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jdgo51 · 3 months

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JANUARY 31, 2024

Inspired to Write Debra Pierce (Massachusetts, USA)

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." - Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

"When I arrived home from painting class, I checked my email. My mood plummeted when I found that my devotional submission had been rejected. I reviewed the list of possible reasons for the rejection that the publisher sent. Then I read my meditation several times, trying to discern why it wasn’t accepted.

For aspiring writers, rejections are discouraging. Sometimes rejected meditations cause me to doubt my God-given purpose. But still I labor at my craft. My heart’s desire is to glorify God through my writing and to share my faith experiences with others.

But writing is hard work. It requires discipline and commitment, as well as a teachable spirit. Rejections, though discouraging, are also a catalyst for continued learning and practice. So when discouragement threatens to derail my efforts, I recall today’s quoted verse and remember why I write: It’s an expression of my love for others and for God. Whether or not my meditations are published, God is pleased with my efforts. When God weaves within us a divine purpose, God also equips us to persevere. And so as my words flow across the page, I continue to answer God’s call on my life." All words spoken or written are inspired by God. Express yourself, whether you are a writer or in some other profession. Our thoughts are usually triggered by inspirations from God, I believe.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Heavenly Father, help us remain committed when we face rejection. Give us teachable spirits and the will to persevere in our response to your call." Amen.

Psalm 139:13-18

"13 You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. 14 I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. 15 My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me, before any one of them had yet happened. 17 God, your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless! 18 If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand! If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you." God plans to prosper you and move you ahead on life's journey. I am thankful to God for His assistance. Blessings are mine! Joe

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sw-imgladmymomdied · 5 months

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The theme of “I’m Glad My Mom Died” is about a young girl who grows up with the acting industry, while also dealing with trauma throughout her life.

In chapter 25, 11-year-old Jennette McCurdy is panicking in the middle of the night. She feels two lumps on her chest and thinks it’s cancer. As she rushes over to her sleeping mother, Debra McCurdy, she tells her mom that she thinks she has cancer. Debra tells Jennette that it’s not cancer but instead her chest growing in and that she’s growing up. Jennette feels bad for growing up because her mother doesn’t want this, so the two of them start doing something together. This thing is calorie restriction.

In chapter 45, Jennette is on vacation with her secret boyfriend. Paparazzi start taking pictures of Jennette and her boyfriend together. This makes Jennette panic to rush inside her hotel room and think of what to do before her mom finds out. Joe is reassuring Jennette that everything will be fine and they should just sleep off today. The next day, Jennette is welcomed with 37 missed calls, 16 voicemails, and 4 missed emails from her mom. One of the emails reads “I am so disappointed in you. You used to be my perfect little angel, but now you are nothing more than a little-all caps-slut, a floozy, all used up. And to think you wasted it on that hideous ogre of a man. I saw the pictures on a website called TMZ. I saw you rubbing his disgusting hairy stomach.” It’s a harsh message to receive from your own mom, especially one that you practically did everything in your will power to make her happy.

#theme

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dollycas · 1 year

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Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book is 14! – Blogoversary Giveaway – Day 5 - Clear My Shelf!

This is the final day of my Blogoversary Celebration. Thank you everyone for your support over the years. It has been a delight to be your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent. I hope you will continue to come back every day for my reviews and recommendations and to see what mischief my family is getting into. Today 1 Winner is going to help me clear some more books off my giveaway shelf to make room for all the great books coming out in 2023.

This giveaway includes: Death by Spiced Chai by Alex Erickson Sconed to Death by Lynn Cahoon Pekoe Most Poison by Laura Childs Shot Through The Hearth by Kate Carlisle The Cakes of Monte Cristo by Jacklyn Brady Here Comes Santa Paws by Laurien Berenson In The Drink by Allyson K. Abbott Knot Ready for Murder by Mary Marks Three Shots to the Wind by Sherry Harris Bake Offed by Maya Corrigan Murder of a Stacked Librarian by Denise Swanson Five Belles Too Many by Debra H. Goldstein These books are all Paperback Advance Review Copies.

This giveaway features Paperback Advance Review Copies! The contest is open to anyone over 18 years old with a US mailing address. Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited. You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find something you like here and become a follower. See Follow Me Links Up in the Sidebar. Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow. Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page. Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries. If you SHARE the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive 5 Bonus Entries For Each Link. The contest Will End on January 9, 2023, at 11:59 PM CST The winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org The Winner Will Be Notified By Email and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar. Click Here For the Entry Form

Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent *Giveaway Fulfilled by Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book Read the full article

#BerkleyPrimeCrime #Kensington

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minorhoursmagazine · 2 years

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Issue 14, containing: Mom, Commonplaces, &c.

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SOME EDITORIAL NOTES

This will be a foreshortened issue.

I have, since the beginning, wished this to be an escape from doomscrolling, the rotten world, and the sad environs so many of us find ourselves in. This becomes impossible, however, when my life is completely eclipsed by the those same things. I can't write about recipes and cheerful outings as if nothing has occurred. I can't be one thing and project another.

My mother died on Halloween. It was, and continues to be, a shock. I had many things to speak to her about. I had many years I wanted to give to her. I had planned a place, in my future home, where she could sit and read to her heart's content, always at whatever temperature she desired, with comfortable chairs and takeout available whenever she desired it. My mother's wishes were appallingly simple, and ones that I was reaching, every day, to try and make a place for.

And now, that dream dies, and it takes with it some part of me that I will have to learn to live without.

This is not a happy issue, but it's one that needed writing. As my sister has said with far more eloquence than I can muster: "Tell your people you love them. I love all of you, and I'll love her forever."

