#willie kirk

[spirk-trek]

Happy birthday William Shatner (93) & Captain Kirk (-209)! 🧁

[pinazee]

The problem with coming into a decades old and thriving fandom, is having freshly formed fetus feelings about something that has already been feasted on by others

Like what am i supposed to do with this screaming crying infant ma’am? It needs to be fed and i cant do it by myself

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

My Thoughts on the Roger Rabbit Novels

Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

The Plot: It's the 1980s, and human beings and comic strip characters ("toons") live side-by-side, albeit not on an equal social standing. Roger Rabbit approaches private detective Eddie Valiant and asks him to investigate a dispute he has with Rocco and Dominick DeGreasy, the brothers who own his comic strip. Roger claims his life is in danger, but Eddie, who's somewhat racist towards toons, doesn't take him seriously - which comes back to bite him when he finds Roger's dead body. Now Eddie has to work out who killed Roger, as well as who killed Rocco DeGreasy on the same night.

What I Liked: This is a very well-paced story. It sets up the mystery straightaway, it cracks along at a good speed, and you don't have the full truth of whodunnit until the very end. The chapters are short and punchy, and even the time spent on plot points that turned out to be red herrings never felt wasted. I was always eager to pick the book up again and read just one more chapter!

Also, in any other novel, the twist regarding Roger's killer would be a massive "What the heck?" moment, but here, it's set up far enough in advance that it doesn't feel unnatural when it comes.

And as a fun minor detail, Eddie casually mentions being one of four children, and then the next novel, Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, gives him two brothers and a sister! It was probably a coincidence, but I was glad to spot it!

What I Disliked: I really wasn't a fan of the way Jessica Rabbit was portrayed. Who Framed Roger Rabbit subverts her femme fatale image, but Who Censored Roger Rabbit? plays it straight, which didn't appeal to me as much. I prefer the "looks like she could kill you, is actually a cinnamon roll" trope over the "looks like she could kill you, could actually kill you" trope.

At one point in the story, Jessica claims she was forced to pose for a racy comic, but when Eddie speaks to the owner of said comic, the man claims Jessica posed for those pictures willingly and was actually eager to make more. At the time the story was published (1981), one might just about have got away with such a portrayal, but in a post-#MeToo world, it's discomforting that Jessica's allegations of coercion and sexual abuse aren't taken seriously. (Also, the man who owns the racy comic is a creepy crossdresser, which ... what? Why was that in there? That didn't need to be in there.)

As a consequence of Jessica's portrayal, her relationship with Roger is nowhere near as sweet as in the film. Their entire marriage is basically a sham. No, thank you. Give me "honey bunny" and "love cup" instead, please.

Verdict: I saw the film first, and I prefer it to the novel. Who Framed Roger Rabbit will always be my favourite piece of Roger Rabbit media. But I can appreciate Who Censored Roger Rabbit? as its own thing - a product of its time, to be sure, but also a well-structured and fast-paced read.

Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?

The Plot: It's 1947 (more or less), sometime after the events of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Roger Rabbit, Baby Herman, and Kirk Enigma are three toons in line for the lead role in David Selznick's upcoming adaptation of Gone With the Wind. A box belonging to Selznick, a box of great importance, has gone missing, and Eddie Valiant has been hired to find it.

What I Liked: Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit? has my favourite portrayal of Roger (after the film and the comics). We spend a bit more time with him than in the previous book, so we get to hear more about his worldviews and his backstory. We also get to see what a sweetie pie he is. He's an emotional bunny who loves his wife, just like in the film, and I frequently wanted to hug him.

A key highlight for me was the moment when Roger was singing like a Disney Princess and summoning a chorus of birds to wake Eddie one morning, which Eddie did not appreciate. Can someone animate that? I'd love to see it!

The second half of this novel also introduces Jessica's twin sister Joellyn (the six-inch-tall woman on Eddie's shoulder on the cover), and I enjoyed getting to know her. And, without giving away too many spoilers, I greatly preferred this rendition of Jessica over the one in Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

What I Disliked: Unlike the first novel, this one was pretty slow to get going. Eddie isn't actually hired by Selznick until Chapter 7, and most of the time before then is spent establishing Eddie as a down-on-his-luck private eye, using people and locations that show up once and then are barely used again. Some of that fat could have been trimmed, I feel. It made reaching the end of the book a bit more of a slog.

Something else that bothered me was the high volume of old-timey slang, brand names and Americanisms that I, as a twentysomething Brit, did not recognise. I could read an entire paragraph and think, "Well, he's either drinking alcohol, smoking cigar or eating a foodstuff, but I'll be darned if I can tell you which is the right interpretation." I think the noir detective vernacular was slightly overdone, to the point of incomprehension.

