#oh very important he likes Ultimo too

[tra-le-patatine-a-fuoco]

.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

Bullet

Michel/Paresse because I have no self control.

Sayama wants to get the evil doji under her control so she can face her dad. And one pair is just ripe for the metaphorical picking.

Cw; death, manipulation, grief

----

"He's hiding things from you…"

Mizho jolted and whipped around at the words, but then only glared. She didn't trust this girl. Sayama, the supposed traitor from the good side. And now she knew she was right.

"Fuck off, I'm not listening to your bullshit, snake."

"Do you remember how Michel Dubois died?"

She froze. No, she wasn't going to fall into this trap… but… no, she didn't. Her face screwed up into a furious scowl, "How I died doesn't matter." She tried to reinforce it, that she and Dubois are the same.

"I remember how Saya died, lived, ate, breathed. Regula showed me everything. But Paresse keeps secrets from you. The same way Ultimo kept secrets from Yamato. Such a shame, I thought the evil doji would be different." Sayama sighed and leaned back, tapping a finger to her lip in a fashion that makes Mizho's blood boil.

She paused… and took a slow breath. So what? It didn't matter. What's the worst, that Paresse killed Michel? Killed her? She shook her head, "I don't care, even if he did. Probably too lazy to give me anything but the important bits."

"Oh, but I'd say 'your' death is pretty important, don't you?"

"No." Mizho felt the bliss of willful ignorance washing over her and putting out the exhausting emotions she had started to let build, "I don't care. What, did he kill me or something? He could have betrayed me like the snake he is and I still wouldn't give a shit. If it was important, he would have shown me."

"Oh, no, he didn't betray Michel. He was loyal to the very end and still is, even today. Would you like me to show you? Would you like to know the last order Paresse got from Michel?"

Mizho flinched at her insistence to separate her from her previous incarnation, "No, I don't. Now fuck off before I relocate your spine." She tore herself away from the conversation and adjusted her uniform on her shoulders. Training had been exhausting that day and all she wanted was to go to bed.

Paresse was there, inactive and simply sat against a wall. She chased the buzzing electricity of curiosity and uncertainty away from her chest and got ready for bed. As she sat on the mattress, though, she couldn't help it.

"How did I die? As Michel."

"Bullet."

A simple, quick answer. No hesitation in answering, either.

"Hm. Boring. Figures, though. No wonder you left that out."

There's a pause. Actual hesitation this time before Paresse gave a half hearted grunt in agreement.

Fuck.

She looked over at him, "You left out a lot of things."

Only Paresse's eyes moved, going to meet her single eye. After another hesitation, he shrugged a shoulder.

She crossed her arms, "That bitch Sayama is trying to fuck with me. She seems to think that whatever you're hiding from me will fuck us up. I think you just hid shit from me because you were too lazy to give me everything. Your hesitation is not doing me any favors."

"What I left out…" The dôji heaved a sigh of exasperation, "Is none of her fucking concern, and neither is it yours." His face hardened, "It's best left where it is; Buried and lost in the mountains with Michel."

She makes a face, "I am Michel."

"No, you're not." Nothing about Paresse's expression or position changed, but there was an emotion that entered his tone that made her hesitate. Made her angry.

"Show me."

"No--"

"That is an order from your master, robot, show me." She got up and stormed over to him. His face finally moved… but it's not anger, it's pain. His chest opened against his will, and she grabbed the sphere within.

She's not prepared for what he shows her.

----

The ease of which Paresse moves between bullets, separates head from shoulders. A weightless, effortless glide of the blades that are his gauntlets.

A creature in the shadows that belongs to him. That learns from him. That stays with him.

Paresse mutters translations of the shouts his enemies are making as they try to track where his bullets are coming from.

A snowstorm raging outside of an outpost. Curled up inside, in full uniform, against his creature and chasing what little heat the robot can provide.

Paresse's hand slowly running over his arm, sometimes his face.

Pain.

A wild shot from a man's dying spasms. His shoulder. Pain screams like lightning down his arm and into his chest. It hurts, but he keeps firing.

Paresse is by his side instantly as he finally comes down from his perch in the branches.

The bullet is still in his shoulder. There's no doctor for a ghost in the mountains. He shrugs it off. Tells Paresse it will heal.

Even as it starts to grow hot, as pus starts leaking from it, he tells Paresse it will heal. He doesn't care, he tells himself. So what if he dies?

Why is he even bothering trying to lie to Paresse? Why does he care if his creature worries? Why does it hurt to think about leaving it alone?

The lie doesn't last. He collapses against a tree.

Paresse is by his side.

It hurts. The veins around the wound are black with the infection. He's sweating in the sub-zero mountain air. Paresse knows.

His creature holds him against its chest, as if the warmth could chase it away. They both know it won't.

It's quiet. Just the faint sound of the trees creaking in the wind and the gentle patter of snow hitting the ground.

"Lieutenant…"

He looks up, his creature's mask gone in its human form. It's face twisted in a mixture of confusion and yet knowing. It's seen death so many times now. But it's master? It's such a human look on it's face, especially as it fades into sadness, grief, even.

"Don't cry over me. Do you understand? It's an order."

A flinch, confusion returns.

"Find another master, get off this damn mountain, win your war. But don't cry over me. Ever. Do you understand?"

"No… I don't understand."

"That's an order from your master."

The arms around him grip tighter, "Yes, Lieutenant… Michel… I understand."

