#she met COURTNEY COX?????????

[fuckyeahfightlock]

Punk Rock Cool Kid Required Viewing (Batch 4)

Sid and Nancy Suburbia Stranger Than Paradise A Clockwork Orange

(I'm rewatching all the "required viewing" films of my alterna-teen years) Notes on these films below the cut.

Sid and Nancy (1986, dir. Alex Cox)

I fear I could go on forever about this film. So quotable, and I still quote it. The punk generation's Romeo and Juliet story, our great doomed romance, played ably by the reluctant Gary Oldman (he turned down the role twice before being bullied into taking it by his agent) and television actress Chloe Webb in their breakout film roles. Troublingly romanticised, perhaps, but these were big personalities with big-turned-small lives and there's true love and tragedy in their story, blighted by heroin, with a punk soundtrack and attitude. They died young, stayed pretty; for better or worse, there's currency in that sad tale. Better to burn out than fade away; hope I die before I get old--two slogans of glamourous, glorious youth so young it doesn't recognise how much more life there is after 18, or 20, or 25, and that no matter how much "living" you pack into a short life, it's still too damn short.

This film is a cartoon that morphs into a dirge, and I feel Nancy was treated somewhat unfairly in it (I recall many people who met the real Nancy saying how much they hated her because she was loud, bossy, unpredictable, "got Sid hooked on heroin"--I distinctly remember someone described her voice as "honking"), and that Chloe Webb's choices were sometimes a bit superficial--the real Nancy Spungen was a very troubled person with a lifelong struggle against largely undiagnosed and untreated mental illness (her mother's book is a harrowing read; I'm rereading it now as I bought a new copy when I ordered the DVD)--Webb's Nancy comes across as a brat, a climber, and somewhat stupid (the real Nancy was exceptionally intelligent) and her moods in the film are pretty one-note, everything from her playfulness to her romantic feelings to her junkie desperation play out "on 11." Oldman's Sid is a youthful goof-off, not bright but probably brighter than Sid actually was, ultimately aimless, lead around by the dick by Nancy's interest in him and her steamroller personality. Somewhere in the middle of all these extremes probably lies the true nature of their relationship--young, horny, addicted, dumb (not stupid)--but the extremes are what makes it a story worth remembering, worth telling.

This film has some truly beautiful, cinematic moments, like the re-creation of Sid's "My Way" music video, the unforgettable kiss in the alley while garbage rains down, Sid nodding out and Nancy mutely staring as their hotel room burns. Alex Cox knows how to frame a shot.

In some ways it's a caricature, but this film was made with true affection for its subjects, and I will always love it.

Notably fantastic performances by Andrew Schofield as Johnny "He likes to be called John" Rotten, Debby Bishop as Phoebe (a composite character who essentially manages the Pistols and then Sid, under direction from Malcolm MacLaren), and Xander Berkeley (who I have an affinity for, just always) as Bowery Snax, Sid and Nancy's New York dealer. Courtney Love has a minor role in this--she auditioned for Nancy but with her then-fat face and terrible acting it's clear why she was not cast--as is Kathy Burke.

We'll never know what really happened in Room 100 at the Chelsea Hotel, but Nancy had been trying to die for years by the time she was found stabbed in the bathroom there, and it's unsurprising that fresh-from-Rikers Sid overdosed and died as soon as he got out (many people forced into withdrawal overestimate their tolerance when they return to using). Most profound of all: when Nancy and Sid died, they were 20 and 21 years old.

Love Kills.

Suburbia (1983, dir. Penelope Spheeris)

I hadn't seen this one in about 25 years; I'd forgotten the distressing amount of casual racism, homophobia, and rampant misogyny, and I'm sorry but there's no way that "no animals were harmed" disclaimer could have been applied. That said, Suburbia is the most important narrative film of the punk era, by a mile.

Suburban child of an alcoholic single mother Evan takes off to join a group of thrown-away teens squatting in an abandoned tract home, where he gets "a burn" (brand) of the gang's TR insignia--for they are The Rejected. Burnout druggie Keef, faux dad Jack Diddley, skinhead thug with a heart of gold Skinner, silly girls Matie and T'resa, maybe-a-goth Joe Schmo (whose jean jacket I modeled my own after), and recent suburban runaway Sheila are among the characters who inhabit the TR house. Notably, Razzle--who has a fat pet rat and tries to tame the neighborhood's pack of feral dogs (allegedly the Pet Shop Boys' song "Suburbia" is inspired by this film)--is played by an impossibly young Mike B. the Flea, later the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The film is just barely acted by this bunch of amateurs--they were Los Angeles punks Spheeris recruited because "I couldn't make actors into punks, but I could make punks into actors" who mostly showed up for the $100 a day paycheck--and in one scene Jack says, "Which way is it, Flea?" and Flea replies, "My name's Razzle." It's cute, in Hey Kids Let's Put On A Show fashion. The music is alternately pretty good (live performances by D.I., TSOL, and The Vandals) and kind of weird (Alex Gibson's pseudo-alterna score sometimes reminded me of the '70s soft rock dude in Sid and Nancy trying to sell his "I wanna job, I wanna job, one that satisfies my artistic needs" song to Johnny Rotten because "it's got kind of a punky feel"). The aspect ratio makes me think this was a straight-to-video release??? It's made to fit not a movie screen but a 1980s television screen--the movie is square.

The story is a suburban tragedy, of wasted youth (though it's clear these kids have been failed and betrayed by their families, schools, and society, through no fault of their own--which is probably why it had such strong appeal to '80s misfit teens like me and mine) and the hollowness of life in the ruins of pre-fab utopias. The kids do their best in the face of indifference, anger, and fear. When one of them dies by suicide, the friends don't know what to do, and a lingering shot of the punks standing silent in the front yard of a tract home as they return their friend's blanket-wrapped body to her stunned parents is an image that lingers.

Maybe clumsy, maybe melodramatic, but Suburbia really tries to say something about punk culture, the real mental anguish of teenagers, the value of found family, and the empty promise of the Reagan '80s. In its way, it's similar to Rebel Without a Cause, The Outsiders, or Bless the Beasts and Children--reminders that young lives have depth. Absolutely worth the time; I was glad to watch it again.

Stranger Than Paradise (1984, dir. Jim Jarmusch)

Well, this sure is a Jim Jarmusch movie! I don't know exactly how this ended up in my crowd's Required Viewing clump, except to perhaps thank/blame the Cool Older Guy Who Worked At Our Video Store. There's not really anything punk about this film, except that it's pure indie, which was rare and exciting back in the '80s--much rarer than it is now. It's a New York story of a jobless hipster, Willie, whose teenaged cousin Eva comes from Hungary for a weeklong visit. Willie's friend and shadow, Eddie, tags along as the three roadtrip from Cleveland to Florida, and the whole thing is a very long walk to a single punchline.

It has its moments, certainly. Eva walks through barren, early-'80s New York City streets carrying a tape recorder playing Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" and later when Willie tells her he doesn't like it, she says, "That's Screamin' Jay and he's a wild man, so bug off," a line I remembered as soon as the film started. Scenes with Aunt Lotte ranting at them in Hungarian, Eva taking the men to see "the big lake" in Cleveland in the dead of winter when there's really nothing to see but a snowy whiteout, and a mistaken-identity moment outside a motel in Florida that leads to a silly mixup that closes the film on a bit of a laugh.

Stranger Than Paradise is a very important independent film, and if you love Jim Jarmusch, this is one of his best. It's pretty fucking DIY, which I guess makes it punk. I take it back--this film is punk. But not in the expected ways. Well worth a watch for punks and film buffs; it's mild and amusing and pays off, but it's not exactly a wild ride.

A Clockwork Orange (1971, dir. Stanley Kubrick)

Another important cult film, made in consummate Kubrickian style (ie, technically intense, wildly perfectionist), which I think was favoured by punks and artsy types more for its unflinching, near-technicolour, bright-lit "ultraviolence" as any more highbrow concerns. It feels subversive, especially the first act, with its serial rapes, beatings, and overarching aura of menace. Youth gangs, mindless violence, music obsession (in this case, classical, most especially Beethoven). . .it all fits in with the youth sub- and countercultures.

Alex and his gang of "droogs" are unrepentant violent criminals, until he is imprisoned for murder and undergoes an experimental psychological "treatment" which replaces his lust for violence with nausea over it. Through a series of coincidences, he finds himself free (now a "clockwork orange"--organic outside, robotic inside) only to become the subject of torture by one of his former victims, which drives him to a suicide attempt. The government, embarrassed by this outcome for the poster child for their "cure," undoes his brainwashing and even offers him a government job, if only he promises not to publicly blame them for his grave injury.

This film is definitely of its moment, and it's a faithful adaptation of the novel, which I appreciate. The violence probably seemed shocking to early '70s filmgoers, but it is hyper-stylized and in some ways almost mild by 21st century standards. I kept thinking through the whole film how very different this might look if it were made today. There's a lot to be said for wanton violence committed in the garish light of day, with a blaring soundtrack of classical marches and symphonies--it's certainly, as we might say now, A Look. But I thought of other, more recent films which enact violence in daylight that are far more shocking, and I think a well-designed reboot of A Clockwork Orange might actually make me squirm. This film almost seems quaint. I mean, it's good. And Malcolm MacDowell was undeniably sexy when at his most unhinged. But I can think of many more contemporary films that do the same things this film does just as well, or better.

The overarching themes of psychology, free will, government overreach, and untamed youth are all well placed and explored, I just don't know if A Clockwork Orange weighs the same as it did 50 years ago. I won't need to watch it again, probably ever.

[foxes-that-run]

Courtney Cox saying Harry and Taylor were both at a party in 2013

Courtney said Harry and Taylor were both at a party when she met Johnny. Their first date was 24 September 2013.

ExtraTV (x) 12 May 2016 / Stern (x) 5 March 2022.

[likeadevils]

Harry and Taylor were definitely talking late 2014/early 2015. They were at the same parties a lot (his bandmates would fly back to London and he would stay behind to go to those LA parties) and they were caught together in January 2015 right before Taylor met Calvin in February 2015 that's when they went no contact again.

2013 was the year were they were not talking at all and were on seemingly bad terms and that's when Harry started hangin out with Kendall Jenner for the first time.

Harry also went to a party after Taylor got on the boat, I don't remeber if it was a yacht party but he did go to a lot of those with Kendall.

