#she has approximately a million songs she could use to take a shot at her ex boyfriend and she chooses THIS song??

[feminist-cult-following]

straight girls I am begging you to let lesbians have one thing

[dweemeister]

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Elvis Presley’s ascent to stardom struck the United States (and the world) like a lightning bolt. Hounded from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry due to the country music establishment taking offense to his genre-blending musicianship, Elvis grew from being a regional phenomenon to a national sensation as he helped innovate rockabilly, a form of rock and roll. Movie producers, sensing an opportunity to cash in on Elvis’ skyrocketing popularity, gave Elvis star vehicles such as Love Me Tender (1956) and Jailhouse Rock (1957). Critics shrugged at these films – low-budget affairs where most of the budget went to Elvis’ salary – but his fans made them critic-proof, turning out in droves to scream and swoon at their slick-looking dreamboat. Grappling with television’s advent and the dissolution of the Old Hollywood Studio System, Hollywood’s major studios shifted their efforts towards more bombastic, showman-like films. Such was the situation in the early 1960s that longtime Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis (1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1942’s Casablanca), now at Paramount, joked that, “a Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood.”

To the horror of Elvis’ fans and movie studio executives but to the delight of those fans’ parental figures and teachers, the U.S. Army drafted him in March 1958. Elvis served twenty-four months before his discharge with the rank of Sergeant. During his service, Elvis nevertheless had plenty of singles in the can, many ranking high on the charts while he was at basic training and later his posting in West Germany. Looking forward to restarting his musical and acting careers, Elvis soon returned to the recording studio and shot G. I. Blues (1960) – he had discussed the film with Wallis months prior to his discharge – in short order. For the eighth film of his career and his fourth after his discharge, Elvis starred in Blue Hawaii, directed by Norman Taurog (1938’s Boys Town, nine Elvis films) and produced by Wallis. The film stars Elvis as an Army veteran recently discharged from the service, returning to his home state. I wonder where did they get that idea from? It also marks the unlikely beginning of Elvis’ association with the Aloha State – which shed its territorial status in 1959 and was ready for a Hollywood treatment that had nothing to do with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Chadwick “Chad” Gates (Presley) returns home to Hawai’i from his military service, greeted by girlfriend Maile Duval (Joan Blackman: “MY-lee”) and a flower seller named Waihila (Hilo Hattie in a cameo). Instead of immediately seeing his parents – mother Sarah Lee (Angela Lansbury, only ten years Elvis’ senior) and father Fred (Roland Winters) – he escapes to a secluded oceanside shack with Maile and his Hawaiian surf buddies. Chad is the son of pineapple plantation owners, and Sarah Lee wants him to succeed Fred when the time comes. But Chad is not interested in those plans, electing instead to work as a tour guide for Mr. Chapman’s (Howard McNear) travel agency – among other things, Maile works at the agency. The first tour he gives serves schoolteacher Abigail Prentice (Nancy Walters) and her four teenage students, all girls. One of those girls, Ellie Corbett (Jenny Maxwell), appears standoffish at first but then begins to flirt shamelessly with Chad.

If by that point in Blue Hawaii you are still concentrating on the plot, just note that your approach to watching Elvis movies is not advisable. Watching Elvis movies for a sensible plot is to invite frustration; accept the narrative drivel and enjoy.

Shot mostly on location on the Hawaiian Islands of O’ahu and Kaua’i, Hawai’i offers splendid backdrops to even the most mundane scenes of this film. Charles Lang’s (1947’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1959’s Some Like It Hot) camera allows characters to be dwarfed by the green mountains in the distance, the crystal blue waters extending to the horizon, and palm tree fronds wafting amid a gentle breeze. Scenes of breathtaking natural beauty abound in Blue Hawaii. In conjunction with the production (Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler) and set design (Sam Comer and Frank R. McKelvy), Blue Hawaii becomes, by default, the most colorful Elvis movie to date. The film, by design, partly becomes a tourism advertisement for the new state. Its white characters and filmmakers exotify and romanticize Native Hawaiian culture to fit their own expectations and perspectives – these sorts of depictions have endured across the last century, figuring heavily in cinema (1935’s Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific as part of [James A.] Fitzpatrick’s Traveltalks for MGM) and tourism advertising. This is the first live-action feature film from a major Hollywood studio to make even a minimal attempt to depict native Hawaiian culture since Waikiki Wedding (1937), another Paramount film.

Here are some more connections between Waikiki Wedding and Blue Hawaii: both share one song (“Blue Hawaii”) in both their soundtracks and both films are musicals. The Hawaiian musical sound is just as integral to popular conceptions of Hawai’i, and it is used liberally here in orchestrations, if not melodic structure. Blue Hawaii’s soundtrack contains the greatest amount of songs (fourteen) for an Elvis film. For those who enjoy their breathless musicals with a song at every turn, Blue Hawaii does just that. The musical numbers arrive in the most innocuous situations – from forming a melody from a tune heard on the radio, an impromptu jam session with a guitar conveniently within arm’s length of Elvis, or starting from nothing. The worst of the soundtrack avoids many of the novelty songs that plague Elvis films, especially the later entries. Given how nonsensical the plots to Elvis movies are, the lower-tier songs in Blue Hawaii are preferable compared to more stilted acting and fraternizing shenanigans. Thus, the bar is raised, and the inclusion of two non-original songs – “Blue Hawaii” (music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin) and “Aloha ‘Oe” (Queen Lili’uokalani) – are arranged in such a way that beautifully complements Elvis’ velvety singing voice. Among the original songs, “Moonlight Swim” (music by Ben Weisman, lyrics by Sylvia Dee) is a sensuous, laid back song that perfectly serves Chad’s characterization: an unabashed Casanova, effortless in romance, a hint of masculine arrogance.

The runaway hit of the Blue Hawaii soundtrack is among Elvis’ most popular songs. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss – appears approximately midway through the film as Chad says hello to Maile’s grandmother (Flora Kaai Hayes, a former Hawaiian Territorial Representative to the U.S. House of Representatives) for the first time since before his military service. It, like so many other musical entries in Blue Hawaii, arrives without much warning, backed by a constantly harmonizing music box and a steel guitar played in a Hawaiian style. One might take issue with the song’s use in context, but it is a crooners’ standard that has crossed linguistic barriers worldwide. Its simplicity is self-evident: a memorable melody, chorus, and a minor key bridge aching for resolution as it modulates to major key. Perhaps “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is not considered one of the greatest original songs in movie history because of the questionable quality of the film it appears in. More likely, Elvis’ gravitational pull as a crossover music and movie star writes its own legends that defy a critic’s or a historian’s corrections.

Somehow, I have written all the above without remarking on the acting. Other than Elvis himself, everyone else is a passing interest at best. Joan Blackman’s chemistry with Elvis is apparent, but she does not distinguish herself from every other female lead in an Elvis movie. Angela Lansbury’s exaggerated Southern accent displays her considerable range, even if there are better examples in other films. As much as some may deride Elvis’ performances for being unchallenging, one could not imagine an Elvis movie without the star attraction. His persona is effervescent; his charisma incontestable. According to Weiss, Elvis’ comedic instincts manifested themselves in subtle ways. If Elvis requested a joke to be explained in discussions about the screenplay, it was his roundabout, maybe overly polite, way to warn Weiss, Taurog, and screenwriter Hal Kanter (1952’s Road to Bali, at least twenty-two Academy Award ceremonies) that the joke was not funny. During test screenings of Blue Hawaii, every joke kept in the film that Elvis questioned elicited nothing from the audience. On- and off-screen, an Elvis movie with Elvis removed would collapse from the void of hilarity and charm such an absence would create.

Blue Hawaii, like all other Elvis movies prior, succeeded at the box office in comparison to its budget. Adding to this bounty for Elvis, the film’s soundtrack album sold millions of copies, sitting atop of the Billboard charts for twenty weeks, and garnering a Grammy nomination. The soundtrack profits from Blue Hawaii and the preceding G.I. Blues led Presley’s obstinate manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to have his client concentrate on film soundtrack albums at the expense of non-soundtrack albums – setting the groundwork for the remainder of the 1960s (Elvis released 16 soundtrack albums versus six non-soundtrack albums during this decade), with diminishing returns. Parker reasoned to Elvis that his fans demanded to see him in these musical romantic comedies, rejecting any roles that did not fit this mold. Elvis, believing his manager, continued to make films until well past the point an Elvis Presley picture was a guaranteed hit in theaters.

In its visual splendor and Pacific appeal, Blue Hawaii sealed the fate of Elvis’ post-Army career. No other subsequent Elvis film would match the commercial heights of Blue Hawaii, although one could argue several of those movies surpass this one in terms of acting, aesthetics, and musical interest (like 1964’s Viva Las Vegas and two concert documentaries in 1970 and 1972). Elvis returned to Hawai’i several more times during his career for concerts and two films – Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). As much as Elvis is associated with Tupelo, Mississippi (his birthplace) and Graceland in Memphis, there is also a special relationship between Elvis and Hawai’i. That relationship – one that touches Elvis’ personal life and the musical traditions of Native Hawaiians – begins with Blue Hawaii, an archetypal Elvis film and one of his best.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs “Celestial Axis”

Sorry I have not been writing recently. I have been struggling to find ideas, and I have also been very busy. So I apologize if my writing is not up to scratch as it is normally. If you would be willing to help me, I could definitely use your ideas. Otherwise, thank you and enjoy. 

Operation Celestial Axis Location: Triangulum Messier 33 NGC 598 HO or 3 centigram 4th quadrant area 6 GA                Planet: TM-440, pseudo (Lamb) At approximately 0400 HST or 5/10 rotation GA time scientists set an urgent message reporting the imminent destabilization of TM-440 (Lamb)’s core. Destabilization can and will result in a complete planetary breakdown resulting in the worldwide extinction of all major lifeforms including the class A sentient Homocimex Parvus henceforth known as the Tvek.

After serious deliberation, the galactic assembly has determined the loss of TM-440 would be a loss to the future galactic community. In accordance with this determination, human operations experts have been given access to a Class B model D40 planetary stabilizer and additional equipment to stabilize the planet. It has been determined that contact with the primitive species is necessary to preserve life. Human operators will be equipped with pseudo translations of current language as discovered by scientists as of this moment.

If contact comes to violence operators are expressly forbidden to use deadly force encouraged to use only defense tactics. We hope for their swift action. If the planet cannot be stabilized, operators will be ordered to leave and preserve all life that can be preserved.  

***

The ground rocked again trembling and rumbling beneath them as if it would never stop. Underneath their dim, cloudy sky, the Tvek huddled in their cities, and their houses, in their groups waiting for the eminent ending.

There was nothing they could do, only an act of deity could save them now, and at this point, deity seemed further away than it had ever been. Their entire species would die out, here and now under the cloudy sky blasted into a million pieces by their unstable core. Fathers held children, mothers sang songs, and the lonely figures sat outside their dwellings waiting, and watching for the moment when everything would be over. No one went to work, no transports moved on the street, all was silent. The animals had fled to their underground dwellings. Even the Umbertrees had shed their fluff filling the air in a delicate grey haze, as if they knew what was coming. Shedding their fluff like tears.

As was its nature, a lone Tvek sat watching the sky eyes closed against the rumbling of the ground below. A rumbling that seemed to grow heavier as the night continued. Here, at the lowest city on the planet, the core was as close as it was ever going to be, and soon it would be gone.

They sky above grew even darker, as their star drifted away around the curve of the planet, and then the ground began to tremble again. The Tvek closed their eyes as stones on the surface of the planet began to rattle and then roll leaping in time with the distant roaring nose, growing closer and closer.

This was it, this was the end, they could see it before their eyes, their planet shattering into a million pieces, heating up and then boiling down.

And then the sky above burst into light. A mass flash and a hundred pinpricks of light. The Tvek leaped to their feet staring up towards the sky. A bright flare, a mass of fiery burning light, the roar of a million screams. Umbertree fluff caught fire, burst into flame and then burnt out with one great woosh leaving the sky vast, blank and dark….

Accept for the massive, alien ship held suspended in the sky upon jets of fire. There it hung, for the longest moment, suspended black against the sky thousands of feet wide and absolutely plastered in ancient, alien symbols

U.S.S. Stabby

More lights flashed above, and it seemed as if a thousand of the ships appeared from nowhere bursting into light as they broke through the atmosphere.

Screaming erupted from the surrounding city center, from the houses, from the streets. They didn’t know what they were seeing, as the massive celestial ship descended from the sky ancient and alien markings painted across the side of the ship. Blotting out the sky, the ship descended from above fire roaring and catching upon remaining umbertree fluff. The Tvek stood staring up at the underside of the ship as it descended even further towards the ground. A whirring noise rose over the ships engines as the massive legs of lading gear whirred from the underside of the ship digging into the ground, casting dust up and into the air. The ship’s body screeched and rattled as it settled to the ground and the engines were cut.

The screaming grew louder then dominating the night. Thousands ran from the ship hundreds retreated from its shadow as a bright slit broke open in its underbelly. The clattering of strange metal over strange metal. The ship glittered silver and black, the light that broke through was pure, white cutting through the darkness and the dust. As the ramp hit the ground, it echoed off the city. White light silhouetted the figures standing at the top of the ramp. Silhouettes…… not unlike their own.

Celestial light broke around them as other ships began to land around in tight formation cutting their engines and casting even more celestial light up into the sky.

Some of the Tvek stood frozen in the beams of whitest light watching as the figures made their way down the ramp, dressed all in white, faces, if they had faces at all, covered by a curved layer of perfect reflection. Taking their reflections and turning it back towards them forcing them to look at themselves in their fear as they cowered against the trembling ground and fiery sky.

The massive creatures, two or three times taller than they, fanned out below their ship using their strange devices circling around and around.

One of the creatures barked a command, its voice was hypnotic, almost musical. Those who had not fled were almost….. Pulled. Towards the voice.

This must be the end.

The ground trembled rocking the Tvek to the ground even as the strange space gods rode through the currents as if the ground did nothing but tremble lightly.

A massive creature with six limbs stood with them directing the movement of a massive device dangling below the ship. The face of it was open in five segments, the mouth of a massive worm hungry for the earth below it.

The screaming did not stop.

The Celestial who had first spoken moved towards the line of frozen Tvek. Some managed to break away in fear as the extraterrestrial stalked towards them, the movement of its body perfectly fluid, not a muscles or a movement out of line, not a step out of place. It paused looking over one of the Tvek by at least three times her height.

Lights glittered and blinked on the front of its pearly white body. It stood there for a moment perfectly still before, reaching up, and curling its fingers under the chin. A sharp pressurized hiss broke through the rumbling. With its fluid movement, the celestial pulled the helmet to the side revealing its face….. a beautiful face.

It had pearly white skin, and an eye that glittered the color of polished emerald…. Alien….. or god.

It raised a hand with all the command one could poses, “Leave….. not safe here.” Its voice echoed strangely across the clearing, their own language synthesized over its own dialect just visible as a strange and rhythmic song weaving patterns through their own primitive language.

Some were quick to obey the command, others were not so hasty.

The ground below them rumbled again. The Tvek pitched towards the ground, but was caught before impact. She looked up to find the creature holding her, “Careful.” It commanded standing to its full height, carrying her past the edge of the ship, and setting her down just over a perimeter already being marked by the other strange beings….. Beings just as beautiful, some with skin like pearls, some glittering a perfect onyx, a perfect gradient from dark to light from light to dark.

