#winner of time magazine's Most Normal Man award

[moonknowshome]

The industry reflected on television

This is a translation of the post x made by @larryisinlove and @faithinrainbows

On many multiple occasions through the media around us we have read or heard a lot of people talking about the reality that the music industry faces and a lot of their aspects that we may not notice at a first look. However, we can see that a variety of TV programs (many of them released for younger audiences) gave us some kind of hints or messages on many chapters they present to us. Chapters which show us the reality artists face in the world of music industry.

Let's start by talking about the Disney series, "Hannah Montana." In the episode (3x10) we can see the protagonist of the series, Miley, dressed as the teenage pop star Hannah Montana along with a famous boy named Austin Rain, who claims to be her partner to the photographers and the media.

At first we see them united showing themselves in front of the cameras, but the reality behind it is that the relationship was only created to promote their song together called "Us Isn’t Us Without You."

We are also going to mention the moment when one of the most famous series for children created by Nickelodeon, a very recognized television network, tried to make a reference ( more like a parody in my opinion) to a massive TV network we all have seen in the past which is Disney Channel. In one episode called “The Dingo Channel” they talk about a channel called “Dingo Channel” tried to copy the structure of the web channel protagonist the series iCarly and the way that channel was run in that period of time. We can see it as a satire the way some of the rumors Disney Channel and their creator were involved in. They qualified Disney basically like a network with little originality.

It is interesting to see how certain topics are presented as a joke, such as wars between television networks. Or how the protagonists go from making a channel on the internet to making it to television, but little by little they find big changes that the production wants to introduce, among them, change to the protagonists, and other modifications that culminates with a different program to the original.

The third program to mention is another from Disney, "Gravity Falls" (1x17). They present to us a band called "Sev'ral Timez", and the protagonist is a fan of them. So, together with her friends, they decide to attend one of their concerts.

At the end of this, the girls are curious to know what is behind when the group disappears, so they go behind the scenes without anyone seeing them, to find various capsules. Inside them you could see the same boys, in different sizes, and the band in a large cage, as if they were animals. According to them, their manager keeps them safe that way.

You can see how the series wanted to demonstrate what happens many times in the industry, wanting to create perfect bands or artists, who manage to sell their image to their fans.

We go on to see what the fourth program presents, in Austin & Ally (Third season-episode 22). One of the Disney series that most thematically refers to the life of an artist in terms of their experiences or events they experience at such a young age is without a doubt Austin & Ally. Several things have been mentioned in relation to the life and growth that an artist has in this episode, exemplifying the main characters of this series. In addition to having their typical Disney touch that characterizes them, it also shows how the characters develop their personalities in the artistic environment and in the world of the music industry.

A clear example in this particular episode called "Relationships and red carpets" that draws a lot of attention at the moment of analyzing it, is to see how Austin and Ally prepare for an awards event, they have been nominated in the same category and would basically come to mean the big moment of the beginning of their careers as pop stars. They planned to announce their relationship to the public eye, but something happens that caught a lot my attention and that is something not far from reality is that Jimmy (owner of the record company in which Austin signed) prohibits him to make his relationship something public with the clarification that it would not be a good thing for his image and that what he wants to sell with Austin is something for teenagers who will eventually buy his music and have that fantasy of being able to go out and date that star, that star he wants to turn him into. He explains openly that this will make him sell more albums in the future. In this episode Austin and Ally try to make their relationship a secret with the purpose of showing Jimmy that they can deal with this. They even deny their relationship to the press at the award ceremony, but they realize that it is not easy at all. Austin risks his career at the cost of it by telling everyone he is dating Ally. This tells us that maintaining an image for sales is too important, it shows us that these things are not taken easily.

As a consequence Austin is unable to release music in any ways for the next 10 years due to the power that his label presents over his music by certain contracts that are mentioned in a basic way in the series.

The next show belongs to Nickelodeon, "Victorious." In this series we find a rather peculiar chapter, within this we see in a developed way how they ask teenagers to send videos showing their skills in music, and with that they achieve a career. The person who did these auditions was a man named Mason, and particularly he is British, with great power in the industry.

The winner of the contest is Tori, the protagonist of the series, who is summoned to a confidential meeting in order to talk about her future. She happily goes with the idea that she should only sing and be her, to which they respond "Your image does not sell, so we are going to create a new one for you", something that we know happens a lot. And they put a condition on it. They tell her that she can't tell anyone about her control over her image, not even her friends. This is how they put wigs on her, flashy clothes, and invent an insolent personality in addition to rumors that generated controversy, among them, causing a stir in restaurants in front of many people.

To finish, we are going to present what the movie Starstruck tells us, the life of a superstar and a girl he meets throughout the plot. In this film we see how this artist handles the moments in which he is told what to do to clean up the image he has a little and get more opportunities as an actor, he must keep himself out of the public eye, and obey everything they tell him to do or say and be cautious with whom he hangs out because of recent problematics he has had.

Basically this film, apart from touching the typical Disney theme of a love story, shows how this star tries to handle this fight in which he is constantly told what to say to the media or the people around him and also shows the way in which the media greatly influence the image of this artist. You can see the behavior of Christopher, the protagonist, at the time of making decisions in order to take care of his own image with the purpose of getting the role he wants to play, all this starts as it is usual from a recommendation that his manager gave him, therefore this idea does not come out of his mind and sporadically says or does things that make the girl he has a romantic interest in feel disappointed because she doesn't like the person that this star tries to be reaching a point of collapse due to all the hate and harassment by journalists which falls into it as a result of things the star said in order to clean its own image. Jesssica, played by the well-known Danielle Campbell, gets tired of having constant harassment by the press, which was waiting for her to say something about the relationship of this normal girl with the big star Christopher is. She decides to give a speech that allows us to understand the intentions that these media require, to sell an artist and sell articles or magazines at the cost of freedom, privacy and quality as a person. (This is highly ironic). The star reconsiders and thinks that the best thing to do is to start taking control of his image and his life and decides to leave his opportunities as an actor and tell his parents who in a way were in charge of taking care of his image that they are fired and he wants to be himself.

As we could see in the examples mentioned above, and in many more that were not named, there are series or films that contain episodes in which they will give us examples or clues, some more direct than others, about the management around the artists in the middle.

It is not unusual that there are so many examples, and so many similarities between them, or with what one already knows, hears, or reads.

The objective of this post is to imply that it is no secret what companies or managers do with their artists, the changes in appearance and personality, transform them completely, or even invent lives that they do not have. These chapters, or scenes that we name, are a step forward to show publicly what happens, and that the affected people cannot come out to say it.

[gayenerd]

These are “outtakes” from Billie Joe’s 2010 Out Magazine interview. The link is still up, but for some reason they took out his answers about masculinity and femininity????? And those are obviously the most interesting answers! Anyway, here’s the whole thing I had saved in a doc

March 19, 2010

Billie Joe Armstrong Tells All

Photo: Kurt Iswarienko

Our April Broadway issue features Green Day's front man Billie Joe Armstrong chatting about music, politics, and the new musical, <i>American Idiot,</i> based on the band's last two albums. The writer of the piece (and former Popnography editor) Shana Naomi Krochmal filed the following exclusive extras from her interview with Armstrong that didn't make it into the piece. In them, Billie Joe touches on masculinity, his queer influences, and meeting Lady Gaga:

ON MASCULINITY:

Out: Is masculinity important to you?

Billie Joe Armstrong: I think it can come in handy, if it’s used the right way.

What’s the right way?

I think you learn a lot from Little League baseball. Like how to be a good team player, what do you do in situations when you’re at bat and it’s just you and another person. When you lose, how do you deal with losing? When you win, are you a good winner? And a graceful winner? How do you contribute to a team situation selflessly? I think there’s a lot of leadership skills in that. I don’t know if that’s masculinity or just good leadership or just life lessons. I just used Little League baseball because it’s male dominated.

Do your kids play?

They did. My oldest is done now, and my youngest one does. It was a real good bonding experience. I think masculinity is a lot more feminine than people give it credit for. Or it can be. Jim Morrison seemed very masculine to me, but also completely feminine at the same time. That balance in between -- and it’s not those morons on the bus in Borat. That’s not masculinity, that’s insecurity at its worse. Masculinity is something that women can have.

What is feminine about you?

I’m not sure. Let me think. It’s all about being a well rounded a person. I think being a singer is very feminine. Being a singer is a very feminine thing -- performing is definitely. Women have a lot more courage I think than men do, in a lot of ways -- if you think about what Madonna does or Lady Gaga or Beyonce. Women have a much easier time of reinventing themselves than I think men do. Hmm, I think -- a little bit of eyeliner. [Laughs] But I think there’s a big difference between vanity and femininity. I think that feminine side has served me a lot more than my masculine side has in a lot of ways.

ON PERFORMING AT THE GRAMMYS:

That was such a great night. There’s a whole thing where you’re worried about the awards part of it, and it can make you kind of irritable, kind of stressed out. But the great thing is that we had a chance to play with the cast, which has never really been done before.

ON THE MOST EMOTIONAL PARTS OF THE SHOW:

When Rebecca [Naomi Jones] sings “Letterbomb,” that really blows me away. The scene where Tunny’s on the gurneys and they’re singing “Before the Lobotomy.” And “Last Night on Earth” is an amazing scene with the couple doing this heroin dance. Tony [Vincent] is singing the song -- the first verse while they’re slamming smack -- and then the next verse is Mary coming out with a baby that she’s had with a guy who turns out to be a loser father. I get chills thinking about it right now. The juxtaposition between the two scenes is like -- wow.

ON WRITING AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL:

I’d definitely be interested in it. I think we’re in a really rare situation where this is gaining momentum. I don’t want to screw it up by working on something else. I’d love to do something with Michael [Mayer]. I’ve always wanted to see what it would be like to score a film -- but this, this is even more special, I think.

ON KNOWING TOO MUCH:

When you start getting into politics, what I’ve realized is that if it seems to be black and white, it’s shooting off into so many different directions. You can’t really keep up with what’s happening in the House of Representatives. Things like Hurricane Katrina, Haiti, troops in Afghanistan, financial crisis -- even Tiger Woods. It seems to be one thing after the next.

ON HIS QUEER INFLUENCES:

My uncle. There were different punk singers, from a guy named Cretin Chaos in Social Unrest to guys like Morrissey. And also guys that would genderbend a little, like Bowie, or Mike Ness from Social Distortion wearing makeup. I’ve always liked music that was non-gender specific, like the Replacements song called “Androgynous.” It was just always those little things or people that were willing to make you think, whoa, that’s not what I’m hearing on the radio these days.

ON MEETING LADY GAGA AT THE MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS:

She had this outfit on -- she had so much shit on her when she walked by! She couldn’t move her arm because she was going on to do her performance, and it was like shaking hands with someone in a cast. She had this handler that was like, “Don’t touch the costume! Don’t touch the costume!” She said something about how she loved Dookie so much she used to lick the pages. I thought it was really cool. She’s influencing a lot of young people, and she’s doing it in a way that’s provocative. And a lot of people don’t realize that she’s an artist, and she’s been one for a really long time. She’s taking something that Bowie or Madonna did and taking it a step further.

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE “PUNK ROCK”:

That’s like a 10 part answer. I think of it as something that you need to have of your own. For me it’s about community. I think it’s kind of spiritual in its own way, because people fight over it so much and the meaning of it. It’s a sense of self-discovery. But also a new set of ideas and a new poetry, a new music that you discover that you notice that no one else is really into, or goes against what other people are normally into. It’s like you’re free to be an individual and taking on new ideas and challenging old ideas. I think it has a lot to do with burning down the establishment to create something new. But at the same time, you find relationships within that too. It’s something that’s supposed to empower you. It’s about starting something new. Part of the problem with a lot of punk rock is that people believe that it’s supposed to be one thing. Everything for me starts off with punk rock when I’m writing songs -- it’s almost like I’m stripped down to the bare bones of music again. It’s kind of in my DNA in this point.

ON HIS WIFE, ADRIENNE:

She’s great. She’s beautiful. Without her, I don’t know what I’d do. She empowers me to challenge myself in a lot of ways. She inspired the song “American Idiot” by playing me this Midnight Oil song that she really loved. She runs a store called Atomic Garden, all about sustainable living. She’s really active in NRDC, politically. Sometimes I think she’s a hell of a lot more interesting and a cooler person than I am.

ON HIS “MISERABLE” HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE:

Academically you have to completely re-figure out how to prioritize your life. And suddenly you feel like the whole fucking world is against you because they’re prioritizing for you. And it’s forced on you. And if you don’t get it at that age, if you don’t catch it -- that’s what happened to me, I didn’t prioritize anything. I just got to a breaking point where it was like, by my later high school years, “You’re all full of shit anyway. Everyone’s full of shit. I know what I’m doing, and fuck school, and fuck schoolwork, and I’m not going to go to fucking college anyway, and I’m gonna play in a rock band, and you’re all gonna be sorry.” You get vengeful -- it’s a natural instinct, all those hormones going and shit.

ON BEING HAPPIER AT AGE 38:

I kind of feel like things are getting better. It goes in stages. I loved my early twenties. I hated my late twenties. I was a drunk. I was trying to figure out how to be a father, a husband, but I still wanted to live my life like a crazy punk rock rock star. You start noticing things about yourself. You have to change your health habits. But you don’t want to change. In your twenties, change is hitting you over the head whether you like it or not. Right when I got to about 30 I was like, thank God that’s over. But it gets complicated again.

[madsdefencesquad]

Okay I got boooored so here’s a Kevison magazine fic I wrote for Kevison nation coz I love yous and we deserve to see Kevin talk about his fam magazine-stylez coz you know he’ll be gushing all the time about them, like you just KNOW IT.

Kevin Pearson on life, fatherhood and what’s next for him by x March 2028, Spring edition

It’s been twelve years since the impassioned The Manny star Kevin Pearson announced to the world that he will be quitting the role that had started it all for him. Pearson’s public meltdown was excruciating, to say the least, but it was this very act of defiance that led the actor towards the path of the actor-crusader that he is now known for—a revolutionary who defied the odds and ultimately defined him as one of the greatest actors of his generation.

After a slew of tabloid-worthy dalliances with famous co-stars including the soap operatic love triangle with Tony award-winner Olivia Maine and his Back of an Egg co-producer and playwright Sloane Sandburg, to the court-ordered rehab stint after a DUI arrest, Kevin Pearson has done nothing but illicit the kind of stories that tabloids are desperate to display and monetise from in full view. All of these seemed the perfect pivot points for the actor, basking in the affordances of all this fame and fortune albeit in a trajectory of a complete career-destruction, but the actor was by no means deterred in proving that he can and should be taken seriously in his acting craft.

Pearson came through with striking, emboldened performances: a soldier with an inability to confront his demons in the Ron Howard-helmed World War II flick opposite Sylvester Stallone, and an embittered cop in the M Night Shyamalan action flick Stairs to Nowhere. But it wasn’t until his role as a disingenuous trial lawyer in the 2020 Jordan Martin Foster film Glass Eye that earned him his first ever Academy Award nomination and eventual win that proved to the world that when he puts his mind to it, Kevin Pearson can truly achieve the kind of acting greatness worth the lauded applause.

Pearson, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh before moving to New York and eventually Los Angeles, has spent a good amount of his life in the public eye. Though his sunny, easy-going persona and physicality have been compared to the likes of Chris Hemsworth and (supposed rival) Chris Evans, the Pittsburgh-bred Pearson doesn’t feel the need now to prove that he is anything but a conscientious actor and a dedicated family man.

It’s a warm, spring afternoon when I ring the buzzer of a sprawling floor-to-ceiling glass residence tucked away in a town in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The little lady of the house, barefoot in a floral-print dress, greets me with an encouraged wave from her father, who is cradling her against him upon opening the front door. “She’s not normally this shy,” Kevin says with an affectionate grin as he leads the way to the sitting room, his little girl curiously taking peeks at me with what I garner is her mother’s soft blue eyes given Kevin’s famous warm browns.

The newly built residence is a remarkably private house perched on a dramatic hillside overlooking a panoramic view of the verdant surrounds, which Kevin says, “keeps the family very safe from prying eyes.” This feature, of course, was at the forefront of his mind prior to laying its foundations there.

“There’s one main reason as to why I chose to build here specifically,” he says. “But I’m not gonna bore you with the details. Let’s just say, I’m honoring a memory. Makes me sound real poetic, doesn’t it?”

Throughout Kevin’s career, he’s been known to talk quite candidly about his love and appreciation for his mother, Rebecca Pearson, with his Oscars acceptance speech having heavily featured his immense gratitude to her as would a loving son. But, as we move along the elegantly furnished corridors with him pointing and elaborating at the various artworks decorating the walls and the spaces, it is obvious that Kevin has an unrivalled affection for his wife that is quite notably special.

We make our way to a sitting area outside where we are entreated to the sounds and sights of a naturally filtered swimming billabong with cascading falls—a modern feature incorporated with the Japanese Zen garden landscaping that is just breathtaking to behold in person. “I wanted to make it feel as authentic as the ones you find in Japan,” he says, sitting on one of the cushioned recliners. He pours me a glass of red wine while he settles for chilled tonic, his little girl now helping herself to some olives and crackers.

There is an air of rare contentment around Kevin as he laughingly recalls his twins’ daily shenanigans. “Nothing really compares to coming home to them,” he says. “And I’m not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but I’ve been [working my whole life] and I’ve only had my wife and kids just short of a decade, and that’s nothing! So, I do what I can to be home in as most days of the year as I can.”

When asked whether he’s perhaps heading into the territory of acting retirement in favour of other pursuits like directing or producing, Kevin thinks it can go either way.

“The other night in bed my wife suggested I do voice acting,” he says, to which his little girl unintentionally responds to in glee as she, her feet now strapped in light-up sandals, runs the width of the garden (within sight of her dad, of course) with her Jessie and Bullseye dolls held high. “She knows me too well,” he says fondly of Madison, his wife of eight years now. “I’d love to have my kids watch a movie that dad’s in without having to wait till they’re teenagers. And I hate thinking of my babies as teenagers! God, it’s just the worst age!”

Kevin recalls his teenage years with the kind of accepted embarrassment fit for a 48-year-old, but he laughs saying, “But I see a little more of their mom in them than me so that gives me hope. I’d hate to think I passed on angsty teen Kevin to either one of them. Just serious kudos to my parents for putting up with me all those years. I must’ve been a nightmare.”

From endorsing the des Resistance popular eau de parfum for men to his Armani-clad behind splashed on every billboard in the country (much to his chagrin and to his wife’s entertainment), Kevin Pearson has always been quite the go-getter, and though his “yes man” days in the industry are over, he’s always open to other ways in which he can challenge himself in his craft without compromising the time spent with his family.

“They’re my first priority, no questions asked,” he says. For a kid, who grew up in a middle-class family with parents whom had high hopes for their future, Kevin says that now, as a father himself, his perspective has shifted as to what’s really important and what’s not.

“I think a lot of the time there’s an expectation for your kids to meet the standard their parents have set or even go beyond it,” he says. “But that’s just toxic, you know? And it puts a lot of pressure on them to be someone that they’re not and not meant to be.”

