#setting: early october 1996. same as part one as it's a continuation of that night // i think i said this all in the tags of the first part

[arklay]

seeing stars.

pairing: diana x albert wesker words: 7.0k warnings: migraine, nausea and vertigo, brief mentions of food and alcohol, internalised ableism [read on ao3] — [part one]

A long exhale sounded from the en suite bathroom. It wasn’t one of relief. No, it was strained, wavering as it left parted lips – the evidence of a day riddled with nothing but stress.

Wesker slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the mirror from how he had hung his head, his hands resting on either side of the basin. The figure behind his reflection caught his eye instantly – dark hair a stark contrast to the white doorframe its lovely owner was leaning against. She was simply watching him with this faint, barely-there frown strewn about her features.

Despite being rather annoyed at Diana for sneaking up on him, or more so at himself for not noticing she had done so, he was glad she had kicked off her heels under the dining table. The last thing he needed right now was the shrill clicking of those awful things on the tile floor.

His head already felt like it had been put in a vise and someone was turning the handle; he didn’t need more noise to aggravate it.

“Where are your glasses?” Diana asked, and Wesker could only wonder if he’d imagined the worry clinging to the edge of her voice.

Could she tell he was in pain? That his sunglasses weren’t just some fashion statement people liked to tease him for? Had she put two and two together so easily when most were too dense to?

Wesker’s eyes darted up to lock on to hers in the mirror, though for only a split second, before he looked down again with a small huff. “I don’t know.”

He’d truly had a shocking day. It had been one thing after another, and at some point he had taken his glasses off to rub his eyes then forgot to put them back on. It wasn’t like him to misplace his belongings, and certainly not his shades, of all things, but the stressors piling up ensured the whereabouts of where he’d set them down slipped his mind faster than he thought possible.

It had all started with that pig, Brian Irons. The initial cause of his foul mood. That poor excuse of a man had proven himself to be a thorn in Wesker’s side time and time again; the police chief thought he could undermine those ensuring his unsavoury past was kept under wraps, but Wesker wasn’t going to stand for such insolent behaviour. He made sure to discuss the issue with William during his visit to the NEST around lunchtime, calling for a shorter leash.

However, the day only seemed to continue to go downhill once he’d returned to the station.

The problem wasn’t simply the piles of reports taking up space on his desk; the image of Diana wouldn’t leave his mind. He shouldn’t have stopped by her lab with coffee and spoken to her at all. He needed his focus to be solely on his work. The way she could capture his attention was quite bothersome, really. And that prompted a rather foolish decision on his part – a phone call with plans for dinner.

It didn’t end there. The newest S.T.A.R.S. recruits were a headache in and of themselves, yet getting a call from Sherry’s school the moment he left work had been the icing on the cake. She hadn’t been picked up hours beforehand, and being the next emergency contact, Wesker was informed of such incompetence.

William’s obsession with the G-Virus was getting out of hand. He’d always been more preoccupied with his work than the people around him, but forgetting to pick Sherry up from school was something else. Something Wesker didn’t quite like.

Not to mention it completely ruined his plans for the night.

With a suppressed clearing of her throat, Diana pulled him back to the present. She pushed herself off of the doorframe and made her way closer towards him. “Would you like me to look for them?”

Wesker shook his head and immediately regretted it; the sudden movement made him wince as a short wave of splitting pain made itself known right behind his left eye, causing him to grip the edge of the counter until his knuckles went white. The pain wasn’t unbearable yet, and he was glad his typical nausea seemed to be at bay, but he had no clue how long that would last. Not long, if he had to guess, given his luck with the rest of the day’s events.

Taking a deep breath through his nose and out through his mouth, he steadied himself. With each count, he found it easier to tolerate the ache, though it didn’t subside in the slightest. It would have to do though; he needed to get through his nighttime routine.

He reached over and slowly pulled his toothbrush out of its holder, making sure to not move more than what was necessary.

“No.”

Wesker glanced up at the mirror again with one of his brows quirked in genuine confusion, and he watched as Diana’s reflection inched closer. Then her hands were covering his. Why he found himself frozen at her touch was beyond him, but her soft fingers pressing against his skin was a welcome sensation.

She only pried the toothbrush and paste out of his grasp, far more gently than she needed to, then she placed them back to where they belonged.

“You are obviously unwell. You don’t need to brush your teeth when you feel like this,” she said, voice soft and oddly soothing, as opposed to the hammering against his skull.

Diana took Wesker’s hands in her own again, and her thumbs brushed along the raised veins on the backs of them in slow circles. It wasn’t just comforting to him, it was familiar, intimate, and the point at which he’d begun to embrace her touch rather than shun his craving for it was lost on him.

Her eyes finally landed on his own and she directed a small nod towards the door, making him aware of what she was about to do next. Then she took a step back. Then another. And she carefully pulled him along with her, guiding him towards his bedroom without so much as a word from him. Wesker couldn’t tear his eyes away from her. He didn’t know what to say, what to do, and with how tired he was, he could only let her take the lead. She seemed to have her mind set on making sure he would rest, and that made his chest feel much too tight.

It was almost as if she cared.

The trip to the foot of his bed felt much longer than usual. Diana’s cautious approach made sure of that. He was not intoxicated; she didn’t need to hold his hands and ensure he put one foot in front of the other. And yet she did. He felt like an absolute fool, but he still let her pull him along, regardless.

Once there, Diana sat him down on the edge before she quickly knelt down in front of him, tucking her legs beneath herself as she did so. Her attention went straight towards his boots and deft hands worked to untie their laces.

Wesker couldn’t quite wrap his head around her behaviour. He wasn't sure what to think. On any other day, he would’ve thought her kneeling between his legs quite amusing, especially with how she kept roughly pushing her stubborn tresses that kept falling in front of her face back behind her ears. But his head hurt far too much, and there was just this horrible warmth searing through his chest and up his neck, settling across his cheeks and threatening to join the burning at his temple.

The question in her eyes whenever she’d glance up at him certainly wasn’t helping either. It was almost wary, as though looking for permission to continue. Or perhaps assurance.

Her fingers wrapped around his ankle, carefully grasping it as she pulled off his boot. That made him feel far too odd, but she only repeated the action with its counterpart. He was thankful for the way she placed them next to one another by his bed though, all nice and neat, instead of simply tossing them to the side like anyone else would.

Diana pushed herself up off of the floor using her palms and moved to stand between his legs. Soft hands reached forward to cradle his face, the cool pads of her thumbs brushing along the high points of his cheeks. But she was only looking into his eyes, searching for… something.

He wasn’t quite sure what she was doing, to be completely honest. However, the repetitive movement along his cheekbones was calming, almost strangely so, and he hated that his eyes threatened to flutter shut and his hands itched to reach out and hold onto her sides – perhaps even pull her closer, if he dared.

How could she draw such a reaction from him? Especially given the circumstances.

The last thing Wesker needed was for her to look at him like he was some injured animal; he didn’t want her pity. It was enough that he let her drag him out of the bathroom when he was in the middle of carrying out his routines, as though he was caught in some sort of trance. But to look at him in such a way, to help him undress… It was ridiculous. He didn’t need to be fussed over.

Wesker reached up and closed his hands around her wrists. His grip was tight, though not enough to hurt her – merely cautionary, much like the glare he sent her way. Astute as she was, he had no doubt she would get the message.

Diana’s fingers fell away from his cheeks, curling in on themselves, but she didn’t move to break the distance between them. She only continued to hold his gaze, eyes still scanning his own in search of some answers, even as he loosened his hold on her wrists.

It had been wishful thinking, anyhow; he should’ve known she’d remain defiant.

Wesker pulled her hands further away from his face while he slowly rose to his feet. Then he let go, making them drop to her sides in a rather lifeless fashion. He didn’t miss the question in her eyes, or the way a crease formed between her brows, but he simply focused on manoeuvring around her towards his dresser – unsuccessfully at that, as his side brushed against hers with how he staggered.

Movement made the pain behind his eye considerably worse. The familiar sensation of tiny knives stabbing, leaving puncture wounds in their wake to obscure his vision, made it incredibly hard to keep his eyes open any longer. Wesker took a deep breath to try and steady himself, keeping as still as could be so as to not cause himself more pain. If only for a moment of relief.

One of his hands settled on the surface of the dresser while the other moved to open a drawer. He hoped Diana didn’t see how he fumbled with the pull handle. He wasn’t even sure why that bothered him. But he moved to correct his error far too quickly, causing him to lose balance slightly.

The sight of plain black, white and grey t-shirts folded up and sorted by tone brought some level of structure back to the chaos that had been Wesker’s day, and it pleased him more than it probably should have. The shirts were simply for when he was too cold to sleep shirtless – he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing them casually, otherwise – and he removed one from its designated place for himself, and one for Diana.

The next drawer he opened contained his pyjama pants, all monochromatic and devoid of patterns, akin to his shirts. Just the way he liked. There were a couple of blue pairs though. Not like that mattered; he chose black, as usual.

A tired sigh left him then.

“Diana.” The sound of her footsteps crossing the distance between them seemed to reach him later than when they’d occurred, because she was already standing at his side. Wesker simply handed her the t-shirt he’d chosen for her, then he spoke again without looking her way, “Would you like pants?”

Diana chuckled at that, and the corner of his lips twitched. He treasured that sound. Well and truly treasured it.

“I doubt anything will fit me,” she whispered, the smile in her voice telling him she was trying to subdue her laugh.

“You have long legs.”

She let out a low, sweet hum at his dry response and positioned herself behind him, lifting her chin to rest it on his shoulder as she watched his hands comb through the pairs of pants in the drawer below. It was clear to Diana that he wouldn’t find anything that would fit her, considering she was barely two thirds the width of him, but she let him figure that out for himself. Instead, her hands ran down his sides and towards his hips. She stood on tiptoe to press a lingering kiss to his cheek while one of her hands travelled between them.

“Doesn’t change that you have more hips than I do,” Diana said between another kiss, tone playful, while her hand squeezed a handful of his firm backside.

Wesker reached behind himself and swatted her hand away, but he couldn’t stop the slight chuckle that bubbled up in his throat before it escaped him – one that mirrored her own. Her arms changing position, wrapping around his waist with her chin settling against his shoulder once more, was not what he expected in response, however. The feeling that brought up inside of him was not something he wished to confront tonight.

He needed to place more distance between them.

“Drawstrings.” Wesker held up a pair of pants that could be tightened at the waist, negating her claims that there couldn’t possibly be anything of his that may stay up for her.

Diana held back another sigh as she loosened her arms and plucked the pants from his grasp. Their short moment of joking around certainly didn’t last long, but she wasn’t sure why she even expected it to. It wasn’t the time or place, but she simply didn’t know how to deal with the situation at hand; it was always difficult for her to navigate when someone wasn’t feeling well.

On the other hand, Wesker was none the wiser to Diana’s inner turmoil. He only withdrew from her slack embrace and returned to where he’d been sitting at the end of the bed earlier, entirely focused on ridding himself of the rest of his work clothes. Without her interference.

Nothing seemed to be in his favour today though, because the moment his hips met the bed the entire room began to spin. It wasn’t like he had sat down too fast – or maybe he had finally lost his bearings – but the way the room was warping around him with stars dancing across his vision caused him to squeeze his eyes shut. His teeth ground together of their own accord and he cursed himself for it as that only amplified the pain at his temple.

All Wesker could do was turn his attention towards the buttons of his shirt, trying to ground himself as best he could by focusing on the feeling of one beneath his fingertips. The way the edges pressed against his skin as he pushed the button through its assigned opening felt so much sharper than usual. And it didn’t help that he fumbled on the first go.

“Let me help you.”

The almost desperate plea from the voice across the room couldn’t have come from Diana. Surely. Not even the distinct accent and low, gravelly quality of it could convince him; she had never done such a thing, never sounded like that, even when he’d reduced her to ruins in bed.

The Diana he knew wasn’t so willing to offer assistance.

Wesker scoffed, perhaps a bit too harsh judging by the frown he received, and only roughly unfastened the next button on his shirt. “I do not need your help.”

Oh, how he wished that were true.

The bile burning the back of his throat begged to differ. And it was getting increasingly difficult to just keep his eyes open, like his lids were being weighed down by some invisible force.

The soft sound of a zipper made Wesker glance over to where Diana stood, only to watch as her skirt pooled around her feet. His hands paused what they were doing as his eyes lazily wandered over her, mesmerised by the way she was carefully rolling her tights down her long legs. It wasn’t until she moved on to her shirt and made quick work of the overpriced garment that he shook himself free of her spell. To say she was stunning was frustratingly accurate.

She stripped down to nothing but her panties before pulling his massive t-shirt over her tiny frame, adjusting her hair the minute it was over her head. That shouldn’t have made him smile to himself. The thought that she was cute shouldn’t have even crossed his mind in the first place.

It wasn’t that long ago when he’d considered her vain for constantly worrying about her appearance, and the first time she had worn one of his shirts he had thought she looked absolutely ridiculous – comical, even. It was only endearing now. He chose not to look too close into that change, convincing himself that the pain he was in was simply making him delirious.

Fuck, he just wanted to go to sleep. There was nothing in the world he wanted more than to close this day and reset in the morning.

Despite struggling with each one, Wesker managed to finish undoing the buttons of his shirt and he weakly shrugged it off of his shoulders. It went no further than that, however, even with another attempt. The motion only made his stomach lurch, like waves roiling at sea.

A defeated sigh left him at that, but he was too tired to fight it. He must have made for a pathetic sight, one he wished there was no one present to witness.

That would’ve been grand, if he was so fortunate. Diana was standing in front of him again after dropping the pants in her grasp and crossing the distance in only a few quick strides. Before he could protest once more, she reached forward and laid her hands flat against his shoulders; cold fingers dipped beneath material, causing a shiver to run through his entire body, before she gently pushed the sleeves down his arms. It was unnecessary, but Diana held his forearm as she pulled the sleeve off by grasping the cuff, making sure to not turn his shirt inside-out.

He’d kiss her for that if his head didn’t feel like it was going to explode at any minute.

As soon as she freed him of his undershirt with the same meticulous care, Diana returned to what she had started earlier, before Wesker had stopped her. This time around he wasn’t nearly as tense when she took his face in her hands. In fact, it was the most at ease he had felt all day.

The chill of her palms provided some relief to the burning beneath his skin and the stabbing behind his eye. Even if it was only for a moment – until his cheeks warmed her hands and ripped that pleasant sensation away from him.

The only difference from when they’d found themselves in this position earlier was that Diana now leaned down to place a brief kiss on his lips. Wesker expected some level of warmth in her gaze once she pulled away, but he was only met with the look someone would have when scolding a child who had just hurt themselves on the playground.

