#shame what emerged later about the show runner

[yuukicyan]

Just finished watching Buffy (I used to catch it after school but didn't pay full attention) and I loved it. It's faulty but I love it. Here I am missing it already, and with the need to talk about a couple of thoughts I want out of my head.

I love Spike. The character, the aesthethic, the movements, the music taste, what drives him, his empathy and emotional intelligence.

I hate convenience writing. I hate the infamous bathroom scene. Because it's violent of course, pretty sure unnecessary, and completely out of characters (yes, multiple characters). No spoilers or details ahead, but if you know you know.

Xander was written to make something like that but it was the nineties so the Nice Guy was still considered a sympathethic character. The antagonists are written and do that and somehow portrayed in a less graphic way. Soulless Angel probably did it and they kind of show in some flashbacks behaviours. Buffy could have done it considering the whole season emotional progression. Spike just doesn't make sense.

A scene written to go from point A to point B without a road in the middle. This is not the only instance when it happens (another one in season 7 is pretty blatantly obvious) but I wanted to focus on this one and since I'm not a stickler for canon I'm just rewriting the story in my head in a way that actually makes sense.

End of blurt, let's go print a Spike poster and focus on my next fixation.

[rosewkent]

Forty-five

People talk a lot about their fear of turning 40. This wasn’t really a big deal for me. I remember thinking at the time, Well I’m not your typical 40-year-old! I’m at uni studying to be a teacher! I wear runners and I dance around the kitchen wearing enormous headphones while listening to Lizzo!  And who knows what might happen? I might even write a book or become an artist because aren’t there people who took up things very successfully later in life? And you kind of go on thinking that the world is still yours for a few years… until 45 hits. And when this happens you realise that you’re just as close to 50 as you are to 40, which only feels like a second ago. And 50 doesn’t sound fun – it makes you think of ‘lifestyle communities’ and Tena Lady pads. And slowly you cotton on to the fact that your chances of becoming something that you aren’t already are about as slim as your arse moving up two inches. When you don’t get some of your younger friends’ references, they look at you with their beautiful doe eyes and remind you that ‘you’re too old’ with a bucketful of triumph and a droplet of pity. You go to events where you realise that you’re one of the oldest people in the room and suddenly feel a sense of hot-cheeked shame over how you could have allowed yourself to get this old while everyone around you has been clever enough to remain so young. 

And then, as if all of that wasn’t enough, a pandemic happens, and you want to scream for the Covid manager to ask them exactly how much longer this is going to take. Because I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS DON’T YOU SEE? You are forty-fucking-five years old and life all of a sudden seems like an emergency. And all those things you said you were going to do – live in Paris again so you can drink coffee until your teeth turn brown, smoke just one of those really thin cigarettes per day on the terrace of a café overlooking the Seine looking wistful while waiting for your equally wistful and cool lady friend to show up so you can talk about linguistics and your admiration for each other, go to dinner parties in dingy old apartments on the 6thfloor of apartment buildings with no lift that start at 10pm and only finish when someone throws a wine bottle at a wall in a drunken rage – well, you know that they’re not likely to happen again. But a little part of you still hopes that they might.

[whereisten]

Heaven-Sent

Summary: When your marriage falls apart before it even starts, you set off to Atlanta for a new beginning. You decide to face your fear of skydiving. Your guide? Jung Jaehyun. 

Multi-part series: Part 1 - Part 2 Preview - More Coming Soon

Part 1

Word Count: 2,931 words

You were preparing for the best day of your life so far. You were marrying the man of your dreams come to life. He was everything to you. He was your reality. He was your escape from the other realities you wish you didn’t have to carry with you.

But then.

It all happened so quickly.

You walking down the aisle to the altar. The flashes of cameras. The look on Chanyeol’s face when you lifted your veil and there was no trace of warmth on his face.

There was nothing there.

You’ve never seen him like this before.

It was as if someone who looked a lot like your fiancé was standing in for your fiancé.

Maybe it was the nerves, you told yourself. Maybe he was stunned by how beautiful you looked.

You felt and knew how lovely you looked that day. For the first time, you were truly happy and aware of your beauty.

The priest began, “We are gathered here today to witness the union of Park Chanyeol and Y/N.”

You smiled at Chanyeol. His gaze shifted away from you and out to the crowd.

What was going on?

The priest continued with the motions and when it came time to recite your vows, Chanyeol was up first.

“We’ll begin with the groom,” the priest said.

“Y/N, the brightest star in my galaxy, I-“ Chanyeol forced himself but halted.

You froze.

The pews of the grand church fell into silence.

Chanyeol looked into the crowd again. You chose to follow his gaze to see a woman in a cream colored dress that almost dared to be white. Her long black hair and bangs were straight as a pin. She was otherworldly.

She looked pleadingly at Chanyeol, you noticed.

And then she saw that you caught on. And, at long last, she looked guilty.

“Chanyeol,” you started.

Chanyeol was caught red handed. But why, you tortured yourself as you wondered. What did he do, you tormented yourself. What could he have done to warrant such a look of shame on his face?

He forced himself to look at you. “Y/N, I am so so sorry. I can’t do this.”

Everything that followed happened even quicker. Chanyeol running down the aisle. The black haired woman meeting him at the door. Him opening the door for her. Her running out. And him following after her.

Never looking back.

No remorse.

He was gone.

You had your back straight and head held high. The crowd was in chaos. Your mother wailed from her pew. Your father was controlling your wailing infant half-sister. Your closest friends were in different parts of the globe and couldn’t make it for your big day, which made you wonder if you had any real friends at all.

Who could you turn to, then?

So you ran. You ran back to the dressing room. Changed into your favorite Shinee tee and most comfortable pair of jeans and a pair of brown cowboy boots.

You didn’t shed a tear. Not just yet. You could hear people in the hallway coming to find you but for what? Most of the people at the wedding were here for  Chanyeol, anyway. Your bridal party was Chanyeol’s sister, Yoora and her friends. She was the designated maid of honor. But now everything felt like a lie. An obligation.

“I can’t believe that Seulgi,” you heard one of the bridesmaids say.

You heard knocks at the door.

“Y/N,” Yoora called out. “Are you alright?”

Was she for real?

You didn’t answer.

“Y/N. I know you’re in there. I can send the girls away if you want it to just be me.”

Again, you said nothing. You found your bag and debated how you would escape without anyone trying to bullshit a conversation with you. You really had nothing to say to anyone at this place.

You looked at the window hidden behind the elegant curtains and unhooked the latches. You jumped out the window with your bag and ran to the parking lot to get in your Jeep Cherokee. You drove the hell out of there. Not bothering to look back at what you left behind.

π

Thank goodness you and Chanyeol hadn’t moved in together yet. Otherwise, where could you have gone now?

You recalled how upset you were when he refused to move in with you or you with him. How could you not have noticed his hesitation? What he had to hide?

You sighed. Your phone was ringing nonstop that you put it on silent. You had missed calls from Mom, Yoora, and Mrs. Park. None from Dad.

You checked your texts, only paying attention to your mom’s.

Mom: I hope it’s okay. I took your plane tickets and decided to take the trip with Terrence. That piece of shit Chanyeol is paying every cent for this.”

Was that supposed to make you feel better?

You only stared at your mother’s message. You weren’t that shocked, truthfully. Your mother was a selfish woman that loved herself more than she loved her own child. She had no grace or delicate touch in all of the years she raised you. It’s no wonder Dad left her and remarried and in the process, let you become an afterthought. It’s no wonder you were so gullible when it came to Chanyeol.

You clenched your fists. All Chanyeol had to do was say the right words and he had you. But deep down, you knew it wasn’t love he had for you.

You wanted to believe it. So desperately. That you could have a happy ending. After all of the years of shortcomings and heartbreak in your family.

But why play you the way he did? Why go through with any of this?

Chanyeol was a fucking coward. Seulgi had the nerve to look ashamed when she was a show runner for your wedding gone to shit.  

You went from shock to anger. And then, the sadness came up from underneath it all and you cried. You cried for hours, curled up on your couch in the living room. You played your favorite crying song because any sane person had a crying song. You cried until you couldn’t cry anymore.

But it seemed like the tears were endless.

You went up to the rooftop of your apartment building and took refuge in seeing the city lights. The sun was setting. It was your favorite part of the day and you felt some relief from the travesty of this day.

You took some deep breaths and found some of the pain in your chest fading. At least for now.

Your life wasn’t over, you told yourself. You had a lot going for you. You were young. Had a successful job as a concert promoter. You could leave Los Angeles. Start over.

And so that was what you did.

π

1 month later

You were settled in Atlanta. Burying yourself in work. Monsta X was your client, embarking on their fourth US tour. Everything was going seamlessly. The venues were cooperating with the company’s demands and specifications. The band’s schedule wasn’t crammed to the brim so the band was happy. The band performed well. Their company performed well. As the middle woman, you were doing well enough to keep your job. Some may say thrive.

You had some time before the band had to travel down to Miami for their promotions and their show. So you could unwind for a bit until then.

Your co-worker Ally joined you for lunch at a small Italian restaurant close to the State Farm arena.

“Y/N? I wanted to know if you’d be interested in skydiving,” Ally said.

You coughed. “What?”

“I take it you don’t like heights?” Ally asked.

You shook your head. “I’m afraid not.”

Ally sighed. “The thing is I had a session scheduled for tomorrow that I can’t go to. It’s too late to cancel it and I would hate for it to go to waste. I kinda figured you hated heights when you refused to go on the rides at Six Flags so I tried asking everyone. You’re my last resort.”

Your heart started racing. “I don’t know, Ally.”

Ally gave you the ticket anyway. “Look, go or don’t go. Maybe you can find someone else who’ll take it off your hands. Just take it. It’s yours now. Do what you want with it. Sound good?”

You nodded. You put your fingertips against the laminated piece of paper. You read the ticket.

Highway to Heaven and Back: Skydiving Expedition

You raised your eyebrows at it.

You thought about it. One moment you said yes. To try it. Feel something new. Get over one of your greatest fears. Feel something other than the perpetual loneliness and betrayal you felt every day.

The next moment you wanted to hide in your downtown apartment and order Chinese and watch Riverdale. For the fifth time.

You decided to throw caution to the wind and go.

π

The skydiving place was located in Upson County, an hour north of your apartment. It was a mini-airport and you could see a couple of small airplanes that were transporting skydivers.

You participated in the training session so you could know everything there was to know about the journey you were going to embark on. The instructor Mr. Davies taught you and the other initiates the do’s and don’ts. You learned about the steps to safely skydive. How to put your body in the correct freefall position. What to do in cases of emergencies. Operating the parachute after freefall. How to land. And to actually land.

You were thankful Ally bought the package that included an experienced instructor to be your guide. There was no way you were going to solo skydive. If you had to do it with a stranger, at least it would be with an experienced one. The stranger was paid to keep you alive. Not deterred completely from the experience, you thought you could actually do it.

You put on a red jumpsuit, a harness attached to the parachute, goggles, an altimeter, and a black helmet. Then, you and the other skydivers were partnered up with instructors.

“Y/N! Well...if it isn’t your lucky day, you’re going up with Jaehyun,” Mr. Davies said as he read out from his clipboard. “Get on over to plane 214! Jaehyun’s waiting for you there.”

You liked the feel of your shoes against the tarmac. You were more fond of the ground than ever, it seemed. You reached plane 214 and a man stepped off the plane with his forest green jumpsuit and skydiving gear. He had Ray-Ban Aviators on. He looked like he was ready for a reboot of Top Gun.

And so were you.

He made Chanyeol look like a before picture.

He smiled, blowing you away with his dimples. His dark brown hair was wavy and swayed gloriously against the wind. He was slender but you can tell he was well-built under his gear. His muscles protruded from the arms of his jumpsuit. 

Lord.

“Y/N?” He asked

“Yeah!” Well, that was the most alive you sounded since the rehearsal dinner.

“I’m Jaehyun, your instructor. We are going to get pretty close with each other in the next hour. So look forward to it!”

With a smile and voice like that, how could you not?

He shook your hand and you couldn’t explain it. You felt ease. Joy. Hope.

And not like you were about to fly 14,000 feet above the ground.