Harry has a song that goes:

"...I don’t want to hear about him in these songs you continue to write I was with you when you wrote that line It was me that you had on your mind. So I don’t want to hear about him"

Makes me think maybe they were hanging out again while she was working on 1989. It could be about Wildest Dreams being about Alexander Skarsgard or about how she started dating CH and they saw eachother at the Billboards 2015 (Taylor, Calvin, Niall and Louis went to an after party together but Harry skipped it).

idk if that helps you with timing the writing/recording of the songs

there is a page where i keep track of stuff like this in my spreadsheet but still thank you for doing all that work for me!! (unfortunately because of that page i can say taylor almost definitely didn’t write wildest dreams about alexander skarsgard as it was likely written by early october at the latest and she she didn’t film the giver until late october) but yeah i don’t think taylor like. went completely no contact with harry after 2013– beyond the late 2013 courtney cox parties, she also mentions during the 1989 press that she was friends with the person who inspired much of the album now

[womanexile]

But "right where you left me" possibly being about harry makes me sad :((( like did he really choose another girl over her? the line "I could feel the mascara run// You told me that you met someone" or "at the restaurant, when I was still the one you want." just ultimately sounds like she was devastated that he found someone else and doesn't want her anymore 💔

The only scenario I can think of about it being about Harry is back in late November 2013 Taylor, Harry and Ed hung out at Courtney Cox’s house then a week later Harry was on a date with someone else. This is what Taylor tweeted the day of Harry’s date.

This is the lyrics to Hold On

Kinda gives Right Where You Left Me vibes & Taylor was still 23 then. But a few weeks later on Taylor’s birthday Harry tweeted “better still, be my winding wheel” a song about someone being your soulmate. So obviously it didn’t go anywhere with the girl Harry went out with. Also got to remember Harry was 19 then & 19 year old boys are dumb lol

[reefer-reelz-n-reviews]

Scream 2 (1997)

Smoking: Splatter

I think I will go up to Scream 3. I need to do some kind of Christmas Movies in December right? Lol

After all this stuff that happened with poor Will Smith, I’m honestly happy to see Jada Pinkett Smith with her death scene at the beginning of this movie. I guess there is a theme with more famous people in the beginning of these movies. I never really thought of it this way.

Love how you know this is the beginning of caller ID 😝

I completely forgot Sarah Michelle Gellar is in this movie. Love me some Buffy!!!! And how Ironic that Matthew Lillard was in the first one, and she is in the second one and they are both in Scooby Doo.

Liev Schreiber, I think he’s a great actor. I really liked him in Salt. He’s good at being bad/creepy.

OMG Portia de Rossi. She is soooo young in this! She’s being her normal semi-bitchy self. Wonder if she had met Ellen yet by this time.

Snack time. Left over cheese fries and spicy cheese curds 🤤

2 for 2! Neve Campbell hits Courtney Cox. Not surprising. She deserves it in both movies.

I love Elise Neal’s definition of FINE. Fucked up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional. I total agree with that. Any time someone says their fine I imagine Ross from Friends in the episode where he gets drunk on margaritas 🤣

How ironic. SMG has a sorority sister named Dawn just like in Buffy, though that ends up being her real sister, now a sorority sister. But I digress.

Yes, run up the stairs to get away from the killer 🙄 and I just realized in the Scary Movie why Anna Faris throws things down the stairs at the killer, including her grandma 😂 I also think I understand the whole “Strong hand” thing because of David Arquette.

Honestly if I was NC I don’t think I would date anyone after what I went through. At least not for a very long time. Granted Jerry O’Connell is cute and everything. But you know he’s gotta be psycho right?

And I mean Timothy Olyphant always gives me the creeps. No matter what movie he is in.

🤣 NC completely called Tori Spelling playing her in the movie, it was mentioned in the first one and here she is giving an interview about being in “Stab”. And how funny that David Schwimmer was brought up when CC and DA were both in friends and here, he is mentioned in it lol.

😂 now Jennifer Aniston was brought up. Let’s see if Lisa Kudrow, or either of the Matthews are mentioned next.

Poor Jamie Kennedy. You just had to go and piss off the killer. Now he definitely won’t make it into any of the other movies 😂

How old school that Instant Message looks 🤣

Now we have CC and DA trying to hide from the killer. And not doing a very good job. And sucks that even though they didn’t actually have sex DA gets stabbed yet again. And this time CC gets to watch it.

Of course, the cops that are supposed to keep NC safe make jokes about killing them as far as keeping the location secret and then they die. Like that should be part of the rules with JK. Just saying.

How gross is it to see someone with a pole through their head 🤢

Yes, move ever so slowly when trying to get away from the killer. Typical horror movie.

And surprise surprise, Billy’s mother is part of the dual killers. She leaves her son behind and then all of the sudden she acts like she cares about him after he’s dead, and says this is all out of revenge. Maybe you should have taken your son with you and none of this would have even happened to begin with.

We have the end of the movie. Hope you enjoyed this entry 😊

Toke on! 😶‍🌫️

-RRR

[dalt20]

Tooning In 16. Craig Clark part 3 of 7

DL: In 1983, you worked at a Company called Tigerfly.

What was that?

CC: That was and is Arnie Wong's company. I met him at Duck Soup in 1974. Arnie now lives in Hawaii. Tigerfly was in Santa Monica. We did commercials, development on a Möbius feature, Internal Transfer, Automan VFX etc. Superman director Peter Ramsey worked theirs as well as Disney FX sup. Marlon West. Also surf artist Rick Griffin.

DL: how was the environment at the studio?

CC: Creative , hip, funky , family of westside surf artists

He sends me a teaser of an project which ultimately never got made which was the collaboration with French comic artist Moebius, Internal Transfer, which he worked as an animator

Also some Sunkist and G.I. Joe commercials he sends me, also worked on as an animator. I’m surprised the latter one wasn’t done by Sunbow.

DL: You were on The

Philadelphia Experiment as a special effects animator, how was that?

CC: Cool, that was at New World in Venice at Roger Corman Studio......later became Digital Domain. hand drawn electro fx. There was a lot of work west of Sepulveda at the time. The guy on the bed with the electro fx https://youtu.be/WAmpXDi53YQ?si=vrhhlmW1wD0-u5n9

He sends me a trailer for The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

DL: What was My Science Project, as you were

Special effects animator.

CC: My Science project was done at Namebrand FX in Santa Monica off the lot. John Scheele produced the FX, we shot the elements at his studio. The T rex at the end was my shot sequence.... https://youtu.be/nB2ToxVtoc4?si=21cPOJqje2orJAuX

He sends me a trailer for My Science Project (1985).

A bunch of electro fx not pictured there. Boy that was some cheesy 80's synth music on there lol!

DL: Well I guess you’re the electricity guy who drew the electric on paper than scan them into the film.

CC: Exactly. I would do the same over at Boss Film on Poltiergiest 2, Big Trouble in Little China, and SolarBabies. But it was all 70mm. Huge 22 field paper, later hand inked.

DL: You were special effects director for the TV series, Misfits of Science for NBC. And How did you felt being moved to

VFX director and what role does

he or she does.

CC: That was a Namebrand again, that was my day job, the night job was at Boss film from 6pm to 1am. Universal trusted me since I did a good job on Automan. So much so I was on call for other Universal shows like Miami Vice. The fx producer were David Garber and John Green. David Garber was famous for Battlestar Galactica so he was in good standing at Universal. I still love that show. Misfits was part of the Universal power line up on Friday Nights. we got good numbers but Knight Rider was already 3 seasons in and was closer to Syndication so we lasted one season. We did some cool stuff like slitcan stretching high speed fx with the characters. When ever my hand drawn electricity came on the the ratings went up, so they called for more of it. The Producer was James Parriot who later did Grey's Anatomy, It was also Courtney Cox's first show before Friends.

He sends me a compilation of the series where one of the main characters uses his electric powers.

DL: Ah, thought it was Mac and Me but I remember that was Jennifer Aniston!

I send him a laugh out loud emoji 😂

DL: You Worked as FX Assistant Animator for Boss Film company, did you felt like that was a downgrade from your previous Title?

CC: Yeah, but it was a feature with some IlM guys so that was cool. I met Wes Takahaski who helped me get into ILM later in 1994. Boss had just finished Ghostbusters at the time.

DL: How was the environment of Boss Film company?

CC: Fun, like an fx nightclub. Music playing, free popcorn. The day crew was more serious I think, but we just had a good time and did great work. Some Disney guys were there too like Scott Santoro, who I later worked with at Amblimation in London on Fievel Goes West.

DL: That's awesome!

CC: We were nominated for a VFX Oscar on Poltergeist 2. https://youtu.be/mjhr8EdGyD0?si=RldZcwzw_9-rMM0V

He sends me the trailer for Poltergeist 2 (1986)

DL: You was assistant special effects animator for Poltergeist 2.

CC: Yes, Following up of Mauro Maresa who later worked with me on Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure.

Sends me a clip from the film featuring all the times the characters use the iconic phone booth.

I did fx on it, phone booth.

DL: You were an

Special effects animator on Big

Trouble in Little China. How was that?

CC: Yeah , I think we already went over the Boss film stuff, part of the night crew when I was working on Misfits of Science during the day. Mauro Maressa, Scott Santaro, Kevin Cachaver, Ed Coffee, Wes Takahashi all on the show. There were Ghostbusters fx model sheets sitting around ....

He sends me the climax to Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

DL: So as we talk about previously, how worked

at Dream quest Images.How was

the enviroment at the studlo before the

company got bought by Disney in 1997?

CC: Dream Quest was a small but active studio stated by 5 UCLA students in Culver City. They did Vistavision work as well as 35mm work. They got all the fx shots that Boss Film could not do since they were all 70 mm.  The first Predictor movie was done there as well as Nightmare 3. I animation directed a few commericials, Taco Ball ,Golden Grahams, etc. https://youtu.be/aFwKhPnBs3Y?si=OtpjisO0bot3et6_

He sends me a commercial for Golden Grahams which he animated on.

DL: Is that supposed to be sonny? The Golden Grahams mascot?

CC: he didn't have a name....just called him dollop. I animated it solo. no assistants.

DL: Wow! That’s impressive!

CC: Thanks. I think I was 26 with a few credits so they gave me a shot.

