#mel et al

[preggomancer]

actually criminal how long it's been since i drew them

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 37

When Mel was 18 months old, she accidentally caused her older sister Anabel to fall down the stairs, which ended up killing her. Mel repressed the memories of her sister's death, and her parents decided to keep Anabel a secret from her. (Novel: Spiral Scratch)

When Leela eventually died, she was reborn as a girl named Emily. (Audio: The Child)

The Seventh Doctor visited Ace when she was a baby to apologize for many of the manipulations he would one day put her through (and that he would continue to put her through) because he thought it was easier talking to a baby than a teenager. He stole a baby picture of Ace and replaced it with a playing card while he was there. (Short story: Ace of Hearts)

Oliver Harper joined the First Doctor and Steven on the TARDIS because he was running from the police, who were chasing him because he had been outed as homosexual. (Audio: The Perpetual Bond)

Martha Jones met the Thirteenth Doctor while she and the Tenth Doctor were stranded in the 1960s after being attacked by the Weeping Angels. (Comic: A Little Help from My Friends)

The Fifth Doctor can go between referring to the TARDIS as "old girl" and as "flying deathtrap" incredibly quickly. (Audio: Zaltys)

Dodo Chaplet's funeral was attended by only two people: James Stevens and the Doctor. Her entire life after leaving the TARDIS was a shitshow and became dark enough that I will not elaborate here. Feel free to do some digging, but it is not for the faint of heart. (Novel: Who Killed Kennedy)

However, there are other accounts of Dodo's post-TARDIS days that do not end as terribly for her!!!! :D

The Doctor's frequent trips in a damaged TARDIS during the 1970s and 80s disrupted Earth's timeline to such a great extent that the two decades folded in on each other, making 20 years worth of events happen in 10. This is how the UNIT Dating Controversy was addressed. (Short story: The Enfolded Time)

The Brigadier once bullied the Third Doctor into getting his metabolism checked over because he didn't believe the Doctor would be safe in Bessie or the Whomobile. While this was all happening, Sarah Jane helped foil a Dalek plot. (Audio: Glorious Goodwood)

Adric does not speak English. He hears Alzarian through the TARDIS translation circuits. (Audio: Zaltys)

Ace has a younger brother named Liam but didn't remember he existed for a long while because their father took him when their parents separated. (Audio: The Rapture)

While on a school trip to the Natural History Museum, Ryan and Yaz helped the Second Doctor fight Myriapods, which are insect like in nature. (Short story: The Myriapod Mutiny)

For a while, the Tenth Doctor traveled with Heather McCrimmon, descendant of Jamie McCrimmon. (Comic: The Chromosomal Connection, et al...she's in a lot of comics)

Rory Williams became Caesar of Rome as an Auton after the death of the Empress Augusta. (Audio: The Unwilling Assassin)

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[billpottsismygf]

Empire of Death

That was a very enjoyable 55 minutes, but I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed. So much happened and I enjoyed a lot of it, so it's going to take a while for me to fully untangle all my thoughts, but my current feelings are mixed. First, for things I liked!

I loved Gabriel Woolf's delivery; it's just as good now as it was 44 years ago, with so much menace but also a great subtlety to it. I also actually quite liked Sutekh's redesign this time. It feels like a nicely scaled up version of his bat face mask at the end of The Pyramids of Mars. I also like a lot of the ideas at play here. I like the Doctor realising he has literally trailed destruction in his wake, especially after him saying he brings disaster last episode. I like the Doctor killing Sutekh and saying that Sutekh has won because of that - coward or killer returns, and this time he was forced to choose killer. It also places the Fourth Doctor's lack of remorse for killing Sutekh originally into an interesting contrast. I'm also generally fine with the Doctor taking Sutekh back through the vortex and bringing death to death. I'm not entirely sold on why that works, but it's fine in the context of the episode.

However, there were issues at play. The level of destruction wants to make this feel extremely important and epic, and it did remind me of Flux at times but with more emotional reaction from the Doctor and companions, but, much like Flux, it did more to undermine itself than anything. For instance, Kate's death really shook me (and everyone else in the room, but I was focused on Kate). I fully expected some people to not make it out of this episode alive, so it seemed very possible that she might actually be dead. However, as soon as the death dust spread out a certain amount, I knew it would have to be undone and that Kate et al. would be absolutely fine. Now, I love an 'everybody lives', but it just fails to have any stakes at all when it's so obvious that that will be the outcome.

Mel's death was similarly shocking, though I was a bit more prepared for it. Again, I thought there was a real possibility she might really be dead because she wasn't dissolved like the others but turned into an agent of Sutekh. However, I didn't fully trust it because I could already tell there were going to be a lot of death retcons, and indeed her death seemed to be undone just as easily as everyone else's. Susan Triad too, of course, who seemed entirely unfazed by being a transplanetary and transtemporal being with thousands of different existences.

What actually is Susan's initial origin? We know why she was everywhere and why she's called Susan, but not who she actually was originally or why Sutekh created/used her specifically. Continuing with the agents of Sutekh, what about Harriet? Her name is Harbinger, so is she like that little boy from The Devil's Chord? Or is she like Susan or Mel and is still just a person underneath it all? I think she got killed for real by the TARDIS blast when the Doctor whistles open what I assume is the heart of the TARDIS (though that's never actually said), but this is not focused on at all. Does she not matter? She may be the only person to actually die in this story and I had to go and check the episode again just now to make sure she really had. It all seems rather underexplained and underwhelming - and unfair! Justice for Harriet!

Another underwhelming aspect was Ruby's mother. Now, don't get me wrong, I adored the Doctor's speech about Ruby's mother being ordinary and being important because they think she is, like gods but also like people. However, it's extremely underwhelming after the question of who she is has been hyped up so much. More problematically, I just do not buy that Sutekh cares so much about her. I'll see what I think on rewatch, but right now I'm just left wondering what all this was about. Sutekh's desperation, the extremely dramatic pointing, the way she flickered and moved about in the time window, the way the memory changed, the goddamn snow! What does it all mean? I really liked Ruby reuniting with her, but there's a disconnect between the set up and the pay off.

Mrs Flood is a remaining mystery, but at least she's meant to be. Last week gave the impression that she was malicious, but in her interactions with Cherry this episode she doesn't seem so at all, and her remark about the cup of tea not happening now seems to be just because she knows Sutekh will kill them both. She's even got her arms around Cherry and calls the Doctor 'that clever boy'. We're back to her speaking directly to the audience, and this time as an all-knowing narrator figure. It feels very book at bedtime on Cbeebies, especially with the 'night night', which was in fact name-dropped in The Legend of Ruby Sunday. It also feeds into the unreality/TV theory a lot of people are running with. Mrs Flood's final moments also felt rather Mary Poppins, with the umbrella and the suitcase. The latter perhaps suggests she's no longer going to be Ruby's neighbour, maybe because Ruby is no longer actively travelling with the Doctor (for now).

Speaking of Ruby, this was far more of a farewell than I expected! We know she's going to appear next series, but I wonder how much. Will she jump back in as a main companion pretty quickly? Will she be in a handful of episodes series 4 Martha style? Will she only appear once? I can't remember if much has been spotted of series 2 filming, so I guess we'll find out. One possibility is that she's dragged back into the storyline due to proximity to Mrs Flood, but as I mentioned above, I suspect Mrs Flood is moving out. Does Cherry remember the strange things she said, I wonder?

I don't know where else to put this, but we also got more 73 Yards stuff. My favourite of those was the confirmation that the Doctor stopped Roger ap Gwilliam in the original (and current) timeline, because it solves one of my lingering problems with the episode. Even though I like the episode enough to ignore its issues, I'm still glad to get that resolved. It just makes it a lot neater. It's interesting that the focus this time was on his DNA testing rather than the nukes. I don't mind that, but I think it would have made the reveal of how they can find Ruby's mother more satisfying if that had been seeded into 73 Yards itself. I just checked the transcript, though, and it doesn't look like it was mentioned at all. We also get the TARDIS field being 73 Yards and the Doctor saying that you can see things at 73 Yards, but there's no further exploration of that. I'd be happy to just leave it at that, but that combined with the CCTV footage of the church being 73 yards has me wondering if more will come of it.

So, that's all I have to say for now. It's a somewhat underwhelming finale after all the hype, but then this is also the first RTD finale I've ever experienced fresh as an adult. I knew going in to this era that I probably wouldn't be quite as forgiving of its flaws as 9-13 year-old me was the first time round. Still, I've overall really been enjoying this new era. I wish we'd had more episodes this series, but that can't be helped. At least there won't be such long gaps between series as there have been!

I don't like hating on the Chibnall era too much, especially given all the unwarranted flack it got, but Flux broke me somewhat and even before that there was something a little meh about it for me, so this has been re-invigorating. It should be clear from this review that I don't think RTD is perfect, but I also can't deny the fact that I'm excited about the show again in a way that I haven't been for years and it's been so wonderful and exciting. This finale was messy and ridiculous in a number of ways, but that's kind of the nature of the show and I'm still very excited for what comes next.

Misc:

I really liked the idea of memory dying because the things that created those memories have died.

Likewise, I love that the memory TARDIS was indeed explained and relevant.

Morris literally having guns in his mobility scooter? I know Shirley did in her wheelchair, but who let the thirteen year-old have deadly weapons? And he's shooting them behind other UNIT officers who are higher up than he is. He might be more dangerous than Sutekh.

Kate got to have a little hand hold with Ibrahim, which sure okay. I don't really care about them apparently having a thing and it feels a little odd to just shove it in there, but I suppose it's kind of sweet.

Still no Susan (Foreman), though I enjoyed seeing her in old footage. In fact, I liked all the old footage used. I thought it was funny that the Doctor didn't ever explicitly say that the man with the curly hair was in fact him.

I loved the Doctor calling Sutekh Sutes at one point. That was so extremely Fifteenth Doctor.

Sutekh's been attached to the TARDIS since the 1980s, so like throughout the Time War and everything? When House took it over? That's such an insane lore bomb to drop.

Also, as I keep bringing up, what about Fourteen's TARDIS? Did Sutekh just stick to Fifteen's TARDIS at the diverging point? Is part of him still attached to Fourteen's?

[ecoustsaintmein]

Quick question because I've lost track of the stage awards season nominations: how likely is it for Dónal/Mel la Barrie et al to be nominated for Olivier Awards???

[theinternetisaweboflies]

Jägermeister

Chapter Nine: Monsters of Our Own

Since their shared drift, Newt had been averting his mental gaze from Hermann for fear he would return it. 

The mortifying ordeal of the drift. 

Now he lasered his full focus on the Hermann in his head. 

By honing in on Hermann, Newt could almost ignore the cacophonous whispers of hive mind. Almost. It was like humming loudly whenever Hermann got too pedantic. Newt could still hear him, but it was more about the principle of ignoring him than the de facto state of ignorance. 

Newt followed the ghost of Hermann through his own neural pathways, like chasing a very tall rabbit. Harvey, maybe, or Frank. 

Every living creature on Earth dies alone. Kelly, Richard. Donnie Darko. Newmarket Films, 2001

Newt liked Donnie Darko. He wondered if Hermann would too. 

Probably not. 

Hermann liked Frankenstein. 

And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft. Frankenstein, Introduction, 1831.

Like the Jaegers. The monsters of our own making. Death to the imposter-syndrome.

Whoever had christened the Jaegers was probably the same chucklefuck that thought it was a good idea to name their base of operations anything with the word ‘shatter’ in it. 

At least Hermann's favorite film adaptation was Young Frankenstein, but that was, like, objectively the best one. 

“Hearts and kidneys are tinker toys! I am talking about the central nervous system!" Brooks, Mel, et al. Young Frankenstein, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 1998. 

Hermann liked…

Hermann liked Downton Abbey.

…Yeah, Newt had nothing. 