When he released your hand, those feelings didn’t fade. But they weren’t as pronounced as when you made physical contact with Jaehyun.

No need to get so excited, you told yourself.

Jaehyun got you up onto the plane and you fastened your seatbelt when you sat down. Jaehyun, much to your delight and nerves. sat across from you. You looked out the window and saw that you were ascending.

Oh my Lord.

You felt like a weight was on your chest. You gulped. You began to sweat profusely.  You had to catch your breath. Oh God don’t panic, please. You don’t want to panic. You don’t want this. Why can’t you do something bold for once? Why do you let yourself feel this way? Stop getting in your own way!

“Y/N?” Jaehyun frowned. He was worried. He inched forward and made eye contact with you.

“Look at me,” he said quietly.

“Jaehyun, I’m so sorry. I-I can’t do this. I can’t.” You sobbed. You couldn’t hold it in anymore. The nerves and the self-doubt were all at the forefront of your mind and you didn’t know how to make it stop.

“Y/N, give me your hands, please.” Jaehyun, while he looked anything less than calm, sounded so serene and sure of himself.

You gave him your hands and he squeezed them. “You can do this. I am right here with you. You’re not alone. We are in this together, okay?”

Those words. You would replay them multiple times after that day. He said all of the things you’ve longed to hear your whole life.

You sniffled. You wondered how your makeup must look and you shuddered. Well, that was a good sign. You were panicking about something else now.

Speaking of panic, the feeling began to fade. You felt the tranquility you did before when you shook Jaehyun’s hand.

“Breathe,” he said. “In. Out.” He did the breathing as well as he watched you.

“Thank you,” you said.

He smiled. “You’re not the first person to get like this.”

You continued, “I don’t know what comes over me. I’ve never liked heights but I thought maybe today could be the day that I could overcome it. At least confront it. I wanted to try. I do.”

Jaehyun was attentive to your words, your expressions, and everything about you. He could sense the pain you’ve endured. It was written in his eyes.

“I think today’s going to be the day, Y/N. Just wait and see.”

π

It was time.  

Jaehyun opened the exit door and your side bangs got into your eyes. The wind was intense and a little fucking scary. Jaehyun backed up and you got yourself in front of him. You both sat on the floor of the plane. He would be on your back as you guys jumped off.

You looked down. And oh, how you regretted it.

Everything was so small and far away. You felt even smaller.

You felt Jaehyun secure himself behind you. “Ready,” he said.

Jaehyun’s presence was calming. Was it enough to ease the fear completely? Hell, no. But the feel of his body against yours gave you the courage to jump.

And you did. Together.

You yelled. Holy shit. This was happening. You felt sorry for Jaehyun’s ears. Your freaking out turned into laughter.

“Oh my God!” You yelled.

Jaehyun laughed. “You got this!”

“I got this!”

Jaehyun cheered. He steered you guys as you descended.

You were flying. The most dreadful part of the experience was gone. The dread of what was to come. You were in the moment. You flailed your arms, thinking you were Peter Pan. You laughed and felt happy tears leave your eyes.

“Jaehyun!” You yelled.

“Yeah?!” He responded.

“Thank you!” He had no idea what he did for you. He went above and beyond and helped you face and even conquer your fear.

“You’re welcome!” He yelled back.

It was incredible. This had to be one of the best moments of your life. You remembered to give Ally the biggest hug when you saw her on Monday.

π

When you landed, you almost wanted to kiss the floor. The nerves never completely went away. Hey, you were human.

Unabashedly, Jaehyun gazed admiringly at you. He was so proud of you and even more overjoyed to see you happy for once.

You felt a surge of newfound confidence in you. Ask him to dinner, you told yourself. As a thank you. And if he wants it to be something more, roll with it. Because that’s what you really want.

You were about to approach Jaehyun, who was taking off his gear. He had accumulated a crowd of admirers in less than 15 seconds. It was to be expected.

One girl with a midriff and booty shorts was in his breathing space. Another girl had her phone out, taking pictures of him, like he was a pop idol. The rest of the girls just...looked at him. At a loss for words.

Relatable.

Your confidence dimmed a little. Maybe it was for the best that you left. You could’ve come on too strong if you asked him to dinner.

You grabbed your gear and stuffed it into your backpack and made your way back to the training center to return the gear to Mr. Davies.

“Y/N!” Jaehyun yelled.

You turned around and Jaehyun was running up to you with his bag.

“Let’s go back together,” he said.

“Won’t your fan club be disappointed?” You joked.

Jaehyun shook his head. Was he genuinely confused? “Fan club?”

“Don’t be so modest,” you said.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Y/N. They were nice but if they want to see me again, it would have to be for a skydiving lesson.”

You blurted, “And what if I wanted to see you again? But like on the ground?”

He was shocked at your reply.

You bit the bullet.  “Jaehyun, what time do you get off work?”

His shock faded and he gave you a knowing smile. “You were my last appointment of the day.”

Part 2 (Coming Soon)

Author’s Note: Shoutout to Skydive Atlanta for the info! Maybe someday I’ll come visit and get my butt on a plane and MAYBE go through with skydiving!

[food-advisor]

As an experienced stress Baker, I have never Felt much less Like Making Bread

In case you’re a millennial living through the coronavirus outbreak, possibilities are you’ve thought about making bread sooner or later inside the beyond few weeks.

 And, as someone who loves to bake and were given into sourdough just a few months before it has become the pandemic carb of choice, you’d think I’d be overjoyed that my newfound hobby is now Cool. However no, I’m sorry to mention I'm just in no mood for this doughy bullshit right now.

I’ve been a strain baker for the reason that university, whilst I used to be first brought to the term with the aid of a roommate who baked the ugliest and maximum delicious chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. (She plated them too early so they all cooled into one gooey, chocolatey mountain. It became great.) starting with cupcakes—recall whilst cupcakes had been “in”?—I quickly learned that baking becomes a green manner to distract myself from the anxieties of the day, earn an experience of achievement, and emerge as with a delicious deal with all in one hobby.

Now not best changed into baking a manner for me to de-pressure, but it also has become a larger part of my identification and a brand new manner for me to connect to my buddies. I was a person who knew all of their favorite flavor mixtures and taken them cupcakes on their birthdays. I performed around with melting and, sure, tempering chocolate to make cookie decorations. I discovered that homemade pie crust, surprisingly, came quite effortlessly to me. On a college price range and without an electric mixer, I whipped cream by way of hand more than once.

After sampling a few friends’ homes made bread 12 months or so in the past, I found out that I used to be geared up to venture out of the world of candies. However, sourdough, as many human beings are now locating, is difficult—and rewarding—in an entirely exclusive manner. First off, it requires the use of a starter, that's a little microenvironment made from flour and water that permits yeast and micro organism to flourish. The aggregate of organisms is what helps the bread upward thrust and offers it that conventional tangy flavor. There's no shame in the use of some of a chum’s starter or asking a bakery for a chunk of theirs to get yours going, however, I determined to make my own. I wager I wanted a touch extra ownership of it? Truly, I suppose I wanted to be able to mention I did all of it myself.

Getting the starter going within the relax of an NYC October took a complete month of my life, but now my starter is a hearty little gal I’ve named Abigail. I’ve already given bits of Abigail out to a few other folks who are now baking delicious loaves (I assume; I can simplest enjoy them through Instagram now). My first loaves were now not quite, however they rose and that changed into thrilling enough. My next ones were consistently excellent and seem to get a little tangier with every try.

Did you know that freshly baked bread crackles while you take it out of the oven? I’m not positive why. I assume it has to do with the crust and matters expanding inside it. But whatever the purpose, it’s the maximum gratifying sound within the global after what is generally at the least a 24-hour sourdough-advent system. I might make myself wait for just long enough for the loaf to chill so that I should reduce into the middle of it, eager to get a have a look at the pattern of bubbles internal, after which show it off to my (now successfully long-distance) boyfriend within the other room earlier than we ate dinner together. I even talked to my therapist frequently approximately my sourdough adventures and as soon as showed him an image of a loaf I used to be mainly pleased with.

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All of this is to mention that pre-pandemic Sarah becomes living for sourdough and the long, sluggish demanding situations it delivered. The integration, resting, proofing, and baking processes are a touch distinctive for every loaf, and I thrived on the affected person experimentation, hassle-solving, and tinkering that sourdough calls for. My loaves have been by no means ideal and probably by no means maybe, however they had been usually delicious and worth the attempt. It was a reliable, meditative weekend task that took my thoughts off my Sunday (and, let’s be sincere, Saturday). Plus, baking bread introduced me to an adorable, specific community on Instagram—inclusive of a new live performance friend.

Considering all this, you’d suppose the #pandemicbread motion might have spoken without delay, particularly, loudly to me of everybody. However, the fact is that I haven’t baked bread of any type in weeks, and Abigail is sitting idly in my refrigerator. I want to bake—of course, I need to bake—but it simply isn’t occurring. The pressure I’m dealing with now could be special, manifestly, and it’s all-ingesting. This is not me being frightened about a final examination or a task at work—that is me looking for a way to cope, by some means, with the principles of our lives abruptly converting and the worry of humans I understand being hospitalized or demise. Sourdough simply can’t compete with the existential dread of residing via an actual, for-real pandemic.

But there are also the superficial blocks: whilst all I've is time, I'm able to stand the idea of spending a complete day making bread simplest for it to be not as proper as I want it to be. And the Instagrams, pricey God, the Instagrams! I will assist but compare my loaves to different humans’s—a few who simply began baking. The competition, completely fueled by me and my very own lame insecurities is simply inescapable.

What have I baked? I made some half of-hearted biscuits, sure. I made a few matzahs for Passover, which turned into, well, matzah. But I subsequently had to admit to myself that what I used to be virtually craving wasn’t a ~home made artisan sourdough boule~ but rather brownies. Greater fudge-y. From a box. Particularly, the ones my mom used to make. I’ve made and devoured complete bins thus far.

Sourdough and pressure baking may additionally have started as an unbiased, self-directed interest, however, I comprehend now how an awful lot I’ve come to depend upon it as a way to undoubtedly and authentically hook up with different humans. It’s so tacky I will barely carry myself to kind it, but it’s real: Baking for your self isn't half of as fun or enjoyable as baking with and for different humans. I love that stress baking offers me time to awareness some creative strength at something apart from work, however, I also love seeing the way my bakes in shape into different human beings’ lives because they invent area for me there too.

As first-rate as it becomes to spend all day baking bread, it turned into even nicer to peer the pleasure on my buddies’ faces once I introduced over a freshly baked loaf to go together with the excellent cheeses and wines they’d picked out for an evening of gossip, or to get a text from my boyfriend to mention that he was taking part in a slice of my bread along with his soup for lunch at work. Without the opportunity of these interactions, making bread doesn’t deliver me that experience of feat I crave. It simply jogs my memory of ways lonely and hopeless this moment sincerely feels.

If getting to know to make bread is a quarantine pastime that brings you joy, that is superb. Embrace it. Lean into it. Perhaps try making a starter of your very own! However, for now, I’m leaning inside the other path—toward nostalgia, simplicity, and comfort—and sticking with brownies. The fudgier, the better.

[o-blivia]

... Five Years Later

I never set out to start an aesthetic blog, for as much as I’ve been curating one for the past half decade and counting. This whole thing started with the idea to start collecting images from around tumblr that sparked ideas for various writing projects without cluttering up my hard drives. It shouldn’t have been so surprising that not long after starting this habit, a cohesive, if eccentric, aesthetic began to emerge. There are a few well worn grooves in my mind when it comes to my artistic vision, I guess.

That vision has expanded and refined over the years, and curating o-blivia has become a project in its own right — independent of anything I’m writing even if it’s still a well for inspiration. And in this respect, o-blivia is meant to be more than an aesthetic, though it is that. Through imagery alone, I’ve been carving out something of a cyberpunk future. With that ever in the back of my mind when I sit down to tackle my queue for the day, a loose set of internal guidelines has developed for what does and doesn’t get posted. Figured it was time I expanded on them a bit, maybe involve you all in the process.