DL: So, personal thoughts, I

Wanna spill on you that I find it strange that Disney would go on to buy Lucasfilm, which owns ILM, which you worked for later in 1994. Why did Disney bought the studio only to shut it down and buy Lucasfilm? (That’s a question for you, I forgot to mention.)

CC: Disney is a corporation looking for quarterly profits for their shareholders. It is no longer a company run by their family as you know.

DL: Yeah, I mean they own ILM now, so they own all the great special effects in the world! But anyway, you worked on Nightmare of Elm street 3 as a special effects animator, an upgrade from storyboard artist. How was the experience?

CC: Good, hears the shot do your stuff. This time we finished the plasma animation using watered down inks that were shot and comped. We went over that as well.

DL: What’s your thoughts on the Elm Street franchise ?

CC: Surprised it lasted. I've outgrown it but my kids love it. The horror genre has exploded over the years. There was a crew fan based  meeting at Notre Dame high school in the Valley in the 90's. Kids asked questions to the old crew. I forget most of it.

DL: You worked on My Demon Lover as a special effects animator, what was that about?

CC: That was through Chris Cassady's Roto FX of America studio. Quick fx job, I remember some faces or masks exploding. I did the animation over at Chris' studio, he shot the elements over at his place. I think he sent it our for opticals some were else. The studio was a Saward in Hollywood behind the old Bob Clampett building where we did the first Simpsons series. There were lots of Film labs there , CFI, Glenn Glenn sound. Old Republic Pictures and the Columbia Cartoon studio was there a long time ago. Historical street for film. Seward st.

DL: Your claim to fame, Bill Melendez Productions, how was the environment of the studio?

CC: Wow I'm famous for that? I'd like to work on the new ones in Canada... I worked directly under Bill Melendez for a week in studio. Then I just worked at home animating four Peanuts specials for him, as well as Cathy and Frosty Returns. And later another Peantuts one in the 2000's.

DL: What was the studio like? Was it magical?

CC: It was like a little house, actually two houses together. Folks were very nice. I love working there.

DL: Ah, so I think it was the only studio besides filmation who were doing TV animation in the US. And I believe the last.

CC: maybe so, but a few months later I started working on the first season of the Simpsons down the street in totally in house. 1989. Melendez was 1988 during the last bad writers strike.

DL: Ah, did you met Bill or Lee? The other guy who owns the studio. Lee Mendelson?

CC: Never saw Lee, just Bill. Shep Menkin also did voices but I did not know it at the time. (Forgive and Forget movie 1968)

DL: Ah, ok, so your friend was also on Peanuts.

CC: This is America Charlie Brown,yes.

DL: Did he did the adults? The “waa waa” voice?

CC:no?

[newsworld-nw]

Inside Matthew Perry's close bond with 'Friends' castmates

Matthew Perry shared an simple bond with him buddies Co-stars, one thing that was evident when the six got here collectively Buddies: Reunion In 2021."The easiest way I can describe it's after the present, at a celebration or any sort of social gathering, if one in all us ran into one another, that was it. That was the tip of the evening," Perry mentioned. He remembers with Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer And Matt LeBlanc."You sit with the individual all evening and that is it," he continued. "You apologized to the individuals you have been with, however they needed to perceive you met your particular somebody and also you have been going to speak to that individual for the remainder of the evening. And that is the way it labored."Though the solid went their separate methods when the sitcom resulted in 2004, they remained in one another's lives all through the years, united by sharing 10 of a very powerful years of their lives collectively.Perry reiterated that bond in his 2022 memoir, Buddies, Lovers and Huge Scary Issues. "Each one in all them was nonetheless only a cellphone name away," he mentioned of his castmates. "On the reunion, I used to be the one who cried essentially the most as a result of I knew what I had, and the gratitude I felt matched the gratitude I really feel as we speak." After Perry's dying on October 28, the remaining 5 buddies The celebrities have not launched a press release but, however will doubtless take part on this as nicely.Check out the bond Perry shares with every of them buddies.Matt LeBlancRon Davis/Getty PhotographsPerry and LeBlanc's Chandler and Joey have been most likely finest buddies buddiesAnd the pair shared a pitch-perfect comedic chemistry, with Perry praising LeBlanc in his guide for "taking the one sort of inventory character and turning him into the funniest character on the present."Throughout his 2016 TCA press tour Man with a Plan, LeBlanc shared How he and Perry all the time share a playful "shorthand" with one another."I noticed him yesterday. I like that man!" she mentioned. "I am unable to see him for 5 years after which be in a room collectively and nonetheless have that shorthand with one another. It is actually wonderful. For ten years in a constructing with no home windows and doorways closed, we acquired to know one another fairly nicely. "and a 2016 interview with EWLeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow praised Perry as a solid member who may most likely cheer everybody up with a joke.Concerning filming buddiesOf the long-lasting opening credit score sequence, the place the six leads dance collectively in a fountain, Kudrow recalled, "I keep in mind it was chilly, and we needed to do it so many instances. I do not assume we have been within the temper and even capable of do it. It felt like we And simply kidding, however then Matthew Perry mentioned, 'I do not keep in mind a time once I wasn't within the bathe,' and all of us laughed out loud. I feel that is what occurs on TV.""He was all the time the one which within the 1,000th hour there was one thing that everyone was afraid to crack a joke and make us all snort," LeBlanc agreed. "He is undoubtedly the category clown."When the pair returned to their outdated condo Reunions are particularPerry and LeBlanc waste no time recreating a foolish bodily comedy bit from the complete collection, returning with exaggerated groans of satisfaction amongst their barcaloungers."Aw, Matty, good to see you, buddy," Perry thought. "It is superior."David SchwimmerVinny Zufante/Getty PhotographsIt was Schwimmer's thought for this buddies Forged as a bunch to barter their contracts, every actor earned the identical quantity -- which was greater than $1 million per episode by the tip of the collection. And Perry makes certain to offer his buddy the credit score he deserves within the emotional ultimate pages of his guide."Schwimmer, for deciding we should always stick collectively when he may have gone it alone and made greater than the remainder, and we needs to be a workforce and get one million {dollars} per week," he wrote.Through the reunion particular, Schwimmer famous how distinctive the bond between the six actors was."Despite the fact that nobody exterior the opposite 5 was going by what we have been going by," he mirrored.Jennifer AnistonVinny Zufante/Getty PhotographsPerry admitted Crushing on Aniston the time buddies' Early Days in an interview with Diane Sawyer ABC Information Earlier than the publication of his guide.The actor recalled that the pair met earlier than filming for the present and he requested her out. She turned him down, suggesting they be simply buddies. Nonetheless, that did not cease him from praising her on set. "'I used to be like, 'Is three seconds too lengthy?'" he recalled moments on set with Aniston.Perry referred to as it again in her guide's acknowledgments, "Writing because of Jenny, for letting me see two additional seconds of face each single day."When she lastly acquired over her crush, Aniston turned an vital individual in Perry's life -- and, as her guide reveals, the primary individual to confront her about her alcohol abuse. buddies set"I do know you've got been consuming," he recalled his co-star confessing in his dressing room. "We are able to scent it."Aniston Sawyer gave his personal interview in 2004 -- eg buddies was ending her 10-year run, and when requested what message she needed to ship to Perry, she shared that she needed him to know she was okay."We did not know. We have been, you understand, we weren't outfitted, we weren't — to take care of it," Aniston mentioned of her and her co-stars' reactions to Perry's struggles, wiping away tears. "You realize, no one's ever handled that and, you understand, even the thought of ​​dropping him."Courtney CoxKevin Winter/Getty Photographs for AFIAniston wasn't the one Perry castmate to confess to having a crush. In his 2022 interview with Sawyer, he All his feminine co-stars are in awe."How will you not crush on Jenny, and Courtney, and Lisa?" she mentioned. "So it made it a bit bit tougher to go to work, as a result of I needed to fake I did not have them (crushes)."A spotlight was her character's surprising romance with Cox's Monica buddies' 10-season run, and in recognition of her guide, she thanked her on-screen companion for "making America assume that somebody so stunning would marry somebody like me."Cox mentioned he had an "unimaginable time" filming buddies with Perry and their co-stars on the 2021 reunion."Every thing got here collectively. We turned finest buddies, the chemistry, the entire thing," she shared with the group. "It was life-changing and will probably be eternally -- not only for us who see it. It is an excellent feeling to hold eternally. I am so grateful, and I like you a lot."Lisa KudrowRon Davis/Getty Photographs"Lisa Kudrow - no girl has ever made me snort so exhausting," Perry wrote in her guide, excessive reward given her host of proficient feminine co-stars all through the years.Kudrow wrote the foreword to Perry's memoir, through which he admits that, generally, the query he will get requested essentially the most is, "How's Matthew Perry?""I perceive why lots of people ask this: They love Matthew, they usually need him to be OK. Me too," she admits. However I all the time balked at that newspaper query as a result of I could not say what I needed to say: 'That is his story to inform, and I am probably not licensed to say it, am I!'"Kudrow mentioned she typically felt responsible for not confronting Perry about her substance abuse issues, or making an attempt to do extra to assist, however famous, "The little I knew about habit was that her sobriety was out of my arms. .”"I simply centered on Matthew, who made me snort so exhausting on daily basis, and as soon as per week, laughed so exhausting I cried and could not breathe," she continued. "There he was, Matthew Perry, who was whip-smart...charming, candy, delicate, very affordable and rational. That man, all the pieces he was battling, was nonetheless there. The identical Matthew who, from the start, our All whereas taking pictures a darkish evening for the opening title inside that fountain."Associated Content material: #Matthew #Perrys #shut #bond #Buddies #castmates Read the full article

[mostardently]

.

[1ddiscourseoftheday]

Fri 2 April ‘21

Circles, we’re going in circles- today it’s a round up of recursive Harry-ception items! We got the media he watched as a kid turning around and watching him, X2, AND pictures of pictures of pictures...

First up, from fan to featured guest- will Harry be in the upcoming Friends reunion special? An anon on deuxmoi says so, so it must be true!! LMAO NO but useless source aside, I totally buy it. Ben Winston is in charge of the special and Harry is a big draw who he has access to who probably begged to do it, plus Harry got himself photographed a couple of times in his Friends shirt and there were the interactions between him and Courtney Cox on instagram. Not exactly proofs of anything, ofc we know he’s always been a big fan of the show, but with Harry social media hinting DOES pretty often point to something to come; specifically, shirts and likes/ follows are often used by him to foreshadow projects he’s working on that he’s just scheduled at the time of the posts but that we don’t know about til much later when they come out, and this would fit that pattern.... The anon claimed that they worked on the show and that a segment was filmed a while back (though the main filming hasn’t yet begun) featuring Harry singing with Pheobe at Central Perk!! Amazing.