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MOM

My mom and me, Christmas morning.

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COMMONPLACES

From Richard Siken's "Detail of the Woods":

I looked at all the trees and didn’t know what to do.

A box made out of leaves. What else was in the woods? A heart, closing. Nevertheless.

Everyone needs a place. It shouldn’t be inside of someone else. I kept my mind on the moon. Cold moon, long nights moon.

From the landscape: a sense of scale. From the dead: a sense of scale.

I turned my back on the story. A sense of superiority. Everything casts a shadow.

Your body told me in a dream it’s never been afraid of anything.

******

From my mother, Dr. Debra Doyle's, editorial blog:

Science Fiction’s Hugos would not be what they are without accompanying periodic outbursts of controversy. This year’s topic is the email sent out to nominees for the award, “encouraging” them to dress professionally for the awards ceremony. The backlash from the sf/fantasy community was, shall we say, vociferous and overwhelmingly negative.

As well it should be. To quote my elder daughter, on an occasion some time ago when I was fretting about the advisability of going out in public with my hair pulled back using a kid’s Snoopy-the-Flying-Ace hair tie:

“Don’t worry, Mamma. You’re a science fiction writer. You can wear anything.”

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

As always, you can find me at my regular website, katherinecrighton.com, or via twitter, at @c_katherine.

To support the magazine and get it delivered directly to your inbox, join the Patreon.

-Until next week, be safe.

#the minor hours and small thoughts magazine #katherine crighton #november 6 2020

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karmaalwayswins · 3 years

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@writerscreed prompt 237: shelf life

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Hey Julie,

Hope all is well. Took the kids to the park today. Aubrey fell off the jungle gym, but another kid broke her fall. Aubrey’s ok, but the other kid has a finger fracture. Now I have to host a playdate in way of apology.

Daniel is learning how to bake cookies. Some of them actually taste good!

How are things where you are?

Debra

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Debra,

Not doing so well on my end. I spent five minutes this morning looking at the sell by dates on the yogurt in my refrigerator, followed by twenty minutes on the internet researching the shelf life for yogurt past its sell by date. Conclusion: Out of five yogurts, only one should be eaten.

I need go to the grocery store for more yogurt, but I lack motivation.

It is 6 pm. I am off work today. Aside from yogurt checking, I have managed to pay the phone bill and write this email. Otherwise, I’ve been aimlessly scrolling the internet. Fact of the Day: Zheng Yi Sao was a woman who led a pirate fleet in the 1800s.

I am off tomorrow too. Perhaps I will be able to muster up the energy to schedule my eye appointment.

I hope I have adequately answered your question without scaring you.

Take care, Julie

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Julie,

I read your email and briefly thought of calling you. Then I realized that it was 2 am in your time zone. I ordered a rush bouquet of flowers instead. As I recall, you are fond of daffodils. Hope they’ll perk your mood up some.

With love, Debra

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Debra,

The flowers were wonderful. They did help. I scheduled my eye appointment. Small victories.

Thanks for caring, Julie

#writerscreedchallenge #shelf life #writtenconsiderations #writers on tumblr #kneipho #not sure how to tag my own posts at this point

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katieskarlette · 3 years

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Shadowlands voice actor panel

Aralon (which got autocorrected to Stalin for some reason lmao) (Max)

Denathrius (Ray Chase)

Draka (Debra)

Bwonsamdi (Alex Desert)

Anduin (Josh Keaton)

Steve Danuser

———-

They got the call about needing to work from home March 13th, the same day the library board voted to close my workplace. Heh.

They weren’t sure at first if they could even have voice acting in Shadowlands or if they would have to ship a silent expansion. What a thought!

Josh Keaton had to do Zoom calls to record some sessions, sometimes while his two kids were simultaneously doing online schooling. He says he played a lot more WoW during lockdown.

Max (didn’t catch his last name) got through with Netflix and recorded in a closet at home. Now I’m imagining Aralon getting his antlers caught in coat hangers...lol

Bwonsamdi’s VA likes golf. There’s another great mental picture.

Debra (Draka’s VA, again I didn’t get her last name) is divorced with no kids so she relishes the freedom to engage in her own hobbies. She mentioned pets including dogs and fish (the latter of which earned her points in my book). She says she’s gone through very dark times in her life and has developed strong coping skills that served her well in the pandemic.

It’s funny because Draka is a stoic, serious character and her VA is really hyper.

Denathrius’ VA got married last March in what ended up being a tiny backyard affair due to Covid.

Steve Danuser says Shadowlands’ concept was already well established when the pandemic started, so the awkwardness of an expansion focused on death while scores of people were dying IRL was unavoidable.

He said it was a pretty blank canvas to work with as we hadn’t been to the shadowlands before. Death in Warcraft is not an end. It’s more of a transition to new opportunities. And there is capital-D Death, a cosmic force, which is entwined with capital-L Life.

The characters of Shadowlands like Aralon and Denathrius are very much alive in the way they connect with the audience.

Player characters are tied to the life force of Azeroth and that’s what tugs us back to life when our HP hits zero.

Many tears were shed in the studio while recording Aralon’s Afterlives short. It was recorded before Covid hit. Max says his mom cried watching it, and she doesn’t normally do that at animation. He says he was in a bit of a creative rut beforehand and diving into WoW’s story invigorated him.

Funny transition as they talked about how the actor’s heart and soul shines through in the characters, in relation to Max being such a great guy, and then turned to Ray and joked about how he was (not) an evil bastard like Denathrius.

Denathrius’ voice was often described internally as “delicious.” They played classical music and had him sipping tea while recording Denathrius’ Afterlives speech.