Kevin is candid about his insecurities as an actor and as a father and as a husband, but there is a masterful acceptance there that he gives full credit to his wife. “We’re not perfect people, perfect parents,” he says. “And we’ll never be. That’s just a fact of life. But getting to do this with your person, the love of your life makes the biggest difference. I used to think that my parents had the greatest love story ever, and I used to really idolise it, you know, but honestly I think Madison and I can probably rival that.” And he thinks that if he’ll ever write, direct or produce a script, it’ll be about him and his wife’s sweeping and unconventional love story that will be the “tear-jerker of the century. Like, A Walk to Remember or The Notebook level but like better!”

I ask him what Madison would think of his plans to unleash their love story to the world, and as if on cue, he fishes his phone from his pocket and utters a “just a sec” before leaving to grab his daughter and take the call.

Following his game-changing Academy Award win in 2021, Kevin had let himself free fall in the industry as a kind of versatile actor in roles where he sweeps you away with gut-punching monologue deliveries coupled with an intensity that comes in through the eyes. He hasn’t delved into comedy since his Manny days though, but there is a certain cajoling ease in his demeanour that could easily challenge his funny bone.

“It’s Madison,” he returns not long after and settles himself down again, his daughter handing me a pizza-shaped play-dough I pretend to munch on. “She’ll be home soon. You should meet her. You’d love her! Everyone does not that it’s surprising.”

And who could deny that offer?

Kevin shows me a photograph of the twins on his phone at their cousin’s birthday whom they celebrated with in California last week and qualms that they’re growing up way too fast—yet another reiteration that he is as doting of a father as he is a consummate actor. He thinks that though Hollywood is a lot less ageist in terms of film and TV roles, there is still that pressure not to succumb to filling a role just because you’re the right age for it.

“Ever since my kids were born, I’ve been approached to do a lot of dad roles. Like my agent would send me about five scripts a week where my character is supposed to be this stereotypical dad.  I’ve rarely taken any of them because I feel like it’s like they’re just trying to fit me in to a role just because I can say, ‘Oh hey, yeah I’m a dad now, I know what that means or what that looks like’, and not that that isn’t a good thing per se, but there’s a difference between the director wanting me to put my own spin to it as Kevin Pearson the actor versus them just wanting Kevin Pearson the dad. The way I approach parenting my kids, the way my wife and I do it, would be different to the way my character in this film would parent his kids. Sure, there may be certain overlaps, but it’s not going to be full Kevin Pearson the dad, you know? So, it’s hard with that kind of expectation.”

As the sun dips a little lower and it gets a little cooler, Kevin takes us back to the house just in time to finally meet Madison and their little boy, who looks strikingly like his father though, upon closer inspection, actually looks a little more like his mother. But there is one undeniable feature of the twins that definitely comes from both parents: the adorable identical dimples adorning their little chins.

Madison Pearson is as beautiful in person as she looks in photographs standing beside her husband in premieres and events. With her light-blue eyes and warm, soothing voice that sounds both delicate and excited at the same time, Madison is nothing but the embodiment of all things lovely.

“She grounds me,” he says adoringly, watching Madison and their kids flit about in the kitchen arranging dinner. “There isn’t much I can say that’s good about me if it hadn’t been for her. I can be ambitious and sometimes there’s always that pull towards something bigger but not necessarily better and she tells me honestly. She calls me out. And everyone needs that, you know? A frank person who won’t sugar coat anything, but they do it because they love you.”

It’s easy to imagine Kevin in gritty noir films playing bad cop, good cop or even as an intimidating trial lawyer, but Kevin as a family man is the role that is perfectly suited for him, almost like it’s created especially for him. As a father, he thrives on the affections of his kids, and as an actor, he finds pleasure in what’s he’s good at. And as a husband, his smile is the widest. “Not gonna lie, her not even being slightly jealous of that one time I did a love scene still gets to me,” he jokes. But it’s obvious that it bothers him not one bit. He enjoys being Madison Pearson’s more than anything.

“It’s crazy to think that people are inspired by what I do and who I am when for most of my life, it was 100% the other way around. It’s a huge responsibility, really, but I take it as it goes. I have my kids on the back of my mind now every time I make any decision, and I have a wife to love and support too, so it’s easier to not feel trapped by people’s opinions and expectations of you when you’re too focused on them and being the best person you can be for you and for them. So, it’s about growing every day, and enjoying all that life has to offer, and making every moment count.” x

Particular shoutout to my GC gals coz like ILY 5EVS @wallofweird @betweensunflowersanddaffodils @thisiskevison @thesocietalmisfit @tryalittlejoytomorrow @lullabiesandgoodbyes @flythesail @ourfinehouse @elephantsneedwater @holding-up-the-universe @smoakingpinklipstick @purpleinthesky

[alcalavicci]

1988 interview with Dean. This is a really good one and helps bring more of his life into perspective. Note: the newspaper originally censored his swearing, but I’ve put it back.

Guthman, Edward. "Dean Stockwell: Third Time's a Charm." The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), August 14, 1988.

“Six years ago, Dean Stockwell's acting career had turned to dust. Reduced to playing parts in unreleasable, made-in-Mexico movies that now make him cringe, Stockwell decided to chuck it all and get out of Hollywood.

“Along with his second wife, Joy, Stockwell moved to Santa Fe, settled down under the wide New Mexico sky and applied for a real estate license. He even placed an ad in Daily Variety to announce his exile: 'Dean Stockwell will help you with all your real estate needs in the new center of creative energy.'

“Stockwell never sold a house; he didn't need to. Instead, almost as soon as he'd relocated, things started happening to the former 1940s child star. It began with a small part in David Lynch's 'Dune,' and escalated with an important supporting role in Wim Wenders' highly regarded 'Paris, Texas.'

“Moving back to California to cash in on his fortune, Stockwell acted in 'Beverly Hills Cop II,' 'Gardens of Stone,' and 'To Live and Die in L.A.' He also played a cameo role, as Howard Hughes, in the newly released 'Tucker: The Man and His Dream.' And in 'Blue Velvet,' David Lynch's American nightmare, he delivered a chilling cameo as Ben, a waxlike, sexually ambiguous drug dealer.

“And now, at 52, Stockwell says he's found 'the favorite role I've had, by far.'

“The picture is 'Married to the Mob,' a dark, romantic comedy by Jonathan Demme ('Melvin and Howard,' 'Stop Making Sense') and Stockwell plays Mafia don Tony 'the Tiger' Russo. Wearing an Al Capone fedora and full-length vicuna coat, Tony is a rich, sardonic, larger-than-life character -- the kind Stockwell has never had a chance to play until now.

“Opening Friday at the Galaxy and UA the Movies, 'Married to the Mob' has been touted as Demme's first shot at a genuine box-office winner. Set in Long Island, New Jersey and Florida, it stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Angela DeMarco, a young Mafia wife who tries to start a new life when her husband, Frankie 'the Cucumber' DeMarco, is pumped full of lead during a hot-tub tryst at the Fantasia Motel.

“When Stockwell's character isn't ordering hits, drug deals and the dumping of toxic waste, he's lusting assiduously after the gorgeous widow. Meanwhile, bumbling FBI agent Mike Downey (played by Matthew Modine) is jumping through hoops trying to shadow Angela and 'catch Tony with his pants down.' Instead, he falls in love with Angela.

“During a recent luncheon interview, not far from his central California home, Stockwell spoke about the film, about his new happiness as the father of two children and about the bizarre trajectory of his long career. Dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and slacks, wearing a Panama hat and drawing first on a cigaret, later on a cigar, Stockwell emanates prosperity and calm.

“'I don't know why I was unemployed so long,' he says, reflecting on a fallow period that started in the '60s and lasted the better part of two decades. 'The only thing I can figure out in my own mind is that, for some reason or another, I was being made to wait until a certain time in my life when my talent would reach its full maturity and fruition.'

“Ironically, he says, he felt just as equipped 10 years ago to do the work he's doing now -- 'only I couldn't get fucking arrested.'

“Today, Stockwell sees harmony in the fact that his new success coincides with the arrival of two children. His son, Austin, will be 5 in November, and his daughter, Sophia, turns 3 this month. Inordinately proud and protective, he refuses to allow his children to be photographed, and also requests that the town in which he and his family reside not be named. (There were no children from his first marriage, to Millie Perkins, which lasted from 1960 to 1962.)

“'I want to make a lot of money and I want to put it away for my children,' he says. To that end, Stockwell has been snapping up job offers. 'A lot of people ask me, "How have you been able to choose these wonderful things you're doing? Have you been very selective?" And I have to tell them, "I haven't been choosing what I'm doing." Things have been coming and I've been accepting virtually anything that's come.'

“Stockwell's ambition is so great that, for the first time in his life, he actively pursues aspects of his career that he once shunned- interviews, for example.

“'My entire motivation in life is my family,' he says. 'I don't need to get an award. I don't need recognition. I've had that already. What I need is to provide. The best way I can provide is to be successful, and the best way I can be successful is to take advantage of all the things at my disposal to achieve that, one of which certainly is press.'

“Take a look at the young Stockwell, specifically the version that emerges from old magazine and newspaper interviews, and you meet another person altogether.

“Robbed of a normal childhood, Stockwell had made 22 films by the time he was 15 -- including 'The Boy with Green Hair,' 'Kim,' 'Anchors Aweigh,' and the Oscar-winning 'Gentleman's Agreement.' Working nonstop, he had a privileged life that millions of children probably envied, but he loathed it nonetheless.

“The son of show-business parents -- his father, Harry Stockwell, was the voice of the Prince in 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,' and his mother, Betty Veronica, was a former stage dancer -- Stockwell made his professional debut at 7. It all happened by a fluke: when Stockwell accompanied his older brother, Guy, on a Broadway audition, the casting director took a liking to both boys, and cast each one. The play, aptly enough, was called 'Innocent Voyage,' and it led to an MGM contract for curly-haired Dean.

“From the beginning, the pressure on young Stockwell was intense. His parents had divorced when he was 6, and when his father defaulted on child-support payments, Dean reluctantly became the family provider. Over a six-year period, he averaged three to four films per year.

“At home, he says, 'There was a lot of friction... I was getting all the attention, but I hated it. [Guy] couldn't appreciate that, because he wasn't getting the attention. He had all these friends, his peer group, that he took for granted. I had none and I resented him for being able to live that way. I was fucking lonely.'

“When he was 13, chained to a seven-year contract, Stockwell was described by one magazine as 'a young rebel who despises acting and resents every moment it takes from his fleeting boyhood.' Many years later, Stockwell told columnist Hedda Hopper, 'Child actors exist in a sort of limbo between childhood and maturity and belong to neither. Adults take them too seriously and other children are either awed or hostile. A child actor can find friends in neither group.'

“Finally, Stockwell fled Hollywood when he was 16. He cut off his curly locks, started using his real name, Robert Stockwell, and for the next five years roamed the country, working menial jobs and disavowing his true identity. 'People that might have known me from seeing my films knew me as a young child,' he remembers. 'Now I was 17 and I wasn't that recognizable.'

“Around the time of his 21st birthday, Stockwell was pushing papers as mail boy to a Manhattan plumbing firm. 'Of all the jobs that I'd had in those intervening years,' he remembers. 'I think I hated that worse than anything. I came to the realization I had no training at anything. My primary education was very skimpy, very poor, and happened under the worst type of conditions. I was literally at the mercy of the world.'

“Most of Stockwell's childhood earnings were squandered by crooked accountants, he says, and he knew that the tiny sum being held in a trust wouldn't last forever. 'So I thought, "What am I gonna do? Well, let's go back and attack this [acting career] again, and see if I can do it a little more on my terms."'

“What followed for Stockwell was a brief but impressive 'second career.' He starred in the 1959 film 'Compulsion,' based on the Leopold-Loeb case of the '20s, and won a joint acting award with Orson Welles and Bradford Dillman at the Cannes Film Festival. He played the lead in the 1960 film of D. H. Lawrence's 'Sons and Lovers,' and in 1962 scored the plum role of Edmund Tyrone in Sidney Lumet's film version of 'Long Day's Journey Into Night,' holding his own alongside Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Richardson and Jason Robards.

“Stockwell was winning the best parts, but found his attention drifting elsewhere. What was happening, he says, were the first signs of the '60s youth revolution. 'It captured my imagination as much as anybody's. And it represented to me -- I can see this in retrospect -- something in childhood that I had missed: the freedom and loving being alive, without responsibilities and work and having to report to the studio every day, and deal with fans and interviews and shit that I hated when I was a kid.'

“So Stockwell called his agent, said, 'I'm not workin',' and dropped out once again. When he tried to come back three years later, though, 'I found it very difficult, 'cause I'd been out-of-sight, out-of-mind.' What followed was a long period of marginal employment: He found some TV work, took parts in low-budget trash ('The Dunwich Horror') and occasional oddities (Dennis Hopper's 'The Last Movie') and co-directed a film with musician Neil Young ('Human Highway') but often just didn't work at all. At one point, he went 18 months without a job.

“Today, along with his buddy Hopper, Stockwell is enjoying a major career renaissance. And with his starring role in 'Married to the Mob,' he says, he's never felt more confident.

“'I knew before I started the film that this character was going to work in spades,' he says, adding that Demme, as director, deserves credit for taking a risk with such offbeat casting. Instead of picking Peter Falk, Vincent Gardenia or another ethnically identified actor to play the Mafia don, he went with Stockwell (who is actually half-Italian on his mother's side).

“Demme's inspiration occurred on a flight from Los Angeles to New York, when he opened a copy of the Hollywood Reporter. Stockwell had just changed agents, and in order to announce the fact, had taken out a full-page ad. Demme saw the picture, and instantly recognized his Tony.

“Weirdly enough, Stockwell made another film immediately prior to 'Married to the Mob': a Canadian feature called 'Palais Royale,' due for an October release, in which he plays a character almost identical to Tony Russo.

“'It's very curious,' he says. 'For all my years I'd never had a role like this come my way, and here it was twice. The Mafia don in New York, the Mafia don in Toronto, both of them colorful and charming and also threatening. And I just thought, "What am I gonna do? It's the same character." So I decided to do the same character in both those movies.'

“To take the coincidence 'one nauseating step further,' Stockwell says he's also got a part in the recently completed 'Backtrack,' Hopper's next film. This time he plays a corrupt mob lawyer, dropping the Italian accent for a generalized East Coast sound.

“It would be difficult to find a film actor who's busier than Stockwell at this moment. And it would be difficult to find anyone whose job history better illustrates the vicissitudes, serendipities and insecurity of a Hollywood career.

“Looking back on his misfortunes -- at the career that he was forced to accept as a child, and the humiliation he felt when he couldn't maintain it as an adult -- Stockwell says he's not bitter. 'When you reach your maturity, I think it behooves you to accept the fact that it's absolutely futile and fruitless even to speculate on changing anything in your life. All you can do is get embittered. So I accept everything that's happened as part of my life, and try to push it in a positive direction from the moment right now.'”

[markswoman]

left my heart (in your tip jar) | kdy

“gag. looks like he left a tip specifically for you. how unfair, he just puts it in the tip jar whenever i help him. you don’t even have half the charm I have—at least i can make conversation!” 

you hit jeno weakly on the kneecap from your position on the floor. “shut up I’m distraught.”

pairing | college student!doyoung x barista!reader | fluff | 3.7k |

an: a birthday present for athene that somehow made its way on here ;( title cred to @taexinjie​

“Jeno! Jeno, he’s back!” You sweep into the back room of the little cafe where you’re both working and lean dramatically on the counter, a look of desperation on your face. “I can’t go back out there.”

“What are you talking about? Who’s back?” Jeno asks, not even bothering to look up from the magazine he’s been flipping through.

You sighs. “That one customer. The customer. You know the one with the glasses who’s always so serious and nerdy looking, but in a cute way that screams ‘I’ll file your taxes but I’ll also lay in the grass and stargaze with you’.” A dreamy look has replaced the desperation and Jeno chuckles at the quick change in your demeanor.

“Oh, you mean Doyoung? Not exactly the vibe I get from him, but whatever you’re into.”

“You know his name? How do you know his name?” You ask. “Do you know him? Why didn’t you tell me that you know him? Oh my god I can’t believe-“

“I only know his name because I’ve been making his coffee for a week since you’re too chicken to do it yourself.” Jeno cuts in before you can give yourself an aneurysm. “Maybe you could get to know him too if you ever actually talked to him.”

Jeno has a point. You know you’re being a coward by hiding in the back every time the cute customer comes in, but the first time Doyoung came into the cafe, you made a complete fool of yourself. When you were confronted with a pair of very pretty eyes, you had stuttered your way through the order; you even managed to spill some of the coffee on yourself, forcing Jeno to come to the rescue. After that you ran for the hills whenever Doyoung stepped foot inside the shop.

“Speaking of the shop,” Jeno says with a look towards the door, “who’s managing the register?”

“Um…” You shift slightly on your feet, “I was kind of hoping you would?”

Jeno rolls his eyes and then pushes you towards the door, ignoring your weak protests. “It’s time to man up and go get yourself a man. Plus, we have a business to run. Taeil isn’t going to be happy you’re leaving his shop unattended.”

“Then why do you get to slack off?” You pout.

“Because I was doing it first.” He says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and with that Jeno gives you a final shove out the door.

You stumble behind the counter trying to catch yourself before Doyoung notices. No such luck; Doyoung, who is waiting patiently at the counter ready to order, chuckles at you. He’s dressed casually in a black jacket and jeans and you briefly wonder if he works around here or if he’s a student like yourself.

Pausing to throw a glare back at Jeno, who grins and gives you a thumbs up through the small window on the top of the door, you make your way over to the register.

“You want an Americano with cream, right?” You say without any preamble.

Doyoung looks momentarily taken aback but he smiles nonetheless.“Yeah, how’d you know?”

Shit. “Uhhh, J-Jeno told me.” You jab a finger towards the back room for emphasis. “My coworker.” You were definitely lying. Jeno had told you no such thing. You knew the order because you had been watching Doyoung order it all week. You may have been hiding, but you were still watching. Which is totally not as creepy as it sounds. You just preferred to observe the handsome customer from afar because there were less chances of you embarrassing yourself.

“Oh, is Jeno here?” Doyoung asks innocently, craning his neck to where you were pointing. You feel a momentary pang of jealousy flare up even though it’s your own fault that Doyoung knows Jeno instead of you.

“He’s actually really busy at the moment, so I’m here instead!” You say a little too quickly and you want to kick yourself for how eager you sound. You clear your throat, “And your name is?”

“Doyoung. I think I actually met you be—”

“One Americano coming right up!” You practically shout over Doyoung. You don’t want Doyoung bringing up your embarrassing first encounter so you immediately spin around and busy yourself with preparing the coffee. You make it as quickly as possible and when you’re done you place it on the counter in front of Doyoung, mumbling about needing to help Jeno with something before disappearing to the back yet again.

As soon as the door closes you curl up into a ball of self pity. You stay there until you feel a foot nudging into your side.

“How’d it go?” Jeno asks.