Firstly, the world is a complex, multifaceted place and I’ve always wanted o-blivia to reflect that in ways most cyberpunk works can’t while telling a specific narrative. That’s why it probably seems like I jump around a lot. Eclectic is a word for it, but it’s more the idea of presenting a rounded vision. In someways, this is my answer to where or how ordinary people are supposed to exist in the Cyberpunk Future(tm). Mainly, right mixed in with the mercs, cyborgs and basement hackers. Everybody’s gotta live somewhere.

Secondly, representation. Representation is achingly important. I’d hardly be the first to accuse the visual media in this genre of being whitewashed (blade runner, I’m looking at you,) nor to point out the absurdity of a globalized future lacking in diversity, and I’m not going to claim to be the first to refuse to perpetuate the tendency, either. It certainly wouldn’t reflect the world I live it. They call my country a cultural mosaic and my city a melting pot, so I’ve set myself the task of creating an equally rich fictional world — because we are the better for all our differing perspectives.

The thing about representation is it doesn’t mean shit if it isn’t done respectfully. It isn’t as though marginalized groups have been completely absent from media for the last century. The context in which they’ve been represented has been racist, demeaning and beyond disrespectful in much the same ways they’ve been treated in real life. Society is changing, and — albeit at a glacial pace — coming around to the idea that white people and their stories are not the universal default. For the longest time, there was next to no diversity in the cyberpunk tags on Tumblr. It’s gotten better, but I still feel that I have to put that extra bit of effort into finding and including images representing diverse groups in respectful, empowering and humanizing ways.

On the subject of representation and respect, I have to talk about my biggest peeve when it comes to cyberpunk Tumblr: the way women are portrayed, or the goddamned tactical bikini. Cyberpunk has a litany BAMF women characters, yet the art has remained firmly entrenched in trends that originated in the 80’s. The tendency is to have these big hulking male power fantasies decked head to toe in body armour and leather, while their female counterparts take up literally half the space, showing up to combat in daisy dukes and a bikini top wielding a big fuck-off gun like that’s how any sane person would show up to a gunfight.

There is nothing inherently shameful about the female body, I want to make that painfully and abundantly clear. My issue is not with how much skin is showing. No, my issue is that these images are meant to specifically portray women as sex object. The only conclusion you can come to is that these women have put appealing to the male gaze above bodily safety, which is beyond insane. So my rule when it comes to women with guns is that if she’s dressed in a way that is realistic, or that I could easily find a man similarly dressed, I will post it. If she’s dressed for a day at the beach instead of heavy combat, that shit is not getting anywhere near my blog.

That said, context is very important. So yes, I will post images of more provocatively dressed women if the context is right. Mainly, if she isn’t about to go into combat and the image is empowered. There is the odd exception, namely Tank Girl, who wields her sexuality like a weapon and pushes limit of provocative into the realm of raunchy with the intent to offend and scandalize. (She’s my hero.)

And above all else, on this blog, women are the default and not the other way around. So you will see at least as many, if not more women than men here. No, I don’t feel bad about it.

Lastly, it’s important that I address the depictions of violence and militarization that appear on o-blivia. It might seem incongruous with opinions I’ve expressed in the past, and with my own experience with gun violence, to have these depictions feature on my blog. I’m not a pacifist, even if violence is not something that I feel lives inside of me in anyway. Neither do I believe it realistic to expect a species as divisive and opinionated as we are to be capable of abandoning conflict and bloodshed any time soon. Someone is always going to find some way to be crueler, to inflict more suffering and pain, which means there needs to be someone to stop them.

I never set out in my mind to create some kind of utopian future — that’s not what cyberpunk is about by anyone’s definition. So to omit the presence of militarized forces, the threat of violence, or the realities of omnipresent surveillance would be disingenuous and would, I think, undermine what I am trying to create.  That said, I don’t seek to glorify violence, either. I don’t post images of firearms on their own, even if the image would fit the aesthetic, and I don’t post images where proper trigger discipline is not being respected. Guns exist, theres no way around that, but they should be treated with the trepidation and caution due to a device capable of ending a life between one heartbeat and the next.

Other than that, it’s pretty much anything goes. I’m an open minded person with varied interests — technology, fashion, abstract art, architecture, videogames, cats, sea creatures, space, design, weird creepy things and street art, are just a few regularly occurring themes. Who knows what will spark my interest tomorrow.

[bowlerhatwearer]

Did you know that when I created this blog I wanted to use it solely for politics, well for a long time I did not but rather wrote about politics in asks, today I’ve decided to break this “silence” if I may call it like that.

Around yesterday evening (some rumors claim the chancellor knew since 48 hours but I want to take the time the whole scandal began to emerge more and more) the print medias “Süddeutsche Zeitung” “Der Spiegel” and “Der Falter” from Germany revealed clips from an around seven hour long video filmed with a hidden camera that showed the (now former) vice chancellor of Austria Heinz Christian Strache (or for short H.C Strache) and Johann Gudenus the  (also now former) leader of the parliamentary group of the Freedom Party Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreich) a right winged populist party with the color blue on a villa in Ibiza in the year 2017

Strache and Gudenus got invited by an female “Russian Oligarch” who was interested to settle down in Austria but also to invest into the FPÖ in form of donations, in the video she, according to the press often pointed out that the money she was willed to donate could be black/illegal money. A consideration of Strache was in the video to, if she would be willed to open a  building/construction business he would be willed to make sure she would get all the future contracts, not the state owned construction business instead. He also talked about how she could buy the “Kronen Zeitung”, here in Austria the number one read Newspaper, and to replace some journalist so that the “FPÖ” could push their agenda two, three weeks before elections to make sure to “not only get 27 but 35 percent” in the next elections. Needless to say when the Krone found out about this they where not very amused.

Strache mentioned also an organization where she should put her “donations” so the audit court could not look up into it, stating also that said organization was taken care by three lawyers to make sure nothing would happen. The former vice cancelor also said that other rich people or cooperation would do it (said people like Glock or Novomatic denied any involvement).

It might also be important to say that apparently it’s confirmed/semi confirmed that all of this was staged, but Strache and Gudenus fell for it. The villa plus the cars around it on Ibiza where rented and the female “Russian oligarch widow” plus her “German husband” where actors.

I don’t think I have to say that once all of this got to the public, now one week before the elections of the European parliament people are more than shocked and angry. Many people from the opposition or bystanders began to protest our current government.

At 11 am central European timezone H.C Strache made an live-announcement that he would resign from his position as vice chancellor and all other positions he had. But not before claiming this was a conspiracy against him and the party he had led for around 14 years and basically his excuse was that he was drunk there and apologized to his wive life on TV for what he did.

Minutes later Johann Gudenus too resigned from all his positions.

By now more and more had gathered and demanded from the chancellor of the Austrian People Party (Österreichische Volks Partei short ÖVP) Sebastian Kurz to a) show his face and b) call for re-elections. It took him until 7:45 p.m. before he too made an live announcement where he declared that “enough was enough” and there would be reelections that most likely will happen in September of this year.

At 8.30 p.m. our President, Alexander van der Bellen (Independent, formerly member and front runner of the Green Party ) did an live press release saying that the pictures and video shown where a “disturbing genre picture” of Austria one not “fair” to the land and people of Austria and that those are “shaming pictures and no one should feel ashamed for Austria and that he clearly wants to say that we are not like that. Said pictures had been respect less against the people and such a thing will he not tolerate.

He discussed with the chancellor the now the earlier elections and talked about how trust has to be restored and that the people of Austria had a right to have a government they can trust.

And that’s basically what happened, within one and a half day our vice chancellor stepped down and after one and a half year of this right-wing populist and conservative government we’re going to have reelections.

Edit: It might be important to point out Gudenus role, he translated what Strache said from German to Russian for the female “Russian Oligarch”

I do hope that I told everything in fair accuracy of what had happened and please feel free to correct me if I said something wrong, false or confusing. I also want to apologize for all grammatical mistakes or miss translations from.

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Lithuania to Eurovision with a rampaging mess that gave a lukewarm conclusion

Oh dear.

When it comes to my country to choose, they’re often chosen to be overlooked by the Eurofan community, especially because of our insanely long procedure of choosing, that would often cause everyone to hear the songs live more times than they’re supposed to. And it seemed to be a similar case this year because while not as long as usual, we still had 7 shows + an additional week break (that allowed me to watch some more Destination Eurovision! Woo!), and a big pile to songs to swim through, usually submitted by all ranges of songwriters who’re willing just to get their names known to the world creditswise (looking at you Ashley Hicklin and co.) and often are paired with our talent show rejects that fade away as soon as they come in if their song and their chances crash out before the final (see Germantė Kinderytė - she didn’t make it to the lives of The Voice Lithuania, had a killer song though that didn’t make it to the semis thanks for the jury annihilating her pointswise TWICE and only ended up lucky the televoters’ 10 was enough to get her through. Another example: Benas Malakauskas, who got lucky to be on the selection for two years in a row, but did not go beyond the AUDITIONS in said talent show! Yet progressed to the second round at farthest both of his years). And even then, you’re never sure if these songs ARE even on the lineup. Last year we had angry Erica Jennings pulling her song out of the comp just because of having to hear the juries critique others so abrasively (at least abrasively I guess?) one show in, but then it suddenly re-emerged back, but instead sung by Monika Marija - fresh off her The Voice Lithuania victory. This year we had some names pulling off for no reason, some names pulling for A reason (like Sasha Song who couldn’t turn up for the live recording of Heat 4 because of his song not sounding the best way possible, and was fined for it lol), and some names being added last minute or even changed unexpectedly (Tomas Sinickis, you heard of him? Now he underwent by Tommy Modric... yes the footballer Modric). Which is as crazy as MIIIIHAAAAIIIII deciding not to compete in the Romanian NF because “it’s all rigged and me a tryhard won’t feel too safe enough to finally win on this one” oh boo-hoo, think of the kids who never liked your sorry ass anyway. And think of the kids in general before showcasing your half-naked or mostly-naked body in front of them.

Excuse me for my long ass paragraph number 1, BUT we were actually so dang dramatic this year that I cannot contain myself without letting y'all know why this NF deserved a much better winner to come out of it rather than THAT that actually came to be. I'm a native so I know every single detail. So if ya wanna know why exactly I'm underwhelmed, read 'em up. If you wanna know that I'm just underwhelmed, just skip ahead to the review, idc. Did you make your choice? Well then. Let's delve into the details:

• The first clear competitor, Monika Marija, releases a song that people really want to see in the selection but she assures everyone it’s not THE song. Then she shows her other one, and people honestly want the first one back, but grow to adapt to it.

• Lineup reveal happens with her in it, wbk. Along with some other interesting names like Jurgis Didžiulis (off InCulto), Jurgis Brūzga and etc.

• First show is filmed and broadcasted as normal. But, after the broadcast, a pissed-off parent is mad at his son’s result on Facebook (and the result seemed fair enough to me actually despite liking the song because it’s such a second-hand NF tier entry that isn’t meant to last that I’d even see fizzle out in... A Dal for example).

• Also a minor lulz related to one contestant’s song lyrics sounding like Russian swearwords (you know the ones the kids are yelling on CS:GO) but that was fixed

• Lineup changes that include Sasha Song, the second-most-recent X Factor Lithuania season winners at the time 120 (yep that’s the band’s name) and some other guy who came and went last minute without a word from him back as to why lol. (As well as one of the lost starlets of 2018, Emilija Valiukevičiūtė, was initially announced in the first lineup reveal but fizzled out by Heat 4 as well.)

• And it turns out Monika Marija chose both of her latest releases (including the first one she said she won’t enter) to participate because her fans want it so and she felt like it, although fans were more attached to the 1st one she entered.

• Jurgis Didžiulis brings Erica Jennings with him - yep, the same lady who withdrew because of the jury has grew some thick skin over a year and joined the lineup too. Among other things.

• Second show had a major televoting issue that affected the scores massively (basically only a few hundred votes were missing lol), and had the issue affected any of the nonqualifiers enough for them to qualify, they’d be added to the semis as a wildcard. So naturally, someone of the NQs complained about it BUT it turned out it did not affect anyone anyway. Another act got pissed for being mistreated by juries too by the way.

• Sasha Song withdraws last minute for reasons above, and his fine is 2000 euros. Well, now you have to know that if you, fellow Lithuanian, want into Eurovizijos, you need to be a bit rich to accept circumstances like these, otherwise you’re totally fucked.

