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themoomoorn · 4 years

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Random Thot #46,853

I had a health exam for my upcoming new job and put my two weeks in for my current one, so I’m rewarding my neurodivergent ass-brain with this. Sit tight and enjoy.

46,853: I’m half-convinced that Edelgard is like the Soul Series’ Alexandra sisters and daughter when it comes to her combat ability - or rather, lack thereof. Unlike Claude, Dimitri, and Byleth, who all explicitly received combat training as children, Edelgard likely did not. The tools given to her are what likely allow for her to fight at all - heck, they may even do a bit of the fighting for her. How else can a noodle-armed womanlet like her wear all that armor and heft that axe?

(Also, how the eff does this dress make clanking armor sounds when she walks in the game despite this dress having like no armor whatsoever)

To begin with, we have in-game factoids of her stat caps being the second highest in the game (390 when combined, with Cyril only beating her by 5 points due to his Aptitude skill), and she even has a magic cap that’s not only on-par with other magically-inclined units (72), but it’s actually better than some of them (Dorothea and Linhardt, who are both dedicated mage types, have caps of 61 and 66, respectively, while Manuela, who tends to get placed in Faith Magic-aligned classes despite being a hybrid unit, has a piddling cap 48). She even has a quirky but feasible spell list for both magic types (Fire/Bolganone/Luna Lambda/Hades Omega for Reason, and Heal/Nosferatu/Recover/Seraphim for Faith, which is one of her banes, mind you). I imagine this is the work of the experiments that gave her her version of the Crest of Flames - after all, the 2020 DREAM interview noted that the Hresvelg children were given a more “refined” version of the experiments the Ordelias had. The refinement isn’t just reflected in-game with caps and magic too; Edelgard is also more robust in terms of health, whereas Lysithea is prone to bouts of weakness and illness. In-game, she has poor Luck and Strength, and the single lowest HP cap of all the playable units at 48. And while this one is admittedly conjecture, Edelgard doesn’t hint that her lifespan was drastically cut, as she gets to live a long life in all of her endings. Even in her Crest-heavy ending with Hanneman or her healthcare-related ending with Manuela don’t mention that she had one or both of her Crests taken out. Lysithea, on the other hand, is extensively motivated by the fact that she doesn’t have many years left, and it’s only in two endings (Lorenz, Balthus) where she’s able to live fairly long without removing her Crests; The rest either have her dying young or being able to live long only after her Crests are taken out.

Now what of her combat abilities? Let’s turn to the source of where this silly thot came from.

For the uninitiated, Sophitia Alexandra, a fighter who’s been in the Soul Franchise since its very first game, did not grow up as a dedicated combatant like the other fighters - she was an ordinary baker living in Athens during the late 16th Century when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire. When she was bathing in a lake one day, she received a message from Hephaestus himself in that she has a divine destiny to destroy the cursed blade Soul Edge, and he gifts her with a divinely crafted short sword and shield in order to fulfill her mission. While she does gain training in Athenian combat styles, a lot of her power and capabilities are tied to her weapon set, which are named the Omega Sword and Elk Shield. Her younger sister Cassandra would follow suit in SoulCalibur II, actually going out of her way to steal the same holy armaments Sophitia used in Soul Edge and SoulCalibur I before getting her own specially empowered set.

(Sophitia Alexandra)

And Pyrrha, Sophitia’s daughter in SoulCalibur V, takes it to new heights. Per a data book, the timid, mistreated Pyrrha has absolutely no combat experience, not even in self-defense. While Sophitia and Cassandra were able to train themselves into formidable soldiers outside of their divine weapons’ influences, this is not true for Pyrrha. If it were not for the sword and shield Pyrrha wielded (which is the same exact set Sophitia wielded before her passing), her clumsy attacks and timid guard stances would amount to ineffectual, useless flailing.

(Info about Pyrrha’s fighting style from the SCV data book)

Back to the Egg. Now it’s made abundantly clear that while Dimitri’s Jean Valjean-levels of raw strength heavily stem from his Crest, he’s also from the land where, in lieu of milk and honey, there’s extreme sports jock training in heavy armor in the dead of night with boulders for weights and weapon mastery. Dimitri loves to train, and it’s a big aspect of his character. The tritagonist of his route is also one of his combat trainers, and he’s done that job for three generations’ worth of Faerghus royalty, with his ending hinting that he keeps doing it for one more. I imagine that even without the Crest of Blaiddyd, Dimitri would still be extremely strong and formidable, he’d just have to actually exert himself a little when saving some poor soul from a runaway cart.

(Just in case the savior imagery wasn’t clear enough with Dimitri, he even did lift a cart the way eventual saint Jean Valjean did in the book/musical)

Claude is far more in favor of covert combat, and his own Crest is more defensive than offensive, but he’s no slouch either, having had a renowned war general serve as his combat instructor since childhood. He’s from a kingdom that, much like Faerghus, values the way of the warrior and prides itself on the strength of its people. His hidden talent, tying to wyvern mastery, is in friggin axes, and he’s also shown to be adept enough with a sword at various points. Plus there’s the fact that he was abused and mistreated by his Almyran family, complete with his father plopping him on a horse and making the horse ride off with him backwards with no safety net as a form of punishment - Claude tells Hilda that there was a “trick” in how he survived that. As any horse jockey can attest to, you need raw muscle in every part of your body in order to really ride one, and I imagine that’s doubly true for your local albino wyvern that’s decked out in Ottoman visual puns. Plus learning how to be crafty and protecting oneself more covertly undoubtedly contributed to his combat abilities too.

(I mean you’d have to be shredded if you can pull off the Parthian shot on a fucking flying dragon. 61 Strength cap my ass.)

Byleth, as we know, grew up as a mercenary to the point of detriment. There’s no need to go into extensive detail as to how Jeralt sacrificed almost everything else in exchange for contributing to Byleth’s combat abilities without being abusive and cruel, but even if you took away Byleth’s self-insert aspects, they’d likely bear a passing resemblance to Rei Ayanami in terms of behavior and attitude - An intended vessel/Avatar for a divine being from one end; Conditioned for little more than combat from another end. Kind of a gloomy picture before she starts to express herself better and actually bond with other people meaningfully.

(At least she’s cute as a button. Kinda like Rei.)

But where does that leave Edelgard? It’s a big question mark. There’s no mention of her growing up with any kind of combat training, unlike the other three. Heck, if tea time, Crimson Flower, and Heroes quotes are anything to go by, Edelgard grew up living a carefree lifestyle prior to the Insurrection. She got to stuff her face with sweets and play with teddy bears and both dote and be doted on by her siblings. Being child number 9 in her current generation, combat training and political studies likely weren’t major priorities for her, and since it’s speculated that Ionius favored her mother, she was likely lavished and spoiled by him. After all, he expresses grief for her specifically when she inherits the throne from him, not the rest of her siblings.

(Even the official merchandise notes how childish Edelgard is)

(This is all after she literally kickstarts her war, by the way).

While there’s varying degrees of elaborate flair that the Lords all wield their weapons with, Edelgard’s regular strikes with an axe feel far less rigid and more informal, and she’ll spin around her axe like it’s some kind of prop. Her default battle stance isn’t even remotely protective and quite impractical; Dimitri’s stance with a lance is both of these things, while Claude’s arrow-twirling is a real-life exercise that’s done to keep the wrist flexible. While she does refine her axe skills come Part II, she’ll still do things like throw her massive shield ten feet in the air for a critical hit.

(Seriously what even is this why is your hand out like that)

There’s even some proof of this: In her study request for axes and heavy armor, Edelgard will even acknowledge that the only reason she can likely keep up and wear heavy armor at all is because of her Crests. And unlike Dimitri and Claude, who can get lesson plans for their respective Hidden Talents once they’re mastered (Horse riding for Dimitri, axes for Claude), Edelgard doesn’t get a lesson plan for Reason Magic, which is her Hidden Talent, so she likely didn’t get any kind of formal education surrounding magic either.

(She has a similar quote in Heroes that’s even more explicit about this.)

The closest hint we get in Edelgard maybe having a hint of training as a child is in her Supports with Ferdinand, and even then, there’s no clear cut hint noting that his failures in beating her were combat-based. She’s able to one-hit KO him in their B Support, but it’s locked to Part II and at this point she’s been both riding on the power highs of her Crests along with actually taking combat seriously. She even says that their difference in skill level isn’t that great.

(Should’ve used Swift Strikes, Ferdie)

What’s more, in addition to all of those enhancements, she not only spends a lot of Part I in a custom set of armor that only archaic technology from the Agarthans can make, but they also made her a custom Relic that’s tailor-made to her specifications. The other Relics as well as the Sacred Weapons, being over a thousand years old, still require their wielders to train in order to wield them properly, and in the case of the Relics, their potential cannot be fully tapped into unless the wielder’s Crest matches the Relic they’re wielding. There’s also that particular safety issue, per what happens with Sylvain’s brother Miklan. But this is not the case with Aymr, which is brand new, has a mismatched Crest that doesn’t negatively affect Edelgard, and requires the Agarthan tech-compatible Agarthium to fix, not the Umbral Steel that’s used to fix both the Heroes’ Relics and other Crest Stone weapons like the Vajra-Mushti. The Aymr’s specific Combat Art even emulates the oft-broken Galeforce skill from Awakening and Fates. It feels like that Aymr in particular is the Edelgard what Hephaestus’ swords and shields are to the Alexandra family.

Now I don’t really think that an Edelgard who’d be stripped of her Crest of Flames, the Amyr, or her special Flame Emperor armor, would be as hapless as Pyrrha would be without her mother’s sword and shield. I imagine she likely started to do some kind of formal combat training once the experiments were done with, not just to kickstart her dreams of imperial conquest, but also to protect herself anyway after everything that happened; She’s also the only Hresvelg heiress of her generation left. There’s also her natural Minor Crest of Seiros to consider. But if you stripped all that away from her, then her ability to fight probably would come off as useless flailing to the other three more experienced combatants.

All those cakes and that lack of muscle would at least catch up to her, anyway.

#fe3h #fe3h meta #fire emblem three houses #edelgard von hresvelg #edelgard critical #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #byleth eisner #headcanons #ramblings #soulcalibur #this literally popped into my head one day #seriously #edelgard isnt buff you cant change my mind

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daleisgreat · 4 years

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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

A movie podcast I listen to, The Big Picture, did a recent episode on the 10th anniversary of 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (trailer). Coincidentally enough, that film remains in my backlog box all these years later, so I made sure to re-watch it before giving that podcast a listen. For those unfamiliar with this film, it is based on a series of six graphic novels of the same name by Bryan Lee O’Malley released between 2004 and 2010. The basic gist is that Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) falls for newcomer to town, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). In order to win her over Pilgrim has to defeat Ramona’s “Seven Evil Ex’s.” Scott spends the rest of the film exploring Ramona’s mysterious past and dueling her ex’s while practicing with his band, Sex Bo-Bomb, as they progress through a battle of the bands tournament. Sex Bo-Bomb is one slick act! Stephen Stills (Mark Webber) is the doom-and-gloom frontman of the band. Kim Pine (Alison Pill) is a 2010 take on Daria and effectively nails her vintage expressionless glares and blunt quips. Young Neil (Johnny Simmons) is the affable, DS-loving, always ready alternate for Sex Bo-Bomb. Their #1 fan and also other girlfriend of Scott Pilgrim is one Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Knive’s arc is probably my favorite of this ensemble cast as her journey from adoring fan and girlfriend to her final destination is a fascinating quest to see develop and a faithful translation from the books.