If she was insinuating that he was being childish, they’d have a whole other problem on their hands.

Diana readjusted her hold to cradle his face in a more secure manner, fingers pressing firm against his skin. “I know you don’t want my help, but I will not see you make yourself sick because you are too stubborn to let someone look after you.”

Wesker glared up at her. Well, he hoped it was a glare, because whatever left him was all that he could muster in his state. From the way one of Diana’s brows raised, he sure did something, even if he had no idea if it was what he had intended.

They simply looked into one another’s eyes, holding the steady gaze for far too long – a familiar occurrence that usually took place when she challenged him. He supposed it was the other way around this time. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her help, it was that he didn’t want anyone’s. He thought himself above that, and he had managed being in this position countless times before. Even if on some of those days he had gone to sleep without being able to change his clothes.

Perhaps he needed some help.

“Fine.” Wesker relented with a long blink, and allowed himself to settle against her touch and relax some more.

That earned him a faint smile from Diana before she leaned in again. His eyes fluttered shut out of habit, but her lips didn’t connect with his own. Instead, they landed on his forehead, and his moment of ease faded away instantly, his hands balling into fists at his sides the longer she lingered there.

The pit in his stomach seemed to lessen when she withdrew and dropped to her knees again. But his head felt absurdly heavy without her hands holding it up. There was too much running through his mind, it was getting overwhelming. And it wasn’t just the hammering at the side of his skull. He wanted her but he tensed up at her touch, he needed her but he hated her assistance, he… He shouldn’t have invited her over tonight.

What had he been thinking?

Slender fingers curling into the waistband of his pants pulled Wesker from his thoughts, and he looked down at Diana, who had glanced up at the same time with that question in her eyes once more, asking if it was alright to continue. He simply nodded and she focused her attention back to what she was doing; he even lifted his hips to allow her to pull his pants off. Whenever she had dealt with the button and zipper eluded him.

He despised that – the feeling that he was no longer in control, losing his vigilance as the pain distracted him too much. It wasn’t just that though, the woman before him also played a part in causing his dazed state.

It was strange. Wesker couldn’t recall ever having a lover treat him like this. She wasn’t telling him that he was going to be okay, that she was there for him, or any of that superficial nonsense. She was just assisting him, doing whatever needed to be done so that he would be comfortable enough to hopefully get some sleep. It brought about another dreadful sensation to the mix already pestering him.

He lifted a hand and placed it over Diana’s when she reached for the t-shirt he had haphazardly dropped on the bed when the vertigo had hit him. She only looked down at his large hand enveloping hers for a moment, seeming to be the one stunned now. Then her eyes finally darted up to his face, and the steely determination in them from before melted away into that look that unsettled him far more.

“I’m being overbearing, aren’t I?” she asked, a slight trace of a chuckle clinging to the edge of it, as though she was almost embarrassed by her behaviour.

Wesker let out what was probably supposed to be a laugh in response, but little more than an exhale came out. “No.”

He paused as his next words died on his tongue. Or more accurately, they didn’t seem to want to leave his throat and even get that far. Diana was none the wiser and just rose to her feet, hand slipping free of his own and taking the t-shirt with it. Wesker chewed on the inside of his cheek for but a fraction of a second before he swallowed his pride.

A sharp inhale, then he lifted his head to look up at her. “Thank you.”

The genuine smile that crossed Diana’s face made him feel far too warm, like the sun was bearing down on his skin and reaching the deepest parts of him; it wasn’t quite a grin, teeth staying hidden, but the corners of her eyes crinkled and the indents on her cheeks deepened somewhat. She didn’t give him much of a chance to admire it though, too preoccupied with making sure she didn’t move him around too much as she carefully pulled the shirt over his head and helped each of his arms into the sleeves.

“I take it you have photophobia,” she said matter-of-factly. It was almost too clinical-sounding for Wesker’s liking, odd as that may seem. The term alone just left a bad taste in his mouth.

It was sort of his own fault, which he didn’t like owning up to. He’d always had trouble with his sensitivity to bright lights, but he was only meant to wear the tinted glasses Umbrella prescribed him when in the lab or outside. It had been the relief he felt without a migraine clawing at his senses that made him forget he was wearing them at all, and in turn, that developed into a habit of leaving them on for nearly all waking hours. His eyes adjusted to the conditions and it only worsened his sensitivity when he was without his sunglasses.

What he wouldn’t give to have his youthful eyes back.

When Wesker didn’t respond to her, Diana gently cupped his cheek. He tried to meet her gaze, but her eyes were focused just below, where her thumb was brushing across the dark circle marring his skin. Another thing he wished he could reverse time to prevent.

As useful as her help was, Wesker couldn’t understand why she was doing this, why she was being so… kind. So tender. She wasn’t a nurturer, or the type to worry about others. Maybe she did actually care for him, more than she let on. That didn’t feel right though – it just left him profoundly uncomfortable. His mind had to be playing tricks on him with how exhausted he was. That was the only reasonable explanation.

Diana’s thumb paused its repetitive motion and she simply held her hand in place. It was just for another second or two, but her touch lingered well after she departed, leaving a pleasant tingle across his skin.

The last obstacle in the way of Wesker being able to just collapse into bed and hope that his migraine was gone by the morning was the pair of pyjama pants Diana was bunching up so she could help him change into them easily. His tired limbs seemed to move on their own, slipping into each pant leg with little input from him, but the moment he lifted his hips as she tugged the fabric over them, another surge of intense pain hit him, causing him to keel over.

It felt as though his head was being split in two, torn apart from the inside out. He could have sworn the eye taking the brunt of the pressure was going to pop out of its socket at any minute. The only thing he could do was rest his head in his hands and endure it, pressing his thumbs down on the innermost part of his brows in hopes to alleviate some of the pain.

Diana shuffled closer and reached forward to place her hands on his thighs. They only ran up and down the sides of them in a gentle, reassuring motion while her mind scrambled to recall the locations of where she’d seen every thing that could possibly aid him in his house.

Her brain was being just as helpful as his was, because she drew a blank, too taken aback by the sight in front of her. The intimidating Albert Wesker slumped over in pain – that was something she thought she’d never see. He always seemed so… invincible. Nothing could tear down his powerful image and break through his composed demeanour this easily, and she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

“Albert?” Diana’s voice was so soft he almost didn’t hear it, but his name always sounded so much nicer spilling from her lips compared to anyone else’s. “Do you need a bucket? Or…” She paused for a second then let out a frustrated huff. “Where do you keep your painkillers?”

“They don’t work,” Wesker grumbled.

Of course they don’t, she thought. That would’ve been too easy.

Or he was being overdramatic. So, she pressed on. “Not even a little bit?”

The crease between his brows only deepened, and he squeezed his eyes shut. So, that was a definitive no.

Diana pursed her lips as she tried to think of what else she could do for him. She wasn’t familiar with actually dealing with a migraine, even if she knew all of the treatments on paper; she was fortunate enough to never get them, and she couldn’t remember the last time someone around her had. She could list off every over-the-counter painkiller and triptan that was used to specifically target a migraine, but that would do her no good. She didn’t know what worked for him.

There had to be something though. Diana moved to stand and go take a look at what was in the medicine cabinet in his bathroom, but Wesker fumbled to take her hand in his own.

That made her freeze on the spot.

She had no doubt he was cursing himself for doing such a thing, for how it almost seemed to be a reflex more than a conscious decision. Or perhaps he just needed something solid to hold on to. Whichever it was, Diana didn’t care, so long as it helped. Even if the way he was gripping her hand hurt like hell; she’d been through far worse, so the possibility of a broken bone was something she would simply bear.

“Here,” she whispered while carefully pulling Wesker up to stand a moment after she did so herself. He stumbled on his feet when upright, but Diana was there – the pillar to hold him up and save him from toppling over.

The arm not reaching for his – right hand clasping his own – was wrapped around his back. It served to keep him stable as she slowly guided him over to what she had long since been acquainted with as his preferred side of the bed. This whole ordeal would’ve been much easier if he wasn’t leaning his entire body weight against her, but at least the trip wasn’t too lengthy.

Their hands only parted when Diana let go to lean forward and pull back the covers for him. Wesker really hoped she didn’t see how his fingers extended on instinct, as if to chase her touch. It was utterly pathetic. The urge to hold her was getting increasingly annoying, and he wished his body would just try to not embarrass him for once.

He couldn’t exactly exert much control over his innate reactions in his condition, but if Diana noticed, she didn’t say anything. That was one positive, he supposed.

And the fact that he managed to sit on the bed on his own without dragging her down with him. That probably would’ve earned him a bony shoulder digging into his chest, and that would just make matters worse.

Diana didn’t have to, but she went so far as to help him lie down as well. In a way that wouldn’t make his head feel as though someone had taken a hammer to it, that is. All slow movements and firm but gentle touches, manipulating his limbs for him as they felt too heavy for him to move on his own. And when she was done, one of her hands reached up to smooth back his hair.

That brought about that dreadful flutter in the pit of Wesker’s stomach. Or maybe that was the nausea. He couldn’t tell at this point.

Weary eyes tried their hardest to stay trained on the figure lingering in front of them. But they were unsuccessful. Wesker couldn’t keep them open any longer, not when everything was spinning around like this. He couldn’t even make out what the expression strewn about Diana’s features was.

It didn’t even matter, because her comforting touch left him before the sound of her feet padding across the floor reached his ears – quickly, like she was in some rush. Unnecessary, Wesker thought. He wasn’t exactly going anywhere, lying there in agony.

He didn’t think it would get this bad. It had been so long since he’d had a migraine like this. The nausea, visual disturbances, and all of that nonsense was typical for him, but the vertigo would come and go. Every time it showed itself he was caught off guard; there was no getting used to the feeling of his body swaying back and forth when he was lying perfectly still.

That wasn’t even the worst of his problems.

His mind decided it wanted to be louder than the rhythmic pulse behind his eye, yelling at him to the point where his thoughts felt like they were what was causing his pain by bouncing around and colliding with his skull.

Weak. Pitiful. Unacceptable. Over and over again.

How could he let someone see him like this?

Not just someone, but her, of all people. The woman who would roll her eyes when one of the researchers called off work, the one who boasted about never getting sick, the one who carried herself like nothing could strike her down. Just like he did. And yet here he was, reduced to rubble by a bit of pain.

That’s what was confusing Wesker. Why was Diana being so considerate of his plight? He had no doubt she’d rather be at the lab, or really anywhere else, doing something worthwhile instead of this. She should just leave, honestly. There was no reason for her to stick around; it wasn’t like she felt anything more for him beyond fellowship. Sherry was wrong in her assumption; Diana wasn’t his partner.

She may have been his, but he certainly wasn’t hers. No, she just enjoyed toying with him.

Now was not the time to fall into thinking about that rubbish again. He should’ve never asked her if she wished to stay the night. Or invited her over for dinner in the first place, for that matter.

“Alright.”

That pulled Wesker out of his head. It may have only been low, simply a hurried mumble under one’s breath, but that entrancing voice was unmistakable to him. His little pity party hadn’t lasted long – privacy breached once more as Diana returned from whatever she had been doing. He really did despise that she was witnessing him in this state; this wasn’t how he wished for her to find out he suffered from migraines.

With her hands full, Diana crossed his room with the stride of someone on a mission – full of purpose. First, she placed a glass of water down on his nightstand, then she used her now free hand to pull the bucket she’d found in the laundry out from under her other arm, where it was sitting awkwardly and digging into her side. 

Once she set it down beside the bed, she crouched in front of Wesker and placed the ice pack she’d wrapped in a tea towel in one of his hands, which he lifted to his forehead immediately. Diana had no idea if that would help him or not, actually. She preferred heat for pain relief; being sensitive to the cold always made her recovery with injuries from ballet growing up a horrid experience. Maybe she should have looked to see if he had a heat pack instead. That would help alleviate the tension in his neck and shoulders.

No. She had what she needed, she wasn’t going to run around and make an even bigger fuss. It would probably make him feel worse, anyhow.

The only thing left to do was close the curtains and block out any light that threatened to seep into his room, whether that be from the street lamps illuminating the suburb or the bright moon itself. The significance of his blackout curtains now made much more sense to her.

When she stood to round the bed, Diana had no idea why she took the hand by his hip in her own and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her thumb even brushed across the back of it for a second. There was just this odd need to show him that she was there, that she wasn’t going anywhere.

Even as she pulled the curtains shut, the thought didn’t leave her mind.

She wasn’t going anywhere.

Taking care to not make the mattress dip too much, Diana climbed into bed next to Wesker. The last thing she wished was for her getting comfortable to cause him any undue pain because it jostled him about. It was only then, when the covers brushed across her bare legs, that she realised she was only wearing his shirt – the pyjama pants he’d chosen for her long forgotten somewhere to the darkness.

Wesker decided to be rather ungrateful for her cautious approach, as he moved on his own. Diana couldn’t help how her eyes wandered over him, taking in every detail she could as he began to slowly roll over; his brows were knit together, deepening the lines between them, his lips were pulled down in a frown, and his eyes were screwed shut. It was rather obvious to her that he was trying to not bring up all of his dinner, and that sent her heart plummeting down into her stomach. What he was going through really sunk in then.

She wished she could just take the pain away, make it all disappear and guarantee it would never return.

It was an awful feeling, watching the man who had only ever given her these tiny glimpses of vulnerability do what looked to be such a practised motion, as though he had a tried-and-true method for dealing with his nausea for so long.

She felt helpless. But why did she even care? Countless lovers had come and gone, not ever leaving an imprint on her heart, but he seemed to tug at every string.

A loud thump, immediately followed by a rather feeble sound, pulled Diana from her thoughts. It wasn’t quite a groan, but not nearly a whimper either, and she never thought she’d hear such a sound come from Wesker.

While turning, the ice pack had fallen free of his weak grasp and landed on the floor, causing the disturbance. Diana opened her mouth to speak, to ask him if he wanted her to pick it up for him, but she didn’t get a chance; he curled up against her side all of a sudden, resting his head on her chest. That was something she wasn’t prepared for. He had never done that before, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he heard the way her heart sped up at the act.

Diana kept her eyes fixed on the ceiling, not daring to look down at him while her arm hesitated to wrap around his back. What was she even supposed to do? This was all new territory for her, for them, and… it was overwhelming. She didn’t know what to think; there was just this massive weight that had been dropped onto her chest. And it wasn’t Wesker, or the way he slung his arm over her waist.

It was that somehow, despite everything, he had managed to worm his way past all of her defences and make her actually care for him.