More rumbling from the ground, more screaming. The Celestial turned using… some unknown power sensing danger before it could happen.

Their military was there rolling on war machines marching with soldiers. Soldiers clearly unwilling to be there.

The look on the celestial’s face was one of exasperation, or mild annoyance as the Tvek army leveled their weapons.

Fear, and with fear came the first shot, unintentional.

And with that strange sense, the Celestial cast its hand forward tossing a strange device forward and onto the ground just as the first shot was fired.

A flare of light, a burst of purple then a strange glittering nexus burst upwards built in layers of hexagonal patterns blocking the projectile and suspending it to let it drop to the ground.

The hand lifted, an emerald eye narrowed in accusation, “None of that.”

A massive shape appeared form the light behind, and the celestial took its mount on the six limbed beast back towards the center of the ship, as the device was being lowered into place with a clatter.

The ground rumbled and rolled.

The celestial’s voice echoed across the ground, and its comrades began to move faster marking the ground assembling equipment. Another door opened upwards at the base of the ship. A massive pulsing ball of energy slowly lowered into the space sending dark light out and around to fight against the bright celestial light.

It was lowered onto the back of the original machine quickly, and by celestials wearing suits, faces and bodies fully covered.

More shots were fired, he nexus flared but did not break.

The device crackled to life, dark and menacing.

The main celestial gave a signal, and the machine came roaring to life.

***

The PSD40 roared to life cutting into the rock and stone with a whirr and a rumble cutting through rock and sending dust high into the air. Vir and Sunny stepped back throwing their hands up against the sheer power of the machine. The ground rolled and rattle underneath them. The planet had already been unstable when they first stepped down, but with the thrumming of the Stabilizer, it was becoming hard to stand. Behind them, the Tvek military line was attempting to flank them. Force fields deflected projectiles dropping them to the ground and occupying the panicked populace.

“How long.” The captain called to a suited man standing near to the machine.

“At least twenty minutes ….. But the core may not have that long, sir.”

“We stay till the last second possible.” The captain ordered

***

They must be harvesting the planet’s energy, or the core itself, or the ions being thrown from the core, or the Beta particles…. Perhaps they harvested radiation.

All they knew is that the celestials were drilling towards their core with the strange machine, and the rumbling was only getting worse. They fell to their knees, the army could no longer stand to fire. Their attacks grew more sporadic…. And even less effectual than before.

The ground was beginning to role and wave. Streets were being broken up, houses were being destroyed

They were going to die.

The core was going to erupt.

The Tvek fell to their knees unable to stand against the rocking of the ground. Behind their nexus, the celestials worked quickly. The grumbling was growing, coming to a head. This was surely the end.

Behind the nexus a bright flash of light, a deafening thrum and a shock wave rolling through the ground.

And then everything was silent. The ground stopped shaking, screams died away, the bright lights of the celestial machine whirred and then shut down.

The nexus’s slowly faded out.

The celestials stood against their light back-lit and haloed.

The main celestial slowly stepped form his light and across the intervening space, heading straight towards the military line. Some of the Tvek scrambled back, others stood their ground in fear. The celestial glanced at them jeweled eyes scanning across their faces, “Your core is stable…. Your planet is safe….. Welcome to the Galactic Assembly.”

[theasstour]

0103. Jupiter.

Tuesday, 22 October 2014

FIC PAGE | CHAPTER SYMPHONY | WORD COUNT: 6k

NB: explicit language, alcohol

Y/N had made plans with Tiana to meet up after Tiana’s lecture, which ended approximately one hour and 30 minutes after Y/N’s. The two girls would do a Sainsbury’s shop together, even though Y/N was more than capable of doing one alone, having someone there was always a comfort. Besides, Tiana and Y/N had started really getting along. It was the small conversations they had with one another while making dinner, or when they met on their way back from uni, or when Tiana knocked on Y/N’s door and wondered what she was doing; it was those moments that had ultimately ended up making the two girls very close. Y/N looked down at her phone that said she had one hour left of her seminar, another text from Tiana under the time reminding her of their “Sainsbury’s date”. Y/N smiled a little before looking up at Teresa when she started talking.

“I don’t know how I know,” Teresa started, arms crossed and looking straight ahead at the blackboard. “But I failed that essay.”

The Monday before, they had handed in the 1000-word reflective essay for Ensemble I, and, by the way Teresa was acting and talking, Y/N had kind of guessed it hadn’t gone as well as she had hoped.

“It doesn’t even count toward our final grade, but I’m still going to fail.”

Regardless of this fact, Y/N had spent hours in the library in the days following up to the essay. She wanted her lecturers to get a good impression of her, no matter the importance of the assignment, and especially Anthony Goddard, her tutor in Ensemble I. She had a feeling he wasn’t easy to impress, even though he had, according to Finn, liked him very much, thrilling him with his talents. Y/N very much wanted that to be her, and so she thought if she aced this reflective essay about her own skills on her primary instrument – the violin –, how they came to be and how she can improve, Goddard had to like her, right?

The class had a 15-minute break in the middle of the three-hour long seminar, and Y/N and Teresa were just sitting in their usual spot in the middle of the half-circle, talking about everything and nothing. Though Y/N had zoned out of Teresa’s monologue, her brain in a never-ending spiral about how this essay would not be graded, just a paper for Goddard to read and get to know his young new musicians better. Everything was down to the exam: the performance in December. Y/N’s heart started hammering a little to loudly in her ears, her breathing increasing.

“Y/N?”

Y/N looked at Teresa, a small furrow to her eyebrows as she glanced at her friend.

“You good?”

“Yea, just blacked out for a second.”

Teresa studied Y/N for a second, about to ask why, when Goddard cleared his throat and clapped his hands together at the front of the room. They both looked over at him, watching as he motioned to the girl standing beside him. She was smiling, and something in that smile, her dark skin and the straight black hair, rung a bell somewhere in the back of Y/N’s mind.

“Now that everyone has handed their essay in on Canvas, the next thing you should be thinking about is your exam on December 9th. It might seem far away, but it’s not, because if it’s one thing time does when you’re at uni, it’s fly. So, this is one of my students from last year, Wynter, she’s a second year now.”

Wynter gave a small wave, and Y/N instantly knew where she had seen her before. It was the same girl that had checked her in on the first day of Freshers Week. When their eyes met, Wynter’s smile widened and she gave Y/N a small nod, which Y/N returned.

“Wynter was so kind to come here to talk about your exam and her experience doing it last year. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them. I will be sitting over here,” Goddard pointed at the desk at the front of the classroom. “Take it away, Wynter.”

As Goddard let Wynter take the stage, Y/N instantly saw the beautiful girl ease into her role as temporary lecturer. Folding her hands together at her front, Wynter looked around the room at everyone and cleared her throat slightly.

“What I think most people do wrong when they choose a piece for their exam, is do a hard one. Please do not do that.” Wynter said, shaking her head. “Don’t pick a song or solo that could ultimately end up being too hard for you. This is after all Ensemble I: The Art of Performing, and you’re here to outdo your previous works, but not to set yourself up for failure, yea?"

Y/N jotted that down into her notebook. Do not set yourself up for failure, pick a doable song.

“My instrument is the oboe, and I did an instrumental cover of Skyfall by Adele. I got a 78%.” She shrugged her shoulder, smiling still. “You don’t have to do it much harder than that. Choose a melody that will fit your performance style, your instrument, and most importantly, you.”

Y/N wrote that down as well, feeling her shoulders tense as she started letting herself think more about the performance. Picking a song to impress Goddard, her class, and yet not fail while performing it, would be challenging. Questions ensued, and though Y/N was listening intently to whatever Wynter had to say, she was also in her own little world. She could not seem to stop thinking about this exam, and about the millions of ways it could go wrong. About how many different mistakes it was possible to make and how little time she had to impress Goddard. Five minutes to get a good mark. 300 seconds with everyone’s eyes on her. Y/N hated herself for thinking about this, for always finding everything that could go wrong before even focusing on the task at hand academically. When Goddard announced the end of the seminar, Y/N blinked herself out of her trance and shot upright. Collecting her stuff, she jumped as she heard a voice from behind her.

“Y/N, right?”

Wynter was smiling at her, the same smile she had given Y/N on that first day weeks ago. Y/N nodded in response.

“I’m Wynter, I signed you in?”

“Yea, I remember you.” Y/N nodded again.

“Good! How’s uni life treating you? Is it as bad as you thought it’d be?” Giggled Wynter.

“It’s great, yea. Been a bit more hectic than I thought it would be, but I’m hanging in there.” Y/N said. “Been a bit overwhelming.”

“Oh, I can imagine.” Wynter hoisted the strap of her bag further up her shoulder. “University is very overwhelming at first, there is a lot going on and not enough time for it all. But you’ll find a balance.” Wynter looked down at her watch, sighing. “Have to run, have a Student Representatives meeting in 10. I’ll see you around, yea?”

But Wynter was off before Y/N could utter another word. Staring wordlessly after her, Teresa stepped into Y/N’s field of vision, eyebrows raised.

“Know her?”

“She checked me in Freshers Week.”

“Ahh!” Teresa started walking and Y/N followed her out of the classroom. “Was starting to wonder if you maybe had a thing going on.”

“What? W-Why?” Y/N recognised that she responded to Teresa’s statement a little too quickly. That the side of her she hadn’t really told anyone about was, for a split second, visible. But Teresa didn’t say anything, like she didn’t hear Y/N, and only snickered as she walked out the door. Y/N clutched hard at the straps of her burgundy Fjällräven rucksack, not really know what to make of Teresa’s comment. Though, as she stepped out into the hallway, students standing outside waiting for their lecture to begin, Y/N tried to make herself forget it. Teresa probably meant nothing by it. She didn’t know. How could she? No. No one but Y/N knew. She was safe. Y/N followed Teresa’s messy blonde hair until they reached the big foyer of the Antonin Artaud Building, the same one she had walked into on her first day, her father by her side. Y/N waved bye to Teresa, watching her leave through the door and into the grey afternoon.

“Y/N.” Finn smiled, walking with a mate beside him… That Y/N instantly recognised. “You remember Harry, yea? From Spoons three weeks ago?”

She did. Very much so. She stopped walking when Finn and Harry did as well. “Yea, I do.” Y/N said, looking over at Harry for a split second before looking away. He was wearing a grey turtleneck tucked into a pair of black trousers, a black coat on him as well as black boots and, Y/N realised to a small shock, a metal chain hanging from the hoops in his trousers. The same kind people used in mid-00’s, though this one was silver and very polished, almost glimmering in the light of the lamps above. She hated how she saw all of this in a mere second.

“Cool, because he’s going to wait around for me till I’m done with Ensemble in two hours. We’re going to the library together to study after this. You’re waiting for Tiana, yea?”

Y/N nodded her head once.

“Not saying you two should hang out, but,” Finn shrugged. “You might as well. See ya both later.”

And then he was off, acting like he hadn’t seen what Harry and Y/N had been like together at Spoons three weeks ago. Y/N hadn’t seen Harry around at uni before today, though she had occasionally heard him hang out with Finn and someone else she didn’t know who was, in his room. They were all unapologetically loud, and Y/N didn’t want to be a party pooper, so she never told them when it got annoying and when they should keep it down. She always let Tiana message the Flat 34 groupchat, seeing as she had the most balls to.

Now, standing in the foyer that was starting to clear out, with Harry right before her. Y/N didn’t really know what to do. So, she looked at him, only to meet his gaze and notice he was wearing a pair of silver aviator glasses, a lock of his curls falling a little awkwardly in front of his right eye. Gracefully, he drew a hand through his hair, eyes fully on Y/N. Clearing her throat, she gave him a small smile.

“Well, I guess we both don’t want this.”

Harry furrowed his brows. “This being what exactly?”

“Us hanging out.”

“Ah.” Harry nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers, showing off his lean and tall frame. “I guess we don’t, no.”

“So,” Y/N started, taking a step toward the exit. “Bye.”

Harry didn’t respond, and Y/N turned on her toes and walked straight for the door, opening it to the brisk late-October air. She wore a navy green puffer Y/Net over a mustard ribbed knit jumper, a pair of light denim jeans and her usual black vans. Grey clouds dotted the skies above as Y/N made her way to the nearest Costa for a coffee. The sun would occasionally shine through a slit between two flecks of grey, beams of yellow dancing along London before it disappeared again. The Costa wasn’t far away, and when Y/N saw the burgundy sign, she sighed to herself and walked in, opening her puffer Y/Net.

A part of her still wasn’t used to the loud buzzing of London, to constant sounds around her, but she was trying to get accustomed to it. Though Y/N hated change, she knew that for her life to move forward, for her to grow, she needed change. But she bloody hated it nonetheless. The Costa was full, a small group or a single person sitting and enjoying their coffees on every table, loud laughter and voices all around. Standing in the queue, Y/N glanced up at the menu behind the disk, the people before her waiting for their turn. In Hawkley, she had always enjoyed normal black coffee, liking how the bitterness of it both woke her up and calmed her down at the same time. It stung at the back of her lips, the taste of coffee, but it was a stinging Y/N always welcomed. She loved the taste of it. But she needed to broaden her horizon. So, studying the different kinds of coffees on the board, Y/N bit her bottom lip as she tried to decide on which one she wanted to order.

“Following me, are you?”

Y/N whipped her head to her left only to find a staring Harry beside her, looking very smug. And Y/N hated that.

“Wouldn’t it be the other way around?” She asked. “I arrived before you.”

“And how would you know that?”

Y/N narrowed her eyes. “Because I’m standing before you in the queue?”

Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Might just have arrived before you but gone to the loo.”

“Highly doubt that.”

“Oh?” Harry looked amused as he took his glasses off his nose and placed them at the top of his head instead.

“Yes, I left campus before you!”

“Hm, that’s weird.”

“It’s really not-“

“-Hi, can I take your order?”

Y/N looked at the barista, but not for long, as a broad-shouldered creature wearing a black coat and hair all curly, stepped in front of her. For a second, Y/N was momentarily stunned. He had just stepped before her and totally not cared about the fact that it wasn’t his turn. Y/N’s mouth fell open.

“Two medium expresso macchiatos to go, please.” Harry said, pointing at the board behind the barista.

Too shocked to even step beside Harry and tell the barista that it was her turn and not this… this… this git’s, Y/N just stood there. Harry looked over his shoulder at her, giving her a little smile.

“I took the liberty of ordering for you, if that’s okay.”

Y/N shook her head twice, blinking as she realised what Harry had done. “I-I…” She inhaled sharply. “I didn’t even want an expresso macchiato.”

Harry raised his eyebrows, looking at the board as the barista asked which way he’d like to pay. “What were you going to order, then?”

“A-A black coffee.” Y/N answered, crossing her arms and walking to stand beside Harry.

“Have you tried an expresso macchiato before, Y/N?”

She hated the way he said her name. All soft and delicate, like saying her name was a privilege. When his pink lips formed it and puckered a little, like kissing the air around him… No! What?! Y/N looked away from him and at the barista, who seemed very confused at the situation they were finding themselves in.

Y/N shook her head in response, eyes on the board.

“Two expresso macchiatos still, please. I’ll pay by card if that’s alright.” Harry lightly pushed Y/N aside to get to the card machine, to which she instantly grew annoyed with him again.

“No need to push me, dimwit.”