“Spectacular, I made a fool out of myself again.” You sigh dramatically. You’ve been doing that a lot lately. Jeno surprises you by not pushing you for more, he only sets down his magazine and heads out to the front, presumably to give you some time to wallow.

Your pity party only lasts 30 seconds because Jeno is back almost immediately, shoving something into your face.

“What’s this?” He asks, waving a small piece of paper and some money.

You groan, mentally adding another item to the long list of “Things I’ve Done to Embarrass Myself in Front of Doyoung.” In your haste to get away, you had forgotten to actually charge Doyoung for the coffee.

“You’re lucky he’s such an honest person ‘you must have been busy since you took off in quite a rush so here’s the money for my coffee and a little extra just for you :)’” Jeno says in a mockingly cutesy voice, reading from the note that Doyoung left. “Gag. Looks like he left a tip specifically for you. How unfair, he just puts it in the tip jar whenever I help him. You don’t even have half the charm I have—at least I can make conversation!”

You hit Jeno weakly on the kneecap from your position on the floor. “Shut up I’m distraught.”

“Just tell him you think he’s hot and then ask him out on a date it’s not that hard.” You make a strangled sound in your throat. “On second thought, don’t do the first part. Just ask him out on a date.”

“I don’t know anything about him and I can’t even talk to him, how am I supposed to do that?”

Jeno hums, running a hand through his hair to try and think up a solution but before he can answer, Taeil pokes his head through the door and takes in the sight of his two employees sitting down on the job.

“I can’t leave you two alone for an hour.”

—

“So,” Jeno says as you’re both scrubbing the floor at the end of your shifts (Taeil had insisted on punishing you for slacking off earlier), “I thought of a way for you to get to know Doyoung better since you’re hopeless and can’t talk to him like a normal person.” Jeno shrieks as you flick some water at him. “I’m trying to help you!”

“Then help me and stop making fun of me!” You whine.

“So Doyoung always tips, right? Well we just have to use that to our advantage.”

“It’s already our advantage, we’re getting his money.”

“Shut up for a second. We use it to our advantage by making it a game.”

“A game?”

“A game.” Jeno is grinning widely like he’s just discovered life on Mars. You don’t care; you just want to know what the hell Jeno is on about. A few more seconds of silence pass while Jeno grins stupidly before you ask if he’s ever going to explain himself.

“Ah yeah, sorry. I just got caught up in my own genius. Okay, so this is what we do. Every day we put out two tip jars and we write a question for the day above them. Each jar is a choice. Then the customer, in this case, Doyoung, puts the money into the jar that has the choice that he prefers and boom—you know a little more about him each day.”

“Hmm, but you’d have to get permission from Taeil.” You point out.

“That’s easy, I’ll just ask him nicely, he can’t resist my charm.” Jeno bats his eyelashes at you who just snorts. “Think about it, you don’t even have to talk to him. I’m a genius, I know.”

You contemplate the idea momentarily while Jeno stands up and proceeds to give himself an award and make an acceptance speech to an adoring crowd. (“And the winner for the smartest and greatest friend goes to…..Lee Jeno!”) It would minimize the amount of time you would have to actually talk to Doyoung and that definitely means less embarrassment, seeing as you’re woefully socially inept. (“Ah really, this is so unexpected, thank you, thank you!”). It sounds like it could be fun too, you could always use a little excitement to spice up your boring work day. (“First of all I’d like to thank my coworker for being unable to man up and just talk to their crush, I’d also like to thank myself for being amazing at everything I do—) You decide to go for it.

Just as you’re going to tell Jeno to shut the fuck up, Taeil comes from the back where he’s counting inventory to do it for you. “If you two are fooling around you must be done, so go home before I get a migraine.”

Jeno stands up straight to salute Taeil yelling, “Sorry, boss!” Then, taking his apron off, he tosses it on the counter and heads out the door leaving you to finish putting away the cleaning supplies.

“Some best friend, huh?” You mumble to yourself. “I’m revoking his award.”

—

By some stroke of luck, Jeno does manage to get Taeil to agree to the scheme and you set out the first two jars with the question “Cake or Pie?” written above them with each jar designating a choice. You figure it’s a safe enough option. Surprisingly, many of the customers take to it and by mid-afternoon the tip jar has twice what the cafe normally makes in tips. Though the most important customer has yet to show up.

Jeno is on break and you’re idly tapping a finger on the counter while looking bored when Doyoung finally comes in. The bell above the door tinkles and when you look up Doyoung is already smiling at you.

“Hey!” Doyoung also gives you a small little wave and you want to die because it’s so cute. You manage to squeak out a hasty “‘Hi, Doyoung” in return.

“Americano with cream?” Doyoung nods and you busy yourself with the order.

“This is new,” Doyoung hums behind you, looking at the tip jars, “and a tough choice but I’d have to go with pie. But only if it’s apple. What about you?”

“W-What?” You stutter. Doyoung wasn’t actually supposed to ask your opinion on the matter. This was for you to get to know Doyoung. The bell on the door tinkles again and you’re saved from answering as Jeno returns from his break.

“Doyoungggg!!” He practically sings when he notices him at the counter, “Long time no see.”

“I’ve been here every day for two weeks.”

“Yes, but I didn’t get to see you yesterday. Our little baby hogged all of your attention.” Jeno says reaching his arm down to ruffle your hair. You attempt to smile at this but it’s more of a grimace seeing how you had ran off at the first chance you got.

Doyoung mumbles something and you swear you make out, “It was a nice change of pace” but you can’t be sure. Though you think you might be close considering the way Jeno is smiling back and forth between the two of you. It’s a bit frightening. Doyoung’s eyes grow impossibly wider. After a few more seconds he clears his throat.

“Well, I actually gotta run.” Doyoung smiles ever so slightly at you and you can feel your face heating up in embarrassment, “I wish I could stay and talk but I’m going to be late for class.” Doyoung grabs his drink and deposits a tip in the “pie” jar before heading out the door.

“Well, I’d say that’s a successful first day.” Jeno says once Doyoung is out of sight. “Not only do you know he prefers pie, but now you know he’s a student too.” He peeks over at you who’s still staring wistfully at the doorway. “You’ll get him next time.”

—

“This is the worst, he keeps trying to talk to me.” You whine after the third day you have out the tip jars and the third day you’ve clammed up when Doyoung tries to ask you your own opinion on the choices.

Jeno gives you a long suffering sigh. “I fail to see how this is a bad thing.”

“Because you said I wouldn’t have to talk to him.”

“You are genuinely the most hopeless person I have ever met. This is actually better than you could have hoped for, now you have something to talk about and it doesn’t have to be awkward, and then once you get comfortable enough talking to him you can ask him out.”

You know your best friend is right, but you just can’t seem to see how you’ll ever manage to ask Doyoung on a date if you can’t even talk to him for more than two seconds it takes to say “Here’s your change.”

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

—

“Jeno he chose dogs over cats, our love is doomed.”

Jeno is once again in the backroom reading a magazine since Taeil is out for the moment. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“What if he hates cats? How are we supposed to fall in love and live happily ever after together with our five kittens in a house with a white picket fence where we’ll sit on the porch together when we’re old sipping lemonade and holding hands.” You say with a pout.

“First of all, gross. And secondly, did he say he hates cats?”

“No.”

“Then I wouldn’t worry about it. Also, haven’t you heard that opposites attract?”

“But what if he hates all the things that I love? We’re so different, he chooses all the wrong options.”

“This isn’t about hate, he’s just choosing the one he prefers. Plus, once you finally get the guts to ask him out, you’ll have plenty of things to discuss and argue about.” You eye him warily. “Take me and Taeil for example, he’s always trying to argue with me.”

“I sure hope you aren’t dating our boss.” You point out.

“Hey,” Jeno says while winking at you, “never say never.” He ruffles your hair and slips past you to go help some customers. He doesn’t want to hear about it from Taeil later.

—

Two days later, you arrive to work several hours later than you usually would since you had a morning doctors appointment, leaving Jeno alone for the beginning of your usual shift. It turns out to be a mistake, however. When you arrive, Jeno is talking animatedly with Doyoung about whether Team Edward or Team Jacob is the right team. It had obviously also been a mistake to let him pick the tip jar question as well.

“You see, despite Taylor Lautner objectively being hotter than Robert Pattinson, and Edward borderline stalking Bella, at least Edward respected Bella’s boundaries and never tried to force a relationship on her—“ Jeno is yammering away to a distressed looking Doyoung.

You tried not to let your heart get carried away when Doyoung’s face lights up at your arrival.

You give him a small smile and a wave and move to go put your coat away when Doyoung’s low voice stops you.

“Since Jeno is firmly on Team Edward, what about you?” Doyoung asks.

“Um,” you start, feeling a little embarrassed, “I’ve always been more of a Team Jacob supporter myself.”

Doyoung smiles softly and drops his change into the jar. “Me too.”

—

You’re restocking syrups when Doyoung comes in at his usual time later in the week. Jeno stands in front of the counter taking some of the tip money out of the jars so they wouldn’t overflow. Today’s question of Harry Potter vs. Lord of the Rings had been very popular.

As soon as Doyoung walks in, Jeno scurries to the back room leaving you alone with your crush. It only struck you as a little bit odd seeing as normally Jeno would greet Doyoung obnoxiously or try his best at embarrassing you, but you had been getting better at talking to Doyoung lately so you weren’t complaining.

Come to think of it, Doyoung was being very quiet himself. Usually he would greet you enthusiastically with a smile on his face, yet all he’s doing at the moment is staring at the tip jars with a slight frown on his face.

“I didn’t think the choice this time was that hard.” You say when Doyoung finally looks up at you.

“O-oh,” Doyoung stutters, “I-It’s not really.”

You decide to just smile cutely. Talking about the tip jars comes easily now but you haven’t mastered regular conversation so you just leave it at that.

You move to ring up Doyoung’s order but Doyoung just drops his money into the left jar that you were pretty sure was Harry Potter and turns on his heel to walk briskly out of the cafe. You frown, wondering why choosing Harry Potter would make Doyoung blush like a schoolgirl and forget to even order his coffee.

Before you can fully process what just happened, Jeno bounds out from the backroom to check the tip jars.

“Aha! I knew he would!” Still confused as ever, you ask Jeno what he’s on about. As a response Jeno just turns the jars around. It should read ‘Which one is the better series? Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?’ and you know this because you had written it yourself that morning, but instead the card facing you says, ‘Who is more attractive? Jeno or Y/N?’

“Wh….at?” You say slowly. You’re starting to piece together why Doyoung was so flustered a few minutes ago.

“He chose you, dummy.” Jeno says.

“Yeah, but why was that the question?”

“Because you two were getting nowhere so I decided to spice things up.”

“Oh my god, this is so embarrassing! I told him the choice wasn’t hard, now he’s gonna think I’m some cocky asshole!” You nearly sob.

“Relax, what he thinks is that you’re hot.” Jeno says, nudging his elbow onto your lifeless form as you’ve now planted your face onto the counter. You don’t plan on moving for the rest of your shift.

“I hate you.” You mumble into the counter when Jeno starts shaking the jar of money in your face.

“You’re welcome.”

—

You’re mortified at the previous days happenings so you force Jeno to manage the register around the time Doyoung would normally come for his coffee. You’re in the back bothering Taeil when you hear fragments of conversation between Jeno and someone who sounds suspiciously like Doyoung. You don’t want to find out.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy you’ve been trying to seduce?” Taeil asks while peering out the little window on the door.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You answer, suddenly very interested in the ties on your apron.

“You’re a terrible liar. Just go talk to him.”

“I can’t.” You grumble, “Jeno embarrassed me.”

“Yeah he’ll do that. But he’s your best friend. And he’s just trying to help.” Taeil says and he almost looks…fond? You might be going crazy.

You’re still not going out there to actually talk to Doyoung, but you creep close to the door in order to spy on him from the safety of the backroom. Just like old times.

“…they’re busy?” You catch the last part of Doyoung’s question to Jeno.

“Yeah, they’re in the back stocking inventory, so graceful and beautiful.” You roll your eyes. Jeno is really laying it on thick.

“Okay, I’ll just talk to them tomorrow I guess. Will you just tell them—“ Doyoung blushes and he looks so cute that you might squeal. “Just tell them I said hi.”

After Doyoung leaves, you decide that it’s safe to come out of hiding so you join Jeno at the register.

“I’m here to help you with my graceful form.” You say with a teasing voice.

“Listen, I’d tell you lover boy said ‘Hi’ but I know your creepy ass was eavesdropping and you already know, so if you don’t ask that boy out soon then I will set him up with someone else.”

You have no reply.

—

This is it. You decide that you’re going to be brave. You put out the final tip jar about ten minutes before Doyoung is due. You need time to mentally prepare.

This time the question is simple: Will you go on a date with me? Yes or No?’

When you finally see the familiar pair of round eyes walk through the door, you feel like you’re going to throw up. Doyoung looks so effortlessly handsome today in black jeans and a blue pullover that you almost don’t mind the rejection you’re most certainly going to receive.

Doyoung walks up to the counter with a purpose and looks as though he has something important to say when he stops and spots the tip jars, mouth opening a little in surprise.

He just stands there staring at the jars and you feel like your heart is going to fall out of your chest. He’s taking too long to decide.

You wince when Doyoung speaks, expecting the worst. “If I say yes are you going to run away again?” Doyoung questions, a tiny smile on his face.

You promptly go red, “Um, no?” You clear your throat. “No.” You say more firmly this time.

“Good.” Doyoung says, dropping his money into the appropriate jar. His smile stretches across his whole face by now and he doesn't take his eyes off you. You’re pretty sure you look like an idiot with how widely you’re smiling right back at Doyoung.

“Oh my god,” Jeno yells from the backroom, “just kiss already.”

[astarlightmonbebe]

Reckless Abandonment

Love what you love with reckless abandon -- Lang Leav

Pairing: Lee Minho x fem!reader, Bang Chan x fem!reader

Word Count: 4,048

Warnings: other than messy plotline, none

A/N: I once again wrote the majority of this in a rush last night, so I’m sorry if parts of it are really bad. I hope you enjoy + stream MIROH!!!

You know who Minho was even before the first time you saw him. Everyone knew who Lee Minho was—famous, self righteous, and handsome; an actor and dancer with a flirtatious side. His face had graced as many tabloids and magazines as yours had, but for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, you knew who Lee Minho was. You knew he was the one person you should most definitely stay away from, because everyone who got close to him ended up going down while he remained on top, floating as they drowned. You were just as beautiful and just as famous, but you had a clean record. A scandal would be the end of things for you, but for Minho it would be just another bump in the road that he would quickly get over.

Yet, here you were, at the 56th JYPe Awards, watching as he smiled at you, sliding his sunglasses down so his piercing amber tinted caramel eyes could catch your own. There was an alluring danger to keeping eye contact for this long, as he stuck out his tongue a little, tilting his head. It could mean so many things, that head tilt, but if most definitely held the message of fun and danger awaiting.

“And the winner of Korea’s Best Actress goes to y/n!” The announcer said loudly, his booming voice startling you away. Your manager, Chan, was already standing and holding out his arm to escort you up. You smiled, accepting his arm and tossing your hair over your shoulder.

“Congratulations.” The announcer whispered as you stepped up to the microphone, letting go of Chan’s hand. His fingers trailed down your arm, warm, and you shivered a little, stealing that secret little touch as you prepared to make your speech.

“Thank you so much, Korea, for giving me this award.” You started, clasping the microphone tightly. “I started out as an actress with no agency, no manager, and very little talent, but I am so proud to have grown into an actress with the ability to win something like this. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing agency, and especially without my manager; he’s been a huge help.”

Chan was smiling out of the corner of your vision, struggling not to laugh, and you almost glared at him before you remembered you were giving a speech. “I’ve never been very good at giving speeches, but please know that I am greatly in my fan’s debt. Thank you to everyone who watched my dramas and voted.”

Curtsying, you smiled and exited the stage, almost tripping over your dress. Chan quickly caught your arm, steadying you. As soon as you were standing, he moved back, holding you at arm’s length. You gave him a courteous smile, drifting back to your seat. As you sat, you noticed Minho watching you. When he caught you looking, he tilted his sunglasses at you with a friendly smile again, like he was picking up where he had left off.

Squashing the squirmy feeling in your stomach, you looked away. “I’m going to get a drink.” You whispered to Chan, who turned his attention away from the show with a perplexed expression. “I’ll go on my own, okay?” You added, patting his arm. Chan smiled softly, and, after, glancing around, reached forward to tuck a strand of hair behind your ears. His fingers lingered, just for a moment, and you felt your skin heat up.

Quickly walking away, you went over to the bar. “A glass of champagne, please.” You told the bartender, who obliged with a goofy grin. You watched him make it, wondering what it was like to have a normal job. A job that required customer service, where you had to make drinks and food and get yelled at and work overtime.

“I’ll have what she’s having.” Minho said, coming up to stand behind you. You moved over an inch, smiling and muttering a thanks to the bartender as he passed you a glass, reappearing with Minho’s a minute later. You took a sip, glancing at the actor out of the corner of your eye.

Those eyes were also looking at you, those amber flecked ones that seemed to make you hot and cold all over. He was wearing a creamy shirt with a charcoal colored jacket and tight pants, his tie slightly unknotted and the top of his shirt unbuttoned. Your eyes traveled down that extra inch of revealed skin, wondering what was under that shirt.

Stop it, y/n. You scolded yourself gently, while knowing that it was so hard for you to stay away from things that your conscience told you to. Chan’s soft smile, Minho’s daring one. “Congratulations, y/n.” Minho said, reaching over to tap his glass against yours. You started, surprised that he had used your name.

“Thank you, and you too.” You murmured. Minho had already won several awards for the dramas and movies he had starred in throughout the last year. He was a rising star, one day just appearing out of the blue.

“Would I sound crazy if I asked you to get of of here with me?” Minho asked suddenly. “Nobody’s watching us, for once in our lives.” He was saying ‘our’, already putting you in the same boat as him. And he was doing that head tilt that had captivated you earlier, that one that spoke of danger.

“No.” You surprised yourself by saying, even as your conscience whispered; stop it, y/n, stop it—remember what happens to everyone who gets close to him. They probably started out like this, too, and you’re falling into the same exact trap.

But, like you had said earlier, you had a very bad habit of not listening to your conscience.

That was how you found yourself pressed up against the wall of an alleyway, hands tangled in Minho’s hair, mouth pressed hungrily against his. You felt like you had become a mess, his hands tracing your bare shoulders, down your back, everywhere that they could reach.

You felt a little out of your mind, like you were drifting far above the scene, watching some other girl make out with the top actor, that good girl falling for that bad boy. You could never stay away from the tv tropes you played, could you?

“Your phone is ringing.” Minho said, breaking away. Your hands were still on his face, in his hair, and you let go slowly, one finger at a time. Your phone had fallen to the ground along with the rest of your purse a couple of minutes in, when you had needed all the space in the world.

“It’s probably my manager.” You muttered, reaching down to pick it up. It was indeed Chan, and you watched it ring, not really feeling like picking it up.