But friends do care for one another, yes? That is a fact. And it’s not like their dates meant anything; she had gone on many with casual partners in the past, and they were merely a formality. The longing she felt for him was nothing beyond physical.

The arm around her tightened its hold on her side, pulling her closer, and Diana looked down just in time to see a grimace twist Wesker’s features before he turned his head to rest his brow against her breastbone. Whatever he grumbled as he did so, Diana couldn’t quite make out what it was.

She chewed on her lip while bringing a hand up to the back of his head, gently cradling it and holding him close. She found herself hesitating again, unsure of the implications of her touch – how it could be perceived. But the urge grew too strong soon enough. Whatever was going on between them was just that, and she wasn’t going to complicate matters by overanalysing it.

Her fingers ran through his hair, pressing firm against his scalp in somewhat of a massage. Diana absolutely hated the feeling of pomade residue on her fingers, but seeing the way his shoulders relaxed eased her disgust, if only slightly. She’d just have to deal with the waxy feeling on her skin, she supposed. It was a selfish thought but she wished he’d at least managed to rinse out his hair. She knew he hated it as well, though; his routines were always so important to him.

Wesker let out a long exhale and Diana paused the motion, unsure if what she was doing was actually making matters worse. He didn’t say anything, but the way he held her closer while his legs tangled with her own made her stomach flip, as though she was the one who was going to be sick.

The arm around his back held him firm as she leaned in to press a kiss to the top of his head. She never wanted him to go through this again, and she would find a way to ensure that.

For now though, she made a note to have a look for his glasses first thing tomorrow, before he woke.

[idasessions]

Famous Muses & Groupies in Rock Music Pt. 21

MUSE: Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz)

Winona was born on October 29th, 1971 in Winona, MN to authors Michael D. Horowitz and Cynthia Palmer. Her godfather and close friend of Michael is radical psychologist Timothy Leary. When Winona was 7 years old, the Horowitz family moved into the Rainbow commune in Mendocino County, CA where the kids were home schooled and lived without electricity. In 1983, Winona began attending the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco two years after her parents relocated them to Petaluma, CA. While she was performing in local stage productions, Winona also would send video auditions and screen tests to Hollywood for potential movie roles. This led to her landing her first studio film, Lucas (1986) and very quickly Winona became a teen movie queen in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Heathers (1989) and Mermaids (1990). As an adult, she continued success with Night on Earth (1991), Reality Bites (1994), The Crucible (1996) and Girl, Interrupted (1999). She was nominated for an Academy Award twice: first for Best Supporting Actress with The Age of Innocence (1993) and second for Best Actress with Little Women (1994). Winona has also consistently been an icon to middle school goth girls all over the world because of her character Lydia Deetz in Tim Burton’s cult classic Beetlejuice (1988); and because of her real-life preference for dark make-up and black clothes. Her career quickly took a dive in 2000 when she had a string of flops released and developed an alleged pill addiction that caused her to have an unprofessional reputation on film sets. This then led to an infamous, bizarre shoplifting scandal in 2001. Since 2009, Winona successfully rebirthed her public image with supporting roles in Hollywood features like Star Trek (2009), Black Swan (2010), When Love is Not Enough (2010) and Turks & Caicos (2014); as well as prominent parts on the series “Show Me a Hero” (2015) and “Stranger Things” (2016- ).

Besides being one of the most recognizable starlets of the late 20th century, Winona also has a rep for dating quite a few musicians back in the day. Her most famous relationship was with fellow Burton collaborator Johnny Depp when they were in a highly publicized romance from 1989 to 1993. Their time together included co-starring in Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (1990) and then becoming engaged the same year. Winona also claims she lost her virginity to Johnny, and of course, after they broke up, Johnny famously changed his tattoo ‘Winona Forever’ to just ‘wino forever.’ After Johnny, Winona grew an association for courting and inspiring many dudes in the alt-rock scene. As her former friend Courtney Love once crudely put it: “You’re no one in rock music until you’ve feuded with me or fucked Winona Ryder.”

Winona’s first rock boyfriend was Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum from 1993-1996. The two were apparently very into each other and quickly moved in together after meeting on the set of MTV’s “Unplugged.” Dave had a cameo in Winona’s movie Reality Bites, while Winona appeared in Asylum’s music video for ‘Without a Trace.’ Even though they were a public item, Winona also described their relationship as more of a friends-with-benefits situation than a traditional romance in a 2002 interview with W magazine.

Her second rock beau was Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind very briefly in 1997, who suddenly left her for fellow Hollywood starlet Charlize Theron. Winona then dated movie star Matt Damon from December 1997 to summer 2000, and managed to be pretty lowkey with their relationship, so there aren’t any juicy stories on them surprisingly. During August 2000, Winona showed up at the Witnness Music Festival in County Mearth, Ireland as indie-alt star Beck’s plus-one. The couple had a brief hookup, with Winona rumored to being the basis on some of his 2002 album ‘Sea Change.’ (But Beck himself has said the album was about former girlfriend Leigh Limon.) In 2001, Winona began dating singer-songwriter Pete Yorn right after his first album ‘musicforthemorningafter’ debuted. Yet only a couple of months later Winona’s shoplifting incident occurred, and Pete bailed.

In 2003, Winona robbed the cradle a little bit when she had a passionate fling with 23-year-old Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst, who was 8 years younger than her. The pair was kind of a surprise when a year earlier Conor was quoted saying “I don’t think I would date Winona Ryder, she’s kind of old. I like Natalie Portman.” So maybe he was joking? Their courtship also included some paparazzi pics of the couple showing PDA. Blake Sennett of popular indie band Rilo Kiley ended up being Winona’s final musician boyfriend from 2007-2008. Like Conor, Blake was a bit younger and was rumored to be Winona’s second fiancé, but he denied it. Apparently Winona was very disappointed when he broke up with her. Since her rock love affairs, Winona also dated filmmaker Henry Alex Rubin and has been engaged and living with entrepreneur Scott Mackinlay Hahn since 2011.

Fun fact(s): The song ‘Rollerskate Skinny’ by Old 97s was written about Winona after lead singer Rhett Miller went on a date with her in 2000. Matthew Sweet’s track ‘Winona’ was also named after her.

[aion-rsa]

Best Movies Coming to Netflix in October 2021

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You feel that? There’s a sudden coolness in the air, and the smell of freshly fallen leaves out your window. If you listen closely, you can even hear the delight of passerbys as they realize everything suddenly tastes like pumpkins. Yep, spooky season is almost here, and that goes for Netflix too.

Ironically, the most popular streaming service in the world has chosen to play a bit of a trick on those users wanting a lot of new horror content. While the streamer is providing new original horror films and television programming from its in-house productions, most of the films Netflix is adding for the month of October are not scary at all. Nonetheless, many of them are still a treat. So here are the best movies to expect on Netflix in October….

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

October 1

In the grand tradition of The Princess Bride and Stardust (although this came out before the latter), Brian Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale is an anachronistic fairy tale that works better than it has any right to. It stars Heath Ledger in one of his early heartthrob roles as a squire who pretends he’s a knight to compete in jousting tournaments around England. However, in truth this is really a ‘90s sports movie with all the clichés and trappings that entails—a fact the movie wears on its green sleeves.

As a film which begins with Queen music playing in Ye Olde England as crowds clap in beat with Freddie Mercury’s vocals, the film is a balancing act that somehow looks effortless in no small part because of its winsome cast, including Shannyn Sossamon, Mark Addy, Rufus Sewell, and a scene-stealing Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer, the famed poet and surprise wingman to Ledger’s Will Thatcher. And as Will, Ledger once again only hints at the deep reservoirs of talent and charisma we never saw fully realized.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

October 1

With the West Coast constantly on fire, the East Coast in danger of slipping beneath the Atlantic Ocean, and the rest of the country subject to extreme weather events on a constant basis, it’s a damn shame to realize that this powerful documentary—in which former Vice President Al Gore travels the country, speaking out about the dangers of climate change—is as necessary and vital as ever. It’s also jarring and depressing to understand that the United States still has not taken enough meaningful steps to stop this deepening crisis and even went backwards during the last four years.

Gore is much better here than he was on most of the 2000 campaign trail, weaving personal anecdotes and sentiments into the fascinating and sobering info dump that is the rest of the picture. If you haven’t seen it yet, An Inconvenient Truth (directed by Davis Guggenheim) is both moving and profound, and the kind of film one should share with one’s kids, if only out of respect for their future.

As Good as It Gets (1997)

October 1

Jack Nicholson won his third Academy Award (and second for Best Actor) while Helen Hunt won her first for Best Actress in this 1997 romantic comedy from director James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, The Mary Tyler Moore Show). Nicholson plays Melvin Udall, a wealthy novelist with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose misanthropic behavior turns off everyone he meets. But Melvin finds love and a family of sorts when he gets involved in the lives of a single mom and waitress (Hunt) and a gay artist (Greg Kinnear) who help him accept changes in his carefully controlled world.

Nicholson and Hunt richly deserved their Oscars, while Kinnear showed surprising range and emotion as the tormented Simon. Together, the three are a joy to watch as they begin to know and help each other. As Good as It Gets may dip occasionally (even frequently) into sentimentality, but watching Hunt and Nicholson win their hard-fought personal victories makes up for it.

Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996)

October 1

Don’t Be a Menace to South Central and its unwieldy title is not necessarily what you’d call a great movie. It’s not even a good one, per se. But this early Wayans Brothers success is a genuinely hilarious flick—especially for young men who came of age in the 1990s when every Friday night offered another cautionary tale of “inner city life” at the multiplex. Yes, Don’t Be a Menace takes the piss out of great films about a distinctly Black American experience, such as John Singleton’s raw Boyz N the Hood (1991), as well as more heavy handed also-rans based in similar themes.

But at the end of the day, this is just a clever spoof on a once ubiquitous genre with moments of genuine comical brilliance displayed by Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. From their riff on strapping young Laurence Fishburne as a father in Boyz to Shawn’s warning of the dire risk to young Black actors posed by rappers getting all the best roles in Hollywood, there’s still a lot to giggle about at this movie, particularly if you’ve never seen it.

Desperado (1995)

October 1

Robert Rodriguez’s first Hollywood movie is as much a remake of his career-making indie, El Mariachi (1992), as it is a sequel to it. With Antonio Banderas stepping into the role of the mysterious guitar-toting gunslinger, and his mission of revenge more or less repeating itself, Desperado feels like the movie Rodriguez wanted to make the first time. And if so, fair enough, because both flicks are a blast.

Indeed, Desperado is as stylish a mid-‘90s shoot ‘em up as you’re ever going to come across. With all the visual tricks and impossible angles that became Rodriguez’s trademark, and with Banderas at his most broodingly pouty, it’s a hard-R actioner that subtly plays like a comedy. The film also includes Salma Hayek’s breakout performance, which still sizzles to the touch 25 years later. Throw in terrific character work in the margins by Steve Buscemi, Cheech Marin, Joaquim de Almeida, Danny Trejo, and a cameoing Quentin Tarantino, and you have some fun Friday night fodder.

The DUFF (2015)

October 1

The teen rom-com heyday may have been in the 1990s and 2000s, but try telling that to Mae Whitman, who knocks it out of the park in 2015’s The DUFF, an adaptation of the 2010 novel of the same name. Whitman stars as Bianca, a high school senior who discovers she is viewed as “the DUFF,” aka the Designated Ugly Fat Friend by some of her (crueler) classmates. In an attempt to become cooler, Bianca makes a deal with her former childhood friend Wesley (Robbie Amell): she will help him pass science if he helps her un-DUFF. It’s a classic rom-com set-up, elevated by Whitman’s performance, her chemistry with co-star Amell, and the script’s savvy self-awareness.

Gladiator (2000)

October 1

When Gladiator was released, it came with some heavy cynicism from older critics who remembered the type of 1950s and ‘60s beefcake flicks it was emulating. What they didn’t get at the time—and which box office audiences and even Oscar voters eventually did—was Gladiator wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel. Rather this a gorgeous and finely crafted distillation of those genre trapping in peak condition for modern audiences.

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As the father of a murdered son, and husband to a murdered wife, Russell Crowe is magnetic as Maximus, the Gladiator who defied an emperor. And as that emperor, Joaquin Phoenix gives a curiously both sympathetic and repellent performance, which is far more fascinating than the one he did win an Oscar for nearly 20 years later. And like both performers, the whole cast and director Ridley Scott are in top form at telling this story. Their efforts flirt with the pomp and regality of opera, yet the spectacle is at times as lurid as professional wrestling. Frankly, 20 years later we wish they still made ‘em like this.

The Holiday (2006)

October may be a little early for a Christmas movie, but Nancy Meyer’s The Holiday is good enough to watch year round. The 2006 rom-com stars Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz as two women from different countries who decide to swap their homes for the holidays. Winslet’s Iris falls in love with tinseltown, and Diaz’s Amanda falls in love with Iris’ brother. With Jack Black and Jude Law as the film’s charming love interests, and bit parts for Kathryn Hahn and John Krasinski, The Holiday is the gift that keeps on giving. Fifteen years following its relatively lackluster box office debut, it remains a part of many people’s Christmas movie must-watch list. 

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

October 1

Most people remember Angelina Jolie‘s initial turn as Lara Croft fondly, but fewer talk about her follow-up feature appearance as the adventuring archaeologist in 2003’s Cradle of Life. The sequel didn’t do as well at the domestic box office as its predecessor, but it is arguably a more enjoyable film, pitting Jolie’s Croft against Ciaran Hinds’ Dr. Jonathan Reiss in a quest for Pandora’s Box (yes, literally) with a hunky Gerard Butler by her side. The pulpy plot is silly and fun, punctuated by some clever fight and action sequences from director Jan de Bont (Speed, Twister). From deep-sea diving to leaps from Shanghai skyscrapers, there’s never a dull moment with Lara Croft, and Jolie somehow makes it all work.

Léon: The Proessional (1994)

October 1

As the movie that made Natalie Portman a star, Léon or The Professional (depending on which continent you are on) has come under fair scrutiny in recent years for its intentionally bizarre and uncomfortable Bonnie & Clyde relationship between Jean Reno’s Léon, an immigrant who pays the bills by working as an assassin for the nice pizzeria proprietor down the street (the always fun Danny Aiello), and the little girl next door, Mathilda (Portman). Only 12-years-old, Portman’s precocious antiheroine clings to Léon for protection after a crooked cop (Gary Oldman) kills her family, and then pressures him to train her as an assassin so she can get revenge… all as she becomes infatuated with the grown man.