“I didn’t push you, that was borderline touching.” Harry said while clicking in his credit card number into the machine. “Besides,” he took his card out, putting it in his wallet and smiling that lopsided smile of his right at Y/N. “You were in the way of me paying for you.”

Y/N huffed, walking off to the place where everyone waited for their orders, Harry following her. He coughed into his elbow and looked around the big Costa, trying to spot someone he knew no doubt.

“Thank you.” Y/N said lowly, crossing her arms again. “For the coffee.”

Harry looked down at her, eyebrows raised and about to smile again when he turned his body in her direction. “I simply made it to the cashier before you did. A bit slow in the afternoons, are you?”

Y/N frowned.

“I won.” Harry said, letting his tongue fall slowly from the roof of his mouth and back down again, head cocked as the left side of his mouth tipped up again.

“You… won?” Y/N was lost.

“Yea.” Harry said, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans and shifting the weight from his right to his left foot. “I was faster.”

“At paying?”

“In life.” Harry sighed exasperatingly, looking triumphant. “In general. At everything. I am faster.”

Y/N couldn’t help her small smile. She had no idea what Harry was on about, no idea why she found it all so amusing. Pushing away from the wooden fence that separated the walkway of the café from the seating area, Y/N positioned herself before him, her back facing the counter.

“Next time, maybe inform me of this contest of being fastest.”

“Oh, darling, it’s not about being faster.” Harry said, putting his glasses back on his nose as he looked at her. “It’s about winning.”

“So, it doesn’t have to be about being fast?”

“No, just win.”

“Elaborate.”

“Okay, how about this?” Harry said, leaning against the railing himself now, gesturing with his hands as he talked. “It’s all about coming out on top. Doing the most and being the best at it.”

“Hmm.” Y/N hummed, biting her lip. She swore Harry’s eyes fell to them for a slight second before he looked into her eyes again. “Didn’t know you were just as competitive as me, Mr…?”

“Styles.” Harry smiled, showing off a set of perfectly straight and white teeth. “Miss…?”

“Winning-at-life.”

Harry chuckled, eyes falling to his boots. “Might have to change that name soon.”

“Because you’re going to be better than me?”

“You said it, not me.” Harry looked up at her again, shrugging his broad shoulders.

“You’ll never win at life or anything.”

“I just did.” Harry said, motioning with his chin toward the cashier. “Just now.”

Y/N was about to reply, try to hold the conversation going, but the reason she had positioned herself where she had was suddenly called out: “Two expresso macchiatos to go!” Whipping around, Y/N walked toward the counter just as Harry pushed away from the railing, but stopped himself as he saw Y/N reaching the coffees first. Holding them both with a huge smile on her face, she handed on to Harry as she reached him and took a slow sip of her own.

“Minx.” Harry muttered. “Nice positioning.”

Y/N smiled. “1 – 1.”

Harry smiled back, sipping the coffee, Y/N did the same. It was very strong, just like her usual black coffee, and for that reason, Y/N found herself enjoying it. She missed the coffee she was able to make at home in the mornings before college and working on the farm during weekends, but this was a close second. It woke her up, all her senses heightened, and all the while, it gave her a taste of peace. Like taking the little boat in her father’s shed, rowing into the middle of the lake on a warm summer’s day and reading a book; that kind of calm. Closing her eyes, she let the familiar feeling of coffee fill her senses, and she let out a content sigh before looking at the cup in her hands.

“You like it?” Harry asked, holding the cup in his right hand while the other rested in his pocket.

Y/N nodded, sipping it again.

“2 – 1 then.” Harry grinned. “I’m in the lead again.”

Y/N blinked, and Harry, who was finding all of this very entertaining it seemed, couldn’t help but laugh again. It was a boyish laugh, not matching the deep timbre of his voice, a contrast Y/N hadn’t seen coming. He had always been so serious the times they had met before, but this version of him – the joking around, competitive, glasses-wearing one – seemed to be quite the opposite of all of that. She did not want to stand around and think more about Harry and all the ways he was different from what she had originally pictured him as. So, instead she motioned with her thumb toward the exit.

“I’m off, I’ll see you at pres or something, I guess.” Y/N started walking away. “Thanks for the coffee again.”

She turned around and started walking up toward Albert Bridge. Sipping her coffee, she tried not to let the few moments she had just shared with Harry get to her. It wasn’t of much significance and no matter how charming he had been, he had also been able to push all the right buttons to aggravate her. So, instead, Y/N looked around as she walked toward the bridge, knowing that 40 minutes she had left till Tiana was done would go by quick if she just strolled around for a bit. She had been to Albert Bridge before, the bridge connecting Battersea to Chelsea, and thought it was a very underappreciated view of London. It wasn’t much; you could see boats driving by, the distant monument hidden away in the fog, and hear someone play the accordion further down the bridge. But for some reason, Y/N liked walking there, just because it wasn’t crowded. London was always a huge buzz, but it seemed to dim down when the wind hit her ears and with less people around as she walked the bridge.

As she reached the bridge, she heard someone clear their throat behind her. And, of course, looking over her shoulder, there was Harry.

“Following me again, ey?”

Y/N stopped walking. “You are the one following me.”

Harry only sipped his coffee, walking past Y/N, not saying a word.

“Hey!” Y/N jogged up to him, making sure not to spill the coffee. “Why are you following me?”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You’re here, aren’t you? Following me?”

Harry snickered shaking his head. “See that flat building?” He asked, stopping by the railing of the bridge and pointing across the canal to a brown bricked house. Y/N glanced in the direction of his finger, nodding as she saw the fancy building with huge windows, obviously holding wealthy inhabitants. Harry looked down at her, his breath tickling her ear. “My uncle lives there.”

Y/N gulped at the contact Harry’s breath did with her skin, like small puffs of an unexpected tropical wind. She sipper her coffee quickly.

Harry leaned in, mumbling. “On my way to his, if you don’t mind.”

Y/N stepped away, back hitting the railing, and some coffee spilling over her fingers. Harry’s eyes fell to her hand before he smiled up at her, sipping his own coffee.

“Do you?”

“Mind?”

“Yea?”

“I don’t.”

“Good.” Harry smiled. “See you around, Y/N.”

And he walked off, hair blowing in the wind and steps determined. Quickly, Y/N looked toward the flat building and then at Harry strolling away, and then she turned back to walk to uni. For some reason, walking after Harry on the bridge, seemed to me too much.

Friday, 31 October 2014

“You sure you want to be a vampire?” Tiana groaned, holding the face paint in her hand as she looked down at Y/N sitting on her bed. “It’s, like, the most basic and boring Halloween costume ever.”

“You’re dressing up as a slutty nurse!”

Tiana didn’t answer to that, and Y/N assumed it was because she was right; they were both being very basic for this Halloween party. Annie stood by Tiana’s sink, putting make-up on, and Becky was sitting by her desk, using a mirror she had brought down from her room. All the girls were getting ready together, chuffed to finally be going to a house party together. No one knew how Finn had been able to get them into the party in Chelsea, but he had told them not to ask questions, so no one had.

“Some things are better left a mystery, boys.” He had said one afternoon, eating his microwaveable Toad in a Hole and grinning from ear to ear.

Y/N had just thrown on a black turtleneck and some black jeans, not really in the mood to go all out with her costume. While both Tiana and Becky had gone shopping for their slutty nurse and slutty cat, and Y/N knew they would both look absolutely amazing. Annie was going to go as Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, and as far as her make-up went, she was already looking great. With music in the background and their mind set on having a great night together, the girls all did their make-up and psyched each other up for a night of nothing but greatness.

Once everyone was ready, they waited in the kitchen for the boys to be ready, which took surprisingly long. But Ian, Spencer and Finn all came out into the kitchen dressed up as characters from a show on the telly Y/N did not know of and did not care to know the name of either. Together, flat 34 of Westbridge walked toward Chelsea together, a 2 litre Pepsi bottle containing vodka and blackcurrant squash to share between the seven of them. Tiana had an extra bottle of vodka in her purse, so the little squad was all set for the party. Finn didn’t elaborate on how he had gotten everyone a pass into this exclusive house party, but one everyone was starting to feel the effect of the bottle passing between them, no one cared enough to answer. They were all dressed up and ready to party, and besides that and a good time, no one cared for any other news.

Finn knocked on the door and said the supposed password – Y/N was very impressed that a uni party needed a password for entrance – and the guard let everyone in while counting each of them. Finn let out a howl in triumph, clapping his hands above his head and looking at everyone before he exclaimed: “Let’s party, gang!”

And with that, everyone spread out. Y/N followed Becky who needed to go to the loo, and both Tiana and Annie did the same. Locking themselves in there, Becky sat down to pee and let out a huge sigh.

“Can any of you lot tell me when you see Harry Styles tonight?” She asked, adjusting her cat ears.

“Why?” Tiana asked, looking at herself in the mirror to make sure her make-up was fine.

“Because I really want to shag him.” She said, sighing again. “He’s so bloody peng.”

“You wanna have sex with him here? At this party?” Annie raises her eyebrows, clearly a little shocked.

“Why not?” Becky shrugged. “As long as I get the opportunity, yea?”

Tiana giggled. “I loved helping my friends get dick. I’ll tell you the minute I see him.”

“Thanks, Ti.” Becky smiled, flushing the toilet and walking over to wash her hands. “I told you, didn’t I, Y/N? How I delicious I think he is?”

Y/N only nodded, running a hand through her hair.

“I could suck his prick right off.” Becky said, drying her hands and applying some more lipstick. “Anyway, thank you girls, for helping me out.”

“Always a privilege to help a friend in need.” Tiana said smiling, and Becky opened the door for them so they could leave. Annie and Y/N followed, neither really knowing what to say as the situation of helping a friend get laid hadn’t really presented itself to either of them before. Regardless, Y/N quickly forgot about it and everyone walked onto the dancefloor together. The bass shook of Y/N’s heartbeat, and the music was so loud that it was hard to hear anything but one’s own thoughts, and even that proved to be a challenge. But Y/N danced her tipsy little heart out, and suddenly forgot all about everything but the song that was playing, the people she was with, and the feeling of her body moving along to the beat.

Tiana took Y/N’s hand, and the two friends started dancing together like drunk friends do. Y/N threw her head back in euphoria, laughter erupting from her mouth, and Tiana threw an arm around Y/Ni’s shoulders, holding onto her new best friend while she belted out the lyrics to the song that was playing at the top of her lungs. Y/N held onto Tiana and grinned at Annie when she saw her dancing, and within their drunk minds, a world outside this exact moment, didn’t exist.

Y/N suddenly excused herself, saying she wanted some more to drink, and Tiana drew the vodka bottle out of her purse and gave it to her flatmate. Holding it to her chest, Y/N walked toward the kitchen, smiling at people she bumped into on the way and humming along to the song even though she did not have a clue as to what song it was. With her eyes halfway closed and a smile on her face, Y/N entered the kitchen, the light the only ceiling one that was on. She found a plastic cup on the counter and brought it to the kitchen island where everyone had put their drinks away on. The flat hadn’t brought anything to mix the vodka with, which left Y/N with only two possible options: (1) she could steal some from the kitchen island, or (2) water. From Tiana, Y/N had heard horror stories about the taste of vodka and water together, and how badly it had ended for her a couple of times. It was for that reason, and just plainly trusting Tiana’s judgment and stories, that Y/N opened the vodka bottle with the intent to steal something to mix it with from someone else.

Pouring herself something to drink from the bottle, Y/N didn’t notice the figure in the doorway into the kitchen. Tipsy as she was, she would never have done this if she was sober, Y/N reached for a pink lemonade standing in the middle of the kitchen island, and opened it, blending it with the alcohol. She continued to hum to herself, screwing the cork back on the pink lemonade, and tried to take a sip of the drink. Coughing, Y/N opened the pink lemonade again and mixed it some more, frowning to herself when she sipped it a second time, but nodding to herself when it was better than the first try. The figure that had been standing watching her walked into the kitchen, slight paint on his face and an amused smile on his lips. Y/N took another sip when he came into her field of vision, and she froze, gulping down her alcohol as he took her in.

The white vampire teeth painted at the corners of her lip, the blood running down from one side, and the slight eye make-up, made her seem a little deader, but Harry didn’t seem to even acknowledge that she was wearing make-up.

“You lot arrived fucking late.” Harry said, sipping his cup as Y/N put hers on the table.

“Yea, the boys took long to get ready.”

Harry huffed. “Fucking guessed it.” He said. “Finn loves making an entrance, doesn’t he?”

“Yea, I guess he does.” Y/N agreed, looking back into the pit of people dancing to see if she saw any sign of Tiana. Harry took this moment to look at her, a kind of seriousness to his gaze that he hadn’t had before. He walked a bit closer so it’d be easier for them to talk. It was then that Y/N noticed he had come here dressed as a werewolf. Well, not dressed as one, but his face paint clearly exposed him as a werewolf. It was faint paint, not a dominating brown that ran along his cheeks and forehead and nose, but enough so you’d guess his costume from afar.

“You never say it.”

“Say what?”

“Fuck.” Harry said, voice lower as he took another step closer. “I’ve never heard you say it.”

Y/N just looked at him. “And that’s a problem for you?”

The right side of his mouth tipped upward. “Don’t know. You don’t like it?”

Y/N only looked at him, not really knowing what to say.

Harry leaned in, dangerously close, closer than they had ever been before. “Because it’s my favourite word.”

Y/N swallowed, willing herself not to look anywhere but his eyes.

“You can…” His smile grew wider. “Do so much with it.” He said, voice like a caress as he said, letting his bottom lip fall from behind his top teeth all moist and pink, “Fuck.”

Y/N felt her heart pick up speed. “Oh?”

“Yea.” Harry nodded. “A word with so many meanings. So many ways.”

The exhale leaving her lips was audible, making Harry’s lips twitch into a smile.

“You can cuss someone out, or do them-“

Y/N put her hand up, stopping her mid-sentence. Again, she was almost happy she was drunk and had the balls to do stuff she’d never do sober. He was being… way too handsome and way too close to her not to react like this. He couldn’t be this close or she didn’t know what drunk Y/N would do.

“Why is it your favourite word? It’s so vulgar.”

Harry smiled, looking so handsome that Y/N didn’t properly know what to do with herself.

“It’s my favourite verb, darling.”

Y/N was stunned, and she hated herself for melting a little at the sound of ‘darling’ leaving his lips, because the way he said it made her all giggly. She hated that he had this effect on her. Hated it. Because she hated him. Or no, she didn’t hate him, but he was so annoying, especially when he made her want him to kiss her.

“I-I…” She cleared her throat, taking her cup in one hand and the vodka bottle in the other and gave Harry a very awkward smile. “I-I need to go find Tiana.”

Harry cocked his head at her, licking his lip again as he saw her stress in a way that made her a little cute. She seemed distressed, like she didn’t really know what to do with herself, but not because she was uncomfortable, but rather because she didn’t want to be this close to him or something might actually happen. Harry wasn’t going to lie, he found Y/N very attractive, and the more time he spent around her, teasing her and making him work for it, he knew that there was no way he’d ever really be done unless something happened. But it didn’t seem Y/N wanted to. Well, at least not now. She took another step away from him, giving him a tight smile before walking off. He watched her leave, her face when he had said ‘fuck’ etched into his mind, and sipping his drink, he knew it would be a very long while until he forgot about that.