I first heard of the books on the videogame podcast, Team Fremont Live where they reviewed the first book and their breakdown of it caught my attention when they dissected all the nonstop videogame references that are peppered regularly throughout it. The film captures that imagery to a T where it feels like Pilgrim is living in a real life videogame. In this world suspending disbelief is required because it is jam-packed with extraordinarily choreographed battle scenes, makes anyone capable of instantly pulling off bombastic martial arts moves in the blink of an eye without any training whatsoever, and quirky little animations of objects like Mario Bros.-esque coins and pixelated items inserted throughout that any videogame fan will pick up on. The fighting game fan in me popped a little each time a thunderous “KO” blared out each time Pilgrim emerged victorious after an evil ex duel. As a lifelong fan of videogames, it was fun picking up on all the references and Easter eggs in the background throughout. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World hit at an interesting time where Michael Cera was the only established star at this point in 2010 and was riding the last wave of critical success coming off of Arrested Development, Superbad and Juno. Brandon Routh is noteworthy appearing here as one of the evil ex’s after flaming out in his single appearance in a Superman film. However, a few other stars are here right before they exploded into bigger success like the aforementioned Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Chris Evan is here as another evil-ex shortly after his two Fantastic Four films, but a year before donning the Captain America costume for the first time. Anna Kendrick is here in a small role as Scott’s sister Stacey while in the midst of her initial Twighlight run. Finally, Brie Larson is here as Scott’s evil-ex, Envy Adams and she is the lead for her band, Clash at Demonhead in my personal favorite musical performance of the film as they belt out “Black Sheep.”

It is worth repeating that I highly recommend suspending all disbelief going into Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and simply roll with it. The battle scenes are a hoot to take in and feature a ton of CG that holds up well ten years later. It is also worth pointing out this film is part absurd videogame battles, part early 20s love triangle drama and to a lesser extent part musical with several performances from Sex Bo-Bomb and other bands throughout the film. Director Edgar Wright tracked down a few bands to play the tracks for some of the featured bands in the film such as Beck performing the handful of Sex Bo-Bomb songs in addition to a slew of other tracks from artists like The Rolling Stones and Blood Red Shoes that perfectly supplement the outlandish tone of the film. It is not too often on here I recommend hunting down the soundtracks for a film, but the soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World I wholeheartedly recommend! I think the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World BluRay may have set the record for amount of extra features for a single film in the near seven years of movies I have covered on this blog. A rough tally on my notes gives an approximate sum of nearly five hours of bonuses, and then four feature length commentary tracks on top of that! I will not detail every bonus, but will give some highlights of the ones that stood out for me. There is just under a half hour of deleted scenes with or without commentary from Edgar Wright. Most of them are extended scenes from the first act to trim out excess background info, but an alternate ending is what stood out the most that Wright explained he changed because it did not go over that well in test screenings. I can always appreciate a good blooper reel, and an excellent 10 minute reel is compiled here that I would rate right up with the stellar ones in the Marvel films.

There are three features grouped together in the ‘Docs’ section of the extras tallying up to a little over an hour. If you only had time for one of the five hours of bonuses I would go there because that has the core making of documentary which breaks down collaborating with Bryan Lee ‘O Malley, nailing the casting, detailing the extensive stunt training and interviews several of the bands about being featured in the soundtrack. Speaking of the soundtrack, there are four music videos included. Definitely check out the four minute animated short, Scott Pilgrim vs. Animation that is essentially a prequel to the film that dives into Scott and Kim’s former relationship. There are 12 ‘Video Blogs’ totaling 45 minutes that are raw on set interviews with the cast and crew between takes that sees the crew up to all kinds of mischief to kill downtime. This BluRay easily has the largest photo gallery of any home video I have covered with several hundred photos. One gallery is labeled ‘storyboards’ but each storyboard panel is nearly identical to the excellent quality of the art in Bryan Lee O’Malley books so that is essentially a free comic book adaptation of the movie buried in the extras! I experienced all four of the commentary tracks in one re-watch of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World via jumping around to a different commentary about every five minutes. Edgar Wright is on two of them, one with Bryan Lee ‘O Malley and writer Michael Bocall and the other with photography director Bill Pope. The other two commentaries are split among nine cast members, with Michael Cera and the rest of the leading cast on one and the ancillary cast members on the other cast commentary track. Wright has tons of nonstop insight and production facts on his tracks, and the cast tracks are have a lot of fun anecdotes such as Cera failing at trying to get additional people on the commentary via phone call. On top of the commentary I had on during my re-watch was also a factoid subtitle track to really take in the extra features. Despite going on now for three paragraphs about the bonus features, I think I only touched on about half of what is available, and it is truly astonishing to see how much they crammed into one BluRay disc.

A part of me thought going into this that Scott Pilgrim vs. the World would not hold up after 10 years. I would chalk that up to thinking I may have got easily won over with all the hype from being vastly into the books back then and being too caught up into the build to the film’s initial release. I can put those reservations to rest thankfully as I immensely enjoyed this ode to videogame fandom as much as I first did in 2010. Throw in a plethora of extra features to last all year to make Scott Pilgrim vs. the World one of my highest recommendations yet! If you want even more commentary from me about this film than below I have embedded the podcast I originally recorded 10 years ago shortly after seeing the film on its opening weekend. I bring on a couple other special guest hosts that are also ardent Scott Pilgrim fans and we review the film, soundtrack, the books and the videogame. Enjoy!

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I brought on a couple other Scott Pilgrim experts on as guest hosts on my podcast to review the film, books, videogame and soundtrack shortly after they all released 10 years ago. Check it out in the embed above for more Scott Pilgrim goodness or click or press here to queue it up for later. Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street The Accountant Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron The Avengers: Infinity War Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: Civil War Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Countdown Creed I & II Deck the Halls Detroit Rock City Die Hard Dredd The Eliminators The Equalizer Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Grunt: The Wrestling Movie Guardians of the Galaxy Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Hell Comes to Frogtown Hercules: Reborn Hitman I Like to Hurt People Indiana Jones 1-4 Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Jobs Joy Ride 1-3 Last Action Hero Major League Man of Steel Man on the Moon Man vs Snake Marine 3-6 Merry Friggin Christmas Metallica: Some Kind of Monster Mortal Kombat Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpions Revenge National Treasure National Treasure: Book of Secrets Not for Resale Pulp Fiction The Replacements Reservoir Dogs Rocky I-VIII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Shoot em Up Slacker Skyscraper Small Town Santa Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Sully Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars Vision Quest The War Wild The Wizard Wonder Woman The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Apocalypse X-Men: Days of Future Past

#random movie #scott pilgram vs the world #edgar wright #michael cera #brie larson #Brandon Routh #Anna Kendrick #mary elizabeth winstead #ellen wong #mark webber #bryan lee o'malley #allison pill #Chris Evans #videogames

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vaguely-concerned · 6 years

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empire of ivory here we go!

previous temeraire let’s read here

- um excuuuuse me I have waited two books for us to come back home to britain to see everyone again and now everything is awful and shitty and scary and my fave is leaving and nothing’s how it should be??? no??? this is unfair??????

- tharkay NO please don’t go everything provably goes to hell whenever you leave D:D:D:

(to be fair to him I guess it’s understandable to want some time alone to process the absolute outrageous bullshit he just pulled for a guy he’s known for like four months)

he used his page time well tho; instantly convincing roland of his worth and making her laugh... giving laurence his cup of tea b/c he looked like he needed it more... telling laurence that he’s leaving because he promised to do that much at least... truly the best boy, off to fetch more dragons apparently because it wasn’t quite crazy enough the first time

- god I love jane roland, I’m so glad my two faves got along instantly, between them they could... maybe protect laurence from himself? at least a little??? I can but dream

- I think this is the most emotionally invested I’ve been in a piece of media since that time I spent a few months completely incoherent over uncharted, and naughty dog very kindly held my heart in their hands and chose to be gentle with it in the end but I am not so sure that is how it’s going to be for this series and I am Not Prepared for the suffering

- I love whenever laurence thinks uncomfortably about one of the various and sundry atrocities committed by the government he’s still pledged all his loyalty to. yes william maybe the british empire... is in fact not good and has enough blood on their hands to dye the ocean red. I can’t wait until he connects the dots here (and presumably has a pretty intense crisis if faith about it because it seems like one of the loadbearing structures of his character... actually no wait I’m not ready to see this D:D:D:)

- the little details like the fact that he just calls bb!roland ‘emily’ and harcourt becomes ‘catherine’ so easily in his narration now are so so sweet

- lord allendale is one of those dudes who have good politics but is a shitheel to his family and I want to smack him

laurence being the mortified poster boy of this party, though? priceless, imagine coming up with a protagonist this effortlessly involuntarily hilarious, it’s the mark of true genius

- I don’t usually quibble over things like this, but I think the edit for this fourth book specifically is a bit lacking? I’ve come across a lot of mistakes even my dumb ass can pick up on already, and I’m only a hundred pages or so in

- caught between crying and cackling at this part b/c like laurence I’m d e v a s t a t e d at the thought of temeraire getting sick but also temeraire is just like cheerfully getting laid the whole time

also how did none of the aviators think to give laurence The Talk about giving his dragon The Talk, you all know what he’s like

- oh thank god

- I have spent half of today crying about dragons coughing, how are you this fine evening good reader

- btw this series fills a hole in my soul left by jkr giving me all those tantalizing hints of different types of dragons in ‘fantastic beasts’ and never following up on it

- tharkay may not be here but laurence just mentioned him like once in his narration so let’s take the excuse to reminisce about the good old days (when tharkay was here)... remember that time when the one of his own jokes he laughed openly at was about lawyers and laurence frankly should have responded better b/c it was kind of funny and sadly temeraire doesn’t have the worldly experience to know it yet.... aaah precious, he truly is a sardonic blessing to my heart and deserves the world

okay back to our regularly scheduled content

- riley why u gotta b such a bitch about this

(I love how laurence is constantly doubting himself over this tho, as if he’s done something wrong in this situation... like honey baby if there’s one thing worth breaking a friendship over it’s probably them being cool with slavery lol. it shows how much laurence has grown, considering that this disagreement has always existed between them but he used to be willing to just overlook it... I’m so proud of you laurence)

also lol @ berkely coming in to tell them everyone can hear them, I have a desperately soft spot for him and maximus. just the image of both of them turning to him ‘united in appalled indignation’ like ‘excuse you???’ and him giving exactly zero fucks... *chef kiss emoji*

- most important information revealed in this book: a) dragons are not widely considered to have committed original sin, thank you reverend erasmus and b) laurence has taken time out of his day at some point to worry about it b/c he’s a dork

(this is the sort of world building I am hopelessly weak to lol)

- gong su tricking temeraire into eating in the most melodramatic way possible... god bless you chef

- fkjhsadkjfhsdkjalhfaskjldhf laurence judging chenery for what he’s wearing while going out into the jungle in full uniform hat included himself... I caaaaan’t

- demane has only appeared on three pages so far but if anything happens to him I’ll kill everyone in this book and then myself

- ‘average dragon speaks one million languages’ factoid actualy statistical error. Temeraire Linguist Georg, who wants a pavilion thank you very much & learns over 10,000 languages each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted <3<3<3

(I love that temeraire is like... a nerd dragon with a hopelessly jock captain)

- laurence effortlessly rating the relative hotness of the other male aviators to try to suss out who harcourt has slept with fjsaldfhsdkljafh do you ever hear yourself think william

like this is the thing about him it’s so easy to headcanon him as bi b/c he can be so mindbogglingly oblivious it’s entirely possible he literally wouldn’t even have noticed until someone smacked him over the head with it

- see I’m very happy they found the cure but I don’t fucking trust it b/c the pattern of these books tends to be to give you one moment of ‘oh phew everything is going to be okay’ about 2/3 into the story and THEN everything goes to hell and fifty pages later laurence is dissociating and napoleon has conquered prussia

- THERE WE GO RIGHT ON SCHEDULE

temeraire is never going to let laurence go anywhere without him again and rightly so

- hasn’t mrs erasmus been through enough. can’t she just be allowed to chill

- this is really cool world building but I’m too stressed out to appreciate it

really enjoy the description of architecture tho this sounds so awesome

- sfahdfklsahdfksjda laurence making sure his clothes are as washed and presentable as possible... I can’t with you you beautiful idiot

- TEMERAIRE OH MY GOD IS HE HERE IS LAURENCE HALLUCINATING PLS SAY HE’S ACTUALLY HERE

- ...well I mean if anyone has a freudian excuse for being kind of dickish I guess it would be these guys? it’s actually pretty chill of them to only flog one of them (laurence, because he just can’t play it any way but stupid lawful good at every turn) and not just killing them all I guess, they kept them fed and stuff

- oh thank god

- temeraire you are the most darling dragon boy and I love you

I was really really worried for a moment there that the reference to the Colosseum was a not-so-subtle hint they would have to gladiator fight to the death but thankfully they were basically just calling in a parliament

- DID THIS MOTHERFUCKER JUST STAB A CHILD IN THE STOMACH?? I HOPE HE ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTS HIMSELF IN THE DICK AND DIES pls say demane is going to be okay

- aw okay finally something good for mrs erasmus I will take it

- laurence you useless fool of a narrator is demane okay??