It’s a strange film that shouldn’t work, yet does thanks to a dreamlike atmosphere achieved by director Luc Besson at the height of his professional talent, and because of a genuinely superb cast. Despite being a killer, Reno brings such childlike innocence and obliviousness to his titular character that he may as well be a French Forrest Gump. Meanwhile Oldman hams it up to high heaven in one of his career best scenery-chews. Then there’s Portman who’s heartbreaking, tragic, and bleakly funny all before she was even a teenager. Somehow it’s an enchanting action movie fairy tale that works better than it has any right to.

Malcolm X (1992)

October 1

Denzel Washington didn’t win the Oscar for Malcom X but he should have. In fact, this absolute masterpiece deserved many more accolades and appreciation in its time. A passion project for writer-director Spike Lee, who had to campaign for the film after Norman Jewison had been hired to direct, Malcolm X is a breathtaking epic. It might run at a length of nearly three and a half hours, but Lee keeps the pace nimble and engrossing as we follow the man who’d become Malcolm X from the 1940s through his ascension in the Nation of Islam, and his eventual assassination after leaving the organization.

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The film features perhaps the most riveting and relentless performance of Washington’s career as he channels the righteousness and anger, as well as the humility and anguish, of Malcolm. Washington and Lee’s portrait is that of a mythic figure, but also a fallible one who spends his whole life growing, learning, and affecting his world for the better. It’s one of the best American films produced in the 1990s.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

October 1

We’re aware that this Robin Hood movie has a checkered history. How could one not be when everyone recalls Kevin Costner’s “British” accent (or lack thereof)? Kevin Reynolds’ Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is certainly a flawed jaunt into Sherwood Forrest… but honestly it’s still a very entertaining one that’s better than you remember.

Thanks in no small part to Alan Rickman’s tremendous turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham, the movie soars while the English thespian redefines the term scene-stealing in his every walk-on. It earned him a BAFTA for his troubles. Almost as important, and less often cited, is the dynamic, thrilling score by the late great Michael Kamen, which in addition to providing one of the best adventure themes of the 1990s also led to the creation of the biggest song of ‘91, Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do (I Do It For You).” Throw in some fast-paced action filmed on actual English locations and a seriously merry acting ensemble—including Michael McShane as Friar Tuck, Nick Brimble as the best onscreen Little John, and Sean Connery’s iconic cameo as King Richard the Lionheart—and you have what’s still the best Robin Hood movie of the last 40 or so years, at least.

Step Brothers (2008)

October 1

An admittedly acquired taste, Step Brothers might just be Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s masterpiece. The pair began their professional collaboration on Saturday Night Live before graduating to their first zeitgeist-grabbing Anchorman in 2004, with Ferrell starring, McKay directing, and both co-writing. Step Brothers is their third of four films together, but it’s also the most pure: a distillation of their disdain for a certain type of toxic and anti-intellectual entitlement which sprang to the forefront of white American life in the 21st century.

Embodying that man-child selfishness is Ferrell as Brennan and John C. Reilly as Dale, two 40-year-old men who still live at home with their single parents. That nightmarish scenario turns out to be an aphrodisiac for Dale’s Dad and Brennan’s Mom (Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen), which forces these two petulant avatars of their age into sleeping under the same roof. Demented chaos ensues in a film where McKay, Ferrell, and Reilly are at last free from being forced to redeem the assholes they’re mocking.

Titanic (1997)

October 1

Beset by production problems and massive cost overruns, James Cameron’s epic retelling of the doomed 1912 maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic is undeniable populist entertainment, blending melodramatic romance with disaster movie dread and scale. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio—in star-making performances—play a fictional couple who meet and fall in love on the voyage, escaping their class boundaries to spend just a precious few days together. And then that iceberg gets in the way.

The romance may test some viewers’ patience for the first half of this three-hour movie, but Cameron brings all his considerable skills to bear in its second half, making us see and feel each agonizing moment as the massive ocean liner goes down and takes 1,500 souls with it. Titanic is still one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, and there’s a reason for that: it’s an old-fashioned (except for the visual effects) Hollywood spectacle.

Zodiac (2007)

October 1

If you haven’t seen director David Fincher’s all-time masterpiece yet, what have you been waiting for? Fincher and his tremendous cast, including future Avengers Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr., plus Jake Gyllenhaal, Brian Cox, Chloe Sevigny, and more, trace in methodical fashion the long and fruitless search for Northern California’s infamous Zodiac Killer. Ruffalo’s detective and Gyllenhaal’s newspaper cartoonist take the search personally, too, becoming more obsessed the further their target seems to slip away.

Read more

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Zodiac Killer Code Cracked After 51 Years

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Fincher’s film is suffused with an eerie, mounting sense of dread that is compounded by the fact that it never truly pays off—aside from hearing his (unconfirmed) voice on the phone at one point, there’s never a real confrontation with the Zodiac, nor any sense of closure for anyone. The feeling that time, age, and death eventually wash away everything, even the best efforts of decent people to trap a monster, is perhaps the true horror at the heart of Zodiac, which may still be the best film of its decade.

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[rickhorrow]

15 + 5 + 5 To Watch : 42219

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 22 with Jacob Aere

Networks have unveiled their plans for this week’s NFL Draft, which begins April 25. Disney’s presentation of the event will feature over a thousand production elements, with over 600 player highlights, and 57 cameras covering the action. ESPN’s traditional draft telecast, presented for the fourth year by Courtyard, features host Trey Wingo, NFL Draft analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay, and many others. Meanwhile, ABC’s differentiated coverage will focus on the journey of NFL Draft prospects, and feature “Good Morning America’s” Robin Roberts, host Rece Davis, and ESPN’s “GameDay” crew: Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, Tom Rinaldi, Maria Taylor, and Chris “The Bear” Fallica. Meanwhile, NFL Media will deliver more than 76 live hours of Draft Week coverage, including a record 23 draft war room cameras. Before the first round on Thursday, NFL Draft Red Carpet airs with NFL Network's Melissa Stark and Michael Irvin interviews prospects as they arrive. By harnessing everything from hardcore sports to lifestyle coverage, both the Disney family of networks and the NFL itself demonstrate their awareness that the Draft is now must-see TV and the NFL is now a 52-week sport.

Peyton’s Places, a 30-episode documentary series hosted by legendary quarterback Peyton Manning, will air on ESPN+. Manning will host the football-themed series, revisiting seminal moments in NFL history. In the series, the two-time Super Bowl champ with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos interviews former NFL players, coaches, and other key figures about football history and its cultural impact. Slated to debut July 15 exclusively on ESPN+, the series will be presented in five chapters, each comprising six episodes. In addition, ESPN and/or ABC will air special compilations, recapping each part after the full episodes debut on ESPN+.  The series is part of ESPN’s celebration of the NFL’s 100th season, produced by NFL Films in collaboration with ESPN+. While not specifically tied to the NFL Draft, the announcement of the new Manning-led series has particular significance before this year’s Draft in Nashville. Manning was selected by the Colts with the first overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft…out of Tennessee.

Russell Wilson and the Seahawks have reached an agreement on a 4-year, $140 million extension that includes a $65 million signing bonus, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Wilson's extension is the richest ever in terms of average annual value ($35 million per season), surpassing Aaron Rodgers ($33.5 million). His $65 million signing bonus is also a new record, topping the $57.5 million Rodgers got last summer. Wilson, who is coming off arguably the best season of his career, was set to make $17 million in 2019, the final season of the four-year, $87.6 million extension he signed in 2015. As noted by Axios Sports, with their franchise quarterback taken care of, the Seahawks will now turn their attention to potential extensions for All-Pro middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and top pass-rusher Frank Clark. The last few weeks have been full of rumors that "Russell Wilson wants to play for the Giants" and "Russell Wilson and his wife, Ciara, prefer New York." In hindsight, that was all nonsense – and it’s par for the rumor mill that always accompanies the NFL Draft run up.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber has announced that the league will expand to 30 teams in the coming years, up from the previous expansion target of 28. In 2006, MLS had 11 teams. This season, there are 24, with another three on the way: Inter Miami CF (2020), Nashville SC (2020), and Austin FC (2021). Garber also anticipates selecting the 28th and 29th expansion teams in the coming months with no timetable set for the 30th team. Sacramento and St. Louis appear to be the frontrunners for slots No. 28 and 29, as they've both been asked to make formal presentations to the MLS Expansion Committee. The MLS Board of Governors also set the expansion fee for those two spots at $200 million apiece. Other cities whose expansion hopes may now be reignited include Charlotte, Detroit, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Raleigh, and San Diego, according to Sports Illustrated. Pro soccer is thriving in the U.S. and Canada, and expansion during the last decade has been a key driver of MLS' growth. Investors continue to be enthralled. So why not keep it going?

Even though NBA viewership was down 8% during the regular season, marketers have lined up to take part in NBA post-season action. Strong demand has already gobbled up between 85%-95% of the ad inventory on ESPN, ABC, and Turner’s TNT, with percentage rate increases over last year in the high single digits. Regular-season ratings have minimal impact on the post-season because the NBA Playoffs involve marquee teams with stars playing head-to-head every night. Moreover, numerous postseason superstars have huge social media followings that help draw viewers – particularly younger ones. Perhaps with that in mind, Adidas Basketball and Marvel have unveiled a campaign for a new limited-edition "Heroes Among Us" shoe collection featuring five current and former NBA and WNBA players. Players featured include the Rockets’ James Harden (Iron Man), the Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard (Black Panther), the Wizards’ John Wall (Captain America), former NBAer Tracy McGrady (Nick Fury), and the WNBA Sparks’ Candace Parker (Captain Marvel). The shoe line will be available at retail April 26, as the playoffs tip off their second round.

The Indiana Pacers have agreed to a deal keeping them in Indianapolis for the next 25 years. The agreement includes $295 million in public subsidies for renovation and expansion of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the Pacers’ home arena. A further $360 million will be used for capital improvements, comprising $270 million from state and CIB sources, and $65 million from private investment. As part of the deal, the city of Indianapolis will also contribute $25 million for public infrastructure needs. Approved by the House of Representatives, the greenlighted bill now goes to the Senate to be voted on and secure final approval. Construction will be completed in three phases. Phase one will focus on interior renovations, scheduled for February-October, 2020. While this won’t disrupt Pacers’ home games, the WNBA Indiana Fever, who play their games during the summer, must play home games during the 2020 and 2021 seasons at another venue. Herbert Simon, the team's 84-year-old owner, has said he wants to keep the Pacers in Indiana and that his son, Steve Simon, will take over the franchise, which has been in their family since 1983.

After winning his fifth green jacket on Sunday, Tiger Woods learned last Monday that he would also be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Trump announced in a tweet that he had spoken to Woods and would be presenting him with the prestigious honor. The honor is not one to be taken lightly. Woods will become just the fourth golfer to receive the medal, joining Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Charlie Sifford. While Nicklaus and Palmer were given the medal by President George W. Bush during his presidency, Sifford, who was a mentor to Woods, was honored five years ago by President Barack Obama. When Sifford was awarded the medal, Woods tweeted his congratulations. Woods will be the fourth athlete to receive the award during President Trump’s time in office, joining Babe Ruth, Roger Staubach, and Alan Page.  

Tiger Woods’ comeback Masters win delivered $22.5 million in exposure to Nike, according to sponsorship analytics firm Apex Marketing Group. As Tiger made his final round charge towards the title, he is estimated to have generated more than $23.6 million in total exposure for his sponsors. While AT&T, Gillette, and Tag Heuer left Woods as he suffered image issues related to marriage infidelity, substance abuse, and injury, that opened the door to new partners such as Monster Energy – Woods’ golf bag sponsor – which saw $960,000 in exposure during his final round at Augusta. CBS News noted Nike's stock price rose 2% after The Masters began and "continued to edge up Monday" following Woods' victory, adding more than $2 billion to Nike's market value. The "Tiger effect" was also "enough to boost the stock prices of other golf brands." Callaway Golf "spiked as much" as 4% from the start of The Masters through Monday. Acushnet Holdings, which owns Titleist, "jumped nearly" 5% in the same period. However, not even Tiger trying to chase down Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 major wins can change golf’s trajectory – more than ever, it is a game for the aging and not the more desirable demographic, the young.

It’s never too early to get in the Games. NBCUniversal has teamed with the Olympic organizing committee LA 2028 to offer brands advertising opportunities ahead of the 2028 Olympics, to be held in Los Angeles – the first Summer Games to be held in the U.S. since 1996. A sales team is being built by NBCU and LA2028 (plus the USOC) that will begin presenting opportunities for brands to associate themselves with four sets of games crowned by the 2028 Summer Games in L.A. With the first summer games in the U.S. in more than three decades set to arrive in 2028, this partnership marks a new type of opportunity for marketers to get involved in the Olympics — which is shaping up to make an unrivaled economic and cultural impact. “At no other time in Olympic and Paralympic history have the stakes been higher…We are at an inflection point in the sports, lifestyle and live event business that demands a complete reimagining of the model and approach to embracing and involving marketers,” said LA2028 Chair Casey Wasserman. The move is highly unusual, as normally the Olympic organizing committees and broadcast partners pursue sponsorship deals independently.

MLB is bringing the 2026 All-Star Game to Philadelphia, as part of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last week said the league’s typical process of awarding All-Star games “went out the window” with the move to award the 2026 game to the Phillies. Manfred has sought to make competitive bidding and sequential awarding of All-Star Games key tenets of his tenure since his 2014 election. However, during an event at Independence Mall last week to announce the selection, Manfred said the move to tie the 2026 game to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence was a personal decision that followed more than two years of repeated requests from Phillies Chair and close friend Dave Montgomery. Said Manfred, “Dave never asked for a favor for the Phillies or for himself. But two years ago, he began asking for this game and to announce it soon.” Fittingly, awarding the 2026 MLB All-Star Game to Philadelphia mirrors the 1976 event that was played at Veterans Stadium, and tied into America’s bicentennial.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has put forward the idea of adding mid-season tournaments to the league and shortening the number of games played each season. Currently, NBA teams each play in an 82-game regular season, with games lasting 48 minutes. For Silver, player welfare is reportedly at the heart of the proposed reforms. But to counteract the reduced revenues a shortened schedule will bring, Silver has suggested adding all-new mid-season tournaments to maintain income. While acknowledging these changes will do away with more than 50 years of American basketball tradition in the U.S., Silver believes they are necessary for the NBA to stay relevant as fans’ viewing habits change in an increasingly competitive market. It is has been rumored that seasons could be scaled back to 70 games per team, with the NBA exploring the possibility of the mid-season tournaments being hosted in Europe and Asia. The two continents have been earmarked by the league for brand growth. Considering that ever-older NBA players have so many miles on their bodies – just look at the just-retired 40 year old Dirk Nowitzki – Silver is right to begin reimagining the schedule.

