#raya speaks french

[rayatii]

So I was thinking of Manon (as in, the opera by Massenet), and I remembered some fun details that I noticed as a French speaker, specifically concerning the names of the 3 young ladies that Guillot is hanging around in acts 1 and 3 (and that Manon admires in her act 1 aria):

Poussette literally means "stroller" (as in, the vehicle you push small children in) in French XD

Javotte is Drizella's name in the French dub of Disney's Cinderella (apparently, it's meant to be a diminutive of Geneviève or something? but idk).

While it's true that Rosette is a French diminutive of Rose, it's also a word with several different meanings, including a bowknot (you know, the type of knot that shoelaces are typically tied in).

[coquette-sextette]

last december in the theatre watching the polar express I became aware of free will and then wanted to write a book in french. just because I can. why. why was that the first thing I thought of.

[originallandlockedmariner]

2023

Pickleball. Generative AI. Lula takes office in Brazil, Amazon Rainforest throws a party. Prince Harry refusing to stop talking about his frozen penis no matter how many times society begged him to stop. UFOs are real. Viral cat dubbed ‘largest cat anyone has ever seen’ gets adopted. Pee-Wee’s big adventure ends. Musk & X. Turkey-Syria earthquake kills thousands. India surpasses China as ‘country squeezing in the most peeps’. Tucker Carlson ousted. Miss USA and her 30 lbs moon costume. Wildfires in Kelowna and Hawaii. Macron tinkers with retirement age of the French. Paltrow can’t ski. Big Red Boots. Bob Barker leaves us. Alabama mom delivers 2 babies from her 2 uteruses in 2 days. Charles III. Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces as the war drags on. Taylor Swift is Time’s Person of the Year. African ‘coup belt’. Flo-Jo dies in her sleep. Chinese spy balloon shot down. Hollywood writers strike. Human ‘nice mugshot’ Shitstain and his 91 indictments. Highest interest rates in 2 decades. The Bear’s Christmas episode. War in Gaza. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Alex Murdaugh. Ocean Cleanup removes 25 000 lbs of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Vase purchased for $3.99 sells for $100 000 at auction. Barbenheimer. A third of Pakistan is flooded. Lionel Messi is the GOAT. Travis Kelce. The Sphere opens in Las Vegas. Regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, resulting in two of the three largest bank failures in U.S. history. “The Woman In Me”. WHO declares COVID ain’t a thing no more. Titan sub sinks, rich people die. Matthew Perry drowns. Dumbledore Dies (again). Massive sales of ‘Fuck Trudeau’ flags for jacked-up micro-dick trucks. Everything Everywhere All At Once. June-August was the hottest three-month period in recorded history across the Earth. Tina Turner dies. And the Beatles release a new song?! Wow… You got big shoes to fill 2024.

Archives for context:

2020

Kobe. Pandemic. Lockdown. Koalas on fire. Harry and Meg retire. Toilet paper hoarding. Alcoholism. Impeach the f*cker. Parasite. Bonnie Henry. Tiger King. Working from home. Sourdough bread. Harvey Weinstein guilty. Zoom overdose. Dip your body in sanitizer. 6 feet. Quarantine. OK Boomer. Home schooling (everyone passes). Murder hornets. Dolly Parton. Don’t hug, kiss or see anybody, especially your family. Chris Evans’ junk. TikTok. Glory holes. Face masks. CERB. West Coast wildfires. Stay home. Small Businesses lose, big box stores win. F*ck Bozos. ‘Dreams’ and cranberry juice. Close yoga studios, but thumbs up to your local gym. Speak moistly to me. George Floyd. BLM. F*ck Trump. Phase 2, 3 and Summer. RBG. Baby Yoda. Biden wins. Bond and Black Panther die. No more lockdown. Back to school and work. Just kidding... giddy up round 2. Giuliani leaks shit from his head. Resurgence of chess. UFOs are real. Restrictions. Dave Grohl admits defeat. Monolith. “F*ck... forgot my mask in the car”. No Christmas shenanigans allowed. Bubbles. Alex Trebek. Use the term ‘dumpster fire’ one too many times. Jupiter and Saturn form 'Christmas Star'. Happy New Year Bitches!!!! 2021... you better not sh*t the bed!!

2021

“We love you, you’re very special”. Failed coup attempt at the Capital. Twitter, FB and IG ban Donny. Hammerin’ Hank goes to the Field of Dreams. Bozo no longer richest man but still a twat. Leachman, Tyson, and Holbrook pass. The economy is worse than expected. Kim and Kanye split. Brood X cicadas. Dre has an aneurysm and nearly has his home broken into. Bridgerton. MyPillow CEO is a douche. Covid restrictions extended indefinitely. Captain Von Trapp dies. Proud Boys officially a Terrorist Organization. Richard Ramirez. Cancer takes Screech. Travel bans. Impeachment trial (again?… oh and this was barely February? WTF??!!) Suez Canal blockage. Myanmar protest. Kong dukes it out with Godzilla, while Raya watches. Olympics. Friends compare elective surgeries. F9. Canada Women’s Soccer Gold. Free Britney. Multiverses. Residential Schools in Canada unearth children’s bodies. Kate is Mare of Easttown. Cuomo resigns. Disney and Dwayne cruise together. Wildfires. Delta variants. Musk passes Bezos. Candyman x 5. Capt. Kirk goes to space. F*ck Kyle Rittenhouse. Astros didn’t win. Squid Game. Goodbye Bond. Dune is redone. Angelina is Eternal. Astroworld deaths. Meta. Omicron. Three Spidermen. Tornados in December? World Juniors cancelled. Pills against Covid. School opening delayed. And Betty White dies. 2022… my expectations are ridiculously low…

2022

Wow… eight billion people. Queen Elizabeth II passes away after ruling the Commonwealth before dirt was invented. The monkeypox. Russia plays the role of global a**hole. Wordle. Mother Nature rocks Afghanistan. Hover bike. Styles spits on Pine. Olivia Newton John, Kristie Alley, and Coolio leave us. Pele was traded to team Heaven. FTX implodes. Madonna and the 3-D model of her vagina. Pig gives his heart to a human. Beijing can brag that it is the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics. Uvalde. $3 trillion Apple. Keith Raniere gets 120 years. The Whisky War ends with Canada and Denmark going halfsies. Mar-a-Lago. Nick Cannon brood hits a dozen. Shinzo Abe is assassinated. Inflation goes through the roof (if you can actually afford to put a roof over your head). Volodymyr Zelensky. European heat wave. Bennifer. Salman Rushdie is stabbed on stage, Dave Chappelle tackled, and Chris Rock is only slapped. Thích Nhất Hạnh. Heidi Klum goes full slug. Cuba knocked out by Ian. Liz Truss and 4.1 Scaramuccis. Taylor Swift breaks Ticketmaster. Human shitstain Elon Musk ignores helping mankind and buys Twitter instead. Riri becomes a mommy. NASA launches Artemis 1. Trump still a whiny little b*tch. Music lost Loretta Lynn, Christine McVie, and Meat Loaf. Democracy died at least three times. Pete Davidson continues to date hottest women on the planet (no one understands how?!) Microplastics in our blood. Alex Jones is a c*nt. So is DeSantis. Argentina wins the World Cup. Meghan and Harry. Eddie Munson rips Metallica in the Upside Down. tWitch. Roe vs Wade is overturned by the micro dick energy of the Supreme Court. CODA. James Corden shows he is a "tiny Cretin of a man". Amber (and the sh*t on the bed) Heard (round the world). Sebastian Bear-McClard proves he’s one of the f*cking dumbest men alive. Latin America's ‘pink tide’. Anti-Semitic rants by Ye. Bob Saget. A verified blue checkmark. Godmother of punk Vivienne dies. And, Tom Cruise feels the need for speed yet again. 2023… whatcha got for us?!? Nothing shocks me anymore.

