#suffice it to say... visually stunning project

[kilometresrufflefuck]

almost two years after the project wrapped i remembered i never posted my piece from @turnabout-cinema, which was a film review of turnabout trump. much love and gratitude to @mintaii for sending me the high quality jpgs featuring her graphic design genius and the lovely gorgeous artistic stylings of @margalcazo / @letsgomargaux <3

by absolute pure coincidence, i was thinking about this zine this morning and then opened up investigations 2 to discover that the final case (the grand turnabout in the fan translation) has been localised as turnabout for the ages. hee hoo! hee hee hooo!

[volturialice]

Hey G, what cdramas do you recommend? I'm in the middle of The Untamed right now and I'm interested in putting more cdramas on my watchlist.

oh boy, so ok lemme preface this by disclaiming: I haven't seen any of the (mlm) gay ones. my shipping preferences are exclusively het/femslash and that is reflected in my cdrama consumption! I also don't care for modern stuff, so it's period dramas and a lot of wuxia/xianxia (mostly xianxia, which is kind of my platonic ideal of a genre.) also it's a lot of yang mi dramas but that's a coincidence—she just takes roles in all the projects i'm interested in!

that said, I know the mlm shippy ones everyone else recs include Nirvana in Fire, Word of Honor, and Heaven Official's Blessing (idk if there's a live action version of this yet but there's definitely a novel/donghua.)

so with that out of the way, I'm gonna separate this into a) recent recs, b) classics and recent adaptations of classics, and b) other shows I've seen but did not Vibe with. note that I'm not including cws because there are just too many, but if you have questions about potentially triggering content in any of these, feel free to ask me for more info.

actual recs

1) Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, aka Three Lives Three Worlds aka Eternal Love (I think that's the dumb genericized english title on netflix.) it’s extremely difficult to summarize this one due to its huge cast and elaborate plot but suffice to say: local immortal couple are so extremely star-crossed it takes them three lives to get it right and causes great collateral damage to international immortal politics.

fun fact: this is the single most watched tv show of all time. like, anywhere. possibly because it's so unhinged and eminently re-watchable. I think it's a great intro to the xianxia genre and I chalk its success up to the fact that it's fanfic trope overload. seriously, there are at least three "there was only one bed" scenes in this one show. I think the protagonists are fairly terrible people and yet I can't look away from their train wreck of a relationship.

luckily it's a huge ensemble cast so there are plenty of other characters for me to enjoy (bi4bi king and queen zilan and yanzhi supremacy give me their spinoff right now.) there are also Supporting Character Gays who could not be more obviously homosexual if they tried and it’s very fun.

there's also an actual spinoff I couldn't get into because I Simply Do Not Care about those characters but hey maybe you guys will

in conclusion, TMOPB is a good Xianxia Starter Pack because it includes a lot of common tropes. I learned a lot just by googling which things were specific inventions of the show vs which things were actual mythology! this show is so popular that basically every other xianxia made post-2017 is a clone of it (seriously, if they don't STOP with these stoic emotionless love interests i’m gonna hurl myself into a magical abyss.)

goofiest cgi character: the Four Beasts (no I’m still not over the sphincter-mouth.) honorable mention goes to yehua’s tiny offended snake form

2) Legend of Fuyao - sort of a rags-to-riches hero’s journey/jianghu story in which the heroine wanders through several different fantasy countries kicking ass and doing fun sidequests.

the first cdrama I ever watched (after seeing how epic the trailer looked) and still my favorite. notably the only time I have ever actually shipped the two leads. also notable in that the characters are more flawed and multidimensional than you'd typically see in a show like this—I particularly enjoy the concept of "fun Trickster King love interest but he's also kind of a pathological liar and that has actual consequences." has a rough start and drags in places but it's one of the most visually stunning shows on this list and has a fun ensemble cast, some of my favorite fight scenes, and a lot of good h/c moments.

goofiest cgi character: gotta hand it to yuanbao. if I had a nickel for every time the entire plot hinged on the actions of a single cgi guinea pig

3) Story of Yanxi Palace - a backstabby court intrigue period drama that imagines the rise of real historical figure Consort Ling, who rose from obscurity to great power in the court of the qianlong emperor.

the single most googled show of all time. notable for its gorgeous, elaborate costumes and general attention to detail in design. one of two on this list that's pure period drama, no fantasy (though it certainly takes liberties with actual history.) also probably the most ~”western”-style~ show on the list in terms of pacing and plot structure. it fits right in with prestige period shows like The Tudors or The Borgias, (albeit with far less graphic violence and sex scenes.) a pretty interesting heroine who, again, has actual flaws (still too much candy:spinach ratio, but I'll take what I can get here.) 

I'm just gonna say it: yingluo and empress fuca were super gay for each other. just let them stay home and lez

sadly devoid of goofy cgi characters

4) Princess Agents - another hero’s journey-style fantasy, this time about Becoming A Badass Spy. basically the cdrama Nikita. 

another of those ones everyone recs as a quintessential drama of the last decade. I actually haven't finished it, but the big chunk I've seen is solidly Good even if it's another stoic love interest I can't stand (the second lead is charming enough to make up for this.) has one of the sickest opening themes out there

and contains both princesses and agents but sadly none of them are the same people so I consider the title false advertising

goofiest cgi character: I s2g if that parrot doesn’t sHUT UP

5) The Wolf - girl meets boy raised by wolves. Tiny Horse scene is reenacted. they meet again as adults but he’s since become a war criminal so that complicates things :D

if you like angst and betrayal, this is the show for you. a Stoic Love Interest I actually don’t mind for once + a fun arranged marriage slowburn arc and a likable second lead (Untamed stans have ensured that you will see zero gifs of the two actual leads when you search for this show.) has the other sickest opening theme out there

goofiest cgi character: I mean, it’s right there in the title

6) Novoland: Pearl Eclipse - another fantasy about being trained as a badass secret agent, only this time involving mermaids and domestic abuse! hooray

watching this one right now and it’s interesting so far. I once again only care about the side characters but it’s possible that’s a Me Problem ([holding up zhuoying] I just think he’s neat!) has the single most unhinged opening scene I have ever experienced. I haven’t seen any of the other Novoland Cinematic Universe shows but I’ll probably look them up after this!

goofiest cgi character: the sharknado

7) The Eternal Love (and The Eternal Love 3) - not to be confused with Eternal Love sans-“The,” this show was made on a budget of ten and is so weird and silly. it gets so much mileage out of its simple bodyswap/time travel/fish out of water concept (which is also RIPE for fic AUs imo) that it was a runaway hit and they made two more seasons (which are basically...AUs of the first season? it makes sense in context.) I skipped season 2 but season 3′s “lol role reversal it’s a MATRIARCHY” concept was also really fun.

a few shows I haven’t seen but get recced all the time: Rise of Phoenixes, Story of Minglan, Novoland: Eagle Flag

some modern classics/adaptations of modern classics 

1) Princess Pearl, aka My Fair Princess/a bunch of other titles. a “Prince and the Pauper” -type story set during the rein of the qianlong emperor (but much lighter and fluffier than Yanxi Palace.)

made on a budget of half a shoestring (and it shows), this show was a crazy runaway hit that catapulted its unknown leads to megastardom so powerful that the government straight up erased zhao wei from the internet. 

maybe the real princess was the Gal Pals we made along the way

2) The Return of the Condor Heroes (2006) - another “orphan becomes a badass and experiences star-crossed love” jianghu story. this seems to be the most well-liked adaptation of its extremely popular novel afaik. I haven’t seen that much of it, but I can definitely see why it’s popular!

3) Handsome Siblings (netflix version) - two Very Opposite fraternal twins separated at birth are manipulated into becoming mortal enemies, and hijinks ensue. sort of a picaresque take on the jianghu with lots of comedic sidequests. also based on a super popular novel.

tbh I probably wouldn’t have gotten all the way through this one if I hadn’t been sick and couchbound when I watched it, but the third act is super fun! the non-netflix adaptations might be better, idk.

gotta love that title. the author said look at my OCs!! they’re a couple of real handsome boys!!!

shows I Do Not Vibe With no tea no shade they just aren’t for me

Ancient Love Poetry - I tried really hard because the cast looks fun but it’s just. a much more soulless clone of TMOPB with none of the fun Weird Shit or compelling characters.

The Flame's Daughter - this plot was so complicated I could not tell you the first thing about it. kids are getting switched at birth, everyone is double-cast as their own dead mom, and I don’t care enough about the characters to try to parse out their bizarre motivations (ok, fine, I admit I liked the side characters.)

Maiden Holmes - a fun “woman dresses as man in order to be a detective” premise but I simply didn’t care about the characters.

Miss the Dragon - maybe the later episodes are good, but I couldn’t get past the complete lack of story in the first few.

[accidentalrabbit]

LIGHT ON ME

(series + bonus content)

Korea 2021

RANK: S

A-pairing: Taekyung x Shinwoo

Other character(s) i enjoyed: Daon, Shiwoon, Sohee

Overall review:

Light On Me is a gorgeous show, just visually stunning, from the intro graphics to the lived-in but immaculate costume and set design to the cinematography. But more than its production, the series is a hard reboot for staple genre tropes with an achingly sentimental blend of sweetness and sturm und drang pervading its plot.

The pilot episode opens with a flashforward of all our main characters having a good time on the beach. This is, in my opinion, one of very few narratively satisfying ways to set up a multi-year timeskip, and it's a scene we'll return to in the finale.

After this quick teaser for the ending, Light On Me sends us back to the main timeline, starting with the inciting incident: High school student Woo Taekyung, who has heretofore scorned interpersonal relationships, suddenly decides one day that he wants to see what the fuss over friendship is all about. Soon, Taekyung finds himself trying to join the student council of his all boys high school. His sudden desire and character transformation is hardly explained, but it's a fun concept that, to its credit, the series explores with sincerity.

Taekyung is a fun character. He is guarded and unassuming, has difficulty understanding the relationships of his peers at first, and is not always completely aware when he is the target of a joke. But as he decides to try making friends, he puts forth an earnest effort and eventually leans into his naturally dry sense of humor. Taekyung reads as generically neurodivergent when it comes to interpersonal communication, which is not necessarily intentional or positive representation, but it does inform his story arc as the social cues he receives from other students become more and more complicated. I admire that while he tries to understand others' feelings, he is also an active participant in shaping his own ideas of what friendships and other relationships should be. He doesn't simply capitulate to others' expectations when he finds them unfair, and while Taekyung learns to express appreciation for his new friends, he ultimately refuses to change himself or his own desires to please others.

The introduction of the blunt and forward Taekyung to the student council board shakes things up, eventually leading to one of the two main conflicts of the series, The Love Triangle™. While love triangles are usually sad, boring, and predictable, this one gets points for giving us two options that each have genuine appeal and pathos, unlike any other love triangle i've seen before or since. The Love Triangle™ is an example of how even the most uninspired tropes can be brought back to life with compelling writing, acting, and directing.

The first leg of the triangle to receive real development is Taekyung x Daon, and they are adorable together. Daon is the very outgoing, warm-hearted, self-sacrificial council president who knows everything and everyone. Their relationship starts as if solving Taekyung's friendlessness and securing his spot on the council is just another one of Daon's many personal projects. Soon after Daon takes him under his wing, though, the two of them find themselves thinking about each other a fair amount, and their relationship involves a healthy dose of reciprocity and mutual care. I think this pairing works very well together, and they might have succeeded were it not for Daon's heroic flaw and the actions of a certain Sohee, which we'll get to. But suffice it to say that after this transpires and Daon sacrifices Taekyung's trust to maintain his image as a universal people pleaser, their relationship becomes significantly weaker than it initially seems.

Which brings us to the second leg of our triangle, Taekyung x Shinwoo. Their relationship is initially much rockier, as Shinwoo apparently finds Taekyung embarrassing and not worth his time. Shinwoo is curt, rude, and dismissive of his attempts to join the council, which only drives the naïve Taekyung to try even harder (with some encouragement from the other council members). This phase comes to a head when Taekyung finally snaps and outright asks why Shinwoo hates him in a scene that is VERY emotionally satifying, as we see Shinwoo truly flustered for the first time. After Taekyung unsuccessfully tries to stop a group of bullies from ganging up on him, Shinwoo seems to mellow out and seems to become much more thoughtful toward and protective of him, even as he grows closer to Daon.

