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aethuviel · 5 years ago

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TES Elves lifespan and fertility

I’ve been playing Skyrim for four years, and am fairly new to TES lore. One of the things I wonder, like many others, is how long do the races of mer (talking the three now, falmer and orcs don’t count) live, and how do they avoid overpopulation with their obviously lengthy lifespans (and as horny as they seem to be)?

I’ve read around on various discussion forums where people ask these same questions, but never found a satisfying answer.

The common answers to the lifespan questions are “up to 1000″, sourced from The Real Barenziah, but this was just written in an in-universe book, which makes it unreliable at best, and the second common answer is “max ~300, unless they’re using magic to extend their lives”, because an official quote from Bethesda goes like this:

"Elves live two to three times as long as humans and the “beast-races” (Orcs, Khajiiti, Argonians). A 200-year-old Elf is old; a 300-year-old Elf is very, very old indeed. Anyone older than that has prolonged his or her lifespan through powerful magic."

But I call BS on this, because it’s broken by the world itself.

Examples (all powerful mages and wizards are excluded, for obvious reasons):

- Avrusa and Aduri Sarethi are Dunmer farmer in the Rift, and according to Avrusa, she used to have a shop (meaning she was an adult) in Morrowind before the eruption of the Red Mountain, 196 years ago. That puts her and her sister at well over 200 years old, and Aduri gives the impression of being young (her girly voice). - Lleril Morvayn and Adril Arano (and add to that Adril’s wife Cindiri) have ruled Solstheim together for 136 years, Lleril taking over after his mother’s death, and they show no sign of being particularly old. - Legate Fasendil is an Altmer soldier who was “stationed in Hammerfell” (meaning, an adult) 159 years ago, and he does not appear old.

- The only one I can find to sort of confirm the Bethesda quote is Elynea Mothren, mycologist at Tel Mithryn, who says she remembers the eruption of Red Mountain as a “little girl”, and that she’s “an old woman now”, which she certainly looks like. She would be perhaps in her early 200s.

The third common claim about mer lifespan is from a quote that follows like this:

Well, I'm fifty, done my twenty years in the Service, and I'm in the prime of life. I expect another fifty good years, and then I'll be old, and slow, chatting with gaffers around the hearth for another twenty, thirty years. I've known mer still mind-sharp in their late hundreds, and heard of folk 200 and older. My family usually makes it to 120-130, providing we don't get sick or poked in the eye.

But this brings us back to The Real Barenziah. Many claims are made in it, such as...

"I think Straw will be a very old man before 'someday' comes, Berry. Elves live for a very long time." Katisha's face briefly wore the envious, wistful look humans got when contemplating the thousand-year lifespan Elves had been granted by the gods. True, few ever actually lived that long as disease and violence took their respective tolls. But they could. And one or two of them actually did.

Now, this book was approved by Barenziah herself, but that does not assure us of its accuracy, only that she liked it.

But I think this is still closer to the truth than “a 300 year old elf is very, very old indeed”, because of all the things that are unreliable in TRB, what is set in stone is the birth year of Barenziah and her children.

Barenziah and Symmachus had Helseth (now one can doubt whether Symmachus is actually Helseth’s father, but that is for another time) in 3E 376, when Barenziah was a whopping 379 years old. She then had two more children in the next couple of decades, her third and last child born when she was 394 or 395 years old.

There is to my knowledge no claim at all that Barenziah was using magic to extend her life (nor Symmachus for that matter, and he was three decades older than her, slain in battle at the age of 422). And it is confirmed by the lore that she became a mother of three at nearly four centuries old. So this wipes that quote by Bethesda completely, in my opinion.

TRB quotes on elven fertility:

"You ought to meet some nice Elven boys, though. If you go on keeping company with Khajiits and humans and what have you, you'll find yourself pregnant in next to no time."

Barenziah smiled involuntarily at the thought. "I'd like that. I think. But it would be inconvenient, wouldn't it? Babies are a lot of trouble, and I don't even have my own house yet."

"How old are you, Berry? Seventeen? Well, you've a year or two yet before you're fertile, unless you're very unlucky. Elves don't have children readily with other Elves after that, even, so you'll be all right if you stick with them."

And later, after banging Talos for a time...

"You appear to be with child, young as you are. Constant pairing with a human has brought you to early fertility.”

Barenziah then marries Symmachus immediately following Tiber Septim’s death. This is said to be “half a century” later, which would put Barenziah at almost 70 years old, but the actual year Tiber Septim died was in 3E 38, when she was ~41 years old. Anyhow. (Goes back to how unreliable the books are.)

The years passed swiftly, with crises to be dealt with, and storms and famines and failures to be weathered, and plots to be foiled, and conspirators to be executed. Mournhold prospered steadily. Her people were secure and fed, her mines and farms productive. All was well -- save that the royal marriage had produced no children. No heirs.

Elven children are slow to come, and most demanding of their welcome -- and noble children more so than others. Thus many decades had come to pass before they grew concerned.

Some three centuries later...

Directly after the Nightingale's theft of the Staff of Chaos, Symmachus had sent urgent secret communiques to Uriel Septim. He had not gone himself, as he would normally have, choosing instead to stay with Barenziah during her fertile period to father a son upon her.

Speaking about the Nightingale some time later, when Barenziah was pregnant...

"Dark Elf in part, perhaps," said Barenziah, "but part human too, I think, in disguise. Else would I not have come so quickly to fertility."

From this we can draw that, 1) Elven women become fertile around the age of 18-20 2) They conceive easier with other races, rather than with male elves (implying that both sexes have low fertility), and can even be brought to fertility faster by sleeping around a lot with other races 3) And by her eventual pregnancy leading to the birth of Helseth, we are to believe that the Nightingale didn’t touch her, but that simply the passion she felt for him made her fertile, after centuries of no results.

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And when Tiber “Talos” Septim forces a child (as he viewed her) to have an abortion (I am forever disgusted with Talos for this), the Altmer healer says:

"Sire. It is her child. Children are few among the Elves. No Elven woman conceives more than four times, and that is very rare. Two is the usual number. Some bear none, even, and some only one. If I take this one from her, Sire, she may not conceive again."

It is widely quoted but again, a book in-game is not a reliable source, and while looking around Dunmer names in ESO, I found a fellow named Quell Andas, who has four siblings.

Unless, for some reason, they are called siblings but there are at least two mothers involved (i.e. half-siblings), or they’re lying, this is a case of an elf woman bearing five children. I’m sure there could be more cases among any of the mer if I looked further.

So that healer was at least not being entirely truthful.

But it does make sense that the mer would have much lower fertility, on both sides (males and females), simply as a price to pay for their long lifespans.

Humans live for about seventy years. Women are fertile from about 15-45, a 30 year “baby bearing window”, if you will.

The fact that Barenziah was pregnant three times in her late 300s, says not just that they live that long, but that she had not entered menopause - if elves even have that.

Her first pregnancy was when she was 17-18. Her last, at 394-395. That is, for her, a “baby bearing window” of at least 376 years. And there is nothing, I might add, in the books to imply surprise or shock that Barenziah bore children at that age.

With a human’s 30 year fertility window, in a world of no contraception, some rare women can have 20 or more children.

Now increase that to 300+ years, and if elves were as fertile as humans, an elf woman could birth a hundred children in her life, as easily as a human could birth ten. This would lead to an insanely unsustainable population growth, as elves are people(!) and we cannot compare them to animals that have that many offspring (since those are typically unintelligent animals where almost all die soon after birth).

Since they live for centuries but can have children at twenty, this also means children can be surrounded by a long line of ancestors. Not just grandparents, but great-great-great grandparents, and so on, people living on and using up resources for much longer. This means population growth has to be slow.

So, to keep a normal population growth at 2-4 children for most people (with some having more and some having none), elves naturally have to be much less fertile to “pay” for their lenghty lifespans.