- god roland is just so cool naomi novik really gave us a jovial butch silver fox aviator lady huh... she did that for us and I for one am full of gratitude

- oh thank GOD (hm I sense a running theme here lol) the kid is going to be okay I can breathe again

- iskierka the pirate captain + temeraire’s reaction... perfect

- ;____________; I would lay down my life for temeraire and also that’s a gutpunch of a moodswing... the perfect hilarity of ‘that is an ugly hill’ immediately followed by That... jesus

- awww every time volly shows up again is a joy (temrer!!!)

- laurence... laurence you need to stop asking people to marry you because you never actually really fucking mean it!!!!! have you learned nothing about yourself since book 1, trust your goddamn instincts for once in your life you and roland have been doing perfectly okay thus far as like... affectionate fuckbuddies right?

(her reaction was priceless tho god bless)

- aaaah there we go the british government is looking more like itself... welcome to the world of realpolitik laurence I’m really sorry :(

- “It is only dragons, you know” JANE ROLAND WTF DID YOU JUST SAY

- “This government is not of my party; my king is ill and mad; but still I am his subject. You have sworn no oath, but I have.” He paused. “I have given my word.”

:) this is... fine

(like. I know this is necessary character growth and he’s basically been a waste of a good man in service to a government like this the whole time and the writing’s been on the wall since book 1 but I don’t want this to be happening to hiiiiim)

- tfw... ur dragon boi is so good... that being anything less than good for him in turn is unthinkable...................... b o i

- ...jane doesn’t really know him very well if she didn’t see this coming from a mile off tho does she

I mean I guess she has other stuff to think about but this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone

- remember when he thought the entire corps was weird and now he’s finally at home there... and has to leave it behind :):):) super extra fine is what this is

- yeah okay laurence definitely has a crush on ol’ bonaparte noting that down lol he’s all but blushing after that kiss on the cheek

also... if you just overlook the dictator thing for a moment is napoleon wrong about what he’s saying tho. (no and not even laurence is prepared to say so he’s just going to go back there and get murdered anyway b/c idk lawful good is dumb as fuck sometimes I guess)

It’s really cool how the author shows that napoleon has a better handle on laurence’s psychology after barely meeting him than a lot of people he’s known for years now, though, really adds to his menace and appeal as a character

- wow uh that’s one way to end a book... it’s actually tipped over from tragedy into a strange sort of hilarity for me now: he literally got sued out of his life’s earnings for being a decent human being, committed treason for the same reason and is about to be hanged for thinking genocide might have been a step too far -- in the span of thirty pages. I believe ‘that escalated quickly’ is not too much of an exaggeration here

- SIPHO IS GONNA WRITE BOOKS ONE DAY YOU GUYS!!!! I PROUDLY WELCOME OUR SECOND NERD TO THE CREW

- I think this one might be my least favorite so far? not that I disliked it, it’s just the one that’s hit the worst by the fact that there’s not always that much time spent with the cultures central to the book; tswana seems really interesting but because of the way the plot played out and our limited perspective though laurence it just didn’t work for me? the cool shit comes in sipho’s book at the end, like how thoroughly they kicked the europeans out of the coast of africa, which is very cathartic (I will say that most of the second book being set on the ship and then only a sliver of it is actually in china annoyed me too haha)

I have the distinct feeling this book is setting up for some Misery and breaking of the pattern a bit in the next one though, which will be interesting! ONWARDS TO MORE PAIN AND LAURENCE IS ALREADY PASSIVELY SUICIDAL FROM THE OUTSET SO LIKE... I’M SURE THIS WILL BE REAL FUN :)

maybe my boy will be back tho? silver linings silver linings clinging to some silver linings

#temeraire #empire of ivory #meta

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bondsfated-m-blog · 6 years

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Really LONG CHARACTER SURVEY. RULES. repost, don’t reblog !! TAGGED. no one in particular. TAGGING. anyone and everyone.

BASICS.

FULL NAME : arvio ramal NICKNAME : vio AGE : unknown, presumed 18+ BIRTHDAY : unknown, chose april 1st ETHNIC GROUP : unknown, presumed vacuoan NATIONALITY : vacuoan LANGUAGE / S : fluent in the common tongue and proficient in a dialect of vacuoan. SEXUAL ORIENTATION : pansexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : panromantic RELATIONSHIP STATUS : it’s complicated with both his patron and his mentor. SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS : middle HOMETOWN / AREA : city of vacuo CURRENT HOME : the second floor of a city shop. PROFESSION : student / hunter

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : black, with natural rust / copper highlights. regardless of length, it’s unruly and defies the best of efforts of whomever attempts to tame it. EYES : hazel. NOSE : upturned. FACE : diamond. LIPS : he has them. COMPLEXION : dark tan. BLEMISHES : none. SCARS : none. TATTOOS : none. HEIGHT : 6′1″ WEIGHT : hovers around 180 lbs. BUILD : rectangular body shape. body type is the ectomorph. he has lean muscle. NOTABLE FEATURES : maned wolf ears with coppery black fur and white tufts. disproportionately long legs. wolf’s tail, with copper fur that turns white at the end. ALLERGIES : none. USUAL HAIR STYLE : prior to the academy, his hair skimmed his mid-back. shortly after settling into team azur, it was chopped to a more practical intermediate length. in whatever style, his hair is thick and naturally spikes. good luck to whomever is attempting to brush it. for a reference, see this post and the image on the right. USUAL FACE LOOK : keenly interested yet easily distracted. usually cheerful. USUAL CLOTHING : a sleeveless, white, v-neck shirt ( intricate blue embroidery borders the sleeves and neck ). dark belt. dark pants with blue and gold designs down the seams, tucked into dark boots that reach just above the knee. several thin gold necklaces trail at differing lengths -- a deep blue jewel hangs from one. a gold armband on his right arm, in the form of a coiled snake with tiny versions of the same blue jewel set as its eyes. occasionally, a wide scarf is tucked across a shoulder and under his belt.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : the unknown surrounding the past. losing the parts of himself he currently has. a shadow, lurking at the corners of his vision. its scent of ash, decay, and disease. ASPIRATION / S : to learn as much as possible from shade academy. to remember the years and people he’s forgotten. to travel with his mentor, as equals. POSITIVE TRAITS : curious. inventive. enthusiastic. devoted to his mentor, his sister, and his studies. NEGATIVE TRAITS : childish. defensive. short-tempered. stubborn. prideful, yet with an overall confidence that’s tanked. naive. MBTI : enfp-t. ZODIAC : aries. TEMPEREMENT : the sanguine. SOUL TYPE / S : the spiritualist. ANIMALS : baboon. VICE HABIT / S : can apologize, profusely to the degree of annoyance. prone to sleeping in. dodges details about himself.

FAITH : spirit worship. GHOSTS ? : yes. AFTERLIFE ? : yes. REINCARNATION ? : yes. ALIENS ? : why not. POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : n/a ECONOMIC PREFERENCE : he and his mentor hover firmly at middle class, primarily due to the rarity of their shop’s wares and the price they command. SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION : equality is a concept he supports. he has a general wariness for elected officials / nobles -- with the notable exception of his patron. EDUCATION LEVEL : meets the overall minimum standards of education. reads at a high level.

FAMILY.

FATHER : unknown MOTHER : unknown SIBLINGS : unknown EXTENDED FAMILY : none. however, he considers his mentor to be the most important person in his life. NAME MEANING / S : arvio means wanderer. ramal means sand and is one of the surnames available to those who don’t have one from birth. HISTORICAL CONNECTION ? : the aztec deity xolotl.

FAVORITES.

BOOK : he will devour whatever reading material is available. topics he gravitates towards most often include the arcane, history, and oddball factoids. MOVIE : he’ll sit for anything, but he particularly likes oddball documentaries and anything related to food and travel. 5 SONGS : one of his favorite things to do is wander the markets and listen to the musicians gathered for the day. the odder the instrument, the more he’s attracted to it.

DEITY : he honors a variety of deities, primarily nature spirits and those represented on his cards. HOLIDAY : he’s torn between the large festivals held in the spring and fall. MONTH : any during springtime. SEASON : spring. PLACE : he doesn’t remember traveling outside of the city. however, his patron’s gardens and his mentor’s home in the desert are the two places he seeks for comfort. WEATHER : clear, with a slight breeze. SOUND : his mentor at work. SCENT / S : incense. spices at the market. pumpkin bread, freshly made. lapsang souchong. any tagine. roasting meat. TASTE / S : savory and spicy. a hint of sweetness. FEEL / S : the arcana in his hands, accompanied with their small jolt of power that leaves his fingers tingling. his mentor’s hair. water. ANIMAL / S : any canine. a particular ball python. NUMBER : one. COLORS : blue, silver, red.

EXTRA.

TALENTS : his connection with the arcana. his semblance ( summoning cards that store objects and spells ). sleight of hand. hiding a ball python under his shirt. BAD AT : taking advice from those who aren’t his mentor and sister. being patient. TURN ONS : his mentor. his patron. confidence. easy-going. TURN OFFS : focusing on his faunus traits rather than him as a person. dismissing his mentor and their arcane skills. superiority, at the expense of putting him down. HOBBIES : caring for his mentor’s ball python. wandering the markets. providing tarot readings. clubbing. TROPES : attention deficit...ooh shiny! back from the dead. beware the silly ones. beware the nice ones. good is not soft. in touch with his feminine side. meaningful name. kindhearted simpleton. parental abandonment. sad clown. skilled but naive. AESTHETIC TAGS : n/a QUOTES : (1) “ if ignorance is bliss, then knowing will be the death of me. ” (2) “ but something drags me with fear teeth / i don’t know what i want. ” (3) “ apocalypse boy you won’t destroy all that you touch. you are more than your darkness and more than the death you carry in your hands. ” (4) the lyrics of run boy run, by woodkid

FC INFO.

MAIN FC / S : keaton, from fire emblem fates, is the closest reference. ALT FC / S : none, but searching. OLDER FC / S : none, but searching. YOUNGER FC / S : N/A VOICE CLAIM / S : none, but searching. GENDERBENT FC / S : N/A

#* CHAR. STUDY / ARVIO.

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hugh-hiab-leo · 3 years

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Interview with Dr. Sy Stokes on Police Brutality

The stakeholders in police brutality could be anyone but the issue seems to affect African Americans disproportionately as long as law enforcement has existed in the United States. Protests and activism seem to raise awareness and catalyze the justice system reaction to hold assailants accountable for their actions, such is with the Officer Chauvin case. One prominent activist is Dr. Sy Stokes who Black/Chinese postdoctoral fellow for the National Center for Institutional Diversity. His primary research is focused on campus racial climate and racial equity. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a BA in African American studies, earned his master's degree in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed his PhD in education at the University of Southern California (USC). He addressed many topics including Police Brutality, Defunding the Police, Anti-Asian Hate, and Respect for the Elderly. He sets up diversity meetings across the nation in Universities and Institutions and focuses on students’ response to racism on campus, and challenging history and tradition to educate the younger generation. He, along with 11 others including PhD students and faculty members, pioneered the Black Ruins Campaign in UCLA in which they directly challenged the University’s claim of being the most diverse school in the world. The data was later exposed on social media including YouTube which garnered millions of views. He talks about this in detail during the interview when we asked him what movements he has been part in. He encourages us, the youth, who often feel powerless in our social status to really use our power in social media, protests, and education. He says the youth are the best chance a movement has in changing the status quo. “Don’t be afraid to go against the grain” is what Dr. Stokes says. Police Brutality, Anti-Asian Hate, Sexism, and other forms of prejudice will always exist, however, progress must continue to move forward and that is done by activism and leading social change.