Photgrapher Naomi Christie posted a pic of Harry posing with photographer Pham who is posing with the giant Watermelon Sugar tote bag merch item, which features the giant picture of Harry’s face which is a photograph taken by him (Pham) “in front of a chimney with a photo of a chimney”. It’s a great picture! Of both of them!! (Or all three if you count both Harrys in the pic, or like all 5 if you count chimneys I guess.) And Harry is all dressed up and looking fantastic-- it’s from Jeff and Glenne’s wedding and he’s in the black little house on the prairie suit. But why did she delete the pic shortly after posting? That I do not know.

And back to the TV turn tables turning, reality TV personality Peter Jones posted an interview clip of Harry telling the story of Peter Jones being the first celeb he, Harry, had ever met, and said “asked by my girls when I was last star struck and I said “last week when Harry Styles text me to say hi and hoped I was well. Amazing how life goes full circle.” Circles! That’s what I said!! Full circle baby...

[salvatoreschool]

Kaylee Bryant On "Legacies," The Importance Of Queer Rep On TV, Hosie, And More

"I have so many people constantly telling me that watching Josie on the show has made them feel more comfortable in themselves."

This week, Kaylee Bryant squeezed us into her schedule to talk about their role as Josie Saltzman on Legacies. As a huge Josie fan, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a morning than talking to Kaylee about The Vampire Diaries, Hosie, our favorite books, and more! Here's everything we talked about:

1. What was your audition for Legacies like?

My audition process was very interesting because they kept a lot of it a secret. I had no script and a fake character name. And then I had my second audition, a chemistry read, which Jenny Boyd [Lizzie] wasn't even at. I walked in and immediately just flat-out asked, "This is for the twins, right?" So it was long, but short and intense at the same time.

BuzzFeed: Wait, did you know which twin you were going to be playing?

I initially auditioned for Josie, and then during chemistry reads, they started asking me to read for Lizzie. And then we had our final callback where I finally met Jenny and we both read for both roles. They never told us [who was playing who] until Jenny had her appointment to go dye her hair blonde.

2. What's a typical day on set like?

Gosh, it changes every time. If it's a busy day on set, we're talking like 8 a.m. call time where we spend about two hours on hair and makeup and go straight into rehearsals. If it's a big sort of episode that involves stunt work and wire work, you're talking about doing maybe two scenes in a day. But if it's an average day, we can do anywhere from three to five scenes and we can start at 8 a.m. and wrap at 8 p.m. It really depends. I'm surprised if I'm not surprised.

3. You’ve said you’re a huge fan of The Vampire Diaries. Josie played Elena in the musical episode — what was that like?

It was surreal for sure. They had talked a little bit about doing a musical episode since Season 1. And I always thought that they were joking when they talked about doing Salvatore: The Musical!, so when they said Josie would obviously play Elena, I was like, "Hahaha." And then I got the script and realized I actually was playing Elena. The musical aspect of it was the easy part. The difficult part was, I think, getting into the iconic Elena attire and trying to feel normal. Because we have a lot of crew members that worked on The Vampire Diaries, and they kept coming up to me being like, "This is weird. I feel weird."

4. Do you have a favorite scene you’ve filmed with Courtney Bandeko (Finch) this season?

I really did love the scene that we had in the town square [when] we got on a moped. There were so many fans in the town square that were huddled in the rain — it was pouring rain, freezing cold — trying to snap photos of us. And it was kind of one of those surreal moments where it felt full circle, that I was on a Vampire Diaries spinoff in town square. It was a lot going on, but it was a lot of fun. It's always fun working with Courtney.

5. You and Danielle Rose Russell (Hope) also have amazing chemistry — what’s your favorite scene you’ve filmed together?

Oh gosh, we have a lot that are pretty amazing. Honestly, I'd say [Season 3] Episode 14 — we finally got to do a lot more scenes together. And it's always fun, especially when it's Josie, Lizzie, and Hope, because we have so much history character-wise. Any time you really get to dive into that, we love it.

6. I know Josie and Finch are working through some things right now, but I gotta ask — how do you feel about Hosie?

I love it. Danielle and I loved the idea of Hosie starting from Season 1, and we kept asking and asking and asking for it. So it's kind of funny and full circle that now the fans have kind of taken our side with things, and now they won't stop asking for it. All we want is this beautiful, dynamic relationship. And I think that the fans want that as well.

BuzzFeed: Yeah, I mean, people have even been asking me about Hosie, and I don't work on the show!

Oh, I'm sure! [Laughs] Obviously I love it, though.

7. Is there a particular Josie moment you’re really proud of?

Josie has a scene coming up in Episode 18 — or 19? — I don't know, but it's good. It's sort of the pinnacle of everything that Josie has felt over the past three years kind of culminating into one moment. So, I'm excited for people to see it.

8. You recently came out as queer. How has playing Josie, who’s pansexual, impacted you personally?

I felt a lot of pressure when I initially booked Josie because I was still figuring out who I was and what my label was. And playing a character who was so comfortable in who she was, it was inspiring [to me] in a way that I think a lot of other people watching the show have been inspired. I have so many people constantly telling me that watching Josie on the show has made them feel more comfortable in themselves. It's kind of amazing that we all have the same experience in that having queer representation makes you more comfortable.

9. You’ve been vocal about your Asian identity, and your character has spoken Japanese on the show. Did you have a hand in incorporating that into Josie’s character?

No, not at all! So, I spoke Japanese a few times on the [Instagram] Live and one of our writers, Penny Cox, saw me speaking Japanese and immediately went to Brett [Matthews] and was like, "We need to make this happen somehow." And then all of a sudden, I had a script in my hands. So it was a surprise, but a fun one.

BuzzFeed: Are you fluent in Japanese?

Gosh, no! I'm barely fluent in English. [Laughs] I would say I speak at the level of maybe a second-grader on a good day, though.

10. If you could pitch any storyline for Josie, what would it be?

I always joke that I want an episode that takes place overnight. That way, we all have to be wearing pajamas the entire episode. I just want to wear some comfy clothes for a whole two weeks, that's my main goal. So we can have a pajama episode, that's my pitch.

11. What's it like getting into character for Dark Josie scenes?

It's different in the sense that I know Josie so well. And knowing Josie in turn makes me understand Dark Josie. I have a whole different playlist of music that I listen to for Dark Josie — and I have the wig, which helps a lot with getting into character.

BuzzFeed: Well, now I have to ask what music is on that playlist!

I think "Bury a Friend" by Billie Eilish is a great one for Dark Josie. Also, "Villain" by K/DA is a prime example of a perfect song for Dark Josie, so I listen to that one as well.

12. What's your go-to Starbucks order?

Plain black iced Americano. Aria [Shahghasemi, who plays Landon] says I drink coffee like a sociopath. [Laughs]

13. What TV show are you currently binging?

I just finished watching Alice in Borderland, which is a Japanese show on Netflix. And I know Feel Good Season 2 just came out, so I think that's my next binge.

14. Damon or Stefan?

Stefan! They're both beautiful and I love them very much, but I'm Team Stefan when it comes to Elena.

15. If you could work with anyone from The Vampire Diaries, who would it be?

Ian Somerhalder has a lot of dogs. So, maybe I want to work with him for the sole reason of just talking about dogs. [Writer's note: Kaylee revealed she has two rescue dogs, one whom was sleeping right next to them during the interview! Kaylee described the dogs as "both complete and total nuts," but said she misses them about five minutes after getting into the car to go to work.]

16. Do you think you’re most similar to Josie, Lizzie, or Hope in real life?

I would say I'm an eclectic mix of the three. I can be very headstrong like Hope, very outspoken like Lizzie, and I try to be as loving as Josie, but sometimes that doesn't always work. But I'd like to think all three.

17. Is there a role people would be surprised to learn you auditioned for, but didn't get?

I've been auditioning since I was eight, so there's quite a few Disney Channel shows and movies. And I'm sure people would be surprised because I think I auditioned for like, all of them. It's very funny, one of the first jobs I ever booked in television was Kickin' It with Leo Howard [Ethan]. Talk about full circle — going from being 12 years old and having no idea what I'm doing to being a series regular on [Legacies] and welcoming Leo to the set.

18. Who's your favorite Disney princess?

Oh, I love Mulan so much. She was, like, my first crush ever. I also love Moana, but it's Mulan 1,000%.

19. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

I mean, I do eat rice every day. So maybe just white rice — you can make rice into candy and...yeah, let's go with rice.

20. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one book, what would it be?

Oh no! I recently read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, and I really enjoyed that book. Oh god, Is that the one that I want to bring, though? I mean, I really enjoyed it and it has many different aspects to it. I don't know. Or should I go with Harry Potter? I go through different genres too, like right now I'm in a big sci-fi phase, but other times I'll go the opposite direction and only read biographies. Yeah, that's super hard. I don't think I would know!

21. On that note, what's your Hogwarts house?

Initially, when I was younger, it used to just be straight-up Slytherin. And now, I recently took the Sorting Hat Quiz and I got Ravenclaw. So I'm going to go with Slytherclaw.

BuzzFeed: What's Josie's house?

Josie would be Slytherin. She tries very hard and, you know, not everyone in Slytherin is evil. She just, you know, has her way of going about things.

22. Has anything super funny or embarrassing happened to you on set?

I trip a lot on set. I get scared very easily — if I come around the corner and somebody is walking the other direction, I get scared. Everybody knows to walk slowly around me because I get scared so easily.

23. What's your wildest fan story?

I've had people cry before. And I'm an empath, so if somebody starts crying, I immediately am like, "Please don't cry, because I'm gonna cry." And then it turns into this whole thing. Once we were shooting in the town square and this young girl with her mom started crying, and I just hugged her and I didn't know what to say. So there's a lot of that. There's also the occasional, "Where's your twin?" and...I don't have one, sorry! But yeah, I would say the people who cry always throw me for a loop.

24. How do you unwind after a long day?

I have an hourlong drive home from work, so I usually listen to a lot of music. And by the time I get home, taking off all of my makeup is very therapeutic. Because over time, we're working 13-hour days, 16-hour days, and it's just powder constantly building up on my face. So, washing my face is always very therapeutic. And then just laying back and reading a book and petting my dog is the best.