Hermann liked Hegel, and there was something in dialectical philosophy that was blowing dust on the laser grid of Newt’s mental landscape.

We call dialectic the higher movement of reason in which utterly separate terms pass over into each other spontaneously. Hegel, G. W. F., The Science of Logic, 1812.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy was developed in the late 80s specifically to treat Borderline Personality Disorder.  

BPD wasn't even added to the DSM-III until 1980, and for almost a decade after that, it was considered untreatable. It was a life sentence. Except when it was a death sentence. 

Then Marsha Linehan developed Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and suddenly it wasn’t so untreatable anymore. 

Newt didn't have time for full-fidelity DBT, so his therapy had been a little more autodidactic in nature, but it was ultimately about finding a middle ground in the black and white thinking that resulted from such extreme emotional experiences. Newt was still salty that he couldn't say the phrase ‘shades of gray’ without invoking that unfortunate representation of BDSM culture. When it came to consent, Christian Grey was almost as bad as the cultists. 

Anyway, Hermann's Hegelian née Kantian dialectic was also a rejection of dichotomies, not unlike earlier Derridean deconstruction of Saussure’s significant binaries. Non-binary. They/them. 

Maybe Newt should change his pronouns to, “Yes/And?”

Labels could make you aware of more options, but eventually you would see there were more options than there were labels. Dichotomies were reductive, especially when applied to human beings. Almost nothing was all or nothing. 

Abstract, negative, concrete. 

Thesis, synthesis, antithesis.

Scientist, hive mind… hive mind.

Newt had never felt so skinless. He had to sew himself a new one, like the women at Playtex, who went from making girdles and bras to spacesuits. They beat out three major defense contractors to produce the suits for Apollo 11. 

Hermann loved those ladies, so now Newt did too. He'd never even heard of them before, but Hermann had memorized names, even though so many of them went unidentified, their work considered trivial in history’s biased gaze. 

Eleanor Foraker, Iona Allen, Francine Burris, Henrietta Crawford, Velma Breeding, Hazel Fellows. The astronauts had stars and multimillion dollar inertial navigation systems, but those women had only pins to guide them.

On a less endearing note, Hermann liked Nietzsche, although Newt was starting to suspect that he was just homesick. 

It was still a surprise, coming from Hermann Handwriting-of-God Gottleib, but Newt knew that relationships with god were never so simple. His relationship with someone's gods was now incredibly complex indeed. 

Anyway, Hermann liked Nietzsche because of something, something, Übermensch, because of course Hermann thought his own humanity was something to be overcome.

Maybe Newt just wasn't getting it. He had never been as good at the purely theoretical stuff as Hermann, and he wasn't exactly working at full capacity. 

He was definitely over capacity.

Whatever. Irrelevant. If the Übermensch was some sort of Platonic ideal of humanity, then it could only ever be a false idol. Perfection was a myth. Perfection was a way to ruin something good enough, which was all Newt could ever hope to be.

Playing by the rules was ridiculous, when everyone who wrote them was already dead, and there were plenty of people present, now, in need of rehumanization. Nothing othered, nothing maimed.

Fuck Superman though— Newt’s bone to pick with Nietszche was from Beyond Good and Evil.

Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein. Nietzsche, Friedrich. Jenseits von Gut und Böse, ch. 4, no. 146, 1886. 

He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

...

@lastdaysofwar

[444namesplus]

aba abe abh abi abo abu acha ache achi acho achu ada ade adh adi ado adu afa afe afh afi afo afu aga age agh agi ago agu aha ahe ahi aho ahu aja aje aji ajo aju aka ake akh aki ako aku al ala ale alh ali alo alu am ama ame ami amo amu an ana ane ani ano anu apa ape aph api apo apu ar ara are arh ari aro aru asa ase ash asi aso asu ata ate ath ati ato atu ava ave avi avo avu az aza aze azh azi azo azu ba bal bam ban bar baz be bel bem ben ber bez bha bhe bhi bho bhu bi bil bim bin bir biz bo bol bom bon bor boz bu bul bum bun bur buz cha chal cham chan char chaz che chel chem chen cher chez chi chil chim chin chir chiz cho chol chom chon chor choz chu chul chum chun chur chuz da dal dam dan dar daz de del dem den der dez dha dhe dhi dho dhu di dil dim din dir diz do dol dom don dor doz du dul dum dun dur duz eba ebe ebh ebi ebo ebu echa eche echi echo echu eda ede edh edi edo edu efa efe efh efi efo efu ega ege egh egi ego egu eha ehe ehi eho ehu eja eje eji ejo eju eka eke ekh eki eko eku el ela ele elh eli elo elu em ema eme emi emo emu en ena ene eni eno enu epa epe eph epi epo epu er era ere erh eri ero eru esa ese esh esi eso esu eta ete eth eti eto etu eva eve evi evo evu ez eza eze ezh ezi ezo ezu fa fal fam fan far faz fe fel fem fen fer fez fha fhe fhi fho fhu fi fil fim fin fir fiz fo fol fom fon for foz fu ful fum fun fur fuz ga gal gam gan gar gaz ge gel gem gen ger gez gha ghe ghi gho ghu gi gil gim gin gir giz go gol gom gon gor goz gu gul gum gun gur guz ha hal ham han har haz he hel hem hen her hez hi hil him hin hir hiz ho hol hom hon hor hoz hu hul hum hun hur huz

iba ibe ibh ibi ibo ibu icha iche ichi icho ichu ida ide idh idi ido idu ifa ife ifh ifi ifo ifu iga ige igh igi igo igu iha ihe ihi iho ihu ija ije iji ijo iju ika ike ikh iki iko iku il ila ile ilh ili ilo ilu im ima ime imi imo imu in ina ine ini ino inu ipa ipe iph ipi ipo ipu ir ira ire irh iri iro iru isa ise ish isi iso isu ita ite ith iti ito itu iva ive ivi ivo ivu iz iza ize izh izi izo izu ja jal jam jan jar jaz je jel jem jen jer jez ji jil jim jin jir jiz jo jol jom jon jor joz ju jul jum jun jur juz ka kal kam kan kar kaz ke kel kem ken ker kez kha khe khi kho khu ki kil kim kin kir kiz ko kol kom kon kor koz ku kul kum kun kur kuz la lal lam lan lar laz le lel lem len ler lez lha lhe lhi lho lhu li lil lim lin lir liz lo lol lom lon lor loz lu lul lum lun lur luz ma mal mam man mar maz me mel mem men mer mez mi mil mim min mir miz mo mol mom mon mor moz mu mul mum mun mur muz na nal nam nan nar naz ne nel nem nen ner nez ni nil nim nin nir niz no nol nom non nor noz nu nul num nun nur nuz oba obe obh obi obo obu ocha oche ochi ocho ochu oda ode odh odi odo odu ofa ofe ofh ofi ofo ofu oga oge ogh ogi ogo ogu oha ohe ohi oho ohu oja oje oji ojo oju oka oke okh oki oko oku ol ola ole olh oli olo olu om oma ome omi omo omu on ona one oni ono onu opa ope oph opi opo opu or ora ore orh ori oro oru osa ose osh osi oso osu ota ote oth oti oto otu ova ove ovi ovo ovu oz oza oze ozh ozi ozo ozu pa pal pam pan par paz pe pel pem pen per pez pha phe phi pho phu pi pil pim pin pir piz po pol pom pon por poz pu pul pum pun pur puz ra ral ram ran rar raz re rel rem ren rer rez rha rhe rhi rho rhu ri ril rim rin rir riz ro rol rom ron ror roz ru rul rum run rur ruz sa sal sam san sar saz se sel sem sen ser sez sha she shi sho shu si sil sim sin sir siz so sol som son sor soz su sul sum sun sur suz ta tal tam tan tar taz te tel tem ten ter tez tha the thi tho thu ti til tim tin tir tiz to tol tom ton tor toz tu tul tum tun tur tuz uba ube ubh ubi ubo ubu ucha uche uchi ucho uchu uda ude udh udi udo udu ufa ufe ufh ufi ufo ufu uga uge ugh ugi ugo ugu uha uhe uhi uho uhu uja uje uji ujo uju uka uke ukh uki uko uku ul ula ule ulh uli ulo ulu um uma ume umi umo umu un una une uni uno unu upa upe uph upi upo upu ur ura ure urh uri uro uru usa use ush usi uso usu uta ute uth uti uto utu uva uve uvi uvo uvu uz uza uze uzh uzi uzo uzu va val vam van var vaz ve vel vem ven ver vez vi vil vim vin vir viz vo vol vom von vor voz vu vul vum vun vur vuz za zal zam zan zar zaz ze zel zem zen zer zez zha zhe zhi zho zhu zi zil zim zin zir ziz zo zol zom zon zor zoz zu zul zum zun zur zuz

[alexlacquemanne]

2023 in 12 movies (1 per months)

January

The Horse Whisperer (1998) directed by Robert Redford with Robert Redford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Neil, Chris Cooper and Cherry Jones

[First Time]

February

L'Horloger de Saint-Paul (1974) directed by Bertrand Tavernier with Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, Jacques Denis, Yves Afonso, Julien Bertheau and Jacques Hilling

[First Time]

March

The Fabelmans (2022) directed by Steven Spielberg with Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Keeley Karsten, Julia Butters and Judd Hirsch

[First Time]

April

The Third Man (1949) directed by Carol Reed with Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard and Bernard Lee

[First Time]

May

The World, The Flesh and the Devil (1959) directed by Ranald MacDougall with Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer

[First Time]

June

La ciociara (1960) directed by Vittorio De Sica with Sophia Loren, Eleonora Brown, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Carlo Ninchi, Andrea Checchi and Pupella Maggio

[First Time]

July

Oppenheimer (2023) directed by Christopher Nolan with Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett and Casey Affleck

[First Time]

August

Heat (1995) directed by Michael Mann with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Dennis Haysbert, Donald Breedan and Ashley Judd

[First Time]

September

Catch Me If You Can (2002) directed by Steven Spielberg with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen, James Brolin and Brian Howe

[First Time]

October

Le Grand Bain (2018) directed by Gilles Lellouche with Mathieu Amalric, Guillaume Canet, Benoît Poelvoorde, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Philippe Katerine, Félix Moati, Alban Ivanov, Balasingham Thamilchelvan, Virginie Efira et Leïla Bekhti

[First Time]

November

Fools Rush In (1997) directed by Andy Tennant with Matthew Perry, Salma Hayek, Jon Tenney, Carlos Gómez, Tomás Milián, Siobhan Fallon et John Bennett Perry

[First Time]

December

The Great Race (1965) directed by Blake Edwards with Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn et Ross Martin

[First Time]

Honourable Mentions :

Airplane! (1980)

Duel (1972)

Les Sentiments (2003)

The Carpetbaggers (1964)

Scoop (2006)

Mon crime (2023)

To Have and Have Not (1944)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

臥虎藏龍 (2000)

The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

Le Dernier Voyage (2020)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

L'ingorgo (1979)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Adieu Gary (2008)

Conflict (1945)

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

La Nuit américaine (1973)

Sorcerer (1977)

La Guerre des polices (1979)

Life of Pi (2012)

The Big Short (2015)

Le Hussard sur le toit (1995)

Excalibur (1981)

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

Le Procès Goldman (2023)

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Matrimonio all'italiana (1964)

Chaplin (1992)

La Vie de château (1966)

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Au-delà des grilles (1949)

Second Tour (2023)

Le Couteau dans la plaie (1962)

The Eiger Sanction (1975)

JFK (1991)

Le Fugitif (1993)

Chef (2014)

Quai des Orfèvres (1947)

Appointment with Death (1988)

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

River of No Return (1954)

L'Assassinat du père Noël (1941)

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Die Glasbläserin (2016)

The Lion in Winter (1968)

Les Mystères de Paris (1962)

[jpbjazz]

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

STANLEY CLARKE, L’IMPERTURBABLE

‘’That's one thing that an artist can't do -if any creative person starts listening to other people, he goes down."

