knowing he missed out on 6 years of his daughters life or will the past and the truth be the things that keep them from being a family once more?

Archive of Our Own Tumblr

A Wish Upon Confetti Stars Erik Jonson x OC

"In the 2011 Entry Draft, the Los Angeles King are proud to select with our 3rd round pick, from the Seattle Thunderbirds, goaltender Avalon Redmoon."

She had it all, Two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy, a team that supported her as only the 2nd female goalie in NHL history. Everything was perfect.... Until it wasn't. The summer of 2020 Avalon got the news that she had been traded in a bombshell deal between LA and Colorado. Now she is moving back to her hometown, and has to face the fact that not even a superstar goalie is safe from a trade. Filled with anger and hurt that her old team would just pass her aside for the next hotshot to hit the ice, Avalon isn't quick to make new friends on her new team. That is till Erik Johnson or EJ as he goes by, decides to take the new star goalie under his wing, and show her how life can be just as good in Colorado as it was in LA. Avalon and EJ never planned on anything more then friendship over the next few years, but when the thoughts of retirement cross minds, risky plays put players on the line and the Stanley cup right within their reach, they need to hold on to each other more then ever to make it to the end goal.

"Sometimes the best wishes come from nothing more A Wish Upon Confetti Stars."

Archive of Our Own Tumblr

Triple Axel Celly Sidney Crosby x OC Summer Fic Exchange

Sidney is tried of loosing year after year. After watching his close friend Nate lift the cup a year before and then missing the playoffs all together this season, he goes to Nate asking him to give him the name of his skating coach to try and help him oit next playoffs. Only Nate didn't tell him that Hunter Queen wasn't a Mr. Hunter and Sid bash heads like to bulls for weeks before they finally Nate finally tells Sid to make things right. So Sid goes to Hunter in hopes to finally make peace, but instead they end up in his bed for a wild night.

Archive of Our Own Tumblr

Slapshot Series

That's Why God Made Airplanes Tyler Seguin x OC

Tyler Seguin thought he found the woman of his dreams. A perfect girl, a perfect engagement and the soon to be perfect wedding, he had everything down to a T.

Or so he thought.

Just a few short weeks before what was supposed to be the most perfect day of his life, turned into him booking a one way flight to Pittsburgh to spend the summer with his Best Friend and forget about his cheating ex fiancee. Wanting to shut out the world, his parents and most of his friends for the time being, Tyler find refuge with the only person who really seems to know the real him, Arabella Kerfoot, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins. While spending his summer hiding away, his best friend not so sneakily plays match maker with her childhood best friend, Quinn Canton.

Sparks soon begin to fly, and a whirlwind summer romance takes hold of these two burnt out hearts. But when hockey starts back up, and old partners come back to burn them to ashes, can they withstand the distance between them, or will it be to much for them to handle?

*** Loosely based around the song "God Made Airplanes" by Jason Aldean ***

Archive of Our Own Tumblr: 1

Hockey-Ella Morgan Rielly x OC

Arabella Kerfoot is the younger sister of Alex Kerfoot and she one of the only female hockey player in the league. Ella as she likes to go by is the wild child of the family and also of the Pittsburgh Penguins. With a reputation of the "Wild Cinderella" Ella is the media's #1 target. Her best friend is Tyler Seguin, who had a bad reputation in Boston before going to Texas, so he understands her better then her own family and is trying to help work through her rebellious reputation. After a wild and not so pretty night out on the town Ella is quickly not the favorite anymore in Pitt and is soon traded to Toronto who is looking for a power forward with the speed and risky skill set she brings to the table. The catch: they need to fix her tarnished reputation before the Toronto media tears her apart. The solution: have her fake a relationship with Morgan Rielly to show she is determined to settle down and leave her wild Cinderella life behind, and make a fairytale lifestyle in Toronto instead. Only Ella wasn't planning on falling for the red haired man who offered the solution to her problems. With the media and her brother breathing down her neck to fix her past, her best friend telling her that a fake relationship will only hurt her and the man she never new she needed in front of her, she is about to ether live out a Hockey-Ella fairytale or an ultimate disaster.

Coming Soon.

Coming Soon

These Roots Lead Home - Mitch Marner x OC

The Goaltenders Ice Dance - Freddie Andersen x OC

Ruin Me Right - Martin Necas x OC

Sparks Fly - Marc- Andre Fleury x OC

Eye of the Storm - Teuvo Teräväinen x OC

From Oceans and Mountain and Anywhere Inbetween - Ross Colton x OC ** This masterlist was created for the lovely @callsign-denmark who is having some trouble with creating links from her blog.

[swldx]

BBC 0430 4 Oct 2023

12095Khz 0357 4 OCT 2023 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 43444. English, dead carrier s/on @0357z then ID@0359z pips and newsday preview. QRM=Strong RTTY (or Fax) type buzzer. @0401z World News anchored by Gareth Barlow. Kevin McCarthy has been toppled in a right-wing revolt - the first time ever that a US House of Representatives Speaker has lost a no-confidence vote.  Ultra-conservatives mutinied after he struck a deal on Saturday with Senate Democrats to fund government agencies. There is no olbvious successor to oversee the House Republican majority. The US has announced sanctions on 25 China-based firms and individuals allegedly involved in the production of chemicals used to make fentanyl. This came after Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called on the Chinese government to help stop the alleged flow of fentanyl and its precursors into his country. Pope Francis on Wednesday opens a big meeting on the future of the Catholic Church, with progressives hoping it will lead to more women in leadership roles and conservatives warning that church doctrine on everything from homosexuality to the hierarchy's authority is at risk. At least 21 people including two children have died after a bus crashed off a flyover near the Italian city of Venice and caught fire. Some reports say the bus was powered by methane gas and fell on to power lines and caught fire. At least four people were wounded, none critically, in a shooting at Morgan State University in Baltimore on Tuesday. City council member Ryan Dorsey said on X that “it’s believed there were three shooters firing into a crowd”. No arrests were announced. Three Filipino fishermen have died after an oil tanker allegedly rammed their fishing boat near Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine coast guard said Wednesday, compounding tensions in a region of the disputed South China Sea that is already a flashpoint. The Netherlands will restore the good name and honor of Curacao national hero Tula 228 years after he led a revolt of enslaved people on his island. State Secretary Alexander van Huffelen will issue the restoration decree on behalf of the Cabinet on this symbolic date, on this day in 1795, the Dutch rulers gruesomely executed the resistance leader. @0406z "Newsday" begins. Backyard fence antenna, “Single-2222” 1 transistor regenerative radio (set upper band, upper 1/3 of tuning cap). 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2257.

[dweemeister]

Elmer Gantry (1960)

Upon the publication Sinclair Lewis’ novel Elmer Gantry in 1927, an eruption of outrage ensued. The novel, a Juvenalian satire of evangelical Christianity in the United States, drew invectives from evangelical groups and high praise from literary circles. Despite its popularity among American readers, Elmer Gantry’s content long prevented American studio executives from even considering the film adaptation rights. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), from 1934 until 1968, enforced the Hays Code, a guideline for censorship, on all films made by the major American studios for theatrical release. Here is what the Hays Code says on religion – this section was never amended for the entirety of the Code’s existence:

No film or episode may throw ridicule on any religious faith.

Ministers of religion in their character as ministers of religion should not be used as comic characters or as villains.

Ceremonies of any definite religion should be carefully and respectfully handled.

The 1960 film adaptation of Elmer Gantry, released by United Artists (UA), directed and written by Richard Brooks, and featuring one of Burt Lancaster’s most electric performances of his career, violates the second and third part of this section and, arguably, the first as well. By the late 1950s and early ‘60s, enforcement of the Code was beginning to wither – boundary-pushing non-American films (which were exempt from the Code), television, and evolving behavioral and cultural norms in the United States contributed to its eventual demise. One of the beneficiaries was undoubtedly Brooks, whose output around this time – including Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Professionals (1966), and In Cold Blood (1967) – reflects the relaxing standards of Hollywood’s self-imposed censorship. Of the films Brooks made in this period, Elmer Gantry might be the most complete, excoriating, and cinematic.