Y/N found her friends again, giving the bottle back to Tiana and sipping her drink. She passed it around the little group of girls, everyone taking a sip, and tried for forget about the incident in the kitchen just now. Swallowing the rest of the vodka, Y/N started smiling and dancing again. She didn’t see Harry the rest of that night. She spent it dancing with her flatmates, holding Tiana’s hair back once they reached heir flat, and humming a song she had been dancing to in bed until she fell asleep.

TAGLIST

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[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #239 - The Muppet Movie

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD

1) The prologue.

How this film opens - with an assortment of Muppet characters getting together for a private viewing of The Muppet Movie - does well to establish tone. It’s pretty much the filmmakers telling the audience, “You don’t need to take this too seriously, it’s just a fun movie.” It reintroduces us to The Muppets who we know but in a way where this could be someone’s first Muppet film and you understand the role of each character. Not only that, but Kermit’s response to Robin’s question of if this is how the Muppets actually met enhances the meta tone.

Kermit: “Well it’s sort of approximately how it happened.”

2) “Rainbow Connection”

“Rainbow Connection” might be up there with “It’s Not Easy Being Green” as the song most associated with The Muppets, and there’s a reason for it. The song is timeless, fitting in during any era (much like the characters themselves). It is a beautiful, optimistic, and imaginative song that not only sets up Kermit’s character well but the theme of the film. It has that daydreamer element that The Muppets are essentially founded on. If you haven’t heard it before I recommend taking a listen.

3) When I was young I had no idea who all these celebrities were or that they were celebrities. Now that I’m older I can notice them in what I call “Cameo Watch!” Like this first cameo. CAMEO WATCH: Dom Deluise

4) This film has an incredibly sharp wit to it shown through its dialogue, humor, and characters.

Dom Deluise: “I have lost my sense of direction.” Kermit: “Have you tried Harry Krishna?”

5) Kermit the Frog as a character.

Okay, let me just say, it feels really weird to talk about The Muppets as characters. Because it’s hard to think of them as characters being written. They’re The Muppets! They’re Kermit and Fozzie and Ms. Piggy and they just are themselves. This mere challenge speaks wonders to the consistency of writing and performance given by the Muppeteers. Kermit for example: Kermit is totally unselfish. His entire motivation for going to Hollywood isn’t fame/fortune on its own but the opportunity to make, “millions of people happy.” He’s a pretty down to earth, reasonable frog who tags along with a bunch of nut cases and does his best to reign in the insanity. He’s lovable, he’s sharp, he’s funny, he’s Kermit the Frog. I don’t know what else to say.

6) With the film’s budget Jim Henson wanted to really push the limitations of puppeteering. One of the most difficult effects (whose deceptively simple appearance speaks well to the talent of the filmmakers) is Kermit the Frog riding a bike. I don’t even know how they did that.

7) The El Sleazo Cafe is Kermit’s first stop on his road trip/odyssey of sorts. It’s an environment which A) he is not used to and B) kind of is his contrast. Yeah he’s from a dirty swamp but this is a different kind of dirty. This is mean people who like to fight, not Kermit. Seeing this frog out of water creates a nice energy to the scene and a first good stop on the film.

8) Cameo Watch: James Coburn, Madeline Kahn, Telly Salva, Carol Kane and Paul Williams all appear in the El Sleazo scene.

9) I feel like sometimes I’m Kermit.

Kermit [about Fozzie]: “This guy's lost.” Waiter: “Maybe he should try Hare Krishna.” Kermit: “Good grief, it’s a running gag.”

10) Fozzie Bear.

The Costello to Kermit’s Abbott, I struggle to talk about Fozzie in much the same way I did with Kermit. Because what is there to say? He’s a bit of a dork but a funny, good hearted/good natured one. He’s funny, his relationship with Kermit is one of the things that keeps the franchise going as strong as it does, I don’t know what else to say. He’s Fozzie Bear.

11) Something I will say it is a testament to these performers that each Muppet feels so naturally alive. You never look at any of them and think, “That’s a lifeless bit of felt.” Not only do the likes of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, and the other Muppeteers do well at creating an individual character but distinguishing characters. These performers are working as multiple characters in a production and while older audiences might recognize the similarities in voices you don’t look at Rowlf the Dog and think, “Yep, that’s Kermit,” or at Miss Piggy and think, “Yep, that’s Fozzie.” They’re legends and it’s no mystery why.

12) Doc Hopper is actually an excellent villain for The Muppets to face off against.

The reason Doc Hopper is so effective is because he’s the total antithesis of The Muppets. He’s a greedy, conniving, insincere, manipulative sellout of a man. His dreams don’t involve making people happy they involve making himself rich and anything he can’t have he’ll destroy. Henson and crew - despite the success of The Muppets - were never doing anything because of the mainstream appeal. They had a ton of bizarre, unique, and wonderful flops under their belts (see: Labyrinth). It’s almost like Doc Hopper represents mainstream showbiz wanting them to sellout and the journey is about staying true to your dream. I love that.

13) “Movin’ Right Along”

There’s not really a bad song in the film (although there is one I really just hate but that doesn’t mean it’s bad per say, more on that later). Although none are as praised as “Rainbow Connection”, “Movin’ Right Along” is an excellent second number. It has the same amount of hope and optimism to it that infects the film, with the idea of progress and moving forward at the heart of it. It’s a great buddy song for Kermit and Fozzie, with the same amount of wit and heart that the film prides itself on.

13.1) I’d be remised if I didn’t mention two of my favorite gags in the film. The fork in the road…

And a very special cameo.

14) Not that he cares, but wouldn’t Doc Hopper using Kermit’s likeness on a billboard without his permission illegal?

15) I’m a sucker for any movie that has a moment where a character reads the script for the movie.

16) “Can You Picture That?”

In my opinion, this could possibly be the most underrated song in the Muppets’ musical canon. It stands up well against “Movin’ Right Along” and “Rainbow Connection” with its energy and positivity. Basically it’s a song about challenging your imagine and even though the lyrics can feel nonsensical that’s sort of the point. It’s about thinking of things, picturing unique things that might not make sense. But just because something doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.

17) And disguising the car worked for a grand total of 7 seconds.

Max [after being told to look out for a frog and a bear in a brown colored Studebaker]: “Gee Doc, all I see are a frog and a bear in a rainbow colored Studebaker.”

18) Gonzo the Great.

It is like each character you meet in this film is increasingly crazy. Kermit, then Fozzie, then Dr. Teeth and his band, and now the personification of Muppet weirdness times ten: Gonzo! Gonzo is fun, funny, insane, and just perfectly random enough to give the group an extra oomph. There’s a chance this weirdo might be my favorite Muppet character! Maybe, maybe not. It’s hard to pick a favorite.

(GIF originally posted by @nostalgicgifs)

19) Cameo Watch: Milton Berle.

20) Cameo Watch: Elliott Gould.

Okay, I thought I remembered all the cameos but I 100% forgot about Gould’s appearance. It actually made me jump.

21) Cameo Watch: Ed Bergen.

This scene was shot shortly before the legendary puppeteer’s death in 1978. His appearance in the movie held particular weight for Jim Henson, as Bergen and his wooden sidekick (Charlie McCarthy) influenced his interest in puppetry. The film is dedicated in Bergen’s memory.

22) I low-key love that Miss Piggy wins a beauty pageant and no one really bats an eye at it. Take that conventional standards of feminine beauty!

23) “Never Before, Never Again”

God I hate this song. I usually skip it. It’s just so awkward and uncomfortable for me to watch, but I think that’s the point. I think it’s supposed to be funny, Frank Oz singing this sweeping love ballad as Miss Piggy. And it taking itself seriously is part of the joke but it is part of that seriousness which makes me hate it. I actually wrote in my notes, “Wake me when it’s over.” I think it’s objectively a good song and good part of the film, I just flat out don’t like it. The one weak link for me in this excellent picture.

24) Wait, is Ms. Piggy meant to be the Yoko Ono of The Muppets in this movie?

25) Cameo Watch: Bob Hope and Richard Pryor both show up at the county fair.

26) The scene where The Muppets chase down Gonzo on his balloons is a fun bit of fast pacing “action” to add to the film. It’s hard for a Muppet movie to have non-musical related set pieces but the balloon chase feels appropriately Muppety while being different enough to add some variety to the story.

27) Miss Piggy.

Miss Piggy is such a larger than life character and perhaps the character with the most to do in the series. She is a diva with aspirations of being famous, but she also knows characters and any time The Muppets need a fight scene they bring in Miss Piggy! As mentioned above, Frank Oz does a great job not only breathing life into the character but making her so different from Fozzie.

28) Cameo Watch: Steven Martin.

Steve Martin might do the most with his cameo. He is an over the top frustrated waiter, something anyone who’s ever worked in food service can relate to. Steve Martin is pretty much great in anything though.

29) The dinner date between Kermit and Miss Piggy is actually really nice, makes me understand why they date.

30) Rowlf the Dog.

Possibly the most interesting thing about Rowlf is how people have noted his personality matches Jim Henson’s the closest out of all of Henson’s characters. In recognition of this, Rowl didn’t speak in his film appearances for a while after Henson passed away. He’s a fun character already, but I think this detail adds a nice layer of heart to it.

31) “I Hope That Something Better Comes Along”

In typical Muppet fashion, something as relatable and common as heartache is turned into an upbeat bar tune. It’s one of the nicest songs in the film and a real ear worm. It is also essentially Jim Henson singing with himself so take a moment to let that set in.

32) Cameo Watch: Mel Brooks.

Okay, Mel Brooks might do the most with HIS cameo. Brooks commits to the comedy and insanity of the performance just as he would in any of his own films (Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs) and it really adds a shot of energy to the scene. Brooks is so active, he does so many little things to add to his character/performance/comedy. I wonder how much of it was improv.

33) So I feel like the filmmakers didn’t know how to get from Miss Piggy ditching Kermit for a gig to Miss Piggy rejoining the group on the road, so they literally decided to stop the movie and let the audience breathe for a moment. I love that.

34) “I’m Going To Go Back There Someday”

This is such a beautiful and bittersweet melody. It comes at the film’s low point, when the group thinks their dreams are done for. But the song is just so lovely it makes my heart warm. The lyrics are wonderful and I think it’s an amazing ballad. I love it.

35) Life lessons from Kermit the Frog.

Kermit: “I can’t spend my whole life running away from a bully.”

36) Oh quick, the film is almost over! Let’s get Bunsen and Beaker in at the end!

37) Kermit’s heartfelt plea, of choosing happiness over money and finding family/friends, is great. But Doc Hopper’s response to it is so sad.

Kermit: “If what I'm saying doesn't make any sense, well then... go ahead and kill me.” Doc Hopper [after a moment to think, reluctantly]: “All right boys. Kill him.”

38) Deus Ex Animal.

39) Cameo Watch: Cloris Leachmen.

40) Cameo Watch: Orson Welles.

Welles’ character’s name Lew Lord is actually a reference to real-life Producer Sir Lew Grade. When Jim Henson was trying to find a producer to make The Muppet Show, no American network was interested in the concept. Grade recognized the potential in the idea and helped make the show happen.

41) Ah, if only it were this easy.

Lew Lord: “Prepare the standard ‘Rich & Famous’ contract.”

42) The finale of this film, “Magic Store,” is a fun final number. It shows The Muppets have made it, they’re doing what they love. It’s the culmination of everything up to this point and even when things don’t go as they plan they’ll roll with it. And we’re given a great final message.

Kermit: “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending…” Muppets: “Keep believing, keep pretending; we've done just what we've set out to do, thanks to the lovers, the dreamers, and you!”

The Muppet Movie might still very well be the best film to feature the classic characters. It has their trademark heart, humor, and imagination all in top form. You can watch it at any time, it ages very well. So whether it’s your first or last time putting it in, I’d say give The Muppet Movie a watch.

[katie-dub]

#FrostJones

Ice dancing duo Killian Jones and Elsa Frost barely made the cut for the PyeongChang Olympics after a disaster at the World Championships that left them without a coach. Enter Emma 'The Saviour' Swan, their new coach who might just help to add a little magic to their routines.

AKA a Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir AU, with a twist.

The wonderful @welllpthisishappening Master of the Sports AU told me that she had a prompt for a Virtue and Moir AU and I had the thought "shame they're just great friends". Somehow this idea was born and Laura and @distant-rose told me to "WRITE THE THING" and here we are. Thanks ladies for enabling me and giving this a once over. All mistakes are very much mine.

#FrostJones

A Song of Fire and Ice: The bumpy road to PyeongChang for America's ice dancing duo Frost and Jones

Eyebrows were raised when fiery Killian Jones, who missed out on the Sochi Olympics due to the infamous attack that left his former partner (both on and off the ice) dead and his hand gravely wounded, teamed up with solo figure skating champion Elsa Frost, whose icy characterisation and flawless technique earned her the title of Ice Queen. The unlikely pairing narrowly qualified for the Olympics after a disastrous performance at the 2017 World Championships left them with barely enough points to make the cut. That event also saw them part ways with their coach, Leroy "Grumpy" Short, following a rumoured face off between him and Jones. With less than a year to go to get medal-ready, in stepped Emma "The Saviour" Swan, who has a reputation for rejuvenating the careers of failing figure skaters. Here's hoping The Saviour has worked her magic on Team USA's ice dance duo, who are merely hoping for a place on the podium, while Virtue and Moir...

Killian flung aside the newspaper, scowling. He really didn't need to read more about the bloody Canadians who were certain to beat them to the gold, not least of all in a piece that was meant to be about his "road to the Olympics".

Elsa raised her eyebrows at him. "Why are you even reading that, Jones? Given that Regina had to issue actual threats to get you to talk to that journalist I'd have thought you'd want to avoid it."

He sighed and dragged his hand across his face wearily. "Yeah, I bloody well should have.”

He had known the piece would be like this, that it would hurt to read, but the events leading up to the last Olympics caused a wound that wouldn't heal. (Or hadn't, until her, The Saviour, his saviour.)

It was their final rehearsal before they at last took to the rink to compete for Team GB. They had knocked it out of the park, scored a touchdown and a variety of other sporting metaphors. He spun Milah around in delight, kissing her passionately. He'd always known they were contenders, but now he was sure that gold medal was theirs. Tessa and Scott couldn't touch their chemistry - they were so beloved that it seemed the whole world was #Team Millian, regardless of nationality.

Then came the blow to his head that sent him crashing to the ice and his whole world along with it. When he awoke everything had changed: Milah was dead. His left hand damaged. Gold, their former coach and her ex, walked free without so much as a slap on the wrist from the Olympics Committee.

So he ran away, defected to the states, determined to get one over on the country that failed him.

And now that time had come.

Well, tomorrow it would, for now he had to rest.

They were minutes away from taking to the ice and Killian was nervous. They weren't even the favourite of the American teams in the running for bloody bronze. The idea of anyone but the Canadian or French winning silver and gold had not even been considered, it was so utterly unlikely.

But they could do it, Killian knew they could.

The world may have been skeptical at the announcement of their partnership, but dancing with Elsa had seemed entirely logical. Her detached demeanour (“Frost by name, frosty by nature” was a joke she'd heard one too many times) suited his need for an entirely platonic relationship. And her looks running in stark contrast to Milah’s didn't hurt either. He was to help Elsa to put her heart into sometimes sterile style, she could improve his precision and refine his technique.