One thing that i enjoy is that Shinwoo's relationship with Daon never becomes combative. They both experience some jealousy at various points in the plot, but it never becomes a simple power struggle. Even after the incident with Sohee crushes Daon's chances, and Shinwoo sees the opportunity to pursue Taekyung, he offers Daon a chance to try and win him back. This extension of empathy has to do with his own backstory, where Shinwoo was once the victim of homophobic cruelty as well, and prior to Taekyung he had built up psychological defenses to protect himself from that pain happening again. But despite his neurosis around being loved, Shinwoo is also an absolute gem who goes out of his way to make sure Taekyung is cared for, and his relationship with him is ultimately just as sweet (and as fraught) as Taekyung's relationship with Daon—which makes the final choice between them infinitely more compelling than stories with clear narrative favoritism. I cannot stress enough how much this trope simply works when it's clear the writers, actors, and directors all care about the story and the characters within it.

Namgoong Shiwoon is the fourth student council member and he is an absolute delight in each and every scene. Whereas the other three boys tend to have flatter affects (which i ascribe mostly to their characters but others have called underacting), Shiwoon is a golden retriever of a human being. His actor consistently nails his delivery and, despite his clear role as comic relief and expositor, he also does a good job in his more dramatic one-on-one scenes with Sohee and the other boys, balancing his levity with thoughtfulness. Whether he's serving as mediator, wingman, goofball, or just a good friend, i love when Shiwoon is onscreen. Namgang for life.

I guess we need to talk about Sohee. She is, unfortunately, our second major conflict, and, unfortunately, she has a crush on Daon that culminates in her outing him and Taekyung. Suffice it to say that she is not a character i expected to like at all. And yet. Once what's done is done, the story is not done with her. Sohee is the rare character who is made to undergo a difficult but (in my opinion) satisfying redemption arc, and her plot serves as the most obvious manifestation of the show's major theme: You cannot change the pain you've caused; you can only repent going forward, and what happens next is up to the ones you hurt. Her journey to atonement begins with accountability, and i think it's important that Light On Me uses her character to model that you can both do something absolutely reprehensible and still be worthy of your humanity. You can recognize too late that something you have done was a possibly unforgivable error, and you can still take accountability. Whether you are forgiven is out of your hands. Once Sohee lets herself internalize these ideas (thanks Shiwoon!), my heart softened toward her character, to the point where i was genuinely happy to see her in the finale.

Daon's phoenix era is also important thematically. He must learn to take care of (and stop neglecting) himself and, by proxy, to stop putting others' ideas about him first. For a character whose entire identity is about pleasing everyone, the realization that it is literally impossible to make every single person happy is a major blow to his self-concept, and we can empathize how difficult it is for him to rebuild a self that knows where and how to draw those boundaries. In addition, this arc supports Sohee's in many ways by emphasizing the unforeseen consequences of his actions on the set of his future possibilities. Because of his heroic flaw, there is no longer a straightforward path to a romantic relationship with Taekyung, and he will have to process that grief in much the same way that Sohee is processing her own. And he still takes accountability, not because it is easy or self-exculpatory, but because he thinks it is what Taekyung deserves.

The final episodes demonstrates how to do a narratively resonant fakeout scene. At the end of the penultimate episode, we see Taekyung and a sleeping Daon in the otherwise empty student council room, with Taekyung reaching out to gently touch him. Suddenly, Shinwoo grabs silently and desperately at Taekyung's wrist—and he tears away. Is he really rejecting Shinwoo? And after a long held breath, the finale shows us: Yes, and no. Taekyung tears away from Shinwoo's grasp, rejecting his neurotic and instinctual possessiveness. You cannot change the way i feel about Daon. Then—he reaches out to wordlessly take his hand. Now, let me choose to care for you, too. This moment is a revelation for Shinwoo and the audience, who up until this point have primarily seen their relationship from the perspective of his neurosis, his fear that he will have to prove his love over and over again and still may not be the one Taekyung chooses. In this brief gesture, we see Taekyung refusing to entertain his fear and, at the same time, demonstrating in a physical way his own agency and capacity to choose Shinwoo for himself, without coercion. An inkling of the reciprocity he learned with Daon now serves to reject the delusion that Shinwoo has been or will ever be the sole and eternal pursuer. Poetic cinema.

And eventually we return to the beginning, the flashforward scene with the fireworks on the beach, and this time it feels like a revelation. I love that Daon is happy and carefree, showing that heartbreak is not a permanent condition, and it is possible to be fully satisfied with friendship and self-love. I love that Sohee is here, suggesting that she and her friends have done the magnanimous and difficult work of repairing their relationships over the years. I love that Taekyung is here with his camera, that he has come so far and learned to cherish the relationships he once dismissed. And i love, more than anything, that everyone is sharing this moment, that romantic relationships can share space with friendships, because all forms of human connection are worthy of celebration. All the themes of the show are here, mingling with each other just as the characters are. It makes my heart soar.

As for the bonus content, our main three have cameos in the series Best Mistake 3 (2021), where they look like they are thriving and living their best lives. It's not much, but if you need more of them it's nice to see how they've been getting on. (You don't need to watch the whole show; the girls have already isolated every clip for your viewing pleasure.)

I had a good time, but:

Let's keep it a buck: Sohee spends a large chunk of the plot being absolutely poisonous, with no traits other than monomania and cruelty, and there are really no other girl characters. She doesn't have the worst overall arc in terms of genre standards, but her writing doesn't feel great in the moment. Love her though! (Eventually.)

There was nothing wrong with the teacher/faculty sponsor character per se, but sometimes it felt like the story forgot about him for a good stretch only to have him pop back in out of the blue. Were more of his scenes cut for time? That's what it was giving.

Character(s) entitled to financial compensation: Daon, my beloved. This boy has the weight of the earth and sky on his shoulders, and everyone around him just keeps adding more. Given that he is simultaneously the unlucky corner of a love triangle and the target of a digital homophobic harrassment campaign, i just know the writers had fun laying it on THICK. And he STILL smiles through it like he isn't in desperately need of an affordable licensed counselor at talkspace dot com. Yeah, his story is important thematically or whatever but at what cost? Praying that any future sequel brings #JusticeForDaon. It's what he deserves.

Conclusion: Light On Me is a series that understands how good character writing can be used to elevate even the most well-worn tropes—and also understands that the tropes themselves should not be immune to change. It treats a fairly absurd initial premise with unwavering sincerity, and without melodrama transforms a very basic coming-of-age story into a bittersweet and resonant tale of friendship, yearning, and self-love. Give this show its flowers (so we'll never miss it in the crowd).

And if you want to hear about the quietly sentimental To My Star (2021)…you know where i'll be.

[starwarsnonsense]

Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of 2020

Now I’ve got my embarrassingly late ‘Best of 2019′ list out of the way, I can finally proceed to the list that’s probably more exciting - my most anticipated films of 2020!

This list excludes films that have already been screened at festivals (otherwise, stuff like Saint Maud would be here). It’s also somewhat analogous to groping about for a light switch in the dark - these lists very rarely accurately predict my ultimate favourites for the year, so it’s more of a fun speculative exercise. Hopefully this puts some intriguing-looking films on your radar for the year ahead! 

1. Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Plot: The story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people.

Why be excited? The reasons to be excited about Dune should be pretty self-evident - it’s directed by one of the greatest filmmakers working today (Villeneuve’s Incendies and Blade Runner 2049 are all-timers for me), and is based on one of the best science-fiction novels ever written. The cast -  Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Charlotte Rampling, and more - is absolutely stacked with talent. There’s every reason to believe that this will be something special, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Villeneuve is the man responsible for filling that Star Wars-shaped hole in the December release schedule.

2. Annette (dir. Leos Carax)

Plot: A stand-up comedian (Adam Driver), and his opera singer wife (Marion Cotillard), have a two-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.

Why be excited? You may not have heard of him, but Leos Carax is one of the most exciting directors working - he only makes around one film a decade, but the films he does make tend to be very special. I’ve only seen one film of his - Lovers on the Bridge - but that was filled with such ecstatic romance and wondrous visuals that it made me tremendously excited for Annette. Annette is a top-to-bottom musical with songs by American duo Sparks (if you know them for anything, it will be ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us’), and said songs will be delivered by Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. It goes without saying that both actors are extremely talented performers with great voices (see Driver in Marriage Story and Cotillard in Nine for evidence), and I’m looking forward to seeing how they demonstrate their talents here.

3. Last Night in Solo (dir. Edgar Wright)

Plot: A young girl (Thomasin McKenzie), passionate in fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer (Anya Taylor-Joy). But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.

Why be excited? I’m not the biggest Edgar Wright fan, but I admire him greatly and the premise of Last Night in Soho is like cat-nip to me. Speaking to Empire, Wright explained the story as follows: “I’m taking a premise whereby you have a character who, in a sort of abstract way, gets to travel in time. And the reality of the decade is maybe not what she imagines. It has an element of ‘be careful what you wish for’.” I’m a sucker for a good, old-fashioned high concept, especially when said films play with genre and really challenge the viewer. The two female leads - Thomasin McKenzie (JoJo Rabbit, Leave No Trace) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Emma) - are among the very best young actors working today, and the supporting cast features absolute legends such as Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp. Whether it’s successful or not, this film feels like a genuinely original prospect and I’m eager to see how it turns out.

4. The Green Knight (dir. David Lowery)

Plot: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Why be excited? There has been a sad lack of films based on mythology in recent years - or, to be more accurate, there has been a sad lack of films that attempt to honour what the myths were actually trying to convey. The stunning trailer for Green Knight promises a film that genuinely engages with its source material, and is just as interested in the psychological truths of the tale as the spectacle of its fantastical scenarios. Dev Patel is an extremely talented actor coming off another great movie in The Personal History of David Copperfield, and the supporting cast (Alicia Vikander!) appear to be fully committed to their parts. I’m excited to see a true myth on the big screen again, and David Lowery (A Ghost Story, The Old Man & The Gun) can be trusted to give an old tale a new sense of vitality. 

5. The French Dispatch (dir. Wes Anderson)

Plot: The staff of a European publication decides to publish a memorial edition highlighting the three best stories from the last decade: an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

Why be excited? It’s a Wes Anderson movie! Of course I’m excited! In all seriousness, the trailer was all I needed to get hyped about this. It’s clearly Anderson’s quintessential style, but it also shows flashes of some very bold and striking compositions (yes, I’m thinking of Chalamet on the back of that motorcycle) that you wouldn’t necessarily think of in relation to him. I’m intrigued by the prospect of there being stories nested within a story, which feels like the perfect choice for the structure of a film about a newspaper. The cast features all of Anderson’s old favourites (Swinton! Murray! McDormand!), as well as some exciting new additions (Timothée Chalamet, Elisabeth Moss, Christoph Waltz, among others) that feel so well-suited to his style it’s surprising they haven’t worked together before. Bring on all those immaculately composed shots and exquisite colour palettes.

6. Tenet (dir. Christopher Nolan)

Plot: Unknown. The project is described as an action epic revolving around international espionage.

Why be excited? I hate to sound repetitive, but ... it’s a Christopher Nolan movie. That alone is enough to be hyped about this. Details of the plot are vague for now, but the teaser suggests the sort of intelligent, high-concept film-making we’ve come to expect from Nolan. John David Washington - who impressed in BlacKkKlansman - is a great choice for the lead, and I also love that Tenet will feature Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki (among my favourite actors) in prominent roles. There’s not much else to say given how little we know about this, but suffice to say I’ll be there on day one!

7. Wonder Woman 1984 (dir. Patty Jenkins)

Plot: Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) comes into conflict with the Soviet Union during the Cold War in the 1980s and finds a formidable foe by the name of the Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).

Why be excited? The original Wonder Woman was an absolute delight, and I couldn’t be more pleased that Patty Jenkins is back to continue Diana’s story. The decision to pick up with Diana in the 1980s is most intriguing (and paves the way for all kinds of exciting choices when it comes to the music and the fashions), especially since it looks like the film is actually going to explore the implications of being an immortal being in a mortal world. 

8. Raya and the Last Dragon (dir. Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins)

Plot: A lone warrior from the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra teams up with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon and bring light and unity back to their world.