Elmer Gantry (Lancaster) is a garrulous, ruthless, and ambitious con man who invokes Scripture to hock whatever he is selling. His shtick is effective, as his energetic sermonizing tends to break down the resistance of most. One day, curious about a traveling evangelist tent show passing through town, he encounters Sister Sharon Falconer (Jean Simmons). Gantry, taken by Sister Sharon’s virginal piousness and her fairness, convinces Sister Sharon’s assistant, Sister Rachel (Patti Page), to join their traveling group. Sister Sharon is impressed by Gantry’s – or “Brother Gantry” – orations, and she adjusts her own sermons to complement his. Where Gantry decries the congregants as sinners, Sister Sharon promises salvation through repentance. As time passes, Gantry’s presence in this itinerant ministry becomes the talk of the Midwest and Great Plains. Sister Sharon and Gantry begin to attract new congregants and onlookers’ horror, alike. The sermons become increasingly theatrical, writes the cynical big-city newspaper reporter Jim Lefferts (Arthur Kennedy), who is torn by his admiration of Gantry’s façade and his revulsion for hucksterism. Meanwhile, sex worker Lulu Bains (Shirley Jones) – who once knew Gantry when he was aiming to become a minister – is about to make an unexpected reentry into his life.

Character actors round out the cast of this motion picture, including Dean Jagger as Sister Sharon’s manager, Bill Morgan; Edward Andrews as businessman George F. Babbitt; and John McIntire and Hugh Marlowe as two reverends. Rex Ingram (1936’s The Green Pastures, 1940’s The Thief of Bagdad) cameos in an uncredited appearance as the preacher of a black congregation.

Elmer Gantry never feels like a 146-minute movie, as it moves through its scenes with fervorous pace thanks to some excellent performances and crisp filmmaking (more on both later). Brooks’ adaptation covers less than a quarter of Sinclair Lewis’ novel – Lewis allows its plot to unfold over the course of several years – and takes liberties in deleting or rearranging characters and plot points to fit neatly in a movie adaptation. Like the novel itself, Brooks’ adaptation ends without clear moral or narrative resolution – albeit at an earlier point in the novel. The character of Lulu Bains does not reappear in Lewis’ novel until after the events depicted in the film. To provide Elmer Gantry, the character, with the immoral backstory lost on a moviegoer unfamiliar with the novel, Brooks integrates Lulu into this film adaptation. On a surface level, that appears to deprive Lulu of her own characterization, agency, and backstory, but Brooks allows the character (and Shirley Jones) the space to portray and develop her complicated feelings – a stew of trauma, bitterness, and love – for her current life station and towards Elmer Gantry.

Reverential low-angled shots from cinematographer John Alton (1951’s An American in Paris, 1958’s The Brothers Karamazov) during the revivals make Sister Sharon’s tent seem cavernous, a fabric cathedral without need of stained glass, marble statues, flying buttresses. Looking slightly upwards at Sister Sharon’s of Elmer’s faces (at times with a Dutch angle), the film elevates the two above the masses listening intently on what they have to say, imbuing their scenes with striking imagery that draws the viewer’s attention. The decision to shoot the film in the 1.66:1 screen aspect ratio – wider than the Academy standard, but not as much as the widescreen standard sweeping through American filmmaking at the time – constricts the audience’s peripheral vision, forcing one’s focus on the speaker’s body language, rather than any miscellaneous activity occurring behind or to the side of the speaker.

As for the speakers or, should we say, actors, there are stupendous performances across the ensemble. For his turn as the eponymous lead, Burt Lancaster, known for his vigorous performances, provides Elmer Gantry with vigor aplenty. Modeling his performance off of the behavior of baseball outfielder-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, Lancaster struts around the tent during revival meetings, his upper body animated in conversation and salesmanship outside those meetings. Even in stillness, Lancaster’s physicality swaggers, brimming with euphoria – his most private moments abound in sexuality molded by what his character might call the love of God. Even Lancaster’s haircut appears to be defying gravity more than usual in Elmer Gantry. The sweat on his brow, within the 1:66:1 frame, feels as if it is about to seep through the camera. As he delivers his lines, Lancaster masters the complicated beat – accelerating with certain turns of phrases and strategic pauses for emphasis – and wildly varying volume of Elmer’s sermons. “Love is like the morning and the evening stars,” he intones as Gantry (that is his signature quote), somehow making us believe in such bromides and other simplifications he sells to the revival’s attendees.

Jean Simmons, as Sister Sharon Falconer, is a clear-eyed minister who nevertheless falls – or, perhaps, “seduced” – for Brother Elmer’s pontifications. In her own way, Sister Sharon Falconer is as ruthless as the man who wheedles his way into her company. Simmons, retaining her British accent, speaks like a patrician but, as Sister Sharon, reminds all that even the poor, the downtrodden, the sightless, the hard-of-hearing can know the munificence of Christ. So different is she from Gantry that when the latter begins to aggressively court her, the scene elicits squirms. Not because the scene is poorly acted, but that Simmons and Lancaster (with assistance from Brooks’ screenplay) have developed their characters so masterfully that Elmer’s pretense-free seduction feels straight from an Old Testament story that invariably incurs God’s wrath. Their characters convince themselves of their mutual love, even though Gantry is probably incapable of loving and Sister Sharon cannot view love outside how she might interpret it through the Bible.

In the aisles or the congregation’s peanut gallery are Arthur Kennedy and Shirley Jones. For Kennedy, as the reporter Jim Lefferts, this is a dress rehearsal for the similar but more biting role of Jackson Bentley in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Like Bentley was to T.E. Lawrence, Lefferts views the work of Elmer Gantry and Sister Sharon with a cynical lens but, to some degree, each finds a professional need for the other. As Lulu, Shirley Jones crackles with a sexuality essentially nonexistent in American movies at this time. Upon Lulu’s introduction, she tells her fellow sex workers her past experiences with the minister now stealing newspaper headlines:

LULU BAINES: He got to howlin’ “Repent! Repent!” and I got to moanin’ “Save me! Save me!” and the first thing I know he rammed the fear of God into me so fast I never heard my old man’s footsteps!

With this suggestive language that would never have been tolerated by the MPAA a few years earlier, Jones delivers her lines with shamelessness, slightly colored by a modicum of romantic trauma that reveals itself later. Jones is not in Elmer Gantry long, but her presence, her character’s raw contradictions deepen the tragedies that seem to follow those entranced by a former seminary student now returning to preaching his idea of gospel.

André Previn’s unsettled score to Elmer Gantry leans heavily on brass dissonance and rhythmically complex string runs in the few instances where there is no dialogue or diegetic music. Though not used often, Previn’s music lays bare Gantry’s motivations of lust and profit, a man devoid of internal meaning and one who craves sensation. There are moments throughout the score where it seems like a Coplandesque Americana sound is begging to burst free. But Previn, more than capable of composing such music and considering the narrative to this adaptation, knows better than to let those tendencies escape. The raving strings and blaring brass bury melodicism, which is left for the jazzy interludes that accompany Lulu’s scenes (jazz at this time was considered scandalous by many Americans). Previn’s score might not suit those longing for free-flowing motifs, but the technical skill required to play, let alone accomplish the musical phrasing he intends, some of the passages he writes for Elmer Gantry are stunning.

Earlier in this write-up in reference to the Hays Code, I mentioned that Elmer Gantry villainizes and makes comic characters out of religious figures, in addition to portraying the events at Sister Sharon’s revivals as debauched, deceitful. But does Elmer Gantry “throw ridicule on… religious faith”? Probably not, although those who despise religious belief in and of itself might disagree. Given Sister Sharon’s modesty and her less-fiery diction early in the film, probably not. Brooks does not expand upon what Sister Sharon’s congregation looked or sounded like in the months of years before Elmer Gantry’s arrival. Instead, Brooks’ movie targets individuals seeking to make economic and personal empires of organized religion – and Elmer Gantry, whose ravenous pursuit for money and women, is the man to defile Sister Sharon’s ministry. Only once he ingratiates himself to Sister Sharon, Gantry begins to emphasize what sounds suspiciously close to the “prosperity gospel”, which broadly states that faith in God and religious donations will lead to material wealth and physical wellbeing. The prosperity gospel is not scriptural. But it is a central tenant of numerous evangelical traditions.