25. Is there a celebrity you get told you look like a lot?

Most recently, Sara Waisglass [from Ginny & Georgia and Degrassi]. We follow each other on social media now and I completely messed up because I don't know how Twitter works at all. I forgot that there's a DMing interaction, so we followed each other and I was like, "Oh, that's nice." And then just recently, I saw that she had messaged me being like, "We're twins! We should be friends!" And I immediately messaged back, "I'm so sorry, let's be friends!"

26. Who's your biggest celebrity crush?

Oh, I have so many. But consistently since I saw Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany. Hands down.

27. Finally, have you ever caught someone watching a TV show or movie that you're in on a flight or anywhere else?

We were all, as a cast, flying to — was it New York Comic Con, or San Diego Comic Con? — one of the Comic Cons. And we were all sitting there and we saw that Legacies was actually on the airplane as an option. And we were all just uncomfortably staring at each other. Yeah, that was surreal.

Be sure to catch Kaylee in Legacies, which airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW!

[foxes-that-run]

Can you please write a list of mutual friends between Harry and Taylor?

I’m not sure I could write an exhaustive one, it’s also only those that we know they interacted with we don’t really know who they are friends with. There are a lot of mutual industry connections. Those that play a role in the story, in no particular order just the ones that come to mind, also they are from any period some are no longer friends with either:

Ed Sheeran - knew Ed when they were coming up and introduced him to Taylor… or rather Taylor randomly asked to meet him while secretly dating Harry who he lived with. 🤭

Cara - has been close with them both for years

Haim sisters - Harry was hanging out with them this year in London and they are very close to Taylor. Haim are managed by Jeff.

Nathan & Caleb Followill (kings of Leon) and lily Aldridge- Caleb has said that Harry and Nathan have a ‘weird relationship’ they have matching tattoos and are very close, Caleb is married to Lilly, Taylor’s close friend. The last time they were seen together in 2015 was Caleb’s birthday party, Lillys husband. (The Toe/Kings of Leon April 29 theory is laughable for this reason)

Stevie Nicks - Stevie has described Harry as the son she never had and is also fond of Taylor, she has given them both moon necklaces. She invited Harry to perform with her this year on Christine’s birthday and attended the eras show, wrote a poem in TTPD

Jeff Azoff & his ex-Roxy Olin- they dated in 2012 when Jeff met Harry, Roxy was friends with Ashley Avignone and Claire Winter and hung out with Taylor in the Kennedy era, Irving has also said nice things about Taylor

Niall - while closer to Harry Niall is a huge Taylor fan and they performed together

Zayn & Gigi, Gigi was close with Taylor, dated Zayn while doing IDWLF together. Zayn has been papped hanging out with both off work

Selena & Justin- Taylor and Justin were friendly, they did promotions together back in the day before they fell out completely. Justin canon introduced them and at various points the 1D boys have said they knew him.

Professional/other connections - it’s a bit blurred in that business/with them but there’s also a lot of people who’ve worked with both or are collegiate with them both (or close with one/chose to interact with the other):

Jeff Basker worked on Holy Ground with Taylor and most of HS1 with Harry

Jack - obviously one of Taylor’s closest friends and collaborators wrote with Harry for ‘not a typical live song’

Kid Harpoon- also one of Harry’s closest friends and collaborators follows Taylor

Chris Martin - I don’t think he’s close with either but he knows them both. he’s been seen hanging out with Harry and Harry played Fine Line to him, he’s also given Harry shout outs and seemed genuine when he played Taylor songs in Vienna this year

Florence Welch - while she seems professional with them both she also has been seen with them both this year - Taylor on/performing Florida! And Harry at a concert soon after. Kid Harpoon has worked with her a lot.

Ryan Tedder - worked with them both and said he knows them both

Gary Lightbody - I don’t think he would consider Taylor a friend but they wrote together and I think he is friends with Harry

Johnny McDaid & Courtney Cox - it’s well documented that they hung out together at the same time and Johnny has written with Harry

Max Martin - I think he’s the friend she knows from work, he’s worked on a lot of Taylor’s bigger hits and wrote with Harry before he started hs1

James Corden - friends with Harry and while I think it’s mostly a professional relationship he was photographed laughing with Taylor at a Brit’s after party

Stella & Paul McCartney - Stella is close with Taylor and designed clothes for her, Paul has interviewed Taylor. Paul has also interviewed Harry and Stella danced with Harry at a concert in 2019.

Robbie Williams - I don’t think close with either but Taylor invited him to perform on the Rep tour and Robbie was a mentor to Harry on Xfactor and Robbie/Harry seem to have a mutual respect

Kendall - was friendly with Taylor (she was in the squad for a minute) and dated Harry

Karlie Kloss - there’s only one photo of KK with Harry in Italy in 2018 (and it’s fire) but they have been at the same event (with Taylor too) a few times.

John Mayer! (And Katy Perry) - odd connection because I think he and Taylor don’t talk but he has worked with Harry and said they’ve hung out, Katy once performed with Taylor, she’s on the Fearless DVD and photographed with Harry

Simon Cowell! - although they both dislike him now Simon was Harry’s boss when he asked Taylor to write Sweeter than fiction for One Chance

There is also people who are connected to or dated one and are fans of the other:

Gemma is a loud swifty, she posted about watching the 1989 tour, signing karaoke and used Taylor’s music in posts

Anne - has also used Taylor’s music in posts

Camille was a fan of Taylor’s. There’s photos of her in a 1989 tour shirt

Olivia had Taylor’s music on a playlist

Todderick liked openly Haylor stuff

Lou Teasdale also played Taylor’s music at karaoke and posted it

I’ve heard that Austin hung out with Harry, Harry asked a friend for a signed record to Taylor to give him, but I don’t directly know of them hanging.

Harris Reed has posted Taylor stuff

[pynkhues]

Random question, but I remember reading an ask of yours a while back about how you would recast good girls and thinking it was so much fun!! So, if there was a modern-day Friends (or a modern-day version of any of your favorite sitcoms/shows), how would you make it different? Would you make any changes to the main ch, who would you cast? Etc etc ♡

Ah! Thank you, anon! I genuinely love doing recasts, so I'm delighted you liked that one, and am thrilled you sent another!

Friends is actually such a tricky one, because it was such a perfect little catalyst in terms of its cast and its characters and their chemistry, and I think we've seen over the years how hard that is to replicate (because lord knows networks have tried). But! I love the challenge, soooo lets start with the cast:

Okay, yes, I loved her in both Bridgerton and Sex Education, but to me Simone Ashley is really an actress who's still growing, much in the same way Courtney Cox was in Friends. In so many ways, I can't imagine a greater role to grow in than Monica, who's equal parts funny and dramatic, protagonist and antagonist, romantic lead and narrative foil. She's a character who's always moving, and I just feel like Simone could play that so well.

Full disclaimer: I haven't seen How I Met Your Father yet, but I've always thought Suraj was an actor who should've had a better career. From Life of Pi to Homeland to Happy Death Day 2U, he's got both the range and the charisma. Ross isn't an easy role to play, and I feel like he could bring out the best sides of him. Plus seeing him play Simone's brother would be a delight, and I feel he'd just be an incredible romantic lead toooo....

I mean, come on, this feels like a no-brainer, right? I can't imagine an TV actress currently working who could better embody Rachel's charm and confidence and throughline vulnerability than Victoria, and I feel like her arc of runaway bride to successful and independent woman would just be one she'd embody so well.

I always feel like Darren sells the comedy in Never Have I Ever better than the dramatic sequences, and his himbo-with-a-heart-of-gold stylings just feels totally perfect for Joey.

In sooo many ways, I feel like Cheyenne in Superstore is an AU version of Phoebe, haha, but they're different enough too that I feel like the role of Phoebe would be something Nichole could really pivot to something fresh, modern and exciting. Plus she's so cute and I love her.

Chandler was genuinely the hardest one for me to cast. There are definitely older actors who fit the bill (Adam Scott being the one who immediately leapt to mind), but no one who fit that mid-to-late-twenties range that would be needed for a re-cast.

After a lot of thought, I landed on Shameik, which the more I think about, the more I love. Chandler's not really an easy role to play - he's got this not-quite-warmth-not-quite-coldness to him that's defined by an acerbic sense of humour and a genuine loyalty to those around him, a boyishness that's somehow contradicted by being the only one with a 'real adult' job at the start of the series, to moving from quippy sidekick to true romantic lead. It's not an easy role to balance, but Shameik's done all that and more across his career. To see him do it in the one role - and to do it opposite Simone and Suraj in particular - feels dreamy as all hell.

-

As for changes, yeah! There are a few. The biggest change I'd make to the show would be scrapping the plotline with Rachel's pregnancy. I don't think the show needed it, and the fact that it resulted in her staying in New York at the end of the show's run was, I think, a real betrayal of her character.

And this might be a controversial opinion too, but I think it was a bit of a betrayal of Ross' too. I forever wish the show had gone deeper in exploring Ross co-parenting Ben with Carol, and the fact that Ben was really overshadowed in later seasons for Emma really bummed me out.

In that sense, I think if I was to reframe the series, I'd definitely be making Carol and her new partner, Susan, and Ben much more prominent characters, and have Ross and Carol co-parenting being a bigger part of Ross' overall arc. (Also, okay, hear me out - Kiersey Clemons and Tati Gabrielle as Carol and Susan respectively)

The show wasn't Great with sexuality in general, but it kind of had these built-in avenues to explore it in much more exciting and authentic ways than it did, and Carol definitely offered that, but so did Chandler's father, who I'd love to write in in a bigger way, and I think it genuinely makes sense that both Joey, Phoebe and Rachel at least be bi.

Otherwise, I'm not sure! What do you think?

[watusichris]

Betty Davis: They Say She’s Different

It appears that everything anyone has written for the old Music Aficionado site has now disappeared from the web. A random Facebook post has prompted me to re-purpose this story, written in 2016, about my favorite funketress. **********

To this day, the name Betty Davis – Betty with a “y,” that is – remains best known to connoisseurs of Miles Davis minutiae and ‘70s funk obsessives. While it’s true that Betty played an important off-stage role in the career of the jazz trumpeter, to whom she was married for just a year, and she undoubtedly made some of the best hardcore funk records of her era, she deserves to be recognized beyond the relatively narrow provinces of the jazzbo and the crate-digger.