@daily-esprit-descalier

[ace-of-garlic-breads]

redo of my Intro post cause the one i have currently old as fuck.

♠️hey there! I'm Ace or Athena, I use She/He/They pronouns

❤️I'm a Aroace Lesbian

♣️I speak English and bits of French

♦️I'm a mediocre Canadian Writer and Artist (both digital and traditional)

♠️currently hyper fixated on: ROTTMNT, Animaniacs and the Riordenverse, (ok and MLP/EQG)

❤️My TMNT iteration masterpost

Tumblr ask blog for ced TMNT iteration

♣️my fics I've written:

Animaniacs:

Seperated (a wakko's wish au) *completed (AO3 version)

Seperated (Wattpad version)

children of the Dove, The Forge and The Sun (animaniacs x PJO au) *hiatus/will probably remain incomplete

into the Zany-verse (animaniacs Spiderverse au) *in progress but I don't know when the next update will be)

I'm me (a transfem Katie Kaboom one shot) *completed

Corrupted (Animaniacs villain au) *discontinued (Wattpad only)

Riordenverse:

"we fell in love in October" (a shelper short fic)

♦️OC intros:

Specter Stories (main non-fandom ocs for a book/comic)

Specter Siblings (Denzel's siblings)

So Highschool (OC cartoon I wanna make

So Highschool side characters:

Olivia (Piper's gf)

(fandom OCs)

James and Lillian Warner (Wakko's wish)

Alberts siblings (Wakko's Wish)

Mavis and Maya (ROTTMNT)

Raye Alexander (toonverse)

Huemay kids

Raya (ROTTMNT)

♠️my Animaniacs future au blog(not currently updating):

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ask-aces-future-warners

❤️follow my other Socials! :)

[p-redux]

I’m not saying you or anons are wrong, just posing an alternative hypothesis that fits the data points. I do agree post in French is a smidge off, linguistically. What if anon is CM, and she is stalking SH and planting these things herself to achieve notoriety or maybe finagle a meeting. (Hey we are rumored to be dating so let’s go on an actual date 😉) and yeah, full disclosure, I’m still sad about KE - the yenta in me thought they were perfect.

The English translation was from Google because I was going to bed and too tired to translate it myself. The Anon's French is perfectly fine French. I lived in Paris, I speak French. Please tell me where "linguistically" it is not from someone who speaks French. Also, if it's someone who is trying to pass off as French, wouldn't they have used a translation app and made sure their French was perfect? Or, written in English and said their English wasn't good?

I have an IP app that tells me people's IP addresses, the cities from where they're sending me Anons, if it's a real IP or a VPN, the electronic device they're using, and how many times they've visited my blog. The 3 Anons I've gotten about Chloé are all from different IP addresses, using 3 different devices. This last one was from Paris, France like I posted. So, unless one Anon has 3 different devices they're using to send me Asks AND they are both an Android and iPhone user, these are NOT the same person.

As far as Anon being Chloé, c'mon now, that's ridiculous. For that to be true, Chloé, who is busy always traveling the world and has a LIFE full of fashion, food, friends, would have had to somehow find my blog, be so obsessed with Sam and so fucking immature at age 31, to then send an Outlander gossip blog a plant about herself with Sam? Read how dumb that sounds. Chloe comes from money, she has a ton of connections, if she wanted a "meeting" with Sam all she would have to do is hit up one of her friends who knows a friend who knows a friend and voilà. Mademoiselle Montana does not need to finagle any dates; they come to her. Trust.

Since both Sam and Chloé self-admittedly use Raya, the exclusive celebrity dating app, my money is that that's how they connected.

As for Karina Elle, I understand everyone has their favorite Sam ex-girlfriend/date, but that doesn't mean you need to subscribe to conspiracy theories. FACT: the Anon Asks I received about Sam and Chloé sightings in Paris a few months ago are all from different people. And they were all sent from Paris. So, unless there's 3 Parisians who decided to take time out of their insouciant la vie en rose Paris lives to try to pull the wool over my eyes, I'd file this under #samtana did happen. Oh, and also Chloé is not in Paris right now, so she couldn't have sent this Anon Ask. You referenced data points; there they are. Facts.

All of a sudden, I'm craving a brioche and a café au lait. à bientôt, mes amies. Bisous. 😘

[chicago-geniza]

Desperately need to work but now my brain is fixating on how the French translation handled “The Little Friend” when

1. Donna speaks French and, though I haven’t finished it yet, I assume the French connotations of the phrase if glossed as a calque might be of narrative significance, as they are in Stefania’s Warszawa-Lwow 1939;

2. IF that’s the case, would one choice be more weighted than the other, be more of a spoiler?

3. It’s “petit copain” not “petit ami” but even so French confers grammatical gender on the title where English doesn’t, which changes the reader’s expectations from a metatextual and paratextual perspective even as they approach the cover 

4. RAYA GO BACK TO WORK

[brookston]

Holidays 6.27

Holidays

Arafat Day (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, UAE)

Atari Day

Attwari (Tharu people; Nepal)

lack Pound Day (UK)

Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

Captain Kangaroo Day

Celebrate Joy Day

Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)

The Day of the Apocalypse (in the TV show “Dark”)

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)

Day of Unity (Tajikistan)

Decide To Be Married Day

Dragon Festival (Guild Wars)

Festival of Neither Nor

"Happy Birthday To You" Day

Helen Keller Day

Industrial Workers of the World Day

International Day of Deafblindness

Kent Flew the Coop Day

Lottery Day (in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”)

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (Mormon)

Micro-, Small-, & Medium-Sized Enterprises Day

Mixed Race Day (Brazil)

Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

National Bingo Day

National Chirashi-Zushi Day (Japan)

National Fatherless Children’s Day

National Fink Day

National High School Mountain Bike Day

National HIV Testing Day

National Jim Day

National Journalist Day (Día del Periodista; Venezuela)

National Orange Blossom Day

National PTSD Awareness Day

National Sunglasses Day

National Women’s Fly Fishing Day

NPE Awareness Day

Orange Blossom Day

Shirley Jackson Day (North Bennington, Vermont)

Siebenschläfertag (Seven Sleepers Day; Germany)

Sturge Weber Syndrome Awareness Day

Sunglasses Day

Unity Day (Tajikistan)

World ATM Day

World Fisheries Day (Russia)

World Fragrance Day (Germany)

World Microbiome Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Absinthe (or Wormwood Day; French Republic)

International Pineapple Day

National Ice Cream Cake Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National Lemonade Day

National Onion Day

4th & Last Tuesday in June

National Columnists Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence Days

Djibouti (from France, 1977)

Europa (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Anansi’s Day (Pagan)

Arialdo (Christian; Saint)

Blue-Footed Booby Day (Pastafarian)

Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples (Christian; Saint)

Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)

Day Sacred to the Lares (Ancient Rome)

Eid al-Adha [Muslim Feast of Sacrifice] (a.k.a. ... 