“Ah, that one you’re in love with?” Minho asked amusedly, and you went icy cold all over. It felt like your blood had stopped moving, stalled in your veins, and the hand holding the phone was starting to tremble, just a little bit.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, that’s absurd, why would you—.” You started, the words coming too fast. All you could think about was Chan’s soft curls and his soft hands and his soft smile, and how easily the media would cut him apart, slicing him with their words that were made of glass shards.

“Relax, y/n.” Minho reached forward and put his hand on your shoulder, rubbing it. “I’m not going to do anything about it, I swear. It’s okay, I doubt anyone else has noticed. I’ve just got a sixth sense about those things, you know? You look at him like you’re in love.”

“You have a sixth sense for love? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.” You laughed, almost tricking yourself into believing that it was actually funny. Minho frowned, but you could tell he was trying to make light of the situation as well.

“Hey, I know a thing or two.” He countered.

“Like how to break someone’s heart?”

Minho sobered, expression flattening out, and you turned away quickly, picking up Chan’s call. You weren’t sure if you had overstepped or not, but Minho had technically done it first, when he had brought up Chan. If there was anyone in the world who you wanted to protect, it was Chan. He was too good for this harsh industry.

“Where the hell are you, y/n?” You cringed away from the phone and how angry Chan sounded, like he was spitting venom. You knew that Chan wasn’t exactly angry, but he was worried and upset that you had just left without bothering to tell him. “One minute you’re going to get a drink, the next you’ve been gone for an hour and I’m trying to cover for you.”

“I’m sorry. Where are you? I’ll be there as soon as I can.” You said, trying to smooth out your hair. You felt Minho come up behind you, and had to stifle a yelp as you felt his fingers on your back. He zipped up the dress that he had been starting to unzip gently, making sure it didn’t get caught on anything.

“I’m at the car at entrance six.” Chan said sharply. “Get over here, now.” You nodded mutely, momentarily forgetting that it was a phone call and not a face to face conversation. “Yes.” You said timidly, hanging up.

“Give me that.” Minho said, taking your phone. You opened your mouth to protest, but he simply tapped a couple buttons and tossed it back to you. Blinking, you saw an unnamed new contact. “Call me if you’re ever up for doing something crazy again.” Minho said with a charming smile, and then he was gone, leaping over the alley wall.

You scoffed. “What is he, some high school delinquent?” You laughed out loud, then remembered Chan waiting, and turned and ran.

Chan was far from amused at your appearance, despite your best efforts to make yourself look respectable. “I won’t ask you where you were,” he started, “but if you ever do anything like this again, I’m not letting you go. I know that makes me sound like some mean old man, but I’m your manager, y/n. I know you want a little freedom, I know this life is hard, but I’m responsible for you.”

You nodded, staring down at your clasped hands. You hated when Chan was disappointed in you, because Chan was never outrightly so. He would just look and sound so tired of you, so disappointed, and you felt it like a heavy burden.

Reaching forward, you tried to lightly touch his hand, but Chan pulled it back, staring out at the road in front of him. “I was so worried, y/n.” He whispered. “If something happens to you, I won’t be able to live with that. So I need you to trust me, and I need you to stay safe, alright? You could have been mugged, robbed, raped—.” He cut off, and you swallowed, leaning back in your seat.

“I really am sorry.” You said. “I didn’t think, and I should have, I really should have.” Chan didn’t say anything, eyes stony cold and still staring straight ahead.  You wanted to reach out, kiss his cheek, but your lips still help traces of Minho’s lipstick, and you still felt his hands all over you, and you felt...not dirty, but not like you deserved Chan, either.

See? You’ve become a guilty little secret. That voice in your head—was it even your conscience at this point?—hissed.

You ignored it, again.

Minho called two weeks later, right when you had finally stopped waiting for him to. “You wanna go to a park or something?” He asked, sounding bored. “I know areas where there are no people.” The offer was tantalizing, and you said yes.

“Where are you going?” Chan asked when you exited, after putting on some slightly more dressier clothes.

“I thought I’d go on a walk or something.” You said with a shrug, trying to hide the skip in your step. Chan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Alone.” You added with a stern look. “Look, I have my location turned on, and you’re my first speed dial, with the police as second. Nothing is going to happen, and I’m also going to stay away from media.” You pulled out your sunglasses, hat, and face mask.

Chan’s face relaxed slightly, and he held out his hand. You took it, and he tugged you forward so that you were sitting on top of him, half falling off the couch. “Don’t worry, you look cute in a face mask.” He said with a bright grin, putting your sunglasses on you sloppily. You took them back off, adjusting them, and Chan pretended to pout. “Hey, you want me to grab dinner for us tonight? We have a rare day off.” He said more seriously, and you smiled, feeling warm all over for a completely different reason.

“Yeah, that sounds good.” You told him softly, twirling one of his curls around your finger. Chan’s eyes were dark as they stared up into yours, and you cocked your head, holding his gaze for a long moment.

“Okay, go on your walk.” Chan said, pushing you off of him. You landed on the floor with a thump, a loud laugh coming out of you. Chan ruffled your hair with a grin, then plucked your hair from your fingers and placed it over your hair. His fingers smoothed out the loose strands, the feeling soothing.

Why was your heart beating for two people? You only had one heartbeat.

Tree bark was scratchy against your back, you discovered, face mask discarded on the ground. It was a cool March day, but Minho was still hot to the touch, like some fiery devil. “Miss me?” He asked between kisses, and you shoved him back a little, catching your breath.

“Maybe.” You said nonchalantly, shrugging. Minho grinned, going over to sit on the bench. “You’re a tease.” He remarked, and you puffed out your cheeks, not acknowledging his words.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” You picked up your face mask, slipping onto the space next to him. Minho made a ‘mmhmm’ sound, propping his chin up with his hand. You pursed your lips, thinking long and hard. “About love...do you believe in love at first sight?”

Minho was quiet for a long moment. “No.” He finally said bluntly. “That’s ridiculous, especially in our profession. We have to fall in love with different people during every project, whether we want to or not. Even if love at first sight exists, how can it for people like us?”

“You sound like you hate acting, did you know that?” You asked with a small laugh, tugging at the ends of your hair. Minho lifted one eyebrow, like he had heard that before.

“I don’t hate it, I’m just not that happy doing it. Everything becomes tiring to me after some time, but you can’t just quit a job because it’s not interesting anymore.” He looked sentimental suddenly, like his mind had gone somewhere far away.

“Why not?” You asked curiously.

Minho gave you a long look. “I wouldn’t be able to disappear if I left this industry. People would still chase me for news. That’s how it is. Once you’re in this industry, there is no way out, y/n.” His voice was getting darker and darker, words more vehement. “Even if you die, you’re still stuck here. This is a prison, and I’ve never felt more trapped.”

You laughed nervously. “I...has anyone told you that you have a dark side?” Minho’s expression cleared a little, and he leaned back against the wooden slats of the bench’s back, grinning like his normal self. The amber in his eyes was shining in the late afternoon sunlight, and you suddenly found yourself itching to draw them, even though you had no artistic talent.

“Maybe so.” He said charmingly, leaning forward as if to kiss you again. You scooted back a little, stopping him.

“Hey, you’re okay, right?” You asked gently, reaching forward to brush hair back. Minho touched where your fingers had been, looking more lost than ever as he thought about your question.

“I think so.” He finally said. You smiled, and decided that was a good enough anger. Sitting forward, you pulling him in closer, kissing him hard on the mouth. “Not really.” Minho said against your lips.

Chan was heating up tteokbokki when you got back, mouth swollen and face mask lost somewhere along the path deep in the woods that you and Minho had walked, stopping every once in a while. “Hungry?” He asked, humming an old nursery rhyme under his breath as he waited for the microwave to ding.

You nodded, feeling energetic. Sitting down at the table, you watched Chan prepare the food, bringing it over to the table. Opening your mouth, you waited for him to place the food on your tongue happily. Chan obliged, letting out an uncommon laugh as you winced at how hot it was.

“Idiot.” He muttered playfully, and you hit him with your chopsticks. “Gross.” Chan said, but you knew he was laughing still. You loved when Chan was happy, letting go of the stress of everything. “Eat your food.” Chan said, gesturing with his own pair of chopsticks. You nodded, munching down on more food.

As you chewed, you watched Chan get his own food, head bent as he ate in small bites. “Hey, Chan?” You said suddenly, putting down your chopsticks. “Hmm?” Chan said, glancing up at you.

“I love you.” You said, and Chan choked on his food, coughing. You laughed, reaching forward to hit his shoulder, but Chan shook it off, turning away. Frowning, you stuck out your bottom lip. “What? It’s not like I haven’t confessed to you before.” Chan shook his head, the smile gone from his face.

“I love you too, y/n.” He said, fingers tracing your jawline as he leaned against the table to kiss you slowly, steadily. You leaned into it, letting yourself enjoy this small pocket of happiness just for a moment.

Minho called that night, but you and Chan were lying next to each other in bed, staring into each other’s eyes. You reached forward to touch Chan’s chest, feeling the thumping of his heart under your fingertips, fluttering fast and hard, like a butterfly’s wings.

“Are you going to answer that?” Chan asked, his voice rough from sleep, that husky tone that made your stomach flip. You shook your head, declining the call and turning your phone to silent. Turning back over, you curled up against Chan, soaking in his body warmth.

You’d already had enough fun today; now it was time for something real.

The next morning, you woke up to chaos.

Your guilty little secret isn’t so secret anymore. The ghost in your head whispered as you stared at the articles on your phone, the picture of you and Chan. It was a picture from last year, after an awards show, when you had been a little drunk and a lot in love with one blonde haired Bang Chan.

You had made sure that nobody had seen that moment. It had been hidden by a dumpster, you pressed up against Chan like he was the only one holding you up, kissing him like your life depended on it. A stolen moment, when you thought you had escaped the cameras for one moment.

You remembered what Minho had said, once you’re in this industry, there’s no way out. He had been right. There was no escape from the cameras. You couldn’t escape from anything, and you had trapped Chan right there with you, making his escape impossible as well.

Minho—.

“The CEO called me, so I’m going.” Chan announced. He was wearing a neatly pressed suit and avoiding your eyes. You swallowed tightly.

“I’m going with you. Don’t stop me, Chan, I’m as guilty as you.” The look in Chan’s eyes was so sad that it was already breaking your heart, because you had never seen Chan look so sad and broken before. He had looked disappointed, yes, pained, yes, but never this sad. It was the look of someone who already knew that they had lost everything.

You followed Chan out the door, into the building, up the steps to the CEO’s office. You were still in your pajamas and slides, a wreck with no makeup. Chan looked like the actor instead of you, dressed like he was going to his funeral.

The CEO was waiting inside, and Chan bowed low. “CEO.” He addressed hoarsely. The CEO was silent, her eyes beady and sharp. Then, quick as a whip, she grabbed the paperweight from her desk and threw it. It shattered over Chan’s head, and he stumbled back. You bit back a scream, reaching out to grab his arm, but he flung you off forcefully, blood dripping down his temple.

“Chan…” You said with a soft gasp, biting back a sob.

“You shut up.” The CEO snapped, eyes fixated on Chan and Chan only. “After all I’ve given you, this is how you repay me? By having an affair with the person you’re supposed to be managing?! I can’t believe this. You’re DESPICABLE, YOU ARE TRASH, I HOPE YOU DON’T EVEN DARE TO SHOW YOUR FACE AFTER THIS! I WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE A LIVING HELL—.” She threw the vase from her desk, and Chan fell to his knees, glass shards tangled in his hair.

“STOP IT!” You yelled, dropping down next to him, cradling his face. Chan shoved you back, and you fell onto the ground in astonishment, gaping at him.

“Get out.” His voice was rough, edged with broken pieces. “I can’t do this if you’re here.” You stared at Chan in shock, slowly starting to feel numb all over.

“Please don’t make me leave, Chan.” You pleaded desperately. You did this, it’s your fault. Your conscience said, voice darker than ever before, and there was nothing else you could say that would make it shut up right now.

“Leave.” Chan commanded.  

You got to your feet and left.

When you left the building, the reporters were swarming all over the place, zeroing in on you. “Is it true, y/n?” “When did you become involved with Mr. Bang?” “How far did you go with your manager?” “A word, please—!”

All the screaming and flashes were making you feel dizzy, and you pushed against the crowd, struggling to get out, feeling all your compose slipping apart. Your fingers were still wet from Chan’s blood, and you remembered how the vase had shattered, glass and flowers and water flooding over the ground, petals broken from their stems.

Through the crowd, you saw him. Minho, leaning against a van with an easy smile spread across his features. Your eyes widened when you saw him, but your scream of his name was swept away in the crowd.

Every girl that fell for Lee Minho ended up drowning, while he floated away. Every person that got close to him disappeared from the industry, gone with a poof. You remembered how Minho had been in the park, in the alley. Teasing with something darker underneath, something begging to get off of him.

 Minho knew about Chan and you. You had never bothered to ask him how he had found that out. What, you had believed him when he said he could tell from how the two of you looked at each other? Minho was the type of person who used something, or someone, until he didn’t have a use for them anymore.

And last night you had ignored his call.

“Why?” You asked aloud, stopping your struggling as Minho stared at you, expression indifferent. As if he had heard your question, he shrugged, lifting his shoulders in one fluid motion. He grinned, sticking his tongue out, and tilted his sunglasses at you, the amber in his eyes reflecting the sun.

Then, just like that, he left as quickly as he came, your name just another on the list of people he had destroyed.

[End.]

[gaymusicchart]

GAY MUSIC CHART – 2018 week 11

 Welcome to the Gay Music Chart, the LGBTQA related music videos TOP 50 actuality and most request.

Vote for your favourite LGBTQA related music videos by leaving a comment for this post on :

YOUTUBE (in the comment section of the video of the week) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz7yfp-xq-b08tD6mAWwclA

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TWITTER : https://twitter.com/GayMusicChart with #GayMusicChart  

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 Here is the recap for this week :

 OUT : PJ Brennan - Tease (LW: 21 / WO: 17 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

OUT : MONA - Kiss Like A Woman (LW: 24 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 24)

OUT : Heidrik - Nothing in Return (Live in Kaliningrad) (LW: 26 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 14)

OUT : Lo Stato Sociale - Una vita in vacanza (LW: 27 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 27)

OUT : Kamil Show - Puerto Rico (live @ Depi Evratesil 2018) (LW: 29 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 29)

OUT : Saara Aalto - Queens (LW: 31 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 31)

OUT : Ingileif Friðriksdóttir - At Last (LW: 33 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 33)

OUT : Kim Petras - Heart To Break (Official Audio) (LW: 34 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 15)

OUT : Russell Elliot - I'll Be Damned (LW: 35 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 35)

OUT : Laverne Cox - Beat For The Gods (LW: 36 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 36)

OUT : Mylène Farmer - Rolling Stone (LW: 38 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 34)

OUT : Namuel - Joven de Corazón (LW: 39 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 10)

OUT : Funtastic - Balança A Raba (Lyric Video) (LW: 40 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 40)

OUT : Saara Aalto - Domino (LW: 41 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 41)

OUT : Titica - Pra Quê Julgar (Lyric Video) (LW: 42 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 42)

OUT : Missy Higgins - Futon Couch (LW: 45 / WO: 1 / PEAK: 42)

OUT : Phonoamorous - Bye Bye (LW: 47 / WO: 4 / PEAK: 42)

OUT : Donovan Woods - Burn That Bridge (LW: 48 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 22)

  01 (=) : Kylie Minogue - Dancing (LW: 01 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

Australia - 2018 / from the album "Golden"

 02 (=) : Troye Sivan - My My My! (LW: 02 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 01 (x3))

Australia - 2018

The first track of his upcoming album has topped at #3 at the Worldwide iTunes Song Chart. It's the eighth single of the Australian singer in a row to be #1 in our chart.

 03 (+ 2) : Janelle Monáe - Make Me Feel (LW: 05 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 03)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Dirty Computer"

 04 (=) : Trevor Moran - Sinner (LW: 04 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 01 (x2))

USA - 2017

 05 (+ 13) : Virgin Suicide - Evil Eyes (LW: 18 / WO: 14 / PEAK: 05)

Denmark - 2017

This Danish music video is like a short movie, telling the struggles of a closeted gay teen taken by his father to a fathers-sons's camp.

 06 (+ 3) : Calum Scott - You Are The Reason (LW: 09 / WO: 16 / PEAK: 04)

UK - 2017

 07 (- 1) : Sufjan Stevens - Mystery of Love ("Call Me By Your Name" OST) (LW: 06 / WO: 18 / PEAK: 01 (x1))

USA - 2017 / from the album ("Call Me By Your Name" OST)

The song was nominated for the Oscar of Best Original Song at the Academy Awards 2018.

 08 (+ 2) : Holland (홀랜드) - Neverland (네버랜드) (LW: 10 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 08)

South Korea - 2018

This is the first South Korean music video showing a gay couple kissing in a romantic way.

 09 (- 6) : Allie X feat. VÉRITÉ - Casanova (LW: 03 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 03)

Canada - 2017 / from the album "CollXtion II"

 10 (+ 5) : Francisco Victoria - Marinos (LW: 15 / WO: 11 / PEAK: 03)

Chile - 2017

This is the first single of the Chilean singer, produced by Alex Anwandter. A revelation.

 11 (+ 10) : La Prohibida - Baloncesto (LW: 21 / WO: 33 / PEAK: 03)

Spain / from the album "100K años de luz"

The drag queen joined Madrid’s Three Kings float, but traditionalists didn't like it.

 12 (- 4) : Saara Aalto - Monsters (LW: 08 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 08)

Finland - 2018

This song will represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

 13 (+ 30) : Troye Sivan - The Good Side (Live on SNL) (LW: 43 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 13)

Australia - 2018

 14 (+ 3) : Michele Bravi - Diamanti (LW: 17 / WO: 24 / PEAK: 04)

Italy - 2017 / from the album “Anime di carta”

 15 (- 8) : Eli Lieb - Next To You (LW: 07 / WO: 13 / PEAK: 02)

USA - 2017

 16 (NEW) : Ryan O'Shaughnessy - Together (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 16)

Ireland - 2018

This sweet ballad will represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. The music video is so cute.

 17 (+ 11) : Matt Palmer - Inevitably (LW: 28 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 17)

USA - 2018 / from the EP "Get Lost"

 18 (NEW) : Kevin Chomat - Petite Fée (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 18)

France - 2018

The French singer has made a song to support Lana, a young girl who has a rare genetic disease called neurofibromatosis.

 19 (NEW) : djfriz feat. 마샬 (MRSHLL), 메건리 (Megan Lee) - Dive (English Version) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 19)

South Korea - 2018

There is also a korean version of the song.

 20 (RE-ENTRY) : Brandi Carlile - The Joke (LW: - / WO: 3 / PEAK: 20)

USA - 2018 / from the album "By The Way, I Forgive You"

 21 (NEW) : morgxn - Translucent (audio only) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 20)

USA - 2018

 22 (+ 3) : Leon Else - What I Won't Do (Lyric Video) (LW: 25 / WO: 38 / PEAK: 02)

UK - 2017

The British singer has came out on Facebook last May.