Why be excited? The animation scene in 2020 looks kind of ... blah at the moment, with the notable exception of Raya and the Last Dragon. The setting was described by the film’s producer as  "a reimagined Earth inhabited by an ancient civilization that venerated the mythical dragons for their power and their wisdom”, and that alone is enough to fire up my imagination. Off the back of Moana and the Frozen films (which I all unabashedly love), I trust Disney Animation to instil this with plenty of colour and verve.

9. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (dir. Charlie Kaufman)

Plot: An unexpected detour turns a couple’s road trip into a terrifying journey through their fragile psyches.

Why be excited? Directed by Charlie Kaufman (writer of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), I’m Thinking of Ending Things is based on a prize-winning novel. However, despite the pedigree the main reason I’m looking forward to this is Jessie Buckley. Buckley gave a star-making performance in Beast a few years ago, and has since proven herself an actor of immense talent and skill (see Wild Rose for proof of what a powerhouse she is). I’m excited to see her career continue to go from strength to strength, and I’m Thinking of Ending Things seems poised to be a great showcase for her.

10. The Last Duel (dir. Ridley Scott)

Plot: King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) settle his dispute with his squire (Adam Driver) by challenging him to a duel.

Why be excited? Ridley Scott is a bit of a mixed bag for me, and has never come close to reaching the heights of Alien and Blade Runner with his recent work. Nonetheless, against my better judgement I can’t help but be excited by the prospect of a medieval epic with Scott at the helm. The acting talent attached to The Last Duel is top-notch, and I’m particularly fond of Jodie Comer (of Killing Eve fame) and Adam Driver (do you really need me to say more?). There’s a very real danger of the highly sensitive plot (the ‘dispute’ at the heart of the story concerns an accusation of rape, the truth of which is to be determined with a duel) being mishandled by Scott, but the involvement of screenwriter Nicole Holofcener gives me some hope. This could turn out to be a misfire, but my hope is that it will, at the very least, be interesting.

[howdoyousayghibli]

When Marnie Was There: A Triumphant Swan Song for Studio Ghibli

In 2013, following the release of The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature films. It didn’t last long, but it did give us one of only a few Studio Ghibli films with neither directing nor screenwriting credit from Miyazaki or Isao Takahata: When Marnie Was There. The other two films with that distinction are Tales from Earthsea and The Cat Returns — an overambitious disaster and a delightful if superficial romp, respectively. 

Thankfully, Marnie is neither a disaster nor superficial: it’s a beautiful, true-to-life, emotionally powerful coming-of-age story. Released in 2014 and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the story centers on young Anna, a withdrawn and melancholic girl who is sent to spend time with her aunt and uncle in the countryside in hopes of ameliorating her asthma. 

There, she meets the enigmatic and titular Marnie, who seems to already know Anna and who lives in a mansion that seems to keep flipping from regal and fully-staffed to dilapidated and abandoned. Marnie’s identity and the source of Anna’s woes are equally engaging mysteries that Marnie wisely takes its time unspooling. 

While the visuals may not have the wow-factor of Arrietty, Yonebayashi’s stunning directorial debut, Marnie is still a feast for the eyes. What sticks out the most is the depiction of the Kushiro wetlands where Anna spends most of the movie. It inspired such a longing for that kind of natural landscape, in fact, that I literally got up and took my dog for a walk through some nearby woods about ⅔ of the way through this movie. You will want to move to rural Japan; accept this, and keep watching.

The other immediately striking element of Marnie is Anna herself. The movie opens with an internal monologue in which Anna describes how she’s never felt like she belongs; that sentiment has been shared by countless young-adult protagonists, but usually it feels like an afterthought tacked on in service of a bland “Be Yourself!” message. 

Marnie actually makes the effort to depict the causes and consequences of that feeling. Fellow introverts will cringe in solidarity as adults make social commitments on Anna’s behalf — right in front of her! — and nod vigorously as Anna flees incoming extroverted strangers to avoid the mortifying ordeal of being known. 

But flee all she likes, Anna can’t escape being adopted by a series of friendly, patient extroverts. There’s certainly some conflict in the story, and the movie isn’t shy about letting us see Anna mess up, but by and large Marnie pulls off the magic trick of having emotional resonance without ever really getting unpleasant. Most of the people Anna meets are wonderful, and it’s a pleasure watching her slowly come out of her shell. Studio Ghibli always knocks the side characters out of the park, and Yonebayashi continues the tradition here. 

Now, some people might take issue with the statement that Marnie never gets “unpleasant.” What I mean is that there are no Umbridges or Joffreys running around to make you want to throw things, and the characters aren’t punching bags like in Grave of the Fireflies. Marnie does get sad, but it’s a sweet, kind sadness that just makes you want to go upstairs and pick up your sleeping baby and hold her for a bit. I’m going to stop there because I’m writing this at work and really don’t want people to think I’m tearing up over the mushed peas and zoodles recipe I’m supposed to be editing. 

There’ll be more on this in the Spoiler Zone, but you should know that Marnie really benefits from being watched twice. It’s that rare mystery trick where the first watch is enriched by the desire to understand, and the second watch is enriched by already knowing. Even if you aren’t in the habit of re-watching films, you won’t be disappointed by a second viewing here.

I adore this movie. The only real flaw — made in all innocence, I believe — is also spoiler-y to talk about, but suffice to say that it is also less of a problem on the second watch. When Marnie Was There is funny, affecting, and beautiful. The future of How Do You Live seems uncertain; if Marnie does turn out to be the last Ghibli film, it would make a fine end for the storied studio. 

Up Next: Funny thing — there’s nothing next! At least, as of February 5, 2020, When Marnie Was There is the last movie published by Studio Ghibli. A few years ago, Miyazaki announced that he was un-retiring to direct a new film, How Do You Live; however, the projected release has been continually pushed back, and in a recent interview, Miyazaki stated that the movie was only about 15% finished after years of work. 

Barring new Ghibli movies, I’ll likely review some other highly acclaimed anime features — I’ve heard good things about Millennium Actress and Wolf Children. I considered reviewing Ocean Waves, a technically-Studio-Ghibli movie made for TV in the 90s, but I watched it and … it wasn’t great. I didn’t want to end my Ghibli reviews on a down note, so I decided against it. (The short version is that it’s an enemies-to-lovers story that spends 99% of the movie on the “enemies” part.) 

For now, I’ll just say thank you for reading. This has been a fun, educational, and fulfilling project for me, and the fact that any of these posts have been liked or shared has been a pleasant surprise. Watch out for one last Spoiler Zone after the image!

SPOILER ZONE

Ok, so, my biggest issue with When Marnie Was There is that, before you know that Marnie is Anna’s grandma’s ghost, the way their interactions are written and animated gives off biiiiiiiiiiiiiig lesbian vibes. The way they talk, when Marnie shows Anna how to row the boat, the dancing, the repeated pleas to keep their relationship a secret, the femme/butch pairing, the blushing .... let’s just say I have several notes from my first watch along the lines of “wow Anna has big Oblivious Lesbian energy” and “surprised to see something this progressive from Studio Ghibli way back in 2014.” 

Naturally, I retroactively felt super gross about all that once it clicked that it was a different relationship entirely. Like I said above, this is ameliorated when watching the second time. It’s easier to see how one could interpret it all differently — Anna’s not interested in Marnie romantically, she just literally has never had a friend before and is very overwhelmed by the whole thing. Likewise, Marnie is simply sad to see how withdrawn her granddaughter is and determined to bring her out of her shell.

But yeah, someone really needed to look at the storyboards for this movie and tell Studio Ghibli to tone down the blushing, because in 2020 (and I can’t imagine it came across too differently back in 2014) it reads as a very clearly telegraphed gay romance, and the ick factor when Marnie’s identity is revealed detracts from what is otherwise an extremely sweet, sad, and beautiful story.

Stray Notes:

well it’s been 5 minutes and I’m tearing up at this mom worrying about Anna so much

That title text is … bad

that exploding pumpkin bag shot 👍👍

“He’s a bear” lol

“A witch? Takes one to know one” SOLID BURN DAWG

“Extreme Introvert Gets Adopted by a Series a Extreme Extroverts”

WOW SAD

Aw it’s the first good Ghibli credits song, just in time for their last movie

wait, Hiromasa Yonebayashi was only 36 when he directed Arrietty?? 

[sophygurl]

Did my what’s coming up on TV quarterly-ish organizational project and re-did my shows I watch page. Figured it would be a good time to make an update post on my media consumption of late.

I’m still embroiled in the Big Brother season. It’s been a pretty terrible season truth be told, and I’d have noped out except for there being one houseguest left in there that I adore and want to support, and of course the fan community I have (a chat room I’ve been in for a decade now and also a twitter list of fans, update sites, and BB alum I enjoy interacting with). We’ve still got a ways to go, and I am not watching the live feeds much this season, but still watching the shows (mostly to chat with my friends about) and keeping up with the feeds via twitter to see what’s happening and watching the few small clips of that one hg i still enjoy. 

It’s an interesting thing when being part of a fandom starts to feel like a chore. Like, yes, you do this for entertainment purposes and could stop at any point when it stops being fun for you - but you do also create a community around you and half the fun is that community interaction and it’s harder to let go of that. Because you can’t generally pack that whole community up and take them to another show or experience with you. 

Another fan experience that was a let-down this summer was Veronica Mars. I won’t post any spoilers in case there is anyone out there yet who wants to watch S4 unspoiled and has yet to find out what happened, but suffice to say I am not pleased. 

I did enjoy most of the series right up until the ending. I know a lot of people are upset about other things that happened, but I can defend or at least explain most of that based on what the show and the characters have always been. But that ending. Wow. I am still recovering. And not at all interested in a season 5 or really anything else that Rob Thomas might want to work on in the future. He’s really ruined any fan goodwill he had in my eyes. 

Other TV shows I’ve been enjoying this summer: 

The 100 delivered another fascinating season. I know the show is problematic in a number of ways, but it still has such wonderful characters with incredible arcs of growth and struggle and learning to overcome together. The plots get wilder and wilder, but whatever, I’m along for the ride. 

Agents of Shield was ... interesting. I don’t even know what to say about it anymore, tbh.

American Princess on Lifetime was a surprisingly fun new show - a NY socialite runs off on her wedding day and ends up at a Ren Faire, where she meets new friends and decides to stay and create a new life for herself. It’s charming, sweet, romantic, funny, and fun for any found family fans. 

BH90210′s pilot episode cracked me tf up. I kind of can’t believe the cast is going along with this satirical version of playing themselves trying to get a reboot of the original show going. It’s soapy and campy and so delightfully weird, while also being nostalgic. Can’t wait to see what they do with it. (Also I miss Luke Perry enormously)

Elementary has one episode left and I will be very sad when the story is complete, but happy for everyone involved for having been part of such a unique spin on Sherlock Holmes in such a successful way.

Euphoria season one was an intense emotional process, watching teens and their families struggle with addiction, violence, abusive relationships, sexual discoveries, gender navigation, mental illness, and so much more. Also just a visually stunning show. 

Grand Hotel is a fun soapy new show that I am enjoying very much. Classic soap tropes, a largely Latinx cast, a lesbian main character, and lots of eye candy.

Jane the Virgin put out a wonderful final season and series finale. I laughed. I cried. I was very satisfied. 

Killjoys has started up it’s final season. I’m loving it, but I also wanna cling to it and scream “no! don’t go!” 

Pandora is a new show on the CW, which is interesting. Futuristic space academy featuring a clone, a mind reader, an augmented human, an alien from a planet we were recently at war with, and Pandora herself who has some kinda mystery surrounding her and the recent death of her parents. Lots of political intrigue and conspiracy, with episodic plots that the young adults uncover together each week, and just about every sci-fi trope you could think of being covered. 

Trinkets on Netflix was a cute lil show about teenage girls in a shoplifting support group. It was a really genuine look at the highs and lows of female friendship at that age. 

In other TV watching news, I finally got all of the Northern Exposure DVDs and am doing a long-awaited re-watch of my all-time favorite show. I’m on the second season. 

In addition to completing that DVD collection, I also completed collecting all of the Realm of the Eldering books (yay birthday money!) and am doing my re-read of those. It’s going to take me a long time, because my re-reading gets done while attempting to fall asleep and also when I wake up trying to get back to sleep, so depending on how the insomnia is going, it could be anywhere from a couple of paragraphs to maybe 50 pages tops per night and RotE is a looooot of books. I’m still on the first novel now. 