- Stanley Clarke

Né le 30 juin 1951 à Philadelphie, en Pennsylvanie, Stanley Clarke est le fils de Marvin Clarke et Blanche Bundy. La mère de Clarke était chanteuse d’opéra et l’avait encouragé à apprendre la musique. Clarke avait commencé à apprendre à jouer de l’accordéonavant de passer au violon, au violoncelle et à la contrebasse. Clarke avait finalement adopté la contrebasse, car il mesurait plus de six pieds et avait de très grandes mains. Un jour, Clarke avait aperçu une contrebasse abandonnée dans un coin, et il avait décidé d’essayer d’en jouer. Clarke expliquait:  "The bass was tall and I was tall; it was similar to a violin and a cello, which was the direction I was taking anyway, so I started playing the bass."

Clarke avait étudié la musique classique durant cinq ans à la Settlement Music School de Philadelphie et avait pris quelques cours de contrebasse durant ses études. Clarke avait commencé à jouer de la basse électrique à l’adolescence afin de pouvoir séduire les filles. À cette époque, Clarke avait commencé à se produire dans des fêtes dans lesquelles il imitait les groupes que les filles adoraient.

Après ses études secondaires, Clarke avait fréquenté la Philadelphia Musical Academy (devenue plus tard le Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, puis l’University of the Arts).

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Clarke avait amorcé a carrière professionnelle à l’âge de seulement quinze ans, comme membre du groupe du saxophoniste Byard Lancaster au club Showboat.

Après s’être installé à New York en 1970, Clarke avait fait ses débuts sur disque avec le tromboniste Curtis Fuller. Après avoir travaillé avec Horace Silver, Joe Henderson et Pharoah Sanders, puis avec le groupe Tony Williams Lifetime Experience, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon et Art Blakey, Clarke avait collaboré avec Gil Evans et Mel Lewis.

Clarke rêvait de devenir le premier musicien de couleur à faire partie du Philadelphia Orchestra lorsqu’il avait fait la rencontre du pianiste Chick Corea. À l’époque, Corea était en train de mettre ur pied un nouveau groupe avec Stan Getz tout en écrivant de la musique pour la formation. Ces pièces avaient été publiées pour la première fois sur deux albums enregistrés en février et en mars 1972: Captain Marvel (publié sous le nom de Getz en 1974) et Return to Forever (publié sous le nom de Corea en 1972). Le jeu et les improvisations de Clarke avaient particulièrement été mises en évidence sur les deux albums. Le groupe avait aussi participé à quelques performances avec Getz en Europe. À l’époque, Return to Forever était essentiellement un groupe de studio, mais les membres de la formation n’avaient pas tardé à réaliser qu’ils avaient le potentiel de devenir un véritable groupe à succès.

La première version de Return to Forever interprétait principalement de la musique latine et utilisait exclusivement des instruments acoustiques (à l’exception du piano électrique Rhodes de Corea). Le groupe était composé de la chanteuse Flora Purim, de son époux Airto Moreira à la batterie et aux percussions, du collaborateur de longue date de Corea, Joe Farrell, au saxophone et à la flûte, et de Clarke à la basse électrique. Le premier album du groupe, intitulé Return to Forever, avait été enregistré pour les disques ECM en 1972. Le groupe, qui était passé progressivemt à une version plus orientée vers le jazz-fusion (notamment avec l’ajout du guitariste Al Di Meola et du batteur Lenny White), avait enchaîné l’année suivante avec Light as a Feather. L’album avait été enregistré pour les disques Polydor et comprenait le grand succès  "Spain". Après la parution de l’album, Farrell, Purim et Moreira avaient quitté la formation pour fonder leur propre groupe. Le guitariste Bill Connors, le batteur Steve Gadd et le percussionniste Mingo Lewis s’étaient alors joints au groupe. Lenny White (qui avait joué avec Corea dans le groupe de Miles Davis) avait par la suite remplacé Gadd et Lewis à la batterie et aux percussions. Le troisième album du groupe, intitulé  Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, a été publié en 1973.

Combinaison de rock et de jazz, le jazz-fusion s’était développé au début des années 1970. Mais bien avant de se joindre au groupe Return to Forever, Clarke s’était déjà établi comme un remarquable virtuose de la basse électrique. Comme le critique Mikal Gilmore l’écrivait dans le magazine Rolling Stone: "During his tenure as bassist for Return to Forever, Clarke established himself as one of the most prodigious instrumentalists in modern music: an exceptionally nimble, resourceful electric and acoustic bassist.’’ Pour sa part, Joachim Berendt avait commenté dans son ouvrage The Jazz Book: From New Orleans to Rock and Free Jazz : "Stanley Clarke combines [Miroslav] Vitous's fluidity with Oscar Pettiford's 'soul.'"

Un peu comme Jaco Pastorius, Jack Bruce et Larry Graham, Clarke avait contribué à donner à la basse électrique ses lettres de noblesse et en avait fait un véritable instrument soliste, démontrant ainsi qu’elle pouvait jouer un rôle mélodique à part entière en plus de son traditionnel soutien rythmique. Décrivant ses premières influences, Clarke avait commenté:

‘’You can see, if you study the music, the way certain influences culminate in one player. Prior to me, there were so many types of bass players – acoustic bass players and electric bass players. Larry {Graham} was really a strong force. To many of us in the bass community, we all love Larry and look up to Larry as someone who innovated something. There were a lot of them: James Jamerson, even Paul McCartney – he was one of the first melodic bass players. In the jazz world, Charlie Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter. I think when I came along, having listened to all of these different players, it was natural for all of these things to have this interesting convergence in my world. It’s funny, you don’t really think of it so much when you’re a player. Really, to be quite honest, I never thought of myself at first as someone who was trying to liberate the bass. It was only years later, around the time of the School Days album, that I started championing the whole idea of bass liberation.’’

Décrivant l’influence que Pastorius avait eu sur son jeu, Clarke avait précisé: ‘’I remember, I was so happy when Jaco Pastorius came on the scene. Then I didn’t feel alone. When you’re trying to do something out there, it’s always nice to have a friend, someone with similar ideas. I know many people thought that Jaco and myself would be sort of natural adversaries, but it was actually the opposite – the complete opposite. He understood what was happening with the bass: The instrument had to move forward.’’

D’abord formé comme musicien classique, Clarke était passé à la basse électrique un peu par hasard. Il expliquait: ‘’You can go to school now to learn how to play the electric bass. When I was younger, there was no literature out there for studying the electric bass. All of those early records that you’re hearing, I was only playing electric bass on the side. I was really an acoustic bass player. I just sort of developed that stuff, like most of us at that time, by picking the instrument up and doing what I could.’’

Comme Clarke l’avait déclaré dans le livre Jazz-Rock Fusion de Les DeMerle publié en 1988:  "Years ago there was a fixed idea that bass players played background, and bass players have this particular theme--kind of subdued, numb, almost looking numb, and just to make a long story short, I wasn't going for any of that." Très influencé par Scott LaFaro, un contrebassiste qui avait joué avec le légendaire pianiste Bill Evans, Clarke avait démontré beaucoup d’imagination dans son jeu en trio avec les pianistes et les batteurs. Comme Clarke l’avait expliqué au magazine Rolling Stone: "I've always been more drawn to melodic than rhythmic playing... I had all these melodies running around in my head, all this knowledge of classical music I was trying to apply to r&b and jazz, and I decided it would be a loss in personal integrity just to be a timekeeper in the background, going plunk plunk thwack thwack."

Même s‘il était devenu très populaire après la parution de l’album Light as a Feather en 1973, ce qui lui avait permis d’obtenir plusieurs offres pour aller travailler avec Bill Evans, Miles Davis et même Ray Manzarek du groupe The Doors, Clarke était demeuré avec Return to Forever  jusqu’en 1976 alors qu’il avait formé son propre groupe.

Corea avait enregistré un premier album solo intitulé Children of Forever en 1973. Produit par Chick Corea, l’album mettait à contribution le guitariste Pat Martino, le batteur Lenny White, le flûtiste Art Webb et les vocalistes Andy Bey et Dee Dee Bridgewater. Clarke jouait à la fois des claviers, de la basse électrique et de la contrebasse sur l’album. Publié en 1974, le second album de Clarke comme leader, simplement intitulé Stanley Clarke, avait été enregistré avec un groupe composé de de Bill Connors aux guitares acoustique et électrique, et de Jan Hammer aux synthétiseurs et  au piano électrique et acoustique, et de Tony Williams à la batterie. Durant la tournée qui avait suivi la publication de l’album, le guitariste britannique Jeff Beck avait interprété la pièce ‘’Power’’ tirée du même album. Par la suite, Beck avait de nouveau collaboré à plusieurs albums de Clarke, dont Journey to Love (1975), Modern Man (1978) et I Wanna Play For You (1979). Clarke était particulièrement devenu populaire après la parution de l’album School Days en 1976. En fait, la pièce-titre de l’album avait remporté un tel succès que les amateurs avaient commencé à la réclamer lors des concerts. Commentant sa collaboration avec Beck, Clarke avait précisé:

‘’This is one of the greatest things that happened to me. It was just fun. I had this house on Long Island, and I was living out there with my wife. There was this knock on the door, and I looked out the window and there was this long limousine. This guy got out with this rooster haircut – that’s what I used to call them – and it was Jeff Beck. He knocks on my door, and I didn’t know much about him. I had definitely heard his name, but I hadn’t really gotten into his history. He comes in, and he has this really heavy accent. He’s telling me he was playing in town, and somebody gave him my address. He came over and he wanted to meet me, because he was playing a song from one of my albums. He just took a song from the first album, called “Power,” and he was playing it live. He wanted to meet me. We talked for about an hour, then he got back in the car and he left. That led to him playing on my second album, on a song called “Hello Jeff.” I called him and said: ‘Hey do you want to play?’ It was like that.’’

Décrivant sa collaboration avec le groupe Return to Forever, Clarke avait précisé: ‘’There’s a connection there that is much like the relationship between twins. Certain things, you just know the other guy is going to say this, or do that. Chick is like a big brother to me. I have known him for a long time. We’ve done a lot of things together, and Lenny is the same way.’’ Très populaire, le groupe comptait même parmi ses admirateurs Billy Joel et Elton John. Ce dernier laissait même les membres du groupe conduire sa Rolls Royce.

Même s’il est aujourd’hui davantage identifié comme musicien de jazz, Clarke avait passé la plus grande partie de sa carrière dans la musique pop. En 1979, le guitariste Ronnie Wood des Rolling Stones avait formé le groupe New Barbarians avec Clarke et Keith Richards. Deux ans plus tard, Clarke avait fondé avec le claviériste George Duke le groupe Clarke/Duke Project qui combinait le pop, le jazz, le funk et le rhythm & blues. Le duo s’était rencontré en 1971 en Finlande alors que Duke faisait partie du groupe de Cannonball Adderley. Clarke et Duke avaient enregistré ensemble pour la première fois dans le cadre de l’album de Clarke, Journey to Love en 1975. L’album comprenait le simple "Sweet Baby", qui s’était classé dans les vingt premières positions du Hit Parade. Le duo s’était de nouveau réuni dans le cadre de tournées dans les années 1990 et 2000.

Après avoir fait une nouvelle tournée avec le groupe Return to Forever au début des années 1980, Clarke avait travaillé avec  Bobby Lyle, Eliane Elias, David Benoit et Michel Petrucciani. Clarke avait également joué de la basse sur les albums de Paul McCartney Tug of War (1982) et Pipes of Peace (1983). Décrivant sa collaboration avec McCartney, Clarke avait commenté: ‘’He’s a beautiful player. Of all of the recordings I’ve played on, those two records are among the most memorable. We went down to this island, and I hung out with Paul for a couple of weeks. I really, really had a lot of fun. He’s a very melodic player. Melody just comes right out of him. That’s only natural for him to play the bass like that. He does it without thinking. He’s a writer who sings songs, so it was only natural when he plays the bass, his lines would be very melodic.’’