Uncompromising, intelligent, brazen, aggressive, and not incidentally gorgeous, sexually provocative, and a fashion plate always ahead of the curve, Betty was a prophetic figure. Spawned by the explosion of music, fashion, and alternative culture of the late ‘60s, and by concurrent leaps in black consciousness and feminism, she was a take-no-prisoners singer and writer who presented herself as something new, rich, and strange with her self-titled debut album in 1973.

There were some badass contemporaries working the soul and funk trenches– gutter-tongued diva Millie Jackson and one-time James Brown paramour Yvonne Fair leap to mind immediately – but they seemed to be adapting tropes previously worked by male singers in the genres. Betty still sounds like something new: a tough, smart, demanding woman who reveled in pleasure and insisted on satisfaction, unafraid to claim what she wanted.

Despite the fact that she was associated with some high-profile male musician friends and lovers – beyond Davis, the roll call included Hugh Masekela, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Mike Carabello, Eric Clapton, and Robert Palmer – she was no groupie or bed-hopping climber. Possessed of her own self-defining vision, she was producing her own records and leading a tight, flexible little band by the end of her brief run.

In 1976, after completing four splendid albums (only three of which were released at the time), she disappeared, not only from the music business but from the public eye entirely. What happened? It’s an old story that many women in the industry will recognize: Her record company didn’t know what to do with her, and wanted her to tone down her act. Betty Davis wasn’t having any of that, thank you, and she hit the damn road.

She was born Betty Mabry in Durham, NC, in 1945. She grew up country, and was exposed to down-home, get-down music early. On the title track of her second album, They Say I’m Different, she runs down the artists who served as inspirations: Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Albert King, Chuck Berry. The blues, in one form or another, is the backbone of her style.

Her family relocated to Pittsburgh when she was young, but at 16 she left home for the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. There she was hurtled into the roiling cultural vortex of the Village. She took up modeling, working for the toney Wilhelmina agency, and began running with a posse of similarly disposed, equally beautiful women who called themselves the “Electric Ladies.” Sound familiar? One of her closest cohorts was Devon Wilson, for many years a notorious consort of Jimi Hendrix known for her freewheeling, outré sex- and drug-saturated lifestyle.

Mabry began to try her hand at singing, and cut a few self-penned singles. They were in an old-school mold in terms of structure, but her very first 45 hints at things to come. “Get Ready For Betty,” a 1964 track released by Don Costa (discoverer of Paul Anka and Trini Lopez and a key arranger for Frank Sinatra), is stodgy early-‘60s NYC R&B to its core, but its message is pointed: “Get out my way, girl, ‘cause I’m comin’ to take your man.”

She also made a stolid romantic duet ballad with singer Roy Arlington and, produced by cult soul man Lou Courtney, a homage to the Cellar, the New York club where she DJed. But she didn’t start reaching the upper echelon of the music biz until one of her songs, a hymn to Harlem called “Uptown,” was cut by the Chambers Brothers for their smash 1968 album The Time Has Come, which also included the psychedelic soul workout “Time Has Come Today.”

The Chambers association probably secured a singles deal for her at Columbia Records, and her first session for the major label was produced by her former live-in boyfriend, South African trumpeter Masekela, in October 1968. By that time, she had split with him: A month earlier, she had married a far more famous horn player, Miles Davis, whom she had met in 1967. Davis and his regular producer Teo Macero would head her second session for Columbia in May 1969.

Those two dates were released for the first time as The Columbia Years 1968-1969 earlier this month by Light in the Attic, the independent label that has restored Betty’s entire catalog to print over the last decade. While devoted fans can be grateful that the work is finally seeing the light of day, it does not make for easy listening, for it was clearly made by people groping in the dark.

Betty’s artistic persona was at that point completely unformed, and so her male Svengalis did their best to mold the clay in their hands, with feeble results. Masekela evidently completed just three tracks, two of which, “It’s My Life” and “Live, Love, Learn,” were issued as a flop single. The homiletic song titles give the game away; the music, straight-up commercial soul backed by a large group (which included Wilton Felder and Wayne Henderson of the Jazz Crusaders and Masekela), has nothing original to say.

The date with Miles is a bigger waste, if a more spectacular one. The personnel couldn’t have been more glittering: Hendrix sidemen Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell; ex-Detroit Wheels guitarist Jim McCarty; bassist Harvey Brooks, studio familiar of Bob Dylan and former member of the Electric Flag; and Davis’ then-current or future band mates Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, and Larry Young.

But nothing jells. The material is either weak (Betty’s directionless original “Hangin’ Out” is the best of a bad lot) or incongruous (lumbering covers of Cream’s “Politician” and Creedence’s “Born On the Bayou”). Worse, the jazzers are unable to lay down anything resembling a solid soul-rock foundation, and even reliable timekeeper Mitchell blows the groove on more than one occasion. Miles gets impatient with his spouse at one point, rasping over the talk-back, “Sing it just like that, with the gum in your mouth and all, bitch.”

Apparently intended as demos, the failed tracks were consigned to the tape library. By late ’69, Miles and Betty’s marriage was history. She left her mark on his music: She appeared on the cover of his cover of his 1968 album Filles de Kilimanjaro and inspired its extended track “Mademoiselle Mabry” (based on the chords that opens Hendrix’s “The Wind Cries Mary”) and “Back Seat Betty” from his 1981 comeback album The Man With the Horn.

Moreover, she moved him toward the flash style that would dominate his music through the mid-‘70s, by exposing him to the slamming music of Hendrix and Sly and exchanging his continental suits for psychedelic pimp togs. Would we know Bitches Brew, On the Corner, and Agharta without Betty Davis? Maybe, maybe not.

For her part, Betty remained in the wings for a while. She collaborated on demos for the Commodores; in London, she modeled, worked on songs for Marc Bolan of T. Rex, and declined a production offer from her then-paramour Clapton. Drifting back to New York, she met Santana percussionist Carabello. They became involved romantically, and in 1972 she relocated to the San Francisco Bay area, where Carabello’s local connections led to the formation of a stellar band to back her on a debut album.

One reads the credits for Betty Davis in awe. The rhythm section was the Family Stone’s dissident, puissant rhythm section, bassist Larry Graham and drummer Greg Errico (who also produced). Original Santana guitarist Neal Schon, future Mandrill axe man Doug Rodrigues, founding Graham Central Station organist Hershall Kennedy, and keyboardist and ace Jerry Garcia collaborator Merl Saunders filled out the instrumentation. The Pointer Sisters, Sylvester, and Kathi McDonald were among a large platoon of backup vocalists.

Issued in 1973 by Just Sunshine Records, an independent label owned by Woodstock Festival promoter Michael Lang (who also released a set by another unique woman, folk singer-guitarist Karen Dalton), Betty Davis was one hell of a coming-out party. Since her abortive Columbia dates, she had developed a unique vocal attack that could leap from a velvety croon to a Tina Turner-like shriek in a nanosecond. The stomping funk of the studio band backed her up to the hilt.

Like Turner, she was one Bold Soul Sister. The lust-filled opening invitation “If I’m in Luck I Might Get Picked Up” announces that a new game was afoot. The statement of romantic/sexual independence “Anti Love Song,” the lovers’ chess match “Your Man My Man,” and the self-explanatory “Game is My Middle Name” offer up a startling, hard-edged new model of a hard-funking female vocalist.

The album’s most affecting track may be “Steppin in Her I. Miller Shoes,” Davis’ level-headed elegy for her sybaritic friend Devon Wilson, who sailed out a window at the Chelsea Hotel in 1971. “She coulda been anything that she wanted…Instead she chose to be nothing,” Davis sings, implying that route wouldn’t be one she would take herself.

“If I’m in Luck” grazed the lower reaches of the R&B singles chart and the album failed to reach the LP rolls at all, but Davis was undaunted. For 1974’s They Say I’m Different, she took the producer’s reins, which she would hold for the rest of her career. While the backup lineup is less glitzy (though Saunders, Pete Escovedo, and Buddy Miles, on guitar no less, appear), the support is still sizzling; crackling drums and burbling clavinet put over a set of songs that may have been even stronger than those heard on her debut.

No one who hears “He Was a Big Freak” is likely to ever forget it; it’s a startling dissection of a masochistic relationship -- inspired by Jimi Hendrix, and not, as many have assumed, by Miles Davis (“Everyone knows that Miles is a sadist,” Betty remarked later). Almost as notable are “Don’t Call Her No Tramp,” a prescient condemnation of what we now call slut-shaming, and the autobiographical title track, with slicing slide guitar work by Cordell Dudley.

Different and its attendant singles tanked, but Betty managed to maintain her profile with live gigs noteworthy for their uninhibited bawdiness, on-stage abandon, and the star’s Egyptian-princess-from-outer-space wardrobe sense. By early 1974 she had assembled a hot, lean road band that included her cousins Nickey Neal and Larry Johnson on drums and bass, respectively, plus keyboardist Fred Mills and guitarist Carlos Morales. This lineup would back her on her last two albums.

The end of Just Sunshine’s distribution deal liberated Davis, who, at the suggestion of then-boyfriend Robert Palmer, inked with Palmer’s label Island Records. The company released Nasty Gal in 1975, and it may be Davis’ best-executed work. The pared-down backing lets the songs shine, and there are good ones here: The shameless title song, the vituperative blast at the critics “Dedicated to the Press,” and the out-front ultimatum for sexual satisfaction “Feelins” get right up in the listener’s face. The most surprising track is the ballad “You and I,” an unexpected songwriting reunion with Miles, orchestrated by the trumpeter’s famed arranger Gil Evans.

It’s a tremendous album, and Betty supported it with live shows that ate the funk competition alive. A bootleg of an especially out-there set recorded at a festival on the French Riviera in 1976 literally climaxes with Nasty Gal’s “The Lone Ranger,” an in-the-saddle heavy breather that Davis wraps up by feigning a loud orgasm.

One should remember that at this particular juncture, Madonna was studying dance at the University of Michigan.