• Heat 3 happens as normal BUT Heat 4 brings in some fire as it turns out that one of the contestants’ stepfather was offering his company’s services (like, those outside children play parks’ assets) for televotes to her dear stepdaughter’s song, with her EVEN NOT SEEING ANYTHING WRONG WITH IT. LRT, as clever as they are, decide to null her televotes in protest. Shame tho as the song was good, and way better Laurell Barker submission than the ones she got on ESC this year.

• One contestant, Alen Chicco (also from X Factor Lithuania, may or may not even be from the same season that was won by 120), causes a bit of controversy by having a black man on his performance

• During the semi stage, Monika Marija asks her fans not to vote for the 1st song she submitted to the selection, but rather support her 2nd song that won the semi comfortably, way after the folks were attached to her 1st song already and claiming it’s better for Eurovision (no it’s not), but it backfires spectacularly when the jury has enough guts to make her qualify with it, even if the televote for it was rather low.

• But before semi 2 happened and Monika Marija sang her weaker song, a contestant with the name of Migloko resorts to middle-finger the audience during her performance for no reason in semi 1.

• Monika Marija succesfully goes on to withdraw one of her songs (the one from semi 2) just to not split her fanbase even further when it comes to the final, therefore not lose. Also has to pay a fine of 2000 perhaps.

• Jurijus Veklenko, which was one of the front-runners along Monika Marija, was accused of having his song published on Soundcloud a year too early, but as a demo version, therefore not commercially viable enough for ESC rules. Later he was let off easy by LRT, but decided that EBU should investigate and report if they think it’s not fine, but if he was allowed to compete with that, he was possibly not in danger afterall.

• And since Monika Marija has got only 1 song, her final spot she got with that other song was given up for the aforementioned Alen Chicco.

• Finally, Monika Marija was still THE front runner of all this, having a sizeable amount of a fanbase enough to support her, even more so than the eventual winner... yes, she did happen not to win in the end. U mad?

And even if Monika Marija would have honestly been an anticlimactic winner, this next guy is even more so, because although shocking, his song is pretty much by-the-numbers Eurovision NF pop you’re gonna get, although not as cheap as the one written by constant NF failures that submit their stuff for countries like Moldova, Belarus, Romania and Malta (that until Malta ditched their NF). And the one that ended up winning is the said person whose song was uploaded a year too early as a demo - Jurijus Veklenko, but for now, he’s pretty much needed to be addressed as Jurijus. No wait, he’s back to being Jurijus Veklenko, but he dropped the “us” from his name, that’s odd. (By the way, he’s the only ounce of Ukraine you’ll ever have this year - his father is of that nationality, hence why the ever-so-Slavic Veklenko surname)

“Run with the Lions” is the song name, and for a title as anthemic as this, the song... not so much. Like I said, it’s pop, and it’s good that it’s pop, but it’s just pop. I doubt that Jurijus’s songwriter team did anything to distinguish the demo from its final product, hence why it was so easily autodetected somehow. Like, the structure is there, the lyrics are there (but what even ARE they? “if you wanna see, just open your eyes”?? “if you want a voice, just open your mouth”????), but where’s the depth, man? I really felt like I needed more of this song, especially in the choruses. Like, some additional background instruments like strings wouldn’t have hurt? In fact, this song has a slight revamp (I’m saying “slight” because no marginal changes had been done) that adds up some acoustics in the background of the 2nd verse and only changes one line (”there’s no need to be afraid” now is “you don’t have to be afraid”. Wow, revolutionary. What about “You don’t got to hide away”?? Why repeating “You don’t” twice in the prechorus???!!!... ooh I’ll be here all day if I only talked about nitpicks)... and it yet still feels too little. Thankfully the choruses have someone shouting something like “huh huh hoo” synthetically to liven it up somehow.

Yet somehow, out of nowhere, I admit liking this? Our boi is capable of singing live - both high and low; his voice and the song fit in delightfully with each other; and while basic, the melody is pleasant, non-offensive, non-ear-grating... perhaps the problem of it all is that it’s too inoffensive? Something that flows away in the wind and passes you by without you knowing. Something that you’re told that it’s not background filler and you were just not paying attention to the actual music that was playing. Something so algorithmic, you’re easily able to make your ears cancel it out as it were just some sort of white noise!

Yeah, I don't think I want to describe us all that much. It's a pretty okay pop song, it's nothing groundbreaking (bar the message of being free to do all you can do), I enjoy the sound of it, it doesn't annoy me, I can fully be down to supporting Jurijus and his voice. Too bad it's in a year AND a semi where MoR pop songs DON'T dominate - we're way past those ages. To stand out, it needs to be anthemic, it needs to have a stage presence, it truly needs some X factor, and our staging nor our song offers it. And guess what, various other people are still mourning over the loss of Monika Marija, which I find perfectly reasonable, but who would have to lend us their final spot instead if she won? Armenia? Romania? Denmark? So many questions, so little time left to answer them all.

Right now I will just conclude with me saying that I like this. It's inoffensiveness is pleasant, and in any other year we'd be the perfect filler songs for the final, like we were in the past. Cool cool.

Approval factor: Anything that will make me forget how much of my nerves did I waste over stanning someone in our selection while knowing that Ieva will win is a good noodle in my book. Jurijus wasn’t exactly one of my favourites (you’ll see why when you hit the unfortunately long NF corner section), but that’s perfectly fine, seeing that I can finally be a proud supporter of my own country’s song.

Follow-up factor: we're a completely and utterly random nation, sending anything our juries found amusing the most at the time. So don't bother about follow up consistency every being good or bad. We're just going with our own flow and... that's basically it. Though we could, on an occasion, do better with picking songs, that's for sure. And maybe finally we will not have a song that's littered with "oh oh oh, yeah yeah yeah" kind of sounds... like seriously, "Run with the Lions" has a bridge that mostly consists of "ooooooohhhhhhh" and then one actually non-interjective line at the end. (At least in Tel Aviv you'll be hearing the backings murmuring "run with the, run with the, run with the lions" during it, and that's something.) I love it that we never change in our random tactics, I'd just love it more to see some actual change in the song quality, y'know? THEN will it be a good follow-up.

Qualification factor: I’m so devastated at saying this, but foreigners say that we’re probably going down to deat meat levels this year. But I still have hope in us qualifying. Believe it or not, the people out there still don’t buy into the Lithuanian diaspora power, and genuinely believe that our harmless tune is chanceless. I only understand that it cannot work its magic when we send something risqué and incredibly opinion dividing (but most people dislike it anyway), but just look at our results on the years when we were generally received bad when we were just boring. “C’est ma vie” qualified. “Something” qualified. Back when Donny Montell was such an unknown in the Eurovision lore because 2012 was his first year and his song was considered “dated”, he still qualified. See something here? We still can, and WILL, be able to pull through possibly, and I don’t doubt it that diaspora will lap up our mediocre song because Lithuania. Patriotism strong! (Oh and a handful of votes for Jurijus for being so hot.)

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

I already discussed the Eurovizijos drama in lenghty detail, so expect me not to re-iterate everything down here shortly, but what you need to know off it is that it had every single drama aspect you’d ever want - faulty line-ups, voting frauds, televoting malfunctions, forced plagiarism accusations, too-early-published-song accusations, late entry withdrawals, qualifier replacements, technical difficulties allowing to repeat a performance and some contestants being visibly pissed off by the jury (and to some extent, the overall) results. A total jumble <3 Never change, Lithuania. (except for the godawfully smug-ass HoD, I started to get tired of him AND his bald head doing this to us. It's been 10 years, retire already.)

So it’s better to talk about all the non-dramatic things I liked about our NF this year! From songs to performances, from shits and giggles to something serious - I’m taking you for a hefty ride.

• First and foremost, I actually didn’t mind one of the Monika Marija’s songs? Yeah, “Light On” was a good and polished pop track that has THAT power to get you good, with them strong sublime female vocals. Even if it kind of sounded like an Ikea store version of "Stay with Me" by Sam Smith. Not that there's anything bad with it, but any kind of plagiarism cases have and will always be barred from Eurovision if noticed by the organizers. This is not 100% dead-on ripoff, but there are shades of knock-offery here and there. And it's even a better "Stay with Me", and with a better message - Monika Marija reminisces of that one time she was almost dying herself, but she's here, she's survived, and you musn't hang her off the lifeline. At least it's "Light On" that got all the love in the NF in the end and not the painfully mediocre "Undo" ripoff wailfest "Criminal". It was so slow and plodding and I never got why so many people loved it. If "Undo" was a product, "Criminal" would have been its "made in China" counterpart. Anyway, here's "Light On". And please don't spam me messages with how much this would have been a contender for top 10 over Jurijus. :P In Eurovision it's an added bonus if your faves do well - the fact that they were in Eurovision is the most important thing, and I perfectly understand why do you miss it here on ESC grounds. Just... I'm tired of "MM top 10, Jurijus bottom 3 in semi", okay? Monika Marija can try our NF again. She’s very talented, and there’s a possibility that we’ll see her in ESC in the end anyway. Pave the way for our Polyglot Queen, Eurovision 20xx! ^^

• Now here's for once a cool Lithuanian artist that didn't come from a TV talent show! Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio Dantys ("antiquarian teeth of Kashpirovsky") is probably one of the coolest Lithuanian bands that I know - doing absolutely any kind of genre they're pleased with - from folk to rock to ska to acoustic pieces - I admire them for being so diversive! Too bad they entered with one of my lesser favourite tracks in their entire discography - "Mažulė" (one of the many ways to say "baby", as in, trying to call your lover cute, female gender case. Can also mean "baby girl" in this context). I have nothing against this kind of track they thrown in the selection, ska music and Eastern musical elements are gooooooood, plus I finally got to know what is a "forró" that doesn't mean "hot" in Hungarian - it's a music style popular in Brazil! However, the chorus could have at least sounded more "party"-ier. It doesn't really excite me to dance the window-cleaning dance to it. (Oh yeah and do you remember that this song is about a car, not an actual lover? They're basically confessing their love to an automobile. How they're protecting it from vandals, how did they dream of getting the car since young age, how wouldn't they change their car for any other. Romantic, I'd say.) However I am happy for the over 30 year olds that find this song completely and totally amusing when I can't quite seem to. I do say that I like those elements, the brass and all that. It was the only Lithuanian song in the sea of English ones in the final (just like A Dal was, but inverse - almost all songs in Hungarian but one English (and a bit Russian), and that's an achievement. AKD should be proud of themselves for impacting both our nation AND the international viewers which found fun in this! Respect. Maybe they'll win our NF soon if they keep on winning the audiences, or they'll probably GTFO forever. IDK, the latter is more plausible, sadly. They're so unique that they cannot be just a thing for more editions - just one for a try out, and that's enough.