En 1985, Clarke avait fondé The Stanley Clarke Band. Le groupe, qui avait expérimenté différents styles allant du rock au jazz en passant par le R & B, le funk, la musique classique, la musique latine et africaine, était composé de Ruslan Sirota, Beka Gochiashvili et Cameron Graves au piano, de Shariq Tucker à la batterie, de Salar Nader au tabla et Evan Garr au violon. Le groupe avait publié l’album Find Out! la même année. Avec d’autres musiciens, Clarke avait également enregistré l’album The Stanley Clarke Band qui s’était mérité un prix Grammy pour le meilleur album de jazz contemporain en 2011. La pièce "No Mystery’’ avait aussi obtenu une nomination dans la catégorie de la meilleure performance instrumentale de pop. Le groupe était composé notamment de la sensation japonaise Hiromi Uehara au piano, de Ruslan Sirota aux claviers et de Ronald Bruner Jr. à la batterie. L’album était co-produit par Clarke et Lenny White . Le groupe avait récidivé en 2018 avec The Message.

ÉVOLUTION RÉCENTE

En 1988, Clarke avait formé le groupe Animal Logic avec l’ancien batteur des Police Stewart Copeland. Le groupe comprenait également l’autrice-compositrice-interprète Deborah Holland. Clarke connaissait Copeland de longue date et avait fait sa connaissance bien avant la fondation du groupe The Police. Copeland avait aussi fait une apparition sur l’album Up de Clarke en 2014.

En 1991, Clarke avait joué en tournée avec un groupe comprenant Herbie Hancock et Wayne Shorter. En 1998, Clarke avait fondé le groupe Superband avec Lenny White, Larry Carlton et Jeff Lorber.

En 2005, Clarke avait fait une tournée en trio avec Béla Fleck et le violoniste Jean-Luc Ponty. Clarke et Ponty avaient également joué  en trio avec le guitariste Al Di Meola en 1995 et enregistré l’album live The Rite of Strings. Clarke et Ponty avaient de nouveau joué en trio en 2012 avec le guitariste gitan Biréli Lagrène. Deux ans plus tard, le trio avait enregistré l’album D-Stringz.

En 2007, Clarke a publié le DVD Night School: An Evening of Stanley Clarke and Friends, un enregistrement d’un concert présenté en 2002 au Musicians' Institute de Hollywood. Dans le  cadre du concert, Clarke jouait à la fois de la contrebasse et de la guitare électrique et avait été rejoint sur scène par des artistes invités comme Stewart Copeland, Lenny White, Béla Fleck, Shelia E. et Patrice Rushen.

En 2008, Clarke avait formé le trio SMV avec les bassistes Marcus Miller et Victor Wooten. Le trio avait enregistré l’album Thunder la même année. En 2009, Clarke avait publié Jazz in the Garden, un album mettant en vedette son trio composé du pianiste Hiromi Uehara et du batteur Lenny White.

En 2010, Clarke avait publié un nouvel album avec le Stanley Clarke Band, qui comprenait Hiromi au piano, Ruslan Sirota aux claviers et Lenny White à la batterie. L’album s’était mérité un prix Grammy dans la catégorie du meilleur album de jazz contemporain.

La même année, Clarke avait fondé sa propre compagnie de disques appelée Roxboro Entertainment Group. Basée à Topanga, en Californie, la compagnie avait été baptisée ainsi en hommage au high school que Clarke avait fréquenté dans les années 1960. Le premier album publié par la compagnie était un enregistrement du guitariste Lloyd Gregory et du compositeur Kennard Ramsey. Parmi les autres artistes sous contrat avec la maison de disques, on remarquait le claviériste Sunnie Paxson et les pianistes Ruslan Sirota et Beka Gochiashvili.

En 2014, Clarke avait été invité à se produire sur scène avec le groupe Primus dans le cadre de la tournée Primus and the Chocolate Factory. La tournée comprenait également comme artistes invités Stewart Copeland et Danny Carey du groupe Tool. À cette occasion, Copeland et Carey avaient interprété avec Clarke et le bassiste Les Claypool le succès de Primus intitulé "Here Come the Bastards". La même année, Clarke avait enregistré Up, un album réalisé notamment avec son ancien partenaire de Return of Forever, Chick Corea au piano, le guitariste Jimmy Herring du groupe Widespread Panic  et Steward Copeland à la batterie. En 2018, Clarke avait publié The Message, un album du Stanley Clarke Band mettant en vedette Cameron Graves aux synthétiseurs, Beka Gochiashvili au piano et Mike Mitchell à la batterie. Le rapper Doug E. Fresh et le trompettiste Mark Isham avaient également participé à l’album. Continuant de connaître de fréquents changement de personnel, le Stanley Clarke Band était composé en 2019 de  Cameron Graves et de Beka Gochiashvili au piano, de Shariq Tucker à la batterie, de Salar Nader au tabla et d’Evan Garr au violon.

En 2020, Clarke avait été invité à enseigner au Bass Bootcamp animé par le bassiste Gerald Veasley. Le camp, qui avait lieu à Philadelphie, permettait aux bassistes de tous âges d’étudier avec plusieurs professeurs et professionels de l’instrument comme Richard Waller, Rob Smith, Freekbass et Michael Manring. Malheureusement, le camp avait dû être reporté à l’année suivante en raison de la pandémie de la COVID-19. Très impliqué dans le développement de la relève, Clarke avait également fondé la Stanley Clarke Foundation, une organisation caritative qui accorde des bourses à des jeunes musiciens talentueux à chaque année.

Également compositeur de bandes sonores pour la télévision et le cinéma, Clarke était notamment l’auteur de la musique de la série télévisée Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986-1990), qui avait été mise en nomination pour un prix Emmy. Clarke avait aussi écrit la musique des films Boyz n the Hood (1991), Passenger 57 (1992), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Poetic Justice (1993), Romeo Must Die (2000), The Transporter (2002), First Sunday (2008), Soul Men (2008), The Best Man Holiday (2013), Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016). Il était également l’auteur des trames sonores des émissions de télévision Waynehead (1996-1998), Static Shock (2000-2004), A Man Called Hawk et Soul Food (2000-2004) et Lincoln Heights (2006-2009). En plus d’avoir plus de 75 bandes sonores à son actif, Clarke a aussi écrit la musique du vidéo "Remember the Time" de Michael Jackson. En 2019, Clarke avait également composé la trame sonore du documentaire Halston de Frédéric Tcheng. Le film raconte l’histoire incroyable du désigner américain Roy Halston Frowick.

Comme contrebassiste, Clarke avait toujours utilisé une technique assez particulière. Lorsqu’il joue de la basse électrique, Clarke place sa main droite de façon à ce que ses doigts s’approchent des cordes un peu comme il l’aurait fait avec une contrebasse, mais avec un angle de 90 degrés. Afin de réaliser tout cela, Clarke devait placer son avant-bras au-dessus et parallèlement aux cordes. Pendant ce temps, son poignet était placé en crochet vers le bas afin de former un angle droit. Lorsqu’il jouait en solo, Clarke frappait les cordes vers le bas, ce qui permettait de produire un son beaucoup plus percussif. Commentant l’approche très ‘’métallique’’ de son jeu, Clare avait précisé: "I found from plucking the strings in various ways that just the slightest movement can change your whole sound.’’

Clarke démontrait également énormément de rapidité dans ses solos. Comme il l’avait expliqué au cours d’une entrevue accordée au magazine Guitar Player: "On electric bass, I use any finger, even my thumbs--anything!... I pluck mainly with three fingers. I have certain patterns that I can only play with four fingers. Sometimes when I get to those real fast runs that just fly, they'll be a fourth finger in there to help play it."

Clarke se sert de contrebasses Alembic depuis 1973. En plus de se innovations comme musicien, Clarke avait également développé ses propres instruments comme une basse électrique piccolo et une basse électrique ténor.

Mis en nomination à de nombreuses reprises au gala des prix Grammy (il en a remporté trois à ce jour), Clarke avait également été lauréat s’un prix Grammy pour le meilleur album instrumental en 2011 dans le cadre des 12th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Le prix avait été décerné conjointement à Clarke, Chick Corea et Lenny White pour l’album Forever. Clarke s’était également vu accorder un Lifetime Achievement Award par le magazine Bass Player en 2006. Le Festival international de jazz de Montréal a également décerné à Clarke un Miles Davis Award en 2011. Clarke a aussi été élu Jazz Master par la National Endowment for the Arts en 2022.

Clarke est aussi titulaire de deux doctorats honorifiques décernés respectivement par l’Université of the Arts de Philadelphie en 2008 et le Music Institute de Philadelphie en 2009. Clarke a également été élu bassiste de l’année dans le cadre de plusieurs sondages des lecteurs des magazines Down Beat et Playboy. Il a aussi été nommé artiste de jazz de l’année en 1977 dans le cadre du sondage de lecteurs du magazine Rolling Stone. Clarke est également membre de la “Gallery of Greats’’ du magazine Guitar Player. Depuis 2016, une partie des instruments et des enregistrements de Clarke font partie de la collection du Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) de Washington, D.C.

En plus de ses activités de musicien et de compositeur, Clarke avait également agi comme producteur pour des artistes comme le guitariste Roy Buchanan et les chanteuses Dee Dee Bridgewater et Flora Purim. Il avait même chanté à l’occasion sur les albums de Return to Forever et sur ses propres enregistrements. En plus d’avoir tenu une chronique sur la basse dans des magazines durant un certain temp, Clarke projette actuellement d’écrire un manuel didactique en plusieurs volumes sur la contrebasse. Il précisait: "I'm writing a book on acoustic bass, maybe three or four volumes. It's going to be the full thing--everything that anyone would want to know about the acoustic bass."

Décrivant sa philosophie de la musique, Clark avait déclaré: "I don't feel I should have to make music to satisfy anyone. But I do feel that one of an artist's fundamental duties is to create work other people can relate to. I'd be a fool to do something nobody else was going to understand."

Même si Clarke était considéré comme un excellent musicien, son passage du jazz vers le jazz-fusion n’avait pas toujours été bien accueilli par critiques. Les plus récents projets de Clarke avec les musiciens rock, comme sa collaboration avec le New Barbarians de Ronnie Wood et l’ajout de thèmes de la musique pop dans sa musique, avaient terni sa réputation auprès de certain puristes. Mikal Gilmore écrivait dans le magazine Rolling Stone: "Clarke has seemed to temper his talent, opting instead to play fairly prosaic, overbusy variations of rhythm & blues and even heavy-metal music." Gilmore s’était montré particulièrement amer envers la collaboration de Clarke avec George Duke. Commentant une collaboration de Clarke avec Duke et Sonny Rollins, Chris Albertson du magazine Stereo Review avait déploré:  "Pianist George Duke and bassist Stanley Clarke, men of great jazz potential who were bitten by the chart bug before they could show us more than the tip of their talent, here prove that they have spent too much time in fusionland.’’ Dans son compte tendu de l’album Hollywood de Maynard Ferguson sur lequel Clarke avait agi comme producteur, Don Heckman écrivait dans le magazine High Fidelity: "The title certainly tells you what to expect. But if there are any doubts, note that the album was 'produced and directed' by Stanley Clarke... Jazz? Forget it."