We had a chance to interview him on May 5, 2021 at the end of the meeting between 12:00pm - 2:00pm on zoom to answer us questions pertaining police brutality.

Interview Transcript:

Our Team: What have you been involved in besides what is on your description?

Dr. Stokes: ”I along with 11 other black activists at UCLA back in 2013, created the black ruins campaign. We took the university to task about the lack of black students at UCLA, I believe it was less than 4%, now it is 4% exactly. Its been a decade and hasn’t really changed much. But the reason why we went after the University is that we understood that UCLA kept boasting that it is the most diverse University in the world, has the most undergraduate applicants of any school in the world, so on. And we understood that, above all else, the most important two things of college universities is one, reputation, and two, is money. The reason I put them in that order is because when you have reputation, it doesn't matter if you have money, you will get that money, from donors and what not. So reputation is always number one. So we destroyed the reputation of this institution and really exposed what is going on behind closed doors. We took the data that was not available to the public and but we put together ourselves , we were able to make system change, because all of the sudden, it flips the status quo on its back, and it shows the world who they really are. The whole calpain worked and we got millions of views on YouTube, but most importantly, it created these mobilization campaigns in multiple universities. Here in University of Michigan with #BBUM, one in Harvard #ITOO, Mizzoui with the Hunger Strike in 2015 that was successful, and we kept seeing within that era the student activism, students were taking their universities to task by exposing what was happening behind closed doors. That can happen in any institution, and you must evaluate what is important to your institution, and figure out a way to leverage that. You cannot get fired like you are in a job, you are a student and you have a lot more power than you realize. You just need to come as a collective, you only need a few, for me it was 11 guys, 1 faculty liaison, and 2 other staff members and PhD students, that was it. You don’t need many people, you just need a movement with a meaning behind it, that has data behind it, and that can really convince people the power of change...”

Discretion: *Casual filler words have been taken out to have a concise transcript that addresses the relevant issue; only condensed factoid beyond this point of the interview*

Our Team: Why do we see frequent cases of police brutality in recent years?

Dr. Stokes: “It is not that police brutality cases are drastically increasing by the years. But, use of phones to record such incidents has elucidated many cases to the media where we all can see. Police brutality is happening everywhere at all times, and the George Floyd case would not have been significant if it was not recorded. The increasing awareness of the youth to participate in organized protests and challenging the local jurisdictions to hold the aggressors [cops] accountable brings a lot of media attention that we did not get before. You cannot stop an individual cop who is corrupt or a “bad apple” but when the system under which they work in is also corrupt and is not held accountable in the face of justice, then that is when police brutality cases increase because there is no repercussion for the actions of the cops. No consequence, no care.”

Our Team: What is your stance on defunding the police?

Dr. Stokes: “US police spending ranks third among world wide military expenditures with $118 billion a year. In Portland, OR African Americans were arrested at a rate of 4.73:1 to white people for non-violent crimes. A third of the city budget is allocated to the city’s law enforcement. While the remainder is allocated towards housing, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, education funding, job training and job creation, accessible healthcare, domestic abuse and sexual assault clinics and resources, aging and disability services, youth programs, among other things. But a third of the entire budget goes to law enforcement. The state legislature is engineering the conditions of poverty which comes with inevitable crime, increased homelessness and substance abuse, the state claims they need more funding for militarized police force to control these outcomes. Defunding the police would actually make law enforcement jobs easier, if city officials allocated these funds towards resources within the community. Officers wouldn't have to be tasked to respond to every societal problem imaginable. The reason defunding the police doesn’t happen, is that the dominant power established the system as it is and made the population believe it is the best solution, so even imagining anything to better the community is seen as idealistic or radical. More cops is not going to fix deep issues that plague are communities.”

Our Team: What can we do instead (less police officers)?

Dr. Stokes: When the funding for police officers is reduced, the money can be allocated towards education, housing, rehabilitation, mental health help, and providing resources for historically marginalized communities. A decrease in crime will follow due to the reduced rate of poverty and better education. Defunding the police does not mean eradicating police completely because crime will always exist. But as it is today, unnecessary amount of police officers are employed and there is little funding for mental health professionals that could help individuals with mental issues rather than cops with guns blazing. In terms of our safety, Don’tCallThePolice.com has hotlines in every city in the United States for issues in housing, domestic abuse and sexual assault, stalking, mental health issues, crime, and substance abuse. Instead of only officers showing up, mental health professionals come first and in the case of mental health and crime with a few cops. This way the individuals participating are not taken to jail immediately, but first given help and the cops are there for last resort of violence.”

Our Team: “What advice do you have for young adults, students, and youth like ourselves who are at different levels of awareness but are seeking to make change in racial relations in our University and possibly America?

Dr. Stokes: “ I would recommend the book ‘Faces of the bottom of the Well’ that talks about racial realism in which America was built on racism and we may never see the end of racism ever. As pessimistic as it sounds, however, we cannot fold or give up. When we engage in defunding the police, or even have organized protests, they [people in power] don't want us to do that, they don’t want to see us in the street in powerful numbers, they hated seeing it last year [George Floyd protest] because they understood that we are standing against the grain. Even though we should accept racial realism, we can still push back over and over again because we know at least for the next generation, it may get better. Just like for our older generation, they understood assimilation is not the answer and they combated and resisted until we reached here. There is no perfect. But we must always pave a better path for each generation by resisting and fighting to make the world a better place in terms of public safety and freedom.

Work Cited

Beschizza, R. (2021, April 20). U.S. policing budgets would rank as the world's third-highest military expenditure. Boing Boing. https://boingboing.net/2021/04/20/u-s-policing-budgets-would-rank-as-the-worlds-third-highest-military-expenditure.html.

Resources by city. Don't Call The Police. (2021, April 22). https://dontcallthepolice.com/.

Turner, N., & Justice, V. I. of. (2020, June 8). What Policing Costs: A Look at Spending in America's Biggest Cities. Vera Institute of Justice. https://www.vera.org/publications/what-policing-costs-in-americas-biggest-cities.

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marlaluster · 7 years

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emptying clipboard w items numbered

1. Was looking at the supposed indigenous life in some glimpses here. 2. Another live video. I didn't watch it but. "It's to show that they're alive to end the world," someone said of the people w the page. 3. Oh. I am not normal but i am not weird. I am just everyone n everything. 4. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1924767994450044&id=100007505862060&fs=4 5. Not in this realm. But it is not real here. 6. Chrishtopher Michael Add Friend Message More Lives in Babylon, New York Details 7. https://m.facebook.com/chris.wurtz.92 8. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=286445501469011 9. https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1984643461780292&id=100007039721220&set=p.1984643461780292&fs=5 10. https://scontent.fztf1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/20507166_1984643461780292_5771488457074199707_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=8045b6031825c3027f0a4f4db4b2b8e8&oe=59ED061C 11. 9+ Replies to your comment on your post. View post Marla Bobarla Food be looking nasty in britania.#foreigners Yesterday at 10:23pm · LikeMore Mark Earle There are over 57 British countries ? Today at 3:32am · LikeMore Marla Bobarla I don't know about stuff like this. I'm an actual person. Too many factoids, too little meaning. Man needs meaning n so i am this sort n really the news is it's the only sort. But I think this seems irrelevant additionally for what I was saying. 5 hours ago · LikeMore Mark Earle That's American food anyway ,,pancakes ,who else eats cake for breakfast ,but Americans ,, And me I'm English ,, never British ,. 4 hours ago · LikeMore Marla Bobarla I'm just not American. N by foreigners it could be a lot of things. It is a rude thing to say but it is something used here, so it is supposed to be some meaning to it somehow. Whatever. 2 hours ago · Edited · Like1More Mark Earle Turns out it's in Australia 2 hours ago · LikeMore Write a reply... Reply 12. https://m.facebook.com/comment/replies/?ctoken=859643070878331_859643540878284&ft_ent_identifier=859643070878331&gfid=AQCVPXVFe5p_vlwU&notif_t=group_comment&notif_id=1501772287194866&ref=m_notif 13. Please no. The mail is really not okay n is really actually scary. Please give it a break, loser. 14. This topic I can say is obscure n is really akin to characterizing like was did e burning "witches" at the stake. It is some acidic n bigoted view forced as the only thing people will get. No real information or any necessary stopping of the picking on people. There is the movie Lolita, there is the movie/story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The people should be left alone n not picked on n tormented. It occurs as very grotesque this is did. Other things, too. It is a biased n hostile culture n society. It is not welcome by me. 15. I am not judgemental. I am more of a sage human, not hostile like the society. I am curious n such. I don't like how things are here. Those voodoo practitioners could probably help things here. Here they are surfacing as a bit harsh w the animal parts, parts of dead animals but things are too narrow n fended for to continue on as narrow n very limited what is accepted as possible, true n available to people as what is life. Yeah. 16. Those voodoo practitioners may be able to help me w something happening to me. 17. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1389919794376485&id=100000754326255&fs=4 18. https://tedteamsite.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/joseph-shade-sheringham-norfolk/ 19. S [the devil cut off what I wrote. I'll paste the comment next as I wrote it from the clipboard.] Some powder proposedly makes live people walking dead. It says it's something they can be revived from. Maybe hope for #zombiepocalypse. 20. Heres a comment i put on someone's page who had a link shared to an article online about someone admitting to "pedophilia." The devil was messing w the type here some, making misspellings. "I was doing that. Thats it. Bye," the devil said. Here's my comment. ..... This topic I can say is obscure n is really akin to characterizing like was did w burning "witches" at the stake. It is some acidic n bigoted view forced as the only thing people will get. No real information or any necessary stopping of the picking on people. There is the movie Lolita, there is the movie/story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The people should be left alone n not picked on n tormented. It occurs as very grotesque this is did. Other things, too. It is a biased n hostile culture n society. It is not welcome by me. ----- end of my comment I put on someone's page named Mark Earle. ---- https://tedteamsite.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/joseph-shade-sheringham-norfolk/

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whaq · 3 years

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How Do You Write Like You're Running Out of Time: Hamilton and Me

I. Just You Wait

Hamilton was alright. Not the best opener is it? I’m not referring to the show, I meant the opener to this verbose verbal vomit. The musical was typical fare, all things considered. Lin Manuel Miranda is the farthest thing from a good singer. I believe anyone singing his praises should take a listen to his rendition of Jesus Christ Superstar’s Gethsamane. Talk about taking your shot… to the gut.

It still kinda baffles me how a show so unexpectedly and unremarkably unprovocative found such a huge cult following; the likes of which the musical world has yet to match since. Overlooking the novelty of a Founding Father finessing like the Fresh Prince, the musical fits the mold of presenting the concepts of rap and immigrants for the first time to the aristocratic white people (y’know the ones, they probably called it “hippity-hop” and are currently collecting their stimulus check amid the pandemic) who could actually afford it.

There’s a lot to be said when it comes to meta-textual analysis. Contrary to the marketing’s emphasis on “The Room Where It Happened” seemingly depicting a story meant to peek behind the curtain of politics, the eponymous song actually does present a better alternative to House of Bars (alternative jokes include: The West Side, Bars & Recreation, and The Fire).

II. The Room Where It Happens

There’s an element of mysticism that surrounds the number ‘The Room Where It Happens” thanks to the inconsistently charismatic narrator of the show: Aaron Burr (Sir--). With only the three gentlemen involved with that day’s events being in that room, much of the going-on’s details are shrouded in mystery. No servers, no stenographers, spies, nor sluts, to witness history in the making. It’s any wonder how history gets recorded at all! Question of the hour...