That also means, I am taking a little break from my otherwise-continual Raven Cycle re-reading lol. 

Other stuff I’ve been reading - started the Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire, finished Tamora Pierce’s Emelan series (although I think she’s writing one more of those yet), and got caught up on Patricia Brigg’s Mercyverse series. Then, since I’m caught up on all the series I’m reading (other than Wayward Children since I just started it), I went and put a crapton of new books on my library hold list - some of which are the first books in series themselves. So here we go! 

And of course, I’ve been playing lots of Sims. Love love loving the Island Living expansion pack. The mermaids are so much fun, as is swimming and boating in the ocean, other beach activities, and just living in a more communal setting (people show up to help put out fires, bring food over randomly, fix things that are broken, etc.). I definitely won’t tire of the stuff in this pack before the next new pack comes out, which I imagine will be sometime late this fall or early winter, if they go according to the usual schedule. 

Guess that’s all for now. Might do some more specific VMars meta at some point, once I get my thoughts and feelings more collected. IDK. This post is so all over the place I’m not sure if I’m gonna tag it with any specific fandom or media. 

[marginalgloss]

the shaded hollows

‘To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement. The sensation may be caused by the panoramic glide of the stars past earthly objects, which is perceptible in a few minutes of stillness, or by the better outlook upon space that a hill affords, or by the wind, or by the solitude; but whatever be its origin, the impression of riding along is vivid and abiding. The poetry of motion is a phrase much in use, and to enjoy the epic form of that gratification it is necessary to stand on a hill at a small hour of the night, and, having first expanded with a sense of difference from the mass of civilised mankind, who are dreamwrapt and disregardful of all such proceedings at this time, long and quietly watch your stately progress through the stars. After such a nocturnal reconnoitre it is hard to get back to earth, and to believe that the consciousness of such majestic speeding is derived from a tiny human frame.’

I read another Thomas Hardy novel, not long after my first. I can’t be entirely sure why — I liked The Mayor of Casterbridge quite a bit, but it wasn’t the kind of book that instantly promotes its author to a top ranking in my mind. I think it might suffice to say that I enjoyed the feeling of reading it more than I thought it was an exceptional novel. I’ve now read Far From the Madding Crowd, however, which has probably cured me of my past notion, because I enjoyed it a good deal less. 

The plot is, like most over-encumbered stories, best summarised quickly. Bathsheba Everdeen is a local woman who has come into the ownership of her own farm; Gabriel Oak is a well-read young shepherd with ambitions towards independence; Boldwood is a wealthy local farmer. After certain misunderstandings and outpourings a love triangle of sorts emerges between these three, and is interrupted by the shameless figure of Captain Troy, a dashing and not infrequently ridiculous officer in the army. Bathsheba falls for Troy, but he is cruel and stupid, and he has secrets that threaten to destroy them both. 

It is a book of fine moments that barely cohere as a single narrative. I suppose it works best considered in the context of how it was originally published: as an episodic drama, not unlike a modern TV series. In that way the stark tonal shifts and shapeless plot seem to make a kind of sense. I don’t call it ‘shapeless’ only to denigrate it — I mean it only in the sense that it has no direction, drive, or symmetry. It wanders; there is no hero and heroine, really, and there is certainly no quest, no particular beginning or end to the tale told here. It might end with a marriage but it is hardly a romantic one, even though this book is somehow celebrated as a love story. 

A certain sense of plotlessness, or pointlessness, is certainly part of the point, as when Captain Troy comes to realise that he is perhaps not the protagonist of his own life:

‘He had not minded the peculiarities of his birth, the vicissitudes of his life, the meteor-like uncertainty of all that related to him, because these appertained to the hero of his story, without whom there would have been no story at all for him; and it seemed to be only in the nature of things that matters would right themselves at some proper date and wind up well. This very morning the illusion completed its disappearance, and, as it were, all of a sudden, Troy hated himself. The suddenness was probably more apparent than real. A coral reef which just comes short of the ocean surface is no more to the horizon than if it had never been begun, and the mere finishing stroke is what often appears to create an event which has long been potentially an accomplished thing.’

Some of this book is barely readable. It is too long, and the last fifth or so goes off the rails entirely. It is frequently boring: there are winding sections of dialogue here which add next to nothing to the story. Bathsheba is a compelling figure haunted by a dismal spectre of authorial misogyny, while Gabriel Oak’s goodness is creaking in its contrivance. He is allowed to be both worldly and wise, to be smart and self-sufficient, and to cap it all, a human being in need of affection; Bathsheba cannot have half as much as he without floundering, always hampered by some weakness conveniently assigned to her gender.

And yet there are moments of startling brilliance here. The gap between Hardy at his worst and at his best is perhaps greater than in any other author I know. His descriptive writing, whether it touches the consciousness of his characters or the landscape of Wessex, is frequently stunning. There’s a startling beauty in his throwaway lines, like the description of Bathsheba’s hair, ‘…black in the shaded hollows of its mass’. The range of his style is remarkable: at times he comes across as an early literary impressionist, at others an even earlier modernist. One could take a quirky little passage like this and transplant it directly into Ulysses with no adjusting: 

‘We turn our attention to the left-hand characteristics; which were flatness in respect of the river, verticality in respect of the wall behind it, and darkness as to both. These features made up the mass. If anything could be darker than the sky, it was the wall, and if any thing could be gloomier than the wall it was the river beneath. The indistinct summit of the facade was notched and pronged by chimneys here and there, and upon its face were faintly signified the oblong shapes of windows, though only in the upper part. Below, down to the water's edge, the flat was unbroken by hole or projection.’

At times there is almost a surfeit of style. The omniscient narrator’s mannerisms are occasionally overbearing in their verbosity. The sudden dashes between high and low registers of language seem intended to mimic Shakespeare, in their quality of making a dramatic address to the reader that iterates as it explains. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it is pleasantly droll, as when the narrator describes the fate of a dog who drove a quantity of sheep to their demise through over-enthusiastic chasing:

‘George’s son had done his work so thoroughly that he was considered too good a workman to live, and was, in fact, taken and tragically shot at twelve o'clock that same day—another instance of the untoward fate which so often attends dogs and other philosophers who follow out a train of reasoning to its logical conclusion, and attempt perfectly consistent conduct in a world made up so largely of compromise.’

Sometimes the only way to explain something is to really explain it, and so when Hardy puts on his lecturer’s hat and taps his lectern, you have to listen. The writing in the passage below is airy, abstracted, distant, and it could even be called emotionally detached by today’s standards, but the shape of the syllables and the cascading sub-clauses have a rhythm that suggests an intellect possessed by a greater music — precisely how Boldwood feels:

‘The great aids to idealisation in love were present here: occasional observation of her from a distance, and the absence of social intercourse with her—visual familiarity, oral strangeness. The smaller human elements were kept out of sight; the pettinesses that enter so largely into all earthly living and doing were disguised by the accident of lover and loved-one not being on visiting terms; and there was hardly awakened a thought in Boldwood that sorry household realities appertained to her, or that she, like all others, had moments of commonplace, when to be least plainly seen was to be most prettily remembered. Thus a mild sort of apotheosis took place in his fancy, whilst she still lived and breathed within his own horizon, a troubled creature like himself.’

And yet sometimes I still think Hardy is at his best when he hits you like a bullet: 

‘When Bathsheba's figure shone upon the farmer's eyes it lighted him up as the moon lights up a great tower.’

[patricksilvrrozartistry]

Current Music Obsessions: December 1 - 16, 2018

I'm a bit late on posting this, but better late than never. I didn't listen to too much stuff this first half of December since I've been busy with life and also listening to and finishing my list of new releases (which the top 10 favorite albums post will come out either on the 23rd or 26th). But enough of that, let's see the honorable mentions.

Within the Ruins - Resurgence Sylvaine - Severance Helalyn Flowers - When it is Not Black Enough Meg Myers - Tear Me to Pieces Shattered Skies - Fall from Grace TroubleMe - Шрами Tragodia - A Temple in Time Enemy Inside - Halo Aesma Daeva - The Loon I:Scintilla - Human Conception - Into the Wild Conception - My Dark Symphony In the Woods... - Empty Streets Northward - Drifting Islands feat. Irene Jansen (Floor's sister) Northward - Northward Phuture Doom - Doom Terror Corps Circus of Fools - Smile Baby, Chelsea Smile feat. Antoine Marionette

And now for the main obsessions.

Heart of a Coward - Hollow

This song randomly got stuck in my head one day and I wound up rekindling my love for it. It's a pretty djenty death metal-ish track. I remember hearing it on Music Choice one day a few years ago and really digging it back then and I still do today. I need to check out the metal station on MC again, but I know I'll still not like majority of the stuff on there.

Enemy Inside - Falling Away

After falling in love with Lullaby, I had to check out the Phoenix album. It's such an epic album and was a close contender for my top 10 favorites of the year list. This track has such a cool flow to it that I really dig. And I love Natassja's orange eye makeup in one scene in the video. Definitely an awesome track that packs quite the punch.

Doorway to Salvation feat. Georg Neuhauser (Serenity, Phantasma)

Got another song from these guys. This and Lullaby are definitely my favorites off the album. Natassja and Georg's voices go so well together. I'm already a sucker for his voice because that lower register just makes my bussy quiver, but both of them singing together is perfection. It's such a gorgeous track and I absolutely recommend you guys check it out.

Sylvaine - Worlds Collide

This song is so pretty. It's so peaceful and lovely. A perfect song to just chill to. The vibe of it just seems like one of those songs that would be perfect to listen to on one of those days when you're just not feeling it or when it's raining outside.

Décembre Noir - Barricades

Found this song through their record label and really loved it. It's a wonderful death-doom track. The singer's cleans are absolutely gorgeous and I wished he used them more in the way he does on this track on the rest of the Autumn Kings album. That aside, I really love this track. The power and the production are absolutely wonderful.

Progenie Terrestre Pura - Toward a Distant Moon

I'm honestly surprised by how much I really dig these guys. I'm genereally not into this style of black/death metal, but I really like these guys so far. The aggressive riffs and overall vibe really contrasts against the transitions into ambient parts of their music, and that work is really present on this track and I love it. I also really dig the slight symphonic elements on this track.

Cupcakke - Dangled

This is her latest single and it's so bomb. I really love her more serious tracks like this. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE tracks like Duck Duck Goose, but homegirl really knows how to talk about life and things that really matter. It's a new dream of mine to see her live and to possibly even meet her one day. She's such an icon, especially for us queer folk.

Meg Myers - Take Me to the Disco

Just like Progenie Terrestre Pura, this is another artist I wasn't expecting to love as much as I do. This song is so different from Jelous Sea and Numb, but it still fits in with her brand. It's so chill and pretty, but there's this slight sense of melancholy to it that I really love. I'm a sucker for sad music. I keep finding myself humming the tune and singing the chorus throughout the day. It's so lovely.

The Great Discord - Army of Me (Bjork cover)

I was so excited when they started teasing a new song, but I wasn't expecting this. Army of Me is such an iconic Bjork song, so for them to cover it is such a bold choice, but that wasn't the only bold choice they made with this. They went on a full on industrial kick with this track. It suits the track so well, but I wonder how it would've sounded in their typical progressive metal sound, just simply out of curiosity. Anyways, I love this cover so much.

Starkill - Evil Inside

They did that. They fucking did that. This is a perfect single for them. Shows off every member's talents. I was beyond shocked when I heard Sarah screaming on this track. I wasn't expecting it. She keeps proving to be an epic more and more with each new track. And again, this track sounds the way Shadow Sleep should've sounded. The production is amazing.

The Hardkiss - Complicity

One of the big reasons why I absolutely adore these guys is the fact that even though they are a progressive pop/rock band, they aren't afraid to teeter alond the lines of metal, and this track definitely shows that off. I love it when they get like this. They just keep getting better and better with each album. I wonder when they're gonna drop a fullblown metal album. I'm so down for that. Anyways, go check this amazing track out.