 23 (NEW) : Michael Blume - Blunder (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 23)

USA - 2018

 24 (- 8) : VINCINT - Marrow (LW: 16 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 16)

USA - 2018

 25 (+ 5) : MNEK - Tongue (LW: 30 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 25)

UK - 2018

 26 (NEW) : Years & Years - Sanctify (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 23)

UK - 2018

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander says the band’s new single Sanctify is about straight men who experiment with gay sex.

 27 (- 15) : Patrick Wolf - The Days (fan video) (LW: 12 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 07)

UK - 2017 / from the album "God’s Own Country OST"

The multi-awarded movie was nominated in 2 categories at the BAFTA Awards 2017, including Best Outstanding British Film.

 28 (+ 16) : Namuel - Poder (LW: 44 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 25)

Chile - 2018

 29 (NEW) : Catarina Miranda - Para Sorrir Eu Não Preciso De Nada (live @ Festival da Canção 2018) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 29)

Portugal - 2018

This lesbian love song came second in the Festival da Canção 2018, the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. It was first in the jury ranking, and second in the televote.

 30 (- 17) : Hayley Kiyoko - Curious (LW: 13 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 08)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Expectations"

 31 (NEW) : Calum Scott - What I Miss Most (1 Mic 1 Take/Live From Abbey Road Studios) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 31)

UK - 2018 / from the album "Only Human"

 32 (NEW) : P!nk - Whatever You Want (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 32)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Beautiful Trauma"

 33 (- 1) : Ricky Martin feat. Wisin, Yandel - Fiebre (LW: 32 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 32)

Puerto Rico (USA) / Spain - 2018

Ricky Martin was with Katy Perry one of the most successful LGBT artist on YouTube in 2017 due to the success of his singles "Vente Pa' Ca" and "La Mordidita" with 1,4 billion views on YouTube. Will he have the same success with his new single ?

 34 (- 20) : Alfie Arcuri - If They Only Knew (LW: 14 / WO: 36 / PEAK: 01 (x7))

Australia - 2017

This is the new music video of the winner of The Voice Australia 2016. What must do a gay man when he's in love with his best male friend, who's dating his best female friend?

 35 (NEW) : CRIMER - Cards (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 35)

Switzerland - 2018 / from the album "Leave Me Baby"

 36 (- 25) : Openside - I Feel Nothing (LW: 11 / WO: 5 / PEAK: 11)

New Zealand - 2017  

Lead singer Possum Plows, who is gender non-binary, raises the transgender flag in this music video. In her new song, Hayley is wondering why the girl she's dating is dating also another guy in the same time. "Expectations" will be released on March 30, 2018.

 37 (+ 13) : SAKIMA - Daddy (LW: 50 / WO: 13 / PEAK: 14)

UK - 2017

 38 (NEW) : Baiana System e Titica feat Margareth Menezes - Capim Guiné (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 38)

Brazil / Angola - 2018

 39 (- 2) : Bagarre - Danser seul (ne suffit pas) (LW: 37 / WO: 9 / PEAK: 10)

France - 2018 / from the album "Club 12345"

Several drag queens are featuring in the music video of this French Touch house music.

 40 (- 17) : Peppermint and Cazwell - Blend (LW: 23 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 23)

USA - 2018 / from the EP "Blend"

The purpose of this song is to make a positive trans anthem.

 41 (+ 5) : Sameera Janakantha - Oba Mage Mathakaya Wela (ඔබ මගේ මතකය වෙලා) (LW: 46 / WO: 3 / PEAK: 41)

Sri Lanka - 2017

 42 (NEW) : Hyphen Hyphen - Like Boys (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 42)

France - 2018

 43 (- 21) : Chase Sansing - Begins With You (LW: 22 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 22)

USA - 2018

The country singer comes out with this pride anthem.

 44 (NEW) : Marija Serifovic - Nije ljubav to (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 44)

Serbia - 2018

 45 (+ 3) : Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy (Arnaud Rebotini Remix) (LW: 48 / WO: 7 / PEAK: 15)

UK / France - 2017 / from the album "120 battements par minute OST"

The movie won 6 Cesars, including Best Movie and Best Original Soundtrack. Arnaud Rebotini dedicated his music to the victims of AIDS.

 46 (NEW) : Teo Entertainment - Голоса в моей голове / Voices In My Head (audio) (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 46)

Russia - 2018

 47 (- 28) : Eddy de Pretto - Normal (LW: 19 / WO: 2 / PEAK: 19)

France - 2018 / from the album "CURE"

The French singer shows here how to respond to an homophobe.

 48 (NEW) : Matthew Wood - Out (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 48)

Germany - 2018 / from the album "Spectrum of a Sinner"

 49 (RE-ENTRY) : Jão - Imaturo (LW: - / WO: 2 / PEAK: 29)

Brazil - 2018

Several people and LGBT magazines think that Jão is bisexual in this music video.

 50 (NEW) : serpentwithfeet - Bless ur Heart (LW: - / WO: 1 / PEAK: 50)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Soil"

     ALSO NEW THIS WEEK

 Saara Alto - Monster (live @ UMK 2018)

Finland - 2018

This is with this live performance that this song was selected to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest.

 Samir & Viktor - Shuffla (live @ Melodifestivalen Finale 2018)

Sweden - 2018

The song came fourth in the finale of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

 Mariette - For You (live @ Melodifestivalen Finale 2018)

Sweden - 2018

The song came last in the finale of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest.

 Mendéz - Everyday (live @ Melodifestivalen Finale 2018)

Chile - 2018

The song came last in the finale of Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest. Leo Mendéz is well know to be very supportive about his gay son.

 Blimes feat. Method Man - Hot Damn

USA - 2018

The track is #1 in the Top 40 LGBT Urban Chart.

 EarthTone - Rabbits

USA - 2018

The track was #1 in the Top 40 LGBT Urban Chart.

 Brockhampton - Boogie (fan-animated clip)

USA - 2018 / from the album "Saturation III"

This fan-animated clip was made by Ian, aka Worthikids.

 Matt Palmer - Comfortable

USA - 2018 / from the EP "Get Lost"

 Aja - Finish Her!

USA - 2018

 Bye Beneco - Jungle Drums

South Africa - 2018 / from the EP "Ghetto Disko"

There is two drag queens in this music video.

 Judas Priest - Spectre

UK - 2018 / taken from the album "Firepower"

 Gloria Groove - Bumbum de Ouro

Brazil - 2018

 Boris Jelic - Freedom (Lyric Video)

Sweden - 2018

 Anh Tú - Crazy Lady (Lyric Video)

Vietnam  - 2018

 Goro Gocher - El Arroyo Pando (Lyric Video)

Uruguay - 2018

 Beth Ditto - I'm Alive (Audio)

USA - 2018

 Kylie Minogue - Stop Me From Falling (audio)

Australia - 2018 / from the album "Golden"

 oRety! - Laura (poUtworki)

Poland - 2018

This song has a transgender theme.

 Steps - Scared Of The Dark (Offer Nissim Remix)

Israel - 2018

 Vini Uehara - DOIS (Boys)

Brazil - 2018

This is a parody of "Boys" from Charli XCX.

  See you next week and don’t forget to vote for your best LGBTQA music videos ! Here are the rules :

1 ) You can vote for many videos as you want under the videos on YouTube in the comment section. It could be recent or past music videos, which must provide at least one among the following conditions:

- the music video has LGBTQA related content, in the lyrics or the music video

- the artist is LGBTQA, an LGBTQA icon or eventually ally

- LGBTQA medias talked about it.

2 ) You can’t vote more than 3 songs of a same artist per week.

3 ) In case of an artist who receive votes mostly by a fan base, we will count only one song, in a limited time of 10 weeks of presence in the top.

4 ) You can vote with only one account.

5 ) If you make 5 votes or less, your first vote will represent 5 points, your second vote 4 points, etc… until your last vote and following 1 point. If you make 6 to 10 votes, your first vote will represent 10 points, your second vote 9 points, etc… If you make more than 10 votes, your first vote will represent 20 points, your second vote 19 points, etc…

6 ) People who make 1 to 5 votes form the amateur ranking, those who make 6 to 10 votes form the fan ranking, those who make more than 10 votes form the expert ranking. We form the jury ranking. And we count now the ranking of minutes of views of our weekly playlist of the previous week. The Gay Music Chart is the addition of the five charts. In case of equality, the number of votes and the dates of votes will count.

7 ) The votes will close on Thursday, 8 PM, European time.

[newagesispage]

                                                            OCTOBER                2020

PAGE RIB

 The Stones opened Rolling Stones # 9 on Carnaby St.** Bill Wyman auctioned off many unique items for the Prince’s Trust.**Wyman’s bass used for groundbreaking records in ’69 and ’70 broke a record at $384,000. The famous amp that got him into the Stones went for $106,250 and the most expensive toilet seat cover sold at auction with the tongue logo went for $1,142. Brian Jones Rock and Roll Circus guitar sold for $704,000.

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VOTE!!!!

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In San Francisco people can order dinner and drinks delivered with a drag queen performance.

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Joaquin and Rooney had a baby that they named River.

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Real Time has been renewed thru 2022.

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The new film, No Sudden Move about 1955 Detroit will star Don Cheadle, David Harbour, Benicio Del Toro, Ray Liotta and Kieran Culkin.

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Shep Smith is back with Just the Facts on CNBC.

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The Presidential debate: Well, Good Biden moments-“You don’t panic, he panicked.”  “It is what it is cuz you are what you are.” “Everybody knows he’s a liar.” Wouldn’t know suburbs unless he took a wrong turn.”  “Will you shit up man?” “Get out of your and trap.” Imagine if Bernie or a younger candidate with real energy were there. Imagine someone quick on their feet because we need that.  The bully style of scary clown 45 does fluster a normal person as it supposed to. Joe held his own and had real dignity though. It is hard to not respond to the President’s ridiculousness but he needs to be ignored.  Trump and son both seemed like they were about 8 Red Bulls into the day with all that pent up anger.  Who should be drug tested? Biden?  Trump went on about forest management but most of that land belongs to the Federal government.  ** I have never seen my mailperson trying to sell ballots.** Trump said that bad things are happening in Philadelphia. Biden should have showed some love for the state. He is on a tour of it now though. ** Chris Wallace said, “Why you not?” Was that a real question?  45 said, “I was a private business people.” They all had a little trouble talking. It is exhausting the way people put up with his manners.  **As soon as the debate was over, the Trump army wasted no time reaching out to goons to be poll watchers. Do they know that you just can’t show up randomly for that??**Apprentice insiders say Trump abuses Adderall.

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The other day when Trump took the podium for a rant, an open mike caught a someone saying, “Oh shit” On Fox.

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For those who insist Trump is a religious man, I’ll grant you he pays taxes like a church. –Stephen Colbert

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Letterman is ready with My Next Guest Needs no Introduction. This season includes Robert Downey Jr., Lizzo and Dave Chappelle.

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There are about 9 million feral swine in this country known as super pigs.

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There is talk of Levar Burton replacing Alex Trebeck when he retires. YES!!!!

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Cigar Afficionado magazine has named CBS Sunday Morning the greatest show on tv.

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The U.S. built tunnels under Trump’s wall to let water, garbage, DDT and other toxins flow thru. Millions were spent for nothing and now millions more will be spent to address this problem that empties into the Pacific Ocean.

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Days alert: Melissa Reeves is being replaced. Is it that she does not want to commute from Nashville or that she is a bit too conservative or something else? Is it an end of Days with old side characters and replacements of the stars??** Ava is coming back, JJ is back, Eric and Sami are gone. ** Absolutely loved the pic of Abigail 1 that confused Abigail 2. Funny!!!! It reminded me of the OLTL moment during Asa’s funeral when Blair saw the 1st Blair in a flashback.

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“Smaller than expected” would probably explain a lot about the proud boys. –Andi Zeisler

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Why does anyone listen to Christie or Rudy??

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Looting isn’t part of protesting just like murder isn’t part of arresting.

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A judge has said that Florida has created an “unconstitutional pay to vote system.” This has now been overturned. What are the things that can be termed felonies to keep one from voting? The list includes releasing helium filled balloons, driving without a license, catching the wrong lobster and disturbing turtle eggs. Amendment 4 was originally put into effect to stop freed slaves from voting. But SB7066 makes sure that felons complete the terms of their sentences. The fines, fees and restitution can be hard to navigate. There must be proof before they can vote but all counties keep their own records and there is no organization statewide.  Mike Bloomberg, John Legend, Michael Jordon and others are paying off millions of dollars in debt for felons in Florida so that they can vote if they can unravel some of the puzzles. Now Florida Republicans are saying that that is also illegal.

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Two thirds of the world’s wildlife has disappeared in the last 50 years.

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At our own peril, we have to step up or everything is lost. –John Batiste

*****

Michael Jordan will start up a Nascar team with Bubba Wallace.

*****

Laraine Newman signed up to be a poll worker. How do you get people to vote? Celebrity poll workers? Hey whatever works as long as the masses don’t gawk and hold up the lines.

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A refrigerator sized asteroid is headed to earth and may arrive about the time of the election.

*****

So the coronavirus relief funds were funneled by the pentagon to defense contractors.** What kind of a selfish fucking world do we live in? At least we know which people in this world give a flying fuck about the rest of us. Rally and fair participants, relief money scammers and mask protesters, we hear you loud and clear!!

*****

The Emmys went on thru the week of the 14th thru the 20th. Winners included RuPaul, Don’t fuck with Cats, Leah Remini, The Apollo, Eddie Murphy, Last Week 2nite, SNL, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Crown, Better Call Saul, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Archer, Hollywood, Maya Rudolph, Dan Harmon,  Bad Education, Cherry Jones, Regina King,  Julia Garner, Mark Ruffalo,  Uzo Aduba, The Last Dance and Stranger Things. Schitt’s Creek (and practically the whole cast), Dave Chappelle and Succession took home the big ones. Norman Lear became the oldest Emmy winner ever. Letterman ‘hitchhiked’ to the Emmy’s to present an award. I was really rooting for Amy Sedaris!!

*****

Bill Murray and Rashida Jones will star in Sofia Coppala’s On the Rocks.** The Doobie Brothers want Bill Murray to stop using their music to sell his golf clothes.

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Danny Trejo and Jessica Tuck will star in ‘The Shift.’

*****

Illinois is pulling down statues including Chris Columbus. Woo Hoo!!

*****

13 mummies have been discovered in a well, stacked one on top of the other. The Egyptian discovery from about 2,500 years ago has been well preserved.

*****

Hysterectomies on immigrant women in detention camps?? Really??

*****

Scientific American mag is 175 years old has never endorsed a candidate but Joe Biden id their man.

*****

Word is that in Indonesia the anti- maskers are forced to dig the graves of the Covid 19 victims.

*****

The Breonna Taylor case continues with a settlement and too few charges.

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Scary Clown 45 announced he will call in to Fox and Friends every Monday or Tuesday but a host told him that they were not committed to that.** The Scary campaign put up ads with “Support Our Troops” but the problem is they are Russian troops and jet fighters.** Trump did a phone interview on Fox Sports and talked about golf.

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It is a shame that Hillary lost the election and many more of us would be alive if she were running the show. But, I can only imagine the shit they would have given her.

*****

Brad Pascale, Trump’s former campaign manager, went to the hospital after being taken into custody in Florida after threatening suicide.

*****

Just remember , 1619 Project: Good   1776 Commision: Oh my! Why do these rich old fucks want us to stay as stupid and uninformed as they are? Haven’t we been in the dark long enough? They are the fake news masters.

*****

Jim Carrey will play Biden on SNL. Chris Rock will be host the season 46 opener on Oct. 3. New players will be Lauren Holt, Punkie Johnson and Andrew Dismukes.

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Gulf War Syndrome is a chronic and multi symptomatic disorder that has affected military personnel from the Persian Gulf War. The DOD is resisting the strong evidence and needs more of a spotlight. The possible exposure to chemical weapons may even have been passed on to their partners through sexual contact. All of this came to light in the mid 90’s thru complaints that were told to Ross Perot. Let’s hope Tammy Duckworth looks into this further.

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Amy Coney Barrett has been nominated to the Supreme Court. Her previous statements tell us she believes the ACA is unconstitutional, abortion is always immoral and the country should undo marriage equality. She is a member of People of Praise.** If she was a Muslim and everything else was the same regarding her beliefs and associations, Republicans would call her a religious extremist and never let her step near the Supreme Court. –Wajahat Ali.** Notorious A.C.B. ?? Do they have one original idea other than new ways to cheat and steal??

*****

Finn Wittrock has a funny little Emmy Uber ride on Funny or Die.

*****

Breonna Taylor’s neighbor’s wall got more justice that Breonna herself. –Jordan Uhl

*****

Go Stevie Wonder!!!

*****

Dax Sheppard went off the wagon for a while.

*****

A Giant Gundom? Really?

*****

A fun prank would be if we stopped this from becoming a dictatorship on Nov. 3rd and whatnot. –George Wallace

*****

Sen. Kevin Kramer has been acting a little crooked on building the Wall.

*****

The Metropolitan Opera has cancelled the whole season.

*****

Happy Doomscrolling

*****

Can dogs be trained to detect the coronavirus?

*****

Rand Paul is an idiot. Birx and Atlas have ruined reps. Give ‘em Hell Fauci!! ** Everything Atlas says is false. –R. Redfield

*****

Eric Trump must testify in court about the Trump business’s a judge has decreed. The Trump biz has made about 19 billion in the last 3 years.** The world is gobbling up the news about the Trump tax returns with tales of debt, the $72.9 milliion refund and foreign influence. How does the IRS let a refund like that happen? How bad of a businessman do you have to be to lose that much $? National security threat. One of his fans will probably bail him out.

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Bet we’d all own houses if we stopped eating so much avocado toast and committed tax fraud. -Kashana

*****

Mary Trump has sued The President and his siblings for fraud.

*****

Ellen is selling off $10 mil in art.

*****

61% say we should abolish the electoral college.

*****

The Netflix series, Challenger :The Final Flight reminds us that like The Titanic, the arrogance of man can change so many lives.

*****

Wilderness of Errors is a great doc. It proves just how right the book and mini -series got it.

*****

The remains of the 1644 warship, Del Menhorst have been found off the Danish coast.

*****

Everybody is talking about Jeff Daniels in The Comey Rule. The actors were upset when Showtime was going to push back the release until after the election. The actors said they wouldn’t promote the film so the film has premiered.

*****

David Tennant gets better and better and now he is giving us DES on ITV. Quality AND quanity.

*****

Independent prosecutors are not going ahead with a case against NE Patriots Robert Craft for soliciting prostitutes.

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America has no memories. –Wallace Shawn

*****

Tyler Childers has released ‘Long Violent History”. Give it a listen.

*****

Does it seem like the administration gets a word of the week and they really push it? Caravan-Herd-sedition-looters- Antifa. It is like they all share a brain and do not have a thought of their own.

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Chris Petrovski `will star in ‘Listen’ about a young Israeli soldier.