Hamilton’s downfall in the play, all leading up to his descent into the proverbial ‘Hurricane,’ would not be as impactful if not for his most precious desire. We’ve seen it first-hand, all politicians need to do during a scandal is to “talk less, smile more.” Although... $130,000 in hush money excluded from your tax returns should do the trick-- [President Obama complete remarks at 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner (C-SPAN) 16:48 - 16:59] No, not if you want to protect your legacy.

III. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?

There are many perspectives on the subject of how one lives on well past their time on Earth, and Hamilton has its fair share. Aaron Burr references a fallen colleague of his being given a street named after him and how it makes his “legacy secure.” Making idols, commemorations, names on a parchment, the epitome of memorability. You may be gone, but your name remains physically engraved on plaques and local parks.

At first, it seemed like Alexander also subscribed to a similar outlook. By imprinting himself on literature, legislature, and ladies, he found a way to almost literally leave his mark on everything he’s had his hands on. Hell, the show left out the relevant factoid that his 2nd freaking son was his junior. He’d rather die than let the Hamilton name Burr away, and that’s exactly what he did.

That being said, it doesn’t take a keen eye to realize that the self-destructive behavior these men exhibit isn’t exemplary by any means. The play depicts the consequences of the paths these men take. Burr ends up being painted as an apolitical squirrel, Alexander a self-indulgent tomcat. While their legacies remain, they’re tarnished by shame. If these great men still strived and struggled to cement their legacies, then what chance do we have?

Many of us, if not most, will barely be but a footnote in history. We can’t all be president, the same book can’t be written twice, there is no solitary thought that has yet to be thought of. However, even with all this in mind, it never stops us from trying, does it?

We still attempt to paint like Gogh, write like Tolkien, or waste human space like 6ix9ine (this was written in July of 2020 and it was dated then too), for life has little meaning or value without purpose; that’s exactly what’s been on my mind: Who will tell my story if I have nothing to leave behind?

IV. Palaces Out of Paragraphs

How do others do it? How do they just snap their fingers and… well-- do? Do what, you ask? Nothing in particular, it is the act of doing that I refer to. With hustle culture being the trend, many people like me have found that making the most out of their existence is a more daunting task than it’s cracked up to be. When others are so good at doing, are you doing nothing in comparison?

I’m not one to judge others so I’ll only be doing so for myself: I believe I have not been doing anything productive with the time I’ve been given. Every waking moment of mine has been spent either attempting to maximize my time and energy to do something worthwhile or bereaving on the lack of my drive to execute. This, however, is obviously an uphill battle for me.

When everything , your mind, your body, and even yourself, are against you, the last tool in the arsenal of human perseverance is the ability to do what one wills. The phrase shouldn’t be “if there’s a will there’s a way,” for many of us have found ourselves in no-win scenarios. Instead the phrase should be “if there’s a will, there’s a way out.” And there is a way out of the rut that is dissatisfaction.

Most conflict within one’s self is the disconnect between our ideal self, who we want to be, and our actual self, who we currently are. One may find themselves longing to become a strong-willed scribbler of scripts like Hamilton, it takes no more than a glance at your reflection to see that, when the rose tint decays, you’re a sniveling Burr. This is where the pain stems from, my pain.

Ambition and reality will always be at odds with one another. When one desires to leap over skyscrapers, actuality reminds you that you can barely skip over an anthill. That’s kind of what has been bothering me. For years I’ve seen those capable of what I could only dream of doing, and that has always bothered me. Not my pride, but my sense of who I really am.

I desire to leave a legacy that depicts me as larger than my life, what I leave behind being greater than what I have done; a kingdom left prospering after my reign. My lofty aspirations extend to being renowned, and contract to being remembered fondly. But the sad reality for I, and many others like me, presents itself: we can’t all make leaps and bounds that impress, most people aren’t so easily enamored.

Not having this in mind has resulted in my complete inability to create and finalize. For a person with each of their toes dipped into a different pool of expertise, I can barely muster up the strength to continue to submerge, much less immerse, myself into any of them. Looking into the dark Mariana Trench of inadequacy one sees as their skillset will induce aquaphobia in many.

Beyond all pretension and rhetoric, my issue is this: I can’t make anything because I fear I will make nothing worth making. This is already the 5th rewrite of this maligned monotribe, that in and of itself exemplifies how I’m not quite past that hurdle. That being said, I’m looking forward to and deciding on taking steps to amend that.

V. Taking Back The Narrative

This text marks the beginning of another attempt at reinvention. With limit tests spanning over the course of two years, involving stressing the definitions of human minimums and maximums, I am content with commencing continued coercion with my consciousness (translation: I’m letting the process of improving continue despite my fear of the absence of such). I took back to writing once more because I needed something to stare at that convinced me I’m capable of the things I want to do, but also that there’s no rushing or forcing things.

It is honestly kinda silly how someone like me, who has made it their life goal to show that passion and wit is enough to get someone through the typical things in life like work, school, and relationships, had to be reminded of that very mission.

I’m not blessed with any genius in particular, and I’m not nerdy Casey Neistat who runs at the speed they can create meaningful and worthwhile content. Holding myself to higher standards was supposed to be a healthy way of preventing stagnation, not a destructive process to kill my motivation.

After going through the Hurricane of my own inner turmoil, realizing that being ‘Lucky to be Alive Right Now’ doesn’t have to come with survivor’s guilt, and that there is no such thing as ‘Running Out of Time,’ for all time cannot be wasted, I’m once again going back into the swing of things. Just like my last relaunches, all beginning with varying degrees of premature declarations, I’ll be doing the same right now.

I have made something

for all intents and purposes

I wrote my way out

#hamilton #critique #media criticism #essay #writeblr #I made this in July of 2020 and only now decided to release it because it was kind of personal but eh

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kristablogs · 4 years

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How a 19-year-old lion fathered 35 cubs in 18 months

Lion tamer at work. Though no evidence is available, the mustachioed man is unlikely to have survived this scene. (Library of Congress, 1873/)

Popular Science’s WILD LIVES is a monthly video series that dives like an Emperor penguin into the life and times of history’s noteworthy animals. With every episode debut on Youtube, we’ll be publishing a story about the featured beasts, plus a lot more fascinating facts about the natural world. Click here to subscribe.

Feature Creature: Frasier the Sensuous Lion

Have you ever wondered about the number of lions at your zoo? You probably don’t think about lion reproduction too much. Well, consider this:

If one female lion in captivity has a litter of cubs and they all survive and breed—for reference: zoo lions can start breeding before their third birthday—and then those offspring all survive and breed, and then the next generation the same, and so on, it would take about 37 years until that one family tree of descendants from that one lioness needed to eat the entire population of Los Angeles every day just to survive.

Dr. Craig Packer, Professor and Head of the Lion Center at the University of Minnesota, originally came up with this thought experiment. He used it as a way to answer a question on if lions have any difficulty breeding in captivity or the wild. Clearly, no panda bear-type pornos are needed to stimulate mating here. This lion factoid came up during a conversation about a lion that actually did take over L.A. That prolific Panthera leo was named Frasier. In the video above, we tell his story.

Let us now praise other famous animals

Below, a collection of fast facts about famous critters.

Question: why does this Peruvian military helicopter emblem have a tiger on it—its tail around a missile—when there are no tigers anywhere in South America? (Tom McNamara/)

Magicians Siegfried and <a href="https://ift.tt/2yKi50i" target=_blank>Roy</a> got their start in 1957 in Germany when Roy, who apparently took care of a cheetah at a local zoo, borrowed the animal and used it as part of the duo’s show. Nearly half a century later, their act came to an end when Roy was attacked by a tiger named Montecore onstage at the Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

In 2015, Cecil the Lion was killed by American dentist Walter Palmer. The <a href="https://ift.tt/2YVVIPJ" target=_blank>13-year-old lion</a> was a popular attraction at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, known for his striking black mane and comfort with tourist vehicles. His fate drew intense news coverage, a flurry of celebrity tweets, and an impassioned monologue from Jimmy Kimmel. <a href="https://ift.tt/2YVVIPJ" target=_blank>Read more. >></a>

In a recent book, <a href="https://amzn.to/2E4SQ8P" target=_blank>No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History</a>, author Dane Hucklebridge details the surprisingly methodical and incredibly blood machinations of a single Bengal tigress. Between 1900 to 1907, the Champawat man-eater stalked humans living in the villages of southern Nepal and, because tigers know no borders, eventually northern India. Along her route, she killed 435 people, making her perhaps the most murderous non-human animal in recorded history. <a href="https://ift.tt/2D4Kuk7" target=_blank>Read more. >></a>

El Jefe the Jaguar is the last known of his species to be seen in the United States. The Panthera onca was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTC8XdViC5s" target=_blank>spotted in the Santa Rita Mountains near Tucson, Arizona</a>, between 2011 and 2017.

In 2014, I accompanied a scientific expedition to a previously unexplored part of the Peruvian Amazon. When I boarded a military helicopter to get there, I noticed the design on the door pictured above. Why a tiger? There are no tigers anywhere in Amazonia. Well, first, there are no tigers or lions in Detroit, but that doesn’t stop the city from having those animals as their mascots. A member of the expedition clued me in, though, saying that across South America the Amazon Jaguar is often called “tigre” or tiger. And, let’s be honest, the tail around the missile is a nice touch.

Popular Science’s Encyclopedia of Big Cat Facts

The math of tiger stripes:

How’d the tiger get its stripes? MATH! (Pond5/)

Math might be able to predict the tiger’s stripes. Or, more accurately, mathematical rules likely work with biological processes to determine patterns on animals—the leopard’s spots, the horse’s dapples, and, yes, those beautiful black stripes that contour and bend around the tiger’s orange fur.

Famed World War Two codebreaker and British mathematician Alan Turing first theorized in the 1950s that spontaneous patterns emerge when “chemicals [react] together and [defuse] through tissue,” writes Ian Stewart in his 2017 book, The Beauty of Numbers in Nature. These chemicals are also known by another name: morphogens, a term Turning coined. We should think of them as shape creators.

Over half a century later, scientists found support for these theoretical models in the real world. A 2015 study published in Cell Systems used them to take Turing’s theories a step further to explain pattern orientation. Think about it, if math can predict an animal’s spots and stripes, why couldn’t it also tell us why a tiger’s stripes are vertical and an okapi’s stripes are horizontal? The most abstract level of mathematics can play out in the day-to-day lives of the biological world. Read more about the study, this way. >>

The Saber-toothed cat

Los Angeles looked a lot different 10,000 years ago. Teratornis birds, saber-toothed cats, and an extinct species of horse all roamed around the La Brea Tar Pools. Fall in and you’ll be preserved forever! (Field Museum/Charles R. Knight, 1921./)

How long did it take for Smilodon fatalis—the saber-toothed cat—to grow their 7-inch long mouth swords? Well, the extinct feline’s fearsome canine teeth grew at an incredibly quick 6 mm per month, almost twice as fast as human fingernails.

(Oh, and that picture is by way of famed early 20th Century natural history painter Charles R. Knight, who was legally blind. Some of his paintings are hidden like Easter eggs on random walls at The Field Museum in Chicago and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.)

How climate is changing animals

Snow Leopard, Panthera unica. (Joel Sartore/Getty Images/)

This spotted and thick-coated Snow Leopard thrives in a Goldilocks zone between 9,800 to 17,800 feet in altitude across the Tibetan Plateau, a frigid, rocky region that offers wild goats and sheep as prey. But rising temperatures are pushing the zone higher, forcing leopards and their quarry up the slopes, fragmenting their habitats into isolated summits. Rising temps also pull in competing predators like common leopards, which previously avoided the chilly heights in favor of forested hunting grounds at lower elevations. Humans are moving in as well to graze their domesticated goats and sheep, which sometimes requires killing cats who get too curious about the flocks. Read more about animals reacting to climate change, this way. >>

Calls of the Wild

East African Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. (Tom McNamara/)

If you had to guess, what sound does a cheetah make? Lions roar. Tigers bellow and growl. And cheetahs…chirp? Yup. They also purr, hiss, bark, and even meow. It turns out, their chirp can mean a lot of things. Females, who are more solitary compared to males, chirp to attract mates. Yet both sexes also chirp when they’re distressed. Males do it if they get split up from their pack—and they chirp in celebration when the crew gets back together again. Same goes for mothers and their cubs. According to the National Zoo, “cheetahs may even be able to identify each other by the sound of their chirps.”