"Good boy." He lowers his head again and sighs. He focuses on the way Paresse's hand feels stroking his arm, sometimes his face… and not on the way his creature trembles to keep from crying.

He won't wake up when this storm passes.

----

Mizho was on the ground, sitting in front of Paresse, as she came back to the present day. Back to WWII. Back to an angry robot in front of her, with tears in his eyes that aren't allowed to fall.

"You're not Michel." He stood, of his own accord, and left the room.

She stared at the place he had been in, and not really seeing it. She shouldn't have asked. It's all she could think. They're sloth. Apathy. She never should have cared in the first place. Sayama's plan, to whatever end, had worked. She isn't supposed to care… and now she cared too much. She could practically feel the sync level she and Paresse had built up draining like a dam had been broken.

She could still feel the arms around Michel… and she knew Paresse was right. She wasn't him. Not to Paresse. Even if she tried to mend it, tried to completely become Michel again… well… just like Rune wasn't really Lady Gekko anymore, just like Yamato wasn't a bandit lord anymore… she wasn't Michel anymore. She wanted to scream, to demand that Sayama and Regula wipe those memories away from her, wipe Paresse's memory of her demanding them…

That was it, wasn't it? Mizho's teeth grit. Sayama knew this would happen. She closed her eye and took a slow, steadying breath. No, she would figure this out. She wasn't going to be in debt to her of all people. Fine, cat's out of the bag, Paresse had been in love with who she used to be. That's now just another fact.

… shit, Paresse had left. What if he went to Sayama instead? She got up and went to go find him. She could stop caring after she made sure Paresse's grief wasn't about to be weaponized against both of them.

[th3okamid3mon]

The Lighthouse,  somehow charming to disturbing [SPOILERS]

What happens when you have 2 man inside an isolated house? NOTHING GOOD! NOTHING. GOOD. AT ALL! 

Sinopsis: 

2 lighthouse keepers are doing 4 weeks shift at an isolated and mysterious island in New England while fighting the desires to succumb into insanity. The tension between them grows as time passes, even though they can no longer decipher the time of day. 

Photography, sound and edition: 

BOI, WHERE DO I BEGIN!? OH I KNOW! THE CAMERA. The first thing that intrigue me about this movie is the black and white and that it´s shot in 1. 19:1 (For those who don´t know what that means, its the dimensions you see the movie, for example: a widescreen television in full hd would be 16:9). Seriously, this could possibly fool someone into thinking it´s an old movie, a literal movie from the 1930´s or 40´s. But NOPE! ITS FROM THIS CENTURY! BUT WAIT! THERE´S MORE! 

SO! It was shot using a Panavision Millenium XL2, which it still uses film. Some people think movies are shot with digital cameras now days and that film is completely obsolete. Well, a couple movies have been shot with film and in color. Film can and does have a really good quality, a lot of directors still like to use film to shoot the movies and then transfer the movie to digital. Some directors digitalize the movie, edits it and then imprints it in film! A mexican cinematographer called Gerardo Barroso explain in a conference in 2012 at the FIC UABC (International Film Festival UABC) how he does that because he liked the film more than the digital due to certain details it gives, specially to the colors and general shots, one of the movies shoot completely in film was 2011 Los Ultimos Cristeros. 2011. Let that sink in.  Back to The Lighthouse, this movie was film with Eastman Double X film, this type of film is only in black and white and they also used a custom filter to give the stylization you see here:

They also used a vintage , 1930´s Baltar Lens to give it more the old fashion movies style. This people went full on for the ¨super¨ old aesthetic. 

It looks completely like a 40´s or 50´s movie, but the sound gives it away as a modern film. The shots used were also kind of vintage or old; lots of use of closeups, really open general shots of the lighthouse and the sea, several shots to fill in the spots. Those filler shots are actually used for a very bad trip Robert Pattinson´s character has, imagining having sex with a mermaid and being tangled into octopus and then coming out of conscious not realizing whether he is in the past or in the present. 

The photography works really well in representation the absurdly, horrifying isolation the characters feel and the imagery becomes grotesque with the characters as they become even more aggressive and insane. 

One thing that isn´t as appreciated or doesn´t seem as appreciated is the sound design. Not only the music, all the sounds. The deafening sound of the alarm, the motor that powers the light, the sound of the waves as they turn from calm and relaxing to roaring with fury as if god himself was punishing this men for existing. Every single sound is done with care, nothing was out of place nor excessive. You could say certain sounds become annoying like the seagulls or the alarm but that´s the point. You are experiencing the same annoyances as the characters, you have to know what (at least one of them) they are going through in that isolated place. There´s nothing! Nothing. No other people. Only this old farty man and the seagulls and the sea. And when you are trapped for 4 weeks only listening to that, it can drive anyone insane. 

The editing is energetic, taking care of how every shot works for every moment. At the beginning there´s this unknowing feeling because we dont know the place, the character we follow (Robert Pattinson´s) is walking around, getting to know the place. We see it being a slow edit, it has slow moments, just getting used to the place. As time pass, we can see quicker shots, they dont stay in screen for a long time. There´s more cuts, quicker cuts. When you want a succumbing to insanity sensation of course you need the actors to act and the art design to be showing part of the story and the sound, but timing is important. if you leave a shot too long, it will mean something completely different. It was careful with each and every shot, and the timing was spot on, leaving just the appropriate amount of time to see what was going on and confuse the living shit out of everyone when the characters were tripping horribly. 