Like Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, and the Falwell family, Elmer Gantry is the byproduct of the United States’ Third Great Awakening, which also resulted in Prohibition and the State of Tennessee’s decision to prosecute John Thomas Scopes for teaching human evolution in a public school. Sinclair Lewis, like Richard Brooks and his cast for Elmer Gantry, warn of profiteering “prophets” that remain a fixture of American life. From the mid-1950s to the mid-‘60s, the major Hollywood studios were prioritizing epic movies such as Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959), and George Stevens’ The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) – spectaculars intended to check the perceived threat of television to moviegoing. A film like Elmer Gantry that disparages religious ministers – even unethical, villainous ones – released during this time was nothing less than a landmark. Adapting a work by one of the great American writers of the twentieth century, Richard Brooks, with no small assistance from a cast topped by Burt Lancaster, results in a venomous film including one of the great characters of American film history. The book is almost a century old and the film is just past its sixtieth anniversary, but Elmer Gantry’s power endures. Elmer Gantry’s dialectic continues, even with evangelical Christianity akin to the homilies of Elmer Gantry supposedly on the wane.

My rating: 10/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Elmer Gantry is the one hundred and sixty-fourth feature-length or short film I have rated a ten on imdb. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[ao3feed-batcat]

Awakening the Phoenix Within

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3gu3qHC

by Machijc021599

All hell broke loose in Marinette’s life since the events of Miracle Queen. Everything in her life goes downhill, Adrien is dating Kagami, Lila & Chloe becomes the center of the frustration venting, making her life as a civilian life a living hell. With Chloe she gave more insults whereas Lila spreads bad rumors about Marinette thus planting seeds of doubt on everyone about her reputation. So with the kwamis' help, she teleports to the temple to continue her guardian training there, leaving all that she knows behind her. After her training, she goes on a soul searching journey around the world meeting people, developing her skill all while occasionally teleporting back to Paris for akuma fights.

Words: 1605, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Journey of a Guardian

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DCeased (DC Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Chloé Bourgeois, Allan (Miraculous Ladybug), Allegra (Miraculous Ladybug), Claude (Miraculous Ladybug), Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Nathalie Sancoeur, Alya Césaire, Nino Lahiffe, Juleka Couffaine, Rose Lavillant, Mylène Haprèle, Sabrina Raincomprix, Lila Rossi, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Ivan Bruel, Lê Chiến Kim, Max Kanté, Alix Kubdel, Kagami Tsurugi, Wayhem (Miraculous Ladybug), Aurore Beauréal, Mireille Caquet, Ondine (Miraculous Ladybug), Marc Anciel, Luka Couffaine, Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng, Tomoe Tsurugi, Anarka Couffaine, Le Gorille | Adrien Agreste's Bodyguard, Jagged Stone (Miraculous Ladybug), Penny Rolling, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali (Miraculous Ladybug), Nadja Chamack, Manon Chamack, Roger Raincomprix, Audrey Bourgeois, André Bourgeois, André Glacier, Rolland Dupain, Gina Dupain, Lila Rossi's Mother, Caline Bustier, Ms. Mendeleiev (Miraculous Ladybug), Principal Damocles (Miraculous Ladybug), Ella Césaire, Etta Césaire, Nora Césaire, Otis Césaire, Marlena Césaire, Chris Lahiffe, Félix Graham de Vanily, Amélie Graham de Vanily, Emilie Agreste, Marianne Lenoir, Master Fu (Miraculous Ladybug), Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Nooroo (Miraculous Ladybug), Duusu (Miraculous Ladybug), Trixx (Miraculous Ladybug), Wayzz (Miraculous Ladybug), Pollen (Miraculous Ladybug), Mullo (Miraculous Ladybug), Stompp (Miraculous Ladybug), Fluff (Miraculous Ladybug), Roaar (Miraculous Ladybug), Sass (Miraculous Ladybug), Longg (Miraculous Ladybug), Kaalki (Miraculous Ladybug), Ziggy (Miraculous Ladybug), Orikko (Miraculous Ladybug), Barkk (Miraculous Ladybug), Daizzi (Miraculous Ladybug), Xuppu (Miraculous Ladybug), Nick Fury, SHIELD Agents & Staff, Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Carol Danvers, Steve Rogers, Thor (Marvel), Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Vision (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, T'Challa (Marvel), Shuri (Marvel), Stephen Strange, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne, Avengers Team (MCU), The Team (Young Justice), Justice League (DCU), Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Dick Grayson, Koriand'r (DCU), Mar'i Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Raven (DCU), Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Harleen Quinzel, Pamela Isley, Gotham City Police Department Officers, Rogues Gallery (Batman), Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jon Lane Kent, Diana (Wonder Woman), Hippolyta (Wonder Woman), Order of the Guardians (Miraculous Ladybug), Edna Mode, Original Miraculous Ladybug Character(s), Original Miraculous Holder Character(s), Original Akumatized Character(s)

Relationships: Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain, Penny Rolling/Jagged Stone, Chloé Bourgeois/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Allegra/Chloé Bourgeois, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Plagg/Tikki (Miraculous Ladybug), Tim Drake/Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Mar'i Grayson & Koriand'r, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Abandonment, Betrayal, Fluff and Angst, New Miraculous Holders, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Time Travel, World Travel, Mystery, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Aged-Up Character(s), Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Kwami & Miraculous Lore, Bad Parenting, Bullying, Identity Reveal, Final Battle, Time Skips, Nightmares, Flashbacks, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lila Rossi Lies, Yandere, class salt

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3gu3qHC

[twdmusicboxmystery]

I think Beth may show up on Fear first. Seeing as how there’s mixing of characters on the shows, I think Daniel May show up in twd, and if Morgan found Beth on his way, she would have connection to him to be on there. He will recognize her then we get a how she lived/Morgan meeting her flashback. I wonder also if when Michonne leaves the show she’ll be led away by the theory that André is alive, maybe she’ll show up in fear before the movies, reuniting with Beth, then Beth goes to TWD.

Yeah I think all these are distinct possibilities. We don’t know how everything will play out, but they now have three franchises (TWD, FTWD, and the AMC Rick films) to mess with, and they can make connections and send characters wherever they want for whatever amount of time they want. Which is kinda fun.  😉

We all definitely thought her showing up on FTWD was a possibility this past season because there was SO much Beth symbolism there. I still think there’s just entirely too much stuff showing some kind of entanglement with Morgan for us to be wrong about that. So yeah, if we don’t see her by the end of S9, I’ll definitely be paying close attention to FTWD again. And what you said makes sense. Maybe we’ll see her there first before she crosses over to regular TWD. It will definitely be interesting to see how it all plays out. Xoxo! 💖

[apieters]

The clash of steel rang on the streets of the Magic Kingdom as a furious duel erupted in New Orleans Square. In the midst of a band of soldiers all the way from Agrabah, lead by Captain Razoul, two swordsman stood their ground, slashing and thrusting back-to-back against superior odds—in other words, it was a fairly average Friday afternoon for Christopher “Chris” Carnovo and André Caron, the Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom.

A stranger duo couldn’t be found from the Frozen lands of Arendelle to the Primeval World. Chris was a young, greyish-blue tyrannosaur, dressed in a blue pirate’s coat belted with a white sash, wielding a rapier with lightning-fast thrusts. André was a young man with shaggy brown hair and a black padded jacket, slashing violently at his foes with a sabre. The soldiers of Agrabah pressed hard on every side, but the odd pair had two things in their favor—they were both masters in the art of swordsmanship, and they had been fighting together since childhood.

Chris and André had a long and colorful career—starting as privateers in their youth, the two had almost single-handedly cleared the seas of pirates such as the notorious Captains Nathaniel Flint, Henry Morgan and “Black Bart” Roberts, before taking up service as fight choreographers in their young adult years. The two friends had choreographed almost every fight scene in almost every movie made in the Magic Kingdom, a land of princes and princesses, wizards and witches, pirates and knights, talking animals and other motley characters. Under the leadership of Mickey Mouse, the protégé of the late Good King Walt, the Magic Kingdom was a land of art, culture, and storytelling, producing some of the finest movies in the world. But while some made their names on the silver screen as actors or served the Kingdom as statesmen and captains of industry (often all three), others made their names behind the scenes. Chris and André belonged to the latter category, but their work had made them many friends all over the Magic Kingdom—friends that sometimes had need of their special set of skills.

