#src: river vi

[daily-lilasm]

[ID: Lila and Skid sadly embracing each other. Lila is in her stressed design, and holds Skid close with both eyes closed while kneeling on the floor. Skid is unmasked, and has his eyes closed too. The background is greyish blue, and is split into six radial sections. Each section is in monochrome, and shows (clockwise) Skiddad, Moloch, the Cultists, Eyes of the Universe, Dexter (human and doll), and Bob Velseb. /end ID]

spoiler alert?

even before the episode was released, I thinking about such a art, but more in a "kind" format.. but now it's a depressing thing  :"D

[isomorphismes]

There are no theorems in category theory.

Emily Riehl, Category Theory In Context

Mathematicians often tell her this; hence the book.

If I had to summarise her views in one sentence, it would be:

Everything is an adjunction.

I also like the division these mathematicians are making to her: essentially, a theorem is anything that solves Feynman’s challenge: by a series of clear, unsurprising steps, one arrives at an unexpected conclusion.

Examples for me include:

17 possible tessellations

6 ways to foliate a surface

27 lines on a cubic

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 28, 2, 8, 6, 992, 1, 3, 2, 16256, 2, 16, 16, 523264, 24, 8, 4 ways to link any-dimensional spheres.

the existence of sporadic groups

surprising rep-theory consequences of Young diagrams, Ferrers sequences, and so on (you could say the strangeness of integer partitions is really to blame here…)

59 icosahedra

8 geometric layouts

Books which are bristling with mathematical ideas of this kind include Montesinos on tessellations, Geometry and the Imagination (the original one), and Coxeter’s book on polyhedra (start with Baez on A-D-E if you want to follow my path). Moonshine and anything by Thurston or his students, I’ve found similarly flush with shockng content—quite different to what I thought mathematics would be like. (I had pictured something more like a formal logic book: row by row of symbols. But instead, the deeper I got into mathematics, the fewer the symbols and the more the surnames thanking the person who came up with some good idea.)

Note that a theorem is different here to some geometry — as in The Geometry of Schemes. The word geometry used in that sense, I feel, is to have a comprehensive enough vision of a subject to say how it “looks” — but the word theorem means the result is surprising or unintuitive.

This definition of a theorem, to me, presents a useful challenge to annoying pop-psychology that today lurks under the headings of Bayesianism, cognitive _______, behavioural econ/finance, and so on.

Following Buliga and Thurston to understand the nature of mathematical progress, within mathematics at least (where it’s clearer than elsewhere whether you understand something or not—compare to economic theory for example), there is a clear delination of what’s obvious and what’s not.

What is definitely not the case in mathematics, is that every logical or computable consequence of a set of definitions is computed and known immediately when the definitions are stated! You can look at a (particularly a good) mathematical exposition as walking you through the steps of which shifts in perspective you need to take to understand a conclusion. For example start with some group, then consider it as a topological object with a cohomology to get the centraliser. Or in Fourier analysis: re-present line-elements on a series of widening circles. Use hyperbolic geometry to learn about integers. Use stable commutator length (geometry) to learn about groups. Or read about Teichmüller stuff and mapping class groups because it’s the confluence of three rivers.

Sometimes mathematical explanations require fortitude (Gromov’s "energy") and sometimes a shift in perspective (Gromov’s (neg)"entropy").

This view of theorems should be contrasted to the disease of generalisation in mathematical culture. Citing two real-life grad students and a tenured professor in logic (one philosophical, one mathematical, the professor in computer science):

I like your distinction between hemi-toposes, demi-toposes, and semi-toposes

I care about hyper-reals, sur-reals, para-consistency, and so on

Abstract thought — like mathematicians do — is the best kind of thought.

(twitter.com/replicakill, the author of twitter.com/logicians, ragged on David Lewis by saying “What do mathematicians like?” “What do mathematicians think?” —— And Corey Mohler has done a wonderful job of mocking Platonism, which is how I guess the thirst for over-generalisation reaches non-mathematicians.)

Paul Halmos knew that cool examples beat generalisations for generalisation’s sake, as did V. I. Arnol’d. And it seems that the people a Harvard mathematician spends her time with make reasonable demands of a mathematical idea as well. It shouldn’t just contain previous theories; it should surprise. In Buliga’s Blake/Reynolds dispute, Blake wins hands down.

[visarcana]

What do we know about... Basram

A.k.a. the first post in the ‘WDWK’ series. Well, it’s kind of hard to keep in mind all this information found in various artbooks and other sources, so I'll try to put it all into a single post regarding the selective topic. I will make them as many and about such topics as I’ll feel necessary in the progress of the story, so the posts probably won’t be regular or follow some kind of structure. Yeah, they will be a mess as you can see from just looking at this one. But I expect to make at least a few of them. 

And the first will be about the Gaean country of Basram. I tried to find what I could about it as I was thinking of Cyro, an original character coming from that country, who was introduced in chapter 4. And well, as I said in the author’s note, the official information about Basram is very scarce. But I will list all I could find here and also attempt to do a little analysis (or rather, I’ll be grasping at the straws tbh).

Note: I’ll be using abbreviations for the artbooks, ‘ESCAB’ is for the Escaflowne Settei Collection Artbook, ‘EFB’ are the Escaflowne Filmbooks

Canon information:

1. Basram is the only republic from among the Allied countries (EFB 6)

2. The coat of arms represents entwined double dragons

As seen in the artbooks (the text says ‘Basram crest’):

Regarding the colors, it’s hard to the flag in a screenshot, but it’s indeed red so these ancient images for ants with the copyright of Sunrise studios (??) that still float around the web look quite legit:

3. The design of the uniform for Basram soldiers

EFB 6 depicts the uniform of the common soldier (left) and the general.

According to the ESCAB, this is in fact a specific Basram general by the name of Quarto (Kuaruto):

However, in the series itself we see a different-looking commander instead - none other than Mr. Bombastic himself:

Since his ordinary pal from the artbook is present at the scene as well, I would say they just changed the design of the general in the end.

4. The position in the southeast of the ‘known Gaea’

At least as depicted by the part of the map of Gaea from one of the artbooks. According to it, the known neighboring countries are Egzardia to the Northeast, Asturia to the Northwest and Freid to the Southwest.

5. The development and use of the energist bomb

Basram decides to use the chaos on the battlefield and use their new weapon called the energist bomb, not only to wipe out the Zaibach army, but also to weaken their allies and assume the dominant position from among them and “rule Gaea themselves”.

This is the bomb and the ship which drops it:

Then there are several depictions of Basram guymelefs and that’s it for canon-only.

And now it gets more specific, but also way more speculative...

1. Republic

ESCAB says most of the hundreds of Gaean countries are monarchies that evolved from tribal communities where one clan accumulated enough power to rule over the others. Basram is apparently one of the exceptions. Republic (res publica - the state is a “public matter” made by and for the people) often comes to be as the result of overthrowing a tyrannic ruler (or ruling class/group), or via revolution. I chose that path as well, even though there probably are examples of state bodies which were already created as republic, too. With massive social changes, several groups can be hit hard of course, so I tried to incorporate that a bit when creating Cyro’s backstory.

2. Crest

Dragons here, dragons there, dragons everywhere. That’s Gaea for you. The official flag of Basram is the familiar symbol of symmetric entwined serpentine creatures, which probably can be dubbed as dragons. It’s quite similar to the crest of Asturia, which you see on the flags and banners, but also in the huge ‘altar’ thing at Millerna’s wedding:

So, it may have a religious connotation. In Asturia, it probably represents their sea dragon god, Jeture. But I was not so sure what it represents in Basram. The position of the dragons is certainly reverse from Asturia above (they face away from each other) and they seem to be breathing fire out of their mouths.

Well, since I’ve been writing this fic for a while, I had decided that Basram would have some sort of sun worship long time ago. But it was only recently I have discovered about the double dragons of Basram, so I tried to incorporate it somehow. In the end I settled on the dragons representing the Sun and the Moon (and no, I was in no way original, see for example the Gandhara dragons).

In Gaea’s case, it would probably be the Sun and the Mystic Moon. And the Moon can be their offspring. Just fanwanking here.

When it comes to the Vis Arcana universe, Cyro used to be a monk of Tonatis, the male/Sun aspect. But maybe there is (or was) a complementary female religious order worshiping the Moon?

I made the geographical terms I used correspond to this theory, Cyro mentions Heliopoli and I have thought of Lunasta. Kind of obvious, right? (I have not been too creative)

Anyway, it’s quite possible that the dragons were simply meant to represent Jeture as well, because it looks like Basram borders with the same sea as Asturia. The sea, where, you know, Jeture is supposed to reside.

3. Uniform

There are a few pointers of what Earth countries served as inspiration for the Gaean ones. The clothes being one of the more obvious. And what we are looking at here is an obvious case of a pickelhaube, which together with the overknee boots points right in the direction of Prussia for me. I mean look at this 19th century Prussian cuirassier [IMG SRC] side by side with our guy for example:

Or another good example here.

Of course, there are more countries and armies which used the pickelhaube over the history and maybe some of them would look similar, too. And I don’t think we should simply put a ‘=‘ between Basram and Prussia anyway, because this is still a fantasy universe, but well, there seems a certain inspiration. And for those familiar with European history, the militarism of Basram may come as less of a surprise.

4. Geography

According to the map, Basram is located quite down south, souther than Asturia itself, nearing Freid. And that would make the climate quite Mediterranean/hot. But only if you think in Earth’s terms. These people do not really look like they live somewhere in a warm climate, but heck if I know. On the map it looks like they have a seacoast, some major rivers and mountains. Then there is that thing of Gaean map being just the rotated version of ice age Europe which would tell us more about the topography, but nah. Too lazy for that for now.

5. Energist Bomb

Well. The whole bomb business may also sound very familiar. A new, unexpected strange weapon with enough destructive force to wipe out whole armies and cities, leaving nothing in its wake.  Maybe even more so when you know what followed in the series, i.e. the allied countries turning on each other. The nuclear bomb was not just about Japan either, it was also about deterring any potential future enemies from among the Allies (well, especially one of them). And the US certainly certainly were a republic from the beginning. So yeah, more sources of inspiration here at work probably...

Okay, guess that’s it for today. Didn’t think this would get so long! I think a similar post about Egzardia may be next. You’re welcome to ask questions or discuss this if you want of course!

[pangeanews]

“Lei non ha capito niente: c’è sempre una quota di malvagità nell’uomo”. Una lettera inedita di Truman Capote. A 20 anni ‘spazzola’ un lettore disattento

Nell’estate del 1945 la Seconda guerra si spengeva in un torbido tramonto e un ragazzo di vent’anni era all’alba della fama. Da un paio d’anni aveva preso a scrivere racconti. La formula più facile per fare successo. Nell’estate del 1945, in giugno, il ragazzo dalla faccia di Dioniso malato, Truman Capote, pubblica sulla rivista femminile Mademoiselle – nata dieci anni prima, e con una certa attenzione verso la letteratura contemporanea: vi troviamo William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O’Connor, Sylvia Plath… – il racconto Miriam. Forse è la prima prova convincente di Truman – di certo è la prima a cui Truman resta affezionato. La storia, ‘da camera’, all’apparenza canonica, fin dall’incipit (“Da diversi anni la signora H. T. Miller viveva sola nel grazioso appartamento – due stanze e una cucina – di un nuovo caseggiato accanto a East River”), in realtà, in una quindicina di pagine, racconta il delirio verbale dell’anziana con il demone di se stessa, che ha le sembianze della giovane Miriam, ventenne con “i capelli più lunghi e più strani che la signora Miller avesse mai visto: color bianco argento, come quelli di un albino, che le scendevano sciolti e soffici fino al petto” (il testo potete leggerlo in: Truman Capote, La forma delle cose. Tutti i racconti, Garzanti, 2007). La storia convince anche gli esperti: nel 1946 Miriam è premiato come miglior inedito dell’anno con l’O. Henry Adward. Truman si galvanizza. Seguiranno i capolavori, da Altre voci, altre stanze, due anni dopo, a L’arpa d’erba, nel 1951. A raccontare la foia del giovane Capote – oltre a darci una chiave di lettura per capire Miriam – è una lettera inedita, pubblicata dal The New York Times – con commento di James Barron – una manciata di giorni fa. Luglio 1945. Dalla sua casa al 1060 di Park Avenue, New York, Capote risponde a una lettrice – tale “Miss Warren” – piuttosto piccato perché costei dimostra di “non aver capito nulla” del racconto. La storia nella storia è fascinosa. “Quando Susan Akers scoprì una lettera irritata di Truman Capote tra i documenti che stava consultando, ciò che la sorprese fu l’identità del lettore tanto idiota che aveva mandato a Capote una nota sul suo primo racconto pubblicato su Mademoiselle. Quel lettore così cretino era sua madre, all’epoca una studentessa”. La mamma di Susan si chiamava Katherine. Katherine Warner – non Warren come scrive Capote. E conservò gelosamente la lettera del grande scrittore fino alla morte, accaduta a 91 anni, nel 2014. Soltanto ora, spulciando nei suoi documenti, la figlia ha trovato il raro documento. Dandolo alle mascelle pubbliche. Anche un tratto insignificante è significativo per perfezionare il ritratto di un grande scrittore. In questo caso, il ventenne Capote sfoggia gentile vanità, generoso orgoglio, assoluta certezza nel proprio talento, granitica intelligenza.