Art design:

Every department in a movie is highly important, in this case it was crucial. A lot of investigation must have been done to get the proper clothes, specially if it was gonna be filmed in black and white. You CANNOT use whatever clothes in whatever color, you have to make sure those colors aren´t too dark or too bright, if they are too dark there will be sub-exposure, if they are too bright there will be over exposure. It had to be in a specific palette to make sure the film doesnt fuck up. Not only did they had to search what kind of clothes were used in 1890, but also what the building was made of, the boats, the materials, the food, what did they eat? what did they drink? in what did they drink? HOW DID THEY GO TO THE BATHROOM? Everything was thought out. 

There were certain things like the make up or special effects that kind of confused me, it wasn´t until there was blood involve that caught my attention. In certain scenes the blood is in gray tones, but then when more blood is involve it turns into black, not dark gray, completely black. It strike me a lot. 

SPOILERY, IT INVOLVES PART OF THE END, SKIP IT IF YOU WANT: there´s a part where William Dafoe´s characters turns or is viewed as a octopus and starts spewing ink. Robert Pattinson´s Character is covered in blood as he hits this character and it looked grayish, but when he goes into the lighthouse his face is completely black. I don´t know if it was on purpose, i think it was part of his delusion and hallucination. It popped too much and it was almost out of nowhere. 

All and all, it was done amazingly, they did amazingly with the design of the house and the lighthouse. They dodge a bullet with the boat, i bet that would´ve been a lot more work to design or try to get. I mean, they still got a boat but they only did closeups and really limited view shots, there was no way you could see the boat completely and say if it was a modern model or an old model. The dirt and filthiness gross me out, i left the movie theater feeling filthy and gross, not only for how it looked but also for what I saw. 

Writing and Characters:

As I said before, the film has the vintage, oldy but goody look and aesthetic. That´s really clear, but you have no idea what I meant. They really went full on the look and the writing. Hearing this two actors talk reminds me so much of an old movie. They talk too much! They spew a lot of sentences that sometimes don´t mean much? I mean, William Dafoe´s character talks like a sailor, because he is one and talks with riddles or just rhymes sometimes. At first glance they dont mean much, but if you paid attention to all he says it´s all foreshadowing for the cruel and awful finale. 

The way they speak gets you back, it´s nothing you´ve heard before, by that I mean you would never hear anyone talk somehow like this. I dont think sailors talk like this anymore unless its for a gag. ¨Ya´hear?¨ ¨Ay, sir!¨ ¨YER A FILTHY BASTERD¨ ¨YER NOTHING BUT A DAWG¨. The accents gives a bit more of what era they are in, the writing itself does it though. 

Man, oh man! My filthy pair of sexually charged man. This two are GONE. Or at least William Dafoe´s is. You have an old, obsess man who loves the light and refers to it as his wife; he spews about his life in the sea and eventually you start to think whether that man is just bark and no bite or bite with no bark. Did I mention this man is hella superstitious? Thing he tells the other guy? ¨You better not mess with the ´gulls. They are the spirits of sailors died at sea¨.  He´s been alone for a while and his last second in command was described as dead and mad. HMMM.... Weird! And then you have the new second in command, new, responsible, hard working and has this mysterious vibe, something he is keeping to himself which is eating him from the inside out (if you get it, you get it). 

There´s not much you can decipher from this two. They start as just two man in a lighthouse, one is the boss the other a subordinate, nothing more nothing less. Then they become a bit more friendly to each other, but its more of a job friendly type of thing since it is a job they have to do. Tension begins to boil up when they discover they are alone and isolate for who knows how long due to the boat of provisions not coming after the 4 weeks. This characters dont develop much in the story and that´s fine. Both are not exactly thrilling, it´s what they do that becomes interesting. William Dafoe´s character is shown as gross, apathetic, strict and superstitious as well as stubborn but becomes a little more sympathetic. Why? Because we then know Robert Pattinson´s character a not more. He is (probably) a murderer, he took the lighthouse job with other name because he was a wanted man? and he was escaping his old life. He was already deranged when he got there, he had more probabilities of killing anyone. And then we discovered, the old man had killed before! So non of them are likeable, can be charismatic but not good at all. 

The plot is simple, the characters show emotions and certain 3Dimensionality but since they become even more of an asshole we kind of top caring about what happen to them. I guess the ending is more of delight to audience since we see them both get punish. Then again, I feel more bad about the old man than the new guy. He was an asshole in secret and ended up being an outed asshole. 

Conclusion: 

All and all, this movie is not for everyone. It has a nice pace and it´s interesting. The plot is simple, almost non-existent, what intrigues is the whole eeriness of the place and the situation that becomes super explosive really quick, it´s not a bad thing it´s more of a wake up alarm that hits you with a bat. It has quite the graphic imagery (sex, nudity, masturbation, animal killing in a VERY GRAPHIC AND HORRIFYING WAY, I HOPE IT WASN´T A REALLY ANIMAL MY GOD) that I dont think its for shock value, i think each have a reason to be and I understand it, it doesn´t mean it was shocking and disturbing though. Something I also didn´t expect was the chemistry between William Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, they work really well. Their acting was spot on and well done. Robert Pattinson has done other acting jobs, unfortunately some of those are from really bad movies which is a shame cause his acting is phenomenal. Thank god for this movie,  not to discredit Dafoe but the one shining is Pattinson. 