“Just once, I’d like to be called in for a favor that doesn’t involve the risk of getting stabbed!” André Caron snapped at the tyrannosaur as he slashed up, knocking a sword out of a soldier’s hand.

“We’re professional swordsmen, André,” Chris shot back as he spiraled his rapier, sending another scimitar flying out of a soldier’s grip. “What kinds of favors do you expect people need from us?” He lunged to the side just as a soldier was trying to flank his friend, arresting the attack. The two shifted positions effortlessly, their efforts coordinated like a dance. “Besides,” he smirked, parrying a wild cut from another soldier, “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I left it at home with the good book I was reading!” André shouted. A soldier rushed him and he grabbed the soldier’s wrist, wrenching his arm back before kicking him into his comrades.

“So, you don’t think we should be out here rescuing our friend?” Chris asked, spiraling his blade to intercept a cut and slashing at a second swordsman before thrusting over his shoulder at the first.

“I never said we shouldn’t be here,” André said, smashing his guard into a soldier’s forehead before parrying another incoming strike. “Just don’t expect me to be happy about it!” He swiped wide, left and right, whirling his sword in a dangerous dance of steel. He plowed through the soldiers, knocking them this way and that, clearing a way for the tyrannosaur. “Alright, Chris, I’m holding off as many as I can. Find Razoul and work your magic.”

This is the opening scene of a Disney fan-fiction story I’m rewriting. I started writing it for a couple reasons:

1) Chris needed a home. I’ve been drawing this swashbuckling tyrannosaur and his human companion (yes, André is named after me—there aren’t enough characters with my name, and that needs to be fixed) for just about 20 years now, and figured he needed a proper story. But what kind? Well, as I looked back, I realized that he was always sort of inserting himself into whatever I was interested in or reading at the time—piracy, Disney movies, books, etc. He was always a fan-fic character. So he needed to be in a fanfiction story. And as I tend to prefer a Disney-esque/traditional Western cartoon style, I decided he needed to be a Disney character—just one who works off-screen.

2) I really want to write original stories. I have at least 3 or 4 solid concepts, but when I decided in college that I wanted to write, I figured out I SUCKED at dialogue. And pretty much everything else. I had some raw talent, but of course that’s never enough—and being a perfectionist, I wasn’t going to waste an original story as my first attempt at learning the craft of writing. So I started exploring blogs about writing fantasy and credible, published authors all said the same thing: they started by writing fan-fiction. The reason they gave was that it was motivating because you already love the characters, and the world building and character creation is done for you (you can learn those skills later), leaving you free to focus on more fundamental aspects of writing craft—things like dialogue, pacing, plotting, planning, description, active vs. passive voice, all that jazz. So I decided to follow their advice.

I said earlier I was rewriting it—well, I got a little more than halfway through and the story just ran out of gas. The characters, I realized, would never and could never do the things necessary to advance the plot without breaking character, getting themselves killed, or using a dues ex machina. There were too many dangling plot threads, too many unnecessary characters, and after five years of intermittent drafting (I was in college, then I’ve had a day job or been job hunting ever since—I’m busy) I had gotten to know my characters (or my interpretations of several preexisting Disney characters) well enough that I could see major inconsistencies across the 200+ pages I had written. So I decided to go back to the beginning and rework the plot, making it a lot more consistent and focusing on a tighter core of characters. This scene was not in the original draft, and I think it establishes my characters far better than what I’d written before (which was essentially an info-dump of exposition—classic mistake).

Artist Behind the Scenes

Illustrating the picture presented several difficulties—one, I absolutely loathe myself for constantly choosing ground like grass or—in this case—cobblestones, which require a lot of repetitive, regular shapes. But that’s what the picture required, so I decided to make the cobblestones a little scribbled and blurry, and made the background lines thicker and fuzzier too. The biggest challenge was drawing multiple opponents—each guardsman is a unique person and requires individual attention to meet my minimum visual quality standards, and I can’t get away with vaguely soldier-looking blobs (as I’ve done in other pictures) since they are an integral part of the action that is the main focus of the piece.

The solution was to remember the adage, “the essence of the picture is the frame.” By positioning Chris and André just right in the frame and filling up as much space as I could using them, I could get away with only drawing parts of most of the guardsmen to give the effect of an outnumbered, chaotic street duel. I ended up framing the two characters with a ring of enemies, with Razoul appearing in the back to round out the impression of being surrounded on all sides.

The scimitar sabres (“scimitar” is a European butchering of the Persian shamshir) were a compromise between the way the Agrabah guards’ weapons appear in the movie Aladdin (where they are comically short and fat and have a clipped point) and real weapons. No actual Middle Eastern sword, to my knowledge, ever had a clipped point, which was actually a common feature of European single-edged swords like falchions and messers (which probably were the real inspiration behind Western artwork’s depictions of Eastern sabres); few sabres were ever as fat as the cartoons make them out to be; and most Middle Eastern sabres have straight, not recurved quillons. Most real sabres were relatively narrow, light swords meant for slashing/draw-cutting from horseback, not percussive chopping, and instead of a clipped point Turkish sabres often had a flared, double-edged tip called a yelman. I was thus faced with an artistic dilemma: integrity to reality or integrity to the source I was emulating. These are supposed to be the same guards as appeared in the “One Jump Ahead of the Breadline” musical number in Aladdin, armed with the same weapons; yet the action is taking place in “real life,” off-camera. I ultimately decided on a compromise: the scimitars would retain the same shape and features as in the movie, but I edited the dimensions to look a little more like real swords instead of meat cleavers.

(Disclaimer: Chris and André belong to me—everything else belongs to Disney).

[writemarcus]

LaChanze and Jennifer Damiano Join Tonight's I'M STILL HERE Benefit; Online Auction and Additional Archival Footage Announced!

The Virtual Benefit for the Billy Rose Theatre Division airs tonight at 8pm ET and 8pm PT on Broadway On Demand.

by Stephi Wild

Jun. 23, 2021  

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts announced today that additional archival clips have been added for tonight's one-time-only event I'm Still Here: A Virtual Benefit for the Billy Rose Theatre Division, airing at 8pm ET and 8pm PT on Broadway On Demand. This footage is typically only available onsite at the Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, but will be available tonight as part of this special virtual benefit and celebration of the Billy Rose Theatre Division's 90th anniversary.

For tickets, visit StillHereAt90.com.

Notable additions to the list of archival excerpts viewers can expect to see during tonight's gala include: Caitlin Gann, Elizabeth Gillies, Ariana Grande (at age 15 making her Broadway debut) and Brynn Williams in 13; Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Death of a Salesman, Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime, Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie and excerpts of rare interviews with Liza Minnelli, Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, John Kander and Fred Ebb.

Additionally, the Library announced that a Charitybuzz online auction is set to go live at 8pm ET, offering unique artifacts and experiences to bid on with all proceeds supporting the Billy Rose Theatre Division's efforts to document, collect, and preserve theatre history.

Highlights from the auction include Neil Simon's writing desk and typewriter, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Library for the Performing Arts' Theatre Division's collections, opportunity to attend a taping of a production for inclusion in the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT); virtual meetings or coaching sessions with Producing Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater André Bishop, former President of The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization Ted Chapin, actress Christine Ebersole, Artistic Director of The Public Theater Oskar Eustis, actress Jessica Hecht, playwright David Henry Hwang, composer/lyricist Joe Iconis, actress Laura Linney, choreographer Katie Rose McLaughlin, CAA agent Olivier Sultan, and director/choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.

Bidding will continue through July 8 at charitybuzz.com/stillhereat90.

Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple) and Tony Award nominee Jennifer Damiano (Next to Normal) have also been added to the in-person viewing party at the Library for the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center for donors at certain levels. They'll join previously announced performers Pulitzer Prize winner Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), and GRAMMY and two-time Tony Award winner Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening). For details and ticket prices for this limited capacity in-person event, please contact tickets@stillhereat90.com.