It was recorded pre-Covid, which is funny because of all the “in these difficult times” speeches and emails we heard IRL soon after.

Regarding his character, Ray says, “He loves himself more than anything.” “And he’s got a cool sword that he doesn’t even have to swing.”

They also pointed out that he picked the largest chair in the room today, and he made a crack about how it was “his throne.” LOL

Draka’s VA says she “drags the pain with her” but doesn’t use it as an excuse. It gives her strength in a private way. Authenticity is vital in voice acting and she draws deep into her own experiences. She gets so immersed she doesn’t feel that she’s in the recording booth anymore, and concentrates on sensory details like what temperature it is where Draka is, what kind of ground she’s standing on, etc.

Alex says he doesn’t get to play bad guys that much so Bwonsamdi is a treat. He mimics that lanky, laidback posture while recording so they have to keep repositioning the microphone. He also tends to ad-lib more than most Blizzard VAs.

They mentioned Bwonsamdi fan fiction existing and giggled. Oh dear. They made a similar “wink wink” comment about the fan reaction to Denathrius. They know. Oh lordy.

Josh on Anduin: He has this unshakable faith in the Light to the point where it borders on naïveté, but he’s faced so many bad things and defeats, and now he’s imprisoned, and he has to reach for that faith in a different way.

As a child actor with strict parents he didn’t feel quite prepared to be on his own as an adult, and drew on some of that for Anduin’s coming of age.

Steve says the cutscenes with Anduin and Sylvanas in Torghast are among his all-time favorites. The power dynamics, character beats, lighting, etc.

They went around and read some of their characters’ lines, and Denathrius’ VA was gleeful that he gets paid to ham it up being a douche. LOL

They switched scripts and read each other’s lines. Ray did such a good Anduin they were like, “Maybe Denathrius is a lost-lost brother” and then “Spoilers!” (I’ve read worse fanfics...Heehee...)

Wrapping up the panel now. I absolutely love the voice actors’ panels, and this did not disappoint. I wish more of them could have been there, but the ones who were there were all fantastic.

#Blizzcon with KS #warcraft voice actors

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wutbju · 3 years

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Prominent Christian evangelicals prayed for her destruction, while others say Virginia Ramey Mollenkott saved their lives.

Raised in an evangelical household that disavowed her lesbianism, Dr. Mollenkott became a scholar of the Bible whose books on feminist and gay spirituality offered an expansive, inclusive theology that embraced not just women as equals to men but gay, bisexual and transgender people, too.

She pointed out that Adam, for instance, was male and female before he got lonely. She noted biblical passages that argued for the eradication of all sorts of categories like race, class and gender. And she wrote about how gay people could use the experience of oppression to find compassion and empathy for those who might be hostile toward them.

Dr. Mollenkott often said that she had been radicalized by the Bible. Yet she remained an evangelical.

“Although many right-wing Christians despise what I have done with the keys they put into my hand,” she wrote in an essay in 2004, “the fact is that the same Bible that deeply oppressed me has also been the most vital element in setting me free.”

Dr. Mollenkott died on Sept. 25 at her home in Pompton Plains, N.J. She was 88. Debra Morrison, a longtime friend and former partner, said the cause was respiratory failure and pneumonia.

Dr. Mollenkott had already made a name for herself in evangelical circles in the 1970s as the author of five books about feminist theology when her sixth, “Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? Another Christian View,” appeared in 1978. It quickly changed the conversation around gay people and evangelicals and helped usher in a new era of gay spirituality.

The book, which she wrote with Letha Dawson Scanzoni, a feminist author of religion and social issues, patiently works through the myriad ways that, the authors found, the Bible does not support the conservative Christian credo that homosexuality is a sin. It also examines the trauma that gay Christians and those who love them have endured because of those teachings.

The book’s arguments — theological, exegetical and ethical — were not original to the authors, but they were eloquently and compassionately articulated and “woven together into a uniquely compelling whole,” William M. Stell, an ordained minister and a Princeton doctoral student whose research focuses on evangelical gay activism in the 1970s and ’80s, said in an email.

The book’s publisher at HarperCollins, Clayton Carlson, declared the book “a counter-market publication” — publishing lingo for a book that won’t sell very well — but said he was proud to be publishing it anyway.

“If one Christian gay person, because of this book, experiences a new sense of self-respect and self-acceptance, a sense of his or her acceptability in the eyes of God, then the book will have been worth publishing,” he said in introducing the book at a symposium in San Francisco, just a few months after the city had passed an ordinance banning discrimination against gay people.

Over the years, Dr. Mollenkott and Ms. Scanzoni heard from many gay Christians who said “Is the Homosexual My Neighbor?” had saved them from suicide; they also heard from evangelicals who felt that the book was heretical and that the authors were not real Christians.

The Year’s ObituariesRemembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg, John Lewis, Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman, Kirk Douglas, Little Richard, Mary Higgins Clark and many others who died this year.

In a letter written in 1989, Bob Jones III, who was then president of Bob Jones University, Dr. Mollenkott’s alma mater, said he was ashamed that she had attended the school and taught there. He described her as a devil for “writing favorably about lesbianism” and said that he believed “it would not be unfit to pray for her destruction.”

The authors had set out to write a book on Christian ethics and social issues. But that changed when Dr. Mollenkott, who was not out publicly, told Ms. Scanzoni that she was a lesbian. As they described the moment in the introduction to the book’s reissue in 1994, Ms. Scanzoni was shocked. She had never met a gay person before, though she had written theoretically about homosexuality. In a painful exchange of letters, the women realized that they would have a very different book on their hands.

In one letter, Dr. Mollenkott wrote, “it was a terrible thing to be a person who has news to tell that can drain the blood out of a good friend’s face.”