Mais malgré toutes les critiques dont il avait été l’objet, Clarke avait toujours refusé de se laisser ébranler. Lorsqu’un critique du magazine Down Beat avait demandé à Clarke si un musicien avait déjà changé son fusil d’épaule en raison des critiques de la presse, il avait simplement rétorqué: "I've seen guys do that, and I've seen them go right down the drain, too. That's one thing that an artist can't do--if any creative person starts listening to other people, he goes down." Déterminé à continuer d’explorer différents styles, Clarke avait défendu le caractère éclectique de sa musique en ces termes: ‘’It would get boring for me if I just did one thing and played just one type of music for the rest of my life. I don't think I could take it." Dans une entrevue accordée au magazine Rolling Stone, Clarke avait tenu à préciser: "I know it upsets some people, but I could never be a conservative jazz musician." 

Mais il y avait parfois des revirements étonnants. Reconnaissant qu’il avait peut-être été trop sévère avec Clarke,  le critique Chris Albertson écrivait: "I used to think of Stanley Clarke as one of the defectors, a jazz man drawn away from his art by the waving of the green. Now I am inclined to think that I did Clarke an injustice." Caractérisé par un remarquable charisme et par une grande présence sur scène, Clarke avait inspiré le commentaire suivant à Bill Milkowski du magazine Down Beat: "Clarke remains the same crowdpleaser he always was, an engaging presence with a flashing smile, playing up the rock theatrics during his explosive solos."

Stanley Clarke a épousé Carolyn Helene Reese le 29 novembre 1974. Le couple a eu un fils, Christopher Ivanhoe. Tout comme Chick Corea, Clarke était membre de l’Église de Scientologie.

©-2024, tous droits réservés, Les Productions de l’Imaginaire historique

SOURCES:

‘’Stanley Clarke.’’ Wikipedia, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke.’’ National Endowment for the Arts, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke Biography.’’ Net Industries, 2023.

‘’Stanley Clarke, bass-playing jazz legend: Something Else! Interview’’. Something Else, 2023.

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Haredevil Hare and Rocketship X-M

Week 25:

Film(s): Haredevil Hare (Dir. Charles M. Jones, 1948, USA) and Rocketship X-M (Dir. Kurt Neumann, 1950, USA)

Date Watched: 2022-01-14

Viewing Format: Blu Ray for Haredevil Hare, DVD for X-M

Rationale for Inclusion:

I don't recall at what point I remembered that select Looney Tunes shorts needed to be included in this survey. Either the Fleischer Superman shorts by virtue of being animated, or Buck Rogers because of it reminding me of the parody short Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century, made me realize that we needed to include the shorts featuring Warner Brothers' iconic alien Marvin the Martian.

Marvin appeared in five shorts during the classical period of Looney Tune animation, beginning with Haredevil Hare (Dir. Charles M. Jones, 1948, USA) and concluding with Mad as a Mars Hair (Dir. Charles M. Jones and Maurice Noble, 1963, USA). Of these shorts we only will be including two in the survey, and what better to start with than Haredevil Hare?

But wait, that short is from 1948 and we are squarely in the 1950s now. Why wasn't it watched earlier? Honestly, because it did not pair as well with any of the films of the 1940s in the survey as it did with this week's feature film Rocketship X-M [AKA: Expedition Moon and Rocketship Expedition Moon] (Dir. Kurt Neumann, 1950, USA), as they're both about experimental rocketships that end up on Mars. They're also closer together in creation than Haredevil Hare is to Invisible Agent.

As to why Rocketship X-M made it onto our survey, it was the first post-World War II space adventure film released, beating George Pal's Destination Moon (Dir. Irving Pichel, 1950, USA)--which will be next week's film--to release by a month in 1950. Much like The Flying Saucer (Dir. Mikel Conrad, USA), despite achieving a first for the genre, it has largely been overshadowed by later films. Rocketship X-M also has the indignity of being the first film of the survey to have later been mocked on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Dir. Jim Mallon, et. al., 1988-1999, USA).

Reactions:

Like basically every Warner Brothers short that Charles M. "Chuck" Jones directed, Haredevil Hare is a quality short, in terms of its animation, pacing and humor. Bugs Bunny plays the role of reluctant astro-rabbit before lapsing into his usual trickster self when the Earth is threatened with annihilation by Marvin the Martian. The majority of the short's action takes place on the moon, which has standard gravity and oxygen for narrative convenience. Frankly, it would be more surprising if this cartoon attempted to depict realistic space flight and lunar conditions than it is that Jones and his team couldn't be bothered to engage with known reality more than necessary.

As for Marvin, he looks as audiences have come to expect him to: in his Roman inspired attire since his home planet is named after their god of war. Mel Blanc's characterization for Marvin is more nasal than what his voice would be in the later shorts. I also was amused to see his trusty dog K-9 appear in this originating short. I thought he did not appear in a later short. 

Like Bugs Bunny, the crew of Rocketship X-M is bound for the moon and has an aggressive encounter with a Martian. Unlike Bugs, their Martian encounter actually occurs on Mars, after a meteor storm forces them to recalculate their fuel ratios and they end up off course.

Despite it being a long passé technique, the scenes on Mars are tinted red in the otherwise black and white movie. The fact that Martian civilization went from an "Atomic age to a stone age" and is now a post-apocalyptic tribal society seems to be influenced by H.G. Wells' 1895 novel The Time Machine, and marks the first time an atomic powered apocalypse was referenced in a major motion picture. The presence of atomic destruction is attributed to the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, who acted as an uncredited script doctor on that sequence.

While the Mars sequence is definitely in the realm of soft sci-fi, some realistic elements are featured in the film. Rocketship X-M features a spaceship composed of multi-stage rockets, as would later be used in the real life American and Soviet space programs. The filmmakers apparently copied its design from illustrations featured in a January 17, 1949 issue of Life magazine, which is likely why that aspect of the film is more true to life than other parts. Less accurate is the haphazard depiction of microgravity, as some items are affected by weightlessness, but not everything that should be. The attempts at hard sci-fi seem to be dependent on if the filmmakers thought it was interesting, or within the special effects budget.

Nevertheless, Rocketship X-M set other precedents for atomic age sci-fi films. 

The film's score by Ferde Grofé features the unique electronic tones of a theremin in places. While the instrument had been featured in film scores as early as 1931 in the Soviet Union, it was Miklós Rózsa's scores for Hollywood films in the 1940s that brought it to the attention of his colleagues in the American film industry. Despite being the first sci-fi film to make use of the theremin, two films that followed Rocketship X-M, The Thing From Another World (Dir. Christian Nyby, 1951, USA) and The Day the Earth Stood Still (Dir. Robert Wise, 1951, USA), would be the examples that cemented the instrument's connection to the genre in general and atomic sci-fi specifically.

Rocketship X-M also re-introduces the lady scientist love interest to the genre. Prior to Dr. Mary Robinson (Janice Logan) in Dr. Cyclops (Dir. Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1940, USA), the women love interests working with the male scientist main characters were merely assistants. A fully independent lady scientist, like Dr. Helen Jackson in Son of Ingagi (Dir. Richard C. Kahn, 1940, USA) was, and to a large extent remains, unthinkable in a mainstream Hollywood production. So for all her accomplishments, like being the developer of the mon-atomic hydrogen fuels that power the R-XM, Dr. Lisa Van Horn (Osa Massen) is in Rocketship X-M to mostly be a hetero-disclaimer for the ship's pilot Col. Floyd Graham (Lloyd Bridges). 

When it comes time to implement a new fuel ratio after the meteor storm, Col. Graham opts to go with the figure suggested by Dr. Karl Eckstrom (John Emery) over the one put forth by Dr. Van Horn. Eckstrom did design the RX-M and is a physicist, so a rationale other than sexism is an influence in Graham's decision. However, Dr. Van Horn is both a chemist and the person who developed the fuel system, so in theory she ought to know the best practices for fuel rations, but apparently her lady brain's math is not to be trusted. Interestingly, Col. Graham going with Dr. Eckstrom's calculations is what causes the ship to end up off course and on Mars. Would Dr. Van Horn's calculations have gotten them to the moon and back home safely? Uncertain, but half the crew definitely wouldn't have died due to Martian attack.

At any rate, Rocketship X-M establishes what became the template for how female scientists and/or assistants in 1950s sci-fi films will be treated: they are there to be hetero-disclaimers primarily with their career as a narrative means of justifying their presence. In the best cases the relationships seem to form organically and without sexual harrassment.

However, unlike many of the films to follow, Rocketship X-M does not end with the happy formation of a hetero-couple. Yes, the last time Col. Graham and Dr. Van Horn are seen on camera they are embracing, but they also are about to crash land and die. None of the crew of the RX-M make it back to Earth alive, yet enough of their data did that the space program can carry on.

The film closes on an optimistic yet bittersweet note.Ultimately both Haredevil Hare and Rocketship X-M are good examples of the potential for their characters and stories of space travel, but the best had yet to come.

[clairelsonao3]

5 Comfort Films

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck, whose post is here!

Seems like everyone's doing this one today, and since I seem to be doing very little today except comforting myself after an extremely stressful day yesterday, I might as well go for it. (And maybe then I'll watch them all!)

(By the way, I'm well aware that the newest film on this list came out in 1991, and I make no apologies for that.)

Criteria: Like any top-5 style list, I had to come up with my own very specific criteria, because I'm an obnoxious, pretentious nerd. That means trying my best to include different categories -- I could easily name 5 musicals or 5 Disney movies, but I won't. So it's one musical, one Disney, one romcom, one dramedy, one straight-up farce, etc. Second of all, Christmas movies could be a category all on their own, so those are all disqualified (check back in December). Fourth, no sad endings (sorry Titanic, Moulin Rouge, and Casablanca.) Fifth, I cheated by naming a runner-up for each one that falls into the same category. Sixth... I'll shut up now. Here's the list.

The Sound of Music (1965) -- Honestly, just about any musical could probably find a spot on my comfort list, but it begins and ends with this one. Slow-burn romance, breathtaking cinematography, and arguably Rodgers and Hammerstein's greatest score make 3 hours go by like that. Even when the Nazis come on the scene you're never seriously worried anything bad will happen. Runner-up: Gigi (1958).

2. Mary Poppins (1964) -- Yes, Julie Andrews again. She herself could be a walking, singing comfort movie. There are a million Disney animated flicks that could make the comfort list, but by mixing animation and live action to perfection, this is automatically the best of both worlds. Even hearing Dick van Dyke's horrendous Cockney accent is like wrapping up in a warm blanket. Runner up: Beauty and the Beast (1991).

3. Pretty Woman (1990) -- I was probably well into my 20s before I realized, hey this isn't just a movie I watch every time it comes on TV for no reason. I actually LIKE it. It's one of those movies. The lightest, fluffiest movie about sex work ever made. A self-acknowledged Cinderella story. Runner-up: Just Like Heaven (2005).

4. The Breakfast Club (1985) -- Even though Ferris Bueller is also great and obviously the more conventional choice for a John Hughes comfort flick, I'm going to go with this one. Yes, it's a bit darker, but it's also funny as fuck, which is kind of my thing, it involves forbidden romance, which, duh, and also has a surprisingly hopeful and upbeat ending. Runner-up: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

5. Spaceballs (1987) -- I thought way too hard about which film should get the last spot on the list. If the musicals are rainy-afternoon-watch-with-your-mom-in-the-living-room kind of movies, this is a late-night-premium-cable-parents not-home-watch-with-your-brother-in-the-basement-and-laugh-your-ass-off kind of movie. Every time I lampshade myself in something I write (and I do that a lot) it's a nod to Mel Brooks and the classic satirical style of comedy he perfected. Runner-up: Star Wars Original Trilogy (1977 et al.) (I know, not the same genre, but it's the source material, so whatever).

Hmmm... I'll gently tag @starlit-hopes-and-dreams and OPEN TAG because I'm seeing everybody get tagged in this and I can't keep them all straight.

[vhsviscera]

Please note that going on Rogaine/Finasteride for people who are taking T will actually block some of T's effects, because they're DHT blockers! (I'll be focusing on individuals transitioning with testosterone in the rest of this post; I'm not sure how it affects cisgender men.)