Verdict: I thought this would be my favourite of the novels because it seemed the most similar in tone to the film, so I was disappointed by my lukewarm reception to it. Maybe I was disappointed because I'd hyped it up too much in my mind? That's not to say I didn't enjoy it - I greatly preferred the second half to the first, once Eddie found out what was actually in this mysterious box - but I think it could have done with a few more edits before publication.

Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?

The Plot: It's the 1940s or 1950s, sometime after the events of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and director Barney Sands is shooting a movie set in Toontown starring Gary Cooper and Roger Rabbit. He's been receiving threatening letters warning him to stay away from Toontown and stop making this film, but he can't afford to let down his investors. So he hires Eddie Valiant to be Cooper's bodyguard while filming takes place. But Eddie soon finds himself wrapped up in another mystery, involving a porcine crime lord called Willy Prosciutto and the corpse of Clabber Clown.

What I Liked: The majority of this novel takes place in Toontown, so we get some really cool worldbuilding details. We find out how the school system works, which churches are based in Toontown, and how crooked toons launder their money. I was particularly intrigued by the calm and serious toons in the Sanatorium - apparently, if you're not loud and goofy and bouncing off the walls, you're considered insane, which is the opposite of how humans think about mental health.

The blonde humanoid toon on the cover is Caitlyn "Honey" Graham, Willy's girlfriend. I really like Honey. In fact, she might be my favourite of the novel-exclusive characters. Throughout the book, you're trying to work out if she's a good bad girl or a bad good girl, or if she's really just a bad bad girl. If Who Framed Roger Rabbit ever gets a sequel or prequel or spin-off cartoon series, I'd love to see Honey on screen.

What I Disliked: The Roger we meet in this novel is a bit too stupid for my liking. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Roger made seemingly nonsensical choices, but he had his own (cartoon) logic to explain his actions, and he was even proved right in his assumptions a few times. So I much prefer to think of Roger as the kind of toon where you're never quite sure if he's truly dumb or merely playing dumb for the sake of a gag. Here, he's just straight-up dumb, and that's not as fun to read about.

Verdict: This was the book I knew the least about before I read it, so I was more cautious going in - but it ended up being my second favourite of the Roger Rabbit novels. I enjoyed learning more about Toontown and its residents. My favourite parts of the film had been the toony parts - Roger, and Jessica, and Roger and Jessica together - so I guess it makes sense that I'd enjoy the novel that takes place almost entirely in Toontown.

Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business

The Plot: It's the 2020s, sometime post-pandemic, and Jessica Krupnik is a human in a toon-less world. She's working a dead-end job in a crime-ridden part of town, her stepmother bosses her around and belittles her, her stepsisters treat her like a servant, and her stepbrothers sexually harass her. She's basically a modern-day Cinderella. But instead of a fairy godmother, Jessica is rescued from her life of drudgery by an opportunity to apply for a role at XERIOUS, a crime-fighting organisation of secret agents. She gets the job, and is later put on a mission with Robbe, one of XERIOUS's most experienced agents, to catch a criminal mastermind called the Klown.

(And this is somehow a prequel to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Despite being set decades after that film. And starring a human Jessica instead of a toon Jessica. Cartoon timelines be weird, y'all.)

What I Liked: This was the most fun novel to read! I think that's because it was a spy novel spoof, rather than a gritty noir detective story. The other three novels could be quite dour in tone - yes, cases would get solved, but people would get hurt in the process, and relationships would be irrevocably altered, so there was always this undercurrent of sadness in the seemingly happy endings. After three novels in a row of that, a story spoofing spy novels was always going to feel like a breath of fresh air. Gary K. Wolf has stated that he wrote this book in lockdown and had a lot of fun doing so, and I feel that coming across in his writing.

Robbe was another great novel-exclusive character. I can't say too much about him, because that would massively spoil things, but I can say that I enjoyed witnessing his development over the course of the novel. To give the most spoiler-free explanation I can, Robbe starts out as a suave and competent spy, but also a misogynist - until something happens to him in the line of duty that shakes his confidence. Watching him grow and try to be a better person, especially towards Jessica, while also dealing with the aftermath of his accident, was truly engaging. It even got me thinking about the portrayal of disability in fiction, which I did not expect a Roger Rabbit novel to do.

What I Disliked: For a novel called Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business, Jessica herself was disappointingly under-developed. The first three chapters follow her miserable life and her desire for adventure, for respect, for something more. And then there's a two-year time skip and whoop, she's suddenly a confident and glamorous secret agent! And she's ditched her glasses and dyed her hair, so she's beautiful now! And she achieved her impossible hourglass figure with nothing but diet and exercise, despite being a human and not a toon! Sigh.