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On a personal note, I love the way that Autumn makes my brain feel. The spring allergies are gone, the hot muddled summer thinking fades and everything opens up.

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Gubler is back and in the video for Future Islands ‘Moonlight’.

*****

Niecy Nash wed Jessica Betts.

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Check out the Curious life and death of… on the Smithsonian channel.

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Conan is looking hot with his grown out hair.

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I just love Mel Rodriguez and Weijia Jiang. Some people just don’t get enough credit.

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Vet’s crisis line: 1-800-273-8255

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Donald Trump is taking page out of Charles Manson’s playbook. Start a race war, then convince the public you alone can end it. He’s a lying racist piece of garbage. –Rob Reiner

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Serious Question: Would good Christian conservatives have mounted a Go fund me for Timothy McVeigh? –Michael Mckean

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Old Navy will pay employees to work the polls on Election day.

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Trump is the most effective anti -liberal in my lifetime. –Newt Gingrich

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Tommy Chong does not seem too happy with Joe Rogan.

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Anna Faris is leaving CBS’s Mom as it heads into its 8th season.

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Q Anon should take advantage of the ACA. –Joe Biden

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Word is that the White House told Federal agencies to ban race based sensitivity training.  The thinking is that Un American propaganda training sessions have no place in Federal Government.

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I wish I lived in a country where John Kelly, James Mattis and John Bolton had at least half the balls of Sally Yates, Maria Yovanovitch, Fiona Hill, Reality Winner, Christine Blasey Ford or Stormy Daniels. – Andrea Junker** If only Mad Dog Mattis had the balls of Olivia Troye – Michael Mckean

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38 million Americans live in poverty.

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80 year old Sam Little with a possible 93 murders has now been called the most prolific serial killer in the U.S. and he has a photographic memory. Whoever takes this on, please let David Alan Grier play him in the movie.

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You must check out the album, the Angel Headed Hipster.

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Everybody is talking about Cottage Core.

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The Trump campaign can’t help themselves with things like playing ‘knockin’ on Heaven’s door’ and ‘Fortunate son’ at rally’s. It was like the time my Grandfathers young wife brought a purse to the funeral that boldly stated ‘Jackpot.’ True Story.

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Glenn Howerton and Seth Meyers should play brothers on something.** Also Meyers and Larry Wilmore wondered if the cancellation of Wilmore’s show was a reason for the racial unrest and terrible results of the last election. Hmmm.

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Can we remember this election enthusiasm for all future elections?  We need to take things seriously EVERY time.** So many say that even with our divide, we all want the same things in the end. I do not think that is really true. It seems that in this divide, we have different ideas about what we want this country to be.

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Harry Styles has replaced Shia LaBeouf in Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling.

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Cat Cora has filed for a restraining order against her ex- wife, Jennifer who it seems has been stalking her.

*****

Showtime’s The Comedy Store sounds interesting with stories like Jimmie Walker who claims that Freddie Prinze wanted to kill John Travolta.

*****

Maplecroft, Lizzie Borden’s last house sold for about $890,000.

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A woman ref in the NFL?? It’s about time!

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Doc Martin will end after its 10th season.

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Kelly Clarkson is being sued by her management firm.

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Pope Francis refused to meet with Mike Pompeo.

*****

R.I.P. Tom Seaver, Sophie Farrar, Kevin Dobson, Toots Hibbert, Stevie Lee, Bruce Williamson, Ben Cross, Diana Rigg, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Rev. Robert Graetz, Ron Cobb, Gale Sayers, Dan Dettman, Kevin Burns, Mac Davis, wildfire casualties, Covid victims and Helen Reddy.

[friend-clarity]

Conrad Black: Universities have become cesspools of political correctness

Canada is a relatively tolerant and civilized place, but you would not guess that from the publications being put out by the University of Toronto

Conrad Black, May 29, 2020, National Post

This column is written for all those who feel oppressed by political correctness in Canada. It is prompted by my wife Barbara giving me the magazines sent to alumni of University College (UC) at the University of Toronto and by the University of Toronto itself, each quarter. I receive a sprinkling of information from the universities where I graduated (Carleton, Laval and McGill) and from some that kindly gave me honorary degrees, but I have never seen anything like this.

The college alumni magazine identifies three contributors of whom one describes herself as “a peace and love hippie with a dream of doing a meditation retreat at Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village Monastery in southern France,” and the second is the former associate director of UC’s “centre for sexual diversity studies.” The piece of the incoming principal of the college focused on the widespread need for attention to “students struggling with mental health problems” and celebrated his college’s “iconicity … of diversity and inclusion.” He also dwelt upon the “uncomfortable iconicity” in referring to a creek that once flowed through the campus but is now entirely subterranean. “We need … to include Indigenous teachings, learners and scholars in our midst.… The river still cleanses this area and its ancient powers continue to flow despite attempts to submerge its force.” The principal of such a well-known university college should have a clearer idea of legitimate subjects of iconization.

There was a tribute to my dear friend of more than 40 years, Supreme Court Justice Rosie Abella, winner of an award named after another old friend, the late Rose Wolfe (a former chancellor of U of T), both delightful women. Rosie referred to her belief as an under-graduate in “the perfectibility of the human condition, in progressive change, in excellence, in the symbiosis of reason and equity.” What she really meant and how she has amiably enacted it, is her fervent belief in practically every left-wing cause that does not oppress human rights: redistribution of money from people who had earned it to people who had not, reduction of the influence and status of individuals in favour of institutions purporting faithfully to enhance the welfare of the majority and a river of concessions and preferments to organized labour. By all means give Rosie an award, but not for elegiacal nonsense about the perfectibility of man through democratic Marxism. Next came a piece about a photographer who specialized in portraits of LGBTQ writers who “capture what’s essential.” (They were good photographs.) Then came the inevitable confession and repentance of Canada’s “ugly legacy of occupation and forced assimilation by settlers trying to extinguish the culture, rights and humanity of Indigenous peoples,” and the obligatory demonization of the residential schools system.

Fortified by this bracing sorbet of monochromatic lamentation on the evils of most Canadians and of the country that pays for all this, I prorupted on into the University Magazine. As if in prearranged sequence, it began with, “The white man has stepped everywhere across this land without seeing the people and how they have been injured or incapacitated by his exploits. They have also taken our children and removed them from their communities for generations until they are no longer connected to their family and community.… The white man could not keep to himself, he had to have more land, more gold, more fur.” I have written about the true history of the colonization of North America by technologically superior European states many times; the falsification of history cited above incites the question of who these people imagine are paying to circulate their opinions on glossy magazines to the descendants of the people whose right to be here they are disputing.

The next section was a series of alumni who had been battling various types of oppression. One more time: an apologist for the recent illegal native obstruction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline explained that, “Canada is actually not Canada because the original nations on this land never gave up the right to govern themselves.” What is required is “a fundamental rethink and reimagining of what Canada is as a country.” There was a historian specializing in African-Canadian studies, with no hint of the fact that virtually all African-Canadians were liberated slaves (including those that Gov. Guy Carleton refused to hand back to Washington , a slaveowner, in 1783), or refugees from slavery, including 40,000 American slaves who fled the U.S. in the 30 years before the Civil War, as well as such American anti-slavery advocates as John Brown, Harriet Tubman and Josiah Henson, the model for Uncle Tom in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous novel.

The people featured are apparently champions of good causes, but the alumna who directs a climate science centre at a Texas University and regularly asks, “Is it too late to save the earth?” before answering that that all depends on how quickly fossil fuels can be discarded (which is not about to happen in Texas), incites some doubt. Instead of activism, the focus in climate matters should be on research, since there is no reliable consensus on whether whatever is happening is outside the normal climate cycle, is or is not anthropogenic, could or could not be beneficial, or what its extent might be. As in other subjects, it is generally wise to know what is happening before militating about what is to be done.

The drenchingly predictable article on “fake news” referred to Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election although the authors of the interference remain unknown and the extent of it was insignificant. Naturally there is not a word about the three-year malicious fiction that the current president had colluded with the Russian government to influence the election. The absence of coverage of the greatest constitutional scandal in U.S. history and the closest that country has ever come to a putsch is the most egregious fake news of all.

A chapter on the “Dictionary of Canadian Biography,” an admirable work of scholarship, comes perilously close to justifying imputations of racist bigotry to former prime minister John A. Macdonald. He gave Native-Canadians the right to vote and had many allies in the Native community, including Poundmaker and Crowfoot, and the revisionist descriptions of the chief founder of this country as a quasi-genocidist are an abominable injustice that has no place in a respectable university. The interesting article on the university’s dental museum was the only part of either publication that wasn’t stiflingly politically correct.

These magazines are for the alumni, and should not focus exclusively on agitators, even for good causes. The publications of a university that celebrates the iconicity of diversity and inclusion should air the inconvenient facts that the Indigenous people did not occupy or govern Canada. Canada’s Native policy has failed, but not out of malice or stinginess, and the Natives are not blameless. As for the climate, diversity would require mention of dissenting views, or at least acknowledgement that many countries around the world continue to expand their fossil fuel usage.

Canada is a relatively tolerant and civilized place, but you would not guess that from these offerings. Jordan Peterson is right that anything calling itself “studies” is not a real academic subject. Most of this allegedly iconic activity is not productive work and is really just a pseudo-academic workfare measure to defer unemployment that is hideously expensive, of doubtful utility and encourages its beneficiaries to bite the system that indulges it like an ungrateful viper.

National Post cmbletters@gmail.com

[womenofcolor15]

Rihanna Opens Up About Battling Anxiety & Starting Her Own Family - Solo If She Has To - In British VOGUE

Rihanna the Ruler! Bad Gyal RiRi serves up fabulousness on two covers for British VOGUE’s May 2020 issue. Inside, she opens up about battling anxiety and experiencing motherhood by any means necessary. More inside…

          View this post on Instagram

                  Gang back in da Stu!! @Edward_Enninful and I are back at it again with @StevenKleinStudio for the May 2020 cover of @BritishVogue available Friday, April 3rd! . Wearing all @Burberry by @RiccardoTisci17, and a custom @StephenJonesMillinery durag. Photographed by @StevenKleinStudio and styled by @Edward_Enninful, with hair by @YusefHairNYC and @NaphiisBeautifulHair, make-up by @IsamayaFfrench using @FentyBeauty and nails by @RedHotNails. With thanks to @JillDemling.

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Mar 30, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT

  Praise the fashion gawds we can count on Rihanna to give us something else to obsess over during this trying time amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The durag-wearing FENTY mogul serves up rebel fashion - dressed up in Burberry - on two covers for British VOGUE magazine's May 2020 issue. And, as always, she's perfection.

        View this post on Instagram

                  TRUTH. @BritishVogue @StevenKleinStudio @Edward_Enninful

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Mar 30, 2020 at 1:17pm PDT

  In the cover story, the bomb philanthropist (who recently dropped $5 towards the Coronavirus efforts) lets her NAVY in on some internal feelings she experiences as a global superstar. Turns out, she gets the jitters like most of us before big events.

“Oh, I’m nervous before even getting in the car to go to something,” she says. “It can be devastating. And when I pull up to the red carpet, I’m like…” she imitates crisis breathing. “Are you kidding me? I left the Grammys one time. Left! In the middle of my hair and make-up. My hair half up, half of my lash on…” It was 2016 and she had been due to perform “Kiss It Better” from her Anti album. At the time she was said to have left because of issues with her voice, but anxiety can be just as flooring. She laughs about it now, but she wants me to know it’s harder for her than it looks. “Being on camera, being in a room full of celebrities is still not normal for me, by the way.”

Aww, Rih!

Following news she called it quits with her Saudi billionaire businessman ex, Hassan Jameel, the GRAMMY Award winner says she plans on having children even if society frowns about women starting their own families without a man. She says she putting in so much work now so she can chill comfortably in the future.

“I’m working like this now so that I don’t have to in the future," she says. “I know I will want to live differently,” The main difference she has in mind is children. When I ask her where she sees herself in 10 years, she says, in a distinctively Bajan tone of disbelief, “Ten years? I’ll be 42! I’ll be ancient.” She playfully ignores my outrage (I’m almost 40 myself) at this idea. “I’ll have kids – three or four of ’em.”

And if you haven’t met the right person, I venture, would you do it on your own? “Hell, yeah,” comes the unequivocal response. “I feel like society makes me want to feel like, ‘Oh, you got it wrong…’ They diminish you as a mother if there’s not a dad in your kids’ lives. But the only thing that matters is happiness, that’s the only healthy relationship between a parent and a child. That’s the only thing that can raise a child truly, is love.”

It all boils down to love for Rihanna.

We can see RiRi being a fabulous mom, for sure.

          View this post on Instagram

                  “I feel like I have no boundaries. I’ve done everything – I’ve done all the hits, I’ve tried every genre – now I’m just, I’m wide open. I can make anything that I want.” Poised to release a long anticipated new album, and with the continued success of “the Fenty effect”, #Rihanna’s work ethic is akin to a force of nature. In the new issue, the businesswoman tells @AfuaHirsch about managing her work-life balance and how she’s been “aggressively working on music”. See the full story in the new issue, on newsstands and available for free digital download Friday 3 April, and read the full interview now at the link in bio. #Rihanna wears all @RafSimons. Photographed by @StevenKleinStudio and styled by @Edward_Enninful, with hair by @YusefHairNYC and @NaphiisBeautifulHair, make-up by @IsamayaFfrench using @FentyBeauty and nails by @RedHotNails. With thanks to @JillDemling.

A post shared by British Vogue (@britishvogue) on Mar 30, 2020 at 11:30am PDT

  At this point in her life, she's not putting up with any extra mess.

“Since I turned 32, I’m realizing life is really short,” she says. “You don’t have a lot of time to tolerate shit, you know? You put so much on your plate. When you’re overwhelmed, you need to start cutting things out. And I’m overwhelmed too much,” she says. “What’s happening now is that I’m going back to black and white. My grey area is shutting down.”

Not even mad.

The singer/actress/beauty mogul also talks about expanding her empire into skincare:

  Next up, the launch of her full skincare line, Fenty Skin. So far fans have had to content themselves with a Pro Kiss’r Scrub and Balm “lip prep” duo, and her bestselling shimmering Body Lava oil. But Rihanna says she has had to push herself to achieve the same level of perfection. “Skincare, it’s the truth. It either works or it doesn’t. There’s nowhere to hide.” For a moment she looks concerned.

And she also dished on her heavily delayed ninth studio album after recently dropping the "Believe It" collab with PartyNextDoor on his new LP:

“I can’t say when I’m going to drop,” she says (it could even be out by the time you read this). “But I am very aggressively working on music,” she adds, coyly.

Relax, NAVY. It's coming.

You can read the rest of her interview here.

  Photo: Cubankite/Shutterstock.com

[Read More ...] source http://theybf.com/2020/03/30/rihanna-opens-up-about-battling-anxiety-starting-her-own-family%E2%80%A6solo-if-she-has-to-in-bri

[srbachchan]

DAY 3365

Malta                      June 14,  2017               Wed 8:50 PM local time 

Birthday - Ef Sejal Shah ...   Ef Sunita Roy        Thu, June 15 .. and it is time to celebrate the birthday’s of two of our Ef’s .. may you both have a wonderful June 15th .. with love and wishes from all the Ef  ...

And another gruelling day comes to an end on the sets of ‘Thugs of Hindostan’, the labour of great effort by production, on a film that has immense detailing and needing the efforts of several professionals in their respective fields ..

Most commendable to find the kind of management that today’s film productions go through .. the clarity of the work, timings, preparations and the execution to the dot .. most impressive and deserving laudatory reactions ..

And as I sit to run through the day in the mind, needing to respond to the social media, to the Ef in all their finery and art, one of the picture librarians amongst us sends a picture :

This be the Filmfare Awards night and the Best Actor trophy going to Sanjeev Kumar, for the film ‘Aandhi’ .. and yours truly invited to present it to him ..

The Filmfare Awards were the only award event in the film industry at the time .. it was still the property of Bennett Coleman, editored by Mr Karanjia , and the concept and event idea coming from senior heads at Times of India ..

Unlike the times of today where the results are announced, with some amount of dramatic uncertainty, much like the Oscars, the Filmfare Award was then a predetermined and announced winners list .. 

So the winners were announced almost a month in advance by the magazine .. the process being one of some kind of judgement by the paper themselves, or perhaps a jury system .. Sanjeev Kumar was adjudged Best Actor .. 

It was the year that ‘Deewar’ was also in the running, and barring yours truly, all the others connected with the film were rewarded ..

I was  personae non grater for the entire media world then, particularly for the film media, because for some reason, it was understood and believed that the Press Ban brought about during the time of the Emergency in the country, and it was during those times, the person responsible for it was ME .. an utterly nonsensical and absurd accusation - much like the hundreds of others that I have had to face through out my existence so far - and therefore acknowledging that fact, the entire media banned me ..

Nothing was ever printed or written about me .. no coverage of any of my films or my works .. and no pictures if I was to attend a function. The photographers would put down their cameras on the platform where I stood and so long as I was there, they protested and never took a single photograph .. if there were to be a credit title description of a film .. for eg., say ‘Nastik’ .. it would be Hema Malini, (,) and Pran .. I was the comma in the film and so on ..

When the media banned me, I felt I should ban them too, which I did .. so no media was allowed on my sets, I gave no interviews and never met any journalists .. this went on for several years .. I think almost 15 years .. until the moment when I relented .. I relented when one of the leading magazines that had religiously refused to carry any information or write up or mention, wrote a most sympathetic and compassionate piece in their magazine .. I was surprised of course, but did not reject it either .. it was the time when I had had my ‘Coolie’ accident and was in the Breach Candy Hospital .. when I came out recovered, I did seek an appointment with the Editor and owner of the magazine and asked why he had done what he did, despite the ban ..

In his most forthright and honest manner he said .. “we were upset and annoyed with you, because of what you had done to the media, and we wanted you to fail .. but we did not want you to die .. and so we wrote this piece when you recovered” ..

It was an emotional moment and from then on we have been the normal best as before ..

But then I have digressed ..  not without reason .. the Filmfare Award was a page out of this ban .. not giving me recognition for ‘Deewar’, was fine by me .. whether it rode the theory of the ban or not does not bother me .. Hari Bhai, Sanjeev Kumar was an exceptional artist, a dear friend, and the vote of the jury was to be accepted .. 

I have often countered that moment with my own assessment and stated on many an occasion, even at a Filmfare event, that not giving recognition for ‘Deewar’ was perfectly acceptable, because, I argued, if Filmfare did not give Dilip Kumar the Best Actor for ‘Gunga Jamuna’, his best ever performance according to me, then ..’mai kis khet ki mooli hoon’ ..

Anyway, in those days the surprise element unlike today, was not who won .. that was out a month before .. the surprise element would be who is going to present the Award !

During the time of the media and press ban, my films ironically, were the biggest hits, and so in a sense giving acceptance to that, Filmfare invited me to the Award function, and announced me to give the Best Actor Award to Sanjiv Kumar .. many commentators of the time and rival media when talking to me, expressed opinion that the move was to deliberately humiliate me by performing this deed .. I have never given any credence to this opinion and never paid any attention to it .. 