Virginia May Ramey was born on Jan. 28, 1932, in Philadelphia, to Frank and May (Lotz) Ramey. Her mother was a butcher and a grocery store owner.; her father was a chiropractor. The family belonged to the Plymouth Brethren, a fundamentalist ministry that met in a storefront. Her father left the family when Virginia was 9.

When she was 11, Virginia fell in love with a 21-year-old woman, and when her mother discovered the relationship, she sent her daughter to a Christian boarding school near Orlando, Fla. There the administrators chastised her for her lesbianism, using the Bible to “clobber her,” as Dr. Mollenkott often said. At 13 she tried to drown herself.

At Bob Jones University, a professor told her to “cure” herself of her homosexuality by marrying a man. Dutifully, she married a fellow student, Fred Mollenkott. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in English, she stayed on to teach English at Bob Jones while her husband completed his undergraduate studies.

Dr. Mollenkott earned a master’s degree in English at Temple University and her Ph.D. at New York University. Her dissertation was on John Milton, the 17th-century English poet who wrote “Paradise Lost,” and her deep dive into his work liberated her thinking about the Bible. She began to read it more critically, as a literary as well as sacred text. In studying Milton’s writings about love and marriage, and about divorce over incompatibility, she found the resolve to divorce Mr. Mollenkott in 1973.

Dr. Mollenkott was a professor of English at Temple and chaired English departments at Shelton College, in Ringwood, N.J., and Nyack College, in Nyack, N.Y., before joining the faculty at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. She taught there for three decades, retiring in 1997 as an emerita professor of English.

She married her partner of 17 years, J. Suzannah Tilton, in 2013, after the United States Supreme Court overturned a law that denied federal benefits to same-sex couples. Ms. Tilton died in 2018.

Dr. Mollenkott is survived by her son, Paul, and three granddaughters.

She was the author of 13 books — all written in longhand on a yellow legal pad — on social justice and feminist theology as well as on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. She also lectured and led retreats.

Dr. Mollenkott grew accustomed to hate mail and death threats, Ms. Morrison said, but would often say, “There are some things worth dying for.”

In 1999, Dr. Mollenkott received a lifetime achievement award from Sage, a nonprofit group that supports older L.G.B.T.Q. people, for “challenging homophobia in Christian institutions.” In 2001, she received a Lambda Literary Award for “best book in the transgender category,” for “Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach,” which explored nonbinary experiences in Christian and other religious traditions in early biblical texts.

She envisioned a society in which people could be free to define their own identities, saying in an interview published in 2018 that she considered herself “bi-gender, inwardly identifying myself with males as well as females.”

In the interview, with David Weekley, a transgender minister with the United Methodist Church, she discussed crimes against transgender people and how scholars might do their part by writing about intersectional oppression and its psychological underpinnings.

“Ultimately there is no solution except to learn healthy self-acceptance and mutual support with those who are unlike — or perhaps too similar — to ourselves,” Dr. Mollenkott said, adding, “John Keats said that ‘sympathetic imagination’ — the ability to imagine what someone else is feeling — is the basis for all morality, and I agree.”

#bible #Bob Jones University #Virginia Mollenkott #Class of 1953 #Hall of Fame #Bob Jones III #New York Times

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spookyflowerbouquet · 3 years

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Email Marketing Myths You Should Ignore

Sales & Marketing 〉 Marketing Marketing Myths You Should Ignore. Debra Murphy July 20, 2013. Email marketing can enhance your relationship with your subscribers and drive your revenue. Email; Entrepreneurship. 3 Marketing Myths About LinkedIn You Should Ignore. Those false ideas and take advantage of the benefits LinkedIn marketing offers: Myth No.

Email Marketing Myths You Should Ignore Someone

Email Marketing Myths You Should Ignore Others

Direct Mail Myths You Should Ignore

April 07 2016

Most direct mail marketers stick to the same bag of tricks that have been working for decades. While there has been plenty of valuable wisdom, experience, and strategies passed down from one generation of marketers to the next, there also have been some harmful myths that have persisted.

This industry seems particularly prone to following the book, even when evidence suggests it’s time for a change. As it gets harder to grab and keep the attention of target audiences through direct mail and other mediums, it becomes even more costly to cling to counterproductive marketing myths.

We’re dispelling the most persistent direct mail marketing myths so that you can hone in on the factors that make a difference in your bottom line results.

It’s All About Clever Techniques

Myth 3: Email marketing is no longer effective Building your own in-house email list and providing a focused and well executed email marketing campaign is still very effective, especially when integrated into your content marketing activities. While you may have heard it said before, we will continuously hammer home this point: SPLIT TEST as much as you can! We hope this article helped debunk the 7 most popular email marketing myths that you should ignore when looking to optimize your marketing campaigns.

As much as marketers would love to believe that the perfectly worded offer or a tricky technique can hypnotize customers into doing whatever a marketer pleases, it just isn’t true. Focusing on tricking or commanding people to act will take you away from what you should be focusing on: putting a quality offer in the right hands at the right time and making the conversion as clear, appealing, and simple as possible.

Your audience will likely see right through any tricky techniques. If you turn off a potential customer, you’re only dragging your success rate down.

All Features Should Be Turned Into Benefits

Have you ever heard the marketing saying: “People don’t want drills; they want holes.” There’s some wisdom in there, but today there are plenty of market segments where you can thrive with a feature-based approach. Talk about the holes, but don’t forget about the drill. The enthusiasts in your market segment may just want to dwell on the object of their affection without being hit over the head with its benefits.