Denzil Mackrory · Cheetah Chirp

And, finally, rabbit holes I went down while researching this video

What’s the lion equivalent of a rabbit hole? “Daniel in the Lions' Den” is a 1614–1616 painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. (National Gallery of Art/)

Did you know in the 1970s. actor Tippi Hedren (probably most famous for her role in the Hitchcock classic, The Birds), her husband Noel Marshall, and their whole family lived with 150 untrained wild animals? And filmed it? Roar, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi3fz5Dbn6k" target=_blank>released in 1981</a>, became known as “the most dangerous movie ever made”—mostly because 70 members of the cast and crew were injured in its creation. Someone even got their scalp sliced clean off. New Yorker <a href="https://ift.tt/2RW2X6o" target=_blank>remembers the film</a> here. The movie is somehow worse than you’re imagining.

This headline from <a href="https://ift.tt/2hV7IhF" target=_blank>The Washington Post in 2017</a> says it all: “The strange and deadly saga of 15 circus cats’ final week in America.” Also, this <a href="https://ift.tt/2FZXjx3" target=_blank>history of the Indian circus from Quartz India</a> is fascinating.

Ever wonder what it’d be like to be a lion tamer? OK. Probably not. But one-third of Errol Morris’ 1997 documentary <a href="https://ift.tt/3lqtu9l" target=_blank>Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control</a> will make you glad you found out about lion tamer Dave Hoover. The other two-thirds of the movie are pretty weird in a good way, too.

After watching the PopSci <a href="https://youtu.be/eK_zmYWHxxo" target=_blank>video short about Frasier the Sensuous Lion</a>, you might start having questions about if it’s ethical to keep wild animals in captivity or not. This <a href="https://ift.tt/3gymgfQ" target=_blank>2007 Radiolab episode</a> about zoos is a must-listen, especially the first segment.

PopSci found out if <a href="https://ift.tt/2EBUq54" target=_blank>a lion could live on veggie burgers</a>. Also, did you know that <a href="https://ift.tt/31AkExU" target=_blank>mountain lions are so scared of humans that the sound of talk radio sends them running</a>?

And, if you can stomach it, you can meet the deadliest cat in the world via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl8o9PsJPAQ" target=_blank>a PBS Nature clip</a>. It’s intense. Seriously. Turn back now. OK, you’ve been warned.

Subscribe to WILD LIVES on YouTube for more wild stories about animals like Frasier the Sensuous Lion.

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scootoaster · 4 years

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How a 19-year-old lion fathered 35 cubs in 18 months

Lion tamer at work. Though no evidence is available, the mustachioed man is unlikely to have survived this scene. (Library of Congress, 1873/)

Feature Creature: Frasier the Sensuous Lion

Have you ever wondered about the number of lions at your zoo? You probably don’t think about lion reproduction too much. Well, consider this:

Let us now praise other famous animals

Below, a collection of fast facts about famous critters.

Question: why does this Peruvian military helicopter emblem have a tiger on it—its tail around a missile—when there are no tigers anywhere in South America? (Tom McNamara/)

Popular Science’s Encyclopedia of Big Cat Facts

The math of tiger stripes:

How’d the tiger get its stripes? MATH! (Pond5/)

The Saber-toothed cat

How climate is changing animals

Snow Leopard, Panthera unica. (Joel Sartore/Getty Images/)

Calls of the Wild

East African Cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus jubatus. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. (Tom McNamara/)

Denzil Mackrory · Cheetah Chirp

And, finally, rabbit holes I went down while researching this video

Subscribe to WILD LIVES on YouTube for more wild stories about animals like Frasier the Sensuous Lion.

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eddiejpoplar · 7 years

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First Drive: 2018 Ferrari Portofino

PUGLIA, Italy—Ferrari decided to introduce the 2018 Portofino, the company’s new entry-level model—of course, with a base price of $214,533, “entry level” means different things to different people—at a beachfront resort on the Adriatic Sea. That’s about 471 miles southeast, as the European magpie flies, from the now-trendy namesake fishing village of Portofino, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea.

This being winter, Ferrari executives figured the weather would be much warmer and possibly drier farther south, which is why we ended up not in Portofino, but in the Puglia region of Italy, which constitutes the boot heel in Italy’s profile. (Puglia’s motto, roughly translated: “We hope you like olives!”)

Unfortunately, it wasn’t much warmer, and it sure wasn’t any drier, but as we took the stylish red keys to a cluster of Portofinos, the clouds parted and the temperature warmed to the point where we could drive with the retractable hardtop down (and the heat on), which is a pretty important aspect of the Portofino which, this summer, replaces the Ferrari California T.

This lucky change in the weather suggests that despite Enzo Ferrari having died in 1988, he still runs Italy, and likely controls the climate. After all, the airport we flew into, Bari International, is located on Enzo Ferrari Street, even though Bari is a seven-hour drive from Maranello.

This was also lucky for us, because the drive route for the Portofino would have been nearly unusable in the rain. Not because the Portofino couldn’t handle it—the traction control and windshield wipers work quite well—but the roads we were on, even dry, had to be some of the slickest, most potholed pavement the Land of Olives has to offer. And since many of the roads were lined with sturdy, up-close rock walls, we had to be especially careful, since Ferrari had already written off a Portofino that was driven by a European journalist on an earlier wave of test drives. He reportedly tested the wall’s sturdiness and was impressed.

In one sense, this test drive route was advantageous, since we got to gauge the Portofino’s ride on very rough roads (the ride was surprisingly good, even with the steering wheel-mounted Manettino switch dialed to Sport rather than Comfort). We got to test the carbon-ceramic brakes when dogs, buses, farmers on tractors, and street gangs clad in matching Lycra skinsuits riding bicycles suddenly appeared around the next corner.

What we didn’t get to test much was the Portofinos’s at- or near-the-limit performance. The plethora of polished asphalt and potholed concrete did test the electronics, because most every time we’d get through a roundabout and hit the throttle, the fat 20-inch Pirellis (245/35 front, 285/35 out back) would search for grip, the rear end of the car would slip a little to one side, and the traction control would intervene. Thankfully.

Late in the drive we did find what we thought was a deserted, very suitable straight to test Ferrari’s reasonable claim of 0 to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds, but regardless of what kind of launch we chose, we could barely get it done in less than 4 seconds. Incidentally, these are the electronic controls as listed on the Portofino’s spec sheet: “ESP, ESC with F1-Trac, E-Diff 3, SCM-E with twin solenoids.” We probably could have used three or four solenoids. And yes, twist the Manettino all the way to the right and you can disable some of those electronic acronyms, but be sure you want to before you do.

With more torque than the California T, and noticeably more horsepower (38, with the outgoing T rated at 553, the new Portofino at 591), we have no reason to doubt Ferrari’s claim of a top speed of 198.838782 mph (yes, a slightly awkward number, due to our overly detailed translation from kilometers to miles per hour), and a 0 to 124 mph time of (we’ll spare you the .274238 conversion carryover) a very quick 10.8 seconds. But we just didn’t get a chance to prove it. This time, anyway.

If this all makes our drive sound miserable, it was far from it. The scenery was gorgeous, and the Portofino was cheerful both chugging through villages at single-digit speeds, and, when we got the chance, carving up corners. The electric power steering is better but not quite there yet. In corners, there is less body lean than found in the California T, but without a little track time, it’s hard to say how much less. Top up or down, the chassis and body did not flex, squeak, rattle, rock or roll on roads that would not be out of place in Detroit or Newark, so that’s saying something.

The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, a carryover from the California T, responds immediately when shifted up or down by the two fixed-position paddles behind the new steering wheel, but if you leave it in automatic mode, the transmission is often slow to downshift, likely due to the quest for improved fuel mileage, and a teachable transmission algorithm that was learning that we weren’t able to go all that fast, thus deducing that we were in no hurry for it to downshift. A suggestion: When passing tractors and tourists sightseeing in rented diesel Fiats, downshift manually.

We asked the Portofino’s powertrain engineer about the possible future of manual transmissions, since the pre-T California (T standing for Turbocharged) actually offered a manual, but he just shook his head sadly, as if we had inquired about the health of an aging but beloved family pet, only to learn it had died. And had been replaced by a robot. This also brings up an interesting, and mildly puzzling factoid: The handful of Californias sold with manual transmissions now command far more on the used exotics market than the Californias with manu-matics …

The Portofino’s engine is mostly the California T’s 3.9-liter, twin-turbo, flat-crankshaft V-8, with the extra 39 horses mostly the result of electronic tuning, a new exhaust that includes a one-piece header, new pistons and connecting rods, and redesigned intake manifolds. Open the hood and behold a work of art: We’re so tired of seeing engines covered by massive pressed-plastic burkas, and that is not the case here.

The engine produces a peculiar, distinctive yowl at full throttle. The Portofino’s exhaust system has a new electronically controlled bypass valve that moderates the sound depending on the situation, and on the Manettino switch position. In Comfort, the valve opens to “a moderate degree,” says Ferrari, to produce a “marked, recognizable sound that still will not be out of place in an urban context.”

In Sport, the valve produces “a sportier, more seductive sound from the lowest engine speeds all the way up to the redline.” On the rough roads we tested the Portofino on, you’d think Comfort would be the way to go, but the ride in Sport is so good, even on really uneven pavement, that we just left it in that setting and forgot about it. So just enjoy being sporty and seductive.

Still, Ferrari didn’t seem to worry about its sound this much with its normally aspirated engines, because it didn’t have to. There’s no question that turbos are here to stay for high-performance exotics, but we’re afraid when we talk about this Gran Turismo we sound like Walt Kowalski in “Gran Torino” (“Get off my lawn!”). Refer to the Good Old Days, when an accelerating 458 Italia could peel skin with the downright erotic siren call of its 562-horse, 4.7-liter V-8 at full song. It’s like when Michael McDonald joined the Doobie Brothers: Yeah, he’s good and all, but it wasn’t the Doobie Brothers anymore. (Is that a dated-enough reference? Should we talk about when lead singer Tony Williams replaced Cornell Gunter in The Platters in 1953? We thought not.)

Outside, Ferrari stylists haven’t broken any new ground with the Portofino, but they’ve certainly created a very handsome, slightly understated profile that has a nice sense of Ferrari family looks. The Portofino looks a little like a California T that the designers took a second crack at, in the process fixing the T’s main issue, a rear end that stuck up like a cat in heat. That was to make room for a folded-down hardtop, but the Portofino’s complex top sits low enough to avoid the need for a raised deck. And even when folded—which takes 14 seconds, and now can be done while driving at speeds up to 25 mph—there’s enough room in the trunk beneath the top to cram in soft luggage sufficient for a weekend. Well, a weekend at the beach, anyway.

The design cue that may be the most controversial is the sculptured horizontal vent that starts behind the front wheels and leads into the doors. At the front of the vent is a black plastic insert. From some angles it all works, from others it looks like a piece of the body fell off. You can’t ignore it especially with the big yellow Ferrari badge perched on the front fenders, right above the vent’s largest separation. At least the vent is mildly functional, like the pair of vents on the hood.

Inside, this is one of the prettiest, most intuitive Ferrari interiors yet. Switchgear is properly placed and easy to use. Displays are packed tight but don’t seem crowded. Attention to detail is impressive, so very far removed from the era when Ferrari just shrugged at criticism of how the interior looked, much less whether or not you approved of where the company put the heater-fan control.