But in all fairness I must mention here, that soon after the event was over, the next day I did get a letter from the Editor, Mr Karanjia who generously thanked me for attending the function despite the media ban, and acknowledged the fact, in his own words .. ‘despite all else, you did get the largest applause of the evening’ !! 

To me that was my award  .. 

Award functions and events are a gracious evening of recognition of talent ..

They are also a funny business  .. 

If some one rewards me in recognition of my work, I shall accept them, most humbly, with grace .. if they do not, I shall equally and in all humility accept their decision ..

After all ...

‘Man ka ho toh achcha .. na ho toh zyaada achcha”!

Love 

Amitabh Bachchan

[alltimebestbooks]

Top 10 Books

1. Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

A National Book Award Finalist:

This 'wonderfully descriptive' novel from an author with a 'tremendous imagination' tells the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias have bred their own exhibit of human oddities. (The New York Times Book Review)

The Binewskis arex a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities (with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes). Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan, Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins, albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious - and dangerous - asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the US, inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene.

Family values will never be the same.

Praise for Geek Love

'If Flannery O'Connor had consumed vast quantities of LSD, she might have written like this' Literary Review

'The most romantic novel about love and family I have read. It made me ashamed to be so utterly normal' Terry Gilliam

'I felt electrocuted when I read that first page with Crystal Lil and her freak brood. I stood there in the bookstore and my jaw came unhinged. No book I've read, before or since, has given me that specific jolt' Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia

2. A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor

ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS In 1955, with this short story collection, Flannery O'Connor firmly laid claim to her place as one of the most original and provocative writers of her generation. Steeped in a Southern Gothic tradition that would become synonymous with her name, these stories show O'Connor's unique, grotesque view of life-- infused with religious symbolism, haunted by apocalyptic possibility, sustained by the tragic comedy of human behavior, confronted by the necessity of salvation. With these classic stories-- including "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," "Good Country People," "The Displaced Person," and seven other acclaimed tales-- O'Connor earned a permanent place in the hearts of American readers. "Much savagery, compassion, farce, art, and truth have gone into these stories. O'Connor's characters are wholeheartedly horrible, and almost better than life. I find it hard to think of a funnier or more frightening writer." -- Robert Lowell "In these stories the rural South is, for the first time, viewed by a writer who orthodoxy matches her talent. The results are revolutionary." -- The New York Times Book Review Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) was born in Savannah, Georgia. She earned her M.F.A. at the University of Iowa, but lived most of her life in the South, where she became an anomaly among post-World War II authors-- a Roman Catholic woman whose stated purpose was to reveal the mystery of God's grace in everyday life. Her work-- novels, short stories, letters, and criticism-- received a number of awards, including the National Book Award.

3. The Power of Now

To make the journey into the Now we will need to leave our analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. From the very first page of Eckhart Tolle's extraordinary book, we move rapidly into a significantly higher altitude where we breathe a lighter air. We become connected to the indestructible essence of our Being, “The eternal, ever present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death.” Although the journey is challenging, Eckhart Tolle uses simple language and an easy question and answer format to guide us.

A word of mouth phenomenon since its first publication, The Power of Now is one of those rare books with the power to create an experience in readers, one that can radically change their lives for the better.

4. Mindset

“A good book is one whose advice you believe. A great book is one whose advice you follow. This is a book that can change your life, as its ideas have changed mine.”—Robert J. Sternberg, co-author of Teaching for Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity, and Success

“An essential read for parents, teachers [and] coaches . . . as well as for those who would like to increase their own feelings of success and fulfillment.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Everyone should read this book.”—Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick

“One of the most influential books ever about motivation.”—Po Bronson, author of NurtureShock

5. How to Read a person like a book

Imagine meeting someone for the first time and within minutes―without a word being said―having the ability to tell what that person is thinking. Magic? Not quite. Whether people are aware of it or not, their body movements clearly express their attitudes and motives, communicating key information that is invaluable in a range of situations.

How to Read a Person Like a Book is designed to teach you how to interpret and reply to the nonverbal signals of business associates, friends, loved ones, and even strangers. Best-selling authors Gerard Nierenberg, Henry Calero, and Gabriel Grayson have collaborated to put their working knowledge of body language into this practical guide to recognizing and understanding body movements. In this book, you will find the authors’ proven techniques for gaining control of negotiations, detecting lies, and even recognizing signs of sexual attraction.

Whether in an office, on a date, or on a family outing, the simple technique of reading body language is a unique skill that offers real and important benefits.

6. How to Win Friends and Influencear People

'How to win friends and influence people’ is a self-help book which is the pioneer of this genre. Written by Dale Carnegie and published in 1936, it has sold over 30 million copies. It has been edited and re-printed several times. This is the 2004 edition of this book. It was on the Time magazine’s 100 most influential books list in 2011. This book is a guide in improving a person's aura in the world. It is about changing how the world views and treats you by changing your own behaviour. That means that if you change the kind of energy that you emit, what comes back to you is also different. This is one of the most influential business and communication skills guide. This book teaches you how to market yourself and generate more clients. This book has been acclaimed by many known figures around the world. This book tries to get you out of a mental hell and provides you with ambition and goals. It enables you to be friendlier and seem a positive person to others, it helps you become a popular person who is liked by the majority and in business terms, it enables you to win new clients. it increases your earning power by helping you use your potential to the fullest and it helps you to become a better public speaker and to be liked by mass audience. If you read the book carefully and follow majority of the tips, you can learn to be friendlier and more presentable as a person. You can become a person who emits the positivity that is inside the heart. You can become a person people trust and want to be associated with. As long as you have good friends and good business associations, you will probably stay strong in personal as well as professional life.

7. The Far Field

Winner of the JCB Prize for Literature 2019. Shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2019. Shortlisted for the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award (Fiction) 2019. In the wake of her mother's death, Shalini, a privileged, naive and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote village in Kashmir. Certain that the loss of her mother is somehow connected to the decade-old disappearance of Bashir Ahmed, a charming Kashmiri salesman who frequented her childhood home, she is determined to track him down. But as soon as Shalini arrives, she is confronted with the region's politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. As life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could have dangerous repercussions for the people she has come to love. With rare acumen and evocative prose, in The Far Field Madhuri Vijay gives a potent critique of Indian politics and class prejudice through the lens of a guileless outsider, while also offering up a profound meditation on grief, guilt and the limits of compassion.

8. The Psychology Book

How does memory work? Who is the "distractor" in your family? What was the "car crash" experiment?

This book is your visual guide to the complex and fascinating world of human behaviour. Discover how we learn, become emotionally bonded with others, and develop coping mechanisms to deal with adversity, or conform in a group. Get to know key thinkers, from Freud and Jung to Elizabeth Loftus and Melanie Klein, and follow charts and timelines to make sense of it all and see how one theory influenced another.

With pithy explanations of different schools of psychology including psychotherapy, cognitive psychology and behaviourism, this is an ideal reference whether you're a student, or a general reader. It's your authoritative guide to over 100 key ideas, theories, and conditions, including the collective unconscious, the "selfish" gene, false memory, psychiatric disorders, and autism.

If you're fascinated by the human mind, The Psychology Book is both an invaluable reference and illuminating read.

9. Mans Search For Meaning

16 MILLION COPIES SOLD

'A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive' John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

A prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.

10. The Power of Subconsious Mind

The book was first published in 1963, but till date it has not gone out of print. The author, with a lifetime of experience as a church preacher, had done extensive research on how the mind can be healed, which has been dealt with in detail in the first few chapters. The techniques are simple and results come quickly. You can improve your relationships, your finances, your physical well-being. Structured in twenty chapters, each one spells out instructions that one needs to follow in order to be content and successful in life. For people who are interested in finding out about the basics of the human mind and want to explore the subconscious, this book is a must read. Inspiring examples throughout this book attest to the effectiveness of his methods.

[newyorktheater]

These posters are from the Federal Theatre Project, a massive government program during the Great Depression to offer relief to artists, writers, directors, and theater workers by employing them. The just-passed $2 trillion stimulus deal, called CARES, does nothing close to that. The FTP created a system of regional theaters, encouraged experimentation, and made it possible for millions of Americans to see live theatre for the first time.

Congress passed, and the president signed, a $2 trillion stimulus deal that includes specific relief for arts organizations and artists, although advocates say not enough.

Officially titled CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security), the law gives $75 million each to The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities to pass on to institutions that need it and $50 million to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. There was also $25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center (although it didn’t stop the Center from laying off all 96 members of the National Symphony Orchestra with only a week’s notice.)

Arts advocates had asked for $4 billion.

“Germany has rolled out a staggering €50 Billion ($54 billion) aid package for artists and cultural businesses, putting other countries to shame” –Artnet

“Although $150 million isn’t chump change, it’s only 3.75 percent of the original ask. You could film a season of Westworld with that money; you will obviously not be able to restart an entire sector.” – Helen Shaw, New York Magazine.(who is counting just the NEA and NEH grants.)

“,,,the institutional damage done by the coronavirus looks at first glance to be especially devastating to theater. Even the biggest regional theaters have either laid off staff or are days away from doing so…Imagine, then, the plight of the smaller companies, the no-budget storefront and off-Broadway houses whose risk-taking productions supply the artistic fertilizer for America’s theatrical culture. Many of these groups—perhaps most of the smaller ones—simply won’t reopen when the crisis abates. As for the actors, directors, playwrights, designers and other professionals who make sure there’s a show onstage when the curtain goes up…well, they’re in can’t-pay-the-rent trouble…” — Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal

Still, other provisions in CARES will likely aid these theaters and individual theater artists (F.A.Q. on Stimulus Checks, Unemployment and the Coronavirus Plan – NY Times.)

The $1,200 “paycheck” to individuals making less than $75,000.

Calculate how much your stimulus check will be (likely, $1,200)https://t.co/sKLsGs6yES

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 26, 2020

$377 billion for small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, which may offer a boon to eligible arts businesses and nonprofits – Jamine Weber, Hyperallergic

Expanded Unemployment Insurance  that includes coverage for furloughed workers, freelancers, and “gig economy” workers, which describes, for example, almost all actors, directors and playwrights. The bill increases such payments by $600 a week for four months, in addition to what one claims under a state unemployment program. – Hayley Levitt, Theatermania

What the theater industry would hope for the future:

“One of the things we’re talking about internally,” TCG’s Corinna Schulenburg told Helen Shaw, “has been the way in which the scale of this catastrophe — a wholesale shutting down of the field — is only really comparable is the Great Depression. We’re looking at 20 percent or higher unemployment! So what lessons can we find in the Federal Theater Project?” Under the New Deal, the government’s super-spending effort that put America back to work in the ’30s, the Federal Theater Project only accounted for 0.5 percent of the Works Progress Administration spending, which, if you applied that to the current bailout, would come to $10 billion. Schulenburg has dreams for that money. And oh, oh, oh — a new New Deal is a heady thought. We’re still surrounded by the structures the WPA gave us, including dams, bridges, airports, roads — and, yes, our regional theater system. Maybe a new one could bring it back.”

Summer theater canceled too?

Three Broadway shows that were scheduled to open in April are facing facts, and moving to sometime in the Fall: Roundabout’s “Caroline, or Change” and “Birthday Candles” and Lincoln Center Theater’s “Flying Sunset.” Since both “Hangmen” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” announced they would not be returning at all when Broadway resumes, that leaves 11 shows still officially scheduled to open in the 2019-2020 Broadway season.

No surprise: The 74th Annual Tony Awards  will be postponed to a date that will be determined after Broadway reopens. It was originally scheduled for June 7th

A bad news/good news announcement: Ars Nova has canceled the remainder of its 2019-2020 season, originally set to conclude on June 30, 2020. But it’s committed to paying all 150 staff, crew and cast through June 30th.

New York City Center has announced the cancellation of Thoroughly Modern Millie, an  Encores concert scheduled for May 6-10,

  “As nonprofits around the country cancel all spring programs, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival halts performances through Labor Day, and will lay off 80 percent of its staff….Lincoln Center Theater has decided to move two summer productions to next season; the Public Theater says it is awaiting guidance from local officials before determining what impact the pandemic might have on its popular Shakespeare in the Park program. And in the Berkshires, a summer destination in Western Massachusetts with a rich concentration of cultural institutions, Barrington Stage Company has already canceled its first production, which was scheduled to run from mid-May to early June….“ — Michael Paulson, NY Times

  To avoid any more little jolts of disappointment, perhaps we should just assume the following for all theater: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, __ (theater) has announced the cancellation of __ (show) which was schedule for __ (months from now!)

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 29, 2020

Hope Goes Online

A huge amount of theater is going online, which I’m trying to track by continually updating my roundup, Where To Get Your Theater Fix Online, Old Favorites and New Experiments

Some highlights in the  last week:

TrickleUp, a new “grass-roots subscription platform”  for $10 a month, hopes to raise money for artists in need.  Launched March 23 by a group of downtown artists and artistic directors, It promises “videos of solo performances, conversation, and other behind-the-scenes goodies,” Its catalogue so far features such fare as Taylor Mac reading scenes from “Gary”, Sarah Ruhl reading some of her poems, Mia Katigbak singing La Vie En Rose, Dominique Morisseau doing a monologue from Skeleton Crew, Suzan-Lori Parks singing “Colored All My Life,” Lucas Hnath reading material cut from his play “A Doll’s House Part 2″

Starting April 2nd, and every Thursday thereafter, ‘National Theatre at Home” will stream FOR FREE on its YouTube channel a production from its NT Live collection, recordings of their stage productions that are such high quality that they are normally presented in cinemas worldwide. The first production online April 2 (and for seven days after that) is “One Man, Two Guv’nors,” the slapstick comedy with a Tony winning performance by James Corden.

PBS  has unlocked a selection of its shows in its Live From Lincoln Center and Great Performances series, from April until the end of May. These includes a few of my favorite things (yes, “The Sound of Music” — not the movie — as well as “Red” and “Present Laughter.”)

Playing on Air, a decade-old podcast of original radio plays, announces its star-studded season of ten plays, unfolding each week through the end of May.

There is new immersive theater for the age of self-distancing. For details on these and other virtual theater, again, check out Where To Get Your Theater Fix Online, Old Favorites and New Experiments

My reviews of Theater Wit’s Teenage Dick and Rattlestick’s The Siblings Play, both stage plays that were recorded right before the theaters were shut down, and now presented online.

Anne (Courtney Rikki Green) teaching Richard (MacGregor Arney), who has cerebral palsy, how to dance, in “Teenage Dick,” Mike Lew’s update of Shakespeare’s play Richard III, streaming online through April 19.

Ed Ventura as Leon/Lee/Chookie. and Cindy De La Cruz as his sister Marie/Rie-rie/Sweet-pea, in “The Siblings Play” by Ten Dara Santiago, now available online

Other Theater News:

a closeup of the Coronavirus

Broadway and the Coronavirus: Updated Questions and Answers

Hey everyone. I just wanted to update you all that I’ve found out that I’ve tested positive for Covid-19. I’ve been in quarantine since Broadway shows shut down on Thursday, March 12th, and I’m feeling much better.… https://t.co/KwJSPgcRct

— Aaron Tveit (@AaronTveit) March 23, 2020

Congrats to playwright @willarbery, winner of $50K @WhitingFdn Award “intellectually audacious, formally sly, w/ the courage to let characters seize the stage with impassioned arguments” My review of his “Heroes of the 4th Turning”https://t.co/pSA2Ebywgj pic.twitter.com/OxCHztANU2

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 26, 2020

On #WorldTheatreDay2020, a look at the world’s gorgeous theaters. We can’t enter them right now, but we can still celebrate theater in our hearts (and online) Theater is more than buildings. It’s 2,500 years of history, & literature, & tradition & lovehttps://t.co/i2RtwDGU3H pic.twitter.com/3tdoqBYHHM

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 27, 2020

NY Theater Blog Roundup: Responding to COVID-19 in unexpected ways https://t.co/mRwicA4Sz5 pic.twitter.com/BX2ZgZchL3

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 29, 2020

Great idea from @BroadwayWorld & @jenashtep — #BWWBookclub. First up Jennifer’s book, Untold Stories of Broadway Vol. 1 — free on Amazon via Kindle, and then discuss each chapter on Broadway World’s message board weekly starting Monday, March 30https://t.co/D8hyYZyrPM pic.twitter.com/7QpVSsPIBJ

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 26, 2020

Advice and Uplift

Step-by-step advice for surviving isolation from an astronaut, a journalist, and a political prisoner, who each spent long stretches alone: Read. Exercise. Laugh.

Message from the medical personnel of an Emergency Room, via @MaudNewton, whose sister is an ER nurse. (My brother is an ER doctor) pic.twitter.com/1XmpE10gR2

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 28, 2020

Cheerful https://t.co/g7TKl7rMgH

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 29, 2020

Isolation latino style… pic.twitter.com/17AlnYHYIk

— Enrique Acevedo (@Enrique_Acevedo) March 28, 2020

What The World Needs Now….are virtual choirs and orchestras https://t.co/OrTJrNGMuH https://t.co/ijv1Z0wbOK

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 29, 2020

  Rest in Peace

McNally as a young man

Terrence McNally

Playwright Terrence McNally standing in front of Martin Beck Theater where “The Rink” was playing in 1984, the Kander and Ebb musical for which he wrote the book, his first musical on Broadway

McNally receiving Doctor of Fine Arts from NYU in 2019

Playwright Terrence McNally, 81, from complications of the coronavirus. (“Theater Changes Hearts…”:My gallery of scenes from some of his 36 plays and 10 musicals, plus his Tony Award acceptance speech..)

We love this quote from Terrence McNally—his response to Jonathan Mandell (@NewYorkTheater) asking, “Can theatre change the world?” We are sending love and light to his family, friends, and collaborators today.https://t.co/7pfmi99yqy pic.twitter.com/2A1vrEjU4q

— HowlRound Theatre Commons (@HowlRound) March 25, 2020

Mark Blum

Actor Mark Blum, 69, from complications of the coronavirus.A familiar presence on the NY stage: nine-time Broadway veteran (Assembled Parties), 26 Off-Broadway plays (Rancho Viejo, Amy and the Orphans),teacher (HB Studio)

With love and heavy hearts, Playwrights Horizons pays tribute to Mark Blum, a dear longtime friend and a consummate artist who passed this week. Thank you, Mark, for all you brought to our theater, and to theaters and audiences across the world. We will miss you. pic.twitter.com/NMVZFB5hPb

— Playwrights Horizons (@phnyc) March 26, 2020

David Schramm, 73,  Broadway veteran and founding member of The Acting Company best known for playing Roy Biggs in the television series Wings

What the $2 trillion stimulus means for the arts and artists. Summer canceled too? Hope goes online. #Stageworthy News of the Week Congress passed, and the president signed, a $2 trillion stimulus deal that includes specific relief for arts organizations and artists, although advocates say not enough.