Imitation Breeds Success

More amateur and professional direct mail marketers have been brought down by this myth than any of the others on this list. The logic is simple: if I see a mailer that’s working for someone else, I’ll just copy it and make some minor tweaks to fit my purpose. Bam! Proven method for success.

Not so fast.

What you’ll learn the hard way quickly is that every business, service, product, list, and offer is its own animal. If you’re not digging into what makes your audience and your offer unique, you’re not maximizing your potential return on investment.

The surest way to ensure you’re avoiding the harmful myths of direct mail marketing is to work with experts that utilize data-driven solutions focused on finding custom strategies to target your most relevant, profitable demographics.

Visit the DataPrint homepage to learn more about the myth-busting power of our cutting-edge direct mail marketing services.

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tomhollandnet · 4 years

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I find the only way to complete a Christmas and a house brimming with friends and relatives – is to host a Brothers Trust event – three consecutive but staggered screenings of Tom’s new film, Spies in Disguise at the Archlight Cinema in Battersea, London.

We did make some tickets available for sale – snapped up in moments and had people travelling in from Miami, LA, Australia and China. All very welcome, lovely to see you and thank you for coming.

But predominantly, tickets had been given to children and their families who could use some excitement and respite from difficult circumstances and some pernicious medical conditions. It was our pleasure to welcome children from Momentum, Make a Wish, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Alex’s Wish and Debra of course for a chance to see the film and meet one of its voice stars. Tom, not Will and so Mrs H was less excited than some of the attendees.

An early start for us all and on the road for 7am.

Among the many jobs I am apportioned, my first task was to pick up Harry (on filming duties) and deliver him safely with equipment to the venue. Then I was to leave our car in the car park which was providing us with free spaces. But of course, I didn’t read this email and nor could I find this particular car park and instead I use my initiative and find a car park of my own and one with acres of spaces.

What could go wrong?

As soon as I grab my ticket and drive through the barrier, I realise my error. The few cars already parked are all of a certain marque. Bentleys, Porsches, Aston Martins, Ferraris and just for today, a sole and errant, Mitsubishi. There is a reason why I have my pick of parking spaces to choose from.

It’s one of those London car parks that costs the earth but I have no time to worry about such things. And how much can it be, really? I am only going to see Spies in Disguise and not Gandhi or Schindlers List. But then I recall, three times. Spies in Disguise, three times! And it occurs to me that my car might now even be a right off.

I put this out of my mind – easily done as the event unfurls and the glee of children’s faces is there for all to see. Kids who have come from all over the UK and with many setting out as early as 3am for trips to London and an appointment with Tom.

Tom introduced each film and then sat afterwards for a Q&A – which mainly focuses on Marvel and another character he currently plays – and then on to have a photo taken by Nikki and a chance for a quick chat.

The Brothers Trust might be a young endeavour but it has had a great year. Our biggest event for our two lucky winners in LA for the World premiere of Spider-Man Far From Home. The launch of our T-shirts (for Debra and their campaign #fightEB), the launch of our brotherstrustdogsclub with entry to this most exclusive club being only the purchase of one of our collars and much more planned for next year – kicking off with the re-publication of Open Links for Antony Nolan… a perfect way to round off such a busy year was this morning, in London, Tom’s hometown with a bunch of kids for a screening of a movie that I suspect many of them will never forget.

To end then with a big thank you to the Archlight Cinema for hosting us so kindly and for the second time. Brilliant cinema, lovely staff and a cool funky location but I’d take the train because some of the car parks in the area are so fuc…

Thanks to Disney for providing the films but also the back drop for the photos, not to mention the posters and toys for the goodie bags.

And finally to all the clever people behind the making of this great film, Spies in Disguise.

Some years back I was lucky enough to be in LA and catch a voice session that Tom recorded for the film. About four hours in length, it was remarkably physical and Tom was pretty much spent at the end. During the session, I was chatting with a lady from the studio – a senior person in the food chain and she explained to me the input that such films require…

600 people per day - for two years. Not to mention the work of the writer/s and directors many years predating this war effort.

But well worth it in this instance because Spies in Disguise is a lovely film. Funny, thrilling and poignant and a great way of keeping kids entertained and out of trouble while we wait for schools to kick back in.

Happy holidays everyone.

Thank you to all our supporters.

See you all on the other side in 2020…

#the brothers trust #articles #long post

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mediazide · 4 years

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Great quotes from great Canadians

We should all be proud to be Canadian, and to prove it, here are some great quotes from some very great Canadians.

“My old mentor once told me: if you find yourself too comfortable, move.” – Victor Garber, actor

“Make more time for yourself: simplify, unplug and really focus on living in the present.” – Karen Kain, retired ballet dancer

“I don’t really feel like I want to chase youth. I want to get old. I want to experience all the seasons of my life.” – Pamela Anderson, actress, model and activist

“Hockey is our winter ballet and, in many ways, our only national drama.” – Morley Callaghan, late novelist

“I’m starting to think my inner life is 75 per cent grocery lists.” – Samantha Bee, television host

“Read something that upsets your worldview, that makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable.” – Esi Edugyan, novelist

“The constant happiness is curiosity.” – Alice Munro, Nobel Prize-winning short story writer

“One time I was in a casting meeting, and my shoe flew into the casting director’s face. She ducked. I remember her saying, ‘Well, I won’t forget you.’” – Coco Rocha, model

“Part of the reason I improvise is I love not really working hard.” – Colin Mochrie, comedian

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog in the fight that matters.” – Maurice Vechon, late professional wrestler

“Moral courage is a concept that isn’t talked about but is always noticed by its absence.” – Sally Armstrong, journalist