Lighthouse in Darkness - Photography of a Ghost

They finally have a new single out and it is everything. Helen's voice is absolutely stunning here. I love how she sings in her lower register so much with this project so far. Also I'm so shocked by the operatic vocals in this track. If that's her, gurl. So much yes. I can't wait for the album to drop early next year. Flowing Tears will always be amazing to look back on, but I think this might be Helen's best work.

Kambrium - Ghost Shaman

I found this track through Unknown Power Metal on YT and I must say, I was shocked to hear something like this. You don't hear that many power metal bands that blend death metal into their music and it actually turn out great. The flow and energy in this track are epic. It's definitely a powerhouse of a track.

Within Temptation - Raise Your Banner feat. Anders Friden (In Flames)

THIS. THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR. It feels like it's been so long since these guys released a track with so much raw emotion. And the music video is everything. I can't wait for Resist to drop. Even though the power and rawness of the song are the main reasons why I love this song, I also love how relevant this track is today. Stand up against the oppressors and fight for freedom.

öOoOoOoOoOo - Rules of the Show

I got to listening to Samen again recently and wound up falling in love with this track. Chenille are one of the weirdest bands out there all thanks to Asphodel being the insane lady she is. This song is definitely the epitome of avant-garde metal, but holy tits is it weird. Like I said, Asphodel is a weirdo, but that weirdness gives birth to amazing shit like this.

Kalidia - Circe's Spell

I'm not into a lot of their music since it's too much on the power metal side a lot of times, but they also have amazing tracks like this that I absolutely love. I love the oriental vibe of the track. This track shows off Nicoletta's vocal range so well. She has such a good range and a wonderful voice.

Viktoria Modesta - Prototype

I found this track while listening to Kerli one day and holy shit was I blown away. I didn't know what to expect when going into this, but I for damn sure wasn't expecting that. This song goes off in the beat department. It's one of those tracks where you absolutely need to put your headphones in and blast it. Also, the video is divine. I love visual videos so much.

The 3rd and the Mortal - Ring of Fire

I decided to listen to Kari's old band after listening to her solo stuff one day and came across this song. It's so lovely. I kinda wish she would make doom metal these days, but the shoegazey experimental folk music will suffice. This track is so lovely and haunting. So good.

Beast in Black - Sweet True Lies

The 80's cheese is real with this one, especially with the video. The video is everything. These guys are definitely one of the few heavy metal bands I like and it's all because of the cheese and Yannis' powerful voice and range. I can't get enough of it. This song is just so good and beyond cheesy.

And that's it for the first half of December. The final installment of the year is just right around the corner. I wonder what's gonna be on it.

[veworalternative]

What is the best free editing software for youtube

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE FULL#

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE PRO#

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE SOFTWARE#

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE PROFESSIONAL#

If you’re a beginner, then I’d suggest that you use the free editing tools instead of spending a lot of money. Based on what you need, you can select the best editing tool and get started.

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE SOFTWARE#

The list includes software and apps that can be used for basic as well as powerful video editing.

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE FULL#

The full pro-version of Hitfilm Express is expensive, but you can use the free version and add additional features for $10 to $20 each. It has a bunch of features, and an easy-to-use interface that should make video editing fun. The Hitfilm Express is a great video editing app that you can use to create YouTube videos with ease. Yet another slim version of a powerful video editing tool. Price: $39.00 per year (Special Offer Price. Although you won’t find many advanced options, AVS is an excellent tool that simplifies and streamlines the video editing process. It also supports features like in-app voice-over recording, picture-in-picture, titles, and a DVD menu creator. AVS also has over 300 innovative effects, transitions, and overlays to make your video stand out.įurther, you can process video in any resolution such as HD, Full HD, 2K Quad HD, 4K Ultra HD, and DCI 4K. Then, let your creative juices flow as you trim, cut, split, merge, rotate, and mix clips to get the desired result. You can import media, capture footage from an attached camera, or record your desktop screen. It supports all the usual formats you could possibly deal with, such as MP4, DVD, AVI, MOV, VOB, WMV, MKV, WEBM, etc. The straightforward, intuitive interface guides you in trying all the options step-by-step. Suffice it to say, this software is probably the most affordable, professionally viable product on this list, since the Adobe Creative Cloud monthly fee starts to add up over time.AVS is a super easy-to-use video editing software for Windows. It also comes with some really powerful codecs and formats, including Apple’s high fidelity Prores format.

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE PRO#

Final Cut Pro does come with some nice motion graphic templates, however, and includes all the video, audio, and graphical features you need to create a professional, polished video in a single program.įinal Cut Pro is a great software for cutting together gaming montages or commentaries, since it includes so many bells and whistles that can up the production quality of a video in just a few clicks. The biggest difference between the two programs is that Final Cut Pro has fewer effect options overall, and doesn’t dynamically link with other editing programs like Adobe does. Final Cut Pro is an all-inclusive editing suite, similar in style and options to Adobe Premiere Pro. This is an awesome feature for gamers in particular, since gaming montages and videos often features eye-catching effects that aren’t typically available in the editing program itself, but are available in After Effects.įor the rare gamer who prefers to use MacOS computers, you can access Final Cut Pro on your Mac computer for a flat, one time fee of $299. On top of that, if you do invest in the full Adobe Creative Cloud suite, Premiere Pro can link with other programs like After Effects or Adobe Audition, allowing you to create visually impressive titles and animations for your video, which are automatically loaded into your Premiere project file. Like any technical program, there is a bit of a learning curve, but once you master Premiere, it is a powerful piece of software which can create stunning visual effects, link audio and video tracks automatically, and comes with a host of other valuable time-saving features.

#WHAT IS THE BEST FREE EDITING SOFTWARE FOR YOUTUBE PROFESSIONAL#

Premiere Pro is utilized by professional editors every single day to create content ranging from YouTube videos to feature-length films. Although Adobe Premiere Pro is not cheap, it is probably the best video editing software available to the average consumer.

[paintingdublin]

Kitchen Cabinet Painting Tips

Gone are the days when houses feature kitchen cabinets in their natural colour. Nowadays, decorators and homeowners prefer them painted.

Browse Instagram and you’ll know what we mean – kitchen cabinets from all over the world in various colours – greige, blue, olive greens and black, to name but a few.

However, simply painting your kitchen cabinet is not enough. You need to ensure that the task is done properly for you to reap the benefits of this project.

Below are some expert tips on how you can have beautiful cabinetry that can surely enhance the overall look of your kitchen.

Do Not Give Amateurs the Kitchen Cabinet Painting Job

Like many homeowners, you surely want to keep your renovation expense low. So, you might think of letting amateurs instead of professional painters work on your cabinets. But this decision might cost you more in the long run.

Remember:

The goal is not just to give your cabinets a fresh coat of paint but to make them look stunning. This means that the paint job should be impeccable and durable. There should not be uneven coats, drips and runs, bubbles and cracks.

Amateur painters cannot guarantee a flawless paint finish as delivering this kind of output requires specific techniques and skills.

These know-how and skillset are not learned and developed just by simply watching painting tutorial videos. They are acquired and perfected after years of training and practice – something that professional painters have done.

Suffice to say, if you decide to let amateurs paint your cabinetry and end up with an unattractive finish, you are going to be forced to spend again to get the result you want.

So, it is best to hire professionals for your kitchen cabinet painting project. Their fees may be higher than amateurs, but you can be certain about getting your money’s worth.

Kitchen Cabinet Painting – Choose the Right Colour

The success of this project does not just hinge on the quality of the paint job but also the colour of the cabinets.

Admittedly, choosing the right tones is not an easy task. Many homeowners get overwhelmed with the numerous options available, and you may end up feeling the same way.

How do you go about this task? How do you ensure that you choose the right colour?

First, you have to keep in mind that this is not just about what you want, your favourite colour or the current trend. It is all about what your kitchen needs.

To put simply, your chosen colour should complement the tones in the room as well as its design.

You can use the colour family of permanent fixtures like your backsplash or countertop as your reference.

Experts recommend that you look at your backsplash first as it is on the same vertical plane as the cabinets. Hence, they are more visually connected than the countertop and as such, they should have a cohesive look.

The general rule of thumb is to use cool hues like green, grey or blue if the backsplash has cool tones. Meanwhile, go for warm hues like brown, yellow or off-white if your backsplash has warm colours

Prep Work First Before the Actual Kitchen Cabinet Painting

If you decide to paint the cabinets yourself, make sure you do the necessary prep work.

Many DIYers and amateur painters skip this step because they think it isn’t important. This is a big mistake, one that you should not commit if you want to have a professional-looking and durable paint job.

Just like walls, cabinets need to be cleaned before they are painted on. Since they are located in the kitchen, these cabinets most likely have grease and stains on them. Painting without cleaning the surface results in paint adherence.

Removing cabinet doors, drawers and hardware like handles and hinges are part of the prep work for this kind of project. Taking off these parts can make it easier for you to work on your cabinets. This should be done before you start cleaning or sanding.

When you disassemble the cabinet, make sure you label all the parts you removed. Doing this is going to make it easier for you to put them back together when you finish the task.

Another important thing you need to do is to cover all immovable items in your kitchen like appliances as well as the backsplash and countertop to protect them from paint drips and splatters.

When done right, painting your cabinetry can make your kitchen look and feel new. All you have to do is to hire professional painters and choose a colour that complements your kitchen features. Meanwhile, if you want to go the DIY route, make sure you do the prep work to achieve an impressive finish.

Planning to paint your kitchen cabinet? Let us do the job! Our painters have the experience and tools needed to complete this project quickly without compromising quality. Call us now on 086 608 1817 / 085 139 0233 or visit our website to get a quote!

[theseadagiodays]

April 27, 2020

Art Became the Oxygen

It is true that artists, many of whom rely on public gatherings for their livelihood, are some of the hardest hit during this crisis.  Yet, it’s musicians who are toiling away in basements to serenade us through isolated days.  It’s comedic actors who are offering us essential nighttime laughs.  And it’s visual artists who make meaning from this madness with images that inspire, console and provoke.  The individuals of the creative community are like the unsung frontline workers of this pandemic, only without any salary to support their craft, or a 7 pm cheer to motivate them.  Yet still, they make things because they must, just as artists have done since the beginning of history, particularly in times of strife. (SEE: https://usdac.us/news-long/2017/8/9/art-became-the-oxygen-free-artistic-response-guide-available-now)

In previous periods of economic hardship, the US government responded with forward-thinking programs like the WPA (Works Progress Administration) of Roosevelt’s New Deal (1935 to 1943).  It was designed not only to fund huge infrastructure projects, but also to employ thousands of artists, musicians, writers, and theatre performers to stimulate the economy.  Legacies of this program include Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God; Jackson Pollack’s Composition with Pouring; and Mark Rothko’s earlier urban studies like Entrance to Subway, where you can see the seeds of his famous color studies from later work.

After natural disasters, senseless violence or war, artist activists have also rushed to the front lines, time and again, to help rebuild communities by activating their social imaginations and stimulating their civic agency with creative collaborations.  

Philippe Thiese gathered digital stories of Hurricane Sandy volunteers in this short film: https://www.sandystoryline.com/stories/sandy-volunteers-remember-the-storm-and-explain-how-they-got-involved/.  

The siblings of Eric Garner, a young African-American man killed by unjust police violence in 2014, came together in grief to write the song, I Can’t Breathe,based on his harrowing last words.  Their music served as a rallying cry to a community berieved and betrayed by their law enforcement: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eric-garners-family-drops-moving-new-song-i-cant-breathe-192574/

And when a 2011 tornado took 161 lives in the small town of Joplin, Missouri, mural artist Dave Loewenstein asked kids about their dreams for the future of their town, resulting in this stunning piece, The Butterfly Effect.

So, in the great hope that we’ll kick this virus’ butt, and we will be left with a glut of ventilators, how about we use them to revive our society’s artists, since they are the vital oxygen that feed our souls.  

In Vancouver, we are already lucky enough to have our City government responding with funding for the Murals for Hope project (#makeartwhileapart), which is transforming solemn, boarded-up shops and restaurants into colorful and encouraging messages that can help sustain us until their doors reopen again.

Geoff and I are also trying to do our small part to stimulate the creative economy, while beautifying our home in the process.  We are very excited to have just commissioned a mural artist to spruce up our tiny backyard space, which we’re transforming from a gravel parking spot into our own tropical oasis.  Here are some inspirational images as well as a shot of the yard in its current state. And hopefully, I can post the finished product, which will be painted onto the rotting fence, in a couple of weeks.