It is like a love letter to the film making from back in the old days, it could become a good stylization. A lot of movies with this old backgrounds are emerging and I dont see it as a bad thing though I can see it a bit of a problem. I feel it´s saying ¨The old days were better¨ but then again, what era hasn´t done that? Oh wait, the ones where vaccines didnt exist... In all seriousness, this could potentially inspire people to use the old gears or at least achieve this type of aesthetic to tell a story, it´s saying ¨IM NOT OBSOLETE YET, AND I WILL MAKE SURE OF IT¨ Film is an old material to use but it obviously shows it´s still kicking... for now. 

I do recommend it if you like thrillers, it is really eery, it is full of tension and gives you a weird claustrophobic and isolated sensation. 

NOTE: I´d say no minor should watch this, but I feel they would only want to watch it more, here i go though:  If you are a minor, SERIOUSLY, DONT. it depicts graphic deaths, graphic explicit sex scenes and general grossness, they were from the 1890, don´t expect them to be or act clean. I walk out of the movie theater feeling gross and dirty, never felt that way before after watching a movie like this one. 

Sincerely not delusional, TOD.

P.S: Watch kitten or dog videos to ease the utter disgust and disturb sensation of watching a man grab a bird from the throat and stomping it into a rock for at least 2 minutes straight. 

[borisbubbles]

ESC 2019 Preshow #09

09. ITALY Mahmood - “Soldi” Autoqualifier

👏SOL 👏 DI 👏 SOL👏 DI 👏

ENTRY ANALYSIS

Much like Jonida, Mahmood sort of slipped for me when I grew more attached to other songs, but that does not mean he’s not fucking amazing! I, too, fell in love with “Soldi” on first listen when I noticed the lyrics rhymed “Ramadan” with “Jackie Chan”. 😍 😍 😍 😍. 

Other amazing things about “Soldi” include: the 👏 use 👏 of 👏 clapping 👏 as 👏 punctuation 👏, the ~Iconic~ lines in Arabic during the middle eight and the wonderful message. It was the FIRST SONG IN THIS YEAR WHICH MADE ME SHED A TEAR!!!  😭😭😭 I don’t know how or why, but I listened to the song with translated lyrics and it just *clicked* for me. I WAS LYING SICK IN BED WITH THE FLU, OKAY. Forgive me my momentary weakness!!!

So is it any wonder “Soldi” was greeted with near-unanimous critical acclaim and support? No, of course not. It’s a fantastic song and 100% deserved to win San Remo!

...

okay, so San Remo...  I did *NOT* watch it but I’m aware of Irama, Loredana and Simone, so consider those the reps if I had bothered with an NF corner. Ideal Husband Material, Blue-haired Rocker Hag and Random Dude Who Reads Poetry (not sings. reads.) respectively <3

Slated to win San Remo this year was Ultimo, who entered San Remo with some pretentious piano ballad called “I tuoi particulari” which as the name implies was particularly boring. God what a yawnfest. However, it as also the audience favourite somehow? Him?

So, the juries marked it down just enough so ‘Soldi’ won instead because again, BORING don’t work. Ultimo, instead of being like “well I lost, but oh well, I wasn’t going to Eurovision anyway*”, showed his true Salvador colours by throwing a temper tantrum on social media and spent the entire press conference uglysobbing about how quality was denied (his own words! He refered to *himself* as quality!).

(*he said he would never do Eurovision because he believes it is Eurovision is beneath him 😬)  Oh and some right-wing Forza politicians chimed with their usual drivel that Mahmood was unfit to represent Italy because Mahmood is gay & half-arabic while Italy is a vafanculo blob of fragile masculinity which can only be properly represented by drug-riggen, ugly-tattoo’d brats. Guess what? WE 👏 DON’T👏 CARE. 👏 FOR YOUR 👏 MODERN TIME 👏 PREACHIN’  👏 FORTUNATELY, Mahmood agreed to do ESC (after a week long thinking period lol) and all was well in this world . 👏 ANOTHER VICTORY FOR QUALITY  👏

Edit note: it has become apparent that my brash and snarky assesment was largely malinformed, but user @wingednerdydude​  provided a pretty detailed summation of the situation. 

It’s a quite long explanation I’ll put a tl;dr to appease the fans:  Ultimo did indeed not take the loss well, but the media also took an off-hand comment he made about Mahmood out of context and he retaliated, which led a lot of a unnecessary drama and mutual poo-slinging. It’s not just the ESC fans that overdramatize shit, who knew. 

For those who want to read it:

Ultimo never insulted Mahmood or said one single bad thing about him or that his song was better than Soldi, let's make this clear from the start. It's also true that he never even said anything complimenting him or his song. Mahmood actually said he never spoke to him nor heard from him in any way. The only thing Ultimo ever said is that he is happy for Mahmood and his success, that's it. If Ultimo really did compliment him then I never read or watched such interview

The mess during Sanremo's press conference blew up right when Ultimo said he was happy for (I'm quoting) "the other ragazzo, Mahmood". Ragazzo is a really neutral term in Italian, it just means young man, I wouldn't know how to traslate it. The journalists found it "insulting" for some weird reason (Mahmood actually said he thinks it's a totally okay term) and said Ultimo was disrespecting him. More context: Ultimo clearly was disappointed about his 2nd place

The press knew it and since the moment he entered the press room they literally started rubbing his missed victory in his face and kept asking him "yeah, but don't you think you should have won?". Ultimo eventually got pissed like mad and rightfully so. They were literally trying to make him lose his temper because they knew he had a bad character and was disappointed. They wanted a scoop and they got it.