“Twitter isn’t real. There’s no gauge on real life on Twitter. That’s a terrible medium to exist in. You can enjoy it. You can even indulge in it. Just don’t live life by that weird code.” – Drake, rapper

“I think reconciliation with indigenous people remains the biggest social justice issue facing the country, because we don’t do a good job of acknowledging the contributions native people have made. This is not just a country of immigrants.” – Wab Kinew, politician and broadcaster

“One of the luxuries and requirements of a country like Canada is that we need to be engaged.” – Joe Clark, former politician and statesman

“Who the hell wants to be happy all the time?” – Christopher Plummer, actor

“Chopping carrots has literally brought me around the world, twice.” – Chuck Hughes, chef and television personality

“It’s difficult to learn from success. I’ve learned more from my mistakes.” – Louise Penny, author

“You have far more power as a citizen than you do as a consumer.” – Carol Off, journalist

“Let me ask you: Would you be happy if all your emails were made public?” – Janice Gross Stein, political scientist

“Falling in love helps with depression. And so does drumming.” – Serena Ryder, singer-songwriter

“Life is challenging, and I’d say that there is no guidebook – but there’s about a million guidebooks out there. All people have been doing since the dawn of time is trying to figure out how to live this life and be happy.” – Will Arnett, actor

“I shake my husband’s hand and knock on wood with him every night, before every show. Even after he’s gone, I still talk to him.” – Celine Dion, singer

“Legitimately, the meanest thing you can do to a person is to land a plane and then not let them off it.” – Debra DiGiovanni, comic

“One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes we don’t realize how strong we actually are.” – Malin Ackerman, actress

“We seem to be so hard set in what we call our principles, which are not so much our principles but our prejudices. Let’s try to get beyond that.” – Alex Trebek, television host

“Just received a text that started with ‘Good afternoon, Mr. Buff…’ and I gotta say… I did not hate it.” – Brent Butt, actor and comic

“We can’t dream our way out of oppression.” – David Chariandy, writer

“Running is a great way to multi-task. You can get in a workout, but you can also help clear your mind.” – Brendan Brazier, athlete and author

“If your’e going to get out there and not be prepared to fail, you’re missing out in life. Failure is half the fun.” – Jann Arden, singer-songrwriter

“Exploration is not something you retire from. It is a part of one’s life ethic.” – Roberta Bondar, astronaut and neurologist

“Really, the best way to celebrate 25 years of being in a band is to start another year of being in a band.” – Ed Robertson, musician

For more inspirational content, check out www.mediazide.com.

#great qoutes #canadian #mentor #writer #model #journalist #activist #novelist #books #ebooks

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heartlandians · 4 years

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Michelle Morgan on “Ice Blue,” Acting and “Deep Six”

Calgary born, and raised in Toronto and Vancouver, Michelle Morgan studied theatre and classical literature at the University of Toronto. “Stargate Atlantis” fans know her as Dr. Elizabeth Weir. She was also cast as Abigail in “The L Word” and as Debra Moynihan in “Diary of the Dead.” She went on to star on the hit CBC series, “Heartland.”

After 15 years of acting in film and television, Morgan is now also directing and writing. Her first short film, “Mi Madre, My Father,” was selected by Telefilm for the “Not Short on Talent at Cannes” for the Cannes Film Festival short film corner.

Recently Morgan directed three episodes of the new CBC digital series “Hudson,” a spin-off of the long-running series “Heartland.” She was selected to join the Women in the Director’s Chair, Story & Leadership Program where she will develop her feature film project, a post-apocalyptic western titled “The Plains.”

In the thriller “Ice Blue,” Morgan is Maria, the mother of a young home-schooled teen who is trying to sort out the lies and betrayal she confronts in a small Canadian town.

“Ice Blue” is a thriller about relationships gone awry. What drew you to this film and the character of Maria? Michelle Morgan: When I first read the part, I wasn’t sure who she was or what her character was about. I knew she had some malicious intentions. But after a long talk with director Sandi Somers, I learned that the film was about family trauma and how it always comes back to haunt people who don’t deal with it. That really resonated with me. Maria embodies the trauma that doesn’t go away just because you ignore it. Family secrets do have a way of bringing themselves to life.

Did you audition for the role? If so, what was that like? Morgan: I did. And like most actors who audition these days, I made a tape and emailed it over. They sent me sides. I was in Toronto at the time so instead of a callback, I had a Skype call with Sandi.

Maria is a troubled soul with a troubled daughter. What did you draw from internally and externally to bring your character to life? Morgan: Maria is a mother and I’m also a mother. I had played mothers before becoming one. But once you have kids, it changes something inside of you. There are moments where Maria shows her maternal side. She is a spurned woman who has a difficult complicated relationship with her husband. Anyone who’s ever been in a relationship knows what it’s like when things become difficult. I often play people that are good, just, kind, and very giving. And I like playing those roles. But I also like playing people that are complicated and don’t always do the right thing. That’s more interesting sometimes.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in this film? Morgan: We were shooting on this little lake by the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Southern Alberta. But because we were there in the fall, the entire lake was covered in geese, which were so loud. We were doing these long dialog scenes and we couldn’t hear each other over the geese. But the biggest challenge was getting into Maria’s very dark intentions. Tapping into that is always challenging.

How would you describe your favorite scene? Morgan: It would be the last time you see Maria toward the climax of the film. Working with Sophia Lauchlin Hirt and Billy MacLellan—it was the only scene where the three of us are together. The give and take of that scene, playing off both of them was really fun.

What do you see as the core message in “Ice Blue”? Morgan: That trauma can’t be buried and ignored. And that trauma will come back to haunt you if it’s not dealt with in some way.