• So, Alen Chicco. What’s so special to have him in the final instead of Monika Marija's weaker entry? Well, he's just a fantabulous persona, unique in every step he takes. And surely I was excited to see him preparing something for Eurovizijos after I read his name on the participants list. And then his entry did come. I wasn't quite sure what to think of "Your Cure" at first but the chorus is a pop beauty I hold up to myself somehow <3 now I find the song nice as a whole, the theatrical-like verses peak my curiousity though the prechoruses feel too drawn out a bit and could have had some big pauses be shortened or removed... yeah. But the most interesting thing is HIS LOOKS <33 his wardrobe and level of expressiveness is vast, I love it how eveything here was different each and every time he performed, and it all was always presented incredibly differently. I admire ONE (1) chameleon

which Alen Chicco are you today? ✨

• And that's almost basically it I have to show you concerning my faves? Yeah, I definitely had enough of our NF having this many songs too, I almost had no good favourites that made it to the semis and people would care about slightly if they'd be willing to. Nothing I could be excited over, nothing I could be passionate about as I was last year about my fave. Well I did like some qualifiers to semis but I don’t think they are THAT worth y’all’s attention all THAT much... However, I will definitely let you in on two of my personal non-finalist faves. Allow me to introduce the first band whose song is a guilty pleasure of mine only - it's Laimingu Būti Lengva ("it's easy being happy") with "Pasaulio vidury" ("in the middle of the world"). Now, it's not very competitive or anything, in fact the guys looked like hobos on their live performance and one of them was randomly shouting "heeeeyyyyy" a LOT of times, like a random heckler that's supposedly livening(??? is that a word???) up the performance, and they sang disappointingly... but the studio version, man. I dare you to not get hypnotized by the slow electric guitar feel. (You probably won't but idc.) I love it, I love the beats and how trappy but cool they sound on those verses, I love the slow soft rhythm, I definitely love the whole melodic execution, and the vocals actually sound alright on there (mainly thanks to autotune but yeah whatever). I have problems though - with a band like this, I barely see how can I get genuine enjoyment out of this song myself without having to slap myself in the back for admitting to actually like this. So I call it my "guilty pleasure" quite a lot of times. The song's structure is quite interesting, but it's mainly the repetitive verses and choruses smeared across the whole song at random. I get the song's point so much that I hate the band for hammering it into my head all this whole time - the song's protagonist met a red-haired and blue-eyed girl named Isabel in Portugal (the supposed "middle of the world"), they fell in love, that's it. But they emphasize it a lot that the girl was blue-eyed... not even I would if I had to write this song, and *I* have a blue-eyed people bias. The whole package was completely unappealing and with how they showed it it didn’t really look like something that even needs a staging or Eurovision at all, but I still keep this song to myself, and will definitely replay it a lot this summer. Just as much as the song that you'll actually get to watch the performance of down below - it's "Song of My Life" by Soliaris & ForeignSouls. It's cool, funky, catchy, vibey, laidback and summer-fun-infested. I cannot really describe separate parts all that much because all flows in so well. It's a good song to chill out and have a cocktail too. And it features a rap part that doesn't bother me at all! Good one, Soliaris. I didn't like your music back when you did mediocre 00s R'n'B, but you positively surprised me, both by returning to our NFs after like 9 years of absence AND bringing this gem. It didn't need an extreme staging - just some dudes having fun and that's it. And they brought it. It saddens me that these kind of songs don't stand a chance to qualify to the very final in our NF anymore, as they kind of would have in 2012 or so, but I'm still happy they exist. I only have had some issues with the lyrics laying out the words in sentences ("spend with me this beautiful night" bothered me a bit because if you translate it to Lithuanian in the exact same sentencing way, it'd make even more sense than it does to me now), but other than that, I fucking loved "Song of My Life". It might as well be my overall NF winner, haha.

• Oh and how could I forget Tiramisu??? That's perhaps my biggest discovery of this year. They moved on from utter unknowns to... still unknowns, but more known for the Eurovision fandom that does care about Lithuanian NFs. Here you have an oddly titled song, "The Smell of Your Eyes" (and you thought Safura smelling lipstick was extreme - but to her credit, lipstick DOES have a faint odor, doesn't it?), which is both insane AND original, and insane original is obviously encouraged. And the whole song sounds pretty damn good for a band that no one heard of and that used to do jazzy-ish and inoffensive musical flairs before. Here we have slight influences of folk even! And the violins, too. A generally charming piece that draws you into a pagan forest. Too bad the staging was completely misunderstood - they definitely had to put on some guy with a cheap Iron Man mask to pretend to give the band some intensity... lousy move. It could've looked way better if it were more mysterious and forest-like and had a more enchanting camerawork. And a little more colors than emerald and forest greens, too. The video clip looked way better and more high-budget than the staging came to be. Observe:

Felt like everything beautiful was stripped of it because the music video could not be repeated on stage. Ah well. The televoters gave them love but the jury did not let them to improve, and down the Bermuda triangle of fallen female violinists from the 2019 season went a lady of the name Rima Tamo, together with Gabriella Laberge and Tilla Török (who did not even appear on stage at that time of need!). Here's a spooky fact for all these 3: female violinists that all featured on songs in E minor, performed 1st in their respective heats/semis, were really loved by televote but hated by the juries, missed out on the next stage of the NF by 1 place. Coincidence? A curse? Tiramisu were obviously disgusted by the jury trashing their staging so they talked about hating them on Facebook. What's worse that they could have actually qualified if they've gotten at least 9 more telepoints that could've pushed them to get 10 televote points in general rather than 8, all thanks to a televote count error that removed large portions of votes. And that way they could have been wildcard qualifiers instead because they would have still gotten 8 televote points with the actual televote numbers, but the organizers of the NF said that if the televote failure would have hurt anyone's place in the final, they would have wildcard-qualified instead. No one did not, so screw it. At least "The Smell of Your Eyes" remains THAT song - lots of folk, lots of violins, lots of effort put into it, and the people actually loved it for that. Just that it's so sad that the jury didn't let them improve overtime... just like Hungarian jury didn't let Leander Kills go further... a shame, really.

• And now, onto the non-entry-events and stuff that happened, besides some actual good jury shade (like the one time at least one juror says that “you wouldn’t win even if all the contestants got sick”, technical errors in the production (thanks to one of them, one of the semifinal acts actually got to perform again... but the televote didn’t give her votes anyway lmao) and the constant reminder of one of our charities which gives tickets to Eurovision for the best disabled person story.. I don’t know where that is but our NF somehow acquired a skit from an Austrian man that’s been exploring stuff in Israel (I think) because of Eurovision this year... and man did I think that this skit was rather... hmmm... middle-ground funny? Slightly too annoying but still kind of alright to look at? It was fun, but certainly odd to find out about that it even exists.

• After feeling so disappointed with Hungarian juries's decisions on the night of February 22nd, I left my room to watch our NF's final on our living room TV, hoping for everything just to end already because I did not expect anything good happening on this final. I haven't even decided to go back to watch A Dal and see AWS reprise their song a little less louder than when they competed last year. And then our NF gave me a complete and utter surprise - The Roop reprising THEIR Eurovizijos 2018 entry. If you've been long enough here on Tumblr to know me, you would probably guess that I'm a big fan of "Yes, I Do" by The Roop, which I wanted to see winning our NF so badly last year, but in the end... you finish the quote so I don't have to. And it's odd because this year I felt the exact similar way with Hungary as with Lithuania last year - I have clear favourites I root for in both of those but deep inside I knew there was gonna be a different winner I only find okay and nothing else. (The difference is that "Az én apám" has grown on me since, "When We're Old" did not at all.) So back to discussing the interval act instead. For this one guest number of the NF's, the song began on a piano, "pretend" played by The Roop's lead singer, and then he got his butt off from the piano chair (unlike Duncan in Tel Aviv), to the microphone stand, and the song continued off sounding like its original version that was sung in last year's NF. I still love this song and even loved that version with piano at the beginning, but why did it not take over the whole song though? Just to not let the audience fall asleep before the Carousel would've? (Yes by the way, we got guest acts from other countries performing on our NF as well! But Carousel were the only ones to have a guest appearance, the other acts were either unchosen or perhaps busy doing Tel Aviv preparations, lol.) Well, good for them. I may or may not still would love The Roop entering and winning our selection someday, if they ever decide to participate again. They could've this year but they did not return, so maybe in 2021? Let this girl dare to dream for once, Lithuania ^_^

• I love when our NF has postcards, no matter at which stage of introduction they are on. In 2016 the postcards were present in every show (the ones for the final were the best), in 2017 they were only introduced in the round 3 of heats (sometime before the semis), in 2018 - from the 2nd round of heats onwards, in 2019 though they were only for the final... what’s the punchline for this paragraph? Oh, there IS none. I just confessed my love for our NF postcards. Just keep scrolling :)

• Okay so I know no one really pays attention to our heats because we have too many of them AND we have too many songs in them, and the eliminated ones always stop mattering to everyone right away. But I'm here to bring you a favourite meme of mine that hailed just from the heats alone: miss RÙTA, who could have done much better during her performance if she didn't constantly look like she's incredibly constipated. I don't know what makes her look like that - the lipstick? the grin? her over-dramatic entry about wordly disasters, "Paradox"? I may never know, but I will let you have a good look at it if you don't want to watch the whole video I linked. Personally, I liked the red staging this song had, and the song wasn't bad, but the singer felt agonizingly nervous and never got the chance to do better, sadly. Oh and look at that sleek tattoo, mmm.

• Oh and our NF featured a metal song but it’s so formulaic and by the numbers dad metal that I didn’t even support it all that much.... however I’ll let you listen to it if you’d really like. And there's this best alternative song of this year's NF that I've heard that also ended in the semis, and it's way better than Fusedmarc's alternative (despite having some ugly beatboxing skills). Check it out too if you will.

And thankfully, that’s that for another year. I’m getting so awfully tired to compress my own NF even further more, especially with my enthusiasm for the actual quality of this NF going down the shithole with every single heat show coming after each other just like that, with more mediocre songs after more mediocre songs. I’m also openly declaring that I have barely any energy left with continuting these writeups, seeing that there’s too many to go and most of them are STILL undercooked drafts. But I’m tryna pull through. I have another completely completed review underway afterwards - just a few edits here and there on it and I’m done with it, m8s! And then I’m piling up new paragraphs after new paragraphs on other reviews.

So I hope I let you know why do I think that the end result of ours is lukewarm - from a dramatic NF there should have been a slightly dramatic winner tbh, but in the end we got a pop song that only a few people like. Brutal. And with the biggest hopes in my eyes for our success I’d like to finish this off with two words. Sėkmės, Jurijau!

[lovelacemagazine]

Nine 2018 Richmond, VA Projects That You Should Check Out

We are halfway through the year and there has been plentiful content being produced from the Gritty City. There has been a constant production of great content from some well-known artists as well as some that are on the rise in the city of Richmond. I made this list of projects based on projects that are released on January 1st, 2018 all the way to June 21st, 2018. Here is a collection of nine Richmond projects that you should definitely listen to.

1.) Michael Millions- Hard to Be King

The year started with the release of a jazzy, soulful project from Michael Millions. His project ended up on XXL and his music video for Sirens, which is on the album, was featured on Revolt TV. Hard to Be King is produced by a variety of people from his brother NameBrand, to fellow Association of Great Minds member Nickelus F, JL Hodges, Bandolero, and many more. The nineteen-track project focuses on Michael’s journey to happiness. In Sirens, Michael talks about the city he grew up in and some of the challenges that he faced growing up in Richmond. The tracks transition smoothly as the instrumentals gradually change in range, making it sound like it’s a long, beautiful story. Some tracks to check out on the project: Moor Hustle (feat. Melodic), Blacksugar (feat. Fly Anakin and Nickelus F), and Happy. You can follow Michael Millions on Instagram and Twitter (@michaelmillions)

2.) AARNXBRWN- Jailbird On Walton

AARNXBRWN created a buzz in the last year with performing at shows like FaceMelt Friday and Flora here in Richmond. The Equals7 collective he’s in even holds shows that happen weekly on Thursday nights. His most recent project that dropped June 2nd, Jailbird On Walton, gives any new listener a solid introduction to who he is as an individual. Jailbird On Walton is a nineteen-track project that has a balance of party songs and darker, more introspective tracks. This project shows his perseverance in his trials and tribulations. Some tracks to check out on the project: Taquito, Frankenstein (feat. OG Illa), and Wake Up. You can follow AARNXBRWN on Instagram and Twitter (@AARNXBRWN)

3.) Radio B- Jesus Never Wore A Suit

This project had almost a year and a half of anticipation in the making thanks to its precursor project, Sunday’s Best back in 2017. The level of cathexis Radio was showing into manifesting Jesus Never Wore A Suit as a study for understudies to borrow from is displayed in caring for the ones close to you. Here’s an excerpt from one of the songs on JNWAS, I Got U to show what I mean: “We all see something different. We all see different pictures, but you a masterpiece. I wanna buy you wineries and cabins. Let you lavish in all your favorite things. Go to paradise and play on the swings. Share our fears and share “highdeas”. So what we talking’ bout?