We don’t know why, if it’s by some divine power, nature, or whathaveyou, but I imagine (absolutely no source on this, just my imagination) mer women might have much rarer ovulations, like once a year instead of once a month (imagine only some 3 fertile days per year instead of some 36 days), or requiring some special “event” to ovulate (as TRB implies), and that male mer have heavily reduced sperm counts compared to other races.

That would make sense, but is only my personal speculation.

And as for lifespan, I still choose to believe TRB, as while statements in it are unreliable, we know a woman had multiple children near her 400th birthday, with no known magical intervention to slow down her aging. That couldn’t have happened unless all elves could live to a thousand, but most die during the centuries from injury or disease.

#Skyrim #TES #The Elder Scrolls #Barenziah #The Real Barenziah #mer #Dunmer #Altmer #Bosmer #elves #high elves #dark elves #wood elves #tes lore

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onlinemotoscom · 6 years ago

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A2 Motorcycle License Holders Should Consider The Benelli TRK502

As a motorcycle tour operator, I’d like to think that our marketing material makes it clear what we do, nevertheless, over the years I’ve operated I’ve had many unusual requests. Although loosely related to motorcycle touring, the common thread of these non-standard requests is, they are invariably from people who don’t have a motorcycle license; something that should be a foregone conclusion as being a prerequisite for participating in a motorcycle tour. An example of these requests was “Granny will be 90 on her birthday and she has never been on a motorcycle but we want to make it a special day for her, so, can you take her pillion on a tour”. Declining any business is always a difficult decision although we try to do so in a polite manner and make some sensible suggestions for an alternative gift. Although it is rare we have had requests from riders who hold an A2 license. We have to advise these riders to bring their own bike. However, the practicalities of this can be too great a challenge for the inexperienced rider as they might need to ride a thousand miles just to reach the tour start and perhaps another thousand miles home at the end. Naturally we would rather not put a rider at potential risk asking them to side so far especially with a deadline to meet but few can afford or justify several weeks off for a biking holiday and so attempt to cover high mileages each day between home and tour location arriving invariably exhausted before the real trip has even begun. I had recent spate of unfortunate incidents that began whilst travelling to Fort Augustus to research a tour when I incurred a rear puncture. Roadside attempts at a repair had proven ineffective and so I called the RAC who collected the bike and took it to Inverness where a new tyre was fitted. The following day when returning to Ft Augustus from the Isle of Skye my gear change leaver snapped off! I can only speculate that when strapped into the van on its journey to Inverness that a strap must have been placing pressure on the leaver and perhaps weakened it. Anyway, a bit of road side emergency repair with some gaffer tape (always carry some!) soon got the gear changer working again enough to complete the research trip and get back to Glasgow. On my return, I ordered a new changer through a local family run Benelli, Kawasaki, Royal Enfield and Sym dealership albeit my ride is a Triumph but I use them because they also service, maintain and MOT all brands of motorcycle. A few days later they advised that the part was in stock and when I arrived they offered to fit it for me. Whilst in the shop I was drawn to the Benelli TRK502 an adventure bike specifically targeted towards the A2 license holder and daily commuters. Brand new out the box it can be on the road for just £5,699 which seems excellent value for the money. They suggested I take it for a test ride whilst my repair was being undertaken. I am well accustomed to hopping on and off different bikes but with my short legs, 29″, many adventure bikes are a stretch for me. I often have to slide part way off the saddle just to reach the ground but the Benelli with a saddle height at 815mm was a comfortable reach for me. I’m sure this would prove reassuring to new riders even those with longer legs. I felt immediately at ease with the bike. The saddle is very comfortable and the upright riding position is very relaxed. The windshield is effective although depending on your height it may benefit an additional deflector to divert air over the helmet. Although the bike with a full tank of fuel is quoted about 250kg it didn’t feel so heavy to me, it’s very well balanced with the weight lying low in the frame, so, I wonder if those quoted weights include the full luggage set because the bike I was riding had a full Givi pannier rack with only the top box on that day. Note that the Givi rear and side racks, screen winglets, crash bars and USB accessory power point all come as standard equipment. For the technical minded the Benelli TRK 502 is chain driven twin cylinder with a displacement of 499.6cc and 6 speed gearbox. Remember that this bike is addressing the A2 market and so the maximum power is 47BHP (35 kW) at 8500 rpm and the torque is of 45 Nm (4.6 kgm) at 4500 rpm. There are twin disks front and a single at the rear. The front wheel is 110/80 R19 and the rear 150/70 R17. I have to say that my first impressing was that the engine was rather lacklustre but I’ll try not to be critical of that because it only produces about a third of what I’m used to and apart from riding a Suzuki Bandit that had been mapped to 47BHP I’ve got little experience of riding bikes with that low output. I’m sure if this is all you are licensed to ride you will find it not only comparable with others A2 restricted engines but also preferable. I’d certainly far prefer to ride the Benelli than that restricted Suzuki. The TRK502 pulls well in all gears with smooth progression throughout the rev range. The brakes felt a little spongy at first but I soon adjusted to their feel by applying a bit more pressure. This is not a bad thing for inexperienced riders who might otherwise lockup a disk by braking too harshly. Although another pint of note is that being Euro4 rated it also has ABS as standard. If Benelli made the TRK with a bigger engine I’d consider one because I think it would be a contender for the BMW F700/F800GS, Kawasaki Versys 650, Suzuki VStrom 650, Triumph Tiger 800, Yamaha Tracer 700, etc. I can also foresee it being utilised abroad for fleet hire touring due to its ease of handling, luggage capacity and economy. The Benelli TRK502 should not only be considered by younger riders with restricted licenses, it will also appeal to those who have a full license but uninterested in high speeds or want to keep the points off their licence as well as those who want a comfortable economic very well handling commuter because the Benelli TRK502 ticks all the boxes.

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partwayhappy · 7 years ago

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Movie Date

A few headcanons for Part 7 of @freshxbloom‘s lovely “Stories from Summer” series.

• The first time El went to the movies was the summer of ’85. She was only halfway into her year of hiding and still had to avoid being seen in public. However as summer rolled around, the rules loosened a little. Kids were off for the summer. Other kids were in Hawkins visiting relatives. It was only natural for El to blend in with the seemingly endless crowd of young people that invaded Hawkins’ social areas. Eventually Hopper decided it was ok for El to go to the theater with rest of The Party because: 1) The people there would be more focused on the movie than the other patrons and 2) Hopper was ready to shoot himself if he had to watch one more soap opera on his day off.

• Mike agonized for weeks over what would be the perfect movie for her to see. Sci-Fi? (”No, what if I’m the only one who likes it and she’s just humoring me. I don’t want her to be bored.”) Drama? (”She’s been through so much already. Do I really want to show her something that might bring back bad memories?”) Animated? (”Aww no, I don’t want her to feel like I’m treating her like a child.”) Horror? (”Hmmm, maybe she’ll be scared and cuddle up to me...no, No, NO!!... that’s a creepy Steve move. Besides...she’s faced off against a Demogorgon and a Mind Flayer. A rubber monster’s not gonna faze her.”)

• As Luck would have it, The Hawk Theater was having a special showing of The Breakfast Club Saturday night. The Party had loved the movie when it had first come out and Mike figured El (being a soap opera fan) would like the characters and story.

• From the very first moment, El fell in love with going to the theater. As she approached The Hawk she marveled at the sight of it: The brightly lit marquee, the glass cases housing the gorgeous movie posters, even the sight of the ticket booth with it’s staff in their pressed uniforms. As she walked in she savored the smell and crackle of the popcorn. She walked slowly as she felt her beat-up, white Converse sink into the plush red carpet underneath her feet. Inside there were different hallways lined with even more posters. To El, each one seemed like a portal to another world. And she wanted to visit them all.

• As they settle into their seats, Mike smiled as he watched El peering at every little detail around her. She bounced up and down on the folding seats. She crinkled her nose at the sticky sounds of her shoes pulling off the floor. She grinned at the fact that she was finally able to see a movie, an actual movie(!), like any other teenager. As the lights dimmed and the red curtains in front of the screen parted, Mike could hear a small gasp of anticipation escape from her.