An incredibly special aspect of I'm Still Here is that it will feature clips of Broadway productions from the Theatre Division's Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT). These archival recordings are typically only available to view onsite at the Library for the Performing Arts. In addition to the newly announced excerpts, clips shown will include Lin-Manuel Miranda and the original Broadway cast of In the Heights; Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop; Brian Stokes Mitchell in Ragtime; Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard; Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot in South Pacific; Craig Bierko and Rebecca Luker in The Music Man; Meryl Streep, Marcia Gay Harden and Larry Pine in The Seagull; Savion Glover, Jimmy Tate, Choclattjared and Raymond King in Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; Bette Midler in I'll Eat You Last; Christian Borle and Tim Curry in Spamalot; Philip Seymour Hoffman and Remy Auberjonois in Death of a Salesman, Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens, LaChanze and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes in The Color Purple, George Hearn in La Cage aux Folles, and Sutton Foster in Thoroughly Modern Millie. And rare excerpts of interviews with Liza Minnelli, Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince, John Kander and Fred Ebb.

I'm Still Here will also include interviews with Broadway legends and emerging creatives; and reconceived performances of musical theatre songs, including Stephanie J. Block performing "A Trip to the Library," André De Shields performing "I'm Still Here," original Company cast members from 1970-to-present performing "Another Hundred People," "Wheels of a Dream," "Love Will Find a Way," and more. The evening's honorees are Harold Prince and George C. Wolfe.

Featuring new performances and appearances by Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Major Attaway (Aladdin), Alexander Bello (Caroline, or Change), Malik Bilbrew, Susan Birkenhead (Jelly's Last Jam), Shay Bland, Stephanie J. Block (The Cher Show), Alex Brightman (Beetlejuice), Matthew Broderick (Plaza Suite), Jason Robert Brown (The Last 5 Years), Krystal Joy Brown (Hamilton), David Burtka ("A Series of Unfortunate Events"), Sammi Cannold (Endlings), Ayodele Casel (Chasing Magic), Kirsten Childs (Bella), Antonio Cipriano (Mean Girls), Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza), Max Clayton (Moulin Rouge!), Calvin L. Cooper (Mrs. Doubtfire), Trip Cullman (Choir Boy), Taeler Elyse Cyrus (Hello, Dolly!), Quentin Earl Darrington (Once on This Island), André De Shields (Hadestown), Frank DiLella (NY1), Derek Ege, Amina Faye, Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles), Leslie Donna Flesner (Tootsie), Chelsea P. Freeman, Savion Glover (Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk), Joel Grey (Cabaret), Ryan J. Haddad ("The Politician"), James Harkness (Ain't Too Proud), Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), Marcy Harriell (Company), Mark Harris ("Mike Nichols: A Life"), Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), Arica Jackson (Caroline, or Change), Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop), Cassondra James (Once on This Island), Marcus Paul James (Rent), Taylor Iman Jones (Hamilton), Maya Kazzaz, Tom Kirdahy (The Inheritance), Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice), Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party), Norman Lear (Good Times), Baayork Lee (A Chorus Line), L. Morgan Lee (A Strange Loop), Robert Lee (Takeaway), Sondra Lee (Hello, Dolly!), Telly Leung (Aladdin), Priscilla López (A Chorus Line), Ashley Loren (Moulin Rouge!), Allen René Louis ("Jimmy Kimmel Live!"), Brittney Mack (Six), Morgan Marcell (Hamilton), Aaron Marcellus ("American Idol"), Joan Marcus, Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening), Annie McGreevey (Company), Sarah Meahl (Kiss Me, Kate), Joanna Merlin (Fiddler on the Roof), Ruthie Ann Miles (Sunday in the Park with George), Bonnie Milligan (Head Over Heels), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Madeline Myers (Double Helix), Pamela Myers (Company), Leilani Patao (Garden Girl), Nova Payton (Dreamgirls), Joel Perez (Kiss My Aztec), Bernadette Peters (Into the Woods), Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam), Daisy Prince (The Last 5 Years), Jacoby Pruitt, Sam Quinn, Phylicia Rashad (A Raisin in the Sun), Jelani Remy (Ain't Too Proud), Chita Rivera (Kiss of the Spiderwoman), George Salazar (Be More Chill), Marilyn Saunders (Company), Marcus Scott (Fidelio), Rashidra Scott (Company), Rona Siddiqui (Tales of a Halfghan), Ahmad Simmons (West Side Story), Susan Stroman (The Producers), Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), Bobby Conte Thornton (Company), Sergio Trujillo (On Your Feet), Kei Tsuruharatani (Jagged Little Pill), Ben Vereen (Pippin), Annastasia Victory (Mean Girls), Jack Viertel, Christopher Vo (The Cher Show), Paula Vogel (Indecent), Nik Walker (Ain't Too Proud), Marisha Wallace (Dreamgirls), Shannon Fiona Weir, Christopher Wheeldon (MJ: The Musical), Helen Marla White (Ain't Misbehavin'), NaTasha Yvette Williams ("Orange is the New Black"), George C. Wolfe (Angels in America) and Kumiko Yoshii (Prince of Broadway).

[terriblysims]

Andrés Legacy💟

It's been two days since Valerie moved out, and Morgan was already missing her | Valerie went out to meet her at the Flea Market | She bought a My Sims Trophy | And watched a performance | When she got back to the dorms, Zeke was waiting to vent | Valerie calmed him down and they talked about games

[aion-rsa]

UK Christmas TV 2020: Your Guide to This Year’s Festive Specials

https://ift.tt/370S3Dq

If you’re the kind of person who tuts at pre-December Christmas trees and moans about supermarkets simultaneously stocking mince pies and Halloween goodies (don’t cross the streams!) then look away now, there’s nothing for you here.

If, however, you’re the sort of person who’s gasping for end-of-year cheer like it’s the last bottle of Evian in a hot, empty desert, then step this way. We’ve collected up all the festive TV specials airing in the UK over Christmas 2020, so you can start mentally circling the ones in your personal schedule.

It being early, there are still announcements to be made, so check back here for updates. Ditto for official air dates and times, which are thin on the ground until the channels lock in their schedules. We’ll pop back and add those in as they’re confirmed.

Starting with our top five picks, here’s a list of everything on the way…

TOP FIVE PICKS

1. Doctor Who: Revolution of the Daleks

Companions Yaz, Graham and Ryan stumble upon a Dalek threat on Earth while the Doctor’s far away and locked up in space prison. How do you fight the Daleks without the Doctor? With the help of an old friend… Festive special ‘Revolution of the Daleks’ is written by Chris Chibnall and directed by ‘Spyfall Part 2’ director Lee Haven Jones.

Air date: TBC

2. Ghosts: Christmas Special

The Ghosts Christmas special is so good, there should be a new one every year. It’s Christmas in Button House and Mike is determined to give his visiting family the perfect Christmas, if they’ll let him. And if his other family – the houseful of historical ghosts only wife Alison can see and hear – behave. 1990s MP Julian is the Ebenezer Scrooge in need of a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas in this terrific family comedy.

Air date: TBC

3. Taskmaster: Christmas Special

We don’t yet know the identities of the five contestants competing in the very first Taskmaster festive special, but we know that they are all brand new to the 10-series comedy, and have been described as “experts in their respective fields”… Fingers crossed for Christmas-themed tasks.

Air date: TBC

4. His Dark Materials Season 2 Finale: Æsahættr

Technically, there’s nothing festive about His Dark Materials (unless the BBC/HBO adaptation takes a serious diversion from Philip Pullman’s books and throws in a few elves) but there’s something very childhood-bedtime and therefore quite Christmassy about this beautiful series. It ended strong in season one, and keeps getting better in season two. This finale is due to bring The Subtle Knife to a close, making way for the final part of the trilogy in the as-yet-unconfirmed (but come on, it’s happening) third season.

Air date: Sunday 20th December, 8.10pm, BBC One

5. Roald & Beatrix, the Tail of the Curious Mouse

From the producers of Sherlock and Dracula, this festive family comedy-drama promises to be something quite special. It reimagines the real-life meeting of two of the UK’s biggest names in children’s literature: Beatrix Potter (played by Dawn French) and Roald Dahl, back when Potter was a recluse and Dahl was a child. Expect puppetry, animation, a host of guest stars and voices, and lots of snow, from Inside No. 9 director David Kerr.