When you call my name…I wanna make it where you call our name…No fault no shame. No shift no blame. I’ll share your pain. I’ll share my soul. You make me whole.”. Some tracks to check out: Cursing In Church, I Got U, and Freedom To Live. You can follow Radio B on Instagram and Twitter (@RadioBlitz)

4.) Milo Case- Pillow Talking Weather

An up and coming artist from Richmond and recent UVA Alum, Milo Case, has been doing music ever since his days as a child. Pillow Talking Weather is a fifteen track mixtape that covers topics from the usual “Netflix and Chill”, college adventures, and black love to conscious societal issues such as police brutality and underfunded education from where he lived at in his younger days. Milo Case displays his versatility in sound through his rapping and singing to his overall beat selection. He was at episode three of the RVA Lyricist Lounge and finished as the runner-up. His presence in the RVA Lyricist Lounge and rising popularity in the city lead him to work on a track with Michael Millions that’s coming out later in the year. Some tracks that you should check out: Kickback, Vivadellis, and Hack (Bonus Track). You can follow Milo Case on Instagram (@milo.case) and Twitter (@MiloCaseMusic).

5.) Nickelus F- Stuck

The legendary rapper hailing from Southside of Richmond dropped Stuck to celebrate his graduation from VCU. Stuck is a fourteen-track project that explores his struggles in dark, introspective tracks that fits this lyricist’s style. Recently on a WRIR radio interview w/ artist Black Liq, Nickelus F said that the second track, Sleazie Wonder, a beat that he made for the deceased Richmond artist, Sleazie Wonder. On that track, he shouts out people who he respects greatly. He also debuted a new name, Horace Hardbody The Statue, which is the thirteenth track on Stuck. It’s a reflective project that’s strictly produced by Petey (which is also Nickelus F by the way). Some tracks to check out: Mids, Trill Burr, and Horace Hardbody The Statue. You can follow Nickelus F on Instagram and Twitter (@nickelusf).

6.) Fly Anakin & Ohbliv- Backyard Boogie  

Two members of the Mutant Academy collective released a collaborative project back on April, 20th. The sixteen-track project was strictly produced by Ohbliv and has Fly Anakin on every track. Backyard Boogie is a bar filled project that covers a variety of topics over a diverse and elegant beat selection by Ohbliv. The project has several features from Nickelus F, fellow Mutant Academy members Henny L.O. and Koncept Jack$on and more. Some tracks to check out: Thug Bachata, Several Blunts Later (feat. Koncept Jack$son), and The Prototype (We Got All Night). You can follow Fly Anakin and Ohbliv on Instagram and Twitter (@flyanakin) & (@ohbliv).

7.) Tuamie & Henny L.O.- Emergency Raps: Volume 2

Mutant Academy makes the list once again with another tag team project. Emergency Raps: Volume 2 is strictly produced by Tuamie and features Henny L.O. on twelve of the thirteen tracks. It’s another bar filled project over an extravagant beat selection from Tuamie. Emergency Raps features M.A. members Fly Anakin, Koncept Jack$on, Big Kahuna OG, and Richmond artist Monday Night. Emergency Raps: Volume 3 is already in the works and is on the way soon. The date for that project has yet to be revealed. Some tracks to check out: Exhibit M (feat. Henny L.O. and Monday Night), Love 3x, and Light Years (feat. Henny L.O. and Fly Anakin). You can follow Tuamie on Instagram (@tuamie_) and on Twitter (@Loop_Samples). You can also follow Henny L.O. on Instagram and Twitter (@hennyldot).

8.) Peter $un- Valencia

The Richmond native Peter $un collaborated with producer Lasik Beats to create the Valencia EP. The EP pays homage to his new home in Los Angeles. Valencia is influenced by Playboi Carti as $un would listen to Carti frequently during the cultivation of Valencia. It has a unique modern west coast influence as the instrumentals are more upbeat and playful that anyone can vibe to. Some of the tracks to check out: SUM MOE, VALENCIA, and EVRY THNG NVV. You can follow Peter $un on Instagram and Twitter (@holapedroxx).

9.) ĀR RÄ- The Sun Tape

ĀR RÄ is an artist from Southside of Richmond that has been making his own wave. He has done so from having his own radio station to being on DTLR radio to having giveaways of Adidas shoes, and more with his sun themed music. The Sun Tape is an eleven track project that describes his past that he’s adamant and honest about. The way that ĀR RÄ plays with many sun references in how he presents not just his trap music, but as a brand, definitely shows that he has a bright future ahead of him. Some tracks to check out: Sun Beam, Sun God, and Sun Tan. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter (@arraoso)

-

Written by Jay Guevara

[onthebridle]

2020 Poule d’Essai Des Pouliches Preview

A poll taken in 2018 detailed that women were indeed stronger than men in certain situations, one of which was famine. For as long as I have had the pleasure of being woven into French Racing, there has been a consistent strength and it has been in the fillies and mares. Year on year they excel and shame their male counterparts. There is never a shortage of talent surging through. It is a showreel worthy of Hollywood glamour or a Chanel Paris Fashion Week catwalk. Count them; Treve, Avenir Certain, La Cressonniere, Qemah, Senga, Sistercharlie, Ervedya, Esoterique and Solemia amongst others. Strength and in numbers too. 

The 2020 renewal of this race oozes strength and for the third time will take place on the Deauville catwalk of Normandy.

Onto the runners!

SIMEEN

The phrase “slow and steady wins the race” is of little to no use in Racing apart from when the patience trinity of Soumillon/Rouget/Aga Khan come into the focus out the back of the television infact take a quick flick through the dictionary and filed under Patience you will find a picture of Christophe Soumillon. 

France is home to many a great thing with food and art amongst them, but it is the latter that Soumi has been crafting and mastering within this fickle, volatile and downright conscienceless trade for year after year. The art of patience. His ability to patiently scrutinize pace and space before engineering then maintaining the perfect position for his faithful companion is seldom rivalled.

Simeen, Simeen, Simeen, Simeeeeeeen (as Dolly Parton once said) is a trademark Aga Khan filly. Size? You bet. Smarts? Of course. Elegance? Unquestionably. Her debut on a cold wet Wednesday at Saint Cloud showed class, arrogance almost, but also initial (albeit) minor flaws. Her relaxed attitude in the early parts saw Soumi give her a bump and the misbehaviour taking the first bend gave out small warning signals but from then on she was all class. Gliding past horses through the slop she then cocked her head towards the stands and roared “WATCH THIS” passing the 100m pole and clearing further away under a motionless Soumi. Clairefontaine was easier. Much easier. The blemishes from earlier wiped away. Composed throughout she Moses’d her way through the parted seas and for the final 400m she was arrow straight and in glorious isolation. A bodyswerve from the Grotte saw her take the (easier) Pistole at Chantilly comfortably and in true patience trinity style with Jean Claude Rouget even reaching out to call the race “Not difficult”.

Talent flows through her like the Seine through Paris, she has done it on all grounds and comes into the race fresh and in the care of the Pouliches almighty guru Jean Claude Rouget. Questions abound; Will the famous patient tactics work? What about the draw? Is she quick enough?! 

Patience folks - we’ll find out!

TROPBEAU

My lords and ladies, may i introduce you to one of your own! 

From blue-blooded breeders to a blue-blooded owner and finally her racing royalty trainer, Tropbeau appeared built and bred for the big stage. Alas, her debut over 1100m went as poorly as the decision to close the track the race took part at. A good old chinwag would take place and the decision was made; she was to step up to 1400m. A mighty fine chinwag and decision it was indeed. Count them, six and a half lengths at Clairefontaine, two and a half lengths in the Group 3 Six Perfections and then a repeat dose in the Group 3 Calvados. Both at Deauville I must add (albeit on the round course). Eleven and a half lengths later she was on the Eurostar to Newmarket. France conquered - England you’ve been warned!

Respected as all Fabre runners are at Newmarket she was lifted off her feet by the hare-brained pace the field set off at. Barza bumped and begged her to go faster. Pleading almost at one point. Last into the dip she was in no mans land. Lightyears from the rail, horses stacking up in front of her and the only remaining gap closing like a set of automatic fire doors. Barza was having none of it. Through he went and with ammunition still stockpiled she went off like a gun up the hill before being blindsided by Millisle and her chances ceased. Fabre was nonplussed, “She may have come 2nd” said the master trainer. Regally honest.

The thing about blue blooded individuals is that their time of power is seemingly infinite. Things around them change but the status quo does not. The reign of Andre Fabre and Mickael Barzalona in the Prix De La Grotte has the air of a monarchy! Count them again; 8 for Fabre and a hat-trick for Barzalona. Tropbeau crowned herself Queen of ParisLongchamp when seeing off Dream And Do in comfortable fashion whilst showing her ammunition stockpile had barely been touched. Blue blood is widely associated with power - a trait and also a trademark she definitely has (in stockpiles). 

THE OTHERS:

Dream And Do - A rather delightful motto to live your life by isn it? Dream And Do. Simple and straight to the point. This daughter of Siyouni is much alike to her name. Five races, three wins. 2nd in the Grotte she gave a minor scare to Tropbeau before being put away. Twice a winner on a straight track, this may be the key to her landing a blow on the top two. Frederic Rossi has been effusive about her saying, “I think she is very good...She has definitely improved since last time.” She will need to and then some in my opinion but drawn in 3 she will get a chance to grab the golden rail.

Tickle Me Green - 2011 was the last time a German owned horse claimed victory in the Pouliches. Dropped into the Fabre yard at the start of the season after a transfer from Markus Klug, the daughter of Sea The Moon placed 3rd in the Grotte on her first run in France. She emerged almost as a domestique that day for Tropbeau and may repeat this role again on Monday however the draw could have been kinder. Fabre’s main target for her is the Diane so expect her to run well but possibly bow out when the going gets brisk with other grand plans on the calendar. 

Marieta - Well at least Mauricio Delcher Sanchez is honest and forthcoming, “The straight track does not play in our favour. It is not ideal for horses who have limited stamina, unlike a turning track where they have chance to get a breath.” Tough to fancy before (even with her 2nd in the Boussac) and a wider berth will now be given.

Speak Of The Devil -  A headscratcher. But in a good way! A winner in the mud at Deauville she was green that day bumping the rails like a bowling ball but showing enough to beat subsequent winners Bonne Idee and Cleante who are both very well regarded fillies. 2nd behind (Poulains contender) Shinning Ocean at ParisLongchamp she was made to wait and wait and wait before getting a clear run at which point 2nd was the best outcome. She hammered through the line and caught the eye. If she handles the ground she really could give the headliners a scare. Pasquier prefers Mageva (weirdly!) however she will also get to eyeball and track Tropbeau drawn in 7.

It is difficult to see any further runners having a chance given the conditions and strength of the race so they have been omitted.

THE VERDICT:

I hate cliches but it really looks a two horse race and the best horse will likely win.

On one hand you have the undoubted pace and thick blue-blooded form of Tropbeau. She’s been to the dance and got the rosettes to show for it. A powerful show at ParisLongchamp saw her eyeballed by two competitors before putting them away in superb style. The other hand you have SIMEEN who im going to side with. A wide draw is not ideal but around her you have the prominent runners of Tickle Me Green and also Desobeissance and in her three previous runs before, she has been posted wide(ish) and won well. I don’t believe the idea that Simeen isnt as quick as others - in my opinion she hasn’t been able to fully extend as nothing has been able to go with her for so long or nothing could get far enough away from her. Knowing this, Soumi’s scrutiny of pace will be key and if he can keep the short leash on Tropbeau and use the pace of TMG and Deso to drag herself into the race, there is no reason why she cannot go past them all. Patience. Patience Patience! Speak Of The Devil could also be a good EW play if any firms offer an extra place on the race.

[biofunmy]

Late Night in 2019: Trump, Trump and More Trump

“I don’t want to talk about Donald Trump every night. None of us do. But he gives us no choice.”

That was Jimmy Kimmel. In March. It’s safe to say he talked about President Trump nearly every night since.

Kimmel’s lament was emblematic of the fact that, in late-night comedy, 2019 was yet another year dominated by Trump’s tweets, gaffes, comments, decisions, hirings, firings and foibles. The Trump Administration so totally dominated late-night monologues and bits, it’s more useful to break up the year into mini-eras of Trump: The Mueller Report era, the whistle-blower era, the ongoing impeachment era.

And even when Trump wasn’t Topic A, politics still was, as more than 20 Democratic hopefuls entered the race to run against him in 2020.