Despite some shockers in the first round that left busted brackets in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge presented by Jägermeister, the NHL is now offering – for the first time ever – a fresh start with the Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Chance Bracket. At the conclusion of the First Round and before the start of the Second Round, fans will be able to submit a new bracket at NHL.com/Bracket with their predictions for the remainder of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Hockey fans submitted more than 1.42 million brackets in the initial 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge. Following upsets that knocked the Lightning and Penguins out of the Playoffs, the NHL is offering fans who participated in the playoff bracket challenge a second chance. The Lightning were projected as champions by 48.62% of the brackets, and the Penguins were selected by 51.3%. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs are probably hoping that their fan Drake doesn’t make the trip to Boston for their Game 7 showdown with the Bruins on Tuesday. The so-called “Drake Curse” has been exhaustively noted – when the rapper roots for someone, they lose.

London is set to lose the ATP Finals after 2020 with the ATP reportedly favoring moving the season-ending men’s tennis tournament to Turin in Italy. According to the Daily Telegraph, barring a last-minute change of heart, next year’s ATP Finals will be the last staged at the O2 Arena, which has hosted the men’s tennis finale since 2009. The ATP has undergone a nine-month bid process for a new five-year hosting deal, and in December narrowed its shortlist down to London, Manchester, Turin, Singapore, and Tokyo. The Telegraph report claims that ATP executives are likely to rule out a fourth extension to its hosting agreement for the O2. Italy’s bid is apparently unlikely to sell as many tickets as the event at the O2, but Italian media reports have said that Turin’s mayor, Chiara Appendino, is willing to put up an annual guarantee of $17 million in order to secure the tournament hosting rights. The ATP Finals has been a major success in London, drawing more than 250,000 people each year and accounting for 15% of the governing body’s revenues, which amounted to $144 million for the last financial year.

Spending on over-the-top (OTT) technology in sports will hit $6.8 billion by 2021, according to a new report by Deltatre. The analysis reveals that sports operators worldwide are now spending 15% of total budgets on OTT technology, and by 2021, more than $6.8 billion will be invested in the sector. Other key findings in the report reveal that 2/3 of consumers are not willing to spend more than $39 per month on sports content – with the remaining third prepared to pay more. Additionally, the analysis from Deltatre, a Bruin Sports Capital portfolio company, offers good news for global sports operators investing in fan engagement functionality, as doing so delivers a 24% uplift in subscriber acquisition. 72% of those surveyed in the report cite personalization and a tailored user experience as the most important feature offered by OTT sports services. Almost the same number of consumers, 71%, want deeper immersion and a desire to feel closer to the action through the more advanced functionality that OTT can provide. OTT metrics have changed. It's no longer just about streaming games. Encouraging viewers to come back day after day is the gold standard, even when there’s no live competition taking place.

Port of Oakland says A's waterfront ballpark would pose safety risks. The Port of Oakland’s maritime industry is "raising red flags" over the A’s waterfront ballpark plan, claiming that the 34,000-seat venue and housing project "would pose both a safety risk to ships and a threat to the port’s future as a major, regional economic engine," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The A’s counter that the project "wouldn’t endanger any port jobs or adversely impact the port’s shipping business." The commission "finds itself having to balance the needs and future of the third-largest port on the West Coast with the desire" of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and the A’s to "create a new neighborhood" along the waterfront. Unlike the Giants’ Oracle Park, which "sits on a relatively quiet stretch of waterfront," the A’s ballpark "would be perched right on the edge of the port’s Inner Harbor turning basin." The basin is a "key waterway where each week bar pilots turn around an average of 25 ships" after the vessels "unload and load cargo at two nearby terminals." The pilots are very concerned about the ballpark’s lights, which they claim can act like a car’s high beams and interfere with a navigator’s vision.

Top Five Tech

Gen.G Esports announces a $46 million round of funding including Will Smith. According to Esports Insider, other new partners include Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda's Dreamers Fund, Los Angeles Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong, former Chairman of U.S. Investments Alibaba Group Michael Zeisser, and MasterClass Co-Founder and CEO David Rogier. Two-time NBA Champion and current Gen.G Player Management Advisor Chris Bosh will continue to lead the team’s creative and commercial endeavors while the new capital will go towards supporting the ongoing expansion of Gen.G’s global footprint, which already includes teams in the world’s top esports leagues across the U.S., China, and Korea. The new money will also contribute to the development of Gen.G’s youth esports academy program and the launch of Gen.G’s Los Angeles headquarters, opening in July, 2019. Honda’s presence will help build esports in Japan and other nations with budding esports communities, while Smith’s investment adds to the list of big-name U.S. esports investors.

Barstool Sports drives to make a splash in golf with “Barstool Classic.” According to Golfweek, the multi-month tournament will begin with eight qualifying events in major markets, including Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, leading up to one championship event. The tournament features teams of two playing at 50% handicap in four-ball format. The winning team gets $10,000 and a trophy for their efforts. The tournament kicks off June 3 in in Milton, Massachusetts, and then takes place on August 26 in Pound Ridge, New York with two additional events to be scheduled in the New York and Philadelphia areas, in addition to the championship. Barstool’s media presence has been built behind loyal fans. And golf is an area that Barstool President Dave Portnoy knows is a hot topic among their fan base, and subscribers can’t get enough of that content. In the week after Tiger Woods’ comeback Masters’ win, Barstool is choosing the right time to capitalize on America’s newfound passion for golf.

NHL stars are creating video diary series for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. According to Adweek, one player on each of the 16 teams participating in the NHL postseason is taking part in a video diary series called Cup Confidential, in which they will talk about their team’s performance, the atmosphere in the arena, pregame rituals, fans, home lives, and other topics across the NHL’s Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter channels. Players who are part of Cup Confidential include Tyler Ennis of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Rasmus Andersson of the Calgary Flames, and Matt Hendricks of the Winnipeg Jets. While there have been big upsets of late including the Tampa Bay Lightning's 0-4 defeat, the video diaries have been a key part of the NHL’s strong social media push during its playoffs.

Golf hits a hole-in-one with 1 billion minutes of streamed coverage with Tiger Woods’ Masters victory. CBS Sports and The Masters live streaming coverage drew record viewership online, with more than 1 billion minutes of coverage streamed as Woods secured his first major victory since 2008. Over the tournament’s duration, an average audience of 447,000 per minute watched the live stream from Augusta. According to SportsPro, an average of 10.8 million viewers tuned in to watch CBS Sports’ coverage of the final round on Sunday, registering the tournament’s most-watched morning golf broadcast in 32 years. 18.3 million viewers tuned into the final day at its peak between 2:15 pm and 2:30 pm when Woods sealed his fifth green jacket. The final day of play drew a combined 37.2 million viewers, setting the highest Sunday coverage for a Masters since 2013; the final round replay also drew an average of 4.5 million viewers.

Twitch was a preferred streaming destination for Generation Adidas Cup. As part of the MLS agreement, Twitch streamed video coverage of 66 matches from the elite youth tournament to a global audience live from Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas April 13-20. According to MLS, the league also showcased off-field programming through player engagement seminars and coaching symposium talks in addition to streaming live matches. The games at the Cup hosted matches across both U-17 and U-15 divisions. Generation Adidas Cup is the latest MLS event to integrate Twitch as a featured distribution platform, joining eMLS Cup on March 30 in Boston. Reaching into youth sports may be the next big marketing key for a progressively more crowded sports OTT and streaming field.

Power of Sports Five

A Bay Area high schooler creates a charity to help sports communities around the world. Shevali Kadakia suffered a concussion at age 15 that put her on the sidelines, unable to play soccer or basketball for a long period of time. She realized that she had accumulated a surplus of uniforms during her time playing sports over the years, and that those jerseys could be put to good use. After visiting the impoverished neighborhood of Cite Soleil in the Port-au-Prince section of Haiti, she decided to not only start donating her old jerseys, but also to start a charity. According to KRON 4, the non-profit SKCharities has been contacting colleges all across the U.S. asking athletics departments to donate old uniforms with many happy to help. The nonprofit also organizes free introductory basketball and soccer camps for children and has helped over 4,000 kids worldwide to date.

Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer ramps up his charity efforts with $690 donated for every strikeout he tallies on the season. Although somewhat rambunctious in nature, Bauer has a heart of gold. Last season, he started his 69 Days of Giving campaign. He donated $420.69 to different organizations for 68 days in a row, and $69,420.69 on the 69th day to Max Hayes High School, an inner-city Cleveland school focused on STEM courses. According to Yahoo! Sports, this season he has added his strikeout donations, where for every punch out he records, he will donate $10 to 69 different organizations.  Already, Bauer has generated $22,800 in 2019 with the money dedicated to providing kids with after-school opportunities. A self-described nerd as a kid, Bauer wants to ensure STEM education gets its fair share of help and has taken to his active Twitter page to let his fans have a say in the charities he will support. An MLB All-Star in 2018, Bauer is poised to make a big splash on the mound as well as in philanthropy this season.

Sports anti-racism charity joins government board to fight anti-Semitism. Action Against Discrimination (AAD) is joining the U.K. government’s new working board to tackle racism and anti-Semitism in sport. According to Jewish News, the group, which is set up by U.K. Sports Minister Mims Davies, is reviewing soccer’s current sanctioning regime to create a closer partnership between soccer authorities and the police to better identify offenders at matches. Tackling hate in sport is a large issue that continues to permeate UEFA, MLB, the NHL, and the NBA. By teaming up with governments, more direct action will be committed in the U.K. toward changing the status quo of waving aside offensive and derogatory language in professional sport.

The world gets a helping hand with a MLS and Adidas Earth Day celebration. According to Hypebeast, Major League Soccer‘s social responsibility platform will run its fourth annual Greener Goals Week of Service through Earth Day. MLS Works’ Green Goals initiative explores ways to reduce the soccer body’s greenhouse gas footprint while raising awareness about environmental issues throughout the sports community. MLS has also worked with Adidas and others to create special limited edition eco-friendly kits from recycled marine plastic uniforms with all 24 clubs sporting these outfits during their games on Earth Day weekend, which took place April 19-21. Additionally, MLS clubs and staff will also be volunteering and partnering up with local charities to give back to the community. Overall, the new environment-friendly jerseys encourage soccer fans to decrease single-use plastic usage, raise awareness for plastic pollution, and generally connect sports fans with eco-friendly practices.

Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley is hosting a charity event for vulnerable youth in sport. The 1st Annual Conley Island Best In America Charity Golf Tournament in Columbus, Ohio will raise money for LiFEsports, a charity at Conley’s alma mater, Ohio State University. LiFEsports serves over 1,000 Central Ohio youth from socially vulnerable circumstances through its summer camp, year-round clinics, and Youth Leadership Academy. The program mentors and teaches social skills and valuable life lessons to the youth who need it the most. According to 247 Sports, LIFEsports was in such high demand last year that they couldn't accommodate all of the children that they needed to help, so Conley is using golf and some of his star-powered friends including current and former NFL players Eli Apple, running back Beanie Wells, linebacker Darron Lee, and cornerback Shawn Springs to bring in donations for kids who can use a helping hand through the power of sport. Whether wanting to participate or simply watch, this charity event combines golf and football to gives back to kids who could be future stars in their own rights, so long as they can receive a little help to even the playing field.

[blackkudos]

Common

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), is an American rapper, actor, film producer and poet from Chicago, Illinois. Common debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar? and maintained a significant underground following into the late 1990s, after which he gained notable mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. In 2011, Common launched Think Common Entertainment, his own record label imprint, and, in the past, has released music under various other labels such as Relativity, Geffen and GOOD Music, among others.

Common's first major-label album, Like Water for Chocolate, received widespread critical acclaim and tremendous commercial success. His first Grammy Award was in 2003, winning Best R&B Song for "Love of My Life", with Erykah Badu. Its popularity was matched by May 2005's Be, which was nominated for Best Rap Album, at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common was awarded his second Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group, for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his July 2007 album Finding Forever. His best-of album, Thisisme Then: The Best of Common, was released on November 27, 2007.

Common won the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the 2015 Academy Award for Best Original Song, for his song "Glory" from the 2014 film Selma, in which he co-starred as Civil Rights Movement leader James Bevel. Common's acting career also includes starring significant roles in the films Smokin' Aces, Street Kings, American Gangster, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Happy Feet Two, New Year's Eve and Run All Night, Being Charlie. He also narrated the award-winning documentary Bouncing Cats, about one man's efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop/b-boy culture. He starred as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels.

Early life

Common was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in the Calumet Heights neighborhood. He is the son of educator Dr. Mahalia Ann Hines and former ABA basketball player turned youth counselor Lonnie Lynn. They divorced when he was six years old, resulting in his father's moving to Denver, Colorado. This left Common to be raised by his mother, but his father remained active in his life and landed Lonnie Jr. a job with the Chicago Bulls during his teens. While a student at Luther High School South in Chicago, Lynn with his friends, record producer and Corey Crawley formed C.D.R. a rap trio that opened for acts that included N.W.A and Big Daddy Kane.

Common attended Florida A&M University for two years under a scholarship and majored in business administration. After being featured in the Unsigned Hype column of The Source magazine, Lynn debuted in 1992 with the single "Take It EZ", followed by the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, under stage name Common Sense.

Music career

1992–1996: Career beginnings

With the 1994 release of Resurrection, Common achieved a much larger degree of critical acclaim, which extended beyond Chicago natives. The album sold relatively well and received a strong positive reaction among alternative and underground hip hop fans at the time. Resurrection was Common's last album produced almost entirely by his long-time production partner, No I.D., who would later become a mentor to a young Kanye West.

In 1996, Common appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America Is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine. He would later also contribute to the Red Hot Organization's Fela Kuti tribute album, Red Hot and Riot in 2002. He collaborated with Djelimady Tounkara on a remake of Kuti's track, "Years of Tears and Sorrow".

The song "I Used to Love H.E.R." from Resurrection ignited a feud with West Coast rap group Westside Connection. The lyrics of the song criticized the path hip hop music was taking and was interpreted by some as directing blame towards the popularity of West Coast Gangsta rap. Westside Connection first responded with the 1995 song "Westside Slaughterhouse," with the lyrics "Used to love H.E.R. mad cause I fucked her". Westside Connection recorded tracks venting their issues with rival East Coast rappers (see East Coast-West Coast hip hop rivalry). "Westside Slaughterhouse" also mentioned Common by name, prompting the rapper to respond with the scathing Pete Rock-produced attack song "The Bitch in Yoo". Common and Westside Connection continued to insult each other back and forth before finally meeting with Louis Farrakhan and setting aside their dispute. Following the popularity of Resurrection, Common Sense was sued by an Orange County-based reggae band with the same name, and was forced to shorten his moniker to simply Common.