Air date: TBC

COMEDY

Motherland Christmas Special

Top BBC Two parenting sitcom Motherhood returns for a festive special ahead of its third series coming next year. You are cordially invited to Amanda’s annual seasonal soiree… Anna Maxwell-Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch and Paul Ready star.

Air date: TBC

Upstart Crow: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: a Lockdown Christmas 1603

The stage version of Shakespeare sitcom Upstart Crow fell foul of Covid-19 earlier this year, but that hasn’t stopped the team putting together this festive lockdown two-hander special, set in London during the plague, and starring David Mitchell and Gemma Whelan as Shakespeare and Kate.  

Air date: TBC

Not Going Out Christmas Special

Lee Mack’s long-running BBC One sitcom is back for another Christmas instalment, filmed under Covid-safe conditions this August. Expect a dedication to dearly departed cast member Bobby Ball.

Air date: TBC

Pandemonium

Katherine Parkinson and Alison Steadman star in this one-off BBC comedy about a family forced to cancel their dream holiday to California, who end up in Margate over the Christmas season.

Air date: TBC

Vicar of Dibley in Lockdown

Dawn French and James Fleet reprise the characters of Geraldine and Hugo in three 10-minute lockdown additions to The Vicar of Dibley canon, airing on BBC One after repeats of the original series (and then repeated later in one half-hour clump).

Air date: starts 7th December, BBC One.

Read more

Movies

The Best Alternative Christmas movies

By Mark Harrison

Movies

Reliving the joys of an 80s TV Christmas

By Jenny Morrill

King Gary Christmas Special

Tom Davis returns as Gary King, builder, father, B-B-Q haver, and lover of Terri (the brilliantly funny Laura Checkley) in the first ever King Gary Christmas special. Gary obsesses over making the Crescent’s Christmas lights shine brighter than any others, while Terri tackles their son losing the festive spirit, and Gary’s parents deal with some house guests from hell.

Air date: TBC

Birds of a Feather Christmas Special

Filmed under special Covid-19 regulations, this extended ITV comedy special sees Tracey and Dorien living together in lockdown, while Sharon is stuck on a cruise ship. Les Dennis guest stars.

Air date: TBC

Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas Specials

Two new lockdown-themed instalments from Brendan O’Carroll’s comedy creation.

Air date: TBC

The Goes Wrong Show

This BBC comedy imported from the stage is fresh from its first full series and guarantees family fun. A nativity play from enthusiastic amateurs the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society? What could possibly go wrong?  

Air date: TBC

DRAMA

The Serpent

Jenna Coleman stars alongside Tahar Rahim in this eight-part globetrotting BBC-Netflix drama inspired by the real-life capture of murder suspects Charles Sobhraj and Marie-Andrée Leclerc.

Air date: TBC

The Pembrokeshire Murders

Luke Evans stars in this three-part ITV true crime drama about the search for Welsh serial killer John Cooper.

Air date: TBC

Call the Midwife Christmas Special

The circus is coming to town in the Call the Midwife Christmas special, and its ringmaster will be played by former Doctor, Peter Davison. Set in 1965, it promises to be the usual mix of heart-warming goodness and flinty eyed comment on the absolute golden necessity of the NHS.

Air date: 25th December, 7pm, BBC One

Black Narcissus

Gemma Arterton and Diana Rigg star in a new BBC three-part adaptation of Rumer Godden’s strange, atmospheric novel – famously adapted into a film in 1947 – about a group of nuns in a remote Himalayan outpost.

Air date: TBC

Bridgerton

Julia Quinn’s hit book series set in Regency-era London get the glossy Shondaland treatment in this Netflix series, which can be unwrapped on Christmas Day.

Air date: 25th December

CHILDREN’S

Worzel Gummidge: Saucy Nancy

Mackenzie Crook’s reimagined version of the children’s classic scarecrow stories continues with a new one-hour film, featuring Shirley Henderson as the titular Saucy Nancy (played by Barbara Windsor in the Jon Pertwee version), and Vanessa Redgrave.

Air date: TBC

Zog and the Flying Doctors

Continuing from last year’s utterly charming Zog, this is the fairy tale-bending story of a dragon, a princess and a knight, who all decide to choose a different path in life than the one set out for them. It’s the seventh Julia Donaldon/Axel Scheffler/BBC Christmas adaptation, and promises to be another funny, adorable half hour of TV.

Air date: 25th December, 4.55pm, BBC One

Jack and the Beanstalk: After Ever After

After last year’s Cinderella sequel from David Walliams and Sky One comes the ‘what happened next’ for panto classic Jack and the Beanstalk. Walliams and Sheridan Smith star in this comedy special. There’s a Hansel & Gretel: After Ever After next in the pipeline.

Air date: TBC

Quentin Blake’s Clown

Here’s another lovely half-hour of quiet time with the kids from Channel 4, from the same people who made previous years’ animations of children’s classics The Tiger Who Came To Tea and We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. It’s the story of a discarded clown toy who comes to life and goes on an adventure to find a new home for him and his toy pals. Helena Bonham Carter narrates.

Air date: TBC

Christmas in Storyland

The CBeebies gang is back for another Christmas story featuring a cast of favourites, singing, dancing and interactive fun for little ones.

Air date: 12th December, CBeebies, BBC iPlayer

ENTERTAINMENT

Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas Special

Bob takes Paul up to his old stomping ground of Middlesborough to fish for grayling in the River Esk, while the pair hold a Christmas office party for two, and meet someone who works with people fighting loneliness at Christmas.

Air date: TBC

The Great Christmas Bake-Off

It’s cakes. At Christmas. Plus Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas larking about on the theme of cakes. Two brand new episodes will each feature the return of four bakers from previous series.

Air date: TBC

The Great Christmas Sewing Bee

The judges will be setting festive sewing challenges to competitors vying for the Christmas crown.

Air date: TBC

The Repair Shop at Christmas

Jay Blades and co. will be restoring cherished Christmas-themed items that have seen better days in this heart-warming word-of-mouth BBC hit.

Air date: TBC

Billy Connolly: It’s Been a Pleasure

To mark Billy Connolly’s retirement from stand-up comedy, ITV has put together a send-off featuring new filming with the man himself in his Florida home, and contributions from a host of stars.

Air date: TBC

The Story of SM:TV Live

A bit of cosy nostalgia here, as ITV stalwarts Ant, Dec and Cat Deeley revisit their time presenting children’s Saturday morning variety show SMTV: Live. Come for Wonky Donkey, stay for Friends spoof Chums.

Air date: TBC

Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime

Following the hit BBC Two series revisiting Michael Palin’s travel series, he’s back for a 90-minute festive special revisiting his trip through the Himalayas, with contributions from guest stars.

Air date: TBC

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As well as: Top of the Pops New Year and Christmas Specials. A Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Countdown. A Christmas Would I Lie To You? Festive editions of cookery shows from Jamie Oliver, MasterChef and Mary Berry, festive game shows from The Wall, The Wheel, and a new version of Blankety Blank hosted by Bradley Walsh.  