The latter of these worked at least, they could twizzle in perfect unison and they had the required pattern down. But it was the free dance that could earn them the big points and that's where they'd faltered. His spirit had been poisoned such that it was hard to convey deepest devotion when every spin on the ice bore a reminder: love brought nothing but endless torment.

But then came Swan.

It was some kind of romantic ice dancing cliché: falling for your coach - second only to falling for your actual partner. And yet, here he was.

She was just so easy to love, or so he thought. She challenged him and made him better - made both of them better. Elsa’s relentless perfectionism had eased under the coaching of a true friend. She could often be heard reciting the mantra Emma taught her “let it go, let it go.” And as for him? She had helped him to heal and move on. Not that she would ever know.

They'd been working with Emma for weeks and the improvement was significant. It was enough to make Killian wonder if she actually did have magic powers. They were stood in their final pose, having just completed their dance for Emma. They had skated well and he could see the tiny flicker of pride in Elsa’s eyes that he was sure was reflected in his own - they had nailed it for sure.

“Seriously? That's what you call romance?” He turned to her in disbelief.

“What more do you want from us?”

“You have to use your emotion - in a good way. You look like.. like a man who's pissed at his robot for not loving him.”

Elsa huffed, quietly indignant, but outwardly calm as ever while he raged. “Well perhaps you should show us how it's done, almighty Saviour.” He gave her a mocking bow, eyes flashing at her in challenge.

“Please. You couldn't handle it.” His eyebrows shot up in shock, he'd never seen this teasing side to her before.

“Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it?”

She rolled her eyes but skated over to them. She shooed Elsa to the side and guided him to resume the final pose with her wrapped in his arms. She gazed up at him with adoration and it felt incredible. His heart beat faster and his breath quickened - he might have cursed his body for its clichéd reaction to the feel of the warmth of a beautiful woman's body, if he weren't so busy getting lost in her eyes. His own eyes softened and he smiled despite himself, leaning in when she licked her lips. “And that's how it's done,” she said, pushing back from him and turning to Elsa. “Killian’s got a romantic soul, flash him a look of love and he will follow your lead. Now, try that dance again.” Emma skated back to the side and Killian touched his fingers to his lips, startled at his close he'd come to kissing his coach. Sure, he'd always kind of fancied her - when she wasn't yelling at him - but this?

“Come on, Jones!” Elsa called, “enough with the yearning looks, it's time to skate.” She dropped her voice low so that only he could hear. “Something tells me that you'll never look at me the way you look at her.” His jaw dropped open, he wanted to fling a sarcastic remark back at her, but he stopped himself, unwilling to let Swan hear. (And besides, a small voice inside whispered that she was right.)

They'd gone from strength to strength since that day in the rink as they had each grown closer and closer to Emma and now all there was left to do was dance.

Their names were called. Emma reached up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek and whisper “good luck” in his ear. His nerves were soothed and he breathed more easily. He glowed with the joy of that simple kiss. He could do it, he would do it - would do anything - for her.

Killian felt light and joyful as he glided around the ice. The music seeped into his pores, guiding his movements. Elsa and he danced like a dream, every twist, turn and twizzle was in perfect harmony.

Their dance reached its crashing crescendo and they hit their final pose, looking for all the world like a pair of lovers.

The music died and he pulled Elsa into a fierce hug, lifting her off the ice with joy. “We both know I'm not the blonde you've been thinking of,” Elsa whispered into his ear with a giggle. He was so happy he couldn't even been bothered to chastise her.

They won. Of course they won. And no one was talking about their record-breaking score, all anyone could mention was the romance, their chemistry.

He'd turned off his twitter notifications after he received approximately a million mentions in a matter of minutes.

"OMGGGGGGGG @TheKillianJones & @ElsaFrost01 must be in LOVE! #FrostJones"

"I can lip read, she definitely said I love you!!!! @TheKillianJones @ElsaFrost01 #FrostJones #CanYouFeelTheLoveTonight #IShipIt”

“I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE DAMN MEDALS THEY ARE IN LOVE AND MY HEART IS GONNA EXPLODE!!! 😍💖😍💖😍 @TheKillianJones @ElsaFrost01 #FrostJones”

He had to laugh at how far from the truth they were.

And now he was sitting off to one side at their impromptu gold medal celebration taking it all in - most of the rest of the USA figure skating team were there drinking bubbly wine and cheering drunkenly although Neal and Tamara were conspicuous by their absence. He shook his head at their pettiness. Sure their unexpected win had robbed the pair of their own chance at a medal, but he suspected the no show was more a “fuck you” to their former coach, Emma. (He couldn't deny being glad of that, remembering the hint of tears that had glistened in her eyes at revealing how she'd discovered that Neal had been cheating on her with his partner. Not to mention how she'd been dragged into a possible doping scandal when she found herself blamed for a failed test - he still wasn't certain how Neal had weaseled his way out of those allegations. Tonight was Emma's night as much as theirs and she didn't need that dickhead bringing her down.)

“Hey.” Emma bumped his shoulder affectionately, sitting down next to him. “Beware of lurking gold medallists!”

He smiled wryly at her. “Just thinking, love.”

“Lurking and brooding - a classic combination.” He laughed. “Shouldn't you be celebrating?”

He raised his plastic cup to show off his rum then placed it down beside him. “Don't worry, I'm celebrating, I was just thinking how we couldn't have done this without you.”

She blushed, and twisted her mouth into a small smile that he found utterly adorable. “You guys have the talent,” she said with a shrug, “I just helped you to polish your routine.”

“You did more than that, I wasn't sure if I'd ever skate like that again after, well, you know.” He gestured vaguely and she nodded. She did know. He'd told her all about what happened, back in that night when they'd traded tragic backstories and came within inches of kissing. He still remembered how beautiful she'd looked, could feel her breath on his lips and the bitter disappointment welling in his soul. He gathered his courage, spurred on by the high of his win and the rum in his belly. “That is, until I met you.”

Her eyes widened and she looked deeply touched. She leaned closer to him, his breath caught in his chest and he watched as her eyes flicked down to his mouth. He wet his lips instinctively and moved closer to her, breathing in her air and waiting. Waiting.

She took a deep breath and gently touched her lips to his. Soft, that was all he could think. Her lips were so soft. His heart felt full. It was the barest of touches and it had him completely undone.

A part of him wondered if he was having that effect on her - hoped we was. Then she moaned against his lips and deepened the kiss and all thoughts were lost.

He pulled back from her the barest amount when the need for air got too strong, keeping her as close as possible, wanting to stay in this affectionate bubble forever. “That was -” he breathed.

“The reason a thousand hearts broke around the world. At least.” He looked up to see Elsa smirking at the pair of them. “Mine included, according to the interwebs. Don't look so worried, Jones, I think I'll live.” Her last comment was said with a wink before she disappeared back to the crowd of merrymakers.

“We better get back to all the partying and celebrating you and stuff,” Emma said, but her forehead was rested against hers and she showed no sign of moving.

“Do we have to? I'm sure we could just -”

She pushed him backwards with a smile. “Be patient.” He was about to protest, but she silenced him with one last soft kiss. “We can have our own private celebration later.”

“Promise?” He intended to sound flirty, but he sounded far too sincere.

“Yes,” she said, rolling her eyes and dragged him back to the party.

As he held her in his arms later, her hair spilling out over his bare chest, which she was using as a pillow, he wondered how he ever got so lucky. Four years ago he had nothing, but now he had everything.

[melyzard]

for the made up title thing: guess why (my heart's beating faster) and you're a sharpshooter (take a bullet to the heart) for rebelcaptain? I'm not good at titles, unfortunately :)

What are you talking about, these are great titles!

guess why (my heart's beating faster) : “The average Human will take approximately eight hundred million breaths in their lifetime,” Chirrut says, tapping her shoulder with the staff that Bodhi made out of an old shuttle cross-brace. “You can afford to care about at least a few of them.”

“I care about all of them,” Jyn mutters. “I just think it’s boring to sit around and listen to them.”

“Boredom,” Chirrut says in that grave tone he uses when reciting some Wise Old Man Mantra (usually to the tune of Baze groaning in the background), “is the inability of the mind to occupy itself with meaningful thought.”

“I have many meaningful thoughts,” Jyn replies, but before she can elaborate, her partner walks into the room and sees them both sitting crosslegged on the floor. His mouth curls up into that soft half-smile that always makes Jyn’s fingers itch to...to...do something about it. 

“Meaningful, perhaps, but also easily distracted,” Chirrut says next to her, although what that is supposed to mean, she has no idea.

[Jyn wants to learn some of Chirrut’s fighting skills, but he insists she learns mindful breathing and meditation first. She’d be a better student if Cassian didn’t keep...distracting her.]

you're a sharpshooter (take a bullet to the heart): 

[WARNING THIS ONE GOT A BIT DARK ON ME, I’M SO SORRY!]

In the back of one of Cassian’s datapads, encrypted with every single trick of the trade he knows, carefully hidden under folder names like “Old Republic tax laws” and “Festian knitting patterns,” Cassian has a file. It’s an old file, one he started when he was nine, brand new to the Alliance (not the Rebellion, of course, but wearing a uniform for the first time), and still stumbling scared from place to place but already skilled at hiding it. The file is labelled “in case,” and inside he has a list.

On that list is every person he works with, or has worked with for any significant time period in the past, or anticipates that he might have to work with in the future. Next to each name, there is one or two words only, no further information or links to other databases. The words are things like “peanut allergy,” or “bad right ear,” meaningless to anyone who might somehow sneak their way into this file. He doesn’t need anything more defining, honestly doesn’t even really need the list itself. He has it all memorized, like an old song lodged in his head, a heavy weight tied around his lungs. The physical list exists purely as a reminder to himself, from time to time when he stumbles on it. He wrote this. He researched it. He looked at each one of these people and spent time and effort deciding how - should the need ever arise - he could kill them. 

Hannina Justiv - peanut allergy (slip the dust in her food if there is time, inject the serum into her veins if there isn’t)

Davits Draven - bad right ear (easier to sidle up to him on that side, easier to put the barrel by his ear and pull the trigger before he reacts)

C3PO - auditory processing glitch (overload the droid with too many loud sounds, destroy while his processing core goes into dramatic overdrive)

The list goes on. Every name is on it, removed only when they are already confirmed dead. 

Mon Mothma - ranged shot (she doesn’t wear the personal shields that Draven keeps insisting she should, though she does have bodyguards who would stop a close-range attack)

Serrrana Ajish - flu (medical files indicate a fatal genetic weakness to most strains of the virus)

The list goes on. He has been writing it since he was nine - he had meant it as a way to cope, written his own name down and listed all the things that could kill him, meaning to write silly ones (death by clowns, death by eating too much cake, death by spontaneous glitter storm) but it had gotten too realistic too fast, and in a panic he had started listing all his enemies and how he would destroy them first. 

Commander Thoma Horaldi - political suicide (smear that arrogant bastards name enough, he would hang himself)

Moff Gurd - venereal disease (the fool had no self control anyway, it would be completely believable to the coroners afterwards)

And then it had come in handy - on a mission, he had been forced to put down someone he should have been able to trust. He’d done it exactly the way he’d written in his list. And after the debrief and the medical checks and the long, silent cry he’d had in the bathroom when he was finally alone, Cassian had opened the file and updated it carefully. 

Terrence Julan - crack in body armor (just big enough for a blaster barrel to slip)

There are many names on the list. Cassian keeps it meticulously updated, and hates himself for it. It’s an inexcusable thing to have, the kind of thing that serial killers and psychopaths keep around. There’s no excuse, and probably no redemption for him, not for this. 

(Except sometimes, in the most secret places of his heart, he thinks that if there is any redemption to be had, it lies on the last entry on the list, the entry he stops and looks at every time he opens this file.)

Jyn Erso - 

(Cassian Andor has destroyed a lot of things for the cause. Some things he would rather destroy him.)

[rollingwiththephatness]

Color Me Badd - I Wanna Sex You Up (1991)

Let me light a candle, So that we can make it better Makin' love until we drown (Dig!)

It’s easy to watch 1991’s “I Wanna Sex You Up” and judge it harshly with 2018 reading glasses, but it’s important to remember that Color Me Badd was THAT group during their time. They were accepted by both mainstream pop and urban/R&B audiences, and the receipts show that they sold 12 million records worldwide and had three number 1 hit singles. Yes, these dudes right here:

Color Me Badd is also consistently ignored within the conversations of great 90s boy bands, usually reserved for the juggernauts of the later years in the decade like Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. But if you look at the period between Lou Pearlman’s Hunk Factory and the 1980s ascendance of New Kids on the Block and New Edition, you’ll see the long silhouettes of four guys in oversized, vibrant shoulder-padded blazers dancing joyfully as one.

I was extremely young when I became aware of CMB, which didn’t happen until a few years after their prime. My talent for knowing a good bop instantly was already fine tuned as a child. I have fond memories of dancing around to “I Wanna Sex You Up” alongside my best friend Kiley in her upstairs bedroom, away from the grownups in our lives who had given the song an R rating. Did we know what we were singing about? Absolutely not. Were we aware that the lyric “We can do it til we both wake up” didn’t make sense physiologically? Who cares? It was catchy!

It would be another two decades later (and some change) until I encountered the music video, and boy, does it not hold up in the sexy department. But because I am nothing but a humble public servant, I watched the video approximately 700,000 times and put together a list of the “sexiest” moments for you to relish and enjoy. Viewer discretion and a healthy pour of two buck chuck from Trader Joe’s is advised.

1. Videocassette Lady

The premise of the video is that there are a bunch of sexy ladies in power suits/club dresses who have infiltrated the offices of Color Me Badd, Inc., and they just can’t stop secretly filming and watching the boys do choreography via VHS. I haven’t seen Sex, Lies and Videotape, which came out in 1989, but my hunch is that it served as inspiration.

The video starts by showing us a woman on the phone with an anonymous caller. She says, “Yes, I will watch my videocassettes” which reads as oddly robotic (and I mean reads: We’re given captions instead of audio). Who is this woman? With whom is she speaking to? Do we think she’s talking to Bryan, the lead singer with the voice of an angel? Or maybe Sam Watterson, Kenny G’s doppelgänger? Why does she talk like a broken robot from Westworld? Oh my god, is this the 90s corporate version of Westworld? Also, videocassettes is one word, not two? This quick yet pivotal scene is full of mystery, and there’s nothing sexier than mystery!  

2. Candles & Incense in the Workplace: Sexy or Potential Death Trap?

The members of Color Me Badd know all about setting the mood. To them, candles and incense = sexy time. Ergo, candles and incense in the office = sexy time in the office.

One of the actual lyrics of the song further supports this belief: “Let me light a candle so we can make it better.” And we all know what “it” means!

Aside from the mood lighting, perhaps it’s the danger of corporate candles that really get CMB going. In my career, I’ve received multiple emails from HR sternly reminding the uneducated that candles could in fact burn the building down and possibly kill us all, making them a no-go. Do we think Color Me Badd, Inc. has an HR department? I’m going to say nah, unless it’s staffed by attractive ladies in not-so-sensible pumps.

In summary, fire hazards in the office? Sexy!

3. Anytime Sam Watters is On Screen

Let’s be real, Sam Watters (second tenor, song cowriter and Kenny G twin from earlier) is the real MVP of this video. He is sexual napalm personified.

Exhibit A: He dances so hard, he probably caused the very Earth to crack after this move:

Exhibit B: He invented a meet cute situation where a man tries to stand on top of his briefcase in an elevator for no reason, and then falls into the arms of a sexy lady. Works every time.