Aïd el Adha (Morocco)

Aïd el Addha (Djibouti)

Aïd el Kébir (Tunisia)

Arefa (Ethiopia)

Bakarid (Nepal)

Bakri Id (India)

Corban Bairam (Sudan)

Djouldé Laihadji (Camaroon)

Eid al Adha (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, UAE, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen)

Eid-Al-Adha (South Sudan)

Eid-e-Qorban (Iran)

Eid ul Adha (Myanmar)

Eidul Azha (Pakistan)

Eid ul-Ad'haa (Maldives)

Eid-ul-Azha (Bangladesh)

Feast of Sacrifice (Indonesia)

Gurban Bayram (Azerbaijan)

Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Brunei)

Hari Raya Haji (Singapore)

Hari Raya Qurban (Malaysia)

Id Al Adaha (Ethiopia)

Ide el Kabir (Comoros)

Id-ul Ajad (Nepal)

Id-Ul-Alha (Sri Lanka)

Id-ul-Zuha (India)

Kurban Bayram (North Cyprus)

Kurban Bayramy (Turkey, Turkmenistan)

Tabaski (Cameroon, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal)

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Festival of Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Initium Aestatis (Old Roman Summer Festival)

James Dean Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Moutier and Chinon (Christian; Saint)

Ladislaus I of Hungary (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Christian)

Philip Guston (Artology)

Richard I (Positivist; Saint)

Sampson the Hospitable (Christian; Saint)

Sandy the Snake (Muppetism)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag; German-speaking Culture)

Zoilus (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Airplane! (Film; 1980)

Babooshka, by Kate Bush (Song; 1980)

Bathing Beauty (Film; 1944)

Captain Video & His Video Rangers (TV Series; 1949)

Cosmic Thing, by The B-52s (Album; 1989)

Country Grammar, by Nelly (Album; 2000)

Days of Thunder (Film; 1990)

Dream On, by Aerosmith (Song; 1973)

Face/Off (Film; 1997)

Freak Out!, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1966)

Girl Meets World (TV Series; 2014)

Hawaiian Aye Aye (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Hercules (Animated Disney Film; 1997)

Labyrinth (Film; 1986)

Larry Crowne (Film; 2011)

Live and Let Die (James Bond Film; 1973) [#8]

Live Free of Die Hard (Film; 2007)

Mirror Ball, by Neil Young & Pearl Jam (Album; 1995)

Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities, by the Circle Jerks (Album; 1995)

The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling (Novel; 2003) [Harry Potter #5]

Postman Pat: The Movie (Animated Film; 2014)

Presto (Pixar Cartoon; 2008)

Really Scent (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, recorded by Gene Autry (Song; 1949)

Ruthless People (Film; 1986)

Snowpiercer (Film; 2014)

The Stunt Man (Film; 1980)

Sweet Smell of Success (Film; 1957)

Tom Tom Tomcat (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

28 Days Later (Film; 2003)

Wall-E (Animated Pixar Film; 2008)

Wanted (Film; 2008)

When I You Hoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Who Killed Cock Robin? (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Zapped (Film; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Heimo, Hemma, Maxim (Austria)

Ćiril, Ladislav, Vlatko (Croatia)

Ladislav (Czech Republic)

Elfi, Elfriide, Elva, Elve, Elvi, Elviira, Viire (Estonia)

Elvi, Elviira (Finland)

Fernand (France)

Cyrill, Daniel, Heimo, Hemma (Germany)

Pierre (Greece)

László (Hungary)

Andrea, Cirillo, Leilo, Tosco (Italy)

Malva, Malvīne, Malvis (Latvia)

Ema, Gediminas, Norgailė, Vladas, Vladislovas (Lithuania)

Aina, Ina, Ine (Norway)

Maria Magdalena, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Samson (România)

Ladislav (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Ladislao, Socorro, Zoilo (Spain)

Fingal, Selma (Sweden)

Lacey, Laci, Lacie, Lacy, Lance, Lancelot, Schuyler, Skye, Skylar, Skyler (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 178 of 2024; 187 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 26 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 10 (Bing-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 8 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 8 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 28 Sol; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 June 2023

Moon: 64%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 10 Charlemagne (7th Month) [Richard I]

Runic Half Month: Dag (Day) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 7 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 7 of 31)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 6.27

Holidays

Arafat Day (Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, UAE)

Atari Day

Attwari (Tharu people; Nepal)

lack Pound Day (UK)

Canadian Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

Captain Kangaroo Day

Celebrate Joy Day

Commemoration Day for the Victims of the Communist Regime (Czech Republic)

The Day of the Apocalypse (in the TV show “Dark”)

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art (Turkmenistan)

Day of Unity (Tajikistan)

Decide To Be Married Day

Dragon Festival (Guild Wars)

Festival of Neither Nor

"Happy Birthday To You" Day

Helen Keller Day

Industrial Workers of the World Day

International Day of Deafblindness

Kent Flew the Coop Day

Lottery Day (in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”)

Martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith (Mormon)

Micro-, Small-, & Medium-Sized Enterprises Day

Mixed Race Day (Brazil)

Multiculturalism Day (Canada)

National Bingo Day

National Chirashi-Zushi Day (Japan)

National Fatherless Children’s Day

National Fink Day

National High School Mountain Bike Day

National HIV Testing Day

National Jim Day

National Journalist Day (Día del Periodista; Venezuela)

National Orange Blossom Day

National PTSD Awareness Day

National Sunglasses Day

National Women’s Fly Fishing Day

NPE Awareness Day

Orange Blossom Day

Shirley Jackson Day (North Bennington, Vermont)

Siebenschläfertag (Seven Sleepers Day; Germany)

Sturge Weber Syndrome Awareness Day

Sunglasses Day

Unity Day (Tajikistan)

World ATM Day

World Fisheries Day (Russia)

World Fragrance Day (Germany)

World Microbiome Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Absinthe (or Wormwood Day; French Republic)

International Pineapple Day

National Ice Cream Cake Day

National Indian Pudding Day

National Lemonade Day

National Onion Day

4th & Last Tuesday in June

National Columnists Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence Days

Djibouti (from France, 1977)

Europa (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Anansi’s Day (Pagan)

Arialdo (Christian; Saint)

Blue-Footed Booby Day (Pastafarian)

Crescens, one of the Seventy disciples (Christian; Saint)

Cyril of Alexandria (Coptic Church, Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion and Lutheran Church)

Day Sacred to the Lares (Ancient Rome)

Eid al-Adha [Muslim Feast of Sacrifice] (a.k.a. ... 