1996–1999: 

One Day It'll All Make Sense

Initially scheduled for an October 1996 release, Common finally released his third album, One Day It'll All Make Sense, in September 1997. The album took a total of two years to complete and included collaborations with artists such as Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, Q-Tip, Canibus, Black Thought, Chantay Savage, and Questlove – a future fellow member of the Soulquarians outfit. The album, which made a point of eschewing any gangsterism (in response to questions about his musical integrity), was critically acclaimed and led to a major label contract with MCA Records. In addition to releasing One Day, Common's first child, daughter Omoye Assata Lynn, was born shortly after the release of the album.

As documented by hip hop journalist Raquel Cepeda, in the liner notes for the album, this event had a profound spiritual and mental effect on Common and enabled him to grow musically while becoming more responsible as an artist. She writes:

Rashid found out that he was going to become a daddy in about 8 months. Stunned and confused, Rashid had life altering decisions to make with his girlfriend, Kim Jones. The situation led to the composition of his favourite cut on One Day... that offers a male slant on abortion. "Retrospect for Life", produced by James Poyser and No I.D. featuring Lauryn Hill (who was due on the same day as Rashid's girlfriend), is the song that is the driving force behind the project. Rashid listens to "Retrospect for Life" today at the mastering session geeked, as if it were for the first time. He tells me as we listen to L-Boogie wail the chorus, "when I listen to the song now, I think about how precious her (Omoye's) life is".

Common addresses family ethics several times on One Day..., and the album sleeve is decorated with old family photos, illustrating the rapper's childhood, as well a quote from 1 Corinthians 13:11, which summarizes the path to manhood:

1999–2003: Soulquarians era

Following One Day..., Common signed a major label record deal with MCA Records and relocated from Chicago to New York City in 1999. He began recording almost exclusively with a loose collective of musicians and artists (dubbed the "Soulquarians" by central figure Questlove) throughout 1999, and made a few sporadic guest appearances on The Roots' Things Fall Apart, and the Rawkus Records compilation, Soundbombing 2.

In 2000, his fourth album, Like Water for Chocolate, was released to mass critical acclaim. Executive produced by Questlove and featuring significant contributions by J Dilla, (who helmed many tracks except – "Cold Blooded", "Geto Heaven Part II", "A Song For Assata", "Pop's Rap Part 3...All My Children" & the DJ Premier-produced track "The 6th Sense"), Like Water for Chocolate transpired to be a considerable commercial breakthrough for Common, earning the rapper his first gold record, and greatly expanding his fanbase among critics and listeners alike.

With both artists hailing from the Great Lakes region of the United States (Chicago and Detroit, respectively), Common and J Dilla established their chemistry early on. Both became members of the Soulquarians collective, and collaborated on numerous projects together, even placing one song, "Thelonius", on both the Slum Village album Fantastic, Vol. 2, and Common's Like Water for Chocolate. As Dilla's health began to decline from the effects of Lupus Nephritis, he relocated to Los Angeles, and asked Common to make the move with him as a roommate (Dilla would later lose his battle with the rare disease).

This album saw Common exploring themes (musically and lyrically), which were uncommon for a Hip hop record, as he does on the song "Time Travelin' (A Tribute To Fela)"; a homage to Nigerian music legend, and political activist Fela Kuti. The most popular single from the album "The Light" was nominated for a Grammy Award.

In 2002, Common released his fifth album, Electric Circus. The album was highly anticipated and praised by many critics for its ambitious vision. However, it was not as commercially successful as his previous album, Like Water for Chocolate, selling under 300,000 copies. An eclectic album, Electric Circus featured fusions of several genres such as hip hop, pop, rock, electronic, and neo soul. The album's style tended to divide critics; some praised its ambitious vision while others criticized it for the same reason. Most of the criticism tended to revolve around the album's experimental nature; some felt Common had strayed too far from his previous sound. This was Common's second and last album for MCA, and the label's final release prior to its absorption into Geffen Records.

2004–2011: GOOD Music era

In early 2004, Common made an appearance on fellow Chicagoan Kanye West's multi-platinum debut album, The College Dropout (on the song "Get Em High"), and announced his signing to West's then-newfound label GOOD Music. West had been a longtime fan of Common and the two even participated in a friendly on-air MC battle, where West took jabs at his lyrical idol for "going soft" and wearing crochet pants (as he does for his appearance in the video for the Mary J. Blige song "Dance for Me"). The pair worked together on Common's next album, Be, almost entirely produced by Kanye West, with some help from Common's longtime collaborator the late James Yancey (J Dilla) – also a favorite of West. The album was released in May 2005, and performed very well, boosted by Kanye's involvement and the singles "The Corner", and "Go". Be earned Common the second gold record of his career, with sales topping out at around 800,000 copies. The Source magazine gave it a near perfect 4.5 mic rating, XXL magazine gave it their highest rating of "XXL", and AllHipHop gave the album 4 stars. The album was also nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2006.

Following the release of Be in 2005, several mixed-race artists from the UK hip-hop scene took exception to Common's comments about interracial relationships on the song "Real People." Yungun, Doc Brown and Rising Son recorded a track over an instrumental version of "The Corner" named "Dear Common (The Corner Dub)." Common states that he has heard of the track but never actually taken the time to listen to it, and has not retaliated in song.

Common's seventh LP titled Finding Forever was released on July 31, 2007. For this album, he continued his work with Kanye West, as well as other producers such as will.i.am, Devo Springsteen, Derrick Hodge, and Karriem Riggins, as well as the only J Dilla-produced track, "So Far To Go". The album features guest spots from artists such as Dwele, Bilal, D'Angelo, and UK pop starlet Lily Allen. The first single from the album was "The People" b/w "The Game". West predicted that Finding Forever would win the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The album was nominated for Best Rap Album, but did not win, losing to West's Graduation; however, Common did win his second Grammy for "Southside," which won the 2008 Grammy for Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group. On July 31, 2007, Common performed a free concert in Santa Monica, California on the 3rd Street Promenade to promote the release of Finding Forever. Common explained to the audience that the title "Finding Forever" represented his quest to find an eternal place in hip-hop and also his wishes to be an artist for the rest of his life. The album debuted at #1 on the national Billboard 200 charts.

In an August 2007 interview with XXL, rapper Q-Tip of the group A Tribe Called Quest stated that he and Common were forming a group called The Standard. While the two were meant to hit the studio to record a Q-Tip-produced album, possibly with contributions from Kanye West, Common put out Universal Mind Control instead and has already planned a next album, The Dreamer, The Believer, for late 2011.

Common was instrumental in bridging the trans-Atlantic gap by signing UK's Mr Wong and J2K to Kanye West's Getting Out Our Dreams recording outfit. Common met the pair during his tour in the UK earlier on in the year. It is speculated that the deal is not only to bring the UK and US hip hop genres together but that to rival Syco Music's cross-Atlantic success with Leona Lewis. He also has a deal with Zune mp3 players. In 2008 Common made an estimated 12 million dollars, making him equal in earnings to Eminem and Akon, tied for the 13th highest grossing Hip-Hop artist.

The eighth album from Chicago hip-hop artist Common was originally scheduled to be released on June 24, 2008 under the name Invincible Summer, but he announced at a Temple University concert that he would change it to Universal Mind Control. The release date was pushed back to September 30, 2008 due to Common filming Wanted. The release date was set for November 11, 2008, however it was once again pushed back to December 9, 2008.

The album's eponymous lead single "Universal Mind Control", was officially released on July 1, 2008, via the US iTunes Store as part of The Announcement EP (sold as Universal Mind Control EP in the UK). The song features Pharrell, who also produced the track. The Announcement EP included an additional track titled "Announcement", also featuring Pharrell. The video for the lead single was filmed in September by director Hype Williams. In 2009, Common was prominently featured throughout his GOOD Music label-mate Kid Cudi's debut album Man on the Moon: The End of Day, as a narrator and featured artist. In late 2009, it was revealed Common was nominated for two Grammys at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Make Her Say", alongside Kid Cudi and Kanye West, as well as Best Rap Album for Universal Mind Control.

2011–present: Think Common Ent.The Dreamer/The Believer and feud with Drake

American producer No I.D., stated that he and Kanye West will be producing Common's next album The Dreamer/The Believer, due sometime in 2011. In July 2011, it was announced that No I.D. will be the album's sole producer. Common made an appearance on The Jonas Brothers' most recent album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times as a guest rapper for the group's new song, "Don't Charge Me for the Crime."

On July 6, 2011, Common released his first single, titled "Ghetto Dreams", from his next album. A second single,"Blue Sky", was released on October 4, 2011. On December 20, 2011, Common released his ninth solo album titled The Dreamer, The Believer. Although he left GOOD Music in 2011, Common was featured on the label's first compilation album, 2012's Cruel Summer. Common released a song entitled "Sweet", from The Dreamer/The Believer, which included lyrics critical of rappers who sing, although this criticism was not aimed specifically at Canadian recording artist Drake. Drake took offense and responded by releasing "Stay Schemin'", a song with Rick Ross and French Montana. Common fans only had to wait two-and-a-half days for him to respond to Drake's diss track. On February 13, 2012, Common commented on the feud by saying "It's over. But it was all in the art of hip hop. He said some things to me so I had to say some things back...I wouldn't say [he started it] but I know I heard something that I felt was directed to me so I addressed it. That's all. But you know, thank God we were able to move forward from it and all is good."

Artium Recordings and Nobody's Smiling

After a quiet 2012, Common announced he would release an extended play (EP) in January 2013, and his first mixtape in April. In February 2013, Common announced his tenth solo studio album would be released in September 2013 and will feature Kanye West and production from Kanye West and No I.D.. Later on September 8, 2013, he gave an update to his projects saying the previously announced EP would be released soon, and would feature a song with new Def Jam signee Vince Staples. He also told HipHopDX, his tenth solo studio album would be released in early 2014.

On January 6, 2014, Common announced his tenth studio album to be titled Nobody Smiling and would be produced entirely by longtime collaborator No I.D.. The album, which Common revealed was originally going to be an EP, is set to feature Vince Staples, James Fauntleroy and "some new artists from Chicago." The concept of the album was inspired by his troubled hometown of Chicago: "We came up with this concept 'nobody's smiling.' It was really a thought that came about because of all the violence in Chicago," he says. "It happens in Chicago, but it's happening around the world in many ways." He continues, "We was talking about the conditions of what's happening, when I say 'nobody's smiling.' But it's really a call to action." On June 4, 2014, it was announced Common signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings and No I.D.'s Artium Records. It was also announced Nobody's Smiling would be released July 22, 2014.

Lonnie "Pops" Lynn was to be featured on this album as well but the recording fell through as Lonnie's health declined. A recording was indeed made and is in process of being released on Dirty Laboratory Productions featuring production by AwareNess.

Other work

Acting

In 2003, Common appeared on the American UPN sitcom Girlfriends. In the episode "Take This Poem and Call Me in the Morning", he appeared as Omar, a slam poet who competes with fellow poet Sivad (played by Saul Williams) for the affection of Lynn Searcy (played by Persia White). He also had a cameo appearance on an episode of UPN's One on One, where he played a drama class instructor named Darius. He also made an appearance on the ABC show Scrubs. In 2007, Common appeared with Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, and Alicia Keys in the crime film Smokin' Aces, making his big screen debut as villainous Mob enforcer Sir Ivy. He appeared alongside Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, The RZA and T.I. in the 2007 crime thriller American Gangster. On January 20, 2007, one week before the opening of Smokin Aces, he appeared in a Saturday Night Live sketch as himself. The show's host was Piven, his Aces co-star.

In 2007, Common played the role of Smokin' Aces co-star Alicia Keys's boyfriend in the music video "Like You'll Never See Me Again".

In 2008, he starred in the film adaptation of the comic book Wanted alongside Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie. Common also appeared in the movie Street Kings with Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, The Game, and Forest Whitaker. Common also starred in the 2010 movie Just Wright as a basketball player who falls in love with his trainer Queen Latifah. He appeared in the 2009 film Terminator Salvation as John Connor's lieutenant Barnes. He starred as a corrupt cop in the 2010 comedy Date Night with Steve Carell and Tina Fey. He was part of the ensemble cast of AMC's Hell on Wheels, as one of the lead characters, Elam Ferguson, a recently freed slave trying to find his place in the world. In the 2014 film Selma, for which he also co-wrote the Oscar-winning song "Glory", Common co-starred as 1960s civil rights leader James Bevel. In 2015, he played a hit man in Run All Night (film).

Common appeared as a gangster in the 2016 film Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer and part of the DC Extended Universe.

In December 2015, Common appeared in the NBC TV special The Wiz Live!, as the Bouncer guarding the Emerald City.

Film production

On October 27, 2015, Common inked a 2-year deal with HBO that allowed to start his own film production company, Freedom Road Productions. He stated in an interview in February 2012 that one of his big career goals was to start his own film production company.

In 2016 Common also worked with Amazon Studios and American Girl, serving as an executive producer for the direct-to-video feature An American Girl Story - Melody 1963: Love Has to Win.

Modeling and clothing

In 2006, Common was a model for photos of The Gap's fall season collection, appearing on posters in stores. Later that year, he performed in The Gap's "Holiday in Your Hood" themed Peace Love Gap. In February 2007, Common signed a deal with New Era to promote their new line of Layers fitted caps. Common also stars in a television commercial for the 2008 Lincoln Navigator. He appears in NBA 2K8 in NBA Blacktop mode. In the fall of 2008, Common appeared in an ad for Microsoft's Zune, comparing his new song, "Universal Mind Control", to "Planet Rock", a song from hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Also, he featured in the Diesel campaign for a new fragrance called "Only The Brave". His song "Be (intro)" is featured in a commercial for BlackBerry as of January 2011.

In December 2008, Common launched a new clothing line in partnership with Microsoft titled "Softwear", based on 1980s computing.

Writing

Common was invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to appear at a poetry reading on May 11, 2011 at the White House. His poetry was found to be greatly influenced by Maya Angelou's works. This caused furor with the New Jersey State Police and their union, who disagreed with his lyrical content. The president of the New Jersey State Troopers Fraternal Association voiced concern to the White House. They cite the song "A Song For Assata" about a member of the Black Liberation Army and step-aunt of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur named Assata Shakur, previously known as Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted in 1977 of the first degree murder of New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster.