Designers and engineers worked to lower the Portofino’s weight—successfully, as it weighs 3,668 pounds, while the California T was 3,813 pounds—and the front seats are an example of how they accomplished the task. The seats’ frames are magnesium, and they seem impossibly thin, but they are 18-way adjustable and quite comfortable.

That thinness also makes for a little more room for the rear seats, and Ferrari points out 30 percent of customers are expected to actually use those seats. For what, we aren’t sure, whether it is a place to put groceries or kids, but unless a couple of jockeys have to get to the Kentucky Derby right now, don’t expect a lot of repeat Uber customers.

Bottom line: The Portofino is an improvement over the California T it replaces in every way, and it seems very comfortable in its role of introducing new buyers to the Prancing Horse, and providing them with a fun, fast GT experience. While the performance is an improvement over the T, the Portofino is not a serious track day car—that would be the 488 GTB’s role.

It’s also difficult to overstate the Portofino’s importance to Ferrari. Though the company is reluctant to provide actual numbers, the California T represented close to a third of Ferrari’s output, which is about 8,500 cars a year. Until the inevitable Ferrari SUV arrives, Portofino sales—along with a lot of red hats, Puma sneakers, and Scuderia Ferrari Ray-Bans—will be expected to fund a lot of Ferrari’s ultra-niche limited-edition models.

The Portofino is up to the task. It’s ideally positioned as the company’s entry-level car, as well as its internal exit-level model, as new customers become old customers and move up from the Portofino to other, more expensive Ferraris. In the U.S., there’s little doubt Portofino sales will help Make Italy Great Again. And there must be a reason we’re craving olives.

2018 Ferrari Portofino Specifications

ON SALE June PRICE $214,533 (base) ENGINE 3.9L DOHC 32-valve twin-turbo V-8/591 hp @ 7,500 rpm, 560 lb-ft @ 3,000-5,250 rpm TRANSMISSION 7-speed dual-clutch automatic LAYOUT 2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, RWD convertible EPA MILEAGE N/A L x W x H 180.6 x 76.3 x 51.6 in WHEELBASE 105.1 in WEIGHT 3,668 lb 0-60 MPH 3.4 sec (est) TOP SPEED 199 mph

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jonathanbelloblog · 7 years

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First Drive: 2018 Ferrari Portofino

2018 Ferrari Portofino Specifications

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daleisgreat · 7 years

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National Treasure: Book of Secrets

As promised, I am back with my take on the sequel to last month’s movie I covered, National Treasure, with 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets (trailer). Why would there be a sequel when the first movie had such a happy ending you ask? That is because all it takes is some simple lines of dialogue and a couple quick minutes of setup to erase all the happy endings in Hollywood and establish a new conflict to conquer in a sequel. How far has the cast come after earning their share of the mammoth treasure haul from the first movie? Well, Benjamin Gates (Nicolas Cage) and Abigail (Diane Kruger) start the film fresh off a breakup. Riley (Justin Bartha) has his share of the treasure haul embezzled by a greedy accountant and Patrick Gates (Jon Voight) has his family’s legacy accused of treason by newcomer antagonist Mitch Wilkinson (Ed Harris). Recall how Gates had an ancestor in the last film that had direct ties with the founding fathers? Turns out there was another Gates ancestor who had ties to a legendary treasure left behind by John Wilkes Booth during his attempted escape from authorities after murdering President Lincoln. Wilkinson’s accusation leads the Gates family along with Riley and Abigail to track down Booth’s treasure and clear their family’s good name!

From here Book of Secrets follows the same beats as the previous film. Nicolas Cage once again uses his one-of-a-kind couth to deduce riddles and clues that take his party across the globe to DC, Paris, London and finally finishing off their quest at Mt. Rushmore. Props to the filmmakers for once again sprinkling nonstop history facts throughout the film that the history nut in me absolutely ate up. To complete the established formula of the first film, expect several WTF/yeah right moments/stunts throughout. The biggest eyebrow-raiser is when the Gates family concludes that in order to uncover the next clue that they have to kidnap the President of the United States (Bruce Greenwood). If that is not ridiculous enough, the way it all plays out is more laughably absurd, but in a hilariously entertaining way. I will once again give props to Cage for nailing the over-the-top, yet affable Benjamin Gates persona. The rest of the supporting cast brings it too and all gel together for yet another fun treasure hunt film. Other random little bits I want to mention is a quick shoutout to a minor periphery character, Connor (Ty Burrell). He rocks in the couple of scenes he is in! I want to be a part of the annual White House Easter Egg hunt! Those bunnies look far more happier than the one in Mallrats. Like the previous film, Book of Secrets likes to show off the latest tech and gadgets they have available. For a movie filmed in 2006, the cast is shown throughout showing off the latest features of their fancy flip phones that are equipped with a camera so they can send pics to each other. My oh my, how far phones have come in a decade. I bet the President’s Secret Book really does exist, and if I somehow stumble across it I swear I will not be like Benjamin Gates and quickly brush past the JFK assassination chapter like he does when Riley points it out with his retort being the cliché “there’s no time” excuse!

The Book of Secrets BluRay is stacked with extra features just like the last one. If you are an extra feature junkie like me, then you have probably seen some movies include various forms of feature-length pop-up factoids. This BluRay has a really enhanced version of that called Book of History where there is a lot of interactive ‘fact or fiction’ history questions posed at you and the film keeps track of your score throughout. I would have stuck with it for the whole film if I did not already watch it a second time with the audio commentary with director Jon Turteltaub and actor Jon Voight. Like Turteltaub’s last commentary, he came prepared with tons of facts and insights from the production process and he peppers in many little history bits throughout. Voight is amusing to listen to because he only occasionally chimes in every few scenes with, ‘Wow, what a movie!’ After the feature-length extras, there are an ten additional extra features totaling just under an hour and a half. There are a ton of deleted scenes included, and a few of which I would have loved to see in the film, but Turteltaub is on hand here to justify why they all had to remain on the cutting room floor. Of the nine other extras, the two I would recommend checking out the most would be Secrets of a Sequel which is a quick breakdown with the cast and crew about going ‘bigger and better’ in terms of scope and quality with the sequel. The other must-see extra is Inside Library of Congress, where the filmmakers spread the love about how awesome this particular library is, and detail its history and how it acquires its many books among its archives. Very cool!

Fans of the first film and of other treasure hunting classics like Indiana Jones cannot go wrong with National Treasure: Book of Secrets. As stated above, the filmmakers stick with the same formula of the first film, but crank it up a notch by trekking around the world to international landmarks and even bigger stunts/theatrics thanks in part to a bigger budget. To top it off, if you happen to love your American history as much as I do then expect a free bonus mini-history lesson out of the film too! Other Random Backlog Movie Blogs 3 12 Angry Men (1957) 12 Rounds 3: Lockdown 21 Jump Street Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie Atari: Game Over The Avengers: Age of Ultron Batman: The Killing Joke Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Bounty Hunters Cabin in the Woods Captain America: The First Avenger Captain America: The Winter Soldier Christmas Eve Clash of the Titans (1981) Clint Eastwood 11-pack Special The Condemned 2 Creed Dirty Work Faster Fast and Furious I-VIII Field of Dreams Fight Club The Fighter For Love of the Game Good Will Hunting Gravity Guardians of the Galaxy Hercules: Reborn Hitman Ink The Interrogation Interstellar Jobs Man of Steel Marine 3-5 Mortal Kombat National Treasure The Replacements Rocky I-VII Running Films Part 1 Running Films Part 2 San Andreas ScoobyDoo Wrestlemania Mystery The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Steve Jobs Source Code Star Trek I-XIII Take Me Home Tonight TMNT The Tooth Fairy 1 & 2 UHF Veronica Mars The War Wild The Wrestler (2008) X-Men: Days of Future Past

#national treasure #national treasure book of secrets #Nicolas Cage #Diane Kruger #Justin Bartha #random movie #Jon Turteltaub #jon voight #Bruce Greenwood #ed harris #ty burrell #abraham lincoln #john wilkes booth

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iftekharsanom · 8 years

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10 Unknown Things About John Wick, You Should Know !!

We are a little over a week until John Wick: Chapter 2 debuts in theaters (February 10, to be exact). The long awaited sequel to the hit 2014 John Wick shareholder examined in the fascinating world of comics in the original film and see Keanu Reeves as the title character, a former killer who can not escape to expand introduced his past crimes. John Wick is one of the refreshing action images of all ages, to minimize digital effects and introduce character-plucking cutters full of nuances, and a lot of fucking action mixed with subversive humor. It's brutal, nice and cool, and the classic action movie tropes to combine into a new formula for success. So what exactly does John Wick do? What is behind the character, the supporting cast, myths and the creative team of the film series? Here are 15 little-known Wick factoids to help fill in the blanks and you pumped while we waited for 2 John Wick chapter. 1.WHAT IS ACHIEVING IN CHAPTER 2?

So what can John Wick fans expect in Chapter 2? The main arguments are still secret, but we know some details about what the focus of action. Firstly, the movie Wick against its killers is past. That means he travels no way to retirement, with the character at Rome a former employee to do justice to. What is your connection? All the details are scant but we know that there is a blood pact with Wick is to aggregate forces through loyalty, while the consortium plans to seize the killers who are both members. Or, in Wick's words, his goal is simply to "kill them all." We can also expect more return artists on display, including Ian McShane as Hotelier Gangster Continental, Bridget Moynihan died as Wick woman, and John Leguizamo as Aurelio owner of the combine harvester. Often, the villain will play, accompanied by several other new cast members, including Ruby Rose (orange is the new black) and the aforementioned Lawrence Fishburne. So expect a lot of action, espionage, intrigue and plenty of body full of hot lead. 2. A TV PREQUEL IS IN THE WORKS

In addition to John Wick Chapter 2, it may still mysterious killer be in our future, but this time on the small screen. Chapter 2 Director Stahleksi launched the idea of a prequel television for life and said in an interview with the film. "Basically, we have almost a prequel written, but it would save on other aspects of ownership Lionsgate is interested, a program of this TV John Wick, and this seems very attractive to us, those creatively to give this entity ideas because I could really improve the TV believe it is and what we could only in a two hour movie we would like to finish the story we tell you now ;. and maybe all our prequel to save ideas and ideas impossible task for this medium. " Given the interesting cast of the series of character films and many issues raised about the past Mafia Wick, the idea could certainly be thrilling when they performed well. Hopefully Reeves interested to make up for a TV project, just because we did not imagine anyone else to fill in Wick's fashionable outfits. Given the interesting cast of the series of character films and many issues raised about the past Mafia Wick, the idea could certainly be thrilling when they performed well. Hopefully Reeves interested to make up for a TV project, just because we did not imagine anyone else to fill in Wick's fashionable outfits. 3. THE BABA YAGA

Set to help One of the earliest films of legendary skills of the murderer John Wick occurs when Yusef Tarasov of Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) threw his father attacks, head Viggo the crowd, played by Michael Nyqvist (girl with the dragon tattoo). When Yusef of jokes as he killed the dog and stole his car Wick (unconscious connection Wick with his family) suggests I bore him in the stomach. Then he goes on to explain how horrible a mistake he made: "It is not what you did, my son, that irritates me so much who he was ... he was once a partner ... we call Baba Yaga .. . When Joseph Reply "The Boogeyman"? Viggo replied, "Well, John was not exactly" The Boogeyman "He was the one sent to kill the f ******" Boogeyman ". The Baba Yaga may originated in Slavic folklore, marked as a supernatural being (usually in the form of a female), the friend or foe being, depending on the circumstances. Although there is a strange connection with Reeves' character to explain except how they condemn his strength nature skills that can help win his loyalty, or those who cross to certain death. 4.THE MEANING OF THE BACK TATTOO