Ultimo told the journalists that they were just trying to get an article out of it and that any thing he would say, they would turn it into something else. Then he said (quoting) "I'm fucking done with you". Boom, all of the press room went crazy and started throwing insults at him (sore loser, shit, bastard, ungrateful etc...). At some point Mahmood entered the room and the situation got chill again. By the way, look at the Il Volo guys while he speaks. They agreed.

Which takes us to the next step: why did Ultimo explode like that? I'll get ther: the day after there was a tv program the contestants were supposed to take part in. Ultimo didn't show up. It was full of journalists who obviously insulted him, they showed the clip of Ultimo insulting the press. One of the journalists though, she gave no fucks and just said the things as they were: and that is, the press insulted him. Not only after Ultimo's insults, but also earlier.

Ultimo wasn't the only artist who got insulted: the guys from Il Volo were too, during their performance and while the results were being announced (everyone cheered cause they hadn't won). The journalist says there were clips of it. Ups, looks like they "couldn't show them". Funny how they found Ultimo insulting journalists, but not the opposite. And those videos exist. In particular, there was a video of Ultimo being insulted by press, days before

There were a lot of talks, clickbaity articles written etc... Ultimo tried speaking in a video he posted and told his point of view. Now, mind you, I don't agree with some of the stuff he said. He said that he was sad about the whole thing and that it had been blown out of proportion, his words twisted to show him like the bad guy. And this is true if you read what I wrote. About the results: he was pissed because he had won the televote by a very large margin but lost.

Here I think he was really wrong, cause those are the rules, jury and televote results add up to the final result, it's maths. It may be disappointing, but that's how it is. Still, he was sad that people had to PAY to vote and their votes didn't matter in the end to choose the actual winner. Debatable. But he did make a good point about one thing: the jury votes are made of the votes of some experts (they're like 10 and actually often are people with no music knowledge)

 And the rest of the jury votes are journalists. Now, wait a second: the same journalists who threw personal insults at him and Il Volo for no reason if not a personal anthipathy were the ones deciding if they could win or not. Now this is interesting, cause the jury is supposed to be unbiased. His complaining about this is just right in my opinion, something should have been done about it (journalists faced no consequences for their insults to contestants).

This is where the whole thing ended. Ultimo just asked not to speak about it again, Sanremo's week has now well passed and everyone moved on, so that's literally all. I hope I was of some help to better understand the situation. And please guys, no fighting, let's just enjoy Mahmood's song.

 AND LET US NEVER SPEAK OF HIM EVER AGAIN!!!!!! ~moving on~

Autoqualifier Odds: very good

The most important thing one has to take away from “Soldi” is that it’s a fucking excellent song. There’s a reason it received near-universal critical acclaim from all sources.  

But, as the saying goes, it’s not the song but what you do with it. Mahmood is making great ~live performance progress~ as more pre-parties are showing his growing expertise, but at the same time I feel like everyone has sort of forgotten about him as a potential winner? Actually my friends posited the idea that Mahmood might be a Jamala-esque winner (by finishing second in both jury AND televote) and I think that is an intriguing possibility we should consider! If Duncan somehow doesn’t come through (and he won’t because Expected Winner’s Curse), it will be Mahmood who shall pick up the pieces and win instead. (unless the audience wants to go for the novelty act again, in which case Hatari or Bilal will win) I recognize that Mahmood could go down the usual Italy trajectory and be sandbagged by juries into a mid top 10 placement, I guess. I don’t want to get my hopes up and overrate his odds like I did with Gabbani. Even under the worst circumstance, Mahmood is definitely finishing somewhere in the top 10 though, as all Italian men (fragile or not) do. 

Projected placement: 1st-8th in the Grand Final.

Link to the masterpost

[fabiochampioraro]

Like i know i’ve posted 1000 times already about it but guys i’m so fucking MAD and the press for how they handled the conference, like Niccolò was saying that even if he didn’t win he was glad he participated and that he was happy for Mahmood and he called him a boy...the press answered to that word like Nico was insulting him, when he confusedly asked how old Mahmood was (HE’S 27 IN CASE Y’ALL WERE WONDERING WHAT WOULD YOU CALL A 27 YEARS OLD YOU MET 5 DAYS BEFORE??) and again the press twisted his words after trying all week to make Ultimo appear like an arrogant boy who wanted to win at all costs while constantly downgrading him. Nico then was a bit rude yes, he may have chosen the wrong words, but what he meant was just right! The journalists feel so important during sanremo bc they work a lot (remember the questions if Ermal and Fabrizio felt ashamed about NMAFN when they were temporarily disqualified?) and they too often just put words in someone’s mouth to get their big title and sell more newspapers, he said that to them very clearly “it’s alright, whatever i say you would always find something to make me look bad, what did i say wrong?” and i’m glad I’m a fan of a 23 years old boy who has the courage to speak his mind and not scared about showing who he is. Oh and to the journalists that shouted “fanculo” or even “muori” he’s 23, sad after y’all fucked up his night, tired and disillusioned by your attitude...you are grown individuals that don’t give a shit about anything else than $$ and honestly i would like to slap you all.