• For a moment, El’s face tightened with a sad look; an advertisement for the Hawkins National Laboratory displaying on the screen. Mike squeezed her hand and reassured her that it was an old advert that the staff had yet to take down. He tells her that the lab was gone now and they could’t hurt her anymore. Ever.

• When the first trailer began, all fears left El. Although she’d seen advertisements for movies on television, something about seeing it on a big screen just captured her attention. With each trailer, El made a mental note of what she would like to see next (Next Week: Goonies. Next month: Back to the Future and Silverado. August: Weird Science and Teen Wolf.)

• Throughout the entire movie, Micheal Wheeler couldn’t stop staring at El Hopper. He was struck by the concentration in her eyes. And he found himself falling even more in love as he watched her unknowingly repeat the lines from the movie. Midway through, she caught him staring at her. As he quickly looked down and blushed, El smiled and leaned over to give him a quick peck on the cheek before going back to the movie.

• At the end of the film, El insisted on staying and watching all of the credits. She was fascinated by the sheer number of people it took to make such a beautiful piece of art. All throughout, she peppered Mike with questions. What’s a gaffer? Who’s the “best boy”? Is there a “best girl”? Can *I* be a “best girl”?

• As they walked out of the theater, El declared she wasn’t ready to go home yet and asked Mike to walk with her. They circled the town center for almost an hour talking about the movie. They thought about what happened to the characters the following Monday after detention. Did Claire and John stay together? Did Allison and Andy? Or did they just get caught up in the moment and would be too embarrassed to hang out in front of their normal friends? How did Carl go from being the school hero to a janitor? Maybe The Party should go dressed as the Breakfast Club for Halloween. Can we take a bus and visit Shermer, Illinois?

• After watching several films, El discovered she had a unique talent. She’d impress the boys with her ability to quote lines word-for-word from a movie after having only seeing it once (Mike completely melts when he says he’ll try to spend more time with her and she gives him the Yoda, “Do or do not. There is no try.”).

• In the months (and years) to come, El would find the movie theater to be a favorite place of comfort and escape. She’d save every ticket stub of every movie she had seen and keep them in a small box under her bed. And the day when she and Mike move in together, she hangs up a picture frame with the tickets from their very first date from the summer of ‘85.

To the SFS cool kids who were kind enough to let me stick around:

@freshxbloom @strange-thangs @maplestreet83 @martiegalwrites @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold @janeswheeler @cstlebyrs @formerlyjannafaye @michael-hearteyes-wheeler @jane-el-hopper @themikewheelers @elizabthturner @the-proud-princess @itcouldbendoritcouldbreak @scottsclarke @the-most-beautiful-broom @hannahberrie @dancingskygreen @mileven-and-contemplation @mikeswheeler @moodyandmoonyeyed @jopper-chopper @earlgreyteagirl @stevemossington @thezoomermax @bubblynancy @mothersnail @writer-lia

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thetiredstuff · 3 years ago

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Hey everyone who follows me:

i know all of you who follow me do so because we're all batshit insane over a stupid but loveable show and outside of that like or love multiple television shows and movies (i mean who doesn't?)

Well those shows and movies could not be made were it not for the crew that works behind the scenes: to quote op "people like grips, gaffers, best boys, key grips, PAs, set dressers, extras, supporting actors, stunt performers, SPFX artists, UPMs, 1st and 2nd ADs, craft services, animal services, location scouts, location managers, covid testing coordinators, etc."

People that don't get the recognization they deserve and more importantly people who do no get the pay they should, the benefits they should, enough hours to sleep or eat or spend with family, and the safety precautions that they should.

Chances of your beloved TV show or movie having crew members who are part of the IATSE are huge. Those people work way too many hours without getting paid fairly for us to be entertained so the least we can do is help them out when they need to be heard.

Please share the above message from OP and if you're a member of the IATSE please vote YES for a strike mobilization!!!

It is unreasonably to expect people to work under the conditions many of these crew members have had to work under.

There are many people who think this is normal because they themselves work under similar conditions or because it has been like this for forever. But to be clear: just because something has been the norm for so long or just because these are similar conditions to yours does not mean it is okay. People deserve better than this. Crew members deserve better than this.

Also if you need more insentive:

We're talking crew members from among others the following shows:

The Boys (Amazon Prime Video)

Nancy Drew, Kung Fu, Riverdale, The Flash (The CW)

Warrior Nun, Locke and Key (Netflix)

These are just the ones I found with a quick google search but since we're all simping for Ackles who is gonna be on The Boys season 3, which would not be possible without crew members, so let's all reblog the above post of OP!

For more information please visit IATSE's website about the agreement

hiya z! sorry to be a bother but do you mind explaining what the iatse thing is? --🎬

Hello my dear anon! This isn't a bother at all, thank you so much for asking, I'd love to clarify where I can!

For those who may be unaware, the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) is one of the most prominent labor unions for film, television, and live entertainment crews. I want to be clear, this is a labor that represents crew workers, those who are deemed "below the line" of production hierarchy (and if you're unsure of what that means, it is everyone aside from the producers, directors, actors, writers, editors and cinematographers. They have their own unions!).

You might be thinking that those professions I just listed sound like all of them, but they are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to set crews. Of course those people are important to a film's production, but so are the hundreds of other crew workers who are actually running the sets so that the project can get made, whether that's a tv show, a film, a play/musical, concert, etc.

People like grips, gaffers, best boys, key grips, PAs, set dressers, extras, supporting actors, stunt performers, SPFX artists, UPMs, 1st and 2nd ADs, craft services, animal services, location scouts, location managers, COVID TESTING COORDINATORS, the list goes on. The people who are actually setting up and taking down the physical logistics of running a production.

So, that's the IATSE, and that's who they represent these are the good guys. The other acronym you may have been hearing is the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). These are the bad guys. The AMPTP is the company that negotiates contracts between producers and unioned crews.

As of about 2 weeks ago, the IATSE attempted one last time to negotiate new contract terms after nearly two years of endangering themselves during a plague to work on sets, and the AMPTP has said no. So as a result of that, the members of the IATSE (over 150,000 people nationwide) are organizing a strike against all AMPTP signed projects.

What are the IATSE asking for specifically? Here's a very quick breakdown:

An end to unsafe and harmful working hours (often crew members are expected to pull 12/14/16 hour shifts for weeks at a time)

An end to lack of reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays, and on weekends (several AMPTP contracts do not allow designated lunch breaks, and are expected to still report when off shift if needed)

An end to unlivable wages for the lowest-paid crafts (crew members often do not get paid overtime for these extreme hours, on top of already below minimum wage pay)

One of the key ways that the AMPTP has been allowed to get away with forcing 16-18 hour shifts with no lunch break and no overtime on already below livable wages is because many of these new AMPTP signed projects are for streaming services like Netflix, HBOMax, Hulu, and AppleTV. They claim that these projects for streaming services are too experimental, and can't conditions can't be held to the same standards as conditions in "traditional" projects like theatrically released projects.

Which, I don't know if you watched the Emmys the other night, but Netflix won 44 awards, the most by a mile. Streaming services are here to stay, and the people who work on those sets deserve to be treated like human beings.

TLDR: If you watched movies or binged your favorite shows to keep yourself sane over the pandemic, if you're going out to theaters or tuning in on Fridays for new episodes, you are consuming work that these crews have put together for you. It is an obligation to stand with them.

If you're a member of the IATSE vote YES for a strike mobilization. If you're not a member of the IATSE, share and be vocal in your support with the crews.

And if you're interested in keeping up with the news/showing support/reading first hand accounts of the harmful conditions that the AMPTP has put on workers, please follow @ia_stories on instagram.