Aïd el Adha (Morocco)

Aïd el Addha (Djibouti)

Aïd el Kébir (Tunisia)

Arefa (Ethiopia)

Bakarid (Nepal)

Bakri Id (India)

Corban Bairam (Sudan)

Djouldé Laihadji (Camaroon)

Eid al Adha (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, UAE, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen)

Eid-Al-Adha (South Sudan)

Eid-e-Qorban (Iran)

Eid ul Adha (Myanmar)

Eidul Azha (Pakistan)

Eid ul-Ad'haa (Maldives)

Eid-ul-Azha (Bangladesh)

Feast of Sacrifice (Indonesia)

Gurban Bayram (Azerbaijan)

Hari Raya Aidil Adha (Brunei)

Hari Raya Haji (Singapore)

Hari Raya Qurban (Malaysia)

Id Al Adaha (Ethiopia)

Ide el Kabir (Comoros)

Id-ul Ajad (Nepal)

Id-Ul-Alha (Sri Lanka)

Id-ul-Zuha (India)

Kurban Bayram (North Cyprus)

Kurban Bayramy (Turkey, Turkmenistan)

Tabaski (Cameroon, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal)

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Festival of Jupiter Stator (Ancient Rome)

Initium Aestatis (Old Roman Summer Festival)

James Dean Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

John of Moutier and Chinon (Christian; Saint)

Ladislaus I of Hungary (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Christian)

Philip Guston (Artology)

Richard I (Positivist; Saint)

Sampson the Hospitable (Christian; Saint)

Sandy the Snake (Muppetism)

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag; German-speaking Culture)

Zoilus (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Airplane! (Film; 1980)

Babooshka, by Kate Bush (Song; 1980)

Bathing Beauty (Film; 1944)

Captain Video & His Video Rangers (TV Series; 1949)

Cosmic Thing, by The B-52s (Album; 1989)

Country Grammar, by Nelly (Album; 2000)

Days of Thunder (Film; 1990)

Dream On, by Aerosmith (Song; 1973)

Face/Off (Film; 1997)

Freak Out!, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1966)

Girl Meets World (TV Series; 2014)

Hawaiian Aye Aye (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Hercules (Animated Disney Film; 1997)

Labyrinth (Film; 1986)

Larry Crowne (Film; 2011)

Live and Let Die (James Bond Film; 1973) [#8]

Live Free of Die Hard (Film; 2007)

Mirror Ball, by Neil Young & Pearl Jam (Album; 1995)

Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities, by the Circle Jerks (Album; 1995)

The Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling (Novel; 2003) [Harry Potter #5]

Postman Pat: The Movie (Animated Film; 2014)

Presto (Pixar Cartoon; 2008)

Really Scent (WB MM Cartoon; 1959)

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, recorded by Gene Autry (Song; 1949)

Ruthless People (Film; 1986)

Snowpiercer (Film; 2014)

The Stunt Man (Film; 1980)

Sweet Smell of Success (Film; 1957)

Tom Tom Tomcat (WB MM Cartoon; 1953)

28 Days Later (Film; 2003)

Wall-E (Animated Pixar Film; 2008)

Wanted (Film; 2008)

When I You Hoo (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)

Who Killed Cock Robin? (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

Zapped (Film; 2014)

Today’s Name Days

Cyrill, Heimo, Hemma, Maxim (Austria)

Ćiril, Ladislav, Vlatko (Croatia)

Ladislav (Czech Republic)

Elfi, Elfriide, Elva, Elve, Elvi, Elviira, Viire (Estonia)

Elvi, Elviira (Finland)

Fernand (France)

Cyrill, Daniel, Heimo, Hemma (Germany)

Pierre (Greece)

László (Hungary)

Andrea, Cirillo, Leilo, Tosco (Italy)

Malva, Malvīne, Malvis (Latvia)

Ema, Gediminas, Norgailė, Vladas, Vladislovas (Lithuania)

Aina, Ina, Ine (Norway)

Maria Magdalena, Władysław, Władysława, Włodzisław (Poland)

Samson (România)

Ladislav (Slovakia)

Cirilo, Ladislao, Socorro, Zoilo (Spain)

Fingal, Selma (Sweden)

Lacey, Laci, Lacie, Lacy, Lance, Lancelot, Schuyler, Skye, Skylar, Skyler (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 178 of 2024; 187 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 26 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Duir (Oak) [Day 16 of 28]

Chinese: Month 5 (Wu-Wu), Day 10 (Bing-Chen)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 8 Tammuz 5783

Islamic: 8 Dhu al-Hijjah 1444

J Cal: 28 Sol; Sevenday [28 of 30]

Julian: 14 June 2023

Moon: 64%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 10 Charlemagne (7th Month) [Richard I]

Runic Half Month: Dag (Day) [Day 14 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 7 of 94)

Zodiac: Cancer (Day 7 of 31)

[shy-peacock]

Modern AU just cause. Namaari can speak French (and other languages) From this

Sisu: So cool Namaari knows French, Raya can you speak it?

Raya: Ah- yeah! I picked up some from Namaari

Raya: there’s oui, non..yes, no….rouge, vert, jaune…red, yellow, green……. S’il te plaît, which is please.

Raya: plus there is vite, that’s faster…..plus fort, harder…… n’arrête pas, don’t stop..

Sisu: 😳…

Namaari, red in the face: *sighs* 🤦‍♀️

[toastywarmhappyhats]

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON HEADCANONS: RAYA 

Raya has a stomach of steel. That girl can eat absolutely anything at this point. She’s essentially that one French guy who went around the world eating airplanes for money and Namaari is both disgusted and amazed at this at all times. Benja cries because he’s such a talented chef and she will literally guzzle saltwater and call it soup like a tongueless gremlin.  

I saw someone else post about this before (i think?) and can’t for the life of me remember who but we’ve all seen this girl’s gymnastic skills and just general disregard for physics and I am in full support of circus performer Raya. It wasn’t for very long but she was short on cash, Tuk Tuk needed more food than she could afford, and she figured she was traveling anyways so she might as well be an acrobat. Why the hell not. 

To add onto odd jobs I fully believe Raya has had, season 4 korra-style cage fighter Raya has my heart. She was just full of so much rage and guilt and what better (read: self-destructive) way to work through that than illegal fighting rings. Full support. 10000% can see it. 

Raya will regularly scale buildings and just free run for fun and it stresses-the-fuck™ out of Namaari. Like Namaari will be visiting Heart for a date with Raya and all of a sudden she looks up to see Raya jumping off of a roof screaming “PARKOUR” at the top of her lungs while Sisu cheers her on and tells her to do flips and 360s while she’s falling. 

This exists simultaneously with the hc that Namaari hates heights and will avoid them at all costs.

While Raya spent a lot of time in the woods, I also like to think she ended up getting really immersed in the various tribes for however many months she spent there, but in the shadiest parts of town, so when it comes to languages, she can speak local dialects fairly well but her vocab is 90% cursing and 10% different ways to say hello and goodbye. Imagine middle school spanish class but if they taught you how to say “your mother’s a whore” instead of “where is the bathroom” 

Just imagine, Raya stubs her toe on accident in front of Noi and Namaari and just the worst fucking things come out of her mouth. It’s basically that meme when person A has to cover the ears of person B and is just screeching in fury as they back away. You know which one.