Even sexier is what Sam Watters went on to do post-CMB, which is writing and producing songs for a few names you may know: Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson, and fairy godmother to us all, Whitney Houston. Although I’m taking a few shots at him, he’s living his best life out here and that is definitely sexy.

To avoid overheating the internet with all this erotic energy, I’ll stop here. It’s always interesting to look back at what was once considered controversial in music, which in most cases, has the bite of a beanie baby compared to what’s permissible in now. Mature themes, specifically those pertaining to sex, have evolved drastically and I’m looking forward to further exploring this topic here.

Color Me Badd is on tour this summer (though not with the full stack of guys) because the 90s are alive and well! If you go, report back and remember to stay hydrated - getting sexed up takes a lot out of you.  

[thisdaynews]

Ad-makers say Democratic candidates need to stop being boring

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/ad-makers-say-democratic-candidates-need-to-stop-being-boring/

Ad-makers say Democratic candidates need to stop being boring

Sen. Bernie Sanders. The presidential candidate’s “America” ad is one example of an ad that successfully drove its own media coverage. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images

2020 Elections

Democratic 2020 candidates have already spent millions on TV ads, but little has stood out.

They bring new meaning to the phrase “ad nauseum.”

From solemn candidates speaking straight into a camera to deep-voiced narrators talking as American flags wave in a light breeze, the TV spots aired so far by 10 Democratic White House hopefuls are heavy on earnest presentations and omnipresent tropes, looking and sounding like the ads candidates have been running for decades.

Story Continued Below

The onslaught of uber-traditional advertising has surprised observers and ad-makers watching the record number of Democratic candidates navigating the presidential race in an era of massive political change. They say it has left open a major opportunity for a creative campaign to break through amid the hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising still to come before the party picks a nominee.

Candidates don’t want to risk appearing unpresidential or make themselves the subject of talk-show mockery, but they may need to try something more original to break open a static 2020 campaign that has featured little polling movement and an ultra-crowded media environment.

“If you just do these ads that could have anyone else’s name stamped on them, that’s the really risky path to take,” said Owen Brennan, a Los Angeles-based ad-maker who made advertisements for Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 campaign, which — like competitor and now-President Donald Trump — steered away from straightforward biographical ads during the race.

As the campaigns make their opening salvos, “nobody’s opened with a really provocative set of ads at this point,” said Mark Longabaugh, a media consultant who advised Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign. While out-there advertising isn’t the solution for every campaign, Longabaugh said, “it is a cautious open here.”

Two candidates, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Tom Steyer, have made major investments in television ads so far. Steyer has spent more than $10 million on TV ads, accounting for two-thirds of the approximately $15 million in ad money spent by the 2020 field so far. The ads largely feature the billionaire talking to the camera, along with clips of him shaking voters’ hands, as Steyer talks about his record of political activism.

In early August, Gillibrand poured $1.5 million of her remaining campaign funds into advertising, in a last-ditch effort to make the Sept. 13 Democratic debate stage. “I’m proud that I supported ‘Medicare for All’ before it was popular. Nothing’s impossible if we fight for it,” Gillibrand said in one ad, which featured images of her riding in a car, walking down a hallway then speaking at a rally.

Gillibrand’s ads didn’t do enough to help her qualify for the debate, and she exited the race at the end of August. It’s a startling example of how candidates who are fighting for survival in 2020 are still being surprisingly risk-averse, even in a pack of more than 20 candidates, said Ian Russell, a Democratic media strategist.

“Many of the people motivated to be on TV right now are motivated by existential necessity — whether it was Steyer, motivated to be on the debate stage, or Gillibrand, fighting for her life,” Russell said. “These were high-stakes moves, and yet they resulted in generic ads.”

But veteran Democratic ad-maker Steve Murphy said the slate of ads running so far are doing their jobs: acquainting voters with candidates and their records, often for the first time.

“There’s no groundbreaking ads creatively or stylistically. But they’re all thoroughly researched, in terms of what a candidate needs out of their advertising,” Murphy said.

Steyer spokesman Alberto Lammers echoed that point, saying Steyer’s straightforward advertising is helping voters learn about the candidate and his basic views on key issues. Lammers pointed to certain polling of early states that Steyer is barraging with ads, which has shown him creeping upward and helped him qualify for the October Democratic debate.

“We’re encouraged,” Lammers said, adding that the campaign plans to continue buying airtime. “The message is penetrating.“

The one ad that has broken from the pack, practitioners said, was a recent spot from Joe Biden’s campaign: It flashes black-and-white family photos on-screen and focuses on how he interacted with the health care system when his family experienced the tragedies of a car crash in the 1970s and his son’s diagnosis with cancer when Biden was vice president.

Biden’s ad stands out because it emphasizes a specific message from the campaign in an “emotional and powerful” way, said Longabaugh, the former Sanders ad-maker.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kamala Harris’ first ad introduces her and her policy agenda to voters. She talks about her mother — “After we were fed and in bed, our mother would sit up trying to make it all work,” Harris says in the ad — and then introduces her “3 a.m. agenda,” which included policies like “Medicare for All” and a middle-class tax cut. “You’ve waited long enough to get a good night’s sleep,” the ad concludes. Harris spokesman Ian Sams said Harris’ backstory is relatable and is “a message we wanted to share with Iowans because it reflects her values and what motivates her in this race.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — who has aired $818,000 in ads so far this cycle, the third-highest of any candidate after Steyer and Gillibrand — talked about her policy goals in an ad airing in South Carolina: “Meet Tulsi Gabbard, decorated war veteran who will end wasteful regime-change wars and new Cold War,” a narrator says in the ad.

Major advertising campaigns for presidential races can take tens of millions of dollars and countless hours to pull off. A super PAC backing Carly Fiorina spent months collecting shots of female supporters’ faces during the 2016 election, in anticipation that Trump would make a sexist attack on Fiorina and the footage would come in handy.

After Trump insulted Fiorina — “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” he said — the work did pay off in a widely viewed ad spotlighting the women’s faces.

And Sanders’ striking “America” ad, in which the eponymous Simon & Garfunkel song played for one minute over footage of Sanders and his supporters, was originally conceived of three months before it aired in January 2016, as the caucus season began. Sanders’ team of media strategists collected footage at rallies and events and workshopped the ad’s approach, at one point floating clips of Sanders speaking over the music before deciding to take the more minimalist approach.

Originally, the “America” ad didn’t feature the song “America,” either. At first, Sanders’ team had thought to use a different Simon & Garfunkel song, “American Tune,” before hitting on the more aspirational-sounding track at the suggestion of a spouse.

It’s one example of an ad that successfully drove its own media coverage, in addition to running on television, generating articles in the press and millions of views on YouTube. Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign set out to create a similar effect with some of its ads: The Cruz campaign wanted ads worthy of media conversation and chatter at the office, and hired a firm with Hollywood experience to create nontraditional ads ranging from the immigration-focused spot showing white-collar professionals scaling a border wall to Cruz reading satirical Christmas stories. That ad originally aired during an episode of “Saturday Night Live” hosted by Trump, and it helped spark a surge of fundraising for the Texas senator.

Other, less attention-grabbing ads from the Cruz campaign that aired in early voting states focused on helping the senator expand his appeal to new bloc of voters by emphasizing lesser-known parts of his biography.

“Biographical ads in presidential campaigns are dead,” said Jeff Roe, Cruz’s 2016 campaign manager. “If people want to know about presidential candidates, and they will go online and seek out that information.”

The current candidates, Roe said, are “being poorly served by their advertising because it’s not telling anything that’s unknown, or funny, or interesting.”

Read More

[shesjustyoursoulmate-blog]

May The Best Win (Chapter 2)

Well well well well, yes I´m alive in case my one follower wonders...(this is so sad). ANYWAY, Im so sorry. I know I said I was going to update every three day but I didn´t..so sorry again. Without further do, here it is, CHAPTER 2.

NOTE: The characters do not belong to us, except for Charlotte Agreste and Olivie Vereau. WARNING: Contains adult language, not suitable for young children. Enjoy!

                   -------------------------------------------------------------

It was the last hour of class, the group of Madame Bustier was in Literature class with their tutor.

-Well, guys, today we are going to make groups for a school project about World Literature- said the teacher.

Many students complained, others rolled their eyes.

-Yes, I know. Boring. However, we are in high school. Next year you will enter the lyceum, and you have to prepare precisely- sighed the teacher. -Well, the groups ar…

-Miss, Can we use headphones in class?- interrupted Adrien.

-Of course no. Why do you ask?- questioned the teacher.

-Then, Why is Miss Vereau using them?- the blond asked slyly.

-¡VEREAU!- throne the teacher

-I..I…I´m sorry, Miss- said Olivie embarrassed.

- I was going to partnered you with Mister Couffaine so you could spend more time together, since you´ve been separated for so long, but no more.- proclaimed the teacher- I´m sorry  Couffaine, but you will not be able to be with your best friend.-continued her.

She approached Olivie.

-I´ll keep those headphones until next month. I´d tell you go with the headmaster, but you're new, so I´ll forgive you.-declaimed the teacher.

-Die, Agreste- she whispered when the teacher returned to her desk.

-Now the groups.- said the teacher.

- Group 1: Agreste, Charlotte; Césaire and Vereau- she said

-Group 2: Bourgeois; Lahiffe and Rossi- Afterwords, Chloe and Lila looked at each other with hatred and Nino swallowed.

- Group 3: Agreste, Adrien; Dupain-Cheng and Couffaine, Luka.- Adrien smiled at Marinette, and she smiled back.

-Group 4: Bruel, Haprelé, Kant�� and Lavillant-

-And finally, Group 5: Couffain, Juleka; Kubdel and Lê Chien.-

-Now, ¡Let´s assigned the subjects -asserted the teacher.

-Group 1: Contry: France. 2000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.-

-Group 2: Contry Russia. Crime and Punishment by Fiódor Dostoyevski.

Lila growled, Chloe snorted and Nino fainted.

-Alya, please take Nino to the nursery. Group 3: Contry: England, Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare- Marinette smiled.

-Group 4: Greece: The Odyssey by Homer, and Group 5: Contry: Germany. Anna Frank´s diary by Anna Frannk.

 Alix and Kim growled

-Well, guys. The presentation must last a total of 20 minutes approximately. It must include the biography of the author, the summary of the book, the rhetorical figures used and why, the message towards their society, impacted on them, impacted on us, and how does it helps us to understand the culture of that country. For the Odyssey, the last topic is not necessary, and for Romeo and Juliet, include both England and Italy.-

-Now, you guys are going to go to the library. I HOPE you will behave yourself since I´ve got to go to a meeting with Mrs. Blanchette and Ms. Bravillard. Kanté, you are in charge until I come back.- said the teacher.

    -      -     -      -     -     -       -      -       -      -     -     -      -     -       -       -

Library of the François Dupont, 2:45 pm

 Everyone went to the library as a group. Some students took the time to work and actually do their projects. Others, the majority, took advantage of it for "other things"

-Sooo…Who do you like, Luka?- asked Olivie to his friend. She has noticed him, for some days now, like he was in the clouds. It could have been a million things. Maybe he was not concentrated because of a song or maybe he had problems with a chord. However, both of those things usually never happened. Besides, she had never seen him that bad before. Like a car has crushed his heart…yep he had a crush.

Luka refused to answer, but she insisted, just as Lila, who had stuck to them like gum.

The Agrestes and the Bourgeois, on the other hand, had already finished collecting the books they needed, although they did not read them.

Charlotte smiled mischievously.

-And ... Adrien, my dear brother,-she said, using the tone she used to get information from him. From time to time he liked to scrub his brother, but with love ... most of the time. - Any beautiful girl, besides Chloé and me? - She said.

 On one side of that area of ​​the library, behind a shelf near the Agrestes, Luka steeled himself.

Adrien put on a dreamy look.

Both sighed.

 -Marinette- they said in unison.

  -Luka, Lila, Olivie, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Said Charlotte

 -Breathing- Lila answered.

 The other 5 looked at her really annoyed.

It was not the time for jokes.

 -So you like Dupain-Cheng, huh, Agreste? - Olivie said.

 -Yes so what? - He said.

 -Well, Luka here too- she replied

 -And what does oil hair have to do with this? - He said.

 -Hey! - said Luka.

 - Shut up, Adrien! - Olivie snapped. - Look cheap gold curls, Luka is going to win the girl.

 -We´ll see about that…

 -DO YOU WANT A FIGHT? - Exclaimed Lila - Well, let´s fight!

 Immediately afterwards, she began to throw the books she found to the three Parisians. 

She only hit Chloé, causing a bruise on her forehead.

 -Ouuchh! - Chloé said. - Now I will not be able to pose with daddy! HOW DARE YOU. This is ridiculous, UTTERLY ridiculous.

 Lila kept throwing books, but only to the Agrestes.

Again, she did not succeeded.

She grabbed another book to throw at Charlotte, when suddenly the librarian started yelling.

 -You three! - Said the librarian, Madame Noregarde, pointing to Luka, Olivie and Lila – Leave the library, NOW !!!

 -Hey, don´t you know who I am? - Lila spat - I am Lila ROSSI, the daughter of PIERRE ROSSI! - She continued - If you don´t take back what you just said, I will ...!

 -Lila, let's go- Luka said, apologizing with the librarian, but not before throwing an accusing glance at the other three spectators.

 Lila snorted

 -You're right, we can´t be seen together with this FREAKS! - She said - Sorry for interrupting the meeting of the club of the motherless! - She shouted.

 -Lila, that was cruel- Olivie said. Even though she was seen as a really bad rebellious girl, Olivie had a heart and she knew no one deserved to be treated that way.

 -SO WHAT? They deserved it- she said

 While they were leaving, Luka stood up, turned around, and solemnly proclaimed:

 Adrien, you will have won the battle, but not the war

                ------------------------------------------------------------

And that was Chapter 2, We hope you guys enjoyed it and, as always, feel free to leave us feedback. Chapter 3 will probably take a little bit more but we will try to write some one-shots in return. Until next time (Chat)

[keyamsha]

Michael Jackson “Remembers the Time” when we were Kings and Queens.

Reminiscent of one of Hollywood’s old biblical epics, Michael Jackson chose ancient Egypt as the setting for his exotic and lavish new video Remember the Time. The upbeat song entertains while the story and setting recall a time when Blacks ruled one of civilization’s greatest empires.

“Usually in big spectacles when filmmakers do ancient Egypt, they don’t show or tell the truth,” said John Singleton, who directed the seven-minute short film. Singleton, who also directed the acclaimed Boyz N the Hood, said “they don’t show the beauty of Black people. Michael wanted to do something to show us as we are–very beautiful people.”

The video features Eddie Murphy as Pharaoh Ramses, supermodel Iman as Queen Nefertiti and Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the court announcer. In the video, Nefertiti tells the pharaoh that she is bored. To entertain her, he has the announcer summon juggler and flame-thrower. But, she was not amused.

Finally, a mysterious robed figure appears, disappears and reemerges as Jackson. After he (Jackson) lightly flirts with the queen, an outraged pharaoh has his men chase him through the palace and the market. After taking dancers through well-choreographed routines, he moves through the palace and has a surprising, passionate kissing scene with the queen. Just as he is about to be cornered, he disappears again and re-emerges as a cat.