But Nasty Gal faded with hardly a trace, and Davis’ relationship with Island swiftly became fractious. It’s easy to see why the label declined to issue her final album, originally called Crashin’ From Passion and ultimately released, after years as a bootleg, by Light in the Attic in 2009 as Is It Love or Desire. The collection, which leans heavily on songs about sex, doping, and heavy drinking, includes “Stars Starve, You Know,” an outright condemnation of the games record companies play:

They said if I wanted to make some money

I’d have to change my style

Put a paper bag over my face

Sing soft and wear tight fitting gowns

 They don’t like the way I’m lookin’

So it’s hard for my agent to get me bookin’s

Unless I cover up my legs and drop my pen

And commit one of those commercial sins…

 Oh hey hey Island

And that was all she wrote. Until writers began to seek her out in the new millennium as her records became available again, Betty Davis was an invisible woman, one who had blazed a trail that other talents, such as Prince and Madonna, would blaze more profitably after her. She was definitively ahead of her time.

Asked by one writer what she had done since leaving music, Davis, who turns 71 on July 26, responded with the most tragic thing one can imagine any artist saying: “Nothing really.”

[prettylittlethings25]

MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS FROM NETFLIX SHOWS

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

1.    Monica Geller (Friends)

Monica is a chef who likes things to be clean; and is competitive, obsessive and compulsive in nature. She was always dedicated to her friends. She never turned away a friend in need; like when Rachel ran away from her wedding, she allowed her to stay at her house even though Rachel was not in touch with her for many years after high school. She always cooked for her friends. Whenever it was Thanksgiving or someone’s birthday, she was the one who organized a get-together and fed all of them. Her parents always favoured her brother Ross, so she always competed against him to gain their affection. Monica always supported her husband Chandler and believed in him, even when he quit his job and started an internship. She was shattered when she found out that they cannot have a baby but was still strong and later adopted twins. The character is portrayed by Courtney Cox.

 2.    Klaus Mikaelson (The Originals)

Klaus is an original hybrid, i.e., he is one of the oldest vampires in the world who is also a werewolf. He is an overly complex character. He has a thousand enemies from all around the world. Though some people might think of him as ruthless or heartless, he has a good side despite all his sins. He took care of people who were dear to him. The protection of his family was always his first priority. He was an excellent father, brother, and friend. Despite daggering his siblings at a regular basis, he protected and saved them from all harm. His closest ally was his brother Elijah, who never let go of him. He adored Hayley, his daughter’s mother and his friend, and always made her feel like family. But most of all, he was an extraordinary father to his daughter Hope. Hope was the only reason Klaus redeemed himself. He loved Hope so much that in the end, he sacrificed his life to save Hope. The character is portrayed by Joseph Morgan.

 3.    Nairobi (Money Heist)

Nairobi was an expert in minting and forgery. She was one of the robbers who participated in the heist of the Royal Mint of Spain. Her task was to ensure that the money that was being printed by the hostages are of the highest quality. Later, she briefly took charge of the robbery and declared the beginning of “Matriarchy”. She was the most disciplined of the robbers. Her real name was Agata Jiménez. During her teenage years, she started counterfeiting due to lack of money. She got pregnant at that time and gave birth to a boy, who she named Axel. He was taken away from her at the age of 3 by the child services when they found out Agata is a drug dealer. The Professor and the robbers decided to select codenames after cities, because the rules were of no real names. Agata chose to be called Nairobi. The character is portrayed by Alba Flores.

 4.    Richard Hunter (The Bold Type)

Richard is a handsome in-house attorney for Steinem Publishing, the company that publishes Scarlet Magazine. He is a tall man with short brown hair. He is very dedicated to his job and avoids doing anything hazardous to jeopardize it. He has a clandestine affair with Sutton Brady, a stylist. He loves her very much, and even made certain adjustments to stay together with her. Later, he and Sutton got married. Their 15 years age difference did not affect their relationship until Sutton revealed that she never wants to have kids because she loves her career and does not want anything that can affect it. This is where their marriage hit a roadblock as Richard wanted to have kids and he could not wait longer for Sutton to maybe change her mind. Though he was a passionate lover, his decision of being a father was much more important to him. The character is portrayed by Samuel Page.

 5.    Joey Del Marco (Grand Army)

Joey is one of the most popular students at her school. Among her close friends is Tim, Joey’s best friend Anna’s brother, with whom she has a flirtatious relationship. She was strong, confident, and independent until one incident turned her life upside down. One night, she went to the movies with Tim, George, and Luke and decided to get drunk. In a cab, Joey sat on George’s lap and started flirting with him and Luke to make Tim jealous. Little did she know what was supposed to be fun, would turn out to be her worst nightmare. She was raped by the boys she thought were her best friends, while Tim just sat in stunned silence. Later when she was tried to press charges, they were denied due to lack of evidence. Joey looked for Tim’s support but did not get any. She changed her school and joined a dancing class hoping she would get over this trauma. The character is portrayed by Odessa A’zion.

 6.    Berlin (Money Heist)

Berlin was the Professor’s half-brother, and one of the robbers. He oversaw the heist of the Royal Mint of Spain. He was the perfect blend of both charming and arrogant. His real name was Andrés. He was diagnosed with Helmer's Myopathy and had little time to live, so he desired to enjoy everything in the moment intensely. He had eccentric ways of commanding and punishing the hostages as well as the robbers, but those psychopathic tendencies were a facade to maintain his leadership. His character development forces everyone to despise him at the beginning and then sympathize after his ultimate sacrifice in the end to protect others. The character is portrayed by Pedro Alonso.  

 7.    Beth Harmon (The Queen’s Gambit)

Beth is an orphan girl who has a passion for chess. She discovered her aptitude for chess while living in an orphanage, where she met Mr. Shaibel, the orphanage’s custodian who taught her chess. The pills that were given to the children at the orphanage helped Beth to hallucinate the game on a level that most of us will never experience in our lives. When she was adopted by a couple and could not avail the pills, her susceptibility to substance addiction fuelled her chess proficiency. She was the only woman chess player of her time and expressed irritation with being solely renowned because of her gender. So, she proved herself to be the greatest chess player in the world. The character is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy.

 8.    Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl)

Chuck is notorious for his flamboyant and impeccable sense of style and charisma. Though he was selfish, manipulative, and sleazy sometimes, he was loyal to his friends and other close acquaintances. He was abandoned by his mother and was raised by a cold-hearted father whose approval he longed for. His love interest is Blair, with who he has a typical hate to love chemistry. The time where he voted for Blair 150 times so that she could be the prom queen, even though they were not together at that time, is probably the most selfless thing he had done in his life. He is an epitome of character development. The character is portrayed by Ed Westwick.

[modestfuckup]

Some rambles from me :)*

*about tv and film tropes and Industry stuff regarding real and fictional pregnancies.

I introduced the concept of Chekhov’s Pregnancy to my partner the other day, (Very similar to Chekhov’s gun except the idea that you have to have a pregnant person go into labor not only on screen but often at the most inopportune time) along with the world of on screen pregnancies in all varieties (hiding a pregnancy, scripted pregnancies, and irl pregnancies being written into the show) and it was really strange to me that they never noticed this phenomenon.  And IDK if it’s because i grew up a cis women who was like hyper aware of pregnant people and was taught to care about pregnant people but it was a strange conversation to have to be like “no yeah i know a lot about pregnancy as a trope in tv and film (and I guess in literature too but i don’t really read many things with pregnant people) as well as how pregnancy is handled in the Industry.”

I have been watching Grey’s Anatomy, because why not, and the second season includes a member of the ensemble being pregnant with her first child, and naturally, the character goes into labor when 1) there is a man who was shot with a bazooka which is still live in his body, 2) a man is having life or death brain surgery in the OR next to the live bomb, 3) the man having life or death brain surgery is the pregnant woman’s husband, 4) the chief of surgery is having a heart attack, 5) the title character has her hand inside the bazooka patient and holding the live bomb, 6) the character giving birth is refusing to ignore her years of medical expertise and wants to delay having her baby until her husband can be there, and 7) the delivery doctor’s husband is doing brain surgery on the pregnant woman’s husband. (She delivers her baby with the help of her surgical intern while her husband is in surgery (this episode isn’t even the season finale what?!))

There are countless other examples of women going into labor at The Worst Time. 

And like, obviously the different kinds of onscreen pregnancies differ depending on the media. Hiding or incorporating pregnancies is usually done in TV shows, where the character may or may not become pregnant depending on their current storylines. A great example of this is Melissa Fumero’s pregnancy in an early season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Amy and Jake had just started dating, and while Charles would have been delighted, the pregnancy didn’t make sense for their relationship, so Melissa had to hide her pregnancy. However, later in late 2019 her irl pregnancy was written into the show, because at that point Jake and Amy were married. How I Met Your Mother does this with Alyson Hannigan’s pregnancies at various points in Lily and Marshall’s relationship too. 

In movies, there are examples of hiding pregnancies. The most notable ones I can think of was Scarlett Johansson in an Avengers movie, and Emily Blunt in Into the Woods. 

Friends does a great job of hitting all these tv pregnancy types. Lisa Kudrow’s pregnancy was written into the show by making Phoebe becoming a surrogate for her brother. Rachel’s pregnancy was scripted. And in the final season, Courtney Cox had to hide her irl pregnancy because Monica wouldn’t have children. 

I can’t really think of any movies that incorporate actor’s pregnancies into the script or final edit. I watched a movie called How Do You Know, starring Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd, where the assistant was pregnant and she went into labor which became a moment of clarity for Rudd’s character while also supplying a few laughs. Going to show that even side or minor character’s pregnancies do tend to happen on screen and are important enough to someone that they deserve to be on screen. 

IDK, being pregnant seems like it sucks and is kind of a squick for me, so I have no idea why i’m so invested and interested in it as a trope. but yeah. 

[theseadagiodays]

May 4, 2020

This is Not a Performance

Irving H Bolano’s incredible repurposed newspaper fashion for the Met Gala Challenge on Twitter #HFMetGala2020

May the Fourth be With You as you reach the next chapter of this current sci-fi drama we seem to be living through.   As the saying goes, reality can be stranger than fiction.   But it just happens to be a many red-eyed virus rather than an evil, black-masked father that we’re fighting as we all walk around like Storm Troopers.  

There are so many aspects of our lives, during Covid, which make it feel like we are actors in a make-believe story.   First of all, we’ve all become movie stars, with our faces, homes, and even pets showcased on our own silver screens.  As isolated as we are, our private lives now play out in the public sphere more than ever - no paparazzi required.    For some, this invasion of privacy is unwelcomed. But for many people, it satisfies a secret longing to share themselves with a wider audience.  After all, deep down, everyone wants to be seen and heard (I guess, me included, since I have this blog, after all).  It’s why TikTok and YouTube and Facebook have become multi-billion dollar companies so quickly.  And now, while this pandemic is a harsh daily reminder of the impermanence of all things, it makes sense that these digital missives are an attempt to seek immortality, in some strange way.