April 28, 2020

Art of Relationship

This period is not just requiring us to get creative with keyboards and canvases and cameras.  It is forcing us to re-examine the very patterns that make up our daily lives and fit them all inside the same four walls with the same self, spouse, and/or kids, 24/7.  Suffice it to say, this is no small task.  But, if any of you are like me, the grand solutions have sometimes involved tiny changes.    

Personally, my greatest challenge has been to find ways to carve out slivers of shared pleasure amidst my partner’s insanely stressful, often 13-hour work day, now that the pandemic has his team at our local transit authority in serious crisis mode.  Of course, I’m a firm believer in hard-work.  The pursuit of a classical musician requires many years of 5+ hours-a-day of practice.  But I’m also a fun-lover, and a huge proponent of life/work balance, particularly having had to learn this the hard way, thru a chronic overuse injury.  So, for me, Geoff’s manic schedule during the first month of isolation seemed far from optimal. And while this was especially difficult for him, it compromised joy for both of us.  

Seeking guidance as we adapted to the new normal, we found a great online series by Esther Perel, whose regular podcast, Where Should We Begin? always leaves us with sound, simple dance steps that we can apply to the Art of Relationship.  Here, she has created a 4-part series that specifically addresses problems which co-habitators might face in our current reality.  https://events.estherperel.com/april-2020-webinar-resources/?fbclid=IwAR0kRHkuQvEGxcpNuHvPKmmExamZ2Jj_EMZzR-zGp8eDejCR94hE-ZvGYjY

Inspired by her wisdom, we decided that the 7:30 am meetings, which had been occupying our kitchen and bleeding into our morning coffees, every day, could be skipped for a 15-minute walk thru our neighborhood park.  And, let me tell you, what a difference a quarter of an hour can make!  

April 29, 2020

Finding Variety in Repetition

It occurred to me, the other morning, that this experience feels a bit like fasting.  Since college, I’ve routinely devoted a week, every spring, to some kind of dietary shift, for my general health, and as a general mindfulness exercise.   While I’ve tried versions of the Wild Rose and other popular cleanses with some benefit, the method recommended in Staying Healthy with the Seasons has always suited me best. It requires you to slowly wean off many foods (meat/fish, then sugar/alcohol/coffee, then dairy), gradually move to only liquids, eventually evolve to a middle day of just water, and then similarly reintroduce each food gradually.    What I’ve loved about this approach is how much more aware of my cravings I become, how much I notice the “manufacturing of consent” that happens all around me to inspire my “wants”, and finally how various symptoms are suddenly absent once I’ve eliminated certain foods.  Consequently, the slow reintroduction of foods allows me to notice, in much more specific detail, which foods stimulate which responses in my body (IE. huge bursts of energy from fruit; afternoon crashes from sugar; indigestion from soy; sustenance from bread and pasta - NOTE: Contrary to the wheat-vilifying trends that currently prevail, I typically thrive on an anti-Atkins diet, as someone who reaps tremendous fuel from carbs).  

The parallels we are experiencing now relate to the stimuli that we’ve been “denied” by our self-isolating reality.   Speaking for myself, instead of travelling frequently, as I often do, or eating at different restaurants every week, or working at a different café every day to switch up the creative energy around me, I have had, like everyone else, to learn to find sustenance and interest in a much less diverse set of circumstances.  I am eating at Chez Me three meals a day.  We are grinding our own beans and whipping up our own daily lattes.  And most all of our daily walks and bike rides now start from our home.  

But even within the boundaries that we can reach from the nexus of our own address, we have been able to slowly expand our radius of exploration to corners of our city that we had never seen before.  This has felt a bit like switching to a vegetarian diet and gaining new appreciation for the crunchiness of a snap pea, or the filling nature of a portabello mushroom.  

In these explorations, we have discovered infinite surprises which include a cliffside view of the Fraser River from Everett Crowley Park (top image), an old landfill-turned-lush green space in Vancouver’s southeastern-most quadrant.  We’ve seen old growth forest that we had no idea existed so many kilometres from the shore, in Burnaby’s Central Park on our city’s eastern border.  I’ve spotted my first-ever fisher (weasel) sneaking around beachside boulders on the northern edge of the city.  And closer to home, I’ve noticed the whimsy of our neighbors’ gardens in far greater detail than I had ever looked before (as in the Gaudiesque, smiley-face hedge pictured above).  Our ventures from home have been guided by little more than our edict to “follow the pink”, as in the most blossoming streets.  And to document these journeys, I’ve been mapping the various routes we’ve taken.  Interestingly, the trajectory somewhat resembles a many-petaled flower.

Looking for minute changes in what seem to be patterns of sameness is also the secret to one of my favorite movements in music and design: Minimalism. Perhaps this is why Max Richter and Steve Reich have become the soundtrack I’ve turned to most during the pandemic.  Because their music trains our brains to find beauty in repetition while seeking excitement from the subtlest nuanced shifts.  

Meanwhile, I know that many of us would love for there to be a magic wand that could lift all of our restrictions over night and allow us to return to exactly “the way it was before”, in the same way that I long for a mocha frappuccino when I fast.  However, what we have been hearing from our leaders is that the more likely and safe choice will be to move into a gradual re-opening of our cities - a slow reintroduction of certain freedoms.  So, the lessons we can learn from fasting and Phillip Glass ought to prove very useful as we try to be patient and appreciative of this prudent approach.   Then, once we begin to shop and drive and socialize more, perhaps this perspective can allow us to also more clearly notice how we respond to each stimuli as we re-engage with it, And hopefully it will inform a new normal that can be more sensible and moderate and in harmony with this planet that we call home.

And, in case you’re curious to listen to a little minimalist fare...

Notice how welcomed the first chord change is in Max Richter’s Catalogue of Afternoons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubjylmxrj9o

Or drape yourself in his hypnotic music like a warm duvet with his 8-hour lullaby, Sleep: https://open.spotify.com/album/0JLN7JryQ2T7lBEYIrSQF1

And for a mind trip of the eyes and ears, try Steve Reich’s Piano Phase on marimbas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3QoM7dgs_0

April 30, 2020

Film Festivals for free

Pahokee, at this year’s live-streamed Vancouver International Film Festival

Done wondering if Carol Baskin killed her husband?  Couldn’t care less if Giannini and Damian actually ever get married? Well, for those who’ve exhausted the Netflix catalogue, there are plenty of other ways to enjoy film from your home. Lots of festivals have generously uploaded their content online.  So, whether it’s mountain adventure, short films, foreign movies, or arthouse you’re looking for, here are some easy ways to link to those that are totally free:

Banff Mountain Film Festival - https://www.banffcentre.ca/film-fest-at-home

Cannes, Sundance, Tribeca, Toronto, Venice, Berlin and others have collaborated to bring an awesome line-up of livestream videos to the world in their 10-day We Are One Festival, starting on May 29th.  While the festival will stream for free, viewers will be asked to donate to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 solidarity response fund.

If you happen to remain gainfully employed, and it’s important to you to keep supporting independent film making, Vancouver International Film Festival has created a rental-fee structure for a number of films that they’ve now made available for streaming, too: https://viff.org/Online/default.asp

And Sedona Film Festival has done the same - https://sedonafilmfestival.com/mdfhome/

May 1, 2020

Boredom Killers: Ping-pong, birthday song, and Magritte gong wrong

Combing the internet for creative inspiration that I can share with readers has truly been a joy.   It’s also got our own creative jucies flowing.  So today, I thought I’d post just a few of the ways we’ve staved off boredom over these past weeks.

Tennis is one of our true passions.  It’s actually sort of how Geoff and my relationship began.  Given that we didn’t want our paddle skills to get too rusty, we didn’t let the fact that our little laneway house couldn’t fit a ping pong table stop us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kait-zCV94s

Coming from a huge birthday-celebrating family, I’ve tried to make sure that friends with birthdays during quarantine could still feel pampered on their special day.  So, 6 of us put together this silly ditty for our good friend Roger: https://youtu.be/EZKyrdOlvPk

And, we’ve jumped on the art replication bandwagon too.  The Met & the Getty Museum have both followed the lead of the Dutch gallery that first initiated the Instagram art challenge which asks people to recreate famous pieces of art with only 3 objects from their home. https://www.instagram.com/tussenkunstenquarantaine/

Here’s Geoff and my attempt with Magritte’s Lovers. The challenge also asks for participants to create new titles, so this is ours, Kissing Strategy for Stay-at-home Lazy Toothbrushers.

[itsworn]

1926 Ford Pickup: You Find 426 SOHC Ford Motors in the Most Unlikely Places

Since you were a child you’ve probably heard the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That thought could not be more true when you first walk up to Larry Birdsong’s Model T pickup; 1926 to be accurate.

First impressions are important, but here the closer you look the more you’ll find and, like falling down the rabbit hole, you’ll soon have your mind completely blown. This “book” might appear about as simple as you might get on the outside, but get beneath that perfect black body and it’s like you’ve popped a side panel off an Apollo rocket; you’re just not prepared and you definitely can’t comprehend what you’re looking at.

Larry Birdsong is a retired aerospace machine shop manager and mechanical engineer, a job where he created jigs and fixtures for military applications and worked as a CAD machinist. At 70 years old, Larry has liked Model T trucks since he was 14 when he used to draw pictures of them. It was something about the silhouette he liked, like how the bed would overhang past the fenders.

Living in Prescott Valley, Arizona, Larry spent the last 17 years perfecting his little black truck (time that doesn’t include years’ worth of design study), debuting it at the Detroit Autorama. It was so subtle in its initial appearance not a lot of people stopped to look at it. At first glance and with its hood sides off, it appeared like someone had somehow added an SOHC head to a polished four-cylinder engine but, the more you looked and tried to figure out what you were looking at, the further down the rabbit hole you fell.

Suffice it to say no one we saw looking at the engine configuration could figure it out. That’s because no one had ever heard of someone leaning a complete 427 SOHC motor over 40 degrees, which tucked the passenger-side head just under the framerail and out of view. Then you notice there’s a big blower (canted the same angle as the engine), and there are two sets of downdraft Autolite carbs up top, fixed to a one-off manifold that mounts them upright, working as they were designed. And all this motor fits inside this Model T’s engine compartment with the hood sides in place with nary a single bolt sticking out!

Fabrication on the project started with Larry combining parts of three Model T chassis to get the 106-inch wheelbase configuration he wanted. For a rear, Larry centered his design around a Frankland quick-change centersection (outfitted with a Detroit Locker and 31-spline axles) and converted it to independent rear suspension with full floater hubs, QA1 shocks, and an airbag suspension mounted forward of the halfshafts. For visual effect, Larry also mounted a transverse Model T spring—but it’s just to look at, it doesn’t actually work.

And for as complicated as the rest of the vehicle is, the front suspension is about the most intricate display of engineering we’ve ever seen. To the casual observer, it looks like Larry installed a drilled-out, 5-inch drop I-beam axle, but it’s actually much, much more than that. The axle, which Larry machined, is actually a three-piece unit that is the centerpiece of an ingenious independent front suspension system.

The entire design is best explained as being split into two separate but connected systems. The centersection of the axle can move vertically up and down as it’s connected to a scissor link that mounts behind the front crossmember.

Each of the outer sections of the axle has a pivot point on the axle, which looks like oversized boss for a batwing. The rear IFS pivot is located back on the frame where two radius rods jut forward (the outboard unit looking like a hairpin radius rod and an inboard rod looking like a split wishbone rod). The hairpin-type rod connects near the outboard end of the axle and the inboard rod connects behind the axle pivot point.

There are also two suspension links (inboard and outboard) with Heim ends that connect to a bellcrank that passes through the frame. Coilover shocks keep the wheel planted on the ground as each of the three axle sections can be going in different directions at different rates but all work together. A three-piece tie rod was also fab’d to work with the unique axle design.

A CPP master brake cylinder and booster was used (along with Ford F-100 brakes up front and Wilwood discs out back) and a Wilwood proportioning valve helps control the brake juice. Larry also added a Mustang II power rack-and-pinion unit, though he uses only one end to help push and pull the draglink to the left spindle. The truck rolls on BFGoodrich tires (225/50R-15 and 18 1/2-15) that wrap 15-inch Halibrand 6.5×14 wheels.