How are you like Maria and how are you different? Morgan: As an actor, you bring yourself to a role. I can’t turn Michelle Morgan off. But when you’re playing a character, you have to humanize them and bring your own experiences to them. You’re creating a new soul. With every part I play, I sometimes try to bring a lot more of myself. But in this film, Maria is not me.

What film or actor inspired you to become an actor? Morgan: I don’t think it was a particular film or actor. I enjoyed doing theater in school and growing up performing. I was lucky that in my school, I was able to be in plays, I did improv, and Ioved making people laugh.

If you hadn’t pursued acting, what career path would you have followed? Morgan: I almost went for a master’s degree in journalism. I had been accepted at the University of British Columbia. I do like writing and I’m comfortable in front of the camera.

What do you say to a young actor just starting? Morgan: It’s so hard because people always ask successful actors that question. I think they should also ask actors who haven’t made a career out of acting. Some people are naturally called to acting and storytelling. You have to do your homework. It’s not enough to be young and confident. You’re not always going to be young and you may not always be so confident. You need to train and learn from all the masters that came before you. So when your confidence falters and you’re not 22 anymore, you’ll still have your craft.

What can you tell us about the TV series “Deep Six”? Morgan: Wow. That’s a very interesting production written and directed by Davin Lengyel. He used crowdfunding very efficiently to create a series set in the near future about deep space and first contact. I play Athea, a pilot and a scientist. The series is as scientifically accurate as possible. They looked at the latest space exploration technology in getting humans into deep space. And once, humans found a place to settle, how would they build a base? And what would first contact possibly look like? “Deep Six” is now available on iTunes.

Source

#heartland #michelle morgan #other projects #hudson #digital series #ice blue #deep six #interview #aced magazine

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nimarasnetherworld · 5 years

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Painting

Woo another one shot! This one is for @beetlejuicebeetlejuicebeeee who requested a one shot with Delia and/or Charles stuck with Beetlejuice! I hope you’ll like it!

You can read my other Beetlejuice one shots on Ao3 right here!

Summary :Delia and Beetlejuice found themselves painting together while everyone else is out.

***********************

Delia sighed. She was alone at home. Barbara and Adam were somewhere in the netherworld, Lydia was at school, Beetlejuice was only god knows where and Charles was out for work. She wasn’t used to the house being so quiet. The last few months had been nothing but complete chaos. Which was something she should have expected, since she lived with her fiancé, a teenager, two ghosts and a demon. Especially since Beetlejuice and Lydia had decided that their favorite new game was to scare her. The green demon seemed very fond of finding endless ways to annoy the life coach.

But today was a quiet day and Delia was getting bored. She had gone grocery shopping, she had cleaned the house, even emailed her parents to let them know she was alive, even if they probably didn’t care and never bothered to respond. What was she going to do now? Gardening was out of the question since it was raining, which also meant that she couldn’t get out for a walk, and she wasn’t in the mood for yoga or meditation. The life coach groaned, and looked glumly through the window. The scenery was pitoresque. And that gave her an idea.

Painting. Delia had always love painting. She had done it since she was a kid. Her parents had never encouraged her but she knew she was a decent painter. Maybe she could paint something to decorate the living room? The life coach excitingly climbed up the stairs and began to search for her painting tools. She knew they were somewhere in the house. After a good twenty minutes of looking for it, Delia almost gave up when she finally spotted the little case and a canvas sticking out from under a pile of books.

Delia carefully grabbed her stuff and let out a victorious cry. She had finally found something to occupy her day. She went back to the living room and settled everything. But when she was faced with the white canvas, Delia suddenly realized she had no idea of what she wanted to paint. The life coach frowned, trying to think about what she could paint. A small smile appeared on her face. When she was little, her parents used to go to their summer house, and had the decency to take her with them. Behind the large house was a meadow. It had always been Delia’s happy place. She loved lying in the grass, in between the flowers and just look at the stars. Yes. It would make a perfect painting.

The life coach happily began to paint the scenery. She was so focus on her work that she didn’t hear the footsteps behind her.

“Watcha doin’?”

Delia let out a piercing scream, almost splattering paint all over her work. Luckily that didn’t happen, instead, her purple dress now had a big green streak on it. Speaking of green, Delia turned toward the intruder, Beetlejuice was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. For once his intention had not been to scare her. The demon looked curiously at the painting.

“Oh my god! You scared me!” exclaimed Delia, a hand on her heart.

“You should b used to it by now.” Deadpanned Beetlejuice.

Delia hesitated a moment. He seemed pretty calm compare to usual and seemed to be really interested in her activity of the day. The redhead stepped aside slightly, allowing him to see the canvas.

“I’m painting. It calms me.”

“Oh.” Was the only answer she got.

The demon took a few steps toward her, clearly intrigued by the whole thing.

“What is it?” he asked in his raspy voice, pointing at the field slowly coming together on the canvas.

“A meadow. I used to go there with my parents. Well, I mean, my parents owned a house near it and I used to go there to… Don’t touch it it’s not dry yet!”

Beetlejuice stopped his movement, looking at her with questioning eyes, his finger inches away from the painting.

“Sorry” he muttered, taking a step back, cocking his head still looking at the painting.

Delia was lost. She didn’t know what to do. Beetlejuice didn’t seem to want to go all “demony” on her, which was good, but it looked like he was too curious about the whole painting thing to go away. Suddenly, Delia got an idea. She had another canvas. Maybe Beetlejuice would like to join her for her activity.

“Do you want to try?” she asked gently

“What?” the demon asked, confused

“Painting. Do you want to paint something? I have another canvas if you want to?”