[metamorotranslate]

It’s a long interview and i can’t put it under the “read more” but enjoy ♥ I: We promised you, we have him live on the phone: good evening to Fabrizio Moro, hello Fabrizio. F: Hello guys. I: Hello! Well met on "Rtr 99 Canzoni e parole fuori dal coro". We're talking about the event all week , because there are few hours left to your concert at the Olimpico stadium. Tell us about the preparations, what we're expecting from this concert, the guests, tell us! F: We were locked few weeks, actually few months in this shed near Tor Cervara. There was the stage set construction, we worked really hard, day and night, and so from the practical and technical point of view it's all right; from the emotional point of view i don't know yet because i didn't had the time to focus emotionally on this concept. It'll be two and a half hours of songs, there will be guests, Ermal Meta, Fiorella Mannioia, Ultimo. I worked really hard on the lighworks because it was designed by Jo Campana who is the number one for me, it's the best in Italy, he made the tour of Ligabue, Vasco Rossi, Gianna Nannini, there will be huge and crazy lightworks behind us, where will be projected repertoire images, graphics... I: So also a visual impact F: It's the first time i work so much on the production of my concert, because usually it was a rock'n roll production, i spent a lot of time- i focused my time on the musical words. The production was always accompanied by a black drape, that's all. I gave more importance to the music compared to the scenography. I: So this confirm also your artistic grow up, from this point of view, you evolve more and more. F: But actually i didn't have the means.I: Oh, sure, it is important as well. F: This year there is an important production, an importan agency that they're supporting me in every way. And also the production made a big step change. And also we're playing at the Olimpico- I: Well, i mean... I should say not. F: It's like going to a wedding with shorts I: You can't do it! The look is connected to the way it tastes. And you, Fabrizio, worked a lot and also collected big successes in these years, from your various partecipations to Sanremo Festival, with some songs like Pensa that it's in the music history; also Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita, Portami via, but the last success is with Ermal Meta and in fact he will be at your concert the next 16th June. What can you tell about this last Sanremo Festival? What you bring on that stage from the last experience that you had... Help me- F: In Lisbon? I: Yes exactly, in Lisbon at the Eurovision. F: You know why you didn't think about this word ? Because in Italy, i noticed this... I've never watched the Eurovision- I: You've never watched it before participating in it? F: Nope, i didn't even knew what it was, i swear. I: So you dind't expect all of that coloured artists- F: After i've participated, you know what happens, we italians didn't metabolized the importance of this european contest yet, in fact when we were there, there was a world-cup vibe, there was swedish with wine bottles, the same scenes you seen when the nations play. And there weren't italians there. We started to be passionate about this contest last year, for a couple of years. I: For a short time, yes. F: That's why you can't remeber the word. I: Haha, no that was a little slip of tongue. Well we are more participative in this event and why we understimate it, in your opinion? We consider it second-class, but in reality it's an important event. F: It's a cultural thing, because we have the Sanremo Festival in Italy, so we give more importance to it. In Sweden for example, i don't know why today i'm saying Sweden, there isn't a Sanremo Festival, there isn't a musical festival, the Eurovision is their Sanremo Festival. I: So they aim to that event. F: Exactly, and it happens in most of the european countries. This may be one of the reasons. I: Well we are traditionalists from this point of view, we like the tradition, the festival is the festival, is one, and it's Sanremo. And it's the one you won this year and we give you our compliments even though the trobles that you had to face in this festival. F: Difficulties are always there, we are used to them. We are used to overcome difficulties, do you remember Rocky Balboa? I: Yeah sure, today i red some news about you and Rocky Balboa, tell us. F: If i hadn't seen that film, especially the first Rocky when i was young, probably i wouldn't have done the songwriter, i wouldn't have taken a path full of pitfalls, full of challanges, full of tests, battle to survive, it's just like this, the musician path is very complicated, especially in Italy, in fact, after the concert, when the guys go in the backstage and they bring the auditions to me, i try to dwell to a thing and to give a really important advice, you must have a lot of patience, and also you must have a story to tell that conditioned us, in good and bad, and we can exorcise with music. The talent to write songs is the last one, it's a little bit strange but it's true. Just like footballers- I: So patience- F: Just like footballers, there are so many of them that don't have good feet, but they have stubbornness and strength, i'm thinking of Rino Gattuso with Rocky. There too it's talent, when people longed to emerge, of redress, it's talent in my opinion. I: Surely the determination and passion are the crucial ingredients, i like that you point out the patience, there's a wise man who says "Patience is the only weapon to get ahead, apparently, in a dead-end situation", so the patience is a weapon- F: you understand it after the fourties I: you say you understand it only after? But you should have it before, because young peolple are impatient. F: It's normal, when you're twenty it's right, it's also a biological question. I: Yeah, it's true. So Fabrizio is also young, you always speak to young people, who's better than you, so someone will listen to you and will take this advice with them, treasuring it. Even to bring all the way your passions and your goals. So you, i want to guess, you are a person who gets excited a lot, so express your anger, you a just like this F: Yeah, pretty much like this. I: But at the same time, i don't know if this thing is because of your fatherhood or just the fourties, you are a measured person. You follow your heart or your mind? F: This is a good question. I don't undestand it, sometimes the two of them cross paths, they are strictly related, and this is already an answer. I'm not able to use them separately. Surely, the heart is the first cog to go, when i make a decision, when i'm in front of a situation i have to face, the heart is the first cog to go and then there's the head, but this is not always good. Sometimes you should start with you head and then with your heart, especially when you're passionate, otherwise you there's a risk to screw up. I: Perfect. Fabrizio, before we let you go to your job and rehearsals, I want to remeber that he wrote important songs for Emma, Stadio, Elodie, Noemi, Mannoia that is a really important artist, and on stage with you there'll be Fiorella Mannoia, Ermal Meta and also Ultimo who revised with you your song "L'eternità", in this case "L'eternità il mio quartiere". How this collaboration happened? F: Well it's really strange the thing between me and Niccolò because, basically, we arrive from the same place in Rome, and this is already an important coincidence- I: Did you found out at Sanremo or- F: We found out- He come to see my concerts, when he was younger, and this thing make me laugh because one day he showed up, two yeard ago; I was going to do my concert in Rome at Palalottomatica, he brought me the sampler of the songs, he asked me to listen to them and if he can open my concert. I listen to the songs and i liked him really much, then i said "you can open my concert" I'm glad, he was a guy from my own neighborhood and i was happy it was me who can gave him this possibility, I'm proud and glad, especially if it's a good asrtist. He opened the concert, i saw him on stage, i loved him, he was really good, this guy had to do something, and in fact, after two years from that performance, he won Sanremo. He surpassed me, his concert are sold-out, and that's life. I: But sometimes they say you have to surpass you teacher, otherwise the teacher is not good. F: Yeah, yeah, i know. I was a friend, a big brother for him. He's really good and he's also a good guy. He has a beautiful eyes, i talk about the gaze, and Niccolò has a really good story with him wishes to tell. I: And i thank you for this story you told us, and also your meeting, we can all see that you have so much to tell with so much heart, so thank you also for the songs you give us. Happy concert with Fabrizio Moro at the Olimpico. You'll present the songs of your album "Parole rumori e anni" that is a collection. F: Yes, it will be a two and a half hours concert, and we're working on it for a long time, and there will be my dear friends on stage, and i wish i can give an indelible memory to all the guys who'll come saturday night at the concert because i know that most of them... It's an audience that represent me, i know that they have made sacrifices to buy a ticket and for this i thank them for life; thanks to my fan support I have the possibility to live this beautiful dream, to do my dream job. The thing that concerns me is to give an indelible memory every time there is a concert; i go on stage and i would like to have the possibility to not get off ever again. I: Well two and half hours are enough, then you come back soon, all right? We give you a break just like all humans, to eat, to sleep some hours, and then you'll return with new concerts. Don't stop Fabrizio, give us your songs always and thanks for today. We'll listen to your last songs with Ultimo, Fabrizio Moro, 16th June at Olimpico. Thanks Fabrizio! F: See you!