As someone whose work responds to human’s need to have a voice, I truly get why this is the case.  And I love that this time has turned housewives into opera stars, and health care workers into hip hop dancers, and housepets into circus performers. But, at the same time, I have become very aware of the masks that we wear, even inside our homes, to portray a certain self to the world that may stray quite far from our authentic selves.  The expression “dance like no one is watching” acknowledges the fact that we all tend to perform when we have an audience, and perhaps we’re only truly ourselves when we don’t.   I understand that the way we “perform” ourselves online gives each of us a chance to reinvent the fictions we want our stories to have.   So, while I surely take some guilty pleasure from intimate glimpses into strangers’ lives, I also do so with a certain skepticism about the veracity of what I’m seeing.  

This became particularly true for me when I received a recent link from my friend and amazing singer/songwriter, Dominique Fricot. Capitalizing on this current trend of oversharing, he cleverly asked his fans to film their morning routines for the music video of his new song, Wake Up, by his duo, Flora Falls.  Dom’s warm tenor voice blended with his partner’s breathy tones feel just like a lazy morning in bed.  But I’ll leave it up to you to decide just how accurate these portrayals of people’s idyllic daytime rituals actually are.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EbsqXou5FeY

May 5, 2020

Homeschool Heroes

About twenty years ago,  I was invited to adjudicate a youth music competition in the Yukon.  Travelling to one of the northernmost inhabited spots on earth, I imagined that my greatest surprise might have been a polar bear or Northern Lights sighting.  But it turned out to be something entirely different.  Among the 25,000 residents of the thriving metropolis of Whitehorse exists a treasure trove of talent.  I could not believe the incredibly honed skills and nuanced expression with which these 11-18 year-olds played.   Wondering why, I developed a theory that I now call SLoW: Sheltered Living Wonder.  When long, dark days, cold climates or pandemics force people indoors, they tend to spend inordinate amounts of time on creative endeavors and skill development.  In other words, they slow down and take time for wonder.

This theory has surely applied during these past few months of sheltering in place.   One of the most remarkable examples has been the inventiveness that many of my friends have brought to their first attempts with homeschooling.   So, I wanted to give a few shout outs to some of these Homeschool Heroes and the highly imaginative projects they’ve done with their kids.

Stunning Easter Eggs made from natural materials and dye, by my friend Jane Cox and her kids  (Botany lesson)

Candy Covid virus, made by Amelia, my friend Jen Sanke’s daughter, as she learned about the virus’ proteins (Biology lesson)

But perhaps the prize for most complex homeschool project has to go to my architect friend, Bryn Davidson, who upon returning from Australia, in late March, had to fully quarantine for 2-weeks.  So, with his 5-year old son Bei as helper, this Physics lesson allowed him to enjoy home delivery beer while in isolation.  Just brilliant!

https://youtu.be/FF9-2dWoUtc

May 6, 2020

Living in livestream

So today, 5 million British Columbian’s awaited our “sentence” with baited breath, as word spread that our provincial prime minister would deliver the Re-Open BC plan at 3 pm.   I have to admit, it felt a bit like when you were “grounded” as an adolescent and then your parents returned certain privileges to you.  Of course, I’m well aware that our province has already been far more licentious than many places around the globe.  We’ve been fortunate to maintain reasonably low numbers of infection (just over 2,000), with counts as low as 8 new cases per day, at this point. So, while our provincial parks closed, our beaches never did.  While we were encouraged, within a reasonable range of home, to be active outdoors, we were not restricted to walks only within the 100 metre radius of our house, as my Israeli friends were.  And while we could still shop at gardening and furniture stores, to make sheltering at home more enjoyable, New Zealanders had nothing but grocery stores and pharmacies open, for two months.  

I have sensed the gratitude my fellow Vancouverites have felt about these privileges.  But that does not mean that we aren’t still anxious to return to other aspects of living which we’ve missed.  When lockdown began, ominously on the Ides of March (the 15th), I’d harboured a secret hope that certain restrictions might be lifted on my birthday (exactly two months later).  And it turns out that Phase Two of the BC ReOpen plan will commence on May 19th, just 4 days later than I’d hoped.  What I most look forward to experiencing again are small gatherings with friends, (we’ll soon be allowed to socialize in public with up to 10 people); meals inside certain restaurants and pubs (those that are able to function within WorkPlace BC’s safety regulations); visits to registered massage therapists; and hugs with select people, (”using one’s own ‘risk assessment’.”)

But in the long-range plan, the harsh reality for artists has been laid out, as Phase Four (which includes resuming large-venue concerts, conventions, and international travel) can not occur until either a vaccine has been developed, an effective treatment plan is widely available, or herd immunity is achieved.  And this is not estimated to occur until mid-2021 or later.  So, the prospects are still bleak for symphony orchestras, opera and dance companies, artists who perform in crowded bars, or musicians who travel for arena shows and festivals.  This likely means that in order to satisfy audiences’ need to access live performance, and for artists to continue to share their creativity,  livestream formats will still have to persist for some time.  Therefore, I thought I’d share a few regular weekly livestream arts events here, both from Vancouver, LA & NY.

Canadian National Live Art Champion, Dmitri Sirenko, who we featured at our non-profit’s annual benefit on February 20th, 2020

Every Monday Night at 7 pm PST (Vancouver) Poetry Slam: https://www.facebook.com/Vancouverpoetryslam/

Every Thursday at 5 pm PST (LA): LIVE Art Battles - Watch painters do their magic in just 20 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJoWGVwzGtk99nTOCib9vg

Every Thursday at 8 pm EST (NY): Spotlight on Plays - famous actors perform readings of theatre pieces, online: https://www.broadwaysbestshows.com/post/the-best-of-series/

May 7, 2020

Collateral Blessings

So many thoughtful writers are adding to the discourse, as we all strive to make meaning from what can feel like a senseliess time.  I have so appreciated the abundance with which people are sharing these missives, right now.  Every day, bursts of inspiration or flickers of insight come my way, thru texts, emails and Facebook.  Like adventurers, traveling together thru the dark of night, we shine light on guideposts, anywhere we can find them, as we collectively quench each other’s thirst for wisdom.  

One of the most profound writings I‘ve recently discovered came from a stranger’s blog.  In The Examined Family, Courtney Martin, without ever diminishing the gravity of the havoc that this virus has wreaked, writes about some of the assets that have also come out of this time.  New friendships with neighbors.  A long-neglected puzzle completed with her kids.   The time to draw and truly notice an artichoke in her back garden. My good friend Juan calls these collateral blessings.  This reference to the accidental gifts that this cruel virus has given us, is a beautiful twist on “collateral damage”, a term coined to explain accidental friendly-fire deaths during the Gulf War.  Commenting on the anticipatory nostalgia that she projects she will feel about certain things, once this time has passed, Courtney writes:

“I instantly feel overwhelmed at the prospect of schedules and stuff. I don’t want to go back to our former accumulation or frenetic pace. I don’t want to stop texting (my neighbor) my little triumphs. I don’t want to forget about the artichokes in the garden. I don’t ever want to forget this happened--the grief and the beauty of it. I’m not even sure that will be possible, but if it were, I wouldn’t want it. I don’t want to vote like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to eat like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to consume like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to schedule like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to mother or daughter or befriend or neighbor like it didn’t happen. I don’t want to sit inside this little life, noticing and appreciating and breathing, like it didn’t happen. There is unnecessary suffering all around me, and inside of me, too, but there is also necessary meaning. May we hold on to that.”      

You can read her full entry here: https://courtney.substack.com/p/unnecessary-suffering-and-necessary?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo3OTg0NDcyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjozNzU1NDMsIl8iOiJCTnk2VyIsImlhdCI6MTU4NzA1MjgyMCwiZXhwIjoxNTg3MDU2NDIwLCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjA5MjIiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.puI9NMne-783ypInpvTkJ96T237WcrTo2ItDhqlkMiY

May 8, 2020

Nostalgia

I’m rarely one prone to nostalgia.  My childhood photo albums are in storage.  I have no family heirlooms displayed in my home.  My tendency is to revel in the present or dream about the future.  But this pandemic has strangely turned me into a sentimental fool.  Perhaps this return to simpler times, where we seldom shop, where we wander mostly by foot, or where we get to know our neighbors better, makes us long for the past in certain ways.  

For me, I’ve honored this by resurrecting my daily teenage Twizzler habit - a candy I’ve rarely eaten since then, but that now feels so satisfying during my Netflix & Chill evenings (while watching films almost as old like Groundhog Day & Anchorman).  

I’m also listening a lot to Old School Hip Hop, where the explative-free rhymes of the 90’s feel so strangely innocent.  It’s refreshing to listen to these musicians spit verses that merely celebrate the joys of dance and rap, rather than ranting about gun violence and other societal ills.  Run DMC It’s Tricky (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-O5IHVhWj0) and Beastie Boys Body Movin’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvRBUw_Ls2o) happen to be personal favorites.  

Last month, I was tickled by an old memory while planting a lilac bush in my backyard.  I suddenly remembered a story about my college boyfriend, whom I hadn’t thought of in 30 years.  Our relationship started a bit secretively, so as not to hurt his ex’s feelings.  So, one May afternoon, we snuck away to a distant park that was hosting a Lilac Festival.  Unfortunately, our ruse was quickly spoiled when a candid photo of our picnic under the purple blooms was plastered all over the front page of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle the next morning.  

Another sweet memory returned in culinary form. Every Tuesday, for 7 years, my mother selflessly drove me an hour from home and back, for my flute lesson.  And to break up the long drive, we regularly stopped at Bickford’s Pancake House for my favorite adolescent treat: breakfast for dinner. Their specialty was the Dutch Baby Apple.  And I finally made my first homemade attempt at this deceptively easy delicacy, last Tuesday.  

This has also been a time to return to bedtime stories (some I’ve read to friends’ kids, and others for adults to hear.)  The Great Realisation by British performance artist, Tom Foolery, has been making the social media rounds. But in case you missed this touching tale that looks back on this time as if the tale is being told in a not-so-distant future, it’s a wistful story about some aspects of modern life that we may never long for in the future:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4