At another poetry reading, Common said, "flyers say 'free Mumia' on my freezer", a reference to Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was controversially convicted of killing Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Common stated, "The one thing that shouldn't be questioned is my support for the police officers and troops that protect us every day."

Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary at the time, spoke for President Obama on the matter by saying the president does not support, but actually opposes, some of the kind of words and lyrics that have been written by Common and others. Even though the president does not support the lyrics in question, he believed that some reports were distorting what Mr. Lynn stands for more broadly. Common gave a single line response to the entire controversy: "I guess Sarah Palin and Fox News doesn't like me."

Jon Stewart of Comedy Central's The Daily Show questioned Fox News' coverage of the controversy, saying that they "took the time to ignore Common's entire body of work, save for one poem he wrote in 2007 that they appear to misunderstand." Stewart also pointed out that in 2002, George W. Bush honored Johnny Cash, whose songs contain violent lyrics. Stewart further pointed out that Fox News itself offered positive coverage of Common's career in 2010, and that Sean Hannity, who criticized Common's White House invitation, is a friend of musician Ted Nugent, who in clips played on The Daily Show, used violent rhetoric in comments he made about President Obama and Hillary Clinton. Common later discussed the matter with Stewart during a September 14, 2011 appearance on the program.

In September 2011, Common published his memoir, One Day It'll All Make Sense, through Atria Books. As the book details how his close relationship with his mother influenced his life, it is partially narrated by her.

Activism

Common used to be vegan, but is now a pescetarian. In addition, he is a supporter of animal rights and PETA. He appeared in a print advertisement for PETA titled "Think Before You Eat".

Common is also part of the "Knowing Is Beautiful" movement, which supports HIV/AIDS awareness. He is featured in the video for "Yes We Can", a song in support of the candidacy of Barack Obama, which made its debut on the internet on February 2, 2008. Common has pledged to stop using anti-gay lyrics in his music.

Common is the founder of the Common Ground Foundation, a non-profit that seeks to empower underprivileged youth to be strong citizens and citizens of the world. The foundation includes programs dedicated to leadership development & empowerment, educational development, creative expression, as well as a book club. In 2014 Common Ground inaugurated the Aahh! Fest music festival in Chicago's Union Park.

Rapper Common along with other rappers and activists appear in the award winning documentary short film #Bars4Justice which was shot in Ferguson, Missouri and produced by Nation19 Magazine.

Personal life

Common has had romantic relationships with singer Erykah Badu, actresses Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson, and tennis player Serena Williams, but as of July 2014 maintained that he was single.

Common is a Chicago Bulls and Chicago Bears fan. Common is a pescatarian.

Discography

Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992)

Resurrection (1994)

One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997)

Like Water for Chocolate (2000)

Electric Circus (2002)

Be (2005)

Finding Forever (2007)

Universal Mind Control (2008)

The Dreamer/The Believer (2011)

Nobody's Smiling (2014)

Black America Again (2016)

Wikipedia

[markwatkinsconsumerguide]

Consumer Guide / No.72 / Broadcaster & entrepreneur, Steve Crozier with Mark Watkins.  

MW : Tell me about your background, and what did you want to do?

SC : I was born in Hertfordshire, England, and as a young child spent many summers with my grandparents in Henley, on the banks of the Thames. 

When I was six, I remember my grandad always turning on the valve wireless to listen to the BBC Home service at 6pm, accompanied by a bottle of cider.

I remember hearing Frederic Mullaly read the bulletin, and was awestruck by his voice, and the power of disseminating world events.

After the news ended, Frederic would get into his car and drive from Broadcasting House to his home in Henley - very near to my grandparent’s riverside bungalow - and drink sherry with my grandpa and grandma! 

I’d sit on the floor, just awestruck! That's when I knew what I wanted to do!

MW : How did you get into broadcasting? 

SC : Via the back door of sales. At first, I didn’t make the cut for Reading’s Radio 210; at that time, in the mid 70s, I was in TV (ad) sales in London - which was well paid. Besides, that’s where I lived and I wasn’t experienced enough to work at LBC, or Capital Radio. I had my eyes firmly on the Reading ILR franchise which was awarded to Kennet Ltd (who then became Radio 210). 

I made a tape at Roger Squires and mailed it to Kennets’ address, and made an appointment to meet with Neil ffrench Blake, who was Programme controller. We met in the Albermarle pub in Mayfair, London, and he referred me to Michael Moore, at The Sun, who was assembling 210’s sales department. News International, who owned The Sun, was part funding 210. Michael was a Murdoch Star, he hired me. 

This new team started work about six months before launch in the Filberts building in Calcot row, which was the then HQ, while the ambulance shed next door was being attached and adapted for radio, and studio use. There were three of us: David Oldroyd from the local newspaper, Linda Brookes from Capital Radio and myself. We had a large area map on an easel into which we pushed glass top pins. It was like a War Room from an old movie! 

As sales got underway, it was obvious that the actual radio spots had to be produced, so I moved to a production managers position, and we made hundreds of spots.

One week before our launch deadline, Neil ffrench Blake offered me an on-air job; Saturdays, 10am to 2pm. There was no shortage of live guests, and one of my first was David Cassidy! So, dear reader THAT’S how I got into radio!

MW : As a teenager, what records do you remember buying/collecting?

SC: As a teenager, I remember amongst the first records records I bought were Sgt Pepper, The Beatles White album, and some misc singles. They were expensive when ones only income was a newspaper round, and some occasional gardening work! An album was three pounds ten shillings, and a single was ten shillings or more.

MW : OK, let’s tune to 210...

SC : In the early days of 210, there was a huge shift in music tastes. Disco was giving way to mega rock bands (Eagles, Fleetwood Mac) and soul, R&B and funk were massive too. Soon, in the late 70’s Punk was to explode... actually, programmers and top-level DJ/ presenters (Bob Harris) hadn’t a good grasp of what was actually happening! Bob actually got into a fight with Sid Vicious at a club in London, and  “called it a day” with Whistle Test. 

Tastes and audiences were changing.

At 210, there was a calm sea of music policy, enforced by Neil. The 210 Top 40 was a slow moving list, not sales based, but tailored to fit a certain pre-determined ‘sound’ like many of the programmers in the States.

DJ tastes were being eroded.

During my time at 210, us youngsters were always on the lookout to expand. Mike Read, Steve Wright, myself and others picked up a lot of outside gigs, mostly local disco work. 

Thanks to my documentary and talk experience I got more varied offers such as British Forces Broadcasting which paid very well (I subbed for Tommy Vance) and then BOOM!

I successfully applied to audition for Esther Rantzens’  ‘That’s Life’. What a step up that would be...

MW : ...‘That’s Life’ ?

SC :  ...every couple of years or so, Esther’s reporter sidekicks would cycle-out, and replacements had to be found. To start the audition process, I spent a few weeks at BBC West London, picking out useable stories and building them into TV-worthy items. (The actual show was on summer break.) This culminated in a full TV studio recording WITH audience. Just like the real thing. There were about eight finalists (four pairs), and it was quite nerve wracking. 

Sadly, I didn’t get the part; as seemed usual at the time, existing BBC reporters got the jobs... us outsiders were window dressing for this process, but it was super fun, a great experience. As a result, I became friends with the team, and often went up to TV centre to sit in on the tapings.

MW :  Capital Radio 194 went to air the same year as LBC in 1973, but it was Capital Radio 604 in South Africa that you later joined. How did you get involved, and how did the two “ Capitals” compare? 

SC : In late 1978, a revolutionary radio station was being formed in London and Cape Town called Capital Radio. It had nothing to do whatsoever with either the South African government, or 194. Rather, it was to be based in an ‘Independent’ African State, called the Transkei. The aim was to broadcast uncensored news and music from the ‘Homeland’ of Transkei, south, and into South Africa, which was ruled by apartheid, and white supremacy. 

604′s mission was to broadcast actual, real news, and play rock and pop which hadn’t been rejected by the SA government censors. Its transmitter was the “‘loudest” in the Southern Hemisphere, but the antenna system was misaligned, resulting in a poor AM signal to the intended audience. Short-wave and FM functioned to a point in Cape Town and to and extent, Johannesburg. 

I was chosen to ship out to Port St. Johns, Transkei, and helped set up the broadcasting side. The main studio and staff base was located in a sleepy former fishing town called Port St. Johns, on the Indian Ocean. It was Paradise! It was also the first time I’d earned a five figure, untaxed salary! No outgoing except for high quality wine and spirits!

http://www.capital604.com/

MW : LBC celebrates its 45th anniversary this year - let’s look back at your time there...

SC : LBC is a book in itself! Suffice it to say that I joined as a jobbing freelance, doing late -night shifts and news, and then rapidly to traffic analyst (reporter) at Scotland Yard. This taught me London geography, almost like a black-cab driver. We then brought traffic in-house, when we added a small ‘plane sponsored by the Evening Standard, to view traffic congestion. As far as weekday presentation was concerned, I was usually co-anchoring with Philip Hodson, David Loyn etc.

My primary arc at LBC was news reading for Independent Radio News (IRN) and, for eight of my eleven years, I ran the syndicated travel programme ‘Time Off’. This was a way for us to showcase the many, varied press trip offers the station received. We were blessed with a huge audience, plus the central ability to satellite-out the components of the show, and also the entire one hour reel. 

In the late eighties, when a lot of people went freelance (off staff) we worked through our own companies/ entities and I turned ‘Time Off’ into a cash machine, selling the sponsorships myself.

http://www.geofflumley.org.uk/lbc261/

MW : Melody Radio launched with the slogan 'At last - radio without the speakers' - as a launch presenter, what was it like?

SC : In 1990, Peter Black invited me to join Lord Hanson’s Melody Radio, which I did for four years. (A TV comedian at the time called it “Quiet FM”, orr was that Radio Two?!)

Nothing much happened here...apart from having the luxury of an actual producer for each show, including Roskos’ old producer Aidan Day, who was now scheduling easy listening!!

In 2005 off I went again... another adventure; this time to Nairobi and back to my TV roots to help redesign the Kenya Television Network (KTN) I was MD and CEO, and the re-shaping was drastic. In my early days there I bought first series of ‘ER’, ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’, ‘Days Of Our Lives’ etc... paying the super cheap “Third World” rate card price. And boy did we milk it until the reels had to be returned!

PC’s and WIndows ‘95 had just come out, so we were all good! Such systems, good sales and top TV presenters, staff, and shows took us rapidly to the most watched in the land. We also had exclusive use of CNN International for news inserts and over-night programming. I was also tasked with designing two FM stations for Nairobi (population 6.5 million) which were up and running after I left.

MW : What constitutes your life now?

SC : I met my Colorado born wife-to-be in Nairobi - who was on a sabbatical from Southern California, and a career in law.

In May 1996 we were married in Manhattan Beach, a suburb of Los Angeles, and soon moved to Santa Barbara where she continued a successful career in Law, and is now the Assistant City Attorney. 

We have a daughter, now at Berkeley, and I continue with my own media and web projects and a movie and TV project in development.

© Mark Watkins / October 2018

[caveartfair]

Phillips Notches Its Best Sale Ever with Record-Breaking Bradford and £42 Million Picasso

Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Anchored by a stunning Picasso painting and a ravishing Matisse sculpture, Phillips 20th Century & Contemporary Art evening sale broke into the big leagues with the firm’s best-ever sale Thursday night, which pulled in £97.8 million ($135.1 million), nearly seven times its total from the previous spring sale in London.

Only four of the 48 lots offered failed to sell, for a trim buy-in rate by lot of eight percent. The hammer tally of £84.5 million, before fees, blasted past the high presale estimate of £73.1 million.

The record result dwarfed last March’s £14.6 million total for the 23 lots sold and clipped the previous $117-million high achieved by the house in its Carte Blanche curated sale in November 2010. Twelve of the 44 lots that sold Thursday night went for over one million pounds; and of those, four exceeded five million pounds. Fifteen of the lots that sold were backed by financial guarantees, 13 with help from third parties and two from Phillips itself.

The last evening sale of London’s spring auction week opened with Jack Whitten’s acrylic, coal, and gold leaf on canvas abstraction Bright Moments: For R.R. Kirk (1995), an homage to the jazz great Rahsaan Roland Kirk and part of the artist’s “Black Monoliths” series, which sold for £270,000 (£333,000 with fees) at an estimate of £200,000-300,000. It was the first time a work by the artist, who died in January at age 78, appeared in an evening London auction.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s expressionist double-portrait of two standing female figures, Politics (2005), executed in oil on canvas, went for an estimate-topping £220,000 (£273,000 with fees). Formerly in the Saatchi Collection, the painting had last sold at Sotheby’s London in October 2013 for £52,500.

Pablo Picasso, La Dormeuse, 1932. Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Though looking assuredly like an abstract painting, Wolfgang Tillmans’s Greifbar 27 (2014) is a chromogenic print mounted on aluminum and hailing from an edition of one—plus one artist’s proof—and sold for £380,000 (£465,000 with fees), above its high estimate of £300,000.

The artist used a light source on photographic paper to create the image as was first done with the cliché verre technique developed in the 19th century.

British Pop Art made an appearance with Allen Jones’s highly stylized composition of a pair of legs in vampy stiletto-heels, T-riffic (1966), which sold to Nick Acquavella of New York’s Acquavella Galleries for £580,000 (£705,000 with fees), well above its high estimate of  £350,000. The title continues along the stretcher bar of the canvas: “I’LL TAKE THIS ONE PLEASE 1966” and came backed with a third party guarantee. The work was inspired by a visit to Los Angeles in 1965, during which Jones came across a racy Frederick’s of Hollywood mail order catalogue, according to an interview in the auction catalogue.

Figurative art surely dominated the evening entries as Lucian Freud’s nearly 16-by-22-inch Small Naked Portrait (2005) in oil-on-canvas sold, again to Acquavella and again for above its high estimate, for £650,000 (£789,000 with fees). Voluptuous as a Courbet nude, the model’s face is virtually blank, apart from the rich skin tones.

In a different and harsher light, Marlene Dumas’s haunting portrait The Pilgrim (2006) bears an astonishing and ghostly likeness to Osama Bin Laden. It sold to a telephone bidder for £1.45 million (£1.75 million with fees), just under its £1.5 million low estimate.

An early, Mannerist-styled oil-on-canvas painting from 1964 by Georg Baselitz, P.D. Idol, featuring the cropped visage of a long-necked human head and and set in an artist-made frame, sold for £1.6 million (£1.92 million with fees), just scraping past its low estimate of £1.5 million.