#important #iatse #reblog and share please!!!#and vote yes on the strike mobilization!!!!#people deserve to work under good conditions

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stringcoin0-blog · 5 years ago

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Erica Wagner's Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge

One of life’s more delightful surprises comes about when something one has expected to be at best no more than a pleasant chore turns out to be a positive pleasure. I must admit that when Peter Aigner asked me to review this book my first thought was that it was a brave soul who would dare to follow McCullough’s vintage account, even if the passage of nearly fifty years held the promise of new sources and fresh perspectives. My second thought was along the lines of “OK, enough of the ‘Great Men’ already!” After all, Washington Roebling didn’t build the Brooklyn Bridge any more than a movie star makes a movie: what about the second gaffer or the assistant third grip or any of the hundreds of others whose names we briefly catch at the end of the movie, if we even bother to watch them roll by? But then I was also curious about “the man in the window” — in McCullough’s felicitous phrase — the house-bound invalid who supervised the last six years of the construction of the bridge from the confines of his office at the back of the Roebling’s home at 110 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn. And the book’s author was indeed able to draw on sources that were not available fifty years ago, mostly importantly Washington Roebling’s private memoir of his father’s life, which turns out to have been as much a memoir of his own life as that of his father’s, at least up until his father’s death in 1869. Our sense of history has, I think, also changed: fifty years ago my mother’s mother, who was born in 1881, could still repeat the Civil War stories told by her grandfather, who had been a captain in the Union Army; today not only she but her children also are gone, and even her grandchildren are getting long in the tooth. The span of Washington Roebling’s life, which saw New York emerge as one of the great cities of the world, has by now passed not only from the realm of living memories but also from the living memories of those memories. And of course today we can read about those by-gone days on our mobile devices via a wireless connection to the internet while flying across the country at 500 miles per hour at an altitude of 30,000 feet, which does, somehow, change our perspective on history in ways that at present we can only guess at. Chief Engineer does give us a lively account of the actual construction of the bridge and the trials and tribulations of all kinds attendant upon any engineering project of such magnitude, but appropriately enough, the bulk of this account takes up less than a fourth of the story, and even so is interwoven with the events of Wahington Roebling’s “non-bridge” life. Chief Engineer is not a technical account: readers wanting to know, e.g., the details of how the bridge’s cables were “spun” would be well-advised to search out Roebling’s assistant Wilhelm Hildenbrand’s 1877 Cable-Making for Suspension Bridges, with Special Reference to the Cables of the East River Bridge, or, for the construction of the towers, Roebling’s own 1873 Pneumatic Tower Foundations of the East River Suspension Bridge (scans of both are available on-line at archive.org). But for this reader, at least, the greater interest of the book lies in the cast of family characters surrounding his own life: his father, his mother, his brothers — especially the youngest, Edmund — and his first wife, Emily Warren.

The word “Dickensian” almost unavoidably springs to mind: the portrait of John A. Roebling that emerges from his son’s memoir is that of a monster who beat his wife and children — four sons and three daughters survived into adulthood — so often and so mercilessly that they lived in constant terror of him; who when he wasn’t beating them subjected them to the most hideous torments of his quack belief in “water cures” for all ailments of body, mind, and soul; and who later in life engaged a spiritualist medium to establish communications with his deceased wife, even though, as Washington later wrote in his memoir, he had treated her so horribly that “the poor woman was glad to die, even at 48.” The “dysfunctional family” has been around at least since Helen ran off with Paris, and was apparently still thriving in nineteenth century America, as it no doubt still is even today. In any event, it’s hard not to feel some sense of poetic justice when Roebling Sr. dies an agonizing death from a tetanus infection after rejecting proper medical treatment in favor of another of his bogus “water cures” when his toes were crushed in a ferry slip accident while inspecting the site of the Brooklyn-side bridge tower on June 28, 1869.

The middle two of the four Roebling sons survived well enough — at what psychic cost we will surely never know — to be able to run the Trenton, New Jersey, firm that, following their father’s death, was known as the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company, a steel wire mill that later supplied the wire for the Williamsburgh, Manhattan, George Washington, and Golden Gate bridge cables. The youngest brother, Edmund, was not so fortunate. Erica Wagner tells us that sometime after 1917, when, in Washington’s words, Edmund was “a harmless white haired old man of over 70,” a doctor engaged on behalf of the estate of his recently deceased brother Ferdinand had declined to say whether Edmund was compos mentis. Apparently this had been something of a life-long concern. Washington later explained that Edmund’s sad situation arose “from his surroundings from boyhood— No real home, no friends, no ties of relationship, no wife, no occupation, not sufficient force of character to rise above the circumstances and perhaps too much money when young.” He, would, however, survive Washington by some four years, dying in 1930. Washington Roebling’s sisters play no prominent part in Chief Engineer, but the same cannot be said of his wife Emily Warren, whose assistance in supervising the construction of the bridge during the years in which her husband was an invalid was indispensable, rising to the status of becoming what her biographer Marilyn Weigold called the bridge’s “surrogate chief engineer.” Erica Wagner recently told The New York Times that she “didn’t think the Brooklyn Bridge would be standing, were it not for [Emily Roebling] … She was absolutely integral to its construction.” It should come as no surprise that the eldest son of the monstrous father should himself be a difficult man to live with, even without the burden of his chronic illness and the responsibilities for the bridge project it imposed on his wife. Erica Wagner quotes a letter to her son John written on her wedding anniversary, January 18, 1896, saying that “Your father has been married 31 years today. I twice that long.” After the completion of the bridge, however, she was able to establish something of a life of her own beyond the reach of the Roebling family curse: she became involved with a number of civic organizations, travelled widely, and took the Women’s Law Course at New York University, from which she graduated with honors in the spring of 1899, not quite four years before her death at age 59 in 1903. Her 1899 feminist essay, “A Wife’s Disabilities,” written for her NYU course, is still notable for its arguments for women’s rights.

Emily Roebling’s role in the construction of the bridge was a consequence of her husband’s crippling attack of “the bends” in 1872 resulting, in his own words, from his “imprudence in remaining too long in the caisson on Saturday last.” The caisson was a highly pressurized structure that made it possible to work underwater to excavate the riverbed for the bridge towers’ foundations; though little understood at the time, “the bends” were the result of decompressing too rapidly on returning to the surface, which allowed atmospheric gases that had been dissolved into the body’s fluids by the pressure in the caisson to reemerge and to form bubbles that pressed painfully, injuriously, even fatally on the body’s joints and tissues. Erica Wagner tells us that Emily “was not always entirely convinced by her husband’s complaints” and that “much of what ailed him would remain mysterious.” The suspicion, however, lies not far off that whatever part of his suffering was due to “the long term costs of working in compressed air,” another part may have been due to the long repressed pressures of having been the dutiful son of a monster — a genius of a monster, perhaps, but a monster nonetheless.

Erica Wagner is a wonderful writer and Chief Engineer is as entertaining as it is engrossing, so much so that I am reluctant to register a few complaints about the book itself. Publishers have become so shy of footnotes, bibliography, figure captions and lists of picture sources, as well as indexing, that in their attempt to minimize what they fear are, for the lay reader, the forbidding aspects of a proper scholarly apparatus, too much is lost for those who read a work like Chief Engineer for more than its entertainment value. Alas, Chief Engineer is no exception to this lamentable trend, which puts the burden of sorting out which note belongs with which part of the text on the reader. While the color illustrations are well-done and well-captioned, with sources given, the black and white illustrations in the running text are of only variable quality, sources are not given, and in one instance, a photograph of Washington Roebling seated with British Admiral Jacky Fisher, even the caption has been dispensed with — and the reproduction is so murky one could scarcely begin to recognize either of the two men or to tell the one from the other. This is, I suppose not the author’s fault.

There are also occasional minor errors of a kind that while surely unavoidable in a work of this breadth are nonetheless disconcerting. The Catholic World article on the “The Sanitary and Moral Condition of New York City” on which the author relies for her evocation of slum conditions in New York (Manhattan) at the time the work on the bridge was about to get underway appeared in volume VII (1867) and not, as the note in the back would have it, volume VIII (1869). And it is a mistake to take such a source at its word: the number of seven or eight story tenement buildings in the city at that time — if indeed any existed at all outside the Catholic World writer’s quite properly indignant imagination — must have been very small, too small to be presented as typical. Even in 1903, when the number of tenements in Manhattan had more than doubled, less than one percent were more than six stories tall.