The main attraction on this rolling piece of artwork is, of course, the drivetrain, which is not only stunning with its list of parts but also how it was all laid out. Because Larry shoehorned the engine into the Model T frame, other considerations needed to be addressed, such as the relocation of the starter, using a jackshaft to drive the water pump (which was moved to the back of the motor), and a special-order AFCO twin fan setup for the radiator, which itself was moved to behind the cab.

The 1965 427 SOHC, machined and assembled by Larry at home, started with a 427 Ford NASCAR crank that he ground and indexed. The pistons are from Arias with Total Seal Rings and Larry honed the block for the blower pistons. Ford SOHC heads are equipped with 2.3- and 2.0-inch intakes and exhaust valves with Crane triple springs that work with a Crane camshaft and a set of owner-built roller rockers. Dialed in at 7.5:1, the motor is lubed with a Barns four-stage dry-sump oiling system.

Larry also fab’d his own intake manifold to mount to the top of the Littlefield 6-71 blower (with Teflon wipers) so the twin Ford Autolite inline carbs (with 1,425 cfm each) would sit parallel to the ground. A Vertex magneto supplies the spark through silver-stranded wires, and Larry also created his own headers from 2.5-inch black pipe and elbows. Exhaust dumps into 4-inch tubing that hides 2-foot-long mufflers inside each tube.

The transmission, assembled by Andy’s Trans Specialties, is a Ford C6 unit with six-spur planetaries, Kevlar band clutches, a TCI 3500 stall converter, and a manual valvebody. It sits offset from the frame’s centerline closer to the passenger side of the vehicle and is chain-driven off the back of the engine. The driveshaft, which angles back toward the middle of the frame, is fully enclosed in a finned chrome shell, and shifting starts with an owner-made shovel handle that connects to Hurst linkage on the trans.

Larry also turned his talents to customizing the body, which is comprised mostly of a closed-cab body, but with passenger car A-pillars, cowl, and doorskins from the beltline down. Model Ts were notoriously sparse, so to remove items such as door hinges and door handles or to add power windows (operated by moving the interior door handle) is a real trick. To challenge himself further, Larry also flush-fit the doors.

Though it appears mostly stock at first glance there have been body modifications that include extending the doors 3 inches as well as 3 inches in the cab. The front fenders were widened 4 inches (the rears were widened 4.5), the running boards were widened 2 inches, and the splash apron was lengthened 8 inches. And those familiar with Model Ts might find it interesting there are no bolts, screws, or rivets found anywhere on the truck’s exterior.

The hood was also hand-fabricated by Larry and made 2 inches longer than stock, and he also made his own stamp and die to create each louver one at a time, which were then welded in place. Much of the bed was fab’d, too, with the overall length shortened 3 inches after the fenders, and a full double-wall folding front gate (just behind the cab) hides access to the radiator, fuel tank, and oil reservoir tank (for the engine’s dry sump). To finish off the bed, Larry added faux marble slats between the bed slats.

Larry, along with Paul LaFortune of Empty Pockets Rod Shop, Scott Workman, and Greg and Cindy Sterkenberg of Coyote Custom all worked on prepping the truck’s body and parts before LaFortune and the Sterkenbergs painted everything PPG Black. Larry also says Jim Kruse was his “second pair of hands” during the assembly, because this truck was one giant jigsaw puzzle to figure out.

The truck’s overall concept Larry was working toward was to build what looked like a ’70s-era show car and is never more evident than with the pickup’s interior. The upholstery (by Mark Torgeson of Torg’s Upholstery in Prescott Valley, Arizona) over the owner-built bench seat is diamond-tufted red leather, the same material Torg’s used around the rest of the cab and door panels. A custom four-point chrome rollcage has also been installed and, if you look closely to the area of the roll bar’s “legs” nearest the dash, you’ll see three vertical slots on either side of the cage, which are vents for the Vintage Air AC/heat system Larry plumbed to run inside the tubing.

Larry also made stamps and dies for the door’s garnish moldings, and the windshield frame (which matches the slight curve of the windshield from side to side) has no visible bolts or rivets. Even the padded ultraleather sunvisor has no seams.

Larry made his own gauge insert for the dash, and it houses seven Stewart-Warner classic gauges. A Painless Performance Product wiring kit runs throughout the vehicle, which includes an Alpine-based stereo system, and the steering wheel follows the original full-circle wooden Model T design, but was downsized by Larry for better proportions. Faux marble slats are again used in the headliner, continuing the design from the truck bed.

Larry did pick up Best Engineered at the Detroit Autorama, which might be an understatement to those who really know what it took to not only figure out how to build this truck, but then go ahead and do it in your home garage. Larry says when he first found the truck that would become the base for this project it was “so ugly anything you could do to it would be an improvement.” Every square inch of his T (which he named “Lethal T”) was thought out, examined, and executed with an enormous amount of patience and talent, and the result of which is one of the most ingenious examples of hot rod building we’ve seen in a very long time. SRM

The post 1926 Ford Pickup: You Find 426 SOHC Ford Motors in the Most Unlikely Places appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1926-ford-pickup-find-426-sohc-ford-motor/ via IFTTT

[future-rp]

melody’s main dance, vocal, sub rap & visual sooah

dingbat group; acting, modeling  04 vocal / 02 rap / 14 dance

whorls of onyx cascaded down an alabaster frame as a twelve-year old hong sooah sat before the vanity in her dressing room; her mother taking a brush to the beloved strands she’d been blessed with at birth, releasing all of the tangles that had surfaced from tying each lock up into a bun before each weekend performance of a community production of tchaikovsy’s swan lake. it had been relevé dance studio’s first attempt at presenting all of korea with their young, up-and-coming talent, and after a rough bout of seemingly endless auditions, the extravagant daughter to a plastic surgeon and a former danseur was given the lead role, which would mark her maiden voyage as a prima ballerina in a beautiful piece of work. with those who loved and supported her forever offering sage guidance in the most perfect moments, the woman who birthed her leaned in after readying her hair and pressed a kiss upon her cheek, nuzzling upon her temple in hopes to quell the nerves that had begun to flutter about within her abdomen. she knew that after all of the arduous hours of practice she’d completed, and learning further from her father, she had earned her central spot on-stage, but there was a slight anxiety that nagged away at her; one that was relentlessly trying to inform her that she was only selected to portray the swan queen due to her family’s name, due to being the child of a recognized figure in the world of south korea’s ballet scene, but time and time again, she was told otherwise; told that her good fortune was based upon hard work, dedication, and how well she took direction.

after the run was successful, and many lauded her for her breathtaking lines and her emotional portrayal of the leading role, sooah began to receive offers from a few audience members that were in attendance whilst the show was live. captivated by her beauty and quite stunned by her talent, a few reputable entertainment companies invited her to audition for them, but at the time, she felt as if she was too inexperienced, and far too young to become a trainee, and truth be told, becoming an idol had never crossed her mind; her goal always being to travel about the world and dance until her body wouldn’t allow her to do so any longer. so, she remained on her path due north; never once stopping her motions toward becoming someone of her father’s caliber, someone to carry on the hong family name. so, as seasons began to change, and years faded from one into the other, she kept making improvements on herself, and by the time she turned nineteen, she’d become a recognizable face in seoul’s ever blossoming dance world. she had to put her studies aside for awhile in order to follow the flowered path leading her to her dreams, but it was undeniable that she was deserving of every golden opportunity passed her way. what wasn’t fair, though, was how she was treated by a majority of her peers. many of them were rife with envy at the attention that she was given, and would often spread hateful rumors about her: saying that she was sleeping with the ceo of the company, saying that her father is paying for her titular parts, saying that her mother has put her under the knife; all of which were untrue, but word of mouth could be powerful, and people began to look at her differently. it almost couldn’t be helped, and she was feeling the pressure tenfold.

all of the lies, and all of the slander, began to taint the once lily-white reputation that she had in the community, and when she was later cast as the principal role in relevé’s giselle, it only led to further speculation that favoritism was occurring within the once prestigious, highly respected company, and harsh criticism fell upon them seemingly overnight. sure, it wasn’t a widespread problem and didn’t garner national attention, but in the scope of those who adored the art of dance, particularly ballet, it rocked their world. so, instead of handling the situation gracefully and issuing a statement regarding the issue, the ceo and creative team decided to remove the once irreplaceable hong sooah from the role she’d worked for, and later, decided it best to work towards terminating her exclusive contract with them. they didn’t want heinous untruths to ruin their word, to besmirch their name, and although she understood their position, the young girl’s heart was shattered. it seemed as though all of her longings to travel, and most importantly, to dance, were thrown in the fire and being incinerated before her. due to unexpected halt, she fell into a deep, dooming depression, and found it hard to picture what her life would look like now. having not attended a university due to her pursuing a life in the arts, she didn’t have much to grasp onto. however, weeks later, after looking through an old backpack of her’s by chance, she stumbled upon a business card for a talent scout from dingbat group: one of the many — and most recent — entertainment companies that was interested in her for a future girl group project they had been working on. curious, she decided to give them a call; unsure of what they’d say.

due to an almost serendipitous circumstance, sooah was invited to appear before a panel of judges to expose them to her talents, and all of them were positively marveled with her dance skills. the manner with which she moved was so delicate, so graceful, and clearly, so poised that it was clear to them that she’d poured years upon years of her soul into her desired craft. yes, her singing voice didn’t carry the same weight, nor did her rapping, but they deemed her an asset — both in visuals and in dance — and offered her a trainee spot. if she worked hard to become a decent vocalist, or even a passable rapper, she’d have a shot at a potential début. so, instead of falling prey to the daunting darkness concealed in her mind, she decided to throw herself into becoming an idol; something she’d never, ever thought she’d do. perfection wasn’t the goal, but being a formidable contribution to whatever group dingbat was curating would suffice, and little-by-little, she hoped to make an even stronger impression on them. while the transition from classical technique to modern wasn’t seamless, she used her knowledge of creating beautiful lines, exhibiting power where necessary, and softness in other areas, to her advantage. what proved to be the most difficult, though, was fine-tuning her voice. their call for strong vocalists scared her, but with her sights set on this new avenue, she practiced day and night, and worked to hopefully achieve perfect pitch. though it would take sometime to master, and she wouldn’t do so before her final evaluation or even after, she knew that, in essence, it was the easiest thing to be taught by a vocal instructor. overall, she knew she’d become far more confident with more coaching, and with more experience, just like her dancing.

so, as the final evaluation process commenced, she focused on her strengths, and revealed her improvements, and though not perfect, she performed with a smile, and that, in and of itself, showed that she would work even harder to please them in the future. after being so close to accomplishing a goal, and later, having it ripped away from her, she had never been more ardent about showing the ruthless girls and boys at the dance studio, the teachers who trained her, the casting directors who gave her roles, and anyone else who held malicious intent toward her that she deserved to be regarded as someone with breathtaking talent, not simply the daughter of an influential man, or the illicit paramour to a ceo. so, when she was announced as a final member of what would go onto be MELODY, and that she’d not only be taking on the role of main dancer, but also the group’s visual, she was left stunned; awestruck. how on earth the tides had turned from one year ago startled her, and she not only felt excitement due to all of this, but she carried a slight uneasiness within her, too. how would the public perceive her? if she could hardly take the bitter malice of her peers, how was she going to handle being an object of public scrutiny? if anything, this experience as a trainee has given her a thicker skin, but her feelings are still just as tender as before. so, when banana allergy monkey was prepared and later released, she feared the possibility of someone from relevé recognizing her, but at the same time, she wanted them to know that, without them, she was doing just fine. so, she holds her head high, and forces a smile; hoping that this decision would end up being a good one.

[datawiresolutions]

Home Automation System Sets the Tone for Luxurious Lakeside Living 

Blessed with beautiful views of an inland lake, you better believe the owners of this home made sure to install massive windows — and lots of them. In fact, the majority of the lake-facing side of the house features wall-to-wall glass. As stunning as these sensational fenestrations might be, though, they do pose a few problems. Sunlight can fade furnishings and throw a glare onto TV screens. There’s also the heat generated by the incoming sunlight to combat. Lastly, unclad windows preserve none of an occupants’ privacy. Those windows needed some TLC.