*

Luglio, 1945

Gentile Miss Warren;

la ringrazio per la sua lettera alquanto angosciante, ma davvero divertente. Francamente, la natura della sua richiesta mi sconcerta un po’.

Penso che lei non abbia capito nulla della relazione tra Miriam e Mrs. Miller. Bene, Miriam è Mrs. Miller, o meglio, l’elemento malvagio che è in lei (come c’è sempre una quota di malvagità in ogni uomo), che non ha mai avuto modo di esplodere, o di fiorire, per così dire. In altre parole, Miriam è una proiezione. Ricorda la storia fantastica dei folletti che hanno fabbricato uno specchio maligno, lo hanno conficcato in cielo e distrutto, finché una piccola scheggia non finisce nell’occhio di un ragazzino distorcendo tutto quello che vede? Qualcosa di simile è all’opera in Mrs. Miller. Insomma, quando Mrs. Miller pensa di essersi sbarazzata di quella figlia demone una volta per sempre, Miriam ritorna… e il lettore dovrebbe capire che sarà per sempre la compagna di Mrs. Miller. Ovviamente, esiste una terminologia clinica che definisce la malattia mentale di Mrs. Miller: Disturbo della personalità, Schizofrenia etc. Ma la mia storia è un documento immaginario, e non è sempre possibile mostrare ‘il perché e il percome’ di cose che un uomo sperimenta nella sua mente.

Non penso di avere ricevuto sei rose bianche, ma la ringrazio lo stesso. Spero di non averla definitivamente confusa. Mi scusi, ad ogni modo.

Truman Capote

  L'articolo “Lei non ha capito niente: c’è sempre una quota di malvagità nell’uomo”. Una lettera inedita di Truman Capote. A 20 anni ‘spazzola’ un lettore disattento proviene da Pangea.

from pangea.news https://ift.tt/2INailn

[skooterblogbr]

O ano era 1987, eu tinha sete anos. Era um final de semana ou talvez um feriado, não lembro exatamente. Morava em uma cidade pequena do interior e estava à caminho da casa do meu avô, na cidade vizinha de médio porte. No carro estavam meu pai, meu tio, e seus respectivos filhos: eu e meu primo, uns três anos mais velho.

Meu avô tinha uma mercearia dessas de bairro, que vendiam um pouco de tudo. Sempre que eu ia lá ele me dava um Surpresa, o chocolate da Nestlé que era o meu favorito. Puro chocolate ao leite embrulhado em papel alumínio, com uma figura de um animal desenhada em relevo no próprio chocolate. Em papel cartão também vinha uma foto de um animal, com informações sobre ele, seu habitat, etc. na parte traseira. Ambos chocolate no alumínio e a figurinha eram embrulhados em uma embalagem papel. Essas figurinhas podiam ser coladas em um álbum, que a Nestlé enviava gratuitamente para quem enviasse quatro embalagens do chocolate para eles pelo correio. Foram vários álbuns ao longo dos anos, com diversos temas. Com o tempo trocaram a embalagem de papel e papel alumínio por uma embalagem única de plástico e as figurinhas vinham engorduradas pelo contato direto com o chocolate. E por fim o Surpresa foi infelizmente descontinuado.

Naquele dia, ao chegarmos lá meu avô informou que meu outro tio, mais novo, solteiro e que morava com ele, estava jogando videogame. Entramos na casa que era anexa à mercearia e ali encontramos meu tio jogando na TV da sala. Era a primeira vez que eu via um videogame, e era um Atari 2600.

Ele nos mostrou vários jogos, e nos deixou jogar também. Não me recordo exatamente de todos, mas um deles era o Enduro. Meu tio inclusive deu uma dica errada sobre o jogo: o botão é o acelerador, não solte ele de jeito nenhum. Durante muito tempo eu joguei assim, mesmo quando já tinha o meu console. Até chegava lá pelo quinto dia, mas acabava perdendo por correr demais e acabar batendo. Quando me atentei para as dicas do projetista Larry Miller, que vinham no manual, passei a ir mais longe, chegando no sétimo dia. Recentemente eu cheguei no 15º dia, um dos poucos casos em que meu eu adulto superou meu eu criança em um jogo da época.

Dos outros jogos daquele dia tenho uma memória um pouco vaga, mas tenho quase certeza que estavam presentes o River Raid, o Frostbite, e o Jungle Hunt. Enquanto jogávamos meu tio estava o tempo todo com um walkman usando os fones de ouvido. Em certo momento ele disse: essa música combina com esse jogo, e cantarolou um pedaço: era Homem Primata do Titãs, lançada no mesmo ano. Agora não recordo se o jogo em questão era o Jungle Hunt ou o Frostbite.

Tanto eu quanto meu primo ficamos impressionados com o console. Não lembro se ele já tinha visto um videogame, mas para mim era a primeira vez. Antes disso era algo do qual eu só ouvira falar. A única coisa certa é que queríamos um videogame também.

No caminho de volta, meu tio, pai do meu primo, jogou um balde de água fria nos nossos sonhos. Disse que o videogame tinha antena e que os jogos do videogame vinham de uma torre de transmissão (como se fossem canais de TV) e que na nossa cidade não tinha essa torre. Até apontou uma torre no caminho de volta dizendo que era aquela antena lá que transmitia os jogos.

Mas eu fiquei com uma pulga atrás da orelha. Tinha apenas sete anos, mas aquela história não fazia sentido para mim porque eu vi os cartuchos. Eu vi meu outro tio trocar os cartuchos para mudar os jogos. Mas, inocente que era, não imaginei que meu tio pudesse estar mentindo apenas para desistirmos da ideia de querer um videogame.

Nos próximos dias fiquei fazendo altas conjecturas de que o cartucho poderia servir apenas para dizer ao videogame que temos tal jogo, e aí ele viria da antena. Sem querer eu estava fazendo uma previsão do futuro: hoje eu coloco o disco no Playstation 4 só para ele saber que eu tenho o jogo, pois o conteúdo já está no HD e foi em sua maior parte baixado pela Internet, pois a versão do disco já costuma estar desatualizada logo no lançamento.

Os dias foram passando e meus pais, sabendo que o presente que eu mais queria era um videogame, decidiram me dar um no Natal. Lembro que um dia eu estava com meu pai e estávamos voltando de algum lugar que não me recordo mais. Passamos então na Loja Cem da cidade vizinha para comprar o videogame. Eu vi a caixa e vi a moça fazer o embrulho do presente que eu só ganharia no Natal. Faltavam alguns dias, algumas semanas, a memória me falha, mas aguardei ansiosamente.

Eis que chegou o Natal, que caiu em uma sexta-feira. Acordei e corri para abrir o meu presente. Ali estava o Atari 2600 da Polyvox, em sua caixa cinza com a foto do console e com fotos de vários jogos na parte da frente e na parte de trás. Ele foi vendido alguns anos mais tarde, mas era igual a esse que comprei novamente há alguns anos:

Atari 2600 em funcionamento, com o jogo Enduro da Activision

Era o modelo com fonte embutida, mas com os joysticks ainda destacáveis. Junto com ele veio o Enduro, grande jogo.

Eu havia acabado de completar a primeira série, então já conseguia ler o manual. Meu pai foi instala-lo, conectando a caixinha comutadora de antena na entrada de antena de VHF da TV. Na minha cidade por alguma razão todos os canais de TV eram em UHF, então ninguém nem tinha antena de VHF e essa entrada estava livre. A TV era uma Sharp como essa da foto abaixo e era a única da casa:

TV Sharp anos 70/80

Aqueles botõezinhos na frente selecionavam entre 8 canais pré-sintonizados. Eram teclas sensíveis ao toque, algo que nunca mais vi. Ao lado de cada tecla uma luzinha acendia quando o canal estava selecionado. Abrindo uma portinha haviam botões giratórios para cada tecla, onde o canal era sintonizado manualmente. Não tinha nada de sintonia automática. Os 8 botões eram triplos, com a parte mais externa vermelha servindo para selecionar entre VHF-A, VHF-B, e UHF, e as outras duas para fazer ajuste normal e ajuste fino da sintonia. Só 8 canais parece pouco hoje em dia, mas na época só havia uns 6 ou 7 canais na cidade.

Como o manual dizia para usar os canais 2 ou 3, meu pai usou a sintonia dos botões 2 e 3, que na verdade não tem relação com o canal VHF, mas até aí tudo bem. Por algum motivo ele não estava conseguindo achar a sintonia correta, talvez estivesse procurando na faixa de VHF mais alta, onde ficam os canais de 8 a 13. Tudo que víamos era a imagem e som de estática, inconfundíveis para qualquer pessoa que tenha jogado videogame naquela época, pois ela era vista e ouvida sempre que o console era desligado para trocar o jogo.

Meus pais resolveram então pedir ajuda para dois vizinhos, que são irmãos, um tanto mais velhos, e que tinham videogame. Eles se recusaram a ajudar. Tudo bem que era Natal, estavam reunidos com a família. Mas custava sair por 5 ou 10 minutos para instalar um videogame e deixar uma criança feliz com seu brinquedo novo?

Ironicamente, esses rapazes cresceram, se casaram, tiveram filhos, compraram videogames para eles e… não souberam instalar. Adivinhe quem foi chamado para instalar esses consoles? Pois é, eu mesmo! Um Playstation One e um Nintendo 64. Eu poderia ter me vingado, mas isso não aconteceu. Na verdade eu já nem lembrava mais do episódio que acontecera há mais de 10 anos. Foi melhor assim. Pois, como dizia o Senhor Madruga: “La venganza nunca es buena, mata el alma y la envenena” 🙂

Mas naquele dia de Natal meu pai continuou tentando sintonizar e logo a imagem do Enduro apareceu na tela com todos os seus belos pixels. Primeiro em preto-e-branco, mas com o ajuste fino logo as cores surgiram. E aí foi só diversão, joguei o dia inteiro, até enjoar. Uma partida atrás da outra, as vezes cansava de jogar sério e brincava de emparelhar o carro com algum outro e apenas segui-lo até o fim do dia.

No dia de Natal normalmente nossa família ia na casa de uma de minhas avós, onde alguns outros tios também iam com suas famílias. Mas nesse ano foi a minha avó que veio para o almoço em nossa casa, então eu acabei podendo ficar no videogame quase o dia todo.