The Roeblings, father and son, may have seen Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale performed by a travelling opera group in Pittsburgh sometime around 1858, but they could not have seen La Bohème, at least neither Puccini’s well-known nor Leoncavallo’s lesser-known opera, both of which had their premiers in 1896. If they saw a Bohème it could only have been Théodore Barrière’s hit play of 1849, which was based on Henri Murger’s stories of Parisian life in the Latin Quarter in the 1840s, collected in 1851 as his novel, Scènes de la vie de Bohème.

But I cavil, perhaps unnecessarily, as these are minor slip-ups — there are surely a few others too that readers with expertises and interests different from my own will wince at, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I’ve made a few myself even in the brief space of this review. None of them can alter the overriding fact that Erica Wagner has given us a wonderful if disturbing portrait of a man, a family, and a time in New York’s history — and America’s too — that is both informative and a genuine pleasure to read.

Source: https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/erica-wagners-chief-engineer-washington-roebling-the-man-who-built-the-brooklyn-bridge

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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moodboardinthecloud · 4 years ago

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How to Tell a Story to Save the World 2

Toby Litt

13th May 2021

This time, I’m looking at two hugely influential screenwriting manuals – Syd Field’s Screenplay and Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey.

Through the gap between them, we see the idea of heroism emerge and start to dominate the very idea of ‘a good story’.

Like all film producers say, ‘The audience needs to knows who to root for.’

(If you haven’t read part 1 of the book, which explains what I’m up to, it’s here.)

SCREENPLAY:

THE FOUNDATIONS OF SCREENWRITING

SYD FIELD

1979

We’re going back now – back to before the resurrection of the Hero. I hate to say it, but it is a more innocent age. It was an age when very few people knew very much about the business of film-making. And it was certainly an age when almost no-one would have expected to take life-advice from the person who wrote the lines for the actors on the TV.

It’s easy to see why Syd Field’s Screenplay was so influential – perhaps “formative” would be more accurate – in its time, and just as easy to see why it has been so completely superseded.

The screenwriting manuals that have followed seem to say a lot more, and they say it more get-atably, often more schematically. (Field is, in retrospect, almost comically light on diagrams, and his diagrams are comically simple.)

John Yorke’s Into the Woods contains the gist of Screenplay, but it doesn’t capture the attitude. Field’s approach to writing a film is relaxed, unneurotic; you’re not going to come away from Screenplay angsting over having missed this mythological beat or not having inserted this emotional hook in the viewer. Field’s view of writing is one of sincere application to the basic craft, rather than wily manipulation of the available means.

I like Field. Not as much as I like Robert McKee – Field’s a much more limited teacher than McKee – but I like him. He’s an affable, slightly grouchy zen uncle-type – great uncle, now.

Field was a pioneer, an explorer of the territory, and shouldn’t be sneered at by people who arrived in the landscape when it had paths and public conveniences. Even so, as a founding father, he had his limits. His eyesight was clear, but he was only interested in certain outstanding features. It’s not that he got lost, or needed to be rescued, more that the map he brought back was fairly sketchy.

Syd Field Mini-biog

Syd Field was born in 1935, in Hollywood, California. He took a B.A. in English Literature at University of California, Berkeley, in 1960. It was at the suggestion of the director Jean Renoir (Grand Illusion, Le Regle du jour), that he entered film school, also at the University of California. Here, he hung out with Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek of The Doors. His early work in the film industry was for David Wolper Productions, the company later responsible for Roots, The Thorn Birds and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). Field became, in his own words, a jack-of-all trades. He published Screenplay in 1979 – introducing the ideas of “three act structure” and “plot points”.

If you were cynical, you might say that Field profited a great deal from of saying that stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. It shouldn’t be ignored, though, that lots of wannabe screenwriters had and still have no idea what a screenplay looks like, what it should and shouldn’t do. Field gave away that mystery of the craft. He let people see what the producers were arguing over when they were deciding whether or not to greenlight the project, what the actors had in their hands when they were learning their lines, and what the cinematographer and the gaffer were consulting while they were figuring out where to place the key light.

Syd Field’s book covers basics, and does them very well. You just always feel – at every juncture – that there is more to be said.

Some of Field’s virtues are negative. He’s laid back rather than pushy; he’s the Dude, not a Little Lebowski Urban Achiever. Screenplay is pragmatic where Save the Cat! is dogmatic.

Screenplay observes:

When you are writing your screenplay, the plot points become signposts, holding the story together and moving it forward.[1]

Save the Cat! gives you a direct order:

Page 12 – Catalyst. Do it.[2]

And:

The B story begins on page 30.[3]

It’s noticeable that Field isn’t ideologically pushy, either. Screenplay wasn’t written in Mao’s China, but it’s no a hymn to unfettered individualism – as are The Writer’s Journey and Save the Cat!

Field gives practical advice about the writing life:

If you’re a housewife and have a family, you may want to write when everyone’s gone for the day, either midmorning or midafternoon.[4]

And collaboration:

If you’re married and want to collaborate with your spouse, other factors are involved. When things get difficult, for example, you can’t simply walk away from the collaboration. It’s part of the marriage. If the marriage is in trouble, your collaboration will only magnify what’s wrong with it.[5]

He’s wry:

Many of my married women students tell me their husbands threaten to leave them unless they stop writing; their children turn into “animals”.[6]

But, as far as pushing the viewer towards individualism, Field isn’t a culprit. Field doesn’t deal in Heroes and Heroines. In the whole book, the word “Hero” isn’t used. Instead, Field writes about “main characters”.

What does your main character want? What is his or her need?[7]

He writes declaratively:

Without conflict there is no drama. Without need, there is no character. Without character, there is no action. “Action is character.” F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Last Tycoon. What a person does is what he is, not what he says.[8]

However, Screenplay is still mostly about writing films with a single strong main character. Field doesn’t really deal with ensemble pictures – or he dodges dealing with them. Even so, his examples are better than those of Vogler and Snyder:

What about Nashville? Is that an exception? Let’s take a look. First, who’s the main character of the film? Lily Tomlin? Ronee Blakley? Ned Beatty? Keith Carradine?… Joan Tewkesbury… the screenwriter… realised the main character of the film – that is, who the movie is about – is the city of Nashville. It is the main character.[9]

Then he says:

There are several main characters in the film and they all move the action forward.[10]

He says the same of Network (1976).

The “network” is the main character. It feeds everything, like a system; the people are parts of the whole, replaceable parts, at that. Network continues on, indestructible; people come and go. Just like life.[11]

Although he doesn’t require Heroes, Field does want main characters who make stuff happen. The world, at least in his cinematic version of it, moves forwards because of individual dilemmas and decisions:

Many new or inexperienced writers have things happening to their characters, and they are always reacting to their situation, rather than acting in terms of dramatic need. The essence of character is action; your character must act, not react.[12]

Screenplay doesn’t seem anything like a get rich quick manual. The sale is important, but it contains nothing about pitching. Field’s engagement with money is more from the moviegoer’s perspective:

After the lights fade, and the movie begins, how long does it take you to make a decision, either consciously or unconsciously, about whether the movie was worth the price of admission?[13]

Field includes some pages from one of his own screenplays, for an unmade film “The Run”. It is sadly expository and uninspiring. I expect it encouraged some writers by being obviously out-doable.

Nearing the end of the book, I felt that Field had held it together. Although he hadn’t written a manual for writing pluralistic stories, he hadn’t ruled them out. He was handing out the tools like a benign foreman. It was all going so well. If not anticapitalist then not rabidly pro-.

And then, at the very end of the book, quite bizarrely, Field quotes a poster produced by the McDonald’s Corporation entitled “Press On”:

Nothing in the world can take the place

Of persistence.

Talent will not, nothing is more common

Thank unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius

Is almost a proverb.

Education will not;

The world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone

Are omnipotence.[14]

WTF?

In one leap, we go from humble craftsperson to divine being – simply by not losing heart between the seventh and eighth drafts?

Even in his wildest moments of mythologizing, Vogler doesn’t suggest the screenwriter will become a god.

But, as we’ll see in the next chapter, Vogler has a pretty high idea of himself.

THE WRITER’S JOURNEY:

MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR STORYTELLERS AND SCREENWRITERS

CHRISTOPHER VOGLER

1992

but also:

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO JOSEPH CAMPBELL’S

THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES

CHRISTOPHER VOGLER

1985

Re-enter the Hero.

The theme of the hero myth is universal, occurring in every culture, in every time…[15]

In 1985, Vogler resurrected Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces. He did this in a famous seven-page memo.

Vogler tells the story in a pdf he shared on his website:

It was written in the mid-1980s when I was working as a story consultant for Walt Disney Pictures, but I had discovered the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell a few years earlier while studying cinema at the University of Southern California. I was sure I saw Campbell’s ideas being put to work in the first of the Star Wars movies and wrote a term paper for a class in which I attempted to identify the mythic patterns that made that film such a huge success. The research and writing for that paper inflamed my imagination and later, when I started working as a story analyst at Fox and other Hollywood studios, I showed the paper to a few colleagues, writers and executives to stimulate some discussion of Campbell’s ideas which I found to be of unlimited value for creating mass entertainment. I was certainly making profitable use of them, applying them to every script and novel I considered in my job.

The language here is that of the mid-eighties – “unlimited value” and “profitable”.

In 1992, Vogler expanded his memo into what is probably the single most influential screenwriting manual, The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters. Since then it has gone through three distinct editions, and has just been published in a fourth – the 25th Anniversary Edition. Each new iteration looked more authoritative, and chi-chi, and more like a guide to tarot reading, than its predecessor. Each has also made greater claims for itself as a work not just for writers but for everyone seeking meaning in their life.

The 2nd edition contains a Preface that walks back a number of claims made by the 1st edition. Here you can find Vogler’s answers to some of the world’s questions (and mine). He directly takes on the charges of ‘Cultural Imperialism’ and ‘Gender Problems’ (Sexism). But he does so in a spirit of deflect or assimilate.

However, it was the 1st edition, and the 7-page memo that birthed it, that were the most influential versions of the Hero’s Journey – and they are unrepentant in their championing of individualism. (Rugged American optional.)

Here is where Syd Field’s “main character” is replaced by “the Hero” capital H. Vogler doesn’t write anything about ensemble pictures. The films Field chose – Nashville, Network – to talk about collective stories don’t appear in Vogler’s world-view. The implication must be that these kind of movies are outliers – a minority interest. The closest he gets to dealing with non-Heroic movies is to talk about “Group-Oriented” Heroes.

They are part of a society at the beginning of the story, and their journey takes them to an unknown land far from home. When we first meet them, they are part of a clan, tribe, village, town, or family. Their story is one of separation from that group (Act One); lone adventure in the wilderness away from the group (Act Two); and usually, eventual reintegration with the group (Act Three).[16]

The clear implication here is this – no separation, no story; no aloneness, no adventure.

Vogler is consistently helpful, and useful, but he is always pointing you down the same narrow track: the Hero’s Journey.[17]

Christopher Vogler mini-biog

A self-described ‘farm boy from Missouri,’ Vogler was born in 1949. He studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, the alma mater of George Lucas. It was here he encountered Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces. ‘There it was – the answer to what I was looking for: the unwritten rules, the super-outline that all stories appear to be connected by.’ Vogler turned this into his famous memo. Since then, he has worked for Disney studios, Fox 2000 pictures, and Warner Bros. He has a moustache and looks like a weather-beaten walrus.

As with most gurus, the biggest trouble is with the followers, not the guru themselves. Many movies since Vogler’s seven-page memo have been a reduction of what was already a reduction.

Though Vogler is a sincere evangelist for Campbell’s ideas, he seems more widely open. He wants to ask all the right questions:

Where do stories come from? How do they work? What do they tell us about ourselves? What do they mean? Why do we need them? How can we use them to improve the world?[18]

He wants to help the wannabe writer – more than that, he wants to give them the means to self-help.

The Hero’s Journey, I discovered, is more than just a description of the hidden patterns of mythology. It is a useful guide to life, especially the writer’s life.[19]

Vogler goes quite a long way with this. He doesn’t always resist the urge to present The Hero’s Journey as a panacea, a cure-all. He also has an imperial urge to assimilation. This is illustrated by an anecdote he tells in the Preface to the 2nd edition.

At the time Vogler’s memo was becoming a force in Hollywood, “two articles appeared in the Los Angeles Herald-Observer”. In these, an unnamed critic claimed the memo:

had deeply influenced and corrupted Hollywood storytellers. According to him, lazy, illiterate studio executives, eager to find a quick-bucks formula, had seized upon the “Practical Guide” as a cure-all, and were busily stuffing it down the throats of writers…[20]

Vogler’s initial reaction was to be “flattered” but “devastated”.

I had thought about challenging the critic to a duel (laptops at twenty paces) but now reconsidered. With a slight change in attitude I could turn his hostility to my benefit. I contacted the critic and invited him to talk over our differences…[21]

Taking this into Campbell’s Heroic language:

Instead of fighting my Threshold Guardian, I had absorbed him into my adventure.[22]

Vogler never claims to take Campbell on his own terms. The Writer’s Journey is a work of applied mythology; one in which mythological/psychological insights are put to practical use (to help make movie scripts better so they please more people so they earn more money). For there to be a wider moral behind this would be, for Vogler, ludicrous. But the moral is there anyway:

All must be assimilated.

There is one story, and the one story is the story of one man.

The clan, tribe, village, town, or family is in need of the cure[23] which the Hero goes off to seek. The tribe cannot cure itself, with its own means; the tribe cannot send off a scouting party, or travel en masse (as nomads would) in order to be healed. It is only the lone Hero who can succeed – according to Campbell, according to Vogler, according to Hollywood.

When this is put together with the basic Hollywood screenwriting advice to improve the scene by reinforcing the conflict[24], it is easy to see how the depiction of any group will tend to show them as dysfunctional. If there are more than three characters on-screen, two of them must disagree – often violently. If there six or seven, they must start bickering and fighting while time runs down. If there are a hundred or two hundred, they are likely to be a panorama of sleepwalking drones, an applauding crowd, an army of obedient slaves or a rampaging mob. The Hero, meanwhile, detaches from them to sort things out. If he didn’t detach, things wouldn’t be sorted out.

It’s not difficult to see how ideological this is. In a profitably individualistic age, we are given stories of individuals. Instead of “The meek shall inherit the earth” or “Workers of the World Unite” we are told “Just Do It” and “Because You’re Worth It”.

For Vogler, the Hero’s Journey is secular. Where it inevitably tends is towards self-realisation not self-annihilation, not ‘at-one-ment’. There is no mention of the void. The cure brought back to the ailing community is not a spiritual boon, but the solution to a social problem (even if that problem is so total as to become existential).

At the moment, with the Coronavirus, COVID-19, the world – collectively – is seeking a cure. There are Heroic individuals everywhere. They are not going off on individual journeys. Instead, they are working together to save as many lives as possible, to preserve the tribe, to manifest from their collective knowledge (rather than just head off and steal) the cure.

Next month, we’ll be looking at how two more screenwriting manuals have changed our ideas of what it is to be an individual, to be a hero – and how that involves doing anything but really saving the world.

Footnotes

[1] Screenplay, p 122. Which doesn’t work at all, as a metaphor, because signposts hold nothing together, except themselves, and move nothing forward – only point the direction something else should move or be moved. Screenplay is a slackly written book.

[2] Save the Cat!, p 77.