Kimmel’s March complaint was actually prompted by a tweet from Trump agreeing with a former host, Jay Leno, who said in an interview that he found current late-night shows to be “one-sided.”

If Trump “sat in the White House all day quietly working on things, I would almost never mention him, because it’s not interesting,” Kimmel countered in his monologue. “But today — not even today, before 10 a.m. today, before 10 o’clock this morning, his former campaign chairman was sentenced to prison for the second time in a week, he called himself the most successful president in history and he tweeted to let people know his wife hasn’t been replaced with a body double.

“I’m not supposed to mention that?”

Mueller Fails to Excite

The long-awaited Mueller Report was finally released to the public in April, in the form of a heavily redacted 448-page document.

“Political analysts are going to try to read through these redactions like teenage boys trying to watch scrambled porn on cable in 1985.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

Mueller’s report was followed by his highly anticipated testimony in July, which Stephen Colbert called “the Super Bowl of things on C-Span at 8:30 in the morning.” But Mueller’s performance, full of references to “inconclusive” findings and subjects that were “outside my purview,” did not satisfy Trump’s opponents.

“What were you expecting? Did you think Mueller was going to smash through the wall in a monster truck called the DeTrumpulator?” — SETH MEYERS

Mueller was so widely described as boring on the stand, on “The Late Show,” Colbert joked that “he only got 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.” But Colbert also said he wasn’t interested in a government who cared about ratings, “because we already have that with Donald Trump.”

And while the president claimed he wouldn’t be watching any part of the hearings, Kimmel pointed out that Trump spent his entire day tweeting about them.

“He tweeted more than 20 times today, capping the tweetstorm off with this: ‘Truth is a force of nature!’ And we all know how much respect he has for nature, so.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

Any Way the Whistle Blows

While interest in the Mueller Report quickly faded, it was soon followed by a whistle-blower complaint with allegations that Trump required a quid pro quo from the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

In April, late night made one of its earliest mentions of Zelensky, now somewhat of a household name. Conan O’Brien pointed out that the incoming president was a fellow stand-up comedian who’d spent some time on television.

“I looked up their Constitution: The order of succession in Ukraine goes comedian, juggler, magician, then secretary of defense. That’s how it works. After hearing about it, Elizabeth Warren signed up for improv classes.” — CONAN O’BRIEN

“Who would believe Volodymyr Zelensky would be his Monica Lewinsky?” Kimmel later joked of Trump in September, as details of the president’s July call emerged. In his statement, the whistle-blower said several U.S. officials confirmed Trump was hoping Zelensky would “play ball,” and Colbert couldn’t pass up a chance to poke fun.

“[Imitating Trump] ‘O.K., Ukraine. You gotta play ball, O.K.? And I mean let me get to second base, O.K.? Over the bra, under the Constitution.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

With the current impeachment hearings continuing, Trump is sure to be a focus throughout the holiday season, as late-night hosts wait for an opportunity to talk about something and someone else.

The President Would Like a Retraction

In October, Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign’s communications director, demanded Kimmel issue a retraction for suggesting the president was golfing during the Delta Force raid that killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. On air, Kimmel admitted he’d been wrong.

“Trump was at one of his golf courses for the 238th time since taking office,” Kimmel said. “But he finished the round, and was back at the White House by 5 o’clock. Whether or not they were waiting for him to finish the round — I imagine Delta Force sitting there in the choppers, locked and loaded going, ‘What hole is he on now?’”

Kimmel then called for Trump to retract “the weird detailed lie” the president shared at a 2018 rally in South Carolina. (Trump claimed Kimmel fawned over him when he appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”)

“And while you’re working on factual accuracy, your boss has now lied in public approximately 14,000 times since he took office,” Kimmel continued, in response to Murtaugh. “He should probably start the retracting and correcting soon because he’s 73.”

The only 2019 rivals to Trump’s screen time were the numerous democratic hopefuls for 2020. Some clear front-runners have emerged, with Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg consistently polling highest, though not necessarily in that order. These politicians prove a little more difficult to imitate than Trump, but it doesn’t mean Jimmy Fallon hasn’t tried on “The Tonight Show.”

“Nowadays, most of you recognize me from the rallying cries of hope and unity that I’ve stirred across the nation. But the rest of you know me from my hit series, ‘The Boy Who Became Mayor,’ only on Disney Channel.” — JIMMY FALLON, impersonating Buttigieg

As the candidates made their rounds on late night, no interviews were more entertaining than Desus and Mero’s. The Showtime co-hosts played basketball with Cory Booker, grilled Senator Sanders on his favorite rappers and challenged Senator Warren, who has a plan for everything, to help them complete an escape room.

Biden offered plenty of fodder for mockery, with his inappropriate touching, frequent gaffes and new campaign slogan: “No malarkey.” The former vice president was also ridiculed for his frequent name-dropping of President Obama.

“[Biden] spent eight years as America’s vice president and surprise masseuse, but before that, he had a whole career that you might not know about. You know, kind of like how some people only know Billy Ray Cyrus from Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road’ remix. And like Billy Ray, Biden was doing his own thing for decades before he was made cool by a young black man.” — TREVOR NOAH

Queer Capitalism

Late-night shows weren’t entirely focused on presidential politics. For example, in June, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement, inspired plenty of tribute, remote bits and satire. Much of it mocked the commercialization of Pride Month, “the time of the year where we all celebrate the L.G.B.T.Q. community and corporate America celebrates them by selling us, Rainbow Goodyear tires,” Colbert joked. “Yasss, traction!”

Both “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” and “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” sent correspondents on the road. In honor of the Stonewall anniversary, Jaboukie Young-White took “The Daily Show” to Pittsburgh’s Pride Parade, looking to find out if companies like Walmart are gay and if “queer capitalism is totally chill.”

In New York, the transgender comic Patti Harrison went to the Stonewall Inn for “Full Frontal,” exploring the history of gay liberation and Pride celebrations, which she joked was started by United Airlines, Citigroup, Postmates, Tesla, YouTube, Android and the Trump campaign.

In 2018, Harrison and the comic Julio Torres satirically pitched the idea of Straight Pride on “The Tonight Show,” and this year, someone actually followed through. A Boston-based group called Super Happy Fun America launched its own Straight Pride Parade this summer. “It’s so troll-y!” Trevor Noah said. “Especially a straight parade in Boston. The city has had six Super Bowl parades. What do you think that is?”

“If you’re wondering the difference between the Gay Pride Parade and the Straight Pride Parade, the Gay Pride Parade will have women at it.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

When Hosts Attack … Each Other

The mockery got intramural in September, when “The Late Late Show” host James Corden, best known for his star-studded “Carpool Karaoke” and “Crosswalk the Musical” segments, criticized Bill Maher for his comments about fat shaming on “Real Time with Bill Maher.” (Maher insinuated that overweight people should be shamed into losing weight.)

“So I sat at home, and I’m watching this and all I could think as I was watching was, ‘Oh man, somebody needs to say something about this,’” Corden said. “‘If only there was someone with a platform who knew what it was actually like to be overweight’ … and then I realized, ‘Aah, that will be me.’”

Corden, who follows Colbert on CBS, acknowledged that he and Maher, who shares HBO with John Oliver, have a lot in common — “We both host the second most popular talk shows on our network” — and that Maher has always been kind to him in person. But as for Maher’s comments about how overweight men cannot see their own nether regions, Corden responded: “Believe me, I can see a [expletive].”

“Bill, please hear me when I say this,” Corden said in conclusion. “While you’re encouraging people to think about what goes into their mouths, just think a little harder about what comes out of yours.”

The Best of the Rest

Some of the most memorable sketches of 2019 had nothing to do with Trump, particularly a few built around celebrity stunts. Exhibit A: the enviable “Day Drinking with Rihanna” on “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”

Brad Pitt and Fallon just couldn’t stop showing each other their gratitude in “Courtesy of the Gentleman at the Bar.”

Finally, a fictional political era — one that seemed comparatively less outlandish by the week — came to an end this year when HBO’s “Veep” wrapped up its seven-season run in May. Colbert offered a fitting send-off, hosting a very special crossover episode on “The Late Show.”

The bit featured some of beloved stars of “Veep,” including, of course President Selina Meyer, who laughed off Colbert’s suggestion that their actions had real-world consequences.

“Foul-mouthed president who tweets like a child. Blaming everything on the Chinese. Election interference. A completely moronic press secretary,” Colbert says. “Anti-daylight savings time laws, 700 measles cases and rising. You are killing my world!”

Meyer’s rather Trump-like response hit below the belt: “Another 85 pounds of generic white male mediocrity that shops at the lesbian warehouse.”

“Seriously,” she added, “you look like Letterman took the least funny dump of his life into a child suit.”

Sahred From Source link Arts

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[stephaniefchase]

Bajan Newscap 8/2/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for wednesday, August 2nd, 2017. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today ((BT), or by purchasing a Midweek  Nation Newspaper (MWN).

REVENUE COURT IDEA NOT TAKEN UP – Barbados needs a revenue court to deal with tax dodgers and disputes, a special Social Partnership committee recommended in a pre-Budget report to the Government. While not dismissing the importance of tax amnesties, the committee said that in order to supplement such amnesties and improve tax collections “Government should immediately establish a revenue court and evolve it to a full commercial court”. This was one of the recommendations Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler did not implement in his May 30 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals. In its April 12 report, the committee called for the immediate establishment of a “self-funding revenue court” to complement Barbados Revenue Authority reforms. It could be funded by penalties from tax arrears and charges on commercial cases, the report suggested. (MWN)

BARBADIAN CONFIRMED AS LIAT CEO - The Board of Directors of LIAT has confirmed the appointment of Julie Reifer-Jones as Chief Executive Officer. In announcing her appointment, Chairman of the Board of LIAT,  Jean Holder noted that “Reifer-Jones has served at LIAT in the number two position for some nine years and in that capacity has acted as CEO for extended periods on several occasions. On her appointment, Reifer-Jones stated she is delighted to be taking up this new challenge and is looking forward to delivering an improved level of service from LIAT to the region. Reifer-Jones is the first woman to be appointed CEO of LIAT. She is a graduate of The University of the West Indies, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Barbados. Prior to joining LIAT, as Chief Financial Officer in 2008, Reifer-Jones held several senior finance positions and has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of finance and management. (BT)

TRUMP ‘DICTATED’ SON’S STATEMENT ON RUSSIAN LAWYER MEETING – President Donald Trump personally dictated the statement his son gave on his talks with a Russian lawyer during the election campaign, US media report. It said Donald Trump Jr and the lawyer had mostly discussed the adoption of Russian children in June 2016. Trump Jr later revealed he had agreed to meet her after being told he could receive damaging material on Hillary Clinton. President Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Russia. The Senate, House of Representatives and a special counsel are all investigating alleged Russian interference in the presidential election which took the form of attempts to undermine Clinton – a claim denied by the Kremlin. The reports about Trump Jr’s statement came in the midst of further turmoil at the White House. White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was fired on Monday after fewer than 10 days in the post. The former Wall Street financier had drawn criticism after calling a reporter to give a profanity-laced tirade against his colleagues. Reports that President Trump had himself dictated the statement his son issued about the meeting with lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya first emerged in the Washington Post. It cited multiple sources. The initial plan was that Trump Jr fully disclose what he knew about the meeting, the Post says, but that decision was reversed and his first statement said they had discussed the adoption of Russian children, not campaign issues. Trump Jr later acknowledged that he had agreed to meet after being told Kremlin-linked information about Clinton would be offered during the talks. He also released the email exchange that brought about the meeting. The Washington Post says some of the president’s advisers fear the extent of the president’s intervention could place him and some of his inner circle in legal jeopardy.  (BT)

TREE-MENDOUS SHAME AT WELCHES – It is a sight that road users don’t usually see up close. But motorists and pedestrians are manoeuvring around trees which had sprouted up in the road along Highway 2A between Welches, St Thomas, and Warrens, St Michael. The bushy growths are growing out of the jersey barriers and could be a danger to road users on the busy stretch. (MWN)