There was a real missed opportunity here. Robbe already has a plot where he starts off skilled and arrogant, but then has his worldview challenged and needs to learn to embrace vulnerability. So we could have had Jessica experiencing her own story of growth alongside him, but in reverse! We could have watched as, over the course of the novel, she transforms from the beaten-down self-conscious little girl into the sensational woman she was always meant to be. Robbe would start on top and fall down; Jessica would start at the bottom and claw her way up. The parallels could have been awesome!

Gary K. Wolf has admitted that, as a man, he would struggle to write a novel about women, and it shows. The sexism Jessica experiences doesn't have any nuance; the story just says, "Harassment is bad" over and over again. There's one moment where the Klown is sharing his nefarious plan to change the world, and Jessica responds, "I like the current world." And ... huh? You like the sexual harassment you receive on an almost daily basis? You like the system that trapped you in a dead-end job? You like all the poverty and crime and misery the world has right now? The story could have really benefitted from a feminist and/or intersectional analysis.

Also, in an effort to make Jessica seem smart, the men around her are extremely stupid, unable to see through the Klown's flimsy disguises. That is ... not the best way to make your female characters appear intelligent.

Verdict: My favourite of the Roger Rabbit novels! It's not perfect, but my criticisms are born out of love and a desire to see this concept reach its full potential. But even as it is, I still found this book a lot of fun to read, and I can excuse a few flaws if I'm having fun.

Final Ranking (Compared to Other Roger Rabbit Media)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Roger Rabbit and Roger Rabbit's Toontown comics

The three shorts

Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business

Who Wacked Roger Rabbit?

Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?

[jt1674]

[krispyweiss]

“A Beautiful, Luminous Human Being,” Snarky Puppy Keyboardist Shaun Martin Dies at 45

Snarky Puppy keyboardist Shaun Martin has died at 45, Variety magazine reports.

Martin died Aug. 4 after more than a year of “constant medical supervision” following a 2023 stroke, the magazine reported.

“We lost a music legend and, more importantly, a beautiful, luminous human being,” Snarky Puppy said in a statement.

“Shaun Martin touched so many people during his life and through the beautiful immortality of music, will continue to do so,” the band said. “There’s so much that can be said but words can’t do justice. Rest in peace.”

Martin’s credits also include production and collaborative work with Erykah Badu, Chaka Kahn and gospel singer Kirk Franklin.

“Shaun Martin (was) one of the most astonishing and joyous musicians I’ve ever known,” Eric Persing said.

Michelle Willis, who toured with Snarky Puppy and played with some of its members in David Crosby’s last band, said she’s “never seen anyone have so much fun and bring the audience along with them onstage” like Martin did.

“I’m still in shock that he’s gone,” she said.

8/6/24

[bardicious]

Im trying to not block everyone who willfully misinterprets snw, but it is fuckin hard, not gonna lie. Also, beggin people to stop remembering TOS with rose tinted glasses, ffs.

[jazzplusplus]

1967 - Watts Summer Festival - Shrine Auditorium - Los Angeles

Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Jimmy Smith, Gerald Wilson, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Willie Bobo, Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Cal Tjader, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, ...

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Eliot has referenced Star Trek (both the original series and next gen) twice now without prompting. 🫵 Trekkie.

[sapsuckers-and-stardust]

Love how you always hear about television being heavily self-censoring back then and how they were always struggling to get things through especially with regards to sexuality/modesty (Cher causing a stir with her visible bellybutton on her show in the 70s is a well-known example).

But like... sure the captain's vacuum-packed schlong can just be there. Like yeah everyone is gonna clearly see Bill's dick. This scene will be LONG and he will be facing the camera the entire time and everyone will see. BTW this is a primetime slot family show. And we're only on the second episode. Like I get sexism is crazy and women always face more intense scrutiny but I mean... we all see his cock right?

[studioswitchum]

Swap meet at Hutchinson.

It was an hour ride to there and I stood and walk 2 hours. By the time I came home I was worn out and slept in till noon next day. I am not able to hold a regular job....

Saw 3 Trump hats. Saw only one none white person in 2 hours.