Using DHT blockers like these will still allow for changes in body composition and fat redistribution, as well as vocal deepening. However, it will prevent or significantly slow body and facial hair growth, as well as clitoral lengthening. [1]

It's also worth mentioning that even if you've already started testosterone, it is still possible to prevent some of these effects. Most of testosterone's effects begin to occur approximately 3 months after starting treatment (with the exception of menstrual cycle cessation, which can start at around 2 months, and muscle mass changes, which can take up to 6 months to start). It's known that some effects of T are permanent, even after stopping T -- including vocal deepening and hair growth. So taking DHT blockers wouldn't change what's already there. Still, taking DHT blockers will slow down these effects even if they've already begun. So there is still a window of time during which these effects can be mitigated. [3]

For those of us who want all of the effects of testosterone, but may be interested in DHT blockers for balding at a later date, it's important to note that there is a point at which testosterone reaches its maximum effect. For example, vocal deepening typically finishes within 1-2 years. (Anecdotally, my voice finished deepening in about a year/year and a half, but it took another 6 months to reach its fullest range.) Body and facial hair growth may take 3-5 years to complete. As always, you can't pick and choose how hormonal changes will occur in your body. It's different for everyone. [2]

(DISCLAIMER: Please note that I am not a medical professional. The information provided here is not intended as real medical advice. This was written in March 2024, so it may be outdated. Please fact-check this yourself and consult with a healthcare provider experienced in transgender care if you have any further questions.)

Sources:

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7356977/ Cocchetti, Carlotta, et al. “Hormonal treatment strategies tailored to non-binary transgender individuals.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, vol. 9, no. 6, 26 May 2020, p. 1609, https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061609. 

[2] https://www.livestrong.com/article/13772409-ftm-testosterone-therapy-changes-timeline/ van de Graaff, Mel. “FTM Hormone Therapy: Changes to Expect, Timeline, Side Effects and More.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group. Updated May 16, 2023. Accessed 2024. 

[3] https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/masculinizing-hormone-therapy/about/pac-20385099 “Masculinizing Hormone Therapy.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2 Dec. 2023

Something interesting i spotted on twitter. For anyone interested in going on T!

[preggomancer]

been WAY too long since I drew a good mel

(they/she/it)

[arcanacontained]

Rewatching episode 8 for Huck study.

Huck has always been the first. First one Viktor healed; the first one Viktor evolved, before evolving the others - and used him as the main "puppet" when he was speaking with Singed and Ambessa. I've also noticed that any arcane "scars" the Hexcore/Viktor's healing left (such as Huck's right arm) are gold on the Hexdolls whilst everything else is white.

Also, I think (in my opinion) it was Huck's "death" (the death blow delivered by Mel), which was the final nail for Viktor to tell Reveck to start his Evolution into the Machine Herald.

Maybe if it wasn't Huck who died - the one person who had been with him since becoming the Herald - i.e. someone so loyal, maybe Viktor wouldn't have been as pissed (at Jayce et al) as his was.

[newwhoreview2016]

Empire of Death

The opening 5 minutes of this are tremendous. I could critique it by saying that Kate’s death could have been convincing, but once we realise Rose, Carla et al are dead too, we know a reset button is coming. But the same is true of Peter Parker and others in Infinity War, so it gets a pass.

Using the memory TARDIS was a nice surprise. Lashing it together with ropes (and Tom’s scarf) is fun enough, but makes more sense now I know the ropes are used later. And I’d forgotten the colourised clip of Carole Ann Ford.

Big problem: why retcon Sutekh? He used to be just an evil Osirian, not the most powerful enemy we’ve ever faced. Again, make this the Beast and it makes way more sense. (Check out the later Mel possession scene, so similar to Toby Zed’s.) And the Susan Twist explanation is just daft, as is the idea of the big dog hanging out on the TARDIS since the seventies. See multiple memes for proof.

We’ve now seen people standing in or on the TARDIS in Space many times, but it’s never looked so fake. And the scene goes on and on. Stop giving him so many lines. We understand the stakes! We get it! And then the scream…almost works.

Then it’s the spoon scene. Which is supposed to be profound? Or something? I honestly have no idea.

Mel falling under Sutekh’s spell is fine, but more could have been made of it. What if it had been revealed that she was always a harbinger? That that’s why she joined UNIT?

OMG, imagine if it was Fenric instead of Sutekh! That would make so much more sense!

“What happens if you bring death to death?” Well, nothing. The denouement whereby the all powerful god is put on a lead and dragged around, somehow magically reversing everything, is shit. That is all. And I include the Doctor’s OTT reaction to having to kill Sutekh.

Ruby’s mother. I love the idea that she’s nobody - the Last Jedi route - but this sadly makes no sense with anything that’s gone before (her Nazgul get up, Sutekh being obsessed with her). And bringing 73 Yards into it is frankly odd. But the mother-daughter reunion really gets me. Nice scene.

And then to Mrs Flood. That really better pay off next year.

[a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist]

1:    0 1 2 4 8 9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z    32/36    (26/26)    (6/10)

2:    08 11 18 19 41 42 84 90 ab ac ad ag ai aj ak al am an ap ar as at av aw ay ba bd be bi bl bo br bs bu by ca cc ce ch ci ck cl co cr cs ct cu cy da dd de df di dl dn do dr ds du dy ea eb ec ed ee ef eg eh ei el em en eo ep eq er es et ev ew ex ey fa fe fi fo fr ft fu ga ge gh gi gl go gr gs gt gy ha he hi hn ho hr ht hu hy ia ib ic id ie if ig il im in io ip ir is it iu iv iz jo ju ke ki kn ks ky la ld le lf li lk ll lm lo ls lu lv ly ma me mh mi mo mp ms mu my na nb nc nd ne nf ng nh ni nk nl nn no ns nt nu nv ny oa ob oc od oe of og oi ol om on oo op or os ot ou ow ox oy pa pe ph pi pl pm po pp pr ps pt pu qu ra rd re rg ri rk rl rm rn ro rp rr rs rt ru ry rz sa sc se sh si sk sm sn so sp sq ss st su sw sy ta te th ti tl to tr ts tt tu tw ty ua ub uc ud ue ug ui ul um un uo up ur us ut ve vi wa we wh wi wo wr xc xe xi xt xu yb yg yl ym yn yo yp ys yx ze zo    290/1296    (282/676)    (8/100)

3:  ��� 184 190 842 908 abd abl aca acc aci ack acr acs act ade ads age ain ajo ake aki ale ali alk all alm alo als ame ami amp ana anc and ane ang ani ans ant anu any ape app ard are arg ark arl arm aro arr ars art ase ask ass ata ate ath ati ato att atu ave avi awa awr ayb bab bac bal bas bdo bea bed beh bel bet bey bio bis bit ble blo bly bod bon bou bow boy bra bre bst bul bur but cal can cav cce ccy cee cen cep che chi cia cie cin cks cky cle clo clu coc com con cos cre cri cru cti ctu cul cut cyx dar dda dea dee den deo dep der des dfi did die din dis dle dne doe dom don dor dul dur ead eak eal ear eat ebr eci ecr ect edd edi eed eei eem een efe egi egs ehi ein eir eit ela ele elf ell elo elv ely ema eme emo emp ems emu enb enc end eng enh eno ent env eos eou epo eps ept equ era ere eri erl erm ern err ers ert eru ery erz esc ese esn esp ess est eta ete eto etw ety eve evi ewh exc exe ext exu eyo fam far fat fem fer fes fib fie fif fin fir fis for fos fra fro fth fur fus gap gel gem ges ght gic gif gio gir gla glu gol gon gou gre gro gth gys han hap hat hav hea hei hem hen her hes hey hic hig him hin hip hir his hit hiu hna hol hot hou hro hum hus hym ial iar ibe ibi ibu ica ice ich ick icu ide idf ied ien ier ies iet ife ifi ift igh ila ili ill ima imi ims ina inc ind ine inf ing ink ins int inu iny iof ion ior iou ips ird irs isc ise ish iso isp iss ist ite ith iti its itt ity ium ive ize joi jor jus jut ked kel kes kin kiv kne kno ksc lan lar lat lde leg len les let lex lia lie lif lis lit lli llo lls lly lmo loa log lon loo lop lou low lso lue lun lus lvi lym lyp mag maj mak mal man mar mas mat may mel men mer met mew mil min mit moo mor mos mou mph mpl mpr mse mur mus myg nac nad nal nat nbo nce ncl nde ndi ndn ndo nds ndu nec nee nei neo nes nex nfr nge ngs ngt ngy nhn nim nky nly nne nop nor nos not now nox nse nsi nst nsw nta nte nti ntl nto ntr nts ntu nuo nus nve oac oat oba occ oce oci odi ody oes ofi oft ogi ogo ogs oin old ole olo oma ome omi omp omy ona ond one onl onn ons ont ool oos oot ope ops opt ora org ori orm ors ose osi oss ost osu ota ote oth oti oto oug oun oup ous out owe owi oxi oyl par pat pea pec ped pel per pho pic pin ple pli pmh poi pos ppa ppe ppo pre pri pro pte pti pub qua que qui rac rai ral ran rap rat raw rdl rea rec red ref reg rel rem ren res ret rev rge ria rib rig rin rio ris rit rki rks rly rma rmi rmo rms rns roa rob roc rog rom rop ros rou row rpr rra rro rru rsa rse rsi rst rte rth rti rto rts ruc rum rus sac sal sam sav say sch sci scl scr scu sec sed see sel seq ses sha she sid sim sio sis sit siv siz ske ski sma smo soc sof som sop sor spe spi spo squ sso ssu sta ste sti stl sto sts stu sty sua sub suc sue sup sur sus swe syn tai tak tal tan tar tat tea teb ted ten ter tes tha the thi tho thr thu thy tib tic tid tin tio tip tis tiv tle tly tom ton too tot tre tri tsi tte ttl tty tua tud tur tus twe two tyl typ ual uar uat ubi ubs uch uco udi uea uen ues ugh uit ula ume und ung unt unu uou upp ups ure uri urn uro urp urr urs urt usc use usi ust usu uta ute uts vel ver vic vid vil vit war wee wel wer wha whe whi who why win wit xcl xem xio xte xtr xus ybe ygo yle ylo yme ymp ymu yno yon you ypi ypm yst zoo    802/46656    (798/17576)    (4/1000)