Before John Wick was a man, a vengeful full killer return to the world who wanted to escape, we see Reeves in the shower with a big tattoo on his back. The Latin term "Fortis Fortuna adiuvat" appears in large letters at the top large, and translates into English as "the future of the favors of the global economy". The origin of the term is military, the motto of the naval base 3rd Battalion of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. This suggests Military Wick past his time as a mob killer, as well as an allusion to the Hawaiian heritage star Keanu Reeves (his father was a Hawaiian) is used. The fact that the tattoo is not in this short shot in the film, in his very material on the co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch's trust explained or referred to leave an air of mystery, adding enough texture and intrigue without the need for Explain every detail. But one message is clear: Wick sucks. 5.THE MATRIX CONNECTION

One of the interesting aspects of John Wick Chapter 2, the meeting between Keanu Reeves and Matrix co-star Lawrence Fishburne will be. His team is just one of many composites for the iconic series of science fiction films, which occur in the year 1999 John Wick's first film also featured several matrix graduates, including Daniel Bernhardt (who played an actor in the studio) and Randall Duk Kim (the Keymaker). Both directors his great opportunity as coordinators tricks in the Matrix trilogy, which would be accidental if Reeves wanted, when he wanted to choreograph the action scenes in John Wick. The duo felt so strongly about the project to convince the producers to allow them to direct the film. What, as Reeves and Laurence Fishburne were connected to the then Stahleski again (the only director in Chapter 2), he explained: "Keanu, I Laurence all worked and together in the Matrix trilogy. So, if Derrick (Kolstad, screenwriter) had written The character he plays in the Laurence script, in the sense that it was actually written with Laurence ... Keanu gave us a good introduction when they met. " There is even an Easter egg in the original movie Matrix: Neo in the game during the safe house scene is a character name. 6. KEANU REEVES DID MOST OF HIS OWN STUNTS

Reeves gave an intensely physical presentation on John Wick (talk about his one-bit training program) and his rings of authenticity on almost every picture in the real movie. The actor did 90% of his tricks (one of the few scenes that was a necessary stunt that the porch, oh, so painful fall into nightclub battle). This is particularly encouraging, since the fact that the actor had a flu outbreak during filming. Reeves was getting stuck action sequences so obsessed that the entire sequel to the movie nightclub on the same day was filmed. Reeves work tricks not only fight sequences, of course. He also has a driving experience, including the scene of him stepping out of a car from a private airport. In typical modesty, Reeves despised his talent. In an interview in 2014 with Indie Wire, he says it's just an extension of his role is .. "If I do this, it's not a trick stunts tricks ... I, I can do some physical action involved in any action , But they are not tricks. The guys turn, I threw, run, jump, play. " 7. PAYDAY 2

Two days before he made his film debut, John Wick was actually included as a downloadable character in Payday 2, a popular first person shooter. The result of a promotional partnership between Lions Gate Films and Overkill Software, including the Game Wick (by voice actor Dave Fouquette played) in Washington, DC assault involved in a gang, targeting banks, acting as a drug dealer and Even manipulate elections and smuggle nuclear weapons. The Low Wick was a smart move, as fans of first person shooters the perfect audience for one of the best shoot 'em up thrillers would be age. And John Wick is not the only character who shares synergy between Lionsgate and exaggeration in the series of payday games; Also mark remake of Point Break has to offer, the two partner companies. Overkill would get movies with STX Unconditional Entertainment Henry, a Russian actor continued to be killed as a first person shooter. 8. CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

As you may have already noticed John Wick's story, it was inspired by comics and comics. And insurance and visual aspect of the directors Leitch and Stahelski were not lost in Hollywood. Civil War: The duo was used as the second unit director of Captain America at Marvel Studios. The creative team was already familiar with the comic books, of course, as the work Stachelski trick Iron Man 2 did, and both made second unit work on The Wolverine. Civil War Director Joe Russo explains why he knew the two of them would be perfect for the production environment, saying, "We asked them if they came and helped us execute some of the action sequences with Spiro Razatos, Boy along with Chad and Dave ... we knew we had to work really hard to raise our Winter Soldier game. " You can see the work of Leitch and Stahelski on the scene of the Civil War, the adrenaline battle between The Avengers and Crossed Bones in Lagos, Portugal opening. And Leitch did not end with the superhero genre - recently announced that the long-awaited sequel Deadpool addressed. 9.EVA LONGORIA’S PRODUCING CREDIT

John Wick had many producers including co-director David Leitch, filmmaker James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), Basil Iwanyk and Michael Witherill. But the most prominent participants was the lead producer (and Desperate Housewives actress) Eva Longoria. So what attracted Longoria to the project? Do not ask or Stahelski Leitch, who gave the commentary on the film they found in the 2014 production: "I've never met ... but thanks for writing a check" Make online what the inspired actress for the co-produced film proved to be a difficult task, but a look at her IMDB profile shows that a diverse work, provocative documentaries (The Harvest, food chains) produced, Comic series - TV (Devious Maids, Soap Opera) and even an animated series for adults (Mother Up!). Surprisingly, given the financial success of the original, the actress is not preparing John Wick Chapter 2. However, Wick diehard fans a debt debt of gratitude to write for this check, and to help with the care, the potential to perform the film. 10.GUN FU

Another item that John Wick made for another action thriller, was his action sequence with only intense stylistic violence. And perhaps the most memorable element and incidence in these scenes was the shooting that described filmmaker as "fu gun". The technology is not really arisen in John Wick. Gun Fu was made by director John Woo in his classic Hong Kong thriller, A Better Tomorrow, known that American films would influence Matrix, where future directors Stahleski and Lietch in the technical coordination of built-in tricks. And John Wick is perhaps the most dynamic fighting style to intensify with filmmakers his game in great shape. What exactly was fu gun? It is basically built around martial arts shooting, with the grace and agility of a ballet room. It is safe to say that Keanu Reeves pulled the technique with precision and remarkable attitude, so we expect more fu weapons in Chapter 2.

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robertvasquez763 · 8 years

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Anticipating the Launch: Dodge Teases the Challenger Demon, Again [Video]

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Dodge’s latest Challenger Demon preview is here—the sixth of fourteen total. This time, it’s a peek at the Demon’s standard-fitment 315/40R-18 Nitto NT05R drag radials folding under the forces of a launch.

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Today’s teaser includes the image you see above and an attendant video (below). Unless you’re some sort of rubber fetishist, the preview is not a particularly sexy image, and yet it and some tidbits Dodge also released are highly revealing.

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Take a close look at this zoomed-in version of the same tire photo. See that demon tail on the lip of the 11.0-by-18-inch wheel? That’s a little mark to let Demon drivers know if the rear tire is slipping relative to the wheel during a hard launch. Leave a small mark on the tire beneath that little tail etching, and if the two are still aligned at the end of a quarter-mile run, then all is well. Most drag racers use the valve stem as an indicator; this is just another sign that no detail was overlooked on the Demon. Should the tail and tire mark no longer line up, it’ll show the driver that the Demon’s rear tires may be underinflated, resulting in a bit of lost time on that last hole shot.

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While Dodge still won’t reveal the power and torque figures put down by the Demon’s supercharged V-8 engine, the brand has announced that the top-dog Challenger‘s torque converter boasts a higher stall speed than the unit found in the SRT Hellcat model. That’s right, the Demon will have an automatic transmission, and its torque converter provides approximately 18 percent more torque multiplication than the Hellcat’s automatic. Meanwhile, a shorter 3.09:1 final-drive ratio replaces the automatic Hellcat‘s 2.62 gearing. All told, Dodge claims that the Demon’s combination of grippy rubber and excessive twist work together to provide the single-seat muscle car with a launch force some 35 percent higher than the Hellcat’s. For all we know, the Demon may well be able to go plaid (a.k.a. in the nine-second elapsed-time range on the drag strip).

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Here’s How Much Horsepower We Think the Dodge Challenger Demon Will Make

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Second Dodge SRT Demon Teaser Released! [Video]

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Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Research: Reviews, Photos, and More

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Although Dodge continues to impress us with small factoids about the Demon, the brand’s seemingly nonstop teasers are beginning to fold our patience. Fear not, for the car’s reveal—and an end to these teasers—is growing nearer, since the Demon will debut in April at the 2017 New York auto show.

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marlaluster · 7 years

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emptying clipboard

Was looking at the supposed indigenous life in some glimpses here. Another live video. I didn't watch it but. "It's to show that they're alive to end the world," someone said of the people w the page. Oh. I am not normal but i am not weird. I am just everyone n everything. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1924767994450044&id=100007505862060&fs=4 Not in this realm. But it is not real here. Chrishtopher Michael Add Friend Message More Lives in Babylon, New York Details https://m.facebook.com/chris.wurtz.92 https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=286445501469011 https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1984643461780292&id=100007039721220&set=p.1984643461780292&fs=5 https://scontent.fztf1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/fr/cp0/e15/q65/20507166_1984643461780292_5771488457074199707_o.jpg?efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=8045b6031825c3027f0a4f4db4b2b8e8&oe=59ED061C 9+ Replies to your comment on your post. View post Marla Bobarla Food be looking nasty in britania.#foreigners Yesterday at 10:23pm · LikeMore Mark Earle There are over 57 British countries ? Today at 3:32am · LikeMore Marla Bobarla I don't know about stuff like this. I'm an actual person. Too many factoids, too little meaning. Man needs meaning n so i am this sort n really the news is it's the only sort. But I think this seems irrelevant additionally for what I was saying. 5 hours ago · LikeMore Mark Earle That's American food anyway ,,pancakes ,who else eats cake for breakfast ,but Americans ,, And me I'm English ,, never British ,. 4 hours ago · LikeMore Marla Bobarla I'm just not American. N by foreigners it could be a lot of things. It is a rude thing to say but it is something used here, so it is supposed to be some meaning to it somehow. Whatever. 2 hours ago · Edited · Like1More Mark Earle Turns out it's in Australia 2 hours ago · LikeMore Write a reply... Reply https://m.facebook.com/comment/replies/?ctoken=859643070878331_859643540878284&ft_ent_identifier=859643070878331&gfid=AQCVPXVFe5p_vlwU&notif_t=group_comment&notif_id=1501772287194866&ref=m_notif Please no. The mail is really not okay n is really actually scary. Please give it a break, loser. This topic I can say is obscure n is really akin to characterizing like was did e burning "witches" at the stake. It is some acidic n bigoted view forced as the only thing people will get. No real information or any necessary stopping of the picking on people. There is the movie Lolita, there is the movie/story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The people should be left alone n not picked on n tormented. It occurs as very grotesque this is did. Other things, too. It is a biased n hostile culture n society. It is not welcome by me. I am not judgemental. I am more of a sage human, not hostile like the society. I am curious n such. I don't like how things are here. Those voodoo practitioners could probably help things here. Here they are surfacing as a bit harsh w the animal parts, parts of dead animals but things are too narrow n fended for to continue on as narrow n very limited what is accepted as possible, true n available to people as what is life. Yeah. Those voodoo practitioners may be able to help me w something happening to me. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1389919794376485&id=100000754326255&fs=4 https://tedteamsite.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/joseph-shade-sheringham-norfolk/S [the devil cut off what I wrote. I'll paste the comment next as I wrote it from the clipboard.] Some powder proposedly makes live people walking dead. It says it's something they can be revived from. Maybe hope for #zombiepocalypse. Heres a comment i put on someone's page who had a link shared to an article online about someone admitting to "pedophilia." The devil was messing w the type here some, making misspellings. "I was doing that. Thats it. Bye," the devil said. Here's my comment. ..... This topic I can say is obscure n is really akin to characterizing like was did w burning "witches" at the stake. It is some acidic n bigoted view forced as the only thing people will get. No real information or any necessary stopping of the picking on people. There is the movie Lolita, there is the movie/story of Jerry Lee Lewis. The people should be left alone n not picked on n tormented. It occurs as very grotesque this is did. Other things, too. It is a biased n hostile culture n society. It is not welcome by me. ----- end of my comment I put on someone's page named Mark Earle. ---- https://tedteamsite.wordpress.com/2017/08/03/joseph-shade-sheringham-norfolk/

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