Singleton and Jackson collaborated on the theme and casting for several weeks before the video was shot in less than a week’s time during January 1992.

Singleton had been a fan of Jackson’s all his life. “I just called him up and said that if he wanted me to shoot a short film for him I’d be available to do it,” he recalled. “We talked and it so happened that the next single from the Dangerous, album, Remember the Time, was coming up and he needed a director for it. It was a collaboration deciding who could play the pharaoh, who’d be really funny because we wanted to make it entertaining. I said, ‘Why not Eddie Murphy?’ and he said ‘Yeah.’ So, Michael called up Eddie to see if he’d be down for it and he said yes. We wanted a really beautiful sister to play the queen. He said, ‘You know who I think is really beautiful?’ We looked at each other and we both said ‘Iman!’ It was like osmosis!”

Singleton said he wants the film to be seen as educational as well as entertaining. “We have a proud heritage.”

The video was choreographed by Fatima, who has done choreography for Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder and Keith Sweat. “John said he wanted the dancing to be hip hop,” she told JET. Everything is going into this hip hop area. Hip hop is sort of like aerobics. It’s fast-moving and basically from our African roots. With Michael, what we did was more technical dancing. We still made it Egyptian but still street. It’s kind of techno hop. This was a new style for Michael but he was great. He picks up steps very easily. And he had a great time. We had to rehearse five or six hours a day for two weeks but it was fun. We’re happy this is an all-Black thing.”

The single Remember the Time was written by Jackson, along with Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle. It is the follow-up single to Black or White which spent seven weeks at the top of the music charts. Overall, Jackson’s Dangerous album was at or near the top of the charts since it debut in fall of 1991.

Although no figures were released, the lavish and authentic set for the Remember the Time video reportedly cost approximately $2 million.

Singleton told JET that Jackson makes short films, not videos. Although he did a number of short films as a student at the University of Southern California, this was his first as a professional. He was also working on his second feature film Poetic Justice, a film set in South L.A. and Oakland. He called that film a “street romance, a common love story, not bourgeois folks.

Michael Jackson “Remembers the Time” when we were Kings and Queens. Michael Jackson "Remembers the Time" when we were Kings and Queens. Reminiscent of one of Hollywood's old biblical epics, Michael Jackson chose ancient Egypt as the setting for his exotic and lavish new video Remember the Time.

[pagedesignhub-blog]

YouTuber star Mariale Marrero to introduce beauty series

New Post has been published on https://pagedesignhub.com/youtuber-star-mariale-marrero-to-introduce-beauty-series/

YouTuber star Mariale Marrero to introduce beauty series

Influencers don’t only flow the sales needle for splendor manufacturers they tout. With purchasers’ tuned into their every flow; more of the social stars are launching their own cosmetics. The brand new to achieve this is Maria Marrero, a Venezuela-born YouTube megastar who is liberating her own lip kit bearing her call.

She joins others inclusive of Jaclyn Hill, who’s at the back of a Morphe eye shadow palette, and Kandee Johnson, who served as an authority for 2 nail coloration collections for SinfulColors.

The YouTube star Making System That is lots of videos. How does all and sundry damage through all of these photos, song communicate and clatter? The brilliant aspect is that many do and some experience it directly to main success. That Bieber man as an example.

Although it’s best been around for the reason that 2005, and turned into bought in 2007 for 1.sixty five billion (yeah billion with a B) to Google, YouTube is now a family call, a prime participant and a launching pad for new careers. The listing of those who’ve emerged from YouTube consists of Justin Bieber, Soulja Boy, and Tay Zonday, among others. The list is various, from Bieber to the Mattress Intruder to the double rainbows man. John Jacobson and his Double Dream Fingers video have become a large hit thanks to YouTube. Jacobson ended up on Ellen’s Television show coaching her team of workers how to do the dance on her birthday segment. There may be now a Double Dream Palms telephone app and a book and DVD are on the manner.

Whereas YouTube was once the website to go to watch goofy, loopy motion pictures, it’s miles now the new engine for launching skills and careers. it is a community wherein viewers go to locate news, sports, science, track and how-to statistics. Like a social community, it also lets in visitors to join special channels, friends, and many others.

YouTube creates stars and sensations: Car-Music the information’s “Mattress Intruder Music” turned into the year’s most-watched, non-most important label video on YouTube. The web page helped take it from obscurity to on-line sensation.

The Bieber Impact: The Beiber story is the maximum putting. The 16 yr antique Canadian singer shot from anonymity to superstardom in three years. At thirteen he competed in, signed with the aid of Usher. After his debut release of “My International”, he crowned one hundred million YouTube perspectives. The Bieber Impact signaled a brand new phenomenon – a mixture of digital/viral social media and a crossover of digital/analog/print phenomenon. This turned into a real example of the brand new media melding with old.

Apart from movies from fundamental labels, closing yr’s maximum famous videos have been stimulated by or take offs on installed performers such as Woman Gaga, Ke$ha and, of course, Justin Bieber. There was also the antique Spice guy, and we are all nonetheless getting better from the double rainbow. However, musicians, performers, and comedians are not the only ones to make the most of YouTube. Who’re they and how do they do it? I will be speak about that in my next article.

how to Start Making Earnings Using YouTube movies Do no longer think you may upload a video and have it end up one of the most regarded YouTube movies. It can manifest that manner But it is not unusual. maximum films which have massive viewership also are part of a group on a channel and that channel has lots of films uploaded continually thereby growing a following. extra approximately this later after I discuss selling your video. First, allow me to point out the commercial enterprise of YouTube.

Customers upload 35 hours of video each minute. YouTube has created the biggest on-line video network inside the Global.

YouTube’s sales have grown from someplace among $100 million and $250 million in 2008 to just under $1 billion in 2010 and its monthly global audience has grown from 344 million unique Customers to 500 million.

With numbers like that YouTube is an marketing haven to predominant brands. “The numbers almost did now not make sense,” said Adam Butler, a brand supervisor at Kraft Meals for Philadelphia Cream Cheese, after revenue have been raised with the aid of five% because of 10 million perspectives to their promotional video with one hundred,000 clicking through to the web site. “It is bigger than Tv” he stated.

After you have uploaded videos which are with a bit of luck humorous, informative, exciting or so interesting the viewer can’t appearance away there are a few things you may do to promote them. A channel is created for everybody with the account so you can customise it by way of changing the historical past, including a theme with a coloration scheme, a picture of your self and you could paste a hyperlink on your channel leading to your personal website or a weblog. After you’ve got this channel custom designed to your liking invite humans to join it.

Sharing your video with buddies and own family thru e-mail with the share button is a superb manner to allow them to know you have a video and ask them to subscribe to your channel.

Video responses can growth visitors on your videos by using leaving video responses to other films inside the identical niche as yours. you can create a brand in order that whenever you depart a response you stand out more. it’s far like your avatar, it manufacturers you.

Video sharing websites can improve your presence on-line. This works by using uploading a video as you will except in place of going to simply YouTube your video may be disbursed to numerous other video websites as properly. Two places you may do that are Tubemogul.Com and Trafficgeyser.Com.

Now that you have optimistically elevated your quantity of perspectives you may get started out for your sales move by way of turning into a YouTube Accomplice. The standards are: unique content, own the content material, post frequently, adhere to the network tips and feature thousands of perspectives.

YouTube began its Accomplice software in 2007 to inspire audience-attracting manufacturers to create more and better content material. It sells towards their movies and offers them greater than half the revenue. It started with just a handful of companions on the way to develop to a large international scale.

There at the moment are greater than 10,000 partners in the program and it is predicted that the top 350 to four hundred were capable of give up their day jobs and earn a residing off the platform. A number of the monetization equipment that assist boost sales for partners are Using annotations, tagging, associated films, reaction videos and playlists.

Those equipment sell an increase in revenue, viewership and interplay. The creators of these movies can have interaction with fanatics in a manner Television cannot. A number of the a success pinnacle companions are:

Smosh, a sketch institution; Dane Boedigheimer, who has the #1 net show, The Stressful Orange; and Fred Figglehorn, the squeaky-voiced introduction of juvenile comic Lucas Cruikshank, who made the a hit jump to Television closing summer time with a success film on Nickelodeon.

These successful creators of original content material frequently get Hollywood dealers and managers. HBO has even picked up one of the skits from “funny or Die”, a channel that makes funny movies that function your favourite comedians and celebrities. Based by Will Ferrell, “funny or Die” makes 25 films a month with most of the people getting hits from millions of visitors.

How-to-films could make you a fortune and propel you to turning into a YouTube celebrity. For example Michelle Phan has a mess of make-up educational videos on YouTube demonstrating her beauty recognize how The use of her favourite makeup, Lancome. Her how to on Lady GaGa’s poker face appearance has garnered 24 million perspectives. Lancome took notice and offered her a video deal.

Similarly, regular posting of YouTube videos on their skateboard hints has propelled California 12 yr old twins Nic and Tristan Pueshe into YouTube Stars. They began skateboarding when they were 5. After years of tough work and studying stunning jumps, kickflips and transfer-stances they have been offered a film deal starring themselves called Nic & Tristan move Mega Dega.

[usstatesofsong]

Countdown to #Eurovision - Yearly Reviews - 1985

We’re approximately three months away from the next edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, and while we’re waiting for more of the 2017 songs to be released before reviewing them (as we did last year), we’re going to revisit Eurovision song contests from the past and rank our favorites in each contest.

What controversy! Sweden would host their second Eurovision contest (and the 30th official contest) after an unexpected win from golden shoes in Luxembourg. The official ESC site, not too long ago, ran some kind of poll to ask followers who was their favorite host from the 1980s, and when all was said and done, they chose the Swedish Carol Burnett - Lill Lindfors - as the singular female host of the ‘85 edition. The event was held in Gothenberg at the Scandinavium - which is arguably the most awesome name given to a sports stadium-made concert stage hall ever.

A lot of things took on a markedly 80’s feel in 1983 and 1984. But for some reason, my memory of the ‘85 contest is a lot of schlager and music dissociated with the era. There’s a few songs here in there that I don’t think could have existed anywhere else (ex: Turkey and Austria), but largely it’s a bit uninspiring to me.

However, this is one of the old-school Eurovision fans’ favorite editions. Is it because Lindfors stripped in front of millions of viewers between the interval act and the voting? Or is it because she can’t say the word thirtieth? Or is it because she sits out on stage for all of the nineteen songs, bobbing her head along or getting up to dance? I will take it with all the seriousness I can muster (which is quickly dwindling - she runs a pure comedy act) Or is it just simply because of the many artists who returned to the contest? Well, let’s find out! Let’s get to the songs.

(Listen to the recap video below, or click on the titles of each song to hear it’s individual performance.)

1. IRELAND – Maria Christian, “Wait Until The Weekend Comes” (6th, 91 pts)

We finished the ‘84 edition with a woman named Maria, and we begin ‘85 with another! This sounds like the beginning song to a television soap opera. It’s performed like an introduction to a soap opera. And it’s extremely Irish; a product of it’s time. It’s hard to knock this song down for being dated or disinteresting, but it means that there’s very little to latch onto. The last note was very reminiscent of 1980 Johnny Logan, though!

2. FINLAND - Sonja Lumme, “Eläköön elämä” (9th, 58 pts)

A massive improvement from ‘84! I love the energy in this - and what she’s wearing, too. Sonja starts out a bit shaky but finds her rhythm and beat about halfway through, and although the same could be said about the song itself - a basic pop-rock tune, it really takes off with the key change towards the end. I don’t know how I’ll feel about this song later, but for now, I’ve forgotten all about the Irish entry! Good on Finland.

3. CYPRUS - Lia Vissi, "To katalava arga" (t-16th, 15 pts)

Ah, I remember her. A few years ago when I watched this contest innocently and in full, I remember seeing this woman during the preview and thinking “Oh my goodness, she looks so startled!” Indeed she looks as though she was pulled off the street the afternoon before and told she was to sing in the contest. Zero emotions! No smiles! A deer in headlights! Well, not until the very end of the song. This may move the Greek vote, but I put it along with Ireland in the simple-folk ballad category. There’s some awkward, bombastic portions of the song that cover up the otherwise gentle voice of Lia. I don’t know.

4. DENMARK - Hot Eyes, “Sku' du spørg' fra no'en” (11th, 41 pts)

The Danish were represented by the same group twice in a row, and in 1985, Hot Eyes brought a child to the stage! To be honest, halfway through the song I start forgetting that I’m listening to a song and get distracted by the antics on stage. I’m thinking things like “Isn’t that the conductor guy from ‘89 singing alongside Kristin?” and “Wasn’t this the edition where she was pregnant?” I almost don’t have anything to say about the music itself, other than I liked their song from 1984 more.

5. SPAIN - Paloma San Basilio, “La fiesta terminó” (t-14th, 36 pts)

Terry Wogan called her “very Spanish,” and I wasn’t quite the believer of what that could mean until the performance began. Such drama! Such arm movements! I think she took everything away from Cyprus and used it to parse out this song. For what it is, I think it was performed very well, and the power to her voice is certainly recognized.

6. FRANCE - Roger Bens, “Femme dans ses rêves aussi” (10th, 56 pts)

And now from something very Spanish to something very, very French. Dans! Dans! I have a certain soft spot for this one (no, that’s not what I mean - hold on here) because of the melodrama and volume that comes out from Roger’s voice. I think this song ultimately got down-voted because of that, and maybe because the song itself is kind of repetitive, but I don’t care. I feel like we’ve finally dipped our feet into the 1980’s pool of music, and it took about six songs to do so.

7. TURKEY - MFÖ, “Didai Didai Dai” (t-14th, 36 pts)

Yeah!! Finally, let’s get some party music up in here! And you better stand up and dance to this shizz, Lill! Up until 1985 Turkey had sent groups, solo singers, but never a full-fledged band. This verges on silliness (Electric guitars with no hookups? Yes, I suppose that’s necessary), but I’m reminded of Lionel Richie type dance music tunes, or maybe even ABC. The three brothers would come back in a later edition (‘88) and rock everyone’s socks off again, but I love their effort from ‘85 just as much. And they throw the roses at the end as if to say, “You’ve been a wonderful audience for putting up with our shenanigans!”

8. BELGIUM - Linda Lepomme, “Laat me nu gaan” (19th, 7 pts)

So, let me say a little bit about this tune here. Yes, we can all agree it’s not good - it’s ten years too late, both the composition and the singer herself. Her voice is not right for the song, even though she has the emotion to get through it. The upper register parts are just… bizarre. And thus why it came last, most certainly. The “Aunt Joan from up the street” vibe is strong in this one. But I have this unfathomably strange interest in the whole thing - how she gets carried off by the conductor at the end, or how she is seemingly presented as a wedding singer in a blue robe. You kind of just wonder what the ultimate goal was for this song. I’m mesmerized.

9. PORTUGAL - Adelaide, “Penso em ti, eu sei” (18th, 9 pts)

Okay, well… I had some hopes for this song, but her voice ruined it. A very karaoke performance from Adelaide, unfortunately. The way she sings “Eu sei…” sounds almost painful to an English speaker, and by that point she’s started doing things with her voice that really turn me off from whatever is being conveyed in the ballad. It’s a shame, really, because I think she realizes it’s not going all that well half-way through. Maybe the nerves got the best of her? Anyway, I give her credit for that last note. That was perfect! The rest, though? Bleh.