SHOT TEEN PUZZLED – One minute Jeriel Bynoe was liming with friends listening to music. The next, he was on his knees, disabled with two gunshots. And while he somehow managed to escape with minor injuries, the 18-year-old and his family members are trying to piece together the puzzle which led to him being shot just behind the Survival Bar and Grocery in the Glebe, St George on Monday night. Bynoe, a mechanical student at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJPP), was shot in his left hand and left side while at his customary liming spot just after 10 p.m. In an interview with the MIDWEEK NATION from his home in Valley Land, St George – a stone’s throw away – Bynoe recounted the ordeal.  (MWN)

BUTTERFLY DANCE – BUTTERFLY, impressively ridden by Antonio Bishop, stunned the Garrison Savannah yesterday at 14-1 odds to claim the 78th running of the Massy United Insurance Barbados Derby over 2 200 metres. Owned by Gay Smith, this daughter of Lion King out of Flying Dove, looked potent approaching the three-furlong marker after tracking the first half-dozen runners from the gates. A confident Bishop positioned Butterfly alongside early stalker Legion and the pair pulled four lengths clear of the field as they fought out the final two furlongs. The chasing pack, led by Oberoi and including Fleurette, Zip Codeand Carbon Copy, could be seen fighting for the minor places. The more Bishop asked of Butterfly the more she gave him before putting away from Legion, who simply had nothing more in the tank. (MWN)

BEAMING BUTTERFLY CONNECTIONS – In the winner’s circle, there was pure jubilation on the faces of both jockey Antonio Bishop and trainer Edward Walcott Jr when Butterfly delivered the 2017 edition of the Massy United Insurance Derby horse race yesterday.  “It feels great . . .  awesome . . . . It’s very hard to express it,” said Walcott during the post-match interview. Before the race, Walcott had stated matter-of-factly that he was “quietly confident about Butterfly”, who showed her girth among some of the top names in the business. “Her bloodline have always spoken for themselves. We had Meteorite, Zoom and many horses out of this line that have competed at the top class, and this horse was begging for the distance,” he said.  (MWN)

WRONG TUNE – Three top calypsonians say they are against any efforts to merge the Party Monarch and the Sweet Soca competitions. Since 2009, the two contests have been held separately under the banner of Soca Royale, one of Crop Over’s biggest events, but the future of Party Monarch, which has a tempo that’s much quicker than Sweet Soca, has come under scrutiny because of declining entries. Cranston Browne, the chief executive officer of the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), hinted recently at a possibility of a merger that would effectively be a return to the original format. Sweet Soca was added as a category eight years ago as a consequence of its then growing popularity. But Red Plastic Bag, TC and Edwin are not keen on the fusion idea. (MWN)

CROP OVER ‘MORE THAN DRINKING, WUKKING UP ’– Grand Kadooment must be about more than mindless wukking up, said director of the Commission for Pan African Affairs, Dr Deryck Murray. During the Bongani Festival at Blenheim, St Michael, yesterday he told the media Grand Kadooment and Emancipation Day took place close to one another so there had to be a greater level of consciousness concerning the former. “We don’t have the luxury of complacency when it comes to our development and freedoms. We have to remember that, first and foremost, Crop Over is about our emancipation, so we have to remind people it’s more than about drinking rum and nakedness,” he said. Murray said Emancipation Day and Grand Kadooment actually coincided every seven years and this made the message of uplifting culture all the more important. He said Government was doing its part “bit by bit” but it was up to the public, as well as the Grand Kadooment bands, to buy in.   (MWN)

AFRICAN HERITAGE PLEA – Access to funding continues to stifle the progress of the pan-African movement. Both the chairman of the Pan African Coalition of Organisations, Rev. Onkphra Wells and director of African Heritage Foundation Leah Clarke said money was one of major causes hindering them getting their message out to the community, including schools and churches. They were speaking yesterday at Blenheim Pasture following the annual Emancipation Day Walk. “We could scream as loud as we want but unless we have the resources to make it mainstream in terms of having national policies – in schools, at churches – that won’t happen as yet,” Wells said. (MWN)

BARBADIANS COMMEMORATE EMANCIPATION DAY WITH BONGANI FESTIVAL – Barbadians from all walks of life have begun celebrations to mark Emancipation Day today with a Bongani Festival. The day’s events got started at the Emancipation Statue at the JTC Ramsay Roundabout, Haggatt Hall, St Michael with libations and ceremonial ancestral reverence. The group, which consists of Pan African organizations, Government officials and diplomats, then embarked on the Freedom Walk. To the rhythmic beat of drums, the participants walked through communities in The Ivy and My Lord’s Hill. The walk culminates at the Blenheim Playing Field for the official ceremony. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Senator Patrick Todd, other Government and diplomatic officials, and representatives of Pan-African organizations will deliver messages at that ceremony. (BT)

That’s all for today folks there are 151 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase

[footyplusau]

After the siren: Blues jump the queue in rebuilding race

WHAT a difference two weeks – and a gutsy win on the road – can make to the outlook for a club. 

Labelled a concern for the AFL on the eve of the season by one columnist, because of its apparent lack of talent, Carlton is now firmly on track under Brendon Bolton as that talent emerges with every disciplined performance.

Only the most optimistic of Carlton supporters expect to see their team in September, but the 5-7 Blues were the big winners out of round 13 after the type of road win that stays with a team as it builds for success.

The Blues are playing the long game under Bolton, who was as disciplined as his team in his post-match media conference after a gutsy win against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium, sending a message to his players to keep perspective.

“We’re only one year and 12 games in. It’s important our club, our supporters and most importantly our players keep real perspective in spite of two wins,” the coach said.

It is sage advice for a club that has won back-to-back matches just eight times in 78 matches, but there is certainly something cooking at Ikon Park. 

• Around the state leagues: Who starred in your club’s twos?

This pair of wins – the first coming against premiership contender Greater Western Sydney – felt significant and it was only the second run of wins since the start of 2014 to include a victory on the road (the Blues won four straight matches last year, including one at Domain Stadium). 

Carlton is building a reputation as a well-coached, disciplined team that gets the most out of itself, and as talent builds that is only going to make them harder and harder to beat. 

Last month’s AFL Media fan survey placed the Blues behind Fremantle and North Melbourne when it came to team’s clearly in rebuild mode and their closeness to a premiership.

A Twitter poll on Sunday had the Blues clear front-runners after their back-to-back wins, earning 59 per cent of the vote, ahead of Gold Coast (18), Fremantle (12) and North Melbourne (11). 

So what specifically has been so impressive about the Blues in the past two weeks?

In both wins the Blues have fallen behind during the fourth quarter but found a way to steady the ship and get their noses in front at the right time.

Against the Giants it was the Blues’ defensive structures that held up under serious pressure in the final two minutes that was most impressive.

Against the Suns it was their ability to respond to each challenge in the final 10 minutes, with the sensational Bryce Gibbs and impressive youngster Jack Silvagni both kicking clutch goals. 

The Blues are bedding down their style under Bolton and it is holding up in tight games. Next Sunday’s clash against Richmond – a team that can’t win the tight ones right now – is huge.

So exactly what are the Tigers learning?

For the fourth time in six matches, Richmond will presumably start its review by breaking down the end of a match, having let victory slip through its fingers.

The Tigers have improved out of sight this season, are doing a great deal right, and their brand of football is capable of beating any team, both now and in September. 

But these close losses have the potential to rob the Tigers of a top-four spot come the end of the season and that would be a great shame for a team that would otherwise be in the premiership discussion right now.

• Six things we learned from round 13

Coach Damien Hardwick, the popular pick for coach of the year so far this season, has spoken often about learning from these losses. But what have they learnt, and why does it keep happening? 

Against Fremantle in round eight the Tigers’ centre bounce structure didn’t hold up at the critical moment, and one week later they were poorly set-up to defend a kick-in, conceding a goal.

Against the Swans, they conceded the final three goals after holding a nine-point lead.

WATCH: The thrilling final minutes from Rich v Syd

The first, a brilliant 50m bomb from Josh Kennedy, had more to do with the midfielder’s brilliance than the Tigers’ failings. So did Kieren Jack’s check-side goal in traffic.

It was Gary Rohan’s sealer that highlighted the work still needed to the Tigers’ defensive structure behind the ball, with Rohan sneaking out the back to receive Kennedy’s kick out of a half-forward stoppage.

So do the Tigers have to take the good with the bad under Hardwick’s “just play” philosophy this season that has freed up his players and sparked an exciting season that has them finals bound?

Or is it time to ramp up the structure and discipline that Hardwick conceded had become too prominent in his coaching?

Only he will know the balance his players need, but they will have to learn quickly and start turning their close losses into wins if they are to deliver on their potential. 

In an even premiership race they should be sitting with the front-runners. They aren’t yet. 

Happy hunting for Demons

You can always read something into a winning team’s song, and Melbourne’s on Sunday evening said plenty.

The Demons players shook the walls at Etihad Stadium after their third straight win, and there’s no doubt this was a big one against the reigning premiers. 

It was their most committed performance under Simon Goodwin, who targeted this period of the fixture as an opportunity for the team to build momentum. 

Twice this season the Demons have notched impressive victories, only to lose the following week, with those defeats coming against Hawthorn in round seven and North Melbourne in round nine. 

So to back up a thrilling Queen’s Birthday win against Collingwood with a clinical and ruthless defeat of the Bulldogs was significant for this team, opening up possibilities for later in the year.   

“We’re in a position where we’re teetering on being in the eight and outside, so we understand if we keep putting even performances together we can slowly climb the ladder,” midfielder Jordan Lewis told After The Siren.  

“As a group it was a really important win, but we also wanted to back up after last week.”

While the Demons gained momentum, the Bulldogs have entered worrying territory, coming off second best in a fiery and physical clash that threatened to boil over late in the second quarter.

• Fantasy form watch: The Bryce is right

Luke Beveridge has spoken about the new dynamic the Bulldogs are dealing with as teams set themselves to take a scalp when they come up against them. 

It’s a dynamic Lewis knows about after four premierships with Hawthorn. 

“When you are a reigning premier, sides see that as a game you want to win and it is a different mindset that the Western Bulldogs are going through,” the midfielder said. 

“We had that at Hawthorn and it’s a really tough position to be in, so you’ve just got to back it up every week.”

With one win from their past five matches, and only two from their past seven, the Bulldogs haven’t managed that yet.

Other observations

1. This year’s eventual Brownlow medallist will need to show great patience in the final 10 rounds of the season. With the return of committed, four-quarter tagging jobs, the game’s stars are going to get frustrated. That is nothing new, but retaliation through stomach punches and backward swinging elbows is no longer tolerated by the Match Review Panel. Dual Brownlow medallist Gary Ablett endured one of the tightest tags of the season on Saturday night from Ed Curnow, and his frustration nearly boiled over at stoppages a couple of times. It would be a great shame to see one of the leading contenders suspended for retaliating to a tagger, so hopefully the game’s stars get the protection they are owed by the umpires.

WATCH: Blues target superstar Gaz

2. Everyone involved in the Dustin Martin negotiations has been very diplomatic in their public comments this year, but Tigers CEO Brendon Gale put some pressure on the Martin camp for the first time on Saturday. Gale said the club was “probably approaching that time where we’d like to get a sense of where their heads are at because we do have to plan (our) salary cap and other players, so I guess we’re approaching that point”. The Tigers have 16 senior list players out of contract – and five rookies – and the club can only wait so long before it commits salary cap space to them.

3. North Melbourne’s place on the Friday night stage must be in jeopardy next season. The Kangaroos’ only match in that timeslot was a fizzer against St Kilda, with a listless performance combining with a flat atmosphere to make for one of the more disappointing games of the season in a marquee timeslot. A lack of outside class was the most glaring weakness against the Saints, and only reinforcing the Roos’ need for a Josh Kelly type.

4. Port Adelaide is not at its best, but it sits fourth after doing what needed to be done against the Brisbane Lions. More will be needed, however, in a three-week stretch against Collingwood (MCG), Richmond (Adelaide Oval) and West Coast (Domain Stadium), so let’s see what the Power are made of.

5. Yes, it was on home turf, but West Coast’s physical performance against Geelong should be acknowledged. The Eagles smashed the Cats in tackles (93-74) and had an aggressive edge all night. It was a positive sign.

ANALYSIS: ‘Football acts’ key to stars’ MRP fate

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