[amlanmallick]

SNAP Preparation Tips: Know the Strategy to Follow

Symbiosis National Aptitude Test or SNAP is one of the most popular competitive exams in the country. It offers MBA in all of the 15 Symbiosis colleges present in India. The applicants for SNAP are increasing each year. More than 50,000 candidates applied for SNAP last year. So you need to score really high in order to get yourself a seat in any one institute of Symbiosis.

The SNAP registration starts from August 16. Though the level of difficulty of SNAP doesn’t fall under the category of CAT or XAT, it still required thorough preparation and practice to get a good score.

Candidates have to solve 115 questions in 120 minutes. One mark for each correct answer of the normal question and two marks for each correct answer of the special question with total marks of 150. 25% negative mark for each incorrect answer. The exam pattern for SNAP is listed below:

Know details about SNAP Syllabus, Exam pattern, Faqs, Click here

Quantitative, Data Interpretation, and Data sufficiency:

This section contains mostly arithmetic questions. There are chances of geometric and mensuration based question also. Quantitative section is very time consuming, so the candidate needs to practice this section more. This section contains 30 normal questions which award one mark for each correct answer and 5 special questions which award two marks for each correct answer.

Analytical & Logical reasoning:

This the most scoring section among all if you are good at it. This section contains logical reasoning, deductive logic, analogies, series, blood relatives, puzzles, etc. you should attempt as many questions you can from this section.

General English:

Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, and Verbal Ability (30 questions):  Normally this is an easy section for those with good knowledge in English literature. This section consists of passages, grammar, vocabulary, and verbal reasoning question. Candidates need to read and write as many English based QnA as one can to have a grasp in this.

Current Affairs:

This section normally consists of static GK, brand and business GK, news stories, award winners, sports event questions, and important acquisitions and mergers from the past one year. Reading newspapers and news sites help in this section. Answer the question which you are most certain about. Do not try random guessing.

Preparation Tips for SNAP 2019

One can do well in the test by upholding basic managerial skills like effective time management, speed, accuracy, prioritization, and strategic approach to different sections. There are various ways a candidate can prepare for the SNAP 2019 test:

Mock test for SNAP:

Practice makes a man perfect. Solving mock tests gives you a brief knowledge about the pattern of the question, the level of difficulty of the test, types of question that are asked. Giving mock tests makes a student visualize his/her strong and weak areas. Mock test improves the time management skills in the students, which is the most important skill while giving any test.

Weak topic practice:

A candidate must clearly know his/her strong and weak areas. Weaker topics need to be practiced more. Not only practicing question will improve your weaker areas, but also learning a few tricks on how to solve those weak questions can make you good on those topics.

Thorough in the syllabus:

It is very difficult to cover all the topics with much ease. Try to cover as much topic you can cover easily and thoroughness and revise it. Do not leave those topics which are more frequent in previous SNAP tests.

Time Management

The most important key in getting a good score in any test is time management. Always keep an eye on the timer. If a question is taking too long to answer, leave it, and jump to another. Always do the question which falls under your strong areas. Attend the easy questions first by which you will have more time for difficult ones.

Words from SNAP Top Rank Holders

Abhishek Verma: Cleared SNAP in 2009 with 122 marks. He says, “One should give quality time to the studies and focus on the smart preparation. Work hard on weak areas and make them your strength.” He emphasized on increasing the speed and accuracy of solving a question.

Venkata:

He gave the SNAP test in 2014 are 96 percentile. He says, “Prepare well for the unplanned interviews such as psychometric rounds. Prepare and practice the strategy to complete all questions. Read magazines, newspaper, online articles for keeping in touch with current affairs.”

SNAP Preparation Books

There are some good books available in the market to prepare for the SNAP test. Few of them are listed below:Arihant Descriptive General English by SP Bakshi

Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by RS Aggarwal

Symbiosis National Aptitude Test Guide(English)

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning by Arun Sharma

Target SNAP and General Knowledge by Disha And Arihant

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay

Map The SNAP Test by RK Jha

Manorama yearbook, for major current events

Overall, this SNAP is to test your capability and skills in basic managerial skills. To get admitted into your dream subject and institute, practice and work hard with the preparation tips given above and you will find excellence and success.

[lainahastoomuchsparetime]

If you’re new around here, Things I’ve Read Recently is a series of posts I do that are basically mini-reviews of books that I either forgot to review, didn’t have enough to say for a full review, or just didn’t want to do a full post about for whatever reason.

I worked in a thrift store all summer and I had like a half hour lunch break. And doing nothing but eating alone is boring, so I read a bunch of magazines and then started bringing a book.

Now, I didn’t feel like taking notes while I ate, so I didn’t bring any review books. And I didn’t really feel like reading anything… you know, good. So I looked at my physical to-read stack and my book shelves and mostly found whatever looked trashiest. Never underestimate the power of good trash. Sometimes you need to read something that doesn’t make you think. At all.

So let’s talk about what I read this summer!

(Note: As I said, I didn’t take notes on any of these, so I don’t have notes to do content warnings. There’s like murder in most of them, and fatmisia and racism stuff. It’s trash, don’t be surprised by dumpster fires. Assume there’s no diversity in most of these.)

Killing Britney by Sean Olin

Published: July 1st, 2005 by Simon Pulse Genre: YA Thriller Binding: Paperback Page Count: 234 with no extras at all, actually Part of a series? Nope Got via: I wanna say thrift sale or yard sale. I own it and I don’t think I bought it online or anything.

Summary (from goodreads): Britney is the girl everyone loves to hate.

Ever since Britney transformed herself from freak-and-geek to the most popular girl at school, her life has been touched by tragedy. First it was her mom, who drowned on a family rafting trip. Then her hockey-star boyfriend, Ricky, was killed in a hit-and-run.

When the deaths continue to pile up, everyone fears for Britney. Sure she’s popular, blond, and fabulous.

But is that enough reason for someone to want to… kill her?

Thoughts: This was trash. It’s very clearly written by a man who had possibly never spoken to a teenage girl when he wrote this. Maybe because of the time period it was written plus that it’s written in third person, but it does have a kind of removed feeling. Which works for the “twist” ending (it’s a really predictable twist), but normally isn’t my favourite.

At the same time though it kind of worked for how my mindset was when I read it? I didn’t really want to connect to the characters. I just wanted to be entertained for a short period of time while I ate.

Also apparently this won an award for being appealing to reluctant readers, and I can totally see that. This was actually recommended to me by a friend like fifteen years ago. (I can remember that, but I can’t remember where I put my tweezers. Why is my brain like this?) That friend wasn’t a huge reader, but apparently liked this and thought I would.

Well, friend, fifteen years later, you weren’t wrong! Five dumpsters out of five.

(No, I’m kidding, I’m not rating these.)

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

Published: November 12th, 2009 by Razorbill Genre: YA Thriller Binding: Paperback Page Count: 235 plus an excerpt for a book by a different author and an add for the Kissing List. Part of a series? Nope. Got via: I think I actually bought it from amazon.

Summary (from goodreads): All it takes is one fatal mistake…

High-school beauty Natalie Hargrove has spent years plotting to become prom queen. She’s got just what it takes: popularity, glamour and ruthless ambition.

When someone threatens to overturn her perfect plan, Natalie needs to take control. So she convinces her boyfriend Mike to help play a prank on her nemesis, Justin… one that goes terribly wrong, and Justin ends up dead.

Natalie is plunged into a sea of secrets, shame and scandal.

Because it turns out there’s one thing even Natalie Hargrove can’t command – and that’s fate…

Thoughts: This was also trash! Not my favourite trash of the bunch here, but it was good enough for what it was. I actually thought the setting of this was really interesting. It’s set in… Charleston. I don’t know where that is. One second.

So it’s set in South Carolina! And takes place around Mardi Gras and has a whole bunch of southern high school traditions that I wasn’t really aware of. Do you remember that book I read last year, Ruined? It kind of reminded me of that, but, like, trashy CW teen show content instead of a ghost story.

Seriously with how popular Fallen was I’m surprised this was never made into a terrible movie. It’d be kind of fun to watch, honestly. Lots of teen drinking and sex, some murder, lots of drama, all that jazz. Not my favourite, but it worked for when I was reading it.

Traveling On into the Light: and Other Stories by Martha Brooks

Published: September 1st, 1994 by Groundwood Books Genre: Contemporary YA Short Story Anthology Binding: Hardcover Page Count: 146 plus an about the author Part of a series? No, but one of the stories was expanded into a book called Being With Henry Got via: I have no idea. I’ve had it forever, and there are not library marks or anything.

Summary (from goodreads): The miracle of unexpected connections and small victories that enlarge and transform shines forth in this haunting collection.

Here are teenagers on the brink of discovery: Jamie, who comes to understand that the lost can be found in unexpected ways when he goes looking for his dead father and finds a living memory instead; Laker, a runaway able to face his mother’s rejection because of the kindness of a total stranger; and Sidonie, who, threatened with the loss of the love that made her feel safe, discovers she can survive and face the unknown.

Out of alienation, isolation, and loss coms hope for the future in the support of friends, family, or lovers, the healing power of memory, or the sanctity of a safe place from which personal dragons can finally be faced.

Thoughts: This actually wasn’t trash. I grabbed it because it was in the box in my closet, and short stories seemed easy to read in small bursts. It’s actually pretty good. It’s older, so some of the stories obviously haven’t aged the best, but looking at it in the context of it being twenty-five years old (and most of the stories older), it’s not a big deal.

Also, like, props for this actually having queer characters? One of the characters in one of the stories has a father who has somewhat recently come out as gay and begun a new relationship. While normally that’s a plot I find a bit tiresome, for the early 90s, it’s handled pretty well.

I’m probably not going to keep this as I don’t feel any urgent need to reread it, but it was good enough.

Speaking of the 90s…

Obsessed by Jo Gibson

Published: This bind-up was released May 27th, 2014 by K-Teen Books which is a division of Kensington. We’ll talk about the original pub dates in the review. Genre: YA Thriller Binding: Paperback Page Count: 356 plus an excerpt from the next book, which we’ll talk about. Part of a series? This contains the books The Crush and the Crush II. Got via: Yard sale!

Summary (from goodreads): From master of suspense Jo Gibson comes two heart-stopping novels of romantic obsession–where the love never dies. It kills. . .

The Crush

Michael Barton is smart, sweet, gorgeous–the total package. Which is why some of the girls have decided to have a little contest. Whoever hooks up with Michael first will be the winner. There’s just one problem. One of the girls has been harboring a secret crush on Michael for years. She’ll do anything to be his girlfriend. She’ll play the game. She’ll win his heart. She’ll beat the competition. . .to death.

The Crush II

Michael Barton has experienced the dark side of love. He has survived the advances of a psychotic stalker. He has endured her deadly game of obsession. And now he is free from her web of lust and lies. But Michael has a surprise waiting for him. His secret admirer is still out there. Watching. Waiting. Plotting her next move. And if Michael thinks he can escape her this time, he’s wrong. . .dead wrong.

Thoughts: Originally the two books that make up this bind-up were published in 1994 by Zebra, specifically from their Scream Line. You may or may not know this, so let’s talk a bit about Zebra, because this is very interesting. Zebra, which is also a division of Kensington, mostly started as a romance publisher. In the 80s and 90s, however, they were quite successful publishing westerns and horror novels. They apparently (I can’t find too much information on it) had a line called “Scream”, which seems to have been somewhat similar to Point Horror line, but clearly not as popular.

The other interesting fact about this book? Jo Gibson is also known as Joanne Fluke, who writes the Hannah Swensen series. I find that so interesting. There’s also an excerpt for her… I think only non-cozy adult book, The Other Child, at the back of this book. Which is just such random advertising!

This is kind of trash, but it’s trash in a very specific way. Honestly, I did not realize that was such an old book when I started reading it, since I literally grabbed it because of the cover. It wasn’t until I got to a part about how cellphones were so expensive and unusual that I was like “what the hey?” and actually checked the publication date.

This is 90s teen pulp horror. You don’t go into this expecting a good book. The characters are barely characters, there’s a ton of 90s isms, the plot is ridiculously predictable, and it’s not remotely scary as an adult. You gotta think about being twelve and reading this with barbecue chips on a Friday night when you’re still young enough that staying up late on a Friday is a treat.

I also wanna just talk about these covers.

  Why are her fingernails so long?? That’s not a thing in the book at all. There’s absoluely no sense to it. I love it.

This was great! I’m actually gonna keep this and I would love to get my hands on the other bind-ups of her books. I’m super charmed by this.

Well, that was fun! What did y’all think of this round-up?

Peace and cookies, Laina

Things I’ve Read Recently (89): Stuff I read at lunch at my summer job that was mostly kind of trashy If you're new around here, Things I've Read Recently is a series of posts I do that are basically mini-reviews of books that I either forgot to review, didn't have enough to say for a full review, or just didn't want to do a full post about for whatever reason.

[toddrogersfl]

How to buy fragrance at Christmas?!

How to buy fragrance at Christmas? Where do you even begin? Well, right here with The Perfume Society‘s everything-one-click-away guide! From nervous noses to designer divas and scented gents, we’ve even got the perfect gift for overseas friends. Start (and finish!) your shopping right now…

When you’re not sure exactly what scent to get, or are sick of giving loved ones the same old thing, our overwhelming feedback from happy customers suggests a Discovery Box is definitely the way forward. Bursting with luxurious and often hard-to-find mini, try-me size scents and decadents beauty extras, each box is specially curated around a theme or with a particular kind of perfume-lover in mind.

At The Perfume Society, we’ve something to suit pretty much everyone, no matter how picky about perfume they are! From designer name divas to scented gents about town, millenials desperate to discover what suits them best and those keen to branch out with something different – get those pens ready and see how many gifts you can tick off your shopping list in one fell swoop (and all from the comfort of your sofa/desk/bed!)

‘I don’t want to smell the same as everyone else!’ If they’re the kind of person who prefers the unusual and intriguing to things you can buy just anywhere – here’s a curation of unique treasures from independent perfume houses. It’s filled with 12 scents including an incredible 30ml size of Escentric Molecule 04 (WORTH £36 on its own!), new, niche releases from Sana Jardin, Miller Harris, 4160 Tuesdays, Jovoy Paris, Serge Lutens, Malin + Goetz and so much more. There’s a 30ml size of a superfacialist’s superstar product, Sarah Chapman Ultimate Cleanse (WORTH £16.50), and an introduction to AD Skin Synergy Organic Rose Geranium Nourishing Night Treatment (WORTH £16!). Boredom-buster: guaranteed.

Niche Collection Discovery Box £19 / £15 for VIPs

Packed with even more new niche scents, there’s an incredible 13 fragrances curated, including a stunning 7.5ml of Anima Vinci Neroli Wisdom. Alongside treasured houses such as Amouage and Atkinsons we’ve included exciting newness from Parterre, fragrantly evocative Stories by Eliza Grace, Memoize, perfumed provacteurs The Modernist, and the brilliant UK niche house of Tom Daxon. But it doesn’t stop there… Keep their complexions glowing (no matter how many nights were spent partying) with the recent GOLD AWARD winning skinSense ANTI-AGING Overnight Leave on Mask (WORTH £8.50) – and ensure their hands smell and feel wonderful with the bestselling Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream (WORTH £10). If you don’t know these names, we’re betting you AND your fragrance loving friends would love to discover them…

Niche Collection II Discovery Box £19 /£15 for VIPs

If you’re not sure what fragrances are currently in their collection, plump for some perfumes that only came out recently. With that in mind, we curated a selection of the newest and most exciting fragrances we’ve seen and smelled this year. It includes sunlit AERIN Hibiscus Palm, whisk-you-to-the-Riviera Tory Burch Bel Azur, and so-pretty Philosophy Amazing Grace Ballet Rose. If they prefer their scents darker and with more intrigue, they’ll love the Clive Christian duo – Chypre ‘L’ for Women and Oriental-woody ‘L’ for Men. And they can also enjoy the sophisticated Lalique Noir Premier Illusion Captive, Shay & Blue Black Tulip, together with the new KENZO WORLD.

Latest Launches Discovery Box £19 /£15 for VIPs

Know someone who’s stressed, had a horrible year or just deserves some scented pampering? Invite them to take some time and indulge their senses with the glorious scents in this box. The perfume houses range from Amouage to Sana Jardin, Estée Lauder to Fragonard, together with duos from an exciting niche house called The Beautiful Mind Series and the ever-fabulous Miller Harris. We have also included some indulgent little extras to help them really unwind: a sumptuous Heathcote & Ivory Lavender Fields Hand Cream and from Aromatherapy Associates, Deep Relax and Support Breathe Bath & Shower Oils.

Treat Yourself Discovery Box £19 /£15 for VIPs

Is there a male in your life who’s stuck in a rut, and really needs to get their fragrance game together? Give them our most generous men’s collection to date, with sensational scents including Creed Viking (winner of The Fragrance Foundation‘s Best Male Fragrance 2018!), niche offerings from Nejma, Floris and Jack (Richard E. Grant’s fragrance line) and the new Shay & Blue King’s Wood, among this divine selection. Plus as a special treat, we are throwing in a FULL-SIZE Escentric Molecules 03 Body Wash (worth £20 alone!). With so many incredible fragrances to choose from, anyone will feel like a new man…

The New Man Discovery Box £19 /£15 for VIPs

Alas, due to postal restrictions (don’t get us started) we can’t ship our boxes overseas – and we’re as gutted as you are about it. BUT that doesn’t mean fragrance loving friends and family living outside the UK should miss out. We can now offer International Subscriptions to our multi-award-winning digital downloadable magazine, The Scented Letter.

We take full advantage of our privileged access to all the leading ‘noses’, perfume houses, latest launches, news, exclusive interviews and more to ensure The Scented Letter is your finger on the pulse-point of everything that’s happening in the scented world!

The Scented Letter Magazine International Subscription £20 for a full year

If they’re obsessed by fragrance and very possibly will need new shelving units from Santa, just to hold the scents they already own, why not welcome them to our world?! As a member of The Perfume Society VIP Club, they’ll receive the following exclusive benefits…

•  Six issues a year of our online/downloadable digital magazine The Scented Letter – (virtually) the only publication in the world devoted to all things fragrant…

• Exclusive competitions with fab fragrant prizes – including bottles signed by perfumers.

• An exclusive monthly ‘insider offer’ – special offers from top-name fragrance houses, and ONLY for our VIPs.

•  Early access to tickets for all our events – meet with leading ‘noses’ and key figures from the perfume world, attend in-store events, workshops, etc. (Our VIPs are first to hear about these.)

•  A special member’s discount on our Perfume Society Discovery Boxes (normally £19 – but £15 to our VIPs)

•  Plus, choose them a FREE Discovery Box when you sign them up, from a number of options…

It’s the fragrant gift that keeps on giving for an entire year!

VIP Club Membership £25 for a full year

Still don’t know what to get them? Well, if you happen to know a fragrance they already like, type that name into our Fragrance Finder and you’ll be given suggestions of six other scents we think they’ll absolutely adore, with something for every budget… It’s sheer (almost spooky) genius!

Written by Suzy Nightingale

The post How to buy fragrance at Christmas?! appeared first on The Perfume Society.

from The Perfume Society http://perfumesociety.org/how-to-buy-fragrance-at-christmas/