4:    1842 1908 abdo able ably acce acin acru acti actu adep ages ainf ajor akes akin alis allo alls ally almo alog also amil ampl anal anat ance ands andu aneo ange anim answ ants anus aped appa appe area aren arge arki arks arly arms arou arra arsa arte arti arts ased aske atar ated ater athe atid atio ativ atom atte atty atur avit awar aybe babl back ball base bdom bear bedd behi belo betw beyo biof bitt blog bodi body bone boun boyl brat brev bsta bula burr bute call cavi ccen ccyx ceed cent ceps cept cher chiu cial cien ciet cing cles cloa clus cocc comp conn cons cont cosu cret crib crum ctio ctua ctus cula cuta dard ddar deal deed denb denc deos depo dept desc dfis died dies diet ding disp dnes does dome domi dors dula duri eaki eall ears eart ebra ecia ecre ecti ectu edda edin edis eedi eein eems efer egio ehin eing eith elat elet elop elow elvi emal emel emen emor empl emur enbo ence endi ends engt engy enhn enop enor enti entl entu enve eous epos epti eque eral eran ered eres erio erly ermi erru erse ersi erte erti erto erus escr espe esti esty etal etat eton etwe ever evic evid ewha excl exem exte extr exus eyon fami fatt fema femo femu fest fibu fied fift find firs fish form foss frac frog from furt fuse gely geme gest gica gion gird glan glue gold gona gous grea grou gyst hape have head hear heir here hert herz hese hich high hims hind hing hips hird hite hium hnac hole hoto houg hroa hume hyme hymu iall ibed ibio ibul ibut ical icep icks icky icul idea iden ideo ides idfi ienc iety ifes ifie ifth ight ilar ilia illi imag imal imil imse inal incl inde infr ings inky inse insi inst inte into ints inuo iofi ions ious irdl irst isch ishe isop ispo issu ists ites ithe itio ittl itty ivel join jori just juts kele king kink kive knee know ksch land larg larl late lati latu lden legs leng leta leto lexu liar lier life lifi litt llie llow lmos loac logi logo lond loos lope lops lowe lowi lung lusi lvic lymp lypm mage majo make male mall many mark mass mati mayb mely meno ment meru meta mewh mila mili mina mite moot mora most moun mous mple mpli mpri msel murs musc must mygo naci nads nali nalo nato nboy nclu ndee nder ndin ndne ndon ndul nect neit neou ness next nfro ngem ngth ngys nhna nima nnec nopt norm nost note noxi nsec nseq nsid nsis nste nswe ntai nter ntin ntio ntly ntri ntua nuou nusu nvel oaca obab occy ocee ocie odie oesn ofib ogic ogou oint olde olog omat omen omew omin ompr onad ondo only onne onse onsi onta onti ontr oolo oose ooth oped oper opte oral oria orit orma ormo orsa oses osit osso oste osto osty osus otal oted othe otic ough ound ount oups outs ower owin oxio oylo pare part patt pear peci pelv perl phot pica pine plex plif poin pose posi post ppar ppea ppos pred pris prob proc prop pter ptid pubi quar quea quen ques quit ract rain rang rans rapp rate rath rawr rdle real reat rect redi refe regi rela reme rent rest rete reve revi rgel rges rial ribe ribu righ ring rior rise rity rkiv rksc rmat rmit rmou roat roba roce rogs rope rost roun roup rowe rpri rran rrou rrow rruc rsal rsed rsio rstl rteb rter rthe rtic rton ruco sacr sacs sals same save sche schi scie scle scri scul secr sect seei seem self sequ shap shes side sidf simi sion sist siti sits sive size sked skel skin smal smoo soci soft some sopt sori spec spin spos sque ssor ssue stan stea ster stic stin stio stly stom stot stud styl sual subs such supp surp surr swer syno tain take talk tanc tane tars tata tead tebr tend tera tere teri term tern than that thei them ther thes they thig thin thir this thou thro thus thym tibi tica tick ticu ting tinu tiny tion tips tiss tive toma tomy tons tota toti trem trib tsid tter ttle tual tuat tudi ture turn twee tyle typi uall uart uate ubis ubst ucos udie ueak uenc uest uite ular ulat umer unde undi undn ungs unus uous uppo urin urns uros urpr urro urth uscl uscu used usio usiv usua utan utsi velo vely verr vers vert very vice vide vill vity ware ween well were wers what when whic whit whol wing with xclu xemp xiou xten xtre ygol ylou ymen ymph ymus ynos

yond ypic ypmh ysto zool    815/1679616    (813/456976)    (2/10000)

5:    abdom accen acing acrum actio actua adept ainfr ajori aking allow almos alogo amili ample analo anato andul aneou angem anima answe appar appea arent argel arges arkiv arksc aroun arran arsal arter artic asked atars atera ather ation ative atomy atter ature avity aware bably balls based bdome bdomi bedda behin below betwe beyon biofi bitty bodie bound boylo brate brevi bstan burro cally cavit ccent ceedi centu cepti cherz chium ciall cienc ciety cloac clusi coccy compr conne conse consi conta conti contr cosus crete cribe ction ctual cular culat cutan ddard denbo dence depos descr dfish dings dispo dness doesn domen domin dorsa dular durin eakin eally earts ebrat ecial ecret ectio ectus eddar eding edisp eedin eeing egion ehind eithe elati eleta eleto elope elops elvic emale emely ement emora empli emurs enboy endin ength engys enhna enopt enorm entio ently entua envel eposi eptid equen erans erest erior ermit erruc ersed ersio erteb ertic erton escri espec estin estio estyl etata etons etwee evers evice evide ewhat exclu exemp exten extre eyond famil fatty femal femor femur festy fibul fifth first fishe forma fosso fract frogs furth fused gemen gical girdl gland golde gonad great group gysto haped heart herto himse hnaci hough hroat humer hymen hymus ially ibiof ibula ibute icall iceps icept icula ideal idenc ideos idfis ience ifest ified ilarl iliar illie image imila imsel inali inclu indee infro insec insid inste inter inuou iofib irdle irstl ischi ishes isopt ispos issue ither ition ittle ively joint jorit kelet kinky ksche lands landu large larly later lativ latur ldenb lengt letal leton lexus lifes lifie littl llier llowi lmost loaca logic logou londo loose loped lower lowin lungs lusio lusiv lymph lypmh mages major makes marks matid matio maybe menop menti merus metat mewha milar milia minal mites mooth moral mount mplex mplif mpris mself muscl muscu mygol nacin nalis nalog natom nboyl nclus ndeed nding ndnes ndula necti neith neous nfrog ngeme ngyst nhnac nimal nnect nopte normo nosto noted noxio nsect nsequ nside nsist nstea nswer ntain ntere ntinu ntion ntrib ntuat nuous nusua nvelo obabl occyx oceed ociet odies ofibu ogica ogous oints olden ologi omati omewh omina ompri onads ondon onnec onseq onsis ontai ontin ontri oolog operl opter orial ority ormat ormou orsal ositi osits ossor oster ostot ostyl other otica ounde oundi oundn outsi owers owing oxiou oylou paren parti patte pears pecia pelvi perly photo pical plexu plifi point poses posit poste ppare ppear ppose predi prise proba proce prope ptera pubis quart queak quenc quest quite racti rainf range rathe reall rectu redis refer regio relat remel rentl resti rever revic rgely rgest ribed ribut right rkive rksch rmati rmite rmous robab rocee roper rosty round roups rower rpris rrang rroun rrowe rruco rsals rsion rstly rtebr rther rtica rticu rucos sacru scher schiu scien scles scrib scula secre seein seems seque shape sides sidfi simil sists sitio sivel skele small smoot socie somew sopte soria speci spine spose squea ssori stanc stead steri stick sting stion stoma stoti studi style suall subst suppo surpr surro swere synos tance taneo tarsa tatar tebra tendi tends teral teran teres terio termi their there thert these thigh thing third thoug throa thymu tibio tical ticks ticky ticul tinuo tions tissu tomat total totic treme tribu tside ttern tuall tuate tudie turns tween typic ually uarte uated ubsta ucosu udied ueaki uence uesti ularl ulatu umeru under undin undne unusu uppos uring urost urpri urrou urrow urthe uscle uscul usion usive usual utane utsid velop verru verse versi verte verti vicep viden video villi wered which white whole xclus xempl xious xtend xtrem ygold ymeno ynost ypica ystom zoolo    622/60466176    (622/11881376)

6:    abdome abdomi accent action actual ainfro ajorit allowi almost alogou amilia amplex analog anatom andula aneous angeme animal answer appare appear arentl argely argest arkive arksch around arrang arsals articu atarsa ateral athert ations attern bdomen bdomin beddar behind betwee beyond biofib bodies boylou brevic bstanc burrow cavity ccentu ceedin centua ceptid cially cience cloaca clusio clusiv coccyx compri connec conseq consis contai contin contri cribed ctions ctuall cularl culatu cutane denboy deposi descri dfishe dispos domina dorsal during eaking ebrate eciall ecrete ection eddard edings edispo eeding either elativ eletal eleton eloped emoral emplif enboyl ending engyst enhnac enopte enormo ention entuat envelo eposit equenc eresti ermite erruco ersion ertebr ertica escrib especi esting estion estyle etatar etween everse evicep eviden exclus exempl extend extrem famili female femora femurs festyl fibula firstl fishes format fossor fracti furthe gement girdle glands glandu golden gonads groups gystom hearts herton himsel hnacin humeru hymeno ibiofi ically icepti icular idence idfish ifesty ilarly illier images imilar imself inalis inclus indeed infrog insect inside instea intere inuous iofibu irstly ischiu isopte ispose jority keleta keleto kscher landul largel larges latera lative lature ldenbo length letons lifest lified little llowin logica logous london lowing lusion lusive majori marksc mation menopt mentio metata mewhat milarl miliar minali mplexu mplifi mprise muscle muscul mygold nacing nalogo natomy nboylo nclusi ndness ndular nectio neithe nfrogs ngemen ngysto nhnaci nnecti nopter normou nostot noxiou nseque nsists nstead nswere nteres ntinuo ntribu ntuate nusual nvelop obably oceedi ociety ofibul ogical oldenb ologic omatid omewha ominal ompris onnect onsequ onsist ontain ontinu ontrib oologi operly optera ormati ormous ositio ossori osteri ostoti ostyle otical ounder oundin oundne outsid oxious parent partic patter pecial pelvic plexus plifie points positi posits poster pparen ppears predis probab procee proper pteran quarte queaki quence questi ractio rainfr rangem rather really rectus redisp region relati remely rently restin revers revice ribute rksche rmatio rmites robabl roceed roperl rostyl rounde roundi roundn rowers rprise rrange rround rrower rrucos rtebra rtical rticul rucosu sacrum scherz schium scienc scribe scular sculat secret seeing sequen shaped sidfis simila sition sively skelet smooth societ somewh sopter sorial specia sposes squeak ssoria stance sterio sticks sticky stomat stotic studie sually substa suppos surpri surrou swered synost taneou tarsal tatars tebrat tendin terans terest terior termit therto though throat thymus tibiof ticall ticula tinuou tissue tomati totica tremel tribut tually tuated tudied typica uarter ubstan ucosus ueakin uestio ularly ulatur umerus unding undnes unusua uppose urosty urpris urroun urrowe urther uscles uscula usivel usuall utaneo utside velope velops verruc versed versio verteb vertic viceps vicept videnc videos villie xclusi xempli xtendi xtends xtreme ygolde ymenop ynosto ypical ystoma zoolog    446/2176782336    (446/308915776)

7:    abdomen abdomin accentu actuall ainfrog ajority allowin alogous amiliar amplexu analogo anatomy andular angemen answere apparen appears arently arksche arrange articul atarsal atherto bdomina beddard between biofibu brevice bstance burrowe ccentua ceeding centuat clusion clusive compris connect consequ consist contain continu contrib ctually cularly culatur cutaneo denboyl deposit describ dfishes dispose dominal ecially ections edispos eedings elative eletons emplifi enboylo engysto enhnaci enopter enormou entuate envelop eposits equence erestin ermites errucos ertebra ertical escribe especia etatars eversed eviceps evicept evidenc exclusi exempli extendi extends extreme familia femoral festyle firstly formati fossori fractio further glandul goldenb gystoma himself hnacing humerus hymenop ibiofib iceptid icularl idfishe ifestyl imilarl inclusi infrogs instead interes iofibul ischium isopter isposes keletal keleton kscherz landula largely largest lateral ldenboy lifesty llowing logical lusivel majorit marksch mations menopte mention metatar milarly minalis mplexus mplifie muscles muscula mygolde nalogou nboylou nclusio nection neither ngement ngystom nhnacin nnectio noptera normous nostoti noxious nsequen nswered nterest ntinuou ntribut ntuated nusuall nvelope nvelops oceedin ofibula oldenbo ologica omewhat ominali omprise onnecti onseque onsists ontinuo ontribu oologic opteran ormatio osition ossoria osterio ostotic oticall ounding oundnes outside parentl particu pattern peciall plified positio posteri pparent predisp probabl proceed properl pterans quarter queakin questio raction rainfro rangeme redispo relativ resting reverse revicep rkscher rmation robably roceedi roperly rostyle rounder roundin roundne rrangem rroundi rrowers rrucosu rtebrat rticula rucosus science scribed sculatu secrete sequenc sidfish similar skeleta skeleto society somewha soptera special squeaki ssorial sterior stomati stotica studied substan suppose surpris surroun synosto taneous tarsals tatarsa tebrate tending teresti termite therton tibiofi tically ticular tinuous tomatid totical tremely tribute typical ubstanc ueaking uestion ulature undness unusual urostyl urprise urround urrower uscular usculat usively usually utaneou veloped verruco version vertebr vertica vicepti vidence villier xclusiv xemplif xtendin xtremel ygolden ymenopt ynostot ystomat zoologi    297/78364164096    (297/8031810176)