[3] Save the Cat!, p 79.

[4] Screenplay, p 169.

[5] Screenplay, p 238.

[6] Screenplay, p 170.

[7] Screenplay, p 11.

[8] Screenplay, p 25.

[9] Screenplay, p 122-3.

[10] Screenplay, p 123.

[11] Screenplay, p 124.

[12] Screenplay, p 161.

[13] Screenplay, p 71.

[14] Screenplay, p 256.

[15] “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Christopher Vogler, pdf download, p 3.

[16] The Writer’s Journey, p 46.

[17] ‘Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid.’ Raymond Chandler.

[18] The Writer’s Journey, p 3.

[19] The Writer’s Journey, p 3.

[20] The Writer’s Guide, p 4.

[21] The Writer’s Guide, p 4.

[22] The Writer’s Guide, p 5.

[23] Later on, we’re going to be looking closely at World War Z, as both book and movie. One of the reasons I chose it is because the cure in it is literal. At the climax of the film, the Hero (Gerry Lane) Brad Pitt returns with the cure. It’s a lump-in-throat moment.

[24] “Just as in every story a protagonist battles an antagonist in pursuit of a goal, so scenes replicate that structure… For drama to occur, a protagonist must be confronted with an equal and opposite desire. The goals of protagonist and antagonist in every scene are in direct conflict…” Into the Woods, p 91.

Toby Litt has published novels, short story collections and comics. His most recent book is Patience, a novel. He runs the Creative Writing MFA at Birkbeck College, and blogs at www.tobylitt.com. He is a member of English Pen. When he is not writing, he likes sitting doing nothing.

https://writersrebel.com/how-to-tell-a-story-to-save-the-world-2/

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tipsoctopus · 5 years ago

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"His teammates love him" - Rave reviews for "warrior" linked with January move to Aston Villa

It seems that Domagoj Vida could be on his way out of the exit door come the January transfer window, as sources from Turkish Football have recently revealed both Aston Villa and Watford are interested in signing the defender in January.

The 30-year-old centre-back is a player with a lot of experience and quality in his legs.

After all, he was part of the Croatian national team that made the final during the 2018 World Cup in Russia before they were ultimately stopped by eventual winners France.

Vida arrived at Besiktas in the January transfer window of 2018 and has played a total of 77 games for them, scoring six goals from centre back.

Watch Aston Villa Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Now, however, there is a suggestion he might be going to Villa, and the Villans could be getting themselves a powerful defender if they can land his signature.

But what do those who know him best have to say about him?

Let’s find out…

Zlatko Dalic, Croatia national team manager

Dalic knows Vida extremely well. They’ve been working together in the national team and the current gaffer is the one who took them to the final in the first place.

The 30-year-old centre-back played a big role in achieving that feat and back when he invited Dalic to watch a Besiktas game in Turkey, the manager was more than happy to oblige and shower his player with praise in the process as well.

Here’s what he said, as per Spor Arena:

“I chose Vida as a captain in the match vs Jordan precisely because he is a warrior. Because he’s a very combative player. He invited me to the Besiktas match. I can adjust my schedule and will support him by coming to Besiktas to watch the match.”

Dea Redzic, journalist for Index

Redzic is someone who’s been in the world of football for many years now and working for Index, one of the biggest sports outlets in Croatia, she knows a thing or two about Vida.

She believes that his character is simply a part of his player profile and a big reason why he’s a fan-favourite everywhere he goes.

She said, as per Bleacher Report:

“Vida is from a part of Croatia where people are very friendly.

“People are always so cheerful. Mario Mandzukic—who bought beer for the whole town where he is from for the match against Russia—is also from Slavonia. Vida is always up for fun. His teammates love him. He’s a big-hearted person and a big-hearted player. He’s a big joker.”

Fikret Ornan, Besiktas president

Finally, the man who practically brought Vida to Turkey is none other than Besiktas’ president, Ornan.

Last year, when the Croatian was still playing in the World Cup, and after they managed to jump over Denmark in the knockout stages, Ornan was immediately asked whether that would increase the interest in his player.

Sporx quoted him saying the following:

“Vida has played many successful games so far and perhaps he will play in the final as well. He is a strong and ambitious player. Those who want him will have to pay €15m (£12.6m).”

Verdict

It seems that experts believe that Vida is both a strong and a kind-hearted character and his mentality is what often gets him over the line.

Villa could definitely use someone who’s a proven winner and has a warrior spirit, and the 30-year-old Croatian is exactly that.

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/2Zwea06 via IFTTT from Blogger https://ift.tt/2SyPVgj via IFTTT

#FootballFanCast.com

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nigeriasoccernet · 5 years ago

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Bosso Takes Over At Wikki Tourists After Zubairu’s Departure

President of Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Ladan Bosso, is on the fastest lane in the race to lead Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, side, Wikki Tourists of Bauchi, in the 2019/2020 domestic season billed to get underway on November 3, 2019, completesports.com reports.This follows the departure of erstwhile gaffer, Aliyu Zubairu, who turned in his exit papers Monday, October 14, 2019.Bosso was at the head of Gombe United technical affairs last term even though the Savannah Scorpions could not sustain the heat of the top flight on their return from the lower league.“I cannot give you a definite answer now. But I do know that there is a proposal by the management to bring in Bosso”, an official of the Giant Elephants told completesports.com Tuesday without wanting to be quoted.“You this is government club. There is no decision by the government yet on the proposal by the management because you know it is the government that will shoulder the financial burden in terms of payment.“So, until government takes a decision on the proposal, we won’t make any public statement.“But truth is, the choice of Bosso is informed by his huge coaching experience which... source: https://nigeriasoccernet.com/

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mancitynoise · 6 years ago

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Manchester City fans on Twitter have been ripping into Pep Guardiola after his latest batch of post-match comments.

The Spaniard was speaking in his press conference following Tuesday evening’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg loss to Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in north London, and he proclaimed that City controlled the game.

However, sections of unhappy supporters disagreed profusely with one even questioning what match the legendary gaffer was watching.

The Citizens were bested fairly on the night by Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, going down to a 78th-minute winner from Heung-min Son at the hosts’ new stadium.

Now the Cityzens are staring a second consecutive Champions League last-eight exit in the face and will have to overturn a one-goal deficit in the return leg.

Other fans focussed their criticism on Guardiola himself rather than his odd comments, accusing him of having “the worst tactical plan ever” and even going as far as sensationally calling for his sack.

Watch “Jurgen Klopp’s” hilarious masterplan for winning the title in the video below…

Those and the rest of the best angry Man City replies to the presser quotes can be found down below…

Dude, What Game Were you Watching?????

— Win_ston (@CryptoCityzen) April 9, 2019

Pep just agree that you deliberately sold us tonight.

— Reporterobertmwangi (@robertmwangi254) April 9, 2019

Or myb you are paving way for Barcelona to be the favorites by screwing us….

— misheck macdeath@27 (@MisheckMakufa) April 9, 2019

What type of team did you use to play today. Maybe you don’t want us “Manchester city” to enter semi-finals

— Wiseman (@Wiseman88923439) April 9, 2019

We controlled the game? pic.twitter.com/zRRpdPKoVX

— Mcginty (@mcginty46) April 9, 2019

Worst tactical plan ever !!!!!!

— Tinashe Musengi (@tnash_king) April 9, 2019

Got it very wrong tonight, how mahrez gets in that staring line up baffles me, Kdb and sane on 88 minutes too late

— Will (@MorninBuzz) April 9, 2019

pep out.

— ISAEL CRUZ (@cruzico) April 9, 2019

#FootballFanCast #News

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footballghana · 4 years ago

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Hannover 96 manager happy with the signing of attacker Kingsley Schindler

The head coach for Hannover 96, Kenan Kocak has expressed his joy to the club’s acquisition of versatile attacker Kingsley Schindler.

The German-Ghanaian international has today wrapped up a season-long loan transfer to Hannover 96 from German Bundesliga II outfit FC Koln.