[edsonlnoe]

Premios ⬤ 21 | Nominaciones

Película First Cow Luca Nomadland No Time to Die Una Película de Policías Swan Song Director Lee Isaac Chung | Minari Kornél Mundruczó | Pieces of a Woman Kelly Reichardt | First Cow Alonso Ruizpalacios | Una Película de Policías Chloé Zhao | Nomadland Florian Zeller | The Father Actriz Olivia Colman | The Lost Daughter Mónica del Carmen | Una Película de Policías Vanessa Kirby | Pieces of a Woman Frances McDormand | Nomadland Naomi Watts | Penguin Bloom Zendaya | Malcolm & Marie Actor Mahershala Ali | Swan Song Raúl Briones | Una Película de Policías Daniel Craig | No Time to Die Anthony Hopkins | The Father Dev Patel | The Green Knight Steven Yeun | Minari Actriz de Reparto Ana de Armas | No Time to Die Olivia Colman | The Father Naomie Harris | Swan Song Dakota Johnson | The Lost Daughter Léa Seydoux | No Time to Die Youn Yuh-jung | Minari Actor de Reparto Andrew Garfield | Spider-Man: No Way Home Oscar Isaac | Dune Alan Kim | Minari Troy Kotsur | Coda Shia LaBeouf | Pieces of a Woman David Strathairn | Nomadland Guión Original Josep Luca Malcolm & Marie Minari Pieces of a Woman Swan Song Guión Adaptado The Father First Cow The Green Knight The Lost Daughter Nomadland No Time to Die Edición The Father First Cow I Carry You With Me Nomadland Una Película de Policías Pieces of a Woman Fotografía First Cow Dune Minari Nomadland Pieces of a Woman Una Película de Policías Diseño de Producción Dune First Cow The French Dispatch Luca No Time to Die Swan Song Diseño de Vestuario Cruella Dune Encanto The French Dispatch The Green Knight West Side Story Make-Up & Hairstyling Cruella Dune The Green Knight No Time to Die Old Titane Efectos Visuales / Especiales Dune Eternals Finch Godzilla vs. Kong No Time to Die Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Edición de Sonido Dune The Green Knight Luca No Time to Die A Quiet Place Part II Raya and the Last Dragon Mezcla de Sonido Dune Encanto In the Heights No Time to Die Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings West Side Story Score Dune The Green Knight The Lost Daughter Luca Minari No Time to Die The Power of the Dog Supernova Swan Song Soundtrack The Harder They Fall Judas and the Black Messiah Luca Nomadland Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Swan Song Canción “Akh Lar Gayee (ft. Surinderjit Singh)” — Prem-Hardeep | The White Tiger “Dos Oruguitas” — Sebastián Yatra | Encanto “Fight For You” — H.E.R. | Judas and the Black Messiah “The Harder They Fall” — Koffee | The Harder They Fall “Lead the Way” — Jhené Aiko | Raya and the Last Dragon “No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish | No Time to Die “Rain Song” — Ye-ri Han | Minari “Run It (ft. Rick Ross & Rich Brian)” — DJ Snake | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings “Speak Now” — Leslie Odom Jr. | One Night in Miami… Diseño de Créditos The French Dispatch Jungle Cruise Luca No Time to Die Una Película de Policías Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer The Green Knight Malcolm & Marie No Time to Die Raya and the Last Dragon Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings È Stata la Mano di Dio Poster Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar The French Dispatch The Green Knight Luca Noche de Fuego Nomadland Rizi Swan Song West Side Story Poster en Cortometraje Ansiedad y Deseo Cinco de Junio Écoutez-moi La Espera Manchester Acatitla Us Again Actuación en Cortometraje Saleh Bakri | The Present Rachel Boyd | Break Any Spell Verónica Bravo | La Cuarta Puerta Luna Carpieux | Un Adieu Pabel Castañeda | Invierno Jackie Ewing | Sole Mio Catherine Grosjean | Famille Nucléaire Louka Minnella | Famille Nucléaire Sarah Suco | Motus Realización en Cortometraje Hugo Covarrubias | Edición | Bestia Daniel Díaz de León | Cinematografía | Ofusco Marco Huertas | Cinematografía | Navras Keone Madrid, Mari Madrid | Coreografía | Us Again Saar Mizrahi | Cinematografía | White Eye Pinar Toprak | Score | Us Again Guión en Cortometraje Maxime Berthemy, Mathilde Profit | Un Adieu Faustine Crespy | Famille Nucléaire Nicolás Cuervo Rincón | Algo en el Tejado Gall Gaspard, Maxime Roy | Sole Mio Marco Huertas | Navras Elodie Wallace | Motus Dirección en Cortometraje Miguel Agüero | Kirirî Hugo Covarrubias | Bestia Jacob Frey | Going Home Anders Hammer | Do Not Split Ian B. Morales | Un Lejano Rumor de Agua Zach Parrish | Us Again Cortometraje de Ficción Un Adieu Beauty Boys Famille Nucléaire Kirirî Un Lejano Rumor de Agua Motus The Present Sole Mio White Eye Cortometraje Documental Audible Do Not Split Écoutez-moi Filamento La Hoguera Llueve Navras Son Para Tres Victoria Cortometraje Animado Bestia La Bestia Genius Loci Going Home Guaxuma Un Lynx dans la Ville Opera Save Ralph Us Again Película Animada Josep Luca The Mitchells vs the Machines Raya and the Last Dragon Ron’s Gone Wrong Wolfwalkers Off-Screen Performance Emma Berman | Luca Jack Dylan Grazer | Luca Abbi Jacobson | The Mitchells vs the Machines Sergi López | Josep Kelly Marie Tran | Raya and the Last Dragon Jacob Tremblay | Luca Non-Anglo Performance Paula Beer | Undine Alfredo Castro | Tengo Miedo Torero Martijn Kuiper | Ricochet Vincent Lindon | Titane Thimotée Robart | Vif-Argent Filippo Scotti | È Stata la Mano di Dio Performance Mexicano Raúl Briones | Una Película de Policías Mónica del Carmen | Una Película de Policías Armando Espitia | I Carry You With Me Noé Hernández | Ocho de Cada Diez Martha Reyes Arias | Los Lobos Nora Velázquez | Cosas Imposibles Featured Actor Ciro Capano | È Stata la Mano di Dio Chang Chen | Dune Oliver Jackson-Cohen | The Lost Daughter Barry Keoghan | The Green Knight Chris Lowell | Promising Young Woman Charlotte Rampling | Dune Molly Shannon | Promising Young Woman Algee Smith | Judas and the Black Messiah Iko Uwais | Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Stunts / Choreography Black Widow Eternals In The Heights No Time to Die Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings West Side Story Breakthrough Actriz Sheila Atim | Bruised Melissa Barrera | In the Heights Ariana DeBose | West Side Story Emilia Jones | Coda Samantha Mugatsia | Rafiki Sheila Munyiva | Rafiki Lauren Ridloff | Eternals Rachel Sennott | Shiva Baby Razhel Zegler | West Side Story Breakthrough Actor David Alvarez | West Side Story Kingsley Ben-Adir | One Night in Miami... Lucian-River Chauhan | Encounter Mike Faist | West Side Story Alan Kim | Minari Andrew Koji | Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Simu Liu | Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Anthony Ramos | In the Heights Thimotée Robart | Vif-Argent Filippo Scotti | È Stata la Mano di Dio Rising Filmmaker Aurel | Josep Halle Berry | Bruised Enrico Casarosa | Luca Benjamin Cleary | Swan Song Maggie Gyllenhaal | The Lost Daughter Rebecca Hall | Passing Regina King | One Night in Miami... Lin-Manuel Miranda | Tick Tick… Boom! Florian Zeller | The Father Ensamble Eternals | Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Ma Dong-seok, Barry Keoghan, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Harish Patel, Bill Skarsgård, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, y Angelina Jolie The French Dispatch | Bill Murray, Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, y Owen Wilson The Lost Daughter | Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Mescal, Panos Koronis, Jack Farthing, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Peter Sarsgaard, y Ed Harris Minari | Steven Yeun, Ye-ri Han, Noel Cho, Alan Kim, Will Patton, y Youn Yuh-jung No Time to Die | Daniel Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Ana de Armas, Lashana Lynch, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, Christoph Waltz, Jeffrey Wright, y Ralph Fiennes Spider-Man: No Way Home | Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx, Thomas Haden Church, Rhys Ifans, J.K. Simmons, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Charlie Cox, Marisa Tomei, Andrew Garfield, y Tobey Maguire Escena Encanto | Dos Oruguitas The Green Knight | Now I’m Ready, I’m Ready Now Luca | The Sea Monster No Time to Die | Final Ascent Spider-Man: No Way Home | With great power… È Stata la Mano di Dio | Non ti disunire Wide Release Black Widow Cruella No Time to Die Old Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Spider-Man: No Way Home Limited Release Druk First Cow The Power of the Dog È Stata la Mano di Dio Undine Vif-Argent Non-Theatrical Release Encounter Finch The Lost Daughter Malcolm & Marie Pieces of a Woman Swan Song Documental El Agente Topo Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry Cosas que no hacemos Una Película de Policías Procession The Rescue Película Iberoamericana El Agente Topo Errante Corazón Los Fuertes La Llorona Tengo Miedo Torero Vitalina Varela Película Mexicana Cosas Imposibles I Carry You With Me Los Lobos Noche de Fuego Una Película de Policías Ricochet