The post UK Christmas TV 2020: Your Guide to This Year’s Festive Specials appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2UTYZwr

[michellescanadianlitblog]

IR #4

“The Handmaid's Tale” by Margaret Atwood: “Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now” (Goodreads)

“The Outlander” by Gil Adamson: “In 1903 Mary Boulton flees alone across the West, one heart-pounding step ahead of the law. At nineteen, she has just become a widow;and her husband's killer. As bloodhounds track her frantic race toward the mountains, she is tormented by mad visions and by the knowledge that her two ruthless brothers-in-law are in pursuit, determined to avenge their younger brother's death. Responding to little more than the primitive instinct for survival at any cost, she retreats ever deeper into the wilderness;and into the wilds of her own mind.” (Amazon)

“Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel: “Set in the days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.” (Goodreads)

“The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline: “Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden—but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.” (Amazon)

“The Heart Goes Last” by Margaret Atwood: “Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around - and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in... for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their "civilian" homes. At first, this doesn't seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one's head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan's life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.” (Goodreads)

“Fifteen Dogs” by André Alexis: “And so it begins: a bet between the gods Hermes and Apollo leads them to grant human consciousness and language to a group of dogs overnighting at a Toronto vet­erinary clinic. Suddenly capable of more complex thought, the pack is torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into their newly unfamiliar world, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks.” (Goodreads)

“No Great Mischief” by Alistair MacLeod : “Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.” (Amazon)

“Days” by André Alexis: “Botanist Alfred Homer, ever hopeful and constantly surprised, is invited on a road trip by his parents’ friend, Professor Morgan Bruno, who wants company as he tries to unearth the story of the mysterious poet John Skennen. But this is no ordinary road trip. Alfred and the Professor encounter towns where Black residents speak only in sign language and towns that hold Indigenous Parades; it is a land of house burnings, werewolves, and witches.” (Amazon)

“The Saturday Night Ghost Club” by Craig Davidson: “Growing up in 1980s Niagara Falls--a seedy but magical, slightly haunted place--Jake Baker spends most of his time with his uncle Calvin, a kind but eccentric enthusiast of occult artifacts and conspiracy theories. The summer Jake turns twelve, he befriends a pair of siblings new to town, and so Calvin decides to initiate them all into the "Saturday Night Ghost Club." But as the summer goes on, what begins as a seemingly lighthearted project may ultimately uncover more than any of its members had imagined.” (Goodreads)

“The Killing Circle” by Andrew Pyper: “Patrick Rush is a single father, unhappy with his career, devoted to his young son but haunted by the loss of his wife, when he joins a local writing group. In the candlelit studio where the circle meets, he finds one writer's work far more powerful than the others--a young woman named Angela, who writes about a girl stalked by a killer named the Sandman. But Angela's stories may be more autobiography than tall tale: soon the members of the group are being hunted by a shadowy figure resembling the Sandman, and the line between fiction and real life beings to dissolve. When his own son is taken, Patrick is forced to chase down the Sandman for himself and to discover the ending to his own terrifying story.” (Amazon)

[whileiamdying]

This performance was recorded on March 2, 2020. We will continue releasing Tiny Desk videos of shows that had already been taped. In light of current events, NPR is postponing new live tapings of Tiny Desk Concerts. In the meantime, check out Tiny Desk (home) concerts! They’re recorded by the artists in their home. It’s the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space. June 1, 2020 | Stephen Thompson -- You can probably guess that we recorded the original Broadway cast of Hadestown before the coronavirus pandemic made live theater (live anything) an untenable risk. The reminders are everywhere — in the way 16 performers bunch up behind the desk, singing formidably in close proximity as a large crowd gathers just off camera — that this took place in the Before-Times. To be specific, on March 2. We'd actually been trying to put this show together since the spring of 2019, when Hadestown was a freshly Tony-nominated hit musical. We hit several delays along the way due to scheduling issues, only to end up rushing in an attempt to record while playwright Anaïs Mitchell — who wrote both the musical and the 2010 folk opera on which it's based — was eight months pregnant. Thankfully, we captured something truly glorious — a five-song distillation of a robust and impeccably staged Broadway production. A raucous full-cast tone-setter, "Way Down Hadestown" lets Hermes (André De Shields, in a role that won him a Tony) and Persephone (Kimberly Marable, filling in for Amber Gray) set the scene before a medley of "Come Home With Me" and "Wedding Song" finds Orpheus (Reeve Carney) and Eurydice (Eva Noblezada) meeting and falling in love. "When the Chips Are Down" showcases the three Fates — spirits who often drive the characters' motivations — as played by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer and Kay Trinidad. And in "Flowers," Eurydice looks back with regret and resignation on her decision to leave Orpheus for the promise of Hadestown. Finally, the set concludes with "Why We Build the Wall," which quickly became Hadestown's most talked-about number. (Mitchell wrote it a full decade before the 2016 election, but you'd never know it.) Though the song includes the full cast, it's also a show-stopping showcase for the sonorous thunder of Patrick Page, who performs with a gravity befitting the king of the underworld. SET LIST "Way Down Hadestown" "Come Home With Me/Wedding Song" "When The Chips Are Down" "Flowers" "Why We Build The Wall" MUSICIANS André De Shields: Hermes; Kimberly Marable: Persephone; Jewelle Blackman: Fate, accordion; Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer: Fate, violin; Kay Trinidad: Fate, percussion; Reeve Carney: Orpheus; Eva Noblezada: Eurydice; Patrick Page: Hades; Anaïs Mitchell: composer, vocals, guitar; Liam Robinson: piano, accordion; Brian Drye: trombone, glockenspiel; Megan Gould: violin; Ilusha Tsinadze: guitar; Ben Perowsky: drums; Malcolm Parson: cello; Chris Tordini: bass CREDITS Producers: Stephen Thompson, Josh Rogosin, Morgan Noelle Smith, Kara Frame; Creative director: Bob Boilen; Audio engineers: Josh Rogosin, J. Czys; Videographers: Kara Frame, Morgan Noelle Smith, Melany Rochester, CJ Riculan, Jack Corbett, Shanti Hands; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Production Assistant: Shanti Hands; Executive producer: Lauren Onkey; VP, programming: Anya Grundmann; Photo: NPR

[buckbarne]

In honor of my last LGBT MOVIE POST passing 4,000 notes (!!) here are some more. (These are all newer movies I’ve either seen since my last post or movies I forgot to add to it.)

Top picks (in alphabetical order)

4th Man Out (2015) After celebrating his 24th birthday, a mechanic decides to tell his three buddies that he is gay. This is a feel-good buddy movie and includes the line “I’m gay. And I’m shy” which is really relatable.

As You Are (2016) In the early 1990s, the relationships between three teenagers are traced through their disparate memories during a police investigation. Although this movie was heartfelt, ultimately it was a bit disappointing in the end as I had high expectations for it.

Call Me by Your Name (2017) Based on André Aciman’s 2007 coming-of-age novel by the same name, comes this highly praised adaptation. It’s stirred some controversy for featuring a 17-year-old and 24-year-old falling in love, but trust me - I’ve read both the book and seen the film and it’s an amazing story of a summer of love in 1980s Italy and heartbreak.

Center of My Word (Die Mitte der Welt, 2016) After a summer spent trying to dodge family conflicts, a young man returns to school and begins to question his feelings toward Nicholas, a new classmate. This movie really surprised me. It was the perfect family drama with interesting and well-rounded characters.

Margarita, with a Straw (2014) This is a really cute story about an Indian woman with cerebral palsy who falls in love with a blind girl of Pakistani Bangladeshi descent. Cons include main character being played by an able-bodied woman. Pros include it being directed, written & produced by an Indian woman.

Mysterious Skin (2004) One youth becomes obsessed with UFOs, while another becomes a gay hustler in the years following a childhood trauma. I watched this movie waaaay back when I was really into Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It’s a tough watch due to the themes in the film, but a really good movie.

Tom of Finland (2017) This was included in my last post, but I added it last minute before I had the chance to see it. I’m a gay woman from Finland, and the history of lgbt people here has been largely ignored throughout the years. So when this movie was created as a part of our 100 years of independence celebration year I was so happy and it is an amazing movie.

Women Who Kill (2016) Morgan, the co-host of a true crime podcast, thinks her ex-girlfriend's new love interest is a murderer. This movie was... alright. Watchable but didn’t really meet my expectations.

Rest of the movies with short commentary under the cut & some short film recommendations as well!

Closet Monster (this is a dark movie that deals with trauma so tw)

Everything Is Free (this movie originally posted on youtube by creator Brian Jordan Alvarez. Unfortunately, it’s been deleted since, but if it ever emerges somewhere else I highly recommend watching it)

Esteros (sweet)

Juste la fin du monde (I love xavier dolan but this movie was so chaotic I felt like I was going to pass out)

King Cobra (interesting)

Kissing Jessica Stein (this is one of the first lesbian movies I watched as a tween... I don’t remember a lot of it but I’ve been gay since)

Loev (tw needed. It started out good but ended up... just bad)

Spa Night (p good, Asian rep nice)

The Pass (this one was clearly adapted from a play, and I feel like it didn’t really work as a movie)

The Babadook (ok sorry but it is a really good movie and I, as a person who doesn’t like horror, enjoyed it a lot when I just laughed at the scary stuff and imagined the gay icon Babadook doing it all for the drama)

The Celluloid Closet (doc. really interesting!)