Having worked with the attacking midfielder in the second half of the 2019/2020 football season, Coach, Kenan Kocak says he is confident he can count on Kingsley Schindler next season.

“I already know Kingsley from his time in the U23 of 1899 Hoffenheim. I have followed his career further and am glad that he is now joining our team.

“We can count on a very variable and flexible one Players who have quality and character are happy”, the gaffer said as quoted by the official website of the German club.

Last season, Schindler made 13 appearances for Hannover 96 and finished with 2 assists to his name in the process.

source: https://footballghana.com/

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mrlawrenceamick · 6 years ago

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22-year-old midfielder must start for England after comparison to legend

Harry Winks has played often for Tottenham during recent weeks and his performances have earned an England recall. He is in the squad to face Croatia and Spain over the coming days. His Tottenham team-mate Danny Rose has been speaking about Winks to the press. The Evening Standard report the following quote: “The gaffer [Mauricio […]

The post 22-year-old midfielder must start for England after comparison to legend appeared first on The Boot Room.

from The Boot Room https://ift.tt/2pNPvU0

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mariacedano-blog-blog · 7 years ago

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Interior Design Ideas It’s so wonderful to gather all of these beautiful spaces and be able to share with each and every one of you here. I often write how grateful I am for your presence at the end of my posts usually, but today I want to prioritize you. You come before any home, any room, any interior design tips, any sources. I want you to truly know that every space I share on the blog is with the thought of how much it will inspire or teach you something new. My goal is for you to leave the blog feeling a little lighter, a little less stressed and with a feeling that you had a good time and that you were appreciated. Thank you for being here today, my friends. Having you here is always a gift! Now go ahead… dream and have a great time seeing these inspiring interiors! Interior Design Ideas: Follow @HomeBunch on and on Interior Design Ideas Foyer with herringbone hardwood floors and arched nook with shiplap and shelves. Via Beacham & Company. 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Dream Ceiling Design Can a ceiling get more beautiful than this? Perfection! Builder: John Kraemer & Sons. Architecture: Murphy & Co. Interiors: Engler Studio. Photography: Corey Gaffer. Traditional Dining room This traditional dining room feels current and elegant. The foyer wall paint color is Benjamin Moore Affinity Storm-700. The chandeliers are from Currey & Co. Hartley and Hill Design. Shop the Look: Gentleman’s Home Office Paint Color The wall color is Dunn Edwards Midnight Spruce DE6294. Judith Balis Interiors. Allison Corona Photography. Home Office Cabinet Paint Color Cabinet Paint Color: Benjamin Moore HC-147 Woodlawn Blue. Old Seagrove Homes. Grey Laundry room Laundry room features dark grey laundry room cabinets. Paint color is Benjamin Moore Trout Grey. See more of this home here. Interiors: Danielle Loryn Design & Osmond Designs. Builder: Tree Haven. Laundry room Floor Tile Floor tile is Bedrosian Stonepeak deco tile. Interiors: Danielle Loryn Design & Osmond Designs. Builder: Tree Haven. Shop the Look: Light Grey Cabinet Paint Color Light Grey Benjamin Moore Paint Color: “Benjamin Moore 1541 London Fog”. Hartley and Hill Design. Blue Paint Color “Benjamin Moore AF-555 Montpelier”. Hartley and Hill Design. Bunk room Gorgeous bunk room with blue and white plaid carpet flooring. Builder: John Kraemer & Sons. Architecture: Murphy & Co. Interiors: Engler Studio. Photography: Corey Gaffer. Farmhouse Kids’ Bathroom Farmhouse bathroom with rustic reclaimed wood freestanding vanity and shiplap accent wall. Sink is Kohler. Builder: John Kraemer & Sons. Architecture: Murphy & Co. Interiors: Engler Studio. Photography: Corey Gaffer. Grey Bathroom Traditional grey bathroom features cabinets with white marble countertop and marble floor tile. The drawer pulls are the Kanota Pulls from Rejuvenation. Hartley and Hill Design. Warm Grey Cabinet Paint Color Warm Grey Benjamin Moore Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Light Pewter 1464. Hartley and Hill Design. Tile Runner This bathroom also features marble floor tile with hex white marble tile runner and glass tile boarder. Hartley and Hill Design. Shower Double shower enclosure with custom cabinet for extra bathroom storage. Hartley and Hill Design. Dark Grey Cabinet Paint Color “Sherwin Williams SW7068 Grizzle Gray”. Judith Balis Interiors. Allison Corona Photography. Farmhouse Bathroom Farmhouse bathroom with floating vanity, cement tile and painted brick wall. Cement tile is from Bedrosians Tile and Stone. Lighting is Ballard Designs. Mirror is from HomeGoods. Judith Balis Interiors. Allison Corona Photography. Get the Look: Master Bedroom What a gorgeous master bedroom! Paneling paint color is “Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace”. Bed is from Orient Express, bench is from a store called Downeast Outfitters, bedding is Pottery Barn, drapery panels are custom from Martha and Ash, nightstands are from Cost Plus World Market, and lamps are vintage from an Estate sale. Judith Balis Interiors. Allison Corona Photography. Get the Look: Pinnable Paint Colors & Color Palettes Blue Paint Colors: Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue. Sherwin Williams Atmospheric. Sherwin Williams Rainwashed. Sherwin Williams Pool Blue. Benjamin Moore Blue Allure. Via Southern State of Mind. Home Exterior & Gardens John Kraemer & Sons. Inviting Back Porch Dining area opens to covered back porch with comfortable outdoor furniture and beautiful decor. Judith Balis Interiors. Allison Corona Photography. White Farmhouse Exterior Paint Color White Farmhouse Paint Color: Benjamin Moore OC-17 White Dove. You can see more of this dreamy farmhouse on Instagram – @mygeorgiafarmhouse Happiness Life is better at farmhouses… @mygeorgiafarmhouse. Whitewashed Brick Fireplace Charming porch with whitewashed/distressed brick fireplace. Via Beacham & Company. Charming Nantucket Nantucket shingle cottage with blue front door and blue shutters. Via Glimpse Guides. Turquoise Exterior Paint Color Benjamin Moore Amelia Island Blue 2044-40 – Custom matched in a Sansin stain. Ronse Massey Developments. Quote of the Week Posts of the Week @citrineliving: Beautiful Homes of Instagram. Tuesday: Cottage Interior Design Ideas. Wednesday: Transitional Farmhouse Interior Design. Kitchen of the Month New Classic White Kitchen – Renovation Inspiration. Latest Interior Design Ideas: Latest Interior Design Ideas. Inspiring Interior Design Ideas: Interior Design Ideas Post. More Interior Design Ideas: New & Fresh Interior Design Ideas for your Home. Trending on Home Bunch: Interior Design Ideas – a weekly series on Home Bunch. Popular on Pinterest: Interior Design Ideas. Popular on Home Bunch: Beautiful post featuring a collection of Farmhouse Interior Design Ideas. Follow Home Bunch on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives. Popular Paint Color Posts: The Best Benjamin Moore Paint Colors 2016 Paint Color Ideas for your Home Interior Paint Color and Color Palette Pictures Interior Paint Color and Color Palette Ideas Inspiring Interior Paint Color Ideas Interior Paint Color and Color Palette New 2015 Paint Color Ideas Interior Paint Color Ideas Interior Design Ideas: Paint Color Interior Ideas: Paint Color More Paint Color Ideas Wasn’t it fun to be here today? I hope you had a good time. Now, go ahead, dream and have some great plans for your weekend. Nothing is impossible and impossible is nothing! We’ll talk soon! with Love, Luciane from HomeBunch.com Interior Design Services within Your Budget Come Follow me on Come Follow me on Get Home Bunch Posts Via Email Contact Luciane Sources: 1st Image: John Kraemer & Sons. “For your shopping convenience, this post might contain links to retailers where you can purchase the products (or similar) featured. I make a small commission if you use these links to make your purchase so thank you for your support!” Save

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