[rayatii]

J'ai un groz nez rouge, Des traits sur les yeux, Un chapeau qui bouge, Un air malicieux, Deux grandes savates, Un grand pantalon, ET QUAND JE ME FÂCHE, JE COMMETS DES MEURTRES 👿🤡🔪

- Pagliacci, essentiellement.

[discountalien-pancake]

As a SEAsian person (Indonesian, specifically), I wish they tried harder in the costuming department. We have a lot of different kinds of textile and weaving techniques (!!!) for goodness sake. Also, what culture is Raya's culture based on because I hope it's not just a mish mash of SEAsian cultures though it's Disney so I'm keeping my expectation very low

It’s a mishmash in the same vein as Moana was a mishmash except stupider because like. That’s not even vaguely any SEAsian mythology??? Like yes we have dragons but what the ever loving fuck is this “dragon gems” nonsense, why was that dude wearing a Japanese oni mask, and why is her hair LIKE THAT.

Here’s a better shot of her adult design and like. It’s fine? But what is with the colors?? Because traditional Hmong clothing looks like this:

We’ve had VIBRANT natural dyes since forever.

And just look at batik!

More Hmong textiles!

And ikat! (Which btw is so fucking cool?? They dye the patterns onto the unwoven threads which causes that characteristic fuzziness. Thi ikat has pattern-dyed warp and weft threads!)

Silk jacquard!! In fact silk production in Vietnam was so big that even commoners wore it! (Not jacquards tho because that shit’s expensive and also jacquard looms are a French invention. Brocades tho, we had brocades because that shit was invented in China.)

Speaking of brocade:

Have some Malay songket.

And all of these could be achieved with natural dyes.

[gemsofgreece]

Has any politician of power ever called out Merkel, about what it's like to see Germany -former Nazi Germany- with it's recent history in Greece & the world, backing Turkey -former Ottoman empire- with its recent history in Greece Cyprus, Armenia & the world? When Hitler rationalized the holocaust because "who after all remembers the Armenians" & Turkey still has to answer to the genocides it committed, & gets more & more entries written about it in Genocide Watch??

This answer can go wrong in so many ways and I am afraid it might. I sincerely tell you my intent was to be analytical and not judgemental. I am not sure I succeeded but if this answer makes you bombard me with hate anons, please note I will not answer.

What politician would dare say that... Certainly not a Greek. And the rest of EU also mostly obey Germany so nobody would say this, not even a French because that sure is a very bold thing to say.

I had a thought sort of similar to what you say though. I was thinking that it’s interesting how slow true change is, even if it is already completed in theory or nominally. For example, Germany has done - let’s say - everything to leave its past behind and redeem itself and yet, even though the violent days are fortunately over, Germany is now accused of a different form of expansionism via the EU and financial relations. So even though the method has changed dramatically, the intent of controlling Europe remains. And to connect this exactly to your ask, Germany and Turkey have been allies in both World Wars I think. Even though Germany denounces its past, it retains friendly bonds to countries that assisted it at evil times. This happens because everyone rushes to put all the blame to basically one sinister man alone but national memory and conscience, even unintentionally, can not change rapidly. Germany and Turkey are historical allies and this is engraved in memory no matter what. And also, we all know that South Europeans often report cases of discrimination in North Europe. This doesn’t apply only to Germany but it certainly includes Germany and I have two stories from very close friends that took place in Germany and helped me realise it. You can also see it through the Greek crisis which worked as a great excuse for the German media to unleash inexplicable hate and propaganda against the Greek nation. To be sure, we have shitty politicians but how did this give the right to random Germans to equate our identity to a joke and our ancestry to a lie? Well it didn’t. This hate propaganda had made quite a few young Greeks to feel ashamed of their ethnicity a few years ago and I knew quite a few that were glorifying North Europe beyond belief and reason. Thankfully this is dying but you see what kind of effect it could have?

Turkey supposedly tried to leave the Ottoman past behind in the previous century although this is entirely up to debate and right now it is more than clear that the country has Neo-Ottoman aspirations. Moreover, apart from some short periods of friendliness, Turkey has followed an aggressive and at times downright hostile and violent policy against neighbouring nations. So, as much as I would love to say I totally believe Turkish people who speak for peace and love, I have my doubts, forgive me. Yes, I do include some people because of a) personal experience and b) someone does elect all those politicians that follow the aggressive strategies right? Last time I checked, tensions did not start with Erdogan. It’s just that a bad idea simply needs one unstable man to become truly terrifying and destructive like Germany has already proven.

Germany and Turkey understand each other because they are both expansionists still. They will work together until time comes that one will get into the other’s lane. Right now Greece is a mere annoyance to Germany which is why Germany doesn’t know what to do and how much patience to show. But someday their interests are bound to collide.