[social-anxiety3-blog]

fuck he's so sweet! the interviewer defines Ermal and Fabrizio a couple many times and fabri smiles oh god fabri: " evviva ultimo! and evviva ermal or he's offended, you know?! he's touchy, you have to know that. interviewer: " is there jealousy in the couple now?" fabri smiles fabri: " we make fun of each other, we joke a little too much lately.. because we have spent a very intense moment, as you know, so to defuse the situation and anxiety we behave like fools around but-" interviewer: "but you guys still have your spaces and it's important for a couple." fabri: " absolutely" and he laughs SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH, I DO MY BEST!!! NOW WE CAN LOVE OUR DAD.

[snsmissionaries]

12/11/17 -- Elder Dalton Hall, Kansas, Wichita Mission

Dalton's second letter home:

Hello everyone!!! I hope you all had a great Halloween!! Nothing was different here yesterday other than some of the Elders on my floor had some decorations lol. I didn't really think much about it, plus I've never been a huge fan of Halloween anyway (besides the candy) so it didn't really bother me!

So last P-Day after I was done emailing we went to the Provo Temple and it was so cool! I've never done an endowment session in another temple, so it was neat. I also got to go in with the Elders from my zone and district! On Thursday we woke up and gave service at like 6:25 and we just cleaned the whole building. We cleaned the bathrooms, mopped the floor all that stuff. That morning we went to get a sack breakfast after our service and I ran into Brandon Soctomah! Brandon is a year ahead of me, but he just got to the MTC last week! We went to the same high school and had mutual friends and went on some dates and played basketball together and it was so cool to run into him and talk to him! So you know how Elder Carter and I were teaching our investigator Stefanie? Well it turns out she was like a "practice investigator" and she teaches our 6-9 class now! I knew it was gonna happen cuz someone told me on accident, but she is really nice and really helpful in class! This week we received two new investigators! One of them is "David" and he is 47 and his kids and wife are members but he isn't. (It's really Brother Astorga our Spanish teacher) But anyway, he is going to be an investigator and we are going to teach him the lessons as if he wasn't a member. We also got another investigator this week and it's an elderly lady named Sofia Avila and we have had two lessons with her! Our Spanish is not very well so she corrected us a lot, but we taught her the first lesson (the first lesson is about gods plan for his children and the atonement and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon which sounds like a lot, but we have learned how to teach it effectively in class) and in our second meeting we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation. Sofia is most likely a "practice investigator" but the MTC told us that there's a chance that they could be a real investigator which is pretty cool! Elder Carter and I really felt the spirit in both of our lessons but mainly the second lesson because she had questions about her family members that don't believe in God. Elder Carter bore a powerful testimony because his Dad served the same mission as him, but now his dad is inactive and then I shared my testimony about some of the family members I had that are inactive. We both were very emotional because we both love our families so much and we love the gospel with our whole heart and all we want is to share the gospel and Christ's love to everyone. The spirit was strong. In the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon there is a chapter about the Sons of Mosiah and they couldn't bear the thought of people not knowing the gospel so they served missions for like 14 years! That is how Elder Carter and I feel and we both work well together in our lessons, but what is most important, is the spirit that we are blessed with throughout our lessons, because the Spirit is the real teacher.