10. GERMANY - Wind, “Für alle” (2nd, 105 pts)

Wait… what? This was the favorite to win in ‘85?? This?? Why?? I mean, I guess it’s well-composed, well-written, and I do appreciate the chorus portions. But the performance? The male lead singer? I’m not really impressed by this song, so I’m just a bit taken aback. I shouldn’t have to be digging for the things I like from a song that came in 2nd place.

11. ISRAEL - Izhar Cohen, “Olé, Olé” (5th, 93 pts)

I’m sorry, I only remember one thing about this song: that backup singer screaming up ridiculously high and loud. It comes out of nowhere. It breaks the entire performance! How could that have happened!?!? The one who I think is responsible - the blond in teal - has her microphone fall off part-way through the song, mostly due to all that crazy spinning they’re doing. Everything about this song is dancy, cheesy, energetic 80’s music. It’s schlager-tastic. The rest of the backup singers are dressed up like Olivia Newton-John in Let’s Get Physical. A very typical Israeli entry, and one that I can appreciate for not being a ballad. And you get more underwear shots, if you’re into that kind of thing.

12. ITALY - Al Bano & Romina Power, “Magic, oh magic” (7th, 78 pts)

Man… how did we go from such an awesome thing in ‘84 to this? How did we go from having such a wonderful female lead vocalist and an okay male lead, to the exact opposite?!? Italy’s usually very serious, professional, and studious when it comes to their entries, but this just seems cheap and empty. For heaven sakes, the backup singers are wearing Italian flag dresses. Come on. What possible magic could there be between Romina and Al? Well, it’s more 80’s television theme music.

13. NORWAY - Bobbysocks!, “La det swinge” (1st, 123 pts)

And then there was Norway. Oh, Norway! How the fortunes ‘swung’ your way finally, after all those years of poop. Pre-judgments aside, there’s energy and vivacity to this one that equate it to Israel’s entry, but despite fitting well into the 1950s or 60s era of dancehall music, it fits remarkably well into the 80s! Maybe it’s because of what they’re wearing… Upon my first listen of this contest (again, this was maybe two or three years ago), I could clearly see why this won. They maintain that vivacity and energy for the entire song, and having an entire section of saxophonists in the orchestra certainly sealed the deal. In a ballad-heavy year, this brings down the house! And I think Europe just wanted to dance, really. Worthy of the 12 points.

14. UNITED KINGDOM - Vikki, “Love Is” (4th, 100 pts)

It’s a late-1970’s love ballad transplanted into 1985, with the songwriter Vikki Watson as lead vocal. The United Kingdom rarely sent ballads, let alone female-led ballads, and even this one is more up-tempo than most. But the song itself is utterly bland. It just “is”! And if you disagree with me, wait until ‘88 and ‘89, when they sent stuff that was miles ahead of this song. There’s parts of the song that ring true and reach for something more, but that’s all I got. Next.

15. SWITZERLAND - Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini, “Piano, Piano” (12th, 39 pts)

I liked Farré from 1983, but then again, I liked a lot of entries from that year so Switzerland didn’t get any points. She returns to the contest, singing in German this time (instead of Italian), and she may have been one of the first to have sung in two different languages across contests. It’s cool, by the way, that we have a female conductor from the Swiss in ‘85! I actually don’t mind this one. It certainly has a more 80’s vibe to it, and their voices work really well together for what the song calls. I could have pictured this on the radio back in the day.

16. SWEDEN - Kikki Danielsson, “Bra vibrationer” (3rd, 103 pts)

Confusing song titles aside, maybe I was wrong about it being a ballad-heavy year. This competes with Norway for jumpy and energetic. Certainly, though, I would have picked Norway over this, as I get more of the commandeering female vibe from that one. This song, on the other hand, is a virtual predecessor to Carola’s 1991 winning song. It’s not a bad entry, and I think back in ‘85 I would have really liked this. Also, pink suit jackets for the win.

17. AUSTRIA - Gary Lux, “Kinder dieser Welt” (8th, 60 pts)

According to my scoresheet here, this song lost to Italy. I’m going to correct what history has written, and right the ship for ol’ Gary here, who after floating around the contest for the last two years, finally found his way into the lead role. This also fits well into the decade, and has a happy jubilance that even several of the other energy-filled songs lacked. Let’s do everything for the children of the world - and this message even applies to today, right? Simple but moving, and that’s the way uh-huh uh-huh I like it.

18. LUXEMBOURG - Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Chris & Malcolm Roberts, “Children, Kinder, Enfants” (13th, 37 pts)

The video I watched credited this group as “The Internationals,” but both in the contest itself and on Wikipedia, they name off the entirety of the members. This sounds like something you’ve sworn you have heard before, but quickly devolves (or evolves?) into something much more. Ralph Siegel, who won with Germany in 1982, had to find his way into the contest somehow! Listen, this song has intrigued me for the longest time, but the reason it doesn’t work in the contest is the sheer existence of it. Round-robin singing styled like this is something I thought only kids did in school choir, anyways! There’s never a break in the music, and don’t even dare trying to decipher the lyrics buried within the voices, which weren’t all that great to begin with. Some of the male vocalists sing far and beyond their female counterparts, and vice-versa. For the first-time listener, it will grate on you like cheese. For me, I like it, but I’m well aware that I’m in the solid minority here.

19. GREECE - Takis Biniaris, “Miazoume” (t-16th, 15 pts)

Well, then. I thought this was the song I was secretly thinking of that I liked, but turns out I’ve been mixing it up with the similar-looking 1981 entry from Greece all this time. This is okay, but it’s not going to move mountains or build bridges. Takis wins the “Shakiest Microphone” award of the night. The song itself, as composed, has an abnormal structure to it, which makes it kind of hard to relate - and you never get hit with that penultimate key change or big note until the very end. I think it’s only mildly better than Cyprus, and Takis has good control of his voice, tone, and tune. But I don’t think this will reach my top ten.

You can watch the penultimate vote come in, and listen to it as the Norwegians did thirty years ago in the above video. Lill Lindfors congratulated Norway on a well-deserved victory, sharing the joy with their Scandinavian neighbors who had for so many years tried desperately to bring home the victory. You have to take this into consideration: most Norwegian entries weren’t purposely bad or goofy, but Europe would interpret them as such, and thus the low scores. But in ‘85, they finally did it, and I think they do it with me, as well. In fact, Norway really did have an international breakthrough in ‘85 - even in popular music, where A-ha’s “Take On Me” soared into the charts. 

Now, getting back to Eurovision: I think I understand now why this contest holds so dearly among fans. It’s more interesting, exciting, upbeat, and best of all - a typically unfortunate country finally won their first contest! I have my own personal favorites that I weight a bit higher than the rest of the world would. But when I put in my votes I take into consideration the talent displayed and whether everything pulls together on the night. For that reason it’s a bit difficult to place exactly who “loses” in 1985, because none of the songs were especially bad in taste. But anyways, here you go.

My votes:

12 – Norway 10 – Israel 8 – Turkey 7 – France 6 – Sweden 5 – Finland 4 – Austria 3 – Switzerland 2 – Germany 1 – Luxembourg

The “Big Fat 0” award: Portugal Honorable Mention: Spain Worst Dressed: Denmark

And here is the overall count of points so far! Germany remains on top due to Belgium not winning any points from me. In fact, only Israel makes any kind of run towards the top, due to a really week year for the annual greats. And congratulations, Switzerland, I gave you a few pity points for having something a bit more listenable in ‘85.

1st - 40 – Germany (1982, 1983) 2nd - 30 – Belgium 2nd - 30 – Israel 4th - 24 – Norway (1985) 5th - 23 – Ireland (1980) 21 – Portugal 20 – Sweden 20 – Turkey 18 – Greece (1981) 17 – France 14 – Austria 14 – Luxembourg 14 – United Kingdom 12 – Italy (1984) 12 – Spain 11 – Denmark 8 – Finland 7 – Cyprus 6 – Netherlands  4 – Croatia 3 - Switzerland

-50SS

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life as a Kiwi nun in an age of refugees and Netflix binges video

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life as a Kiwi nun in an age of refugees and Netflix binges video

Anne flits around her Hamilton flat, having just finished an hour-lengthy prayer. She flicks her stereo from calm song to the information.This is how the nun’s day starts of evolved.The plump woman with an affinity for shade isn’t always your ordinary run.

Lease Movies On-line

The next time you are looking for an interesting way to bypass the evening, simply bear in mind these 3 words: Lease Films On-line. But what movie will you pick? In the end, there are literally masses of hundreds to select from (Netflix itself consists of over a hundred,000 in its movie library). To assist take some of the guesswork out of the equation, I have put together a short list of Movies available on DVD and Blu-ray. Earlier than you spend hours staring blankly at the aisles of your nearby video save, hop Online and give the sort of a strive.

The Green Mile (1999) – Based on the unconventional through Stephen King, The Inexperienced Mile is set on Loss of life Row at Cold Mountain Penal complex, a place wherein murderers and rapists come to get hold of their final punishment. Tom Hanks plays Paul Edgecomb, a prison shield whose international is grew to become upside down after meeting the massive John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan), an inmate sentenced to Dying for the brutal homicide of girls. However is Coffey absolutely responsible, and what’s up along with his weird capability to heal the ill or even resurrect a lifeless puppy? A pleasing combination of the jail movie and the supernatural, it co-stars David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter, and James Cromwell.

Scarface (1983) – Director Brian De Palma was taken aback the MPAA along with his tale of a Cuban refugee (Al Pacino) who lands in Miami and quickly starts of evolved to paintings his way up the criminal ladder. Initially receiving an X score, the movie is full of mountains of cocaine, a memorable chainsaw scene, and Pacino’s Tony Montana cursing his attackers at the same time as wielding a system-gun and firing off grenades. An enjoyable and carefully over-the-top examine the cocaine boom of the 1980s, and one in all Pacino’s maximum bombastic performances (and that is without a doubt announcing something). Co-starring Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Loggia, and F. Murray Abraham.

Oceans (2010) – The French certain recognize how to make documentaries approximately nature (Jacques Cousteau anyone?), and Oceans is not any exception. With a budget in extra of $60 million, the task took over four years to the movie and explores the mysteries and beauty of the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern Oceans. An ideal motion picture for the circle of relatives viewing.

Happy Gilmore (1996) – Adam Sandler stars as a washed-up hockey participant with a devastating slap shot and no skating abilities. While the IRS threatens to take away his grandmother’s residence, he turns to golf to raise the essential price range to get it lower back. But Glad will want to get actual precise real speedy, and he’s going to ought to navigate crocodiles, deranged fans, and Bob Barker along the manner. A wacky Adam Sandler comedy co-starring Christopher McDonald, Carl Weathers, and Ben Stiller (in an uncredited function).

Motel Rwanda (2004) – Don Cheadle stars as Paul Rusesabagina, an Inn manager in Rwanda who have to face a sequence of hard alternatives Whilst ethnic violence and genocide erupt in his use. A powerful film with themes much like Schindler’s list, it co-stars Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jean Reno. Primarily based on a real tale.

Another time, absolutely everyone trying to find a nice amusement experience should bear in mind the phrases “Lease Movies On-line.” It’s concise, to the point, and conveys the developing range of moviegoers who are staying home to enjoy the art of cinema within the comfort in their own home. Way to offerings together with GreenCine, Blockbuster, and Netflix, you could do the equal.

The Accidental Effect of the Immigration Ban on Worldwide Commercial enterprise On January 27th, 2017, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13769, an order geared toward protecting the nation towards overseas acts of terrorism. Among the order’s many provisions, it to start with suspended the us’ refugee software for one hundred twenty days, that means no refugees could be admitted into the country all through the one hundred twenty days it might be in Effect. Further, the order’s different essential provisions blanketed limiting admission of residents from seven nations for a duration of 90 days, and suspending the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely (Jackson, Kiely, Robertson, and Farley).

initially, the Government order turned into met with robust grievance with the aid of Congress and numerous contributors and outlets of the media. Handiest an afternoon after the order turned into signed, Senator Elizabeth Warren protested the Govt order’s harsh stance on immigration, claiming, “It’s far illegal. It’s far unconstitutional. It is going to be overturned. An attack on every person for his or her religious ideals is an assault at the very basis of democracy”. other contributors of Congress had similar viewpoints approximately the Executive order, including Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, who said, “This reported Government action is contrary to our values and our security… This said Executive motion appears to be pushed by politics and discrimination, not by means of hints from country wide safety experts”. With strong worries approximately the Govt order from members of Congress, and individuals of the media and wellknown public, the Government order changed into challenged via numerous courts in states around the us of a. With the weaknesses of the order simply obvious, the order changed into in the end revoked and changed on March 6th, 2017, and softened regulations on immigration from several international locations, including Iraq, and made a case-by way of-case waiver technique available for refugees who had been still making an try and enter the united states.

at the same time as the Government order became criticized for its harsh stance on immigration, only a few officials and contributors of the public considered how the “immigration ban” might in the long run affect the financial system and the way the usa does Commercial enterprise around the globe. From a greater popular point of view, immigration is regarded as an vital thing to any u . S . that’s regarded as having a “healthful” economy. Immigrants are typically delivered in with a specific set of capabilities, know-how, and enjoy that equip them to carry out jobs and offerings which can be vital for our economy to thrive. With out immigration, the hard work supply for certain jobs which require a few years of education and education, which include engineers, docs, and scientists, would likely see a sturdy decrease, that may have a poor impact on the economy (“The Outcomes of Immigration on the united states’ financial system”).

As Commander-In-Leader, one of the fundamental problems which President Trump constructed his marketing campaign around changed into the problem of immigration and bringing lower back more jobs to the us hard work pressure. However, by means of as a byproduct of the immigration ban, he may want to in the end be hurting sectors of the financial system which ultimately depend on immigrants as a extensive deliver of hard work.

As an example, generation organizations in large part came out in sturdy competition to Govt Order 13769. Inside the Fortune 500, over 2 hundred organizations were started out by immigrants, or youngsters of immigrants. Similarly, nearly all the pinnacle tech companies in the global have a large percent of their employees who had been from all over the international, and no longer just In the U.S. As a result, 97 huge groups signed a 20-page amicus quick which stated their opposition against President Trump’s Executive order and ban on immigration (Drange). most of the companies were from Silicon Valley and concerned in the technology industry, inclusive of Google, Uber, Microsoft, and Netflix, amongst others. The competition from the generation enterprise likely results not from the Executive order itself, However as a substitute the principle in the back of the order. at the same time as the various companies blanketed in the quick do now not have robust ties to the countries covered in the Government order, along with war-torn Syria and Yemen, they nevertheless rely upon immigrant hard work from everywhere in the globe which will preserve their Business and continue to be a success. From their attitude, the potential danger of the us being capable of block get entry to to immigrant labor from nations which they want get admission to to is actual, and standing as much as the Executive order is a way of ensuring that they won’t must cope with this fact.

It is clean that President Trump’s Govt order turned into no longer regarded favorably by using a large part of Congress and the individuals of the general public, But, as an Accidental Impact of the order, many big generation agencies were disenchanted by using the information as well. As a result, we should see lots of those companies extend to different locations for his or her operations out of doors of the U.S. so that it will maintain relations with a robust expertise network. If this had been to return to fruition, we’d the Impact would be the complete opposite of one in all President Trump’s main promises – greater jobs inside the U.S.A.. Alternatively, we may want to see businesses continue to move remote places, in the long run leaving much less jobs behind than Before.