Here are some recommendations by people who commented on my last post, I haven’t seen them myself so I can’t vouch for them but they’re probably enjoyable anyway:

10 year plan (ok this one I actually have seen like the first 20 mins of but found it boring lmao)

boys don’t cry

below her mouth

tru love

cloudburst

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar

querelle

law of desire

were the world mine

in & out

north sea texas (this one I also started watching but was too uncomfortable to finish, don’t remember why)

mosquita y mari

Tangerine

Kiss Me (also started this but never finished it)

SHORT FILMS (with links!)

Sam (youtube)

A Song For Your Mixtape (vimeo)

In a Heartbeat (youtube)

Wonderkid (website)

Love & other matters (doc, vimeo)

Curmudgeons (vimeo)

In the Hollow (vimeo)

These C*cksucking Tears (vimeo)

Trevor (youtube)

Kiss me softly (vimeo)

Aban + Korshid (vimeo)

If you have any questions or comments send them my way! I’m more than happy to help.

[documentaryoncinema]

Documentales, 22

'Tres horas que estremecieron al mundo: Observaciones sobre Intolerancia' ('Intolerance. Love's struggle throughout the ages', D.W. Griffith, 1916), VOSE.

'Cineastas de nuestro tiempo: Max Ophüls - Max Ophüls ou la Ronde' ('Cinéastes, de notre temps'), Janine Bazin, André Labarthe (Michel Mitrani), 1965, VOSE.

'Aventura en Cinerama' ('Cinerama Adventure'), David Strohmaier, 2002, VOSE.

'Émile Cohl. Image par a Image', Michel Patenaude, François Porcile, 1978, VOF.

‘Everything is a remix', VOSE.

Creado en su totalidad por Kirby Ferguson, 'Everything is a Remix’ explora muchos de los elementos de la cultura pop que tanto gustan y explica sus orígenes mirando la cultura del plagio y revelando nuevas formas de creación.

Dividido en cuatro partes, va de la música al cine y del cine a la tecnología. Exponiendo cómo personajes que creíamos únicos y originales, desde Disney hasta Led Zeppelin, pasando por Tarantino, George Lucas y Steve Jobs, no lo son tanto.

'Part 1: The song remains in the same’. 'Part 2: Remix Inc’. 'Part 3: The elements of creativity’. 'Part 4: Kill Bill’.

'Los gangsters de la Warner', VOSE.

P❤M Wonderful Presents:  ‘La historia más grande jamás vendida’ (‘The greatest movie ever sold’), Morgan Spurlock, 2011, VOSE.

Trata entorno al product placement, o publicidad encubierta, en las películas actuales así como en sus campañas de marketing.

'Meet John Doe: Capra se pone serio', VE.

'Jean Durand', SF.

'Der müde tod: La restauración de un clásico', VOSE.

[ericfruits]

Supplying clean power is easier than storing it

IT SOUNDS SIMPLE: lift heavy blocks with a crane, then capture the power generated from dropping them. This is not an experiment designed by a ten-year-old, but the premise of Energy Vault, which has raised $110m from SoftBank, a big Japanese tech investor. The idea has competition. A cluster of billionaires including Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Ray Dalio and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son are backing other schemes to capture power. A firm incubated at Alphabet, Google’s parent company, wants to store electricity in molten salt. Such plans hint at one of the power business’s hardest tasks. Generating clean power is now relatively straightforward. Storing it is far trickier.

Solar and wind last year produced 7% of the world’s electricity. By 2040, that share could grow by over five times, according to the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental forecaster. The trouble is, a lull in the wind leaves a turbine listless. Clouds have a habit of blocking the sun. That means that solar and wind cannot, on their own, replace coal and gas plants, which produce continual power reliably.

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One answer is to store power in batteries, which promise to gather clean electricity when the sun and wind produce more than is required and dispatch it later, as it is needed. In 2018 some 3.5 gigawatts of storage was installed, about twice the amount in 2017, according to BloombergNEF, an energy data firm. Total investment in storage this year may reach $5.3bn, it estimates. As this grows it could drive an extraordinary expansion (see chart). However at present only about 1% of renewable energy is complemented by storage, reckons Morgan Stanley, a bank. There are still plenty of hurdles to clear.

The most common method of storage so far has been to pump water into an elevated reservoir at times of plenty and release it when electricity is needed. This type of hydropower is not the answer to providing lots more storage. Building a new reservoir requires unusual topography and it can wreak environmental havoc.

Batteries offer an alternative and availability should improve as electric cars become ever more popular. “The whole production supply chain for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles is gearing up,” says Andrés Gluski of AES, an electricity company, “so we’re going to piggyback on that.” As greater demand led to greater manufacturing scale, the cost of batteries dropped by 85% from 2010 to 2018, according to BloombergNEF. That makes batteries cheap enough not only to propel mass-market electric cars but for use in the power system, too.

And as electric cars become more widespread their batteries could serve as a source of mobile storage, feeding power back into the grid, if required, when the vehicles are parked and plugged in. With the right infrastructure in place, fleets of electric cars could substitute for new dedicated storage capacity.

Batteries do a variety of things. A firm called Sunrun sells residential solar panels paired with batteries, a particularly appealing proposition for Californian homeowners desperate for an alternative to fire-induced blackouts. Within the broader grid, batteries can act as a shock absorber to deal with variations in supply from one minute to the next. Other uses include shifting electricity supply from the day, when solar panels often produce a surfeit of power, to the evening, when demand rises.

The growth of storage is becoming a headache for old-fashioned power generators that rely on gas or coal. NextEra Energy Resources, which builds clean-power installations, is increasingly pairing large solar farms with batteries. AES, which has battery-storage facilities in 21 countries and territories, runs a scheme in Hawaii that combines solar with storage to meet peaks in demand. The Rocky Mountain Institute, a clean-energy research group, warns that solar and battery projects, combined with measures such as smarter appliances to control demand, may turn gas-powered plants into stranded assets.

Nevertheless, the battery industry faces several barriers to broader deployment. To start with, if a battery overheats it can catch fire, producing gases that might explode. In the past year installations in South Korea have caught fire. A fire and explosion in April damaged a storage site in Arizona run by Fluence, a joint venture between AES and Siemens, a German engineering giant. The causes are still under investigation. As the industry matures, safety measures are likely to become more rigorous.

In the meantime, the industry will have to cope with a patchwork of other rules and regulations. South Korea has offered incentives for storage, in part to create a market for its domestic battery-makers, which are among the world’s leaders. Some states in America, such as New York and New Jersey, have mandated storage to help reduce emissions. In others, America’s federal electricity regulator is trying to open markets to storage, but the details of how that will work in practice are unclear. In Britain, batteries are deemed “generation assets”, which exposes storage developers to extra fees and costs, says Michael Folsom of Watson Farley & Williams, a law firm.

Even if electricity regulations were smoothed, lithium-ion batteries would eventually reach their limits. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) is a fund backed by Messrs Gates, Ma, Dalio and other billionaires to invest in transformational technologies. The cost of lithium-ion batteries is falling quickly, but to store power for days let alone weeks “lithium-ion is never going to get cheap enough”, says Eric Toone, BEV’s head of science.

Alternatives include flow batteries, that use electrolytes in tanks of chemical solution, as well as mechanical means such as Energy Vault’s falling blocks. Hydrogen can also be made using clean power and turned back into electricity in gas-fired power plants or fuel cells. In the future liquefied gases might provide a solution (see article). Unlike solar panels, which have become standardised, different batteries are likely to serve different purposes on a grid. “All batteries are like humans, equally flawed in some specific way,” says Mateo Jaramillo, who led storage development at Tesla, an electric carmaker.

Mr Jaramillo now leads Form Energy, a firm that is developing an electrochemical alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Investors include BEV and Eni, an large Italian oil and gas firm. Mr Jaramillo declines to predict when his work will be commercialised. But the goal is clear. “If you can develop a long-term storage solution,” he says, “that’s how you retire coal and that’s how you retire natural gas.”■

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "To have and to hold"

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