Another little spiritual moment was in our class the other day. We all read 1 Nephi Chapter 1 as a class and we all wrote down a question we had. As we read the whole chapter I received an answer to my question as did everyone else in the class. We all shared our thoughts and impressions and it was so cool. I received my answer in verse 20 where it talked about having faith in the Lord and realizing the tender mercies that the Lord gives to us. My question was "How can I be able to learn Spanish better and be able to use that in our lessons?" and I realized that the Lord has blessed me with tender mercies such as just being able to pray in Spanish and teach what I need to in our lessons! I also learned that if I have faith in the Lord then ANYTHING is possible. We also had class study time where we split into two groups and read Ether 12 and that chapter is so great and I challenge all of you to read it because it talks mainly about having faith but it also talks about hope and charity. Faith is our anchor! Without faith there is no hope! I challenge you all to read and pray about the chapter because it is an amazing testimony builder.

My second Sunday was awesome too!! It was like a regular Sunday except I woke up at like 6:15 and went to some meetings. We had sacrament, priesthood and then like a devotional by Brother Christensen from the Branch Presidency. Every Sunday there is a departing district and it's hard because we've been talking and getting to know a lot of the elders in the departing districts and then they just leave! Haha, but it's okay because we get along and talk with all the Elders and Sisters here. That Sunday night we had a devotional and Mitch Davis, the filmmaker of "The Other Side of Heaven" and he helped out with "Dead Poet Society", spoke to us! He talked about losing ourselves in the work and letting God sculpt us into our true self and ultimately what he wants us to be. He had a great message and it was enjoyable to hear from him. So every Sunday night is movie night and our district decided to go to Jeffrey R. Holland's "Open Your Mouth" talk that he gave here not too long ago. Elder Holland is an awesome apostle and he is very firm in his testimony. He is very open and opinionated and it is so awesome because he is so funny and he really makes sure that we know what we’re doing. He makes sure that we don't fall off the path and he is not afraid to call us to repentance and tell us that we have to be better. It is such a great talk and he said that the way we defeat the adversary on our mission is to open our mouth. If we open our mouth and push our limits, then we will be blessed and help others to come closer to Christ AND at the same time, we will prevent the adversary from "winning".

Okay! Last speaker! We had Craig C. Christensen from the Presidency of the Seventy speak to us last night and it was so cool to be with another general authority! He talked to us about how we are vital to spreading the gospel to all the corners of the earth and he shared a ton of scriptures and quotes about truly being converted to the gospel. It was so perfect because I hear that in Ecuador that there are so many baptisms but that there inactive list is huge because the people weren't converted to the gospel. One of my goals when i get to Ecuador is to convert people and help families become stronger and united in the gospel and it went along great with Elder Christensen's talk. We just went to our class after the devotional and our district reviewed the devotional and we all shared the promptings we received and that was amazing. My district is so awesome! I am so blessed to be at the Provo MTC because I have the opportunity to hear from apostles and general authorities of our Savior Jesus Christ.

This week has been even better than the first week and my testimony is much stronger. Elder Carter and I have been trying to be obedient and study when we can. We have a spot that we like to go to and there is a music box that plays peaceful music and we just sit there and study and look out the windows to see beautiful Utah and the beautiful Provo Temple.

I also want to share my testimony that families can be together forever and that families are so important to God's plan of happiness. I am so grateful for my family and for all the families that have blessed my life. I want to share my love for President Thalman and the Thalman family as they are all great examples to me. President Thalman is a great example of what a priesthood holder and father should be and I love and appreciate that. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family President.

Oh also if y'all were wondering about the exercise time here it's been sick! We played soccer a lot more this week and we tore it up. Our district has a few good soccer players and our Zone Leaders are pretty good too, but the other day we played the "Cantonese Elders", which just means that they are all going somewhere Cantonese speaking, and they are all legit soccer players and they have this Elder from England with an accent, but we shut them down. They were pretty hard and they talked trash and we all played physical, which is what I like. We were all really trying to humble these Elders and I like kept stealing it from Coxcy, the English Elder, and there were some words exchanged and it was just chippy which was super fun ! I had a golasso and an assist and we played D pretty well. Elder Carter was dribbling to the goalie and it was a one-on-one situation, but they ran into each other and the goalie freaked out, but then I scored so technically with that goal we tied. Haha, but it was fun and at the end of the day we were all chill. Also, today for our exercise time this morning I got to play some actually COMPETITIVE basketball with Brandon and some other guys who actually were pretty good and we played a bunch of games, so it was great to get back on the court!

I am loving it here and I know that this is the best place for me to be!! I love all of you so much! Thank you all for the support and emails!! I wish I had time to write all of you more but we are always so busy especially today! Also, sorry if my grammar and spelling is off, I am really trippin out going back and forth between English and Spanish all day!

Yo testifico que el Libro de Mormon es verdad. Yo testifico que el don de lenguas es real y que el Espirtu Santo es real. Yo amo la iglesia de Jesu Cristo de los santos de los ultimos dias y yo tengo un testimonio de la iglsia y el evangelio. Yo amo el salvador y yo se que el salvador amor sus ellos. En el nombre de Jesu Cristo. Amen.�� --  Elder Dalton Hall