Beetlejuice looked at her for a moment before shrugging, making his way toward the other canvas. Delia gave him a brush and some paint before going back to her work. But she was quickly interrupted by the demon,

“What do I paint?”

Delia shrugged, “Whatever you want! Whatever makes you happy.”

Once again Beetlejuice just stared at her for a moment, before Turing back to his canvas and starting to paint on it. He quickly threw the brush away and started painted with his fingers, biting his tongue in concentration. Happy to get some quiet, Delia went back to her meadow.

They worked in silence side by side until they were interrupted by a voice, coming from the front door.

“Delia, I’m home!”

Charles quickly hanged his coat and made his way toward the living room, stopping in his tracks when he saw the scene before him.

“Uh… Hi Beetlejuice. What are you guys doing?”

“Painting! Exclaimed Beetlejuice, “Mine his done now! Look!” he quickly took his painting and almost pressed it against Charles’s nose.

“What do you think, Chuck?”

Charles took a step back, looking at… What? He didn’t really know. The canvas was just full of streaks of dark colors. It almost made it look like mud. Which actually wasn’t so much out of character for the demon.

“It looks… nice.” Finally said Charles, not wanting to cross Beetlejuice.

“I know! I’m going to put It in Lydia’s room! She ‘s going to love it.”

Once the green man was out of sight Charles made his way toward Delia, “Or burn it when she sees it.”

Delia let out a small laugh and happily tilted her head so Charles could kiss her. When they broke away, he turned toward her painting.

“Wow Delia. It’s beautiful.” The business man said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“Thank you.” She said leaning back against him. “It’s the meadow behind my parent’s summer house. I always loved this place.”

“Well it’s a beautiful painting. And I must admit that I’m surprised you didn’t end up covered in paint with Beetlejuice as your partner.”

Delia laughed, “Me too to be honest.”

“Hey Debra!”

The couple jumped apart surprised by the presence of the demon, who had a grin plastered on his face. That was never a good sign.

“We could use this paint to paint some of the walls! Cause honestly this house is too boring!” and with that he disappeared upstairs, taking a bunch of paint bottle with him.

Delia and Charles looked at each other before chasing after him.

“Beetlejuice don’t do that!”

“I swear if you put paint on any of the walls, I’ll exorcise you myself!”

“Good luck with that Chuck! I’m a demon remember!”

It seemed like Delia’s quiet day was finally over.

#Beetlejuice the musical #Beetlejuice #beetlejuice broadway #delia #delia deetz #charles deetz #Charles/Delia #lydia deetz #fanfiction

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kolajmag · 4 years

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THIS WEEK AT KOLAJ MAGAZINE

Other Kinds of Perfection and Other News

COLLAGE ON VIEW Quebec Collage at BRiX in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

COLLAGE ON VIEW Witness: Debra Howell at LeMieux Galleries in New Orleans, Louisiana

COLLAGE NEWS Finding A Place of My Own: Award Winners from the Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection

FROM KOLAJ 27 Other Kinds of Perfection: Frank Juarez remembers Stuart Howland

COLLAGE ON VIEW Collage: a Trio of Medleys: Phyllis Finley, Vasu Mistry Berger, and Kelly Schaub at Art Center of Corpus Christi, Kucera Gallery in Corpus Christi, Texas

GIVE KOLAJ http://kolajmagazine.com/content/news/give-kolaj/

CALL TO ARTISTS: Collage Artist Lab. Deadline January 5, 2020. Details: http://kolajmagazine.com/content/content/calls-for-artists/call-to-artists-collage-artist-lab/

Read the full update

*****************************

Kolaj Magazine, a full colour, print magazine, exists to show how the world of collage is rich, layered, and thick with complexity. By remixing history and culture, collage artists forge new thinking. To understand collage is to reshape one’s thinking of art history and redefine the canon of visual culture that informs the present.

SUBSCRIBE | CURRENT ISSUE | GET A COPY

#collage #collage art #collage artist #contemporary art #kolajmagazine #artshow #art books #holiday gifts #artmagazine

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tani-b-art · 4 years

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Are non Black American actors even auditioning for roles?

Let's discuss...

I've been reading & listening to several interviews lately with the current films out right now. (Specifically Queen & Slim, Harriet)

I've come to discover that these actors are getting these roles via classism, nepotism and bias/favoritism (and handpicking).

Gregory Allen Howard (the writer for Harriet) said he saw Erivo on Broadway for The Color Purple years ago and was so moved that he immediately knew she was Harriet.

Debra Martin Chase (who is a producer for Harriet) at a recent Q&A said "there was no audition process" and that she too had seen The Color Purple and felt Erivo was Harriet. She also said she was at a gala and one actor who is in the film (Leslie) was on a "short list" and happened to be there as well. He was sent the script and said he would love to do it. Erivo also happens to be the godmother to his daughter. In the same interview, Debra mentioned that Erivo suggested that her friend Monáe maybe interested in the script -- a day later, she said she was in.

Lena Waithe stated in an interview that she was having dinner with Kaluuya and he made conversation about what she was working on...she told him she had just finished the script for a Black couple that kills a cop and he stopped her midway and encouraged her to send him the script via email. In his email response, he tells her that he has to play Slim.

All in all to say...it clearly isn't any auditioning being had. The claim of "working hard" is totally fabricated and it's very maddening and downright unfair that some Black Americans aren't even being considered for some of these roles because to me it seems like they aren't even holding auditions for some roles. Yet many casting directors are claiming they want to work with the best person and that person was who they chose. But if there aren't casting calls, did you really offer a wide range of talent to consider?

"I know this person or I met them at brunch or my friend might be interested or I saw them for a play".... where is the audition process?

#actors #acting #auditions #casting #casting directors #casting call

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