8:    abdomina accentua actually ainfrogs allowing amplexus analogou angement answered apparent arkscher arrangem articula atarsals atherton bdominal biofibul brevicep burrower ccentuat ceedings centuate clusivel comprise connecti conseque consists continuo contribu culature cutaneou denboylo deposits describe disposes dominali edispose emplifie enboylou engystom enhnacin enoptera enormous entuated envelope envelops eresting errucosu ertebrat escribed especial etatarsa evicepti evidence exclusiv exemplif extendin extremel familiar formatio fossoria fraction glandula goldenbo gystomat hymenopt ibiofibu icularly idfishes ifestyle imilarly inclusio interest iofibula isoptera keletons landular ldenboyl lifestyl lusively majority marksche menopter metatars mplified muscular musculat mygolden nalogous nclusion nections ngystoma nhnacing nnection nopteran nostotic nsequenc nteresti ntinuous ntribute nusually nveloped oceeding oldenboy ological ominalis onnectio onsequen ontinuou ontribut oologica opterans ormation ossorial osterior ostotica otically oundness parently particul pecially position posterio pparentl predispo probably proceedi properly queaking question rainfrog rangemen redispos relative reversed reviceps revicept rkscherz rmations roceedin rounding roundnes rrangeme rroundin rrucosus rtebrate rticular sculatur sequence sidfishe similarl skeletal skeleton somewhat sopteran speciall squeakin stomatid stotical substanc surprise surround synostot tatarsal terestin termites tibiofib ticularl toticall ubstance unusuall urostyle urroundi urrowers usculatu utaneous verrucos vertebra vertical viceptid xclusive xemplifi xtending xtremely ygoldenb ymenopte ynostoti ystomati zoologic    189/2821109907456    (189/208827064576)

9:    abdominal accentuat analogous apparentl arkscherz arrangeme articular bdominali biofibula breviceps brevicept burrowers ccentuate centuated clusively connectio consequen continuou contribut cutaneous denboylou described dominalis edisposes emplified engystoma enhnacing enopteran enveloped errucosus ertebrate especiall etatarsal eviceptid exclusive exemplifi extending extremely formation fossorial glandular goldenboy gystomati hymenopte ibiofibul inclusion interesti isopteran ldenboylo lifestyle markscher menoptera metatarsa musculatu mygoldenb ngystomat nnections nopterans nostotica nsequence nterestin oceedings oldenboyl onnection onsequenc ontinuous ontribute oological ormations ostotical particula posterior pparently predispos proceedin rainfrogs rangement redispose revicepti roceeding roundness rrangemen rrounding rticularl sculature sidfishes similarly skeletons sopterans specially squeaking stoticall substance surroundi synostoti tatarsals teresting tibiofibu ticularly totically unusually urroundin usculatur verrucosu vertebrat xclusivel xemplifie ygoldenbo ymenopter ynostotic ystomatid zoologica    112/101559956668416    (112/5429503678976)

10:    abdominali accentuate apparently arrangemen articularl bdominalis brevicepti ccentuated connection consequenc continuous contribute engystomat enopterans especially etatarsals exclusivel exemplifie formations goldenboyl gystomatid hymenopter ibiofibula interestin isopterans ldenboylou markscherz menopteran metatarsal musculatur mygoldenbo ngystomati nostotical nteresting oldenboylo onnections onsequence ostoticall particular predispose proceeding redisposes reviceptid roceedings rrangement rticularly stotically surroundin synostotic tibiofibul urrounding usculature verrucosus vertebrate xclusively xemplified ygoldenboy ymenoptera ynostotica zoological    60/3656158440062976    (60/141167095653376)

11:    abdominalis accentuated arrangement articularly breviceptid connections consequence engystomati exclusively exemplified goldenboylo hymenoptera interesting menopterans metatarsals musculature mygoldenboy ngystomatid nostoticall oldenboylou ostotically particularl predisposes proceedings surrounding synostotica tibiofibula ygoldenboyl ymenopteran ynostotical    30/131621703842267136    (30/3670344486987776)

12:    engystomatid goldenboylou hymenopteran mygoldenboyl nostotically particularly synostotical ygoldenboylo ymenopterans ynostoticall    10/4738381338321616896    (10/95428956661682176)

13:    hymenopterans mygoldenboylo synostoticall ygoldenboylou ynostotically    5/170581728179578208256    (5/2481152873203736576)

14:    mygoldenboylou synostotically    2/6140942214464815497216    (2/64509974703297150976)

Why are rain frogs so round? What's /inside/ of them around such an itty bitty skeleton?

So it turns out this is a really interesting question.

The first thing we must be aware of is that rainfrogs as we see them in videos of them squeaking are not quite the same shape as they are when at rest:

[x]

But you are quite right, they are very round. This is exemplified by the skeletal photo you refer to:

[X]

So what are we seeing?

Well, firstly, note that the body cavity in these frogs actually envelops the femurs, such that only the tibiofibula (fused in frogs) and the tarsals and metatarsals are outside the body. The arms are quite similarly enveloped, but a bit of the humerus does extend outside the body cavity too. This predisposes them to a rounder body shape.

Next, note the ilia - the U-shaped bone in the pelvic region. These in some breviceptid frogs are synostotically fused with the sacrum - that is to say, they are bound by bone-based connections to the bow-shaped vertebra at their tips. This whole joint seems to be quite smooth, and as a consequence, the back of the frog is quite smooth. The other thing we can see here is that the urostyle (i.e. the frog version of a coccyx) juts quite far beyond the ischium and pubis. This extends the body cavity beyond the hips. Note also that the pelvic girdle seems to be largely below the spine, rather than the typical position for frogs behind it and continuous with it. This makes the legs sit below the spine, rather than at its end, enhnacing the vertical roundness of the animal.

Next, let’s talk some soft tissue. Now, I’m not as familiar with soft-tissue in frogs as I am their skeletons, so you’ll have to bear with me a bit (rawr). Beddard (1908!!) studied the soft tissue of Breviceps verrucosus Rapp 1842. It seems that the majority of the body of these frogs is actually muscle. Beddard noted that muscles join the leg at the knee that extend into the body cavity, such that the inclusion of the thigh in the body cavity is further accentuated by musculature. The rectus abdominalis muscle is unusually large, extending from the lower abdomen up and around the sides of the body. Indeed, this large size appears to be the pattern with all of the major muscles, though in the throat the typical arrangement of large and small muscles is somewhat reversed. On the lateral side of the head, there is a substance that is not muscle, but appears to be loose tissue in which sits what is apparently the thymus gland.

There is a very large gap between the end of the urostyle and the anus (one fifth of the total length of the frog), in which there are almost no muscles, save for the one surrounding the lower cloaca. On either side of this area, between the posterior-most muscles of the thigh, lie two large ‘lymph-hearts’, as described by Beddard. These are between one quarter and one third of the total length of the frog. A further lypmh-sac sits between these lymph-hearts and the skin of the femoral region, and they are thus probably analogous to the femoral lymph-sacs of other frogs.

I find it interesting that Beddard (1908) did not mention any glandular formations in the dorsal region. As is evidence from many images (see below), these frogs are able to secrete a white, sticky, noxious substance from their skin (which they actually have to use during amplexus, as the male is too small relative to the female to mount her properly, and so he sticks himself to her with his glandular glue… kinky).

[x]

These glands do not apparently take up a great deal of the cutaneous tissue, and so I suppose are of no consequence to the size of the frog, especially relative to its enormous muscles.

The diet of these frogs consists almost exclusively of hymenopterans and isopterans (ants and termites). Neither of these insect groups are particularly fatty, so it is little surprise that their bodies appear to contain no large fat deposits - fatty bodies extend from the gonads up to the lungs and heart, but these comprise only a tiny fraction of the frog’s mass, and don’t contribute to the round shape. Instead, their bodies are extremely muscular, allowing them to be adept burrowers, ideal for their fossorial lifestyle.

So TL;DR: rain frogs are little balls of muscle (maybe the largest muscle mass relative to body mass of any vertebrate? science just doesn’t know).

Ref:

Beddard, F.E. 1908. On the Musculature and other Points in the Anatomy of the Engystomatid Frog, Breviceps verrucosus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1908:11-41 [x]

[imaginelegends]

Arcane is Mid

Like in the proper sense of the term, its not fucking horrible - its not the worst thing in the whole wide existence of stories and media. Its not a flawed masterpiece, and certainly not a flawless masterpiece either.

It's just mid.

Like let's be real. You cannot fix the problems of Zaun within the lifespans of Ekko et al. This is a deeply rooted problem born from generations of pain and prejudice. And it wont be fixed by having Sevika on the Council (which credit where due, the show was skeptic of).

Change, the kind needed by the undercity - the goodness shown in that alternate timeline, requires work from the ground up. It would require foundation and community building between topside and the undercity - people from the undercity moving next door to topside folks, that sort of shit. It will require round table discussions, town halls, hospitals, and libraries - all sorts of resources and effort - the likes of which, a montage cannot and should not cover.

The amount of debt that topside has accumulated deserve a long and drawn out season to focus on and fix. And here's the piece de resistance: it will be BORING AS HELL. the kind of reformation and reparations that topside needs to give - it aint a showstopper. Audiences will be bored as fuck.

At least, granted such a political show would require audiences not to sit through fight scenes every episode and watch so much talking. LIKE SO MUCH. it would be chess and chess is exciting but its not blockbuster pew pew wham bam exciting.

And for all we know, the writers fully inteded for the ending to be bitter. Not bittersweet. Just bitter. Theyre all back to square one. Zaun has no guarantee that Piltover will look more kindly on them after fighting together through a war. This is implied by the dirty looks thrown Sevika's way. And maybe the memorial at the bridge could be a start. But its a cottonball in the wind. Its all maybe. Uncertain.

And honestly, I will take an uncertain future over a bullshit perfect future that is not informed by any of the hardship that has come before to this cast. I dont want to see an Act 3 ep 7 be a reality bc that future reeks of bullshit and abandons the complixeties that the story introduces.

So the story introduced a problem that it couldnt fix. It compromises by focusing on the big blockbuster fights by a proper hollywood-esque villain. Wows the audience with production. Wraps up the storylines as best as it can (with Jayce, Vik, Ekko, Vi, Cait, and Jinx - Mel is confusing to me so im not including her). Lampshades the continuing struggles that the undercity is going through, will keep going through, bc no one has a clean solution for generations of class warfare (AS THERE SHOULDNT BE).

And calls it a day.

And you know what? Alright.

I can live with that. I can live with an uncertain, bitter ending where we're right back from the start. Am I a huge raving fan? No. Am I huge raving hater? No. I think its fine - perfectly adequate. It's mid.

If Arcane had not set up such a banger of an S1, i might not be so disappointed by that. But for like any other show of lesser expectations, this wouldve been a fine ending.

As it is, Arcane raised the standards for me, failed to meet them. But Arcane shot for a different galaxy so you know, the fall is still freakin high. By the standards it set for itself, its a disappointment. By the standards of other shows, its pretty damn good. So you take the two and average out.

You get mid.