To any readers, do not get this answer the wrong way - this is not a hate post against German and Turkish people or their culture. It is though my genuine understanding of the strategies these countries follow. Don’t come to me with a “not all Germans, not all Turks” because I already know that. I don’t know if I can make myself clear enough with the term “national conscience”. What I mean is that I truly believe Germans feel totally ashamed of Hitler but that doesn’t mean Germany as a country isn’t controlling over others or that there isn’t a thing like VERY white supremacy still infesting the country. I am sure that every Turkish family wants to live in peace and tranquility but that does not change the fact that the massive collapse of the Ottoman Empire has been a shock to the national memory that Turkey can’t get over yet.

This applies to every nation. Greece is not an exception. Just so we’re fair, that damn national memory is the reason Greece (and probably the Balkans too) has so much trouble progressing. Nominally, Greeks are proud and fiercely protective of their heritage which they wish to imitate and match. For the time being, they can not do it. This is because, on the exact flip side from Turkey, Greece hasn’t managed to get rid of the syndrome of “raya” yet meaning Greece hasn’t got over the centuries long slavery (and imagine if we also add the Romans!) and the way people worked and competed against each other to ensure their own survival only, with little interest in the greater good or how they frequently relied on foreigners and oppressors to decide for their sake.

In short my answer is that change, even with the best intentions, is very very slow. Things do not change because you announce they did.

And my Greek answer is:

Όλα τριγύρω αλλάζουνε και όλα τα ίδια μένουν - Μανώλης Ρασούλης

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2020

Now I’ve got my embarrassingly late ‘Best of 2019′ list out of the way, I can finally proceed to the list that’s probably more exciting - my most anticipated films of 2020!

This list excludes films that have already been screened at festivals (otherwise, stuff like Saint Maud would be here). It’s also somewhat analogous to groping about for a light switch in the dark - these lists very rarely accurately predict my ultimate favourites for the year, so it’s more of a fun speculative exercise. Hopefully this puts some intriguing-looking films on your radar for the year ahead! 

1. Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Plot: The story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.

Why be excited? The reasons to be excited about Dune should be pretty self-evident - it’s directed by one of the greatest filmmakers working today (Villeneuve’s Incendies and Blade Runner 2049 are all-timers for me), and is based on one of the best science-fiction novels ever written. The cast -  Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, and more - is absolutely stacked with talent. There’s every reason to believe that this will be something special, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Villeneuve is the man responsible for filling that Star Wars-shaped hole in the December release schedule.

2. Annette (dir. Leos Carax)

Plot: A stand-up comedian (Adam Driver), and his opera singer wife (Marion Cotillard), have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.

Why be excited? You may not have heard of him, but Leos Carax is one of the most exciting directors working - he only makes around one film a decade, but the films he does make tend to be very special. I’ve only seen one film of his - Lovers on the Bridge - but that was filled with such ecstatic romance and wondrous visuals that it made me tremendously excited for Annette. Annette is a top-to-bottom musical with songs by American duo Sparks (if you know them for anything, it will be ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’), and said songs will be delivered by Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. It goes without saying that both actors are extremely talented performers with great voices (see Driver in Marriage Story and Cotillard in Nine for evidence), and I’m looking forward to seeing how they demonstrate their talents here.

3. Last Night in Solo (dir. Edgar Wright)

Plot: A young girl (Thomasin McKenzie), passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer (Anya Taylor-Joy). But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.

Why be excited? I’m not the biggest Edgar Wright fan, but I admire him greatly and the premise of Last Night in Soho is like cat-nip to me. Speaking to Empire, Wright explained the story as follows: “I’m taking a premise whereby you have a character who, in a sort of abstract way, gets to travel in time. And the reality of the decade is maybe not what she imagines. It has an element of ‘be careful what you wish for’.” I’m a sucker for a good, old-fashioned high concept, especially when said films play with genre and really challenge the viewer. The two female leads - Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit, Leave No Trace) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Emma) - are among the very best young actors working today, and the supporting cast features absolute legends such as Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp. Whether it’s successful or not, this film feels like a genuinely original prospect and I’m eager to see how it turns out.

4. The Green Knight (dir. David Lowery)

Plot: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Why be excited? There has been a sad lack of films based on mythology in recent years - or, to be more accurate, there has been a sad lack of films that attempt to honour what the myths were actually trying to convey. The stunning trailer for Green Knight promises a film that genuinely engages with its source material, and is just as interested in the psychological truths of the tale as the spectacle of its fantastical scenarios. Dev Patel is an extremely talented actor coming off another great movie in The Personal History of David Copperfield, and the supporting cast (Alicia Vikander!) appear to be fully committed to their parts. I’m excited to see a true myth on the big screen again, and David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Old Man & The Gun) can be trusted to give an old tale a new sense of vitality. 

5. The French Dispatch (dir. Wes Anderson)

Plot: The staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

Why be excited? It’s a Wes Anderson movie! Of course I’m excited! In all seriousness, the trailer was all I needed to get hyped about this. It’s clearly Anderson’s quintessential style, but it also shows flashes of some very bold and striking compositions (yes, I’m thinking of Chalamet on the back of that motorcycle) that you wouldn’t necessarily think of in relation to him. I’m intrigued by the prospect of there being stories nested within a story, which feels like the perfect choice for the structure of a film about a newspaper. The cast features all of Anderson’s old favourites (Swinton! Murray! McDormand!), as well as some exciting new additions (Timothée Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss, Christoph Waltz, among others) that feel so well-suited to his style it’s surprising they haven’t worked together before. Bring on all those immaculately composed shots and exquisite colour palettes.

6. Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan)

Plot: Unknown. The project is described as an action epic revolving around international espionage.

Why be excited? I hate to sound repetitive, but ... it’s a Christopher Nolan movie. That alone is enough to be hyped about this. Details of the plot are vague for now, but the teaser suggests the sort of intelligent, high-concept film-making we’ve come to expect from Nolan. John David Washington - who impressed in BlacKkKlansman - is a great choice for the lead, and I also love that Tenet will feature Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki (among my favourite actors) in prominent roles. There’s not much else to say given how little we know about this, but suffice to say I’ll be there on day one!

7. Wonder Woman 1984 (dir. Patty Jenkins)

Plot: Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) comes into conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s and finds a formidable foe by the name of the Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).

Why be excited? The original Wonder Woman was an absolute delight, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Patty Jenkins is back to continue Diana’s story. The decision to pick up with Diana in the 1980s is most intriguing (and paves the way for all kinds of exciting choices when it comes to the music and the fashions), especially since it looks like the film is actually going to explore the implications of being an immortal being in a mortal world. 

8. Raya and the Last Dragon (dir. Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins)

Plot: A lone warrior from the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra teams up with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon and bring light and unity back to their world.

Why be excited? The animation scene in 2020 looks kind of ... blah at the moment, with the notable exception of Raya and the Last Dragon. The setting was described by the film’s producer as  "a reimagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization that venerated the mythical dragons for their power and their wisdom”, and that alone is enough to fire up my imagination. Off the back of Moana and the Frozen films (which I all unabashedly love), I trust Disney Animation to instil this with plenty of colour and verve.