Henri Matisse, Nu allongé I (Aurore), conceived in 1907 and cast ca. 1908. Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Georg Baselitz, P.D. Idol, 1964. Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Still in that figurative mode, Luc Tuymans’s sardonic reprise of a 1952 Hollywood film poster, Singing in the Rain (1996), featuring three rain-coated figures hoisting large black umbrellas against a sky-blue background sold to a telephone bidder for £600,000 (£729,000 with fees) squarely within its estimate range.

Speaking of the cinema, Mark Bradford’s panoramic and richly layered composition, Helter Skelter I (2007) requires a wide-screen view to absorb the encyclopedic range of popular culture references in the silver-colored, mixed media collage on canvas colossus, which measures twelve feet tall and nearly 34 feet long. It sold to another telephone bidder for a record £7.5 million (£8.6 million with fees), towards the high end of its estimate range.

The network of meandering lines that consume every rippling inch of the canvas are replete with scraps of paper detritus that Bradford foraged from his Los Angeles neighborhood, making it a kind of urban archeological dig with a Kurt Schwitters twist. One can make out a large black skull half-buried in that landscape, an American flag emblem, and shards of words such as ‘King’ and ‘Candy’ in the undulating topography of the canvas. The longer you look, the more visual references become apparent.

Sold from the collection of tennis legend John McEnroe, the Bradford was backed by a third-party guarantee. It doubled the artist’s record set earlier this week at Christie’s when Bradford’s Bear Running from the Shotgun (2014) sold to Guggenheim Asher Associates for £3.8 million. It has been a remarkable recent run for Bradford. The artist’s Hong Kong exhibition inaugurates Hauser & Wirth’s new and jumbo space on March 26th, taking up both floors as well as the concurrent solo of new work at the gallery’s mega Los Angeles location—the first gallery exhibition in the artist’s hometown in over 15 years and which sold out in its opening days.

Despite its boutique status as a hip auction house specializing in contemporary art, jewelry, watches, photographs, and prints, Phillips has increasingly succeeded in luring modern works of art to market. This was made evident by the evening’s standout and rare cover lot: Picasso’s spare, yet convincingly sensual La Dormeuse, executed on March 13, 1932 in oil and charcoal on canvas and capturing the sleeping beauty of his muse and mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. It sold to an anonymous telephone bidder on the line with Marianne Hoet, deputy chairman of Phillips Europe, for a whopping £37 million (£41.8 million with fees), more than doubling its high estimate.

Mark Bradford, Helter Skelter I, 2007. Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Bidding opened at £9 million and quickly escalated with phone and room bids. Brett Gorvy of New York and London gallery Lévy Gorvy entered the fray at £22 million and wound up as the underbidder to Hoet’s telephone. It ranks as the ninth-most expensive Picasso to sell at auction.

Never before at auction and sheltered in a private European collection, the painting hails from the artist’s personal collection and was owned for a time by his widow, Jacqueline Rocque-Picasso and then her daughter Catherine Hutin-Blay. After that it went to market at Pace-Wildenstein Gallery in New York, a short-lived, hybrid entity that is no longer in operation. The family of the present owner acquired it there in June 1995. It would have been a perfect candidate for inclusion in the just-opened Tate Modern exhibition, “Picasso 1932—Love, Fame, Tragedy,” but apparently the owners thought otherwise.

Marie-Thérèse’s slumbering nude pose makes her appear as a siren-like giantess, almost floating across a pale blue sky, the charcoal outlines of her body sweeping across the roughly 51-by-63-inch canvas.

There seems to be a Picasso fever raging in London, especially after last week’s round of Impressionist and Modern Art auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s when 13 paintings by the artist fetched a cumulative £112.7 million.

Alongside the Picasso nude, a stunning and equally rare Matisse bronze, Nu allongé I (Aurore), conceived by the artist in 1907 and cast in bronze circa 1908 from an edition of ten plus one artist proof, attracted at least four bidders and went to an anonymous telephone for an estimate-crushing £13 million (£14.8 million with fees). At the £9 million mark, the competition narrowed to two telephones and bids suddenly jumped in one million pound increments.

The exquisite, rather muscular figure had resided in the same French family since circa 1950. The artist consigned the bronze to his Paris gallery Bernheim-Jeune in January 1912. It now ranks as the second-most expensive Matisse sculpture to sell at auction.

Remarkably, neither the Picasso nor the Matisse came to market with guarantees or what is sometimes called entering “naked” in the art trade, fitting for two depictions of nudes.

Other modern entries included Jean Dubuffet’s early and heavily incised canvas featuring the grinning profile of a male figure, Profil Genre Aztèque (1945), that sold at its low estimate of £1.2 million (£1.4 million with fees) and Max Ernst’s distorted and hybrid composition of a bird-like figure, Le Surréalisme et la peinture in pastel-on-paper and dated 1942, which sold to a telephone bidder also at its low estimate of  £350,000 (£429,000 with fees).

Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, 2012. Courtesy of Phillips / Phillips.com.

Rounding out the Modern entries, Marino Marini’s iconic horseman, Piccolo Cavaliere (1949), in hand-chiseled bronze and standing 16 inches high went for a below-estimate £350,000 (£429,000 with fees). It was acquired by Los Angeles collectors Betty and Stanley Sheinbaum in 1958 and came to market backed by a third party guarantee.

Back on the contemporary front, Anselm Kiefer’s darkly brooding and widely exhibited Die Meistersinger (1981-82), executed in oil, emulsion, sand, and collage elements on canvas, hammered down at its low estimate of £1.5 million (£1.8 million with fees). Fellow German artist Sigmar Polke’s alchemical composition in amber-colored artificial resin on polyester fabric, Untitled (1989), sold to another telephone bidder for its low estimate of £800,000 (£969,000 with fees). Rudolf Stingel’s four-panel, graffiti-incised composition, scaled at 94.5-by-94.5-inches in electroformed copper, plated nickel, and gold, Untitled (2012), sold to a telephone bidder for £4.9 million (£5.7 million with fees). All three came to market with third-party backing.

In the post-sale news conference, Hugues Joffre, the senior advisor to CEO Edward Dolman was asked about the identities of the anonymous Picasso and Matisse buyers.

“They’re both very sophisticated, educated and seasoned collectors,” said Joffre, who is credited with bringing in both works to Phillips.

Before he could utter another word, Dolman interjected to add the obvious: “And rich.”

The evening action takes a breather until the New York sales in May, about which Dolman is optimistic.

“It looks very good to me right now,” he said.  

All prices reported include the hammer price and that with the tacked on buyer’s premium calculated at 25 percent of the hammer price up to and including £180,000, 20 percent of the portion of the hammer price above £180,000 and up to and including £3 million and 12.5 percent for any portion above that.

from Artsy News

[anthonycharlestabone]

Having trouble viewing? View in Browser Friday, October 13, 2017 TOP OF THE MORNING It's Friday, Oct. 13, 2017 - Friday the 13th. Welcome to Fox News First, your first stop for today's news. To get your early morning news emailed directly to your inbox, click here. Here's your Fox News First 5 - the first five things you need to know today: President Trump targets two hallmarks of the Obama era: He'll likely decertify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and halt ObamaCare subsidies to health insurers The Weinstein Company feels backlash from the Hollywood sex scandal Death toll mounts: California wildfires have killed at least 31 people this week The Las Vegas massacre timeline is disputed once again Let's dive deeper into these stories ...  THE LEAD STORY: President Trump will outline a new strategy on Iran designed to block "all paths to a nuclear weapon." ... In a rebuke of the 2015 agreement from the Obama era, Trump was expected to declare today that a nuclear Iran is not in America's national security interest. Trump will outline specific faults he finds in the 2015 accord but will also focus on an array of Iran's troubling non-nuclear activities. Those include Tehran's ballistic missile program, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and other groups that destabilize the region. Tune in to Fox News for live coverage and analysis of Trump's speech at 12:45 p.m. ET and throughout the day. From Fox News Opinion: The conservative case to keep the Iran deal Iran threatens 'crushing' response Iran's secret sites linked to nuclear weapons development revealed Fox News' full coverage: Iran BLOW TO OBAMACARE: President Trump plans to halt federal subsidies to insurers under the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare ... This is Trump's bid to ultimately "repeal and replace" President Obama's signature legislation. Trump's decision was expected to rattle already unsteady insurance marketplaces. The president has previously threatened to end the payments, which help reduce health insurance copays and deductibles for people with modest incomes, but the plan remains under a legal cloud. Will there be blowback? Almost certainly. Trump's move will likely trigger lawsuits from state attorneys general, who contend the subsidies to insurers are fully authorized by federal law, and the president's position is reckless. Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, has already called the decision “sabotage,” and promised a lawsuit. Trump's executive order on health care: What you should know From Fox News Opinion: Trump's right: Less regulation and more incentives are the right path for health care reform WEINSTEIN STIGMA: Talent agencies have reportedly started refusing to work with the Weinstein Company in wake of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal ... Deadline.com reports that these agencies are worried the Weinstein Company is a tarnished brand -- and would remain so even under a different name – because clients don't want Harvey Weinstein profiting in any way from ongoing and future projects. In addition, In The Heights book writer Quiara Alegria Hudes and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda want the Weinstein Company to give up the movie rights to the pre-"Hamilton" musical. More disclosures: Weinstein scandal prompts flood of abuse accusations Oliver Stone implicated: An ex-Playboy playmate accuses the filmmaker of grabbing her breast  Amazon boss Roy Price suspended Looking ahead - Bravery (and introspection) is what Hollywood needs now SCORCHED EARTH: Raging wildfires across Northern California have now killed at least 31 people, marking the deadliest week of blazes in state history ...  The fires, many of them in wine country, broke out almost simultaneously Sunday night and now cover more than 300 square miles, an area as large as New York City. State officials have not yet officially said what caused the blazes, which have destroyed at least 3,500 homes and businesses. Downed power lines and blown transformers are one theory. Dispatch audio obtained by KTVU Fox 2 News reveals firefighters in Napa and Sonoma counties called in more than a dozen reports of downed power lines, live wires, and blown transformers late Sunday in the first hours of the wildfire outbreak. CARNAGE AND CONFUSION: Amid timeline discrepancies, investigators in Las Vegas still have not determined the motive for the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history ... MGM Resorts International said Thursday that shots were fired into a music festival crowd "at the same time as, or within 40 seconds after" a security guard first reported by hotel dispatch radio that shots were fired. The casino company says Las Vegas police accounts are inaccurate. Police have said the shooter, Stephen Paddock, fired a barrage into the hallway toward the guard and a casino maintenance worker, and fired assault-style weapons out the casino windows for about 10 minutes before killing himself with a gunshot to the head. Tucker: Conspiracy theories fill the Vegas information void Timeline change raises questions about hotel security, police response Fox News' Full Coverage: Las Vegas Massacre   ABOUT LAST NIGHT HOLLYWOOD QUID PRO QUO: "If you make me feel good, I'll make you rich and famous ... It was straight up prostitution." – Singer Joy Villa, on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," recalling her own encounter with sexual harassment early in her career, when she met privately with an entertainment executive. WATCH THE HARVEY CLAUSE: "He has to pay the company back what it paid the victim... and pay a fine ... The company structured a contract that essentially allowed for sexual harassment if you're willing to pay a monetary price." – Harvey Levin, TMZ founder and host of OBJECTified, on "The Story with Martha MacCallum," detailing how Harvey Weinstein's contract allowed continued employment in wake of sexual harassment suits. WATCH   MINDING YOUR BUSINESS White House steps up review of Federal Reserve chairman candidates. Source: Disney to cut about 200 jobs at its TV networks. Uber set to appeal London license loss. BASF to buy seeds, herbicide businesses from Bayer for $7 billion.   NEW IN FOX NEWS OPINION Eagle Scout: RIP, Boy Scouts of America. You were great for 100 years. Tomi Lahren: Hollywood liberals are anti-Trump, not pro-woman. Is Harvard racist? If you’re Asian-American, their admission policies just might be. NFL and its owners salute one flag: The dollar.   HOLLYWOOD SQUARED Jeopardy! champion's 12-day winning streak comes to an end. Demi Lovato reveals she's open to dating men and women. OBJECTified preview: Tyler Perry on prized possessions. The untold story of Steve McQueen's spiritual journey.   DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS? Yellowstone supervolcano could blow faster than thought, destroy all of mankind. California fires: How the smoke can affect the taste of wine. Energy drinks cost new father part of his skull, brain. 3,200-year-old stone inscription tells of Trojan prince, sea people.   STAY TUNED On Fox News: Fox & Friends, 6 a.m. ET: Attorney General Jeff Sessions discusses the measures he's taking against for sanctuary cities and why he believes there's a "crisis" in the surge of asylum claims. Plus, former Iran hostage Don Cooke gives insight on U.S. attempts to bring Caitlan Coleman and her family home from Afghanistan, where they were held captive since 2012. Tucker Carlson Tonight, 8 p.m. ET: A reporter will give the inside story on how NBC tried to cover up the Harvey Weinstein sex harassment scandal.   On Fox Business: Mornings with Maria, 6 a.m. ET: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross explains his request for an additional $3.3 billion from Congress to complete the 2020 census; Sen. Rand Paul takes on President Trump's executive action on health care. Varney & Co., 9 a.m. ET: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady talks tax reform chances. Cavuto: Coast to Coast, Noon ET: Former Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, dissects President Trump's new strategy on Iran.  Lou Dobbs Tonight, 7 p.m. ET: John Hannah, senior counselor at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, gives his take on Trump's new approach to Iran   On Fox News Radio: The Brian Kilmeade Show, 9 a.m. ET to 12 noon ET: Former Deputy Campaign Manager David Bossie looks back on White House Chief of Staff John Kelly taking on rumors directly with the White House press corps; Former State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf breaks down Trump's Iran strategy. The Tom Shillue Show, 3 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET: Rep. Steve King discusses Trump's latest action on health care and how the White House should address "Dreamers."   #OnThisDay 2010: Rescuers in Chile use a missile-like escape capsule to rescue 33 men, one-by-one,  who were trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine a half-mile underground. 1999: The JonBenet Ramsey grand jury is dismissed after 13 months of work, with prosecutors saying there wasn't enough evidence to charge anyone in the 1996 slaying. 1962: Edward Albee's four-character drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" opens on Broadway. 1775: U.S. Navy has its origins as the Continental Congress orders the construction of a naval fleet.   Thank you for joining us on Fox News First! Enjoy your Friday and weekend! We'll see you in your inbox first thing Monday morning. Unsubscribe ©2017 Fox News Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY, 10036. Privacy Policy.