Thankfully, when the owners began designing plans for their new 15,000-square-foot home, they contacted the team at Spire Integrated Systems, of Traverse City, Mich. to add a few high-tech systems to handle the harsh afternoon sunshine. It was a project that earned the Electronic House Home of the Year Award for Best Smart Contemporary Smart Home, $150,000 and Up.

See more award winners here, here, and here

“When we first started working with the homeowners, our initial goal was to prewire it to the hilt and install a Lutron architectural lighting and shading system,” says Navot Shoresh, president of Spire. “Sunlight would affect a lot of the house, so these two technologies would be extremely beneficial to the homeowners; and, based on our years of experience, we expected that as the project progressed the owners would likely ask us to install other types systems.”

Shoresh’s hunch was spot on. Within a few weeks, plans for the smart home project grew to include a full-blown Savant automation system that spreads audio and video content to speakers and TVs housewide and controls a security system and surveillance cameras, motorized entry gate, numerous water features, motorized TV lifts — and, of course, the 256 lights and nearly 60 motorized shades.

Savant Automation System Empowers the Household

The evolution of integrated systems made Savant an ideal choice for the job, which took two years to complete. “It would allow the owners themselves to create routines for the systems to follow, which makes them feel more empowered and not like hostages in their own home,” Shoresh explains. “It completely removed any trepidation of the technology.” Of course, he and his team configured the system fully for the family, with several customized scenes and automated scenarios for the ultimate in ease and simplicity.

For example, lights inside and outside the home activate automatically based on the time of day and the occupancy. Shades lift up and down in sync with sunrise and sunset. Again, because maintaining a view was of the upmost importance, Spire programmed the shades to descend only halfway down the windows. “This would shade the interior of the house, yet still give the owners an unobstructed view outside,” Shoresh says.

Putting these systems on auto pilot saves the owners from the tedium of manual adjustments, but they find the Savant app on their mobile devices to be just has helpful. With a quick tap and swipe on the screen, they can access, monitor, and operate every Savant-connected device in the house, from the couch, the backyard, bedroom, or thousands of miles from home.

Entertainment Enlightenment

Entertainment was a natural complement to the lighting and shading systems, turning the home into the perfect place to entertain friends and family or to simply relax and unwind with music and a movie. Spire packed the house with plenty of options. Tucked neatly inside an equipment closet are cable boxes, Apple TV, and an Autonomic media server that streams music from Pandora, Tidal, and other online services to 26 listening zones equipped with a variety of Sonance interior and exterior speakers, plus a pair of Meridian floorstanding units in the living room for a two-channel stereo effect.

The Meridian duo is accompanied by a 70-inch Sony TV — just one of many. With TVs of this size, it’s easy for the technology to become the visual focal point. Rather than let that happen, the owners, architect and Spire team collaborated on a unique solution that completely removes at least a couple TVs from the spotlight.

“In order to maintain the views, we placed a 65-inch TV in the kitchen and a 36-inch TV in the master bedroom on motorized lifts that raise the displays from the floor and into viewing position,” Shoresh explains. “It was one of the most challenging parts of the project as we had to build a space below the floor to house each TV, move a slice of granite from the floor to allow the TV to pass, and then move that piece of granite back into positon to fit flush with the rest of the floor.”

The disappearing TV act was a success. Stowing them below the floor, the windows remain the main eye candy. Should the owners want to watch a show from their bed or catch the news while sipping coffee in the morning, they simply go to the Savant app on their iPad or iPhone, and command the Future Automation lifts to bring the TVs up into perfect viewing position. They go back into their hiding spots just as easily when the show is over.

Slick but Sensible

This same lift-and-lower technique was applied to the shelving unit in the rec room. Except with this setup, the shelves, which hold liquor for the bar, rise from a locked cabinet below when the owner presses his thumb to a biometric reader. ”It’s a great way to keep a party from getting out of hand,” Shoresh says.

The motorized TVs and bar shelves are slick in design but still serve very practical purposes, just like every other smart system in this lake house. “We really focused on what made sense for the home and family and didn’t spend time or money on things that probably wouldn’t get used,” Shoresh remarks.

For example, two Meridian speakers instead of a full surround-sound setup suffice in the living room, and in-wall speakers were installed only in rooms where music listening would definitely happen — not throughout the entire house. Money and technology was invested in parts of the home deemed extremely important, like shading for the windows and scenery-saving TVs.

Systems & Equipment

Savant controls

Lutron lighting and shading

Savant audio/video distribution

Meridian, Sonance speakers

Sony TVs

Integra amplifiers

  The post Home Automation System Sets the Tone for Luxurious Lakeside Living  appeared first on Electronic House.

from Data Wire Solutions News Feed https://ift.tt/2LHojzo

[vfxexpress]

BOT VFX Brings Veteran Producer Camille Grier Into The Fold For anyone who has been in the VFX industry long enough, Camille Geier is not an unknown name. Camille has carved quite the niche for herself through her efforts in high-level features, episodics and ad campaigns. Now, she adds another feather in her cap by joining BOT VFX in capacity of Executive Producer. Camille is an ILM-alum who has worked on a wide array of blockbuster films such as Gangs of New York, Starship Troopers and Van Helsing. During her time at ILM, she had the opportunity of working alongside iconic directors such as Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Verhoeven, Stephen Sommers and Clint Eastwood, to name a few. In the past, Camille has been the Managing Director at Click 3X and Executive Producer at Emmy Award-winning Studio Rodeo FX. Between 2010 and 2014, she served as the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Studio at Curious Pictures. She was also the Supervising Producer for the award-winning Nick Jr. series “Team Umi Zoomi”. Camille has also led RhinoFX (now Gravity) as Chief Operating Officer/Executive Producer, where she also launched Rhino’s first Feature Film Visual Effects department. Thanks to Camille’s efforts, Rhino went on to work on more than fifteen studio films in its very first year, while also producing features and commercial projects. Camille’s role at BOT involves overseeing and developing visual effects work on TV, film and commercials for Eastern United States and Europe. Shedding light on what she’s most excited about at BOT, Camille adds, “At BOT, I am involved with high end work and I am able to sharpen my skills with the most up to date and cutting-edge tools. These tools and the business model at BOT streamline the process, affording me a way of life I had not had before in the 20 years I have been in film and visual effects. Working with an A-level team at BOT has taught me a new way to create stunning work with the best practices!” Suffice it to say that everyone at BOT is just as thrilled to have Camille on board. The team can’t wait to see what exciting uncharted territories she leads them into! BOT VFX (www.botvfx.com) BOT VFX is a US based visual effects outsourcing services company serving clients globally in North America, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia. The company offers foundational digital visual effects services such as rotoscopy, prep & paint, compositing, matchmove, rotomation, modeling, and texturing that are at the core of almost all major visual effects in feature films, television episodic work, commercials, special venue content, and VR projects. BOT VFX’s clients, who include major VFX facilities, post production houses and advertising houses, outsource these foundational services to BOT VFX so that their resources are freed up to focus on the key parts of the creative delivery which builds on top of these foundational service components. BOT VFX is a Georgia registered LLC in the U.S. with a wholly owned production operation in Chennai, India. The company currently has a total staff of ~250, with producers in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. BOT VFX employs standard tools, pipeline, workflows and security practices found in some of the most prestigious VFX facilities around the world. Its infrastructure, processes, and policies have been audited by four major Hollywood studios as well as MPAA to ensure that the operation adheres to the strictest content protection practices. Editor: prabu vfx express

[sualkmedeiors]

5 SEO Trends Digital Marketers Should Not Ignore in 2017

Anyone who has worked in the SEO field for a while would surely know that there is no fixed rule in the game. To consistently outperform your rival, it is necessary to master the trends as they come or be swept away into oblivion.

For 2017, here are the top 5 trends in SEO that will give your brand more visibility online:

Smarter AIs Could Change Algorithms

One of the major factors that could affect SEO in 2017 is, of course, the latest advancements in artificial intelligence technology. Everyone should expect the way search engines work to change as smarter AIs join the game.

Google users should expect changes on how the popular search engine does the work for them. In late 2016, Google RankBrain was unleashed, paving the way for the search engine to learn how people use the facility.

Learn how Google RankBrain works and how it affects your SEO! https://t.co/0SYUkir90u#RankBrain #SEO #googleSEO #googlerankbrain #seo2017

— Logo Born (@LogoBorn) August 8, 2017

The latest Hummingbird extension boasts of an algorithmic machine learning technology with the end goal of improving the search experience for users. According to Forbes, RankBrain enabled Google to learn how people use phrases in their queries and, with the information, update the search engine’s algorithm accordingly. Of course, this means that content providers must relearn things if necessary and adapt to the changing search landscape. The previous update left many webmasters grumbling when they found out that their articles hardly make it to the coveted “Top Stories” section anymore.

The rising popularity of digital assistants, such as Siri and Cortana, is also changing the way people make searches online. This means that with the increasing use of these intelligent digital assistants, advanced forms of conversational queries will increase, opening up another segment that companies could target.

AMP Gets Amped

While desktop computing won’t exactly disappear, search engine use is projected to see the most growth in the mobile segment. The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project protocol anticipates this trend and is in place to make content optimized for mobile browsing.

Pages running on AMP get loaded on mobiles devices four times faster than regular ones. In fact, Google favors AMP content. Since last February, Google has been marking AMP sites with a lightning bolt icon and featuring them more prominently in search results.

How to use Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) to Rank Better on Mobile https://t.co/Hsm5rIkZOR via @cognitiveSEO pic.twitter.com/cLLCfAFV8P

— SEMrush (@semrush) August 13, 2017

Going AMP would also benefit users in the long run. Pages load faster because it uses 8 times less data compared to a regular page. And of course, everyone knows that loading speed is a big factor in viewer retention.

Branding Goes Personal

Some industry watchers predict that personal branding is the way to go to be successful with your online campaign. Of course, that is not saying that you should do away with the corporate brand, but there are advantages when people within an organization tell their own stories. Think of personal branding as a way to complement a company’s SEO efforts and how it reaches out to its online customers.

Nowadays, corporations have to deal with being perceived by consumers as manipulative and greedy. Therefore, engaging consumers on a personal level is seen as the solution to diffuse this consumer wariness. By providing a personal identity that corporations naturally lack, personal branding makes it easier for consumers to trust the brand.

In addition, posting on a personal level amplifies the reach of a company. For instance, if a CEO of a company has three personal accounts on social media for this purpose, he is multiplying his corporate exposure as all of these accounts can grow their own follower base independently. In addition, these separate accounts can be used to target different segments of the market, which could result in a more customized posting that could potentially increase engagement.

UEO Meets SEO

Another important trend to watch out for is the rising importance of UEO in SEO. In fact, there are indications that user experience optimization (UEO) is going to become more important in SEO rankings.

Is your mobile user experience helping you or holding you back? https://t.co/JqUeBG76K7 via @Marketingland #mobile #marketing #optimization pic.twitter.com/eztdwH7l3w

— visiblefactors (@visiblefactors) August 11, 2017

Google is now giving hints that it may give more weight to user experience in its search result. One such hint is that the search engine giant seems to favor pages that load quickly with its preference for AMP content.

If the trend continues, the next step would be for Google to favor pages that offer a more enjoyable user experience. One metric that could come into play is the length of time a visitor stays on a page– staying a long time usually means that the visitor enjoys the content. While user experience has been an important metric in ranking pages for some time now, it looks like it's going to become even more important in future versions of the search algorithm. The bottom line is that webmasters should post quality content in well-designed sites that most people will enjoy.

Content Gets Denser

Speaking of content, there is another trend that experts are predicting– the rise of denser content. According to Smart Insights, there was a time when tons of brief but “fluffy” content-wise posts sufficed, which was eventually replaced by lengthy, seemingly complicated content to rank in SEO. However, those two extremes are now being replaced by what is referred to as Dense Content.

Simply put, Dense Content is when one offers tons of information using the smallest space possible. Of course, this presents an entirely new challenge which would definitely involve some spark of creativity and the flair for creating stunning visuals. But of course, the challenge is what makes SEO very interesting.

[Featured Image by Pixabay]

The post 5 SEO Trends Digital Marketers Should Not Ignore in 2017 appeared first on WebProNews.

from http://www.webpronews.com/5-seo-trends-digital-marketers-not-ignore-2017-2017-08/