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (dir. Charlie Kaufman)

Plot: An unexpected detour turns a couple’s road trip into a terrifying journey through their fragile psyches.

Why be excited? Directed by Charlie Kaufman (writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), I’m Thinking of Ending Things is based on a prize-winning novel. However, despite the pedigree the main reason I’m looking forward to this is Jessie Buckley. Buckley gave a star-making performance in Beast a few years ago, and has since proven herself an actor of immense talent and skill (see Wild Rose for proof of what a powerhouse she is). I’m excited to see her career continue to go from strength to strength, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things seems poised to be a great showcase for her.

10. The Last Duel (dir. Ridley Scott)

Plot: King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) settle his dispute with his squire (Adam Driver) by challenging him to a duel.

Why be excited? Ridley Scott is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and has never come close to reaching the heights of Alien and Blade Runner with his recent work. Nonetheless, against my better judgement I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of a medieval epic with Scott at the helm. The acting talent attached to The Last Duel is top-notch, and I’m particularly fond of Jodie Comer (of Killing Eve fame) and Adam Driver (do you really need me to say more?). There’s a very real danger of the highly sensitive plot (the ‘dispute’ at the heart of the story concerns an accusation of rape, the truth of which is to be determined with a duel) being mishandled by Scott, but the involvement of screenwriter Nicole Holofcener gives me some hope. This could turn out to be a misfire, but my hope is that it will, at the very least, be interesting.

[vanrambling]

Van Rambling Week of June 10, 2020

This is the third or fourth attempt at writing this. 

Last week I skipped my blogpost because of the #blackouttuesday. 

Trying to figure out what to say. 

I don’t consider myself black. I am Mexican. But I inherited  black traits from my great great grandparents. Black curly hair, darker skin. I may be considered Black, just not on Mexican standards. Over here I am “moreno”. 

But due to lack of representation, I have always looked up to black characters and celebrities, particularly ones that share similar skin tone or hair. Michael Jackson, Storm from the X-Men, FMA’s Scar (They only cosplay I’ve made), Samurai Champloo’s Mugen, Daveed Diggs’ Laffayette and Jefferson from Hamilton...

But it is quite different being darker skinned on this side of the river.

There certainly is racism over here, but classism is predominant... But guess which color are the people that are being classist. It’s always from lighter to darker. 

...A bit of Mexican history... 

Mexico has two advantages, the multiculturality that was produced on the 300 years of colonization, and the fact that when the country was born, slavery was abolished.

This was decreed in 1810 and ratified in 1821 when we officially became independent.

This was 40 years before the US. And 20 before Texas became independent.

Which was also one of the reasons for the Mexican-American war.

The American settlers in Texas were given free land, but had to agree to speak the language (Spanish), become Catholic, and free any slaves they brought.

It’s kind of ironic.

Many slaves fled to Mexico back then, when Texas was still part of Mexico, and many more after the war was over. 

But they weren’t the only ones migrating,after the Spaniards came the British, Austrians, French, Americans. Mostly white people, came here and married, inherited or bought land. And this people tried to instate a new kind of slavery. They brought the “tiendas de raya”, or company stores where they paid with the truck/scrip system, keeping workers and farmers indebted to the hacienda even generationally. 

The system, again, was outlawed first here in the 1910′s, but again, Americans didn’t like that, responding with a naval occupation. Among the reasons we didn’t go to full-on war for that, was because of the revolution, the first world war and Mexico promising to stay neutral, even with the Zimmerman telegram, in which Germany promised to return Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, if Mexico fought the US in case they joined the Allies. 

But I am getting sidetracked. 

From those times a particular set of mind has prevailed. 

People trying to marry lighter skinned people to “better the race”. 

Black Lives Matter. 

And some part of history is not told and keeps spreading violence even through borders. 

Mexico militarized their police under American pressure. We have fought their drug war killing thousands with weapons that are smuggled from the US. 

Violating human rights of refugees trying to escape their country. 

Even from government agencies are guilty of providing weapons to the cartels, most prominently the “failed” Operation Fast and Furious.

Now, why am I talking about this in my writing blog. 

I speak from my knowledge and personal experience. 

Being separated and made wait hours in customs, triple checking my passport. 

Being followed in department stores by security. 

Being afraid of being shot on the way to school or even within the school because of the ongoing drug war. 

My hometown becoming a battleground some years back. Uncles getting executed because they refused to sell to the drug cartels. A childhood friend missing. Death threats to the family. 

A cousin murdered by rich kids and all the evidence disappearing...

Being harassed by the police. 

It’s harder to find a well paid job with dark skin...

I could go on and on. I just wrote as it came to mind. 

I’ve some better experiences too. Like the only TSA agent that was kind to a confused teenager was a black man who was into videogames. 

I have American, French, Brittish and Australian friends. My writing group is international, with many writers that visit the city visting us when they hear there is an English speaking group in town, A greek friend that writes scripts and produces movies, a German young woman that wrote a beautiful essay about ultra marathons...

And just like anybody else I use what I know to write.

And I know history. 

But I write science fiction. 

So here is a bit of a spoiler. Remember Shots for Ganymede?

I explicitly wrote it like humanity, specifically Americans are the illegal immigrants. Smugglers of drugs Tequila for the people beyond the asteroid-border-wall.

Facing very aggressive custom agents and discrimination. 

Threats from powerful “aliens”.

“Aliens” that believe humans are either exotic or inferior. 

....

That’s not the only one. 

All of my writing there is one overarching theme. The immigrant. 

Homer and Virgil are refugees in London. They are POC. 

Homer is South American.  

Virgil is a brown skinned Mexi-Caribean.  (It’s something within the Universe, I will make a post about it later)

.....

In real life there are human trafficking rings and it’s more easily for a person of color to be trafficked than a white person...

While I love detective stories I don’t write Police stories. 

Non corrupt policemen are far and few, I knew 1 (one). And he is no longer a policeman. 

I have two detective stories searching for kidnapped women. 

One of a kid victim of human trafficking and one of a hitman who has a turn of heart and helps a kidnap victim. 

Because guess what. 

People get into crime not to harm people, but to escape poverty, to find a place to belong and escape violence. To help their families. To pay the bills. For protection. 

Guess which ones turn to policing. People who want power. Bullies. 

I’ve come across criminals that are gentler than most of the policemen I have encountered. 

I have a lot to write. 

Last weeks I closed with a kind message. With love and gentleness. 

Things are ugly over here too. And a bit more complicated. I support the protests but I can’t condone the behaviour in my country’s protests since it they’ve been misguided and misused by politicians and tactics that date from the 70′s. 

Infiltrators and instigators joining the protests that ended up with burning a policeman, a police truck and in the capital vandalizing the US embassy and vandalizing stores while parroting the message of hate from the President. 

This week I write from a place of anger and disappointment. 

Black Lives Matter. 

Keep writing. Keep fighting. 

Resist. 

V. 

P.D. If anyone wants to know more about anything or just want to talk just let me know. 

P.D.II. To my American followers, keep fighting for gun legislation over there, it will help reduce the weapons that are smuggled into my country and the violence they create.