[spirk-trek]

France Nuyen and William Shatner for The World of Suzie Wong. Shown on the Ed Sullivan show, 1958 (source)

[donospl]

Co w jazzie piszczy [sezon 2 odcinek 14]

premierowa emisja 17 kwietnia 2024 – 18:00 Graliśmy: Alessandro Bosetti i Neue Vocalsolisten “Portrait IV” z  albumu “Portraits de Voix” Kirke Karja, Etienne Renard, Ludwig Wandinger “First Last Dance” z albumu “Caught In My Own Trap” –  BMC Records Miklos Lukacs Cimbiosis Trio & Ligeti Ensemble “II. Prestissimo minaccioso e burlesco – Response” z albumu “Responses to Ligeti” – BMC…

[uwmspeccoll]

Wood Engraving Wednesday

WALWORTH STILSON

The Writers of Knickerbocker New York is an essay on the Knickerbocker Group of writers by American essayist Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846-1916). The Knickerbocker Group included such writers as Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, William Cullen Bryan, James Kirke Paulding, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Joseph Rodman Drake, Robert Charles Sands, Gulian Crommelin Verplanck, and��Nathaniel Parker Willis, all of whom are discussed in Mabie's essay, which was published in 1912 by The Grolier Club of New York in an edition of 303 copies.

For the publication, the Club commissioned American artist Walworth Stilson (1874-1962) to produce these eleven wood-engraved head and tail pieces for each of the book's chapters. Surprisingly little is known about Stilson and his career beyond his immediate family, his 2-year attendance at the Detroit School of Art, his work as an illustrator only up to 1912, a studio fire some time before 1925, and his death in 1962; a remarkable lack of information for a man who lived to be 88 years old. Still, we find these engravings to be quite charming.

Our copy, another gift from our friend Jerry Buff, who is also a Grolier Club member, bears bookplates from two other notable collectors:

The American adventurer and book collector Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870-1935);

and Harold Hugo (1910-1985), longtime administrator and president of the Meriden Gravure Company and a board member of the Stinehour Press since its founding in the 1950s. Hugo's bookplate is a wood engraving by noted South African-born British calligraphic wood engraver Leo Wyatt (1909-1991), who has signed the plate.

View more posts with books donated by Jerry Buff.

View more posts with wood engravings!

[pinesource]

In a preview from his conversation with Willie Geist for Sunday TODAY, Chris Pine looked back at how much his role as Anne Hathaway’s love interest in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement impacted his career.

Pine recalled the exact moment he got the life-changing call saying he had been cast as Nicholas Devereaux. He was on the freeway, driving his 1972 BMW that he owned since he was 16, at a time in his life when he had only booked small TV roles.

“I got a call from my agent saying I booked the job, and I pulled over to the side of the freeway, and they said, ‘You’re getting paid $65,000,'” said the actor. “It was like they had just told me I’d make $15 million.”

Pine shared that getting the call was “absolutely earth-shattering” as he was severely struggling financially. “I had an overdraft on my bank account. It was like $400 over. I was going to have to ask my parents for money, and then I got that 65,” he said.

“I remember distinctly knowing in that moment that my life had changed somehow,” Pine continued, “even though 65 at the end of the day turned out to be like $15,000.”

“And I owed my parents rent money,” he added. “But that is a wild feeling. I’ll never forget that.”

While Princess Diaries 2 was Pine’s first major role, which resulted in him being cast as the leading man in the 2006 Lindsay Lohan-starring rom-com Just My Luck two years later, Pine didn’t receive his big break until Star Trek. In the J.J. Abrams-directed reboot, Pine took over William Shatner’s role as Captain Kirk.

Two decades later, he might reunite with Mia Thermopolis. In 2022, The Hollywood Reporter announced that a third Princess Diaries movie was in the works at Disney. Pine has expressed a desire to reprise his role as Nicholas, telling Entertainment Tonight in 2023, “I’m here for it. Give me a phone call or an email.”

[rubyroboticalt]

Minecrafters grab your pickaxes, and catch up on the QBLR QUATERLY!

What's up guys, update just dropped! It sure is something to try and decipher, huh. We've got pages of new stuff to go over, so let me learn you a thing about all the events and mishaps that happened on the server this week!

Steel gets possessed or something, not many details are available on that. Blood, gore, efforts to contain and combat the possession. I'm sure nothing went too awry. Steel's still possessed though, has all that viscera on their hands.

Mercury makes an underwater garden with every single crop in the game.

A children's library opens up with books for all the creatures to read! We are literate on this server.

Is that the Hollow Knight.

And now, some autistic Minecraft behaviors.

A wizard's tower is built on the beach, with a glassblowing studio outside on the sand. The Angel appears, and a clubhouse is built for it. It is unknown if the Angel actually goes into the clubhouse or if it is just built for it.

Splat finishes part of the solar system project! It's quite lovely. Cellu receives the equivalent of a pipe bomb in the mail for bug phobia havers.