No dia seguinte, que era um sábado, meu pai saiu e voltou com dois cartuchos emprestados: River Raid e Decathlon. Lembro que de início não conseguimos jogar o Decathlon, demorou um pouco para eu perceber que precisava mexer o controle para os dois lados repetidamente. Lembro que primos e vizinhos vieram para jogar e chegamos a fazer competições no River Raid, jogando com dois jogadores e quem fazia menos pontos saia e dava lugar para o próximo.

Algum tempo mais tarde meus pais compraram uma TV preto-e-branco antiga para colocar no meu quarto e tirar eu e a molecada da sala, onde ocupávamos muito a TV. Alguns anos depois eles construíram uma edícula no fundo do terreno e TV e videogame foram para lá. Nos meus últimos tempos de Atari 2600 ela ainda foi trocada por uma outra TV Sharp, igual a da sala, mas um tanto mais surrada, e voltei a jogar Atari em cores!

Foram quase quatro anos em que o Atari 2600 foi meu único videogame. Naquela época jogos não eram tão caros, pois no Brasil eram quase todos não licenciados, então eventualmente meus pais me compravam algum cartucho. E eles eram encontrados em vários lugares: lojas de departamento, lojas de discos e fitas, lojas de fotografia e ótica, lojas de eletrônicos, etc. Ainda guardo aqui uma listinha de todos os cartuchos que tive, que fiz na época:

Minha antiga lista de jogos de Atari 2600

Meu primeiro cartucho além do Enduro foi um de dois jogos com River Raid e Fantastic Voyage da Genus. Em certo momento tive um cartucho com Ms. Pac-Man e Tapper, da J.F. Mas esse teve um fim triste quando emprestei para um vizinho, deu um temporal e uma descarga elétrica dizimou o console dele e o meu cartucho. O console foi consertado, o cartucho ficou com a mãe dele que disse que compraria outro igual para mim, mas isso nunca aconteceu.

Senti muita falta desses dois jogos. De Pac-Man só restou aquela primeira versão ruim que a Atari fez, que eu tinha em outro cartucho. Só fui ter e jogar o Ms. Pac-Man novamente uns 3 anos depois, e o Tapper infelizmente nunca mais tive. Só fui jogar de novo com os emuladores uns 10 anos depois, e agora com o Harmony Cartridge, que permite por os jogos em um cartão SD e jogar no console original.

Depois vieram cartuchos de 4 jogos da Dactar e AppleVision. Cartuchos de dois jogos da J.F. e Digivision. Também tive alguns cartuchos de apenas um jogo da CCE, que tinham aquelas capas com desenhos super bacanas que atiçavam a imaginação, e frustravam quando descobríamos que os gráficos do console estavam longe daquilo que o desenho mostrava.

Cartucho Mr. Postman do Atari 2600 – CCE

Locadoras de jogos não existiam na minha cidade, mas era comum emprestar jogos dos colegas. Meu primo frequentemente emprestava algum cartucho no final de semana e trazia em casa para jogarmos. Na época ele tinha um Dactar, um dos clones nacionais do Atari 2600.

Meu Atari 2600 foi muito utilizado, tanto que passou por algumas manutenções: o console foi duas vezes para a autorizada para troca do compartimento de cartuchos. Com o tempo o compartimento começava a falhar e ao ligar o console só apareciam padrões estranhos e barulhos irritantes. Acho que as soldas do slot não aguentavam.

Os controles perdi a conta de quantas vezes quebravam a torre, como chamavam por aqui na época, ou alma, como vejo chamarem hoje. Curiosamente nunca quebraram na minha mão, era sempre algum colega mais ogro que estava jogando comigo que ficava com a torre do joystick numa mão e a base na outra, separados. Certa vez o técnico que consertava sugeriu uma torre de nylon, mais cara, na cor preta, e supostamente mais resistente. Aquela realmente não quebrou, mas ficou ruim com o tempo, falhando bastante em uma certa direção.

Por fim, até a caixinha comutadora de antena, aquela com as posições COMPUTER e TV acabou danificada, pois na TV preto e branco eu precisava ficar mexendo nela para alternar entre o videogame e o conversor de UHF (se você não sabe o que é, pergunte a seus pais), pois nativamente ela só tinha VHF. No lugar da caixinha comutadora quebrada meu pai comprou uma que dizia MASTER SYSTEM e TV, mas funcionava da mesma forma. Era um presságio de qual seria meu próximo console de videogame.

Chave Comutadora de Antena do Master System

Meu último cartucho do Atari 2600 foi um de 16 jogos, com uma seleção muito boa: só jogão! Deu uma sobrevida para o meu Atari 2600, pois quando enjoava de um partia para o próximo.

Foi só lá em 1991 que o Atari 2600 foi deixado de lado, em favor de um Master System II da Tec Toy. Mas vou deixar essa história para outra ocasião. O Atari 2600 foi vendido alguns anos depois. Alguns cartuchos eu também vendi ou troquei por cartuchos de Master System e Mega Drive. Mas alguns estão comigo até hoje. Eis alguns dos sobreviventes:

Cartucho Mr. Postman do Atari 2600

Cartucho Bobby is Going Home do Atari 2600

Cartucho Duck Fighting de Atari 2600

Cartucho de 4 Jogos Dactar com Condor Attack, Damas, Star Master, e Frogger; e Caixa de Cartucho de 4 Jogos Apple Vision com Ursinho Esperto, Tron, Pinball, e Volley

Hoje muita gente desdenha o Atari 2600. Até mesmo alguns retrogamers olham torto para ele. Dizem que não envelheceu bem, que eram jogos muito simples, etc. Eu discordo! É claro que o sistema teve muito jogo ruim, mas os bons continuam desafiadores e divertidos. Posso ir da segunda à oitava geração de consoles em minutos, Playstation 4 num dia, Atari 2600 no dia seguinte e vice-versa, e me divirto com todas elas.

É claro que a nostalgia também tem seu papel nessa preferência, pois quando jogo Atari 2600 também lembro daqueles tempos, onde tudo era mais simples, as únicas responsabilidades eram ir pra escola, estudar e tirar boas notas. O sonho de muita criança na época era ter todos esses jogos para poder jogar na hora que quisesse, sem precisar devolver o cartucho. Hoje temos vários meios de jogar todos esses jogos, como quem acompanha o Skooter Blog sabe, mas o que falta é o tempo para jogar, com todas as responsabilidades da vida que agora tem prioridade. 🙂

E você? Tem alguma história memorável de seu primeiro videogame? Conte aí nos comentários.

Nota sobre o texto:

A ideia de contar essas histórias aqui no blog surgiu após eu ler o livro Muito Além dos Videogames: Memórias de um jogador, de Luiz Miguel de Souza Gianeli. Em dezembro o Luiz Miguel entrou em contato e perguntou se eu gostaria de escrever uma crônica para seu novo livro, que deve ser lançado em breve. Na época eu fiquei de tentar lembrar de alguma história que valesse a pena contar, e algum tempo depois me veio a ideia desse texto que você acabou de ler. Mas não consegui conta-la dentro do prazo, pois estava com alguns prazos inadiáveis no meu trabalho que estavam tomando também o meu tempo livre e até minhas férias.

Recentemente terminei de ler o segundo livro de videogames do Luiz Miguel, o Muito Além dos Videogames: Crônicas dos Meus Amigos. Inspirado pelas histórias que li, resolvi finalmente escrever esse texto para vocês aqui no blog e, quem sabe, ele não entre no quarto livro do Luiz Miguel. Eu sei que ele quer fechar a trilogia com o terceiro livro, mas no final do segundo ele também disse que aquele seria o último livro dele de videogames. Então talvez ele mude de ideia novamente e os livros virem uma série. 🙂

Acho muito bacana o trabalho dele com evangelização e videogames. Fiquei um tanto chateado certa vez que minha igreja fez um “acampadentro” com os jovens e adolescentes e programou um campeonato de culinária e outro de videogames. Eu não participei, pois já não sou jovem e muito menos adolescente, mas fiquei sabendo depois que cancelaram o campeonato de videogames e fizeram só o de culinária. Veio alguma ordem dos líderes para cortar os videogames. Achei bem lamentável.

É importante que pastores tenham a visão de que videogames não são “do mal”, são apenas ferramentas que podem ser usadas das mais diversas formas, edificantes ou não, assim como música, como filmes, como qualquer outra arte. Um campeonato pode causar rivalidade? Algumas pessoas podem se exceder? Isso também acontece nos jogos de futebol de casados versus solteiros dos acampamentos. Certa vez vi um belo sermão de um pastor de fora em um acampamento, que usou como exemplo o comportamento de alguns durante o jogo de futebol do dia anterior, se esquecendo de que eram cristãos e amigos fora do campo. Foi uma lição para todo mundo.

Quando eu era criança meus pais sempre me levavam aos cultos. Nem sempre eu ia contente, as vezes eu ia meio contrariado, as vezes ia porque eles passavam na locadora de jogos da cidade vizinha no caminho (já na época do Master System). Pegava dois jogos na sexta a noite, antes do culto, e devolvia só na segunda. Aí eu passava o culto ansioso para chegar em casa e poder jogar os cartuchos que eu tinha escolhido. Quando dava sorte deles ainda terem os manuais, eu aproveitava para lê-los durante o culto.

Mas no final todas essas coisas cooperaram para o bem. Mesmo que desatento eu estava ouvindo a palavra. De certa forma os videogames me ajudaram a seguir no caminho certo. Como disse Salomão: “Ensina a criança no caminho em que deve andar, e, ainda quando for velho, não se desviará dele.” (Provérbios 22:6). Dessa forma admiro bastante o trabalho do Luiz Miguel, que com sabedoria se utiliza também dos videogames como ferramenta para ensinar o caminho em que as crianças e adolescentes devem andar, e ainda nos traz aquelas ótimas histórias com as quais nos identificamos e nos trazem tantas boas recordações.

Atari 2600: de Primeiro Contato à Primeiro Console O ano era 1987, eu tinha sete anos. Era um final de semana ou talvez um feriado, não lembro exatamente.

[lovelymaximumface]

Đơn vị phát triển The River Thu Thiem là City Garden

Đơn vị phát triển The River Thu Thiem là City Garden

Những ai hiểu biết bất động sản Sài Gòn, đều biết câu chuyện “lọ lem hoá mỹ nhân” đằng sau khu căn hộ sang trọng City Garden. Trước khi hình thành City Garden, khu vực này là một lò gạch cũ kĩ bụi bặm, bị đánh giá rất thấp về tiềm năng tăng trưởng bất động sản. Nhưng cũng từ mảnh đất bụi bặm thấp kém này, chủ đầu tư Refico và nhà phát triển City Gardenđã đặt từng viên gạch đầu tiên phát triển…

[savvykenya]

Vi in Japan: Kimono and Night Views of Tokyo Skyline

Vi in Japan: Trying on Kimono and Enjoying Night Views of Tokyo Skyline

This is the 5th post in my 21-blogs-before-2019-ends-challenge!

As previously mentioned in this post, my best friend Vi visited me in Japan this past November. I, of course, took some time off to show her around. I prepared an itinerary that took us from the rooftops of Japan’s skyscrapers in Tokyo and Osaka, to the quiet villages of Hakone and Kawaguchiko at the foot of Mount Fuji. We had a…

[viajandingporelmundo]

Después de unas semanas en Buenos Aires, mi cuerpo dijo ¡basta! por lo que empecé a buscar lugares hacia donde escapar aunque sea un fin de semana.

Aprovechando una promoción con millas de Aerolíneas Argentinas me decidí por Jujuy, provincia que estaba bien arriba en mi lista de pendientes nacionales. Así que el canje que hice me resultaba prometedor no sólo porque implicaba salir un poco de la ciudad sino porque finalmente iría hacia noroeste argentino.

El sábado a la madrugada, entonces, volé hacia San Salvador de Jujuy. La visita fue corta – volví el domingo a la noche – pero aproveché muchísimo el silencio, los paisajes increíbles, las largas caminatas.

Jujuy me en-can-tó. Tanto, que regresé pensando en que tengo que volver pronto.

Esta entrada, por lo tanto, está pensada para quienes, como yo, sólo pueden planificar un viaje jujeño relámpago. Hay muchísimos lugares para descubrir en la provincia, pero bueno, comparto mi experiencia con la esperanza de que motive a alguien ir al norte, bien norte, de Argentina.

Día 1: Purmamarca y Tilcara

Mi vuelo llegó cuando terminaba de amanecer en Jujuy, a eso de las 7.30 de la mañana. Basándome en mi investigación previa al viaje, apenas en el aeropuerto – que está en Perico – ubiqué el stand de las combis que van desde allí hasta la Nueva Terminal de Omnibus. La empresa se llama M.A.R. tours y tienen coordinados los traslados con los vuelos que llegan. El pasaje sale 350 pesos y los traslados son a la Nueva Terminal y a la plaza central de San Salvador de Jujuy.

Una vez en la Nueva Terminal, busqué cuál era la próxima empresa que viajaba hacia Purmamarca. Un dato importante: son varias las empresas que viajan hacia Humahuaca, via Purmamarca y Tilcara, pero no todas ingresan a Purmamarca pueblo, sino que paran en la ruta, en el acceso, a unos 3 kilómetros de distancia. Viajé, entonces, con Jama Bus, que por $155 pesos me dejó en el pueblo.

  La vista desde el micro

  Purmamarca es una postal. Hermosa, hermosa, hermosa.

Paseé un poco por el pueblo, que son unas pocas manzanas, husmeé los puestos de la feria artesanal de la plaza, compré algunas cosas para desayunar y enfilé hacia el Paseo  de los Colorados.  Yo hice el recorrido de este a oeste, pero se puede hacer a la inversa también. Ingresando por calle Florida, se puede ir al mirador del Cerro El Porito, que tiene una muy linda vista del pueblo y cuya entrada cuesta 10 pesos. Si no, se puede ir directo hacia el Paseo.

La vista desde el Porito

Una de las callecitas de Purmamarca con el cerro de fondo

Una de las prmeras calles que vi del pueblo

No sé si yo tuve suerte o siempre es así, pero la mayor parte del trayecto tuve el paisaje para mí sola.

El camino es bastante llano así que, salvo que la altura los afecte, no tendrían que tener mayores dificultades para hacer la caminata de 3 kilómetros. El paseo también se puede ser un auto pero, como caminante tengo que decir, los vehículos molestan con su ruido y entorpecen el paisaje.

  Paseo de los Colorados

Paseo de los Colorados

Paseo de los Colorados

Paseo de los Colorados

De regreso en el pueblo, di otra vuelta por la feria. Especulé con que en Tilcara quizás habría más cosas y a mejor precios y erré, compré un camino para la mesa pero me quedé con ganas de unas bufandas preciosas. En Purmamarca había cosas hermosas que no ví más tarde. Habrá que volver, nomás.

Vi varias opciones gastronómicas, pero yo no estaba con mucho hambre, así que compré una empanada al paso (que estaba riquísima, debo decir) y me fui hacia la parada de buses.

Si bien Purmamarca es el punto de partida ideal para ir a Salinas Grandes, como ya para el mediodía quería sacarme la mochila y parar un rato, decidí tomar el bus a Tilcara.

Tilcara es bastante más grande que Purmamarca y hay más opciones hoteleras y gastronómicas. Yo opté por Antigua Tilcara Hotel & Hostel y no puedo estar más contenta mi elección. El lugar es hermoso, la habitación dormi de seis camas muy cómoda, el desayuno muy bueno y el staff muy amoroso. Como mi visita fue el último día de agosto pude presenciar y participar de distintas ofrendas a la Pachamama que fueron muy interesantes y con motivo de ellas en el hostel hubo también guiso para todes con música incluida. La mejor experiencia.

Pero me estoy adelantando.

Una vez en Tilcara decidí almorzar, así que probé La Cheba, un lugar chiquito y acogedor con opciones para todos los gustos. Allí pedí una ensalada andina de quinoa, habas, papines y queso de cabra que estaba exquisita. Me trajé la receta para hacerla en Buenos Aires.

Ya con renovadas energías decidí que podía caminar un poco más aún así que fui hacia el Pucará de Tilcara, un yacimiento arqueológico prehispánico situado a menos de dos kilómetros del centro. Fui hacia allá cruzando por el lecho del Río Grande (seco en esta época del año) y regresé cruzando por el puente. La entrada cuesta 150 pesos para argentinos ($300 la entrada general, los lunes es gratis) e incluye la visita al Jardin Botánico de Altura y al Museo Arqueológico Casanova – que me quedó pendiente.

  El paisaje aquí también es increíble y la caminata, que me llevó unas dos horas, valió muchísimo la pena. Mi recomendación es que, una vez que lleguen al mirador del Pucará, no regresen por el mismo camino sino que busquen por detrás del monumento el sendero que también los llevará a la entrada, pero pasando por el cementerio. La caminata será más larga, pero las vistas lo valen.

De nuevo en el pueblo, se pueden agasajar en Pueblo Nube un pequeño y afable café sobre calle Belgrano, donde el café es riquísimo, las galletitas de jengibre deliciosas y el ambiente relajado.

Después de pasear un poco más por las callecitas apacibles de Tilcara y comprar un vino para el evento de la noche, ya me fui al hostel, donde me esperaba una noche larga de ofrendas colectivas, pedidos por un buen año para el país, buenas charlas y música.

Día 2: Más Tilcara

Después de un desayuno energizante y nutritivo en el hostel, decidí arrancar la marcha hacia la Garganta del Diablo. Sí, no sólo Misiones tiene una de estas. Algunos recomiendan ir en taxi y volver caminando, ya que la caminata hacia allá es cuesta arriba y, no olvidarse, Tilcara está a más de 2400 metros sobre el nivel del mar.

Decidí hacer patria e ir a pie, a pesar de no sentirme super bien. Las vistas espectaculares del camino valieron la pena. Cada parada para sacar fotos me permitía recobrar mi aliento (o fue quizás al revés? 😉 ) y esas montañas que contrastaban con el cielo azul del día hermoso compitieron con la falta de oxígeno para sacarme el aliento.

En el camino me encontré con una chica y un chico que se hospedaban también en el hostel por lo que la charla durante el trayecto fue animada y nos alentamos entre nosotros en los momentos más demandantes de la subida.

Cuando llegamos a lo que estaba marcado en el mapa como la entrada al complejo, me di cuenta de que ir hasta la cascada iba a llevar una media hora más (más otra media hora de vuelta) en una bajada importante (con la consecuente subida del regreso). Mi cerebro me dijo “ya fue suficiente por este fin de semana, tenemos que llegar a la terminal de buses en menos de tres horas, basta de correr”. Le hice caso, así que me despedí de los chicos que siguieron camino y emprendí el regreso hacia Tilcara. En el camino, terminé coincidiendo en la ruta con otra chica que también caminaba sola. Así que nos hicimos compañía y nos sacamos algunas fotos, ya que una se cansa a veces de la selfie cuando viaja sola.

Al llegar al pueblo, nos separamos. Ella se fue hacia el Pucará y yo a buscar un almuerzo rápido – en el Molle, donde aproveché para comprar algunas cosas en la tienda adjunta, incluido un alfajor de quinoa que estaba super – antes de ir a buscar mis cosas al hostel para tomar el bus hacia S.S. de Jujuy.

    El viaje de regreso fue con unas horas de espera en San Salvador, donde aproveché para caminar por los alrededores de la plaza Belgrano, ya que la mayoría de los bares cercanos estaban llenos debido al partido Boca – River.

A las 19:30 ya estaba en la oficina de Aerolíneas Argentinas, desde donde sale la minivan que va al aeropuerto, y a las 22 despegaba el avión dando fin a mi breve visita jujeña, que me dio todo lo que necesitaba: amabilidad, paisajes increíbles, comida rica y silencio, mucho silencio.

Breve éxodo unipersonal a Jujuy Después de unas semanas en Buenos Aires, mi cuerpo dijo ¡basta! por lo que empecé a buscar lugares hacia donde escapar aunque sea un fin de semana.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Alberto Reche Ontillera

PUBLISHED August 20, 2019

It must have been a shock for the poor Roman fisherman who, according to legend, pulled up the body of a dead pope from the Tiber River.

Few people would ever have expected to dredge up the remains of a pontiff who, nine months after his death, was at the center of on of the most bizarre episodes in the history of the papacy: a posthumous trial of a corpse. The story of Pope Formosus and the indignities suffered by his mortal remains embodied the tangled politics of late ninth-century Europe.

A quick glance at the list of popes in that era shows that Christian concord was notably absent from Rome and the Vatican: Instead, there was chaos.

Between 872 and 965, no fewer than 24 popes were coronated in Rome (between 896 and 904, there was roughly one pope appointed per year!) Occupational hazards of the papacy included being deposed, thrown in prison, or murdered. The high rate of papal turnover could be attributed to both political intrigue and government instability.

Dukes and kings

In the late ninth century, the papacy played a central role in violent power struggles across the Italian peninsula. Openly intervening in the family feuds of Rome’s rulers, the pontiffs also played a central role in the regional struggle for supremacy.

This conflict was fought, on the one hand, by the Carolingian emperors who, throughout the ninth century, emerged as protectors of the Catholic Church and lords of Italy. Their supremacy was increasingly challenged by burgeoning local dynasties such as the Dukes of Spoleto.

From early in his career, Formosus found himself tangled up in these complex conflicts. From his consecration as bishop of Porto—a diocese located at the mouth of the Tiber, slightly north of Ostia—he carried out numerous diplomatic missions in the name of the papacy, which took him to Bulgaria, Constantinople, and the Carolingian court. Formosus showed favor to Arnulf of Carinthia, a Frankish king of the Carolingian imperial dynasty, who aspired to take the throne as King of Italy. 

Formosus’s diplomacy went over badly with his superiors. Pope John VIII feared that if a king from such a powerful imperial dynasty became King of Italy, Rome would lose its independence. Pope John had Formosus excommunicated in 876 and expelled from his diocese. He and his followers were forced to flee Rome under threat of a trial for corruption and immorality. They found refuge in the court of Guy III of Spoleto.

Lying low for several years in northern Lombardy, Formosus waited for the situation in Rome to improve. In 883, under the new, brief papacy of Marinus I, Formosus’s excommunication was lifted, and he was reinstated as the head of his former diocese in Porto. After the death of Pope Stephen V in 891, Formosus became pope.

Ally of the emperor

The new pope had to confront a dangerous political situation. Shortly before Formosus was appointed, Guy III of Spoleto—his former protector—had been crowned King of Italy in Pavia. He had then headed to Rome to force Pope Stephen V to crown him Holy Roman Emperor.

After Stephen V’s death, Formosus had to confirm Guy’s coronation and recognize his son Lambert as successor to the empire. Formosus, however, distrusting the new emperor and King of Italy, began to resume diplomatic ties with Arnulf of Carinthia, inviting him to confront Guy in Italy.

To seize what he thought was his by right, Arnulf made a first incursion into Milan and Pavia in 893. Three years later, Guy had died, and his son Lambert had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. In response, Arnulf laid siege to the Eternal City.

Inside Rome, the Spoleto faction loyal to Lambert rebelled and imprisoned Pope Formosus in the Castel Sant’Angelo. But they were unable to stave off the invaders. Formosus was freed and a few days later, he crowned Arnulf emperor in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Some months later, Pope Formosus died, whether of poison or old age (he was 80) was uncertain. Some praised him as a just and pious pope; others were unable to forgive him for favoring the German Arnulf over the Italian Spoleto clan.

Lambert’s revenge

The story, however, did not end there. Not even death, it turned out, would exempt Formosus from the seemingly eternal cycle of intrigue and infighting. Formosus was succeeded by Boniface VI, who only lived 15 days into his term, and Boniface was succeeded by Stephen VI, a former follower of Formosus who also initially recognized Emperor Arnulf.

No sooner had Arnulf left Italy, however, then Stephen VI aligned himself with the local Spoleto family. Lambert went to Rome, which had already been taken over by his supporters, to convince the new pope to condemn Formosus’s actions and tarnish his reputation, despite the fact that the man was dead and buried.

This condemnation, insisted Lambert, had to be in public to shame Formosus’s followers. It would be conducted under the solemnity of canon law and held before the papal curia and Roman nobility. Most bizarrely of all, it was decided that Formosus himself would attend his own posthumous trial.

Dead man talking?

The event was carefully prepared down to the last detail. In early 897, Pope Stephen VI and Lambert ordered that Formosus’s corpse be disinterred and brought to San Giovanni in Laterano for the proceedings. The trial was convened as a synod with all the cardinals, bishops, and other ecclesiastical dignitaries in full attendance.

Dressed in his official papal vestments, the dead pope sat propped up in a chair. The accused cadaver was assigned a defense lawyer, and the charges were read to him.

His nomination as pope was illegal, one of the charges ran, because he had been Bishop of Porto at the time. This flouted canon law, the accused was told.

Addressing the corpse directly, Pope Stephen’s counsel asked it: “Being Bishop of Porto, why did you, with great ambition, usurp this See of the Apostle?” A deacon was appointed to speak for the deceased. Sources say he mostly read from prepared statements.

It is unknown if the dead pope’s counsel dared to mount much else in the way of a defense. In any case, the sentence was not open to appeal. The synod signed the order to depose Formosus, and then condemned him and revoked all his appointments, so that all clerics ordained by him were forced to repeat the appointment process all over again.

Formosus’s corpse was then stripped of his papal vestments. The three fingers he had used in consecrations and blessings were chopped off. The body was then dressed in common clothes and buried in a pauper’s grave. Not content with that outcome, Stephen VI had the body dug up again and thrown into the Tiber.

Even for the Romans of the time, who were accustomed to interminable political upheaval, this episode marked an unacceptable low. Stephen VI was imprisoned and strangled to death in jail a few months after the Cadaver Synod.

Two years later, Pope John IX reinstated Pope Formosus and banned further trials for dead popes.

Formosus’s trial remains one of the strangest chapters in the long history of the Catholic Church. The story about the humble fisherman pulling Pope Formosus’s remains from the Tiber may well be a myth, but we do know that the story of Formosus’s dishonored body has an ending: in 897, it was reburied with full Christian honors.

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[rocktails]

Pipi Piazzolla: “La nominación al Gardel, con música propia, me llena de orgullo”

“¿Quieren café?” – nos ofrece Pipi Piazzolla en el living de su casa. Vuelve de la cocina con las infusiones y celebra que ninguno de sus visitantes los condimenta con azúcar. “Ustedes son de los míos” – nos confiesa y nos recibe amablemente como un buen anfitrión. Son las 4 de la tarde y Pipi acaba de despedir a uno de sus tantos alumnos que cada semana pasan por el barrio de Villa Urquiza para irse con un conocimiento que apenas cabe en sus cuadernos. Se sabe que Pipi maneja buena data. Cualquiera que lo siga en su carrera con Escalandrum y proyectos paralelos, o también en sus redes, está al tanto de ello. Pipi disfruta la docencia y se le nota. Pero también disfruta su instrumento y está más vigente que nunca. El jueves 9 de mayo festeja sus primeros 20 años con Escalandrum; el 10 sale el primer adelanto del tercer disco de su trío; el fin de semana estará en Bariloche tocando junto a la sinfónica de la ciudad y en medio de un tour agitada, volverá a pasar por Buenos Aires para presentar oficialmente Rata en Thelonious (el 21 de junio). Sin embargo, sus aventuras no terminan ahí. Acaba de estrenarse Re, un programa de televisión conducido por Bobby Flores, de lunes a viernes a las 23:30 hs. en la TV Pública, que lo tiene como flamante columnista de jazz. El otro costado de Pipi, que viene ejercitando también en radio, el de divulgador musical.

Me imaginaba laburando en TV como lo que me toca hacer en Re. Hablando de lo que me gusta, 3 o 4 minutos y listo. No me imagino siendo el conductor. En esta situación estoy realmente cómodo. En algún momento me imaginaba haciendo esto. Es raro que te llamen para hacer una columnita de jazz en tele, pero justo me llamaron para lo único que hubiese dicho que sí. Yo con el tema pantallas hice una master class, que son 90 minutos de data, para Youtube, con subtitulo para quién lo quiera ver de afuera. Yo siempre había tenido ganas de hacerlo porque me gusta mucho enseñar. Pero lo de la tele fue una iniciativa de Bobby Flores que confía mucho en mí y le dije que sí porque el me dijo como era la onda y me gustó el proyecto.

Pipi Piazzolla – FOTO: Martín G.

A la radio al principio le habías dicho que no… Ya hacer un programa de 2 horas sin conocer los códigos, me costó un montón. Pero gracias a un alumno que me dijo que en la radio siempre hay buen clima, dije que sí. Pero estuve a punto de bajarme.

Ahora además de las clases particulares retomaste las Master Class ¿Cómo es el mecanismo de este taller y en qué se diferencia de las otras clases que das?

Cobro la master class de 3 horas lo mismo que cobro una clase mía de una. Por lo general, la doy los sábados para que pueda venir la gente que labura en la semana. Lo que tiene de distinto es que es grupal, yo entrego material escrito, te llevas el libro mío (incluido en el precio) y hablo de un tema específico cada clase. Un día de desplazamientos, poliritmias y métricas irregulares, otro día sólo de improvisación. Es especifico. Generalmente, doy una cada 3 meses, yo creo que en agosto voy a hacer una. Tengo que ver mucho las fechas de Escalandrum porque viene bastante cargada la agenda.

Hablando de eso, están por encarar una gira extensa por el país y se viene el festejo de los 20 años con Escalandrum…

Si, ya arrancamos. Estuvimos en Santa Fé, Casilda, Rafaela, Usuahia. Este finde vamos a Bariloche, el 18 de mayo en San Pablo, en junio hacemos Banfield, Chaco, Corrientes, Misiones, Necoche, vamos a un festival de música clásica muy importante en Posadas…y así van. Aparece uno cada mes.

¿Cómo va a ser la celebración del jueves 9 en el Teatro Opera?

Vamos a hacer un recorrido de los 11 discos. Vamos a tocar los temas que más nos gustan de nuestra historia. Temas del disco Estados Alterados, Misterioso, Visiones, del último (Estudio 2), Elena Roger va a venir a cantar un par de temas y con Javier Malosetti vamos a hacer algunos de Piazzolla Plays Piazzolla.

Lindos invitados…

Sí, y grandes amigos.

¿Qué significa para vos estar una vez más nominados a disco del año en los Premios Gardel?

A 4 Gardel estamos nominados (en Jazz, Ingeniería de sonido, en grabación del año y disco del año). Eso me llena de orgullo porque lograr eso con música propia es múchísimo. Y más con música instrumental, temas de 7 minutos (se ríe).

¿Cómo fue ir a grabar Estudio 2 a los míticos Abbey Road?

Fui con poco expectativa porque ya de grande te pasa que te dicen que un lugar es magnifico y cuando vas es una porquería. Así que traté de no ir fascinado. Y desde que entré hasta que me fui, era lo mejor que me pasó en la vida. Entrás a la sala donde grabaron los Beatles, El Lado Oscuro de la Luna (de Pink Floyd), donde está la consola y el olor es moderno. El olor es importante. A mí una galletita de salvado me lleva a la casa de nonina en Mar del Plata. Pero cuando abrías la compuerta para bajar por la escalerita famosa era olor a mueblería de San Telmo. Y te juro que cuando me fui, miré la sala por última vez (porque quizás nunca vuelva a estar ahí) y tuve que abrir la puerta y oler una vez más. 

¿Y cómo fue la grabación?

Con Facu Rodriguez, que es nuestro técnico, usamos un montón de micrófonos para tomar los ambientes. De hecho el primer tema del disco, que se llama Estudio 2, es solamente como para que escuches el sonido ambiente del estudio y recién después arranca. Estábamos muy preparados, la grabación duró no muchas horas. Al otro día ya habíamos terminado y quedaron un montón de temas más que no están en el disco y pueden llegar a estar en otro, el día de mañana. Pero fue emocionante. El esfuerzo, pagamos entre todos, dormíamos 4 en una habitación de hotel, comíamos en hamburgueserías, todo bien bajo costo pero felices.

Eran los Beatles pero en Hamburgo…

Claro, ese plan (risas)

Con Elena Roger sé que están por encarar algo nuevo, pero venís gambeteando la pregunta ¿Qué nos podés decir de eso?

Va a ser otro artista revisitado, nada más te puedo decir. Empezamos a ensayar el 21 de mayo y calculo que entraremos a grabar en agosto o septiembre.

Por otra parte con el trío también tenés fecha de presentación de nuevo disco: “Rata” ¿Qué nos podemos adelantar de ese material?

En este disco la mayoría de los discos son míos, cosa que en los otros era más parejo. Me gustó mucho cómo quedó. Me parece que, en cuanto al trío, es el mejor disco que hicimos. También lo grabamos en un día, en ION. El sonido está buenísimo. El 10 de mayo (el día de mi cumpleaños) sale el primer single y me encantó como quedó el disco. Suena bastante original.

¿Hay algún cover?

Sí, tenemos una versión de Coltrane, Naima, que me encanta; una versión de Evidence de Thelonious Monk, en 9/8; y también le dediqué dos temas a River. Uno que se llama River Plate y otro que se llama Estadio Monumental. Lo presentamos el 11 de junio en Thelonious.

Zappa decía que hablar sobre música es como patinar sobre arquitectura ¿Cómo se lleva el fútbol a la música?

Yo vivo el fútbol todo el día. Le hice un tema a mi hijo, a mi hija, a mi mujer, a mi viejo, a Armando Manzanero y también le hago a River. Lo que me da la cancha es que es el único lugar donde no pienso en la música. Me desconecto, es una linda terapia. Y a su vez, cuando empecé a ir a la cancha, cuando tenía 13, estaba prohibida la murga en las plazas. Entonces, yo lo vi por primera vez en la cancha y fue una conexión muy grosa con el ritmo y terminé estudiando la bata.

Hablando de tu niñez, tu abuelo te llevaba a ver conciertos cuando eran un niño ¿Cuál es el más épico al que te llevó?

El más arriba es el concierto del Teatro Colón en el ’83. Que para él era la aceptación de Astor Piazzolla como músico clásico, la primera vez que tocaba con la orquesta del Colón, en su propio país y en una noche que se la daban toda para él. Estuve todo el día con él, corbdatita, bien vestido. Y me firmó un programa de mano que decía: “Danielito, mi querido nietito, no te olvides nunca la noche en que tu abuelo triunfó”. Ese fue el concierto más groso. Sobre todo, me hace pensar ¡Qué loco que el tipo, a la noche más importante de su carrrera, llevó a un nene de 11 años que no sabes si va a querer ir al baño o si se va a aburrir! Para un concierto así tenés que tener una concentración, estar tranquilo, pero él me llevó. Quería que esté ahí.

Tu abuelo le cambió el ritmo al tango, vos le sacaste el bandoneón y el violín a su música. La “Real Academia Argentina del Tango” debe decir ¡Cómo nos hacen renegar estos Piazzolla!

Saqué el bandoneón para que no se enoje (risas). No, yo quería mantener Escalandrum. Es un grupo que se lleva muy bien, que trabajamos a la perfección. Cuando armamos Piazzolla llevábamos 11 años y yo quería hacer algo distinto. Quería mostrar otra manera. Fue arriesgado, porque nuestra sociedad es ideal para pegarle al nieto de Piazzolla y decir que ese disco es una desgracia. Pero fue muy bien aceptado, ganó un Gardel de Oro, a la presentación vinieron los músicos de mi abuelo, me felicitaron, me han convocado a tocar con ellos. No hubo ninguna situación desagradable. Seguramente habrá gente a la que no le gusta para nada, pero son gustos; yo lo respeto. No me voy a poner mal porque a alguien no le guste. Está bien hecho, con amor, no es algo que lo puede hacer cualquiera y creo que se valoró mucho eso.

Sé que estaban craneando una versión medio Frankenstein de Adiós Nonino, de todas meter arreglos de todas las versiones en una sola ¿En qué quedó eso?

Eso ya lo tenemos listo. Ya lo hemos tocado, inclusive. Es una idea que tuve yo, se la di a nuestro arreglados, Nicolás Guerschberg, y él al toqué hizo un arreglo que contienen el ‘Adiós, Nonino sinfónico’, ‘el del noneto’, ‘el tradicional’, ‘el del octeto electrónico’, todos en una sola versión. Ya lo hemos estrenado en Usuahia, en el Lollapalooza, también; este jueves lo vamos a tocar en el Opera, el finde en Bariloche (con la sinfónica) y en San Pablo.

¿Cómo vivieron la experiencia Lollapalooza? Si bien ustedes han participado en festivales a lo largo del mundo, en Argentina no es habitual que los organizadores se den esas licencias.

Nos gustó mucho, porque estábamos festejando 20 años. Estaba bueno el motivo. Nos sentimos muy cómodos tocando en festivales y la gente también lo aceptó. A la prensa le gustó mucho que estemos. Nos parece que está bueno descomprimir. Otro sonido, otra cosa. Poder relajar un poco. No quiero decir que el jazz es relajado pero suena distinto.

    Sigue a Nico Bonzo en Instagram.

Mira el video reacción que hicimos con Pipi Piazzolla en Instagram.

La entrada Pipi Piazzolla: “La nominación al Gardel, con música propia, me llena de orgullo” se publicó primero en Rocktails.

from Pipi Piazzolla: “La nominación al Gardel, con música propia, me llena de orgullo”

[olivierdemangeon]

    Une équipe d’explorateurs de l’espace part à la recherche d’un mystérieux navire extraterrestre dans le but de sauver l’humanité.

  Origine du film : États-Unis Créateur : George R. R. Martin Scénaristes : George R. R. Martin Musique : Will Bates Nombre d’épisodes : 10 Genre : Horreur, Science-fiction Acteurs : Eoin Macken, David Ajala, Jodie Turner-Smith, Angus Sampson, Sam Strike, Maya Eshet, Brían F. O’Byrne, Gretchen Mol Durée : 42 – 44 minutes Sociétés de production : Fevre River Jacket Co., Gaeta/Rosenzweig, Hypnotic, Universal Cable Worldwide Sales and Distribution Distribué par : Syfy / Netflix Notre note :

    “Nightflyers” est une sérié télévisée américaine de science-fiction datant de 2018, créée par George R. R. Martin, connu pour avoir signé des scénarios pour The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, ou plus récemment Game of Thrones. Les acteurs principaux sont Eoin Macken, qu’on a pu voir dans “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” (2016), David Ajala, qu’on a pu voir dans “Jupiter Ascending” (2015), Angus Sampson, qu’on a pu voir dans “Insidious: The Last Key” (2018), Sam Strike, qu’on a pu voir dans “Leatherface” (2017), Maya Eshet, qu’on a pu voir dans “To the Bone” (2017), Brían F. O’Byrne, qu’on a pu voir dans “Brooklyn’s Finest” (2009), et Gretchen Mol, qu’on a pu voir dans “3:10 to Yuma” (2007). La série est basée sur la nouvelle et la série de nouvelles du même nom de George R. R. Martin. Le 19 février 2019, il a été signalé que Syfy avait annulé la série.

L’histoire proposée par cette série télévisée nous emmène en 2093, où une équipe de scientifiques embarque pour un voyage dans l’espace à bord d’un vaisseau spatial appelé Nightflyer. Ce dernier doit établir un premier contact avec des formes de vie extraterrestres. Cependant, lorsque des événements terrifiants, violents et inexpliqués se produisent à bord, l’équipe commence à s’interroger et à se rendre compte qu’il y a une entité à bord du Nightflyer. Les principaux membres de l’équipage vont devoir tout mettre en œuvre pour poursuivre la mission, sauver le navire et préserver leurs vies.

“Nightflyers” est donc une série qui mélange la science-fiction et le cinéma d’horreur basé sur le travail antérieur de George R.R. Martin et on peut le dire, le contrat est bien rempli. En effet, cette série est une véritable immersion dans l’univers traditionnel de la science-fiction avec une bonne dose de scènes d’horreur, d’épouvante et de violence. Supervisée, écrite et parfois dirigée par Jeff Buhler, l’action se déroule sur le Nightflyer, un vaisseau spatial quittant le système solaire dans le but d’établir un premier contact avec des extraterrestres. L’espoir réside dans le fait que ces derniers puissent nous transmettre des connaissances qui sauveront l’espère humaine.

Le premier épisode indique une situation violente à bord du navire de manière à fixer l’attention du téléspectateur, mettant en scène deux des principaux personnages. On remonte ensuite au début du voyage, montrant l’astrophysicien Karl D’Branin (Eion Mackin) laissant sa femme et sa fille sur Terre afin de diriger la mission. Cependant, rapidement, l’équipage n’inspire absolument pas confiance. Roy Eris (David Ajala), capitaine du Nightflyer, reste enfermé dans sa cabine et n’apparaît à l’équipage que sous la forme d’un hologramme. Lommie (Maya Eshet) peut communiquer avec l’ordinateur de bord en connectant son réseau de neurones à un port dans son avant-bras. Melantha Jhirl (Jodie Turner-Smith) a été conçue génétiquement pour les voyages dans l’espace et s’occupe de l’intendance.

Le capitaine Eris a autorisé un télépathe, nommé Thale (Sam Strike), à prendre place à bord pour le voyage. Ce dernier est accompagné de son soignant, le Dr Agatha Matheson (Gretchen Mol), qui fut autrefois l’ex-compagne de Karl. Thale est à bord au cas où l’équipage aurait besoin de communiquer avec les extraterrestres par un moyen autre que la langue parlée. Il fait son entrée dans une unité de stockage en métal rappelant les conteneurs pour les bébêtes de “Jurassic World” (2015), et s’amuse à transmettre des visions bizarres à quiconque s’approche un petit trop près de lui. Pendant ce temps, l’intelligence artificielle du vaisseau débloque de plus en plus, compliquant sérieusement la vie de l’équipage.

Comme toujours avec les projets de cette nature, l’influence de Stanley Kubrick est importante. Mais on ne retrouve pas uniquement une référence à “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), comme pour exemple la séance de jogging sur l’anneau de centre de gravité, les extérieurs du vaisseau, l’ordinateur de bord malveillant représenté par un œil rouge brillant, etc. En effet, on retrouve également des références à “Shining” (1980) avec des personnages tourmentés par des voix désincarnées, des images cauchemardesques et des souvenirs de traumatismes passés. Comme pour beaucoup d’astronautes dans le monde du cinéma, Karl s’est porté volontaire pour la mission afin de faire face à la perte d’un enfant.

Malheureusement, travailler sur la base de nobles références ne suffit pas à transcender le genre. Les personnages sont relativement bien travaillés, mais à l’arrivée, ils sont trop nombreux et trop complexes dans leur développement pour qu’on puisse s’identifier à l’un d’entre eux. Restent les valeurs de productions qui sont vraiment très bonnes. La photographie est très plaisante, avec une multitude de décors différents malgré l’ambiance proche du huis clos. Les costumes sont également bien travaillés avec un bel équilibre entre le modernisme et le futurisme. L’ambiance est également très bien orchestrée de par l’apport d’une très bonne bande originale et d’un astucieux jeu de lumière. Le rythme est un peu poussif par endroits, mais dans l’ensemble, c’est agréable à suivre, et même captivant à bien des égards.

En conclusion, “Nightflyers” est une très bonne série de science-fiction avec une bonne dose d’épouvante et d’horreur. L’histoire apparaît comme familière, l’intrigue est captivante et le développement est très ancré dans la tradition S-F. Le rythme est poussif par endroits, le récit peut s’avérer abscons et la narration fait appel à plusieurs flashbacks. La photographie est superbe, très futuriste, les effets spéciaux sont parfaitement maîtrisés, les décors et les costumes sont originaux tout en s’inspirant de chose déjà vue. La distribution offre de très bonnes prestations, mais les personnages sont trop nombreux et tous trop complexes pour qu’on l’on puisse pleinement s’y attacher. Reste un divertissement captivant que l’on “avale” avec plaisir.

    NIGHTFLYERS -SAISON 1 (2018) Une équipe d’explorateurs de l’espace part à la recherche d’un mystérieux navire extraterrestre dans le but de sauver l'humanité.

[trieuto]

The Art of Logic by Eugenia Cheng review – the need for good arguments

The Art of Logic by Eugenia Cheng review – the need for good arguments

Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast of the Semantics, a large language ocean. A small river named Duden flows by their place and supplies it with the necessary regelialia. It is a paradisematic country, in which roasted parts of sentences.

[aaohnacademy]

Home Health Care Service Holly Hill, Fl

Contents Florida health care plans Florida home health care provider Run rate. tampa Providing innovative technologies Hill lbn florida Florida home health care agencies listed by city. Find home care in FL. <img src='https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FxL_8RX4ML0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEjCPYBEIoBSFryq4qpAxUIARUAAAAAGAElAADIQj0AgKJDeAE=&rs=AOn4CLBcknJCa9CKTbXfobVrbG12B4H5-A' alt='florida health care plans expansion ‘ class=’alignleft’>The City of Holly Hill is situated on the west bank of the Halifax River...

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Cheltenham Festival 2019, Day 4: Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips – Best bets for Friday, March 15

Sportsmail Robin Goodfellow's racing expert's day four of the tips Cheltenham Festival featuring the Gold Cup.

     CHELTENHAM

ROBIN GOODFELLOW

1.30 Sir Erec

2.10 Ch'tibello

2.50 Lisnagar Oscar

3.30 Percy

4.10 Caid Du Berlais (nap)

4.50 Bun Doran

5.30 Early Doors (nb)

GIMCRACK

1.30 Quel Destin (na)

2.10 Western Ryder

2.50 Lisnagar Oscar

3.30 Native River (1945) nap)

4.10 Road To Rome

4.50 Bun Doran

5.30 Dallas Des Pictons

NORTHERNER – 3.30 Definitly Red (nap)

JLT TRIUMPH HURDLE

1.30: GRADE ONE – 2 MILES

There is a real chance SIR EREC has been truly tested over hurdles, but the long run from the second-last to the final flight should play the strengths of a horse rated 105 on the Flat. Third to the mighty Stradivarius in an Ascot Group Two last October, the selection, trained by Joseph O'Brien, made the running in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown, sprinting away from Gardens Of Babylon after the last to win cosily – and that has often proved one of the best trials for this race. The Paul Nicholls duo, Quel Destin and Pic D’Orhy, are much respected. The former has become a winning machine this winter, while Pic D'Orhy is potentially a high-class hurdler and could surprise.

BEST BET: SIR EREC 1-1

NEXT BEST: PIC D'ORHY 8-1

RANDOX HEALTH COUNTY HURDLE

2.10: GRADE THREE – 2 MILES

Dan Skelton has stamped himself as a target trainer or note and this looks to have the plan for a good while with CH'TIBELLO. Thought good enough to run in the Champion Hurdle last year, the eight-year-old has had a wind operation since running a fine race behind Midnight Shadow at Aintree and the form received a boost when the selection's conqueror followed up in a Grade Two at Cheltenham on his next start. Paul Nicholls has his horses in terrific form, so Capitaine is feared, along with Imperial Cup runner-up Monsieur Lecoq, who is reunited with Lizzie Kelly. But last year's Triumph Hurdle runner-up Mr Adjudicator catches the eye as the chief threat, given the chased home Champion Hurdle hero Espoir D'Allen on his comeback.

BEST BET: CH'TIBELLO 15- 2

NEXT BEST: MR ADJUDICATOR 12-1

ALBERT BARTLETT NOVICES 'HURDLE

2.50: GRADE ONE – 2 MILES 7 FURLONGS

This can be a brutal race for novices and, with winners at 33-1 (three times), 16-1, 14-1 and 11-1 in the past nine runnings, it is a difficult one for punters. However, trainer Rebecca Curtis delivered in grand style for backers in the 2013 renewal with At Fishers Cross and LISNAGAR OSCAR could give the Welsh handler a notable Grade One double. The likeable son of Oscar was hugely impressive at Haydock last time in winning the Grade Two trial and the change of gear he displayed – despite finding the track sharp – to leave the talented Ask Ben toiling after the last was a breakthrough performance. He already boasts form on the track and saw off Dickie Diver at Chepstow, so boasts excellent credentials.

BEST BET: LISNAGAR OSCAR 13-2

NEXT BEST: The RRINROSS 12- 1

     Presenting Percy (left) has a major chance of a third straight Festival win on Friday

CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP

3.30: GRADE ONE – 3 MILES 2 FURLONGS

There is little doubt that PRESENTING PERCY has had an unusual preparation for a leading Gold Cup contender but concentrating on his racecourse performances suggested he has a major chance of a third straight Festival win. Davy Russell enjoyed an armchair ride aboard the eight-year-old in last season's RSA Chase, when his mount was produced to pick off the classy Monalee (Elegant Escape well back in third), and he's likely to have the race run to suit again. Every drop of rain plays to the strengths of reigning champion Native River, who should enjoy the return to a favored venue after acquiring himself well under conditions which doesn't suit this term. Last year's gallant third, Anibal Fly, appeals as a place contender again.

BEST BET: PRESENTING PERCY 7-2

NEXT BEST: NATIVE RIVER 9 -2

FOXHUNTER CHASE

4.10: CLASS TWO – 3 MILES 2 FURLONGS

This is a fascinating renewal with Stand Up And Fight and Ucello Conti representing two Irish powerhouses and, with five of the first seven home from last year's running also in the field, it looks like a cracking contest. It almost goes without saying the leading Irish hopes will take some stopping, but CAID DU BERLAIS, fifth 12 months ago, looked in great form when winning by 25 lengths on his Bishops Court comeback a fortnight ago. The selection is likely to be another patient ride by the excellent Will Biddick, who was on board when the validation slammed Timewaitsfornoone at Punchestown. Top Wood gave it a brilliant go from the front last year and could do well again.

BEST BET: CAID DU BERLAIS 8-1

NEXT BEST : TOP WOOD 25-1

GRAND ANNUAL HANDICAP CHASE

4.50: GRADE 3 – 2 MILES

This is sure to be fast and furious and lightly-raced chasers have enjoyed considerable success in recent renewals, so Magic Saint, Not Another Muddle and Whatswrongwithyou will all have their supporters. The layers have recognized the trend, though, so the trio are reluctantly overlooked in favor of BUN DO RAN who has a decent track form and is a much better horse following an absence. The last four winners didn't run after mid-December, so the 90-day break shouldn't harm the selection's chances. Marracudja is a little more exposed than ideal but he has finished first and second on his two course starts.

BEST BET: BUN DO RAN 14-1

NEXT BEST: MARRACUDJA 14-1

MARTIN PIPE CONDITIONAL JOCKEYS '

5.30: HANDICAP – 2 MILES 4 FURLONGS

EARLY had no answer to a shrewd tactical ride by Donagh Meyler aboard Blow By Blow in this race 12 months ago, but he is a year older and slightly better ground may help him see this test more convincingly. Two preparation runs in Grade One events behind Apple's Jade this winter have ensured the selection handicap mark has not suffered too badly and the booking of a highly talented conditional rider, Jonjo O’Neill Jnr, could be the last piece of the jigsaw. Coach Gordon Elliott is always afraid of this race and Dallas Des Pictons has a long leg for this event. However, Cartwright and Defi Bleu catch the eye and the money this week has been for the former, who left a positive impression about two miles at Leopardstown last month.

BEST BET: EARLY DOORS 13-2

NEXT BEST: CARTWRIGHT 8-1

PETER SCUDAMORE – EIGHT TIMES CHAMPION JOCKEY

                   I HAVE maximum respect for Colin Tizzard's Native River and Thistle Crack in the Gold Cup but PRESENTING PERCY is my pick.

His Festival form is special and I am not worried about him not having run over fences this season. Training techniques have changed and trainers have much more to help them get a horse fit and ready to run, as well as being able to give them schooling practice to jump away from the track.

It's well documented that Presenting Percy has had two recent sessions around Galway race course to sharpen him up.

King George VI Chase winner Clan Des Obeaux has had a great season but I have reservations about how he will cope with the final quarter mile. The three-and-quarter miles is further than the run before and frontrunner Native River will make it an exacting test.

SIR EREC is the day's most likely winner in the Triumph Hurdle while DA LLAS THE S PICTONS, representing last year's winning trainer-jockey combination, was an impressive winner last time and looks the solution to the concluding Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle.

HAYLEY MOORE – PRESENTER FOR SKY SPORTS RACING

                   Some high-profile stables are represented in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle but the fact The RRINROSS is trained by the lesser known Philip Dempsey and ridden by his son Luke might mean he gets a little overlooked

That would be a mistake. This season has won two graded hurdles, comfortably brushing aside in the first of them Sams Profile, who was a decent fifth in Wednesday's Ballymore Novices ’Hurdle. Favorite Birchdale has looked good but the horse is inexperienced and worth taking on.

Trainer Joseph O'Brien has a strong grip on the juvenile hurdle division. He can land the JCB Triumph Hurdle with SIR EREC and I wouldn't be surprised if stablemate Gardens of Babylon is the biggest danger.

I am excited about the chances of my father's NOT ANOTHER MUDD LE in the Grand Annual Handicap Chase. He is improving and the strong gallop will suit.

DALLAS DES PICTONS, who has only leg in his last three runs by Ballymore Novices' Hurdle winner City Island, can land the concluding Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys Handicap Hurdle, a race trainer Gordon Elliott always targets.

CAPTAIN HEATH (MARCUS WANDING)

PRESENTING PERCY looks like he could be something special in the Gold Cup, while in the Albert Bartlett ALLAHO, trained by Willie Mullins, appears to have a huge future after being thrown into a decent race at Clonmel last month and winning easily.

FORMCAST (NIGEL TAYLOR)

Road To Rome has won all his four starts in hunter chases this season, and gained victory by a wide margin in a competitive race at Haydock last month. On that form, Road To Rome is a good bet to win again today.

CAPTAIN HEATH'S SELECTIONS

1.30 SIR EREC EVENS

2.10 CH'TIBELLO 8-1

2.50 ALLAHO 6-1

3.30 PRESENTING PERCY 7-2

4.10 HAZEL HILL 11-2

4.50 MAGIC SAINT 5-1

5.30 CARTWRIGHT 8-1

FORMCAST'S SELECTIONS

1.30 SIR EREC EVENS

2.10 MONSIEUR LECOQ 12-1

2.50 BIRCHDALE 11-2

CLAN DES OBEAUX 11-2

4.10 ROAD TO ROME 8-1

4.50 LE PREZIEN 8-1

5.30 LE MUSEE 33-1

BEAT THE FAVORITE

Our football expert s like to go against the grain with their tips. Here are their picks to trounce Friday's fancied runners …

JAMIE REDKNAPP: DICKIE DIVER (2.50)

CHRIS SUTTON: CUT THE MUSTARD (2.10)

WINNERS ENCLOSURE – BEST BETS, BEST ODDS WITH LADBROKES 'NICOLA McGEADY

                   Presenting Percy heads the Gold Cup betting as the attempts to win at the Festival for a third consecutive year. He may have had an unconventional prep, but I didn't ask trainer Pat Kelly.

Davy Russell is on board and he has the utmost faith in the horse, as do I. If he turns up in the same form as last year, he is the best in the race. In the Triumph Hurdle, it's hard to pick holes in the form of sir erec. He looks the real deal.

In the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, Derrin oss represents the value for me. He's battle hardened, he'll like the ground, the vibes are positive and he's 10-1.

THE BOOKIES 'VIEW

Day Three of the Festival was Black Thursday for the bookmakers despite Eglantine Du Seuil's shock win in the Dawn Run Mares' Hurdle.

The 50-1 shot was chased home by 66-1 and 40-1 chances as the Tote paid out a massive Trifecta dividend or almost £ 74,000. But by then bookmakers claimed the damage was done, with a set of results Coral estimated cost the betting industry £ 50m.

After a day when three favorites won and all but one of the seven winners was returned at single figure odds, Coral spokesman Dave Stevens said: "We thought Wednesday was bad, when favorites won the last four races, but that seemed like a good day compared to this afternoon.

" Defi Du Seuil and Sire Du Berlais kept the winning run for favorites going in the opening two races, before the popular Bryony Frost gained the second Festival win on Frodon. That set the scene for Paisley Park's victory in the Stayers' Hurdle and then Siruh Du Lac and Lizzie Kelly got in on the act. "It was a day we'd like to forget but we'll find it hard to."

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[homedevises]

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[neverwasmag]

One of the earliest descriptions of a dieselpunk world was written by “Piecraft” in 2006. He envisaged an alternate 1950s “where the Great Depression never arrived and World War II is still being fought as a prolonged Cold War.”

Japan continues its progress toward technological modernization, developing the earliest computers and terminals. Nazi scientists continue experimenting by taking the route of biotechnology, sparking off a genetic revolution of bio-mods, clones and organ harvesting, while the Americans and British take both of these technologies to develop mind-control devices, spawning man-machine interfaces and sparking the atomic-powered machine age.

Let’s explore this diesel-fueld world in the first installment of a new series we’ll call worldbuilding.

Britain makes peace

A bombed-out Buckingham Palace appears in the BBC’s SS-GB (2017)

King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom visits Adolf Hitler in Bavaria, Germany, October 1937

Art by Sam van Olffen

We deviate from our timeline during the Battle of Britain. The Luftwaffe is able to destroy the Royal Air Force. Nazi Germany successfully carries out Operation Sea Lion and occupies the south of England.

With London on the verge of being surrounded, King George VI and his family flee to Canada. Winston Churchill is arrested and shot. The Nazis restore Edward VIII to the throne, who negotiates the island’s surrender. India refuses to recognize a Nazi puppet as emperor and declares its independence. The remaining British Empire recognizes Elizabeth as queen when Edward’s brother George dies in 1952.

Click here to learn how the Nazis planned to invade Great Britain.

Turkey joins the Axis

Field Marshal Fevzi Çakmak presides over a meeting of the Turkish General Staff in the 1940s (Wikimedia Commons)

With Britain out of the war, but the British and French still fighting in Iraq and Syria, Turkey’s generals spot an opportunity to restore their country to its former glory.

President İsmet İnönü, who had kept Turkey neutral, is ousted in a military coup and replaced with a pro-Axis junta. It allows the Germans to use Turkish territory to open a second front against the British in Egypt and support the conquest of the Caucasus from the south. In exchange, Turkey gets Armenia, Kurdistan and Mesopotamia.

Map of a feared German invasion of the Middle East, from Life magazine, April 28, 1941

Britain and the Soviet Union are forced to withdraw from Iran, which they had occupied preemptively in 1941. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the young shah, signs a nonaggression pact with Germany, which the latter breaks only months later to use northern Iran as a staging ground for its encirclement of the Caspian Sea.

Click here to learn about Hitler’s feared invasion of the Middle East.

Germany colonizes the East

Map of the Great German Reich (1Blomma)

With Germany in control of southwest Russia, including the oil fields of the Caucasus and the Volga Delta, it can out-wait the Red Army during the winter of 1942-43 and seize Stalingrad and Moscow in the spring.

Joseph Stalin and the Soviet government flee first to Kuybyshev and then to Omsk, from where they continue to lead a guerrilla war in the Ural Mountains. Without the bulk of their territory, people and resources, though, it is a hopeless struggle.

1936 Nazi propaganda poster celebrating German farmers

The Nazis reorganize Eastern Europe into four Reichskommissariaten, each largely cleansed of ethnic Slavs and made ripe for German settlement: Ostland, comprising the Baltics and the former Belarus; Ukraine, extending eastward to the River Volga; Moskowien in the northeast and Kaukasus in the south. The Crimea becomes part of the Reich itself.

Despite land being freely available to ethnic Germans, resettlement proves less popular than the regime had anticipated. With forced labor freeing Germans from hard work, only fanatics, many of them in the SS, dream of leaving the comforts of the Reich behind to become Wehrbauern in the East.

Destruction of New York

Two Messerschmitt Me P.08.01 German flying wings over Manhattan, New York (Matin Letts)

Nuclear attack on New York as depicted in Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014)

Wolfenstein: The New Order concept art of New York after a nuclear attack (Bethesda Softworks)

Even though Britain has been defeated and the Soviet Union is reduced to a rump state in Siberia, America continues to fight — until the Germans drop the Bomb.

Rexford Tugwell, circa 1935-42 (Wikimedia Commons)

In the morning of April 20, 1945 — the Führer‘s 56th birthday — two Messerschmitt Me P.08.01 flying wings detonate what the Germans call the Heisenberg Device over Manhattan. Around one million people die instantly. Tens of thousands more perish in the aftermath from burns and radiation poisoning. President Rexford Tugwell, who succeeded Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, agrees to negotiate America’s surrender at a peace summit in Iceland.

Neither Germany nor Japan has designs on the continental United States. Japan does demand America’s Pacific possessions, including Hawaii, while Germany formalizes its influence in South America in the Reykjavík Treaty.

Although now at peace with the Axis powers, America continues to clandestinely support what is left of the British Empire, China and the Soviet Union in their war efforts.

Greater Finland

Map of a fictional Greater Finland (1Blomma)

Finland defeated the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939-40 and was rewarded by the Nazis with control of the Kola Peninsula and Karelia.

Like its Scandinavian neighbors, the country seeks an equidistant position for itself between Germany and the United States. But the nearness of Germany, and the American exit from the war, mean it must often defer to Berlin.

The Nordics’ official neutrality is useful to all powers, though, as it gives them a venue for diplomacy and a way to circumvent trade embargoes.

Empire of the Sun

Japan’s imperial ambitions as depicted in the 1945 American propaganda film Why We Fight: War Comes to America

Japan controls much of East Asia as well as most islands in the Pacific, including the formerly American Aleutian Islands and Hawaii, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Karafuto (formerly Sakhalin), Manchuria, Korea, coastal China, Formosa (Taiwan), Indochina, the Philippines. Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s Thailand and Sukarno’s Indonesia (the former Dutch East Indies) are nominally independent but in reality subjugated to Tokyo. Pridi Banomyong leads the Free Thai Movement from Burma.

President Sukarno of Indonesia, circa 1949 (KITLV)

Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram of Thailand (Wikimedia Commons)

General Hideki Tojo of Japan (Wikimedia Commons)

Japan still eyes Australia, Burma and India. It has little interest in Siberia but occasionally engages in border skirmishes with the Soviets to keep the Germans happy. Communists continue to wage a guerrilla war in the Chinese hinterland.

Artwork of the I-400-class Japanese submarine aircraft carrier

Artwork of the I-400-class Japanese submarine aircraft carrier

Japan got the atomic bomb from Germany in return for the submarine aircraft carrier. Relations between the two Axis powers are strained, however. Japan doesn’t trust the Germans, who consider all Asians racially inferior.

British remnant

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Philip, attend a ceremony in Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Canada, October 1957 (Library and Archives Canada)

Britain’s dominions — Australia, Canada, Ceylon, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa — have become independent states, as have Kenya and Rhodesia, which house many refugees from European Britain. All recognize Elizabeth II as head of state. The remaining colonies in Africa and the Caribbean are ruled by the British government-in-exile, led by Admiral Conolly Abel Smith from Ottawa.

India’s independence was a blow to British prestige, but it freed up troops for the defense of Burma under Lord Louis Mountbatten. His hope was to retake Malaya and Singapore next, but with America out of the war after the nuclear attack on New York, and the Soviet Union unable to open a second front in Manchuria, those plans had to be postponed indefinitely.

Democracy in America

Art by Stephane Belin

Art by Stefan Prohaczka

Millard Sheets’ design for a Monument to Democracy in Los Angeles

With New York gone, America’s economic and cultural life shifts to Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Without the interruption of the Great Depression, art, architecture, fashion and technology have progressed steadily from the Roaring Twenties, although the Cold War with Nazi Germany and Japan is giving way to more austere preferences.

A Monument to Democracy, designed by Millard Sheets, graces the Port of Los Angeles. Like the Statue of Liberty before it, it holds out the promise of a better future for the oppressed peoples of the world.

Click here for more unbuilt Los Angeles and here to learn about the fashion of the 1930s.

World Capital Germania

The skyline of Berlin, Germany as depicted in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle (2016)

With the war effectively over, Hitler can concentrate on his hobbies: architecture and trains.

Adolf Hitler in old age (Andrzej Dragan)

The former involves the total reconstruction of Berlin into the world capital of Germania. Designed by Albert Speer, Hitler’s chief architect, Germania was meant to convey the greatness of the German people, but it turned into a dud for the German people living in it.

Speer did not believe in traffic lights, nor was he a big supporter of trams. Germania has excellent subways, but its denizens tire of going underground. It’s not just the metro; pedestrians are forced into tunnels every time they want to cross one of the city’s ridiculously broad streets and, in the city center, enormous towers block out the sun altogether.

Click here to learn more about Hitler’s nightmare capital of the world.

Super trains

Artist’s impression of Nazi Germany’s proposed Breitspurbahn

Proposed route map for Nazi Germany’s Breitspurbahn from 1943 (Wikimedia Commons)

Artist’s impression of a diesel train arriving in Germania, capital of the Third Reich

Hitler’s trains are more popular. The giant double-decker trains that connect the Reich’s major cities on broad three-meter gauge tracks, called the Breitspurbahn, are fast, luxurious and affordable. Only a few hours and you’re in Paris, Vienna or Lemberg for a weekend getaway. Members of the Hitler Youth get a free Breitspurbahn travel pass to see the Reich when they turn eighteen.

Click here to learn more about Hitler’s super trains.

Eugenics

Nazi propaganda photo of young German men

In Germany, eugenics and selective breeding are widespread with the purpose of improving the Aryan master race. People with congenital defects are removed from the gene pool. Those who are deemed to possess superior genes are encouraged to have as many children as possible. The result is a society obsessed with pure blood and building the Übermensch.

Draining the Mediterranean

Artwork of Atlantropa created by Andrea Dopaso for The Man in the High Castle (Amazon)

Map of a proposed dam in the Central Mediterranean. From Herman Soergel, Lowering the Mediterranean, Irrigating the Sahara. Panropa Project (1929)

The next step in creating living space the German people do not need is draining the Mediterranean.

First proposed by Herman Sörgel in 1929, the Atlantropa project would dam off the Strait of Gibraltar and the Dardanelles. A third dam, between Sicily and Tunisia, would further lower the Mediterranean’s sea level and create vast new areas of land. The Adriatic Sea would largely disappear, which is why Italy isn’t keen on the plan.

Click here to learn more about Atlantropa.

New Roman Empire

Map of the Italian Empire (1Blomma)

Nazi propaganda poster that claims German “living space” in Africa

The modern Roman Empire stretches from Savoy in the northwest to Somaliland in the southeast. Albania, Corsica, Libya, Tunisia, the Sudan and Italian East Africa are integral parts of the new Italy while Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt and Greece are ruled by puppets.

Benito Mussolini has expanded Rome itself with large neoclassicist neighborhoods in the style of the EUR.

Click here to learn more about Mussolini’s new Rome.

In Hitler’s shadow

1964 portrait of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa)

Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, circa 1965 (Keystone-France)

Portrait of Hungarian strongman Miklós Horthy

Europe’s other fascist dictators are content to live in Hitler’s shadow. The only ones who pursue an independent foreign policy are Spain’s Francisco Franco and Portugal’s António de Oliveira Salazar. Both came to power before the war.

Salazar is regarded warily by the Nazis. Portugal is the only country in Europe that recognizes continued British and French rule in Africa and Asia. Franco is considered more reliable, despite his refusal to give Gibraltar to the Reich.

Jozef Tiso still rules in Slovakia. Miklós Horthy has abolished the Regency in Hungary and formally established himself as dictator. In Bulgaria, Tsar Simeon II presides over a pliant, pro-German government. Michael I has become more powerful as king of Romania as Ion Antonescu’s health has failed. There are rumors that Antonescu has in fact died already, but that the regime cannot agree on a successor.

Antarctica base

Nazis in Antarctica

Wolfenstein: The New Order concept art of an underground Nazi base (Bethesda Softworks)

In the late 1930s, German explorers discovered a large ice-free plateau in the Antarctic with more than 100 freshwater lakes and outlets to the sea. They dubbed the area the Schirmacher Oasis and started building a base there.

It is now the center for German military and scientific activity in the Southern Hemisphere, housing U-boats and Haunebu flying discs.

Click here to learn more about Nazis’ Antarctica base.

To the Moon

Art by Rainyempire

The next step is the Moon. Wernher von Braun leads a Nazi space program at Peenemünde. His rocket technology is also being used to develop long-range missiles that can reach North America. The hope is to put a man on the Moon before 1960.

Click here to learn more about the Nazi Moon base.

Nuclear power

Soldiers observe a nuclear weapons test in Nevada, April 15, 1955 (NNSA)

Engineers control a nuclear weapons test in Nevada in early 1952 from the Control Point at Yucca Pass (NNSA)

Scientists observe a nuclear weapons test in Nevada, March 22, 1955 (NNSA)

All three superpowers have atomic weapons, but America, with the help of British, Jewish and Soviet scientists, has surpassed Japan and the Reich, detonating the world’s first hydrogen bomb in the Nevada desert in 1952.

Airplanes

Flying wing in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Art by Marek Hlavaty

German flying wings on the cover of War Front: Turning Point (2007)

Art by Ed Thomas

Supersonic German jet in Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle (2015)

Germany built the first jet-powered fighter plane, the Messerschmitt Me 262. It also pioneered the flying wing. Supersonic German jets ferry civilians and officials between Tokyo and Berlin.

Click here to learn more about the strange aircraft of the Third Reich.

Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber in flight (USAF)

North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber in flight (NASA)

America has gone the atomic route. The first aircraft that was equipped with a small nuclear reactor was the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. North American Aviation is developing the XB-70 Valkyrie as a deep-penetration strategic bomber that would extend American deterrence around the globe.

Click here to learn more about America’s atomic-powered aircraft.

Landkreuzers

Artwork of the German Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte super tank (TIGΞΓ)

Panzer 88 concept art by Stuart Jennett

Hitler’s obsession with size has seen Germany develop impractically large tanks and guns. Landkreuzern (“land cruisers”) are really only deployable in the desert of the North Africa. Huge railway guns guard the Eastern Front but are an ill fit in the guerrilla war against the remnants of the Soviet Union.

Click here to learn more about the wonder weapons of the Third Reich.

In a #dieselpunk world, World War II is still being fought as a prolonged Cold War One of the earliest descriptions of a dieselpunk world was written by "Piecraft" in 2006. He envisaged an alternate 1950s "where the Great Depression never arrived and World War II is still being fought as a prolonged Cold War."