And now, a reading from r/malelivingspaces: Beige carpet floor. Yellowed wallpaper. Popcorn ceiling with fluorescent lights. Extensive room with no pillars or supports. Ominous darkness. I think this is just the backrooms, folks.

In a perfect example of human greed harming the environment irreparably, somebody spilled oil in the bay. Alright, own up, this cleanup will cost millions and the server budget does not have that lying around.

In less disastrous news, Kirk finishes a castle!

Who let the entities out of the backrooms? Who did this? They are contained in there for a reason! We can't be letting them roam all willy-nilly! Who knows what kind of sick and twisted activities Jerma will get up to outside his habitat?

And the week ends with the morning players attempting to summon Herobrine.

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal. (© 2023 Carnival Film & Television Limited)

What To Expect From The Day Of The Jackal.

By Olivia Emily, for Country& Town House, October 10th, 2024.

Perhaps Hollywood’s shiniest star of the 2010s – starring in the likes of My Week With Marilyn (2011), Les Misérables (2012), The Theory of Everything (2014) and The Danish Girl (2015) – Eddie Redmayne takes on a role unlike any of his others in The Day of the Jackal: an assassin. Here’s exactly what to expect from Sky’s brand new thriller.

The Day Of The Jackal: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

In the works since 2022, Sky’s flagship series this autumn is this star-studded series. Written by Ronan Bennett and directed by Brian Kirk, Eddie Redmayne has been attached to the project as an executive producer since the very beginning, with the actor describing the original book as ‘reconceived and contemporised with a new target’ for the series. In March 2023, it was confirmed Redmayne would star in the title role, too.

What Is The Day Of The Jackal About?

The Day of the Jackal is a political thriller centring on a ruthless British assassin and the intelligence officer tasked with capturing him. Sky’s synopsis reads: ‘An unrivalled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer (Lashana Lynch) who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. The series also stars Úrsula Corberó as Nuria, someone at the heart of The Jackal’s personal life, unaware of who he truly is.’

Where Was It Filmed?

The Day of the Jackal was filmed across Europe in 2023, beginning in Budapest in June, before moving to Vienna in July. As autumn drew in, it was over to Croatia, with filming taking place in Rijeka, Pag, Dubrovnik and the Istrian region.

What Is It Based On?

The Day of the Jackal is based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel of the same name. Critically and commercially acclaimed, Forsyth’s plot whisks us back to 1962 and begins with paramilitary terrorist organisation OAS’s real conspiracy to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, the President of France. In the book, the Jackal is tasked with the job. Forsyth’s novel was an instant bestseller – perhaps because it was published less than a year after the real de Gaulle actually died (of an aneurysm; he wasn’t assassinated). Sky’s series, however, moves the action to contemporary Britain.

If you recognise the plot, that’s because this isn’t the first time The Day of the Jackal has been adapted for the screen: in 1973, Edward Fox portrayed the Jackal in the book’s first film treatment, before Bruce Willis took on the role in the 1997 remake which re-set the action in the US, with the First Lady the assassination target

The Cast

Eddie Redmayne as The Jackal

Lashana Lynch as Bianca

Úrsula Corberó as Nuria

Charles Dance as Timothy Winthorp

Richard Dormer as Norman

Chukwudi Iwuji as Osita Halcrow

Lia Williams as Isabel Kirby

Khalid Abdalla as Ulle Dag Charles

Eleanor Matsuura as Zina Jansone

Jonjo O’Neill as Edward Carver

Sule Rimi as Paul Pullman

What Is A Jackal?

‘Jackal’ is the assassin’s codename in The Day of the Jackal. So what is a ‘jackal’? In the wild, a jackal is a canine mammal, smaller than a wolf but bigger than a fox. Found in Africa, the Middle East, Southeastern Europe and western and south Asia, jackals are opportunistic omnivores and predators of small to medium sized animals and, like foxes, typically hunt and scavenge at dawn and dusk. In conversation, however, to call someone a jackal is to describe them as cunning, dishonest and treacherous – and someone who performs base deeds for another.

How Many Episodes In The Day Of The Jackal?

The Day of the Jackal is a 10-part series, with each episode running for 60 minutes.

Release Date

Episode 1 of The Day of the Jackal will air on Sky Atlantic on Thursday 7 November 2024, and the following episodes will air weekly on Thursdays. The release schedule is as follows:

7 November

14 November

21 November

28 November

5 December

12 December

19 December

26 December

2 January

9 January

Once they have aired on Sky Atlantic, episodes will be available for catch up on NOW.

Over in the US, The Day of the Jackal will launch with the first five episodes on Peacock on 14 November, followed by weekly episodes until a double finale on 12 December.

Source: