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lovejustforaday · 3 years

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Sonic Youth Albums Ranked (Part 3)

6. Sister (1987)

Main Genres: Noise Rock, Alternative Rock, Post-Punk

A decent sampling of: Experimental Rock

This is the first LP in the Sonic Youth discography accessible enough to be labelled a true ‘Alternative Rock’ record. It’s still rough around the edges, but Sister is full of catchy hooks and thrilling guitar sounds. I feel like this record and Daydream Nation probably went on to spawn at least 200 new alternative rock bands by the time the 90s came around (not that I was there to see it or anything, just speculation).

Sister deserves a lot of credit for solidifying on tracks like “Catholic Block” and “Stereo Sanctity” what would become the dominant formula for the band’s sound throughout most of the rest of their discography. I think that's part of the reason why this is Sonic Youth’s second most acclaimed and beloved record. Perhaps some fans would even be downright offended that I only put this at #6 on the list, but trust me when I say that this is only because the band has made so many fantastic records. In fact, for most bands, this would easily be their greatest record.

I can still remember the first time I heard the opening to “Schizophrenia”, I had never heard anything quite like it. The guitars sound upbeat yet worn out and dejected, making me feel isolated and almost spiritually weak when I listen to this track, yet somehow also comforted. The song is partially inspired by Kim’s older brother who has schizophrenia, though the roles are reversed in this song with a brother whose sister is schizophrenic. It’s a deeply fascinating and memorable piece, and I can see why many fans consider this to be a top five Sonic Youth track.

Most of the rest of Sister is very scratchy and punkish with some very tight guitar work, like “Catholic Block” which boasts one of my favourite melodic riffs in the Sonic Youth canon. There’s also “Hot Wire My Heart”, another major highlight and a cover of the obscure British punk band Crime, where Sonic Youth takes their song and upgrades the guitars and drums while also adding a bold wall of feedback at the end.

Then there’s “Pacific Coast Highway”, a completely sickening song and one of Kim’s very finest moments as a lyricist and vocalist. This haunting noise rock jumble tells the story of either a unhinged stranger, or perhaps a resentful ex-lover, who is obsessively catcalling the listener from their car, with the not-so-subtle implication that you’re all by yourself somewhere and that this person intends to harm you. I have no idea if this was written about a personal experience, but I do know from listening to their voices that this is something many women have either gone through or live in perpetual fear of. Seriously fucked up stuff, but also one of Sonic Youth’s very best tracks.

"Cotton Crown” is an odd one out in the Sonic Youth discography; an uncharacteristically sincere but still off-kilter love song that Kim and Thurston sing as a duet. Their voices are a bit out of tune with each other, but i think that honestly fits the Sonic Youth aesthetic and it’s sweet in its own quirky way, although very bittersweet decades later with hindsight about the fate of their relationship. Sort of a noise rock lullaby almost, maybe even with hints of early shoegaze.

Sister does a really good job of taking the seemingly juxtaposing ideas of the ‘fun’ and the ‘grotesque’ and fuses them together. This album is both largely exciting and still somehow alienating and depressive. It’s textbook Sonic Youth, really. I will say that the best tracks are clustered together with a noticeably weaker middle portion, but really this is still a consistently great record throughout. Altogether, Sister is one of the many entries in the band’s discography from 1986 through 1990 where Sonic Youth could basically do no wrong. A classic record.

9/10

highlights: “Pacific Coast Highway”, “Schizophrenia”, ‘Catholic Block”, “Cotton Crown”, “Hot Wire My Heart”, “Beauty Lies in the Eye”

5. A Thousand Leaves (1998)

Main Genres: Noise Rock, Experimental Rock

A decent sampling of: Alternative Rock, Post-Rock, Neo-Psychedelia

I’m just gonna say this now: A Thousand Leaves is by far Sonic Youth’s most underrated record. It’s also the last truly amazing record that the band ever put out. Maybe it’s just the bizarre choice of an album cover that turns people off of this LP. Really, what the hell were they going for here with the minimalist hamster vibes? The beautiful title really suggests something a lot more visually stunning.

In all seriousness though, I feel like nobody talks about this one because it’s overshadowed by its predecessor Washing Machine, but if there’s one area that this record exceeds above all other Sonic Youth LPs, it’s that it perfectly captures that mellow feeling that the later Sonic Youth albums were inclined towards. Not a lot of Sonic Youth records put me at ease like this one does.

Likewise, this is maybe the most ‘feel-good’ record in their discography along with Murray Street. But where Muray Street is something you could put on in the background and enjoy pretty modestly, A Thousand Leaves is a largely experimental, out-of-body experience that pulls you into its surreal, flowery, evergreen world.

“Contre Le Sexism” is a perfect opener for this kind of record; this quiet daze of a waking dream is both dainty and delirious, alluding to Alice in Wonderland with Kim’s vocals never before sounding so gentle and bright. I swear I start to hear a door creak at the end. Maybe that’s the sound of stepping out into the rest of A Thousand Leaves.

What follows immediately after is “Sunday” which is actually one of the band’s poppiest moments, making it somewhat of an outlier on this highly avant-garde and immersive record. But the warm spring vibes of the melody fits right in. The wall of sound introduced during the bridge is a soft mesmerizing bliss more akin to a band like My Bloody Valentine, if not for the tiny distant screeches of atonality whirling around here and there. As a big fan of both bands, I’m all for this kind of sound.

“Wildflower Soul” is easily one of the best things Sonic Youth has ever written. Endless amounts of creativity are poured into this nine minute noise rock acrobatics performance along with a lyrical ode to love, nature, and childhood. The vibes of this one are really quite jaw-dropping given the fact that these are the same guys who wrote “Schizophrenia” and “Death Valley ‘69″. There’s such unison and harmony in the band’s performance here as they switch between different bpm and even time signatures, and the usage of the heavy phaser effect towards the end sounds nothing short of godlike. "Wildflower Soul” almost feels like an entire album experience in one song, and I’m beyond impressed every time I listen to it.

This makes for a hard act to follow, but A Thousand Leaves still has plenty of other highlights. “French Tickler” is a strange and satisfying track that switches back and forth between a playful melody and churning, stretchy distortion. “Karen Koltrane” is a murky but textured portrait of Lee Renaldo’s ex-girlfriend, who got addicted to hallucinogens and became heavily withdrawn from the rest of the world. “Snare, Girl” is a soothing spell where Thurston sounds like he’s trying to coax the listener into a never-ending slumber.

My only real complaint here is “Hits of Sunshine (For Allen Ginsberg)”, a lackadaisical jam session that sounds cool enough, but really overstays its welcome given the lack of development it achieves over its eleven minute run time. It’s a nice piece to vibe to, but it very noticeably disrupts the album’s flow. Take this one track away entirely, or even just edit it down severely, and this would probably be a 10/10 record for me.

Still, wow what a cool album. A Thousand Leaves is a great example of why I respect this band so much. Even this late into their career, Sonic Youth were willing to try so many new bizarre things while also building judiciously upon the foundations of their past work with great attention to detail. I wouldn’t recommend most people start with this one, it’s definitely a bit more challenging especially if you haven’t listened to some other really weird experimental rock records. But once you’re in the right headspace for it, it’s easy to get almost completely lost in A Thousand Leaves.

9/10

highlights: “Wildflower Soul”, “Sunday”, “French Tickler”, “Karen Koltrane”, “Snare, Girl”, “Contre Le Sexism”, “Heather Angel”

4. Goo (1990)

Main Genres: Noise Rock, Alternative Rock

A decent sampling of: Experimental Rock, Post-Punk

Goo was my very first Sonic Youth album, and I can definitely still feel some of the old teenage angst that I had at the time whenever I listen to this one. What probably adds to that feeling is the fact that this along with Daydream Nation is one of the two albums in the band’s discography that I’d say possesses a great deal of immediacy. Albums like Sister and A Thousand Leaves are a bit more subtle and they take a while to be fully digested. But this one, this one hit me like a brick wall.

Between “Tunic (Song For Karen)”, “Kool Thing”, and “Cinderella’s Big Score”, Goo is above all others the Sonic Youth record where Kim Gordon is really the star of the band, featuring not one but three of her most captivating songs. Likewise, I would also say that this is Sonic Youth’s most overtly feminist and socially conscious record.

I don’t know if anybody else feels this way, but to me the opener “Dirty Boots” really does sound like “Teen Age Riot” part 2. That’s not a bad thing of course, Sonic Youth making more songs like “Teen Age Riot” could never be a bad thing, and “Dirty Boots” is definitely one of the highlights of Goo with its massive build up of kinetic energy. That being said, I do have to say that I don’t think any song could do this particular kind of album opener better than “Teen Age Riot” already does it, but I still really do enjoy “Dirty Boots”.

“Tunic (Song For Karen)” is one of Sonic Youth’s most poetic and poignant songs. Kim’s sing-talking voice is even more solemn than usual as she takes on a surreal retelling of the final days of drummer/pop star pioneer Karen Carpenter from her perspective, highlighting the severity of her loneliness and the criminal negligence of many of the people around her who let her succumb to her eating disorder. Set to a backdrop of stark and droning alternative rock, I would say that this is possibly the band’s most depressing moment and certainly one of the biggest statements that they ever made.

A lot of the rest of Goo is actually pretty fun though. “Kool Thing” features Chuck D on guest vocals, and its a funny sarcastic take down of the subjugation of women’s voices in supposedly liberated spaces like the world of rock and hip hop, inspired by the time Kim interviewed L.L. Cool J and attempted to have a political conversation. The song mocks L.L.’s attitude towards women while also poking fun at Kim’s own self-perceived elitism. There’s also “Mote”, a sensational head rush that dissolves into noise rock weird-isms, sorta recreating the feeling of going from buzzed to totally black out.

“Mildred Pierce” is almost a practical joke but I kind of love the hell out of it anyway. A short track with lyrics consisting only of the song’s title, it starts with the band getting into a nice little riff before (without warning) bursting into a hardcore punk cacophony as Thurston screams the name over and over into the listener’s ears. Made me jump the first time I heard it.

And then there’s “Cinderella’s Big Score”. If “Schizophrenia” vaguely hinted at Kim’s estranged relationship with her older brother, then “Cinderella’s Big Score” confronts it dead on. Featuring some of the band’s most totally insane and disfigured guitar work ever, this song sounds harsh and militant, like the dawn of a nuclear cataclysm. It’s very hard to believe that Kim is 37 years old here; she reverts to sounding exactly like a hurt teenage little sister, rebelling against her childhood trauma and lashing out at her brother’s past bullying and now his cold indifference towards her.

The song grapples with some very painful emotions, but the experience is raw and cathartic. “Cinderella’s Big Score” is definitely somewhere in Sonic Youth’s top 10 tracks for me; it just doesn’t get any realer than this. Honestly, the record could’ve ended here. I like “Titanium Expose” enough as a closer, but this would’ve made a really powerful and lasting impression to end the album.

Despite that, Goo is an excellent Sonic Youth record that demonstrates just how much the band had mastered their craft after a decade of making all sorts of noises. Obviously I’m biased since it was my own first Sonic Youth record, but I really do feel like this is the very best place to start with the band. Goo is one of their more melodic and accessible offerings, but it’s also one of their most provocative records and it really captures the essence of Sonic Youth’s identity.

9/10

highlights: “Cinderella’s Big Score”, “Tunic (Song For Karen)”, “Mote”, “Kool Thing”, “Dirty Boots”, ‘Mildred Pierce”

3. EVOL (1986)

Main Genres: Noise Rock, Experimental Rock, Post-Punk

A decent sampling of: No Wave, Alternative Rock

If Bad Moon Rising was bleak and desolate, than EVOL is disturbed, uncanny, and deeply paranoid. Sonic Youth’s third record evokes the feeling of being all alone at midnight on a sketchy highway, complete with mental images of flickering street lights and looming shadowy figures. I mentioned earlier that I have to be in the right mood to enjoy Bad Moon Rising, but this record puts me in the right mood almost instantly whenever I put it on.

EVOL isn’t exactly a no wave album like their first two records. The highly experimental influence is still there, but the arrangements are starting to sound fuller and more intentional.

You could say that this LP marks somewhat of a transitional phase between Sonic Youth the no wave band and Sonic Youth the alternative rock band, and in many respects it has the best of both worlds. There’s a few catchy darker alternative rock songs here and there, sandwiched between tracks that could best be described as ‘mad scientist’ music, which altogether creates a varied and unique album experience.

“Tom Violence“ immediately establishes the tone of EVOL with crooked, scraping flashes of post-punk guitars. This track reminds me of heads hung low, bodies slouched uncomfortably, and the feeling of being completely wide awake at 2:00 am. There’s something very unfriendly that lurks beneath the dissonance of these sounds.

If “Tom Violence” is uneasy, then “Shadow of A Doubt” is an auditory nightmare, managing to capture something akin to the fear of being watched by an unknown stranger hiding in the shadows. Notes are gently plucked like icy cold fingers slowly crawling up the listener’s back while Kim whispers about murder plots and oneirophrenia. The “just a dream” lyrical motif is first uttered reassuringly, but eventually turns into a desperate plea as Kim begins to shout frantically and the music intensifies.

The album dials down the spook factor a few notches with “Starpower” and “In The Kingdom #19″. The former is an early example of Sonic Youth’s ability to combine melodic hooks with meandering chaos that would become refined on the next few LPs, while the latter features Lee’s first solo vocals (and one of his best performances) reciting a lucid, jet black vision of a car accident. Thurston threw firecrackers into the recording studio when they did Lee’s vocals on this track and you can hear it in the recording, and just like “Mildred Pierce” it really caught me off guard the first time I heard it.

“Secret Girl” is the scariest fucking thing in the whole Sonic Youth discography, and also just one of the scariest songs I’ve ever heard. It starts with a deep shuddering thud that sounds like it’s getting closer and closer. Then out of nowhere, a cassette-recording of an old detuned piano starts to play a simple, unnerving refrain while Kim offers a cryptic and uncomfortably suggestive spoken word piece. It feels like a scene that might play out in a horror film, where a television screen comes on by itself and the person on the screen begins to talk directly to the viewer.

Finally, there’s “Expressway To Yr Skull” (alternatively titled “Madonna, Sean, and Me”), which would be my #1 Sonic Youth album closer if not for the #1 album on this list. That being said, this song is still one of the biggest highlights of the band’s career. "Expressway To Yr Skull” starts off restless and spectacular, leading up to an utterly earth-shaking climax, and then it’s as if the song promptly dies, only to become a lingering undead entity that pulls you down with it. I still can’t get over how the ending really manages to sound like it’s dragging you down further and further into its barren depths.

To add to that, there’s actually a locked groove on the original vinyl release of this LP that plays the last little bit of “Expressway To Yr Skull”, meaning that if you let the needle sit there, it will forever loop that last little bit of droning at the end of the track. I really appreciate this little detail; it’s as if the pervasive darkness of EVOL is so encompassing that it could turn into a deep midnight that never ends.

EVOL is honestly so close to being a 10 for me, but just like Sister I find that it is decently weaker towards the middle. Still, I’m absolutely enamored with the atmosphere on this album. No gothic rock record has ever managed to sound so deeply unsettling to my ears like this little experimental record does. You really just have to experience this one for yourself. Honestly, don’t be surprised if in a year or two I’ve changed my mind and bumped this one to a 10.

9/10

highlights: “Expressway To Yr Skull”, “Shadow Of A Doubt”, “Tom Violence”, “Secret Girl”, “In The Kingdom #19″, “Starpower”

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tinyboxxtink · 3 years

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“My Fairy Abogado”

SO, this is a story based on what we learned in “Know It All.”

Rafael has been sending money to a young girl Ashtawnja Abreu, who’s mother died because he gave her money to go get high in order to testify against some bad guys, and she OD’ed. (That’s canon, google it!!)

You, (The Reader) are the owner of a Mexican Restaurant in the Barrio, and Ashtawnja’s boss. You are suspicious of exactly why lately, she seems to be acquiring nicer and nicer things-- and she says it’s because of a “Fairy Abogado” who brings her money every month.

You have to see this for yourself, so you ask her to bring him down to the restaraunt.

Oh right, also--- Abogado is spanish for lawyer, if you didn’t know.

What will happen from there?

Tag List: [please let me know if you’d like to be added]

@wanniiieeee

@dumauier

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@objection-argumentative

@word-scribbless

Part 2

“Ashtawnja Abreu!”

“Jesus, my own abuela never uses my full name, Y/N,” Ash came walking over to the hostess stand.

“You need to be real honest with me here Ash, because I’m only gonna ask you once,” You warned her in a very serious tone.

“Honest about what?” She raised an eyebrow.

“...Are you stealing from the register?”

“What?! NO!” She looked both ways, not wanting anyone to hear her being accused of anything.

“Are you stealing from customers then?” You pressed her.

“Wha-- where the fuck is this coming from, Y/N?” She got defensive.

“It’s coming from the fact that you’re only 17 years old with a hostess job, and you’ve been walking in here the past few days with new kicks, a new iPhone, and every month it’s the same thing! WHERE are you getting that kind of money, because it sure as hell isn’t coming from what I pay you,” Your eyes narrowed.

“I--Well--I--”

“See, right there? That’s a sign you’re lying, Ash. And I am already drowning just trying to keep this restaurant open. I can’t have criminals working here-- you gotta go,” You started to put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m NOT stealing!!!” She jerked away from your hand.

“Alright then-- where’s it coming from?” You raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t tell you,” She looked away.

“You can’t tell-- alright that’s it, out,” You went again to push her, but she jerked away again and walked behind you.

“No no no no, look: Every month, this fancy abogado shows up to my grandma’s apartment and gives her a check, and takes us out to dinner. It’s WAY more than we need to cover rent, so I use the extra to buy myself some nice things, is that a crime?”

“...So you honestly expect me to believe a magical abogado brings you money every month, like the tooth fairy?” You crossed your arms.

“Yes because it’s TRUE,”

“Uh huh and does this guy have a name? Or do you need more time to think of one?”

“NO. He has a name, he’s had a name. Rafael Barba, google him,” She dared you. You took her up on her offer and whipped out your phone, typing his name into Google.

“The ADA?” You busted out laughing. “You expect me to believe that the ADA of New York brings you money every month for no reason?”

“It’s not for no reason!!” She yelled. “I think it has something to do with my mom,”

“Your mom?”

“Yeah, she--” Ash looked at the floor. “She died, of an OD,”

“...And that would be his fault?”

“He asked her to testify against the Diablos!”

“I--Wha--Why?” You were taken aback; the Diablos were basically the “law” down there in the Barrio. They took whatever they wanted, killed whoever they wanted, and nobody would snitch because they knew if they did, the Diablos would end them.

“I don’t know, because they don’t know what it’s like for us down here? You expect them to give a damn what happens to a strung out puta?” She scoffed, tears welling up in her eyes.

“...But you said she died of an OD,”

“She DID. Somebody gave her money to go get high before she testified, and she did-- only it was way too much, and she died before she could say anything against the Diablos,”

“...So do you think this ADA knows who gave your mom the money, and now he feels guilty so he brings you money to make up for it?”

“I guess,” she shrugged.

“....It still sounds shady,” You raised an eyebrow.

“You think that I would make that whole story up?! I’m not that smart!”

“True,” you smirked.

“Shut up,” she rolled her eyes.

“You can’t talk to me like that, I’m your boss!”

“Right, boss. You’re barely older than me,” she rolled her eyes again.

“I’m old enough to own a restaurant and take of three siblings on my own, without a fairy abogado,” you replied in a sassy tone.

“Right…So what do you want me to do, call him?”

“Well, you said he meets you for dinner every month right? Why don’t you have dinner here next time he wants to ‘drop off’ money for you?” You suggested.

“You make it sound like a drug deal, it’s not dirty Y/N. I think Rafael’s a really nice guy, aside from getting my mom killed,” She shrugged.

“Oh well, yeah obviously other than that,” You said sarcastically.

“Do you wanna meet him or not?” She challenged.

“Yes!”

“Alright fine,” She sighed, texting on her phone. “He says Friday night, 8’o clock.”

“Good,” You replied.

“Great,” She snapped.

“AWESOME,” You put a thumbs up in her face.

“...Can I go home now?” She asked, grabbing her backpack from behind the register.

“Get outta here” You patted her back, and she walked out the door.

------

Friday night rolled around, and you were so busy you barely caught a glimpse of Ash coming into the restaurant with a very well dressed man.

“Ay, who’s that with Ash? Tell me it’s not a sugar daddy,” Your best friend and your best waitress Marisol asked.

“...Kind of,”

“Oh my god! Why are we not younger and hotter, we could have sugar daddies too!”

“Marisol--” you sighed. “Just....I’m gonna take the table, okay?”

“Oh yeah, you get in on that girl,” She said suggestively. You just rolled your eyes and made your way over to the table. As you got closer, you could see the man better and better. He was a bit older than you, if ‘a bit’ meant ‘WAY’ older than you. But he was so gorgeous nonetheless, his green eyes were beautiful and the suit he had on was so fancy. He really did look like a “fairy godmother.”

“Hi!” You greeted them with a smile. “Ash, good to see you,” You looked between the two of them, trying not to stare at Rafael.

“....Why are you being weird?” Ash looked at you suspiciously.

“Ashtawnja, don’t be rude to your boss,” Rafael scolded her.

“Whoa whoa whoa there Raf, you’re not ACTUALLY my dad; you know that right?” She smirked.

“Ash!” You gasped.

“Anyway-- I told you he was real, Y/N,” she now smirked harder at you.

“ASH,” You said louder, glancing at Rafael in horror.

“I’m sorry, what?” Rafael’s eyes widened.

“She thought I was stealing money from her, just because I bought myself some nice things with the money you give me,”

“...You told her about that?” He lowered his voice.

“You never said it was supposed to be a secret!”

“I thought it was OBVIOUS-- Wait. Why are you using that money to buy frivolous stuff? That money is for you to live on, and SAVE,” He started to get loud again as he was reprimanding her.

“You know, I’m gonna give you two a minute,” You smiled nervously, backing away from the table.

“Hey we’ll take two tequila shots while you’re back there!”

“You’re 17, you’ll have a Shirley temple. And I’ll have a scotch, por favor,”

“Right. Be right back,” You nervously laughed, returning to the bar where Marisol was waiting.

“Sooooooo…..” She dragged out the word. “How’d she land that guy?”

“First of all, he’s the ADA of New York, not some guy,” You corrected her. “And second, it’s more like he’s her ‘dad’ dad, not a ‘sugar’ daddy,”

“Oh, hmm. Wonder why,” She glanced over at their table. You remembered what Rafael had just said about the manner of their relationship being a secret.

“Beats me,” You shrugged, getting their drinks ready.

You returned to the table with a scotch and a soda for Ash.

“Look um, I don’t…” Rafael cleared his throat. “I don’t know what all she told you, but--”

“Look, Mr. Barba,” You cut him off.

“Rafael, please,”

“Right-- Rafael,” You pushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “I’m running the restaurant all by myself because my parents got deported recently-- I have no room to judge anybody,”

“Oh my god-- really?”

“My siblings and I were born here, we’re totally legal,” You blurted out immediately, worried you had just set off some alarms in his head.

“I wasn’t-- I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that. I wasn’t trying to-- you and your siblings?” He stumbled over his words, afraid he offended you.

“Yeah,” You pointed to a booth in the corner, where your fifteen year old brother, your 13 year old sister, and 7 year old sister sat doing their homework.

“I--I’m very sorry that happened to you, Miss…” He stuck out his hand.

“Y/N” you took his hand and shook it. You both lingered for a moment, before he pulled away and you played with your hair like nothing had happened.

“Right. Well, you know I am a lawyer--” He started, but Ash interjected.

“She knows. She googled you,”

“Oh my god…” You mouthed, just wanting to run away in horror from the table.

“...Right. Well, if you ever want me to look into helping your parents, give me a call,” He handed you a card.

“Wow, not even twenty minutes and you’re already giving her your number! I underestimated your hotness, Y/N,” Ash wiggled her eyebrows.

“I apologize for her,” Rafael sighed.

“I was going to say the same to you,” You giggled.

“Hey I’m RIGHT here, pendejos,” She snapped.

“I’ll give you a minute to look at the menu,” You nodded your head at the two of them.

“Meaning she wants to go brag about this to Marisol,”

“ASHTAWNJA” Rafael gave up on taming her, he put his hands over his face.

“I’m leaving,” You shook your head, walking away.

As you walked you played with the card in your hand-- Maybe he WAS a fairy abogado.

#rafael barba #rafael barba x you #rafael barba x reader #rafael barba imagine #law and order special victims unit #law and order svu #law and order svu fanfiction #my fairy abogado

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shkspr · 5 years

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i’m going to make one (1) detailed post about why crowley stans cats the musical, and then i’m going to try my damnedest to shut up about it.

the naming of cats details how “a cat must have three different names”: there’s the one “that the family use daily,” there’s “a name that’s particular, a name that’s peculiar and more dignified,” and then there’s “the name that no human research can discover, but the cat himself knows and will never confess.”

crowley has three names. he’s got anthony, which is a regular human name, and crowley, which is a more personal name, and then he’s got the j, which is his ineffable, effable, effanineffable, deep and inscrutable, singular name.

demons are generally known to be able to “see in the dark,” one of the first listed defining traits of a jellicle cat.

then there’s the lyrics: “were you whittington’s friend? the pied piper’s assistant? have you been an alumnus of heaven and hell?” which seems to be referring to the past lives of a cat and their reincarnation, to folk legends where cats are central characters, but could equally apply to a fallen angel who has lived through all of human history.

and you can’t tell me crowley can’t relate to the individual characters in the musical. jennyanydots, who looks for all intents and purposes to be a gumbie cat who lies around all day but is up and about at night, who is concerned with the mice and cockroaches and beetles in the house and sets to work not hunting them, but teaching them manners and giving the pests productive creative outlets for their energies?

the rum tum tugger, who’s “always on the wrong side of every door”?

grizabella, an outcast who’s shunned by her people?

bustopher jones, the “brummell of cats”?

mungojerrie and rumpleteazer, who “have an extensive reputation” for creating low-level mischief?

old deuteronomy, who’s been around seemingly forever, who oversees the cat society, who “was famous in proverb and famous in rhyme, a long while before queen victoria’s accession”?

macavity is, well, not a role model. but the entertainment value of that? a cat who’s compared to moriarty, who commits all these crimes and then disappears, who’s uncatchable? who cheats at cards? gosh, crowley would be delighted by it.

mr. mistoffelees is a delight, too, because you would think to draw parallels with aziraphale, but mistoffelees is far more crowley. first of all, he has actual magical powers that he uses, and second of all, he’s a constant source of confusion and mild inconvenience for people.

then you’ve got the moments of happiness, a song about nostalgia, regret: “we had the experience, but missed the meaning.” in the show, it’s about cats recalling their younger days and their past lives, but again, it’s applicable to crowley’s experiences as someone who’s lived on earth for six millennia. there’s plenty to remember, plenty to regret, plenty to pride himself on.

memory is along the same themes, a lament and an ode to better times, with hope for a better future, too. it’s also the song that turns things around for grizabella, makes the other cats finally start to sympathize with her and one of them touches her for the first time in the show, after she’s been a pariah for the entirety of it. and it ends on the hopeful lyrics “look! a new day has begun,” right before old deuteronomy makes his decision.

and he chooses grizabella, of course! chooses to give her the opportunity to start fresh and face her new day with all the knowledge of her past regrets and mistakes, to give her the chance to live again and to be a part of things again in her next life. she’s been shunned and degraded and now she’s the hero of the show, she’s receiving the honor that the whole show has been leading up to. it’s redemption! it’s recognition!

and then the show closes with the ad-dressing of cats, a song about how to respectfully approach a cat, telling how it’s difficult to win their trust and become their friend.

the song also draws a lot of attention to the contrast between cats and dogs, the same kind of dichotomous opposition as angels and demons, the same kind of repetitive and redundant reminders: “a cat is not a dog” is sung multiple times in the song.

i’m not trying to make any kind of deep points with this post, i’m just saying that i’ve put a lot of thought into it and analyzed the lyrics and i think there’s a lot that’s gonna hit somewhere close to home for him.

#p.txt #meta #good omens #irony is not in my vocabulary

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svengooliecat · 6 years

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OC Day--004

OC Day: Scarlett Papava, 004

The figure came into sharp focus as 004. He’d never been so happy to see Scarlett Papava, with her vintage red lipstick and silver screen siren aesthetic. With her favorite little black funeral dress, she looked like a predatory black widow in a Carrie Underwood song. –excerpted from “Liars and Killers,” by SvengoolieCat

This post is an ode to my favorite recurring OC, my own version of 004! I’m very excited to chat about her because she’s fun as hell to write.

Fic Rec List:

Of Cats and Mortgages, • She’s introduced towards the end of the fic as a classy 00 with a vintage, 1940s film star aesthetic who makes boffins nervous and plays with Q-Branch’s cats.

Pray You Now, • 004 is Q’s field-companion in this Spectre fix-it. Also features the first fic to feature the tag: “004 is the homicidal sibling Q never wanted but got anyway” and this basically sums up their entire relationship throughout all my fics.

Liars and Killers, • 004 is once again Q’s partner in crime, mainly because Bond is too busy being a sad sack who’s wanted for murder. And by now, she’s kind of evolved into a snarky female version of Moriarty, which is fun.

Bonus cameo appearance: Reversal of Fortunes, • Role Reversal AU, in which Q is a Lettered Agent, and 007 is part of the quartermaster program. 004 wanders by briefly as another 00-boffin.

Headcanons

1. 004 and Q are good friends outside of MI6. They’re of a similar age and they just really get on well. They even do things together, when they have the time. They both love to dance and are pretty good about attending ballroom and Latin dance classes at a local studio. Sometimes on Saturdays they go looking for farmers’ markets, because both share a pretentious love of farm fresh eggs and veggies and raw honey.

2. 004 is literally the biggest 00Q shipper. She never passes up the opportunity to prod at them both to get their shit together, and although she claims that it’s because she has money on them, she’s actually a romantic at heart and has designs on someday being Q’s best lady of honor. That said, she’s cornered Bond and told him outright that if he hurts Q, she’ll castrate him and then make him dig his own grave out in the woods somewhere. He believes her and has a healthy amount of respect/fear as well.

3. 004 came to MI6 via the RAF. She maintains her pilot’s license, even though she worked mostly in logistics. She served 6 years all over the world, including a tour in Afghanistan. When she retired, MI6 recruited her based on her exemplary military record (including a commendation for bravery), and her conversational skills in French, Italian, Farsi, and Mandarin. Q keeps telling her that anytime she wants out of the field, he’ll make a place for her in Q-Branch.

4. She created her vintage look after she retired from the military. After serving so many years in uniform, it felt a little weird and liberating to suddenly have complete control of her wardrobe and hair again. She decided to create A Look based off her favorite Hollywood film stars of the 30s, 40s, and 50s. It’s her trademark; part uniform, part persona, and she likes they way it makes people underestimate her—they usually only do it once because they’re dead before they have a second chance.

5. Her first two sanctioned kills to earn her 00-designation were of a human trafficker in Los Angeles and a drug cartel leader in the Cayman Islands. She didn’t lose sleep over either one. The trafficker she gutted and left to die slowly, in full view of the women and children he’d kidnapped, abused, and sold. Grisly, but it provided closure to everyone involved. The cartel leader (and a few of his lieutenants for good measure) she poisoned. It seemed fitting that they should be done in with their own product.

6. 004 is a stickler for good manners. Rudeness, incivility, and discourtesy make her bloody furious. Considering her line of work, she often deals with people who embody all three. It makes it easier for her to kill them, because she feels she’s doing society an added favor. Q sometimes jokes that she’s a female Hannibal Lector. She reckons she more of a female Moriarty, but she sees his point.

7. She has a twin sister who lives in Cornwall with her wife and three kids. She tries to visit every other month when she has some extra time and feels like getting out of London. Her sister is still mildly irritated with her for teaching the kids how to fight dirty if picked on. Scarlett giggled like a loon when her sister called her to yell about how all three ended up suspended for ganging up on the school bully (the bully ended up with a broken nose and several livid bite-marks). After her ears quit ringing, she texted her nieces and nephew “good work” and a thumbs-up emoji.

#007 Fest #OC Day #004--Scarlett Papava #moodboard #rec list #headcanons #Dr. Nope #Team Bond Villains

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multipleservicelisting · 3 years

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Biden’s First Day

Want to get The Morning by email? Here’s the sign-up.

Good morning. The Biden administration begins to address the six crises that the new president described in his inaugural address.

Near the end of his inaugural address yesterday, President Biden named six crises that the U.S. faces: the virus, climate change, growing inequality, racism, America’s global standing and an attack on truth and democracy.

“Any one of these will be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is, we face them all at once,” Biden said. “We will be judged — you and I — by how we resolve these cascading crises of our era.”

To get started, Biden announced a longer list of Day 1 executive actions — 17, in all — than any previous modern president, as The Times’s Michael Shear points out. The Biden administration is also asking for legislation by Congress. But here’s our explanation of how the new president is trying to make immediate progress:

The virus

Biden signed an executive order yesterday requiring masks where he has the authority to do so — in federal buildings, for example — as well as a separate order creating a White House position to improve the government’s response to the virus.

He also made clear that he was ending the Trump administration’s hostility to global cooperation by halting the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Biden is sending Dr. Anthony Fauci to the group’s meeting today as the head of the U.S. delegation. “It’s an interconnected world,” my colleague Apoorva Mandavilli says. To succeed in combating the virus, “we have to coordinate with other countries.”

Biden is also asking Americans to wear masks for the next 100 days. One question he hasn’t yet answered: How will he persuade more Republican voters — many of whom are skeptical of masks — to wear them?

Climate change

Biden signed two executive orders on climate — one that recommits the U.S. to the Paris climate agreement and another that reverses Donald Trump’s hostility to environmental regulations. “No president has brought in this many people at the start of an administration to work on climate change,” Lisa Friedman, who covers climate policy, said.

Still, these actions are only first steps, Nathaniel Keohane of the Environmental Defense Fund told me. Reversing Trump’s actions is significant, he added — but the world needs more ambitious steps to curb the use of greenhouse gases that are causing so much damage.

Inequality and racism

Biden’s biggest attempts to reduce economic and racial inequality will require congressional legislation. But he took some early steps yesterday.

He has extended moratoriums on evictions and student-loan payments that the Trump administration had put in place. He also ordered federal agencies to root out racially unequal policies. “We have great evidence from economists that tearing down barriers to advancement for men of color and women of all races fueled huge amounts of growth in the United States in decades past,” The Times’s Jim Tankersley said.

Biden also sought to undo several of Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Among the moves: refocusing deportation efforts on those undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes in the U.S. “Trump, on the other hand, decided that anyone in the country illegally should be arrested and deported,” Miriam Jordan, who covers immigration for The Times, said.

Democracy, truth and America’s role in the world

In his address, Biden repeatedly stressed the importance of truth and included a veiled but obvious reference to Trump by criticizing “lies told for power and for profit.” And at her first White House briefing last night, Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, said: “There will be moments when we disagree … but we have a common goal, which is sharing accurate information with the American people.”

Biden signaled his emphasis on diplomacy by embracing the Paris climate accord and World Health Organization. Another big move to improve the U.S. image around the world was his immediate repeal of a signature Trump policy: the so-called Muslim travel ban. It had restricted nearly all passport holders from several Muslim-majority countries — including Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen — from entering the U.S.

A Morning Read: An ode to Gottlieb’s Bakery, whose Georgia-made rye bread rivaled any deli in New York City for those who grew up with it.

From Opinion: Access to the coronavirus vaccines has been unfair and inequitable. But if you’re offered one, you should take it — no matter how undeserving you may feel, Melinda Wenner Moyer writes.

Lives Lived: Margo St. James was one of the nation’s most prominent advocates for sex workers, devoting her life to decriminalizing prostitution and destigmatizing its practitioners. She called her organization COYOTE (for Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics). She died at 83.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Earl Grey tea and orange zest add a citrusy, floral essence to this buttery cake.

What to Listen to

The 20-year-old British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks talks about making music that strikes the perfect balance of happy and sad.

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was multiply. Today’s puzzle is above — or you can play online if you have a Games subscription.

Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Head-butt (three letters).

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. — David

P.S. A hidden haiku in Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 inaugural address, recently spotted by @nythaikus: “Though passion may have / strained it must not break our / bonds of affection.” And one from Biden’s: “We can join forces / stop the shouting and lower / the temperature.”

You can see today’s print front page here.

Today’s episode of “The Daily” is about the inauguration. On the latest “Sway,” Isabel Wilkerson discusses America’s caste system.

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at [email protected].

Multiple Service Listing for Business Owners | Tools to Grow Your Local Business

www.MultipleServiceListing.com

from Multiple Service Listing https://ift.tt/3pi2QB7

#multiple #service #listing #news #local #business #ads #near #me

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randomnotesofmyown · 4 years

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Psycho Pass (9-10)

Episode 9 - Paradise fruits

Kogami, Tsunemori and Ginoza at the Oso Academy to continue their investigation. Ginoza brought Kogami aside to apologize for his misjudgment. Kogami responded that he hadn't felt as lively for a long while.

Morning next day, Tsunemori was told about a news report video recommended by the Ministry of Welfare in which a Senguji Toyohisa was interviewed and talked about how immortality could be achieved by turning human into cyborgs.

As Tsunemori drove to pick up Kogami, she played that video in her car. Kogami was not interested in what Senguji said, he looked out of the window when that video played. Nonetheless, Tsunemori asked:

"...by becoming a cyborg?"

Kogami answered immediately, without looking at Tsunemori, that he was not interested. "LIfe as a latent criminal isn't the sort of thing you'd want to go on forever." Tsunemori countered that if the social system became more developed, the rights of latent criminals might improve. Kogami laughed it off, saying no wonder Tsunemori's psycho-pass tended to stay clear. The video continued. The host asked Senguji about a survey that showed people's reluctance in becoming more than 50% cyborg, and Senguji responded that everyone had become more or less cyborg now. Even though they did not have artificial body parts, they had become totally dependent on portable information terminals, AI secretaries and similar technologies that functioned as their second brain. And he concluded that the history of science was a history of the expansion of the human body's functionality, in other words, the history of man's cyberization.

Tsunemori kept driving without talking with Kogami. They arrived at a private property. Both quietly got out of the car.

As Kogami pressed the doorbell, Tsunemori commented that she didn't see much environment hologram in use there. Kogami replied that the owner didn't like those kinds of things.

Door opened. Kogami greeted and addressed the owner as professor Saiga.

They were invited in. Seated, Saiga started doing profiling on Tsunemori, saying that she was from Chiba, not bad at athletic activities, but couldn't swim, and both her parents were still alive...

Saiga continued talking about how Tsunemori's parents saw thing, their opposition to Tsunemori becoming a Public Safety agents, and Tsunemori's relationships with her grandma.

Saiga, "Just some simple observations. People manifest all sorts of signs unconsciously. Once you get the knack of it, you can easily read those signs."

Kogami then said to Saiga that he had two favors to ask for. First, Saiga taught Tsunemori how to do profiling, and second, Saiga showed Kogami the list of past course attendees.

Saiga asked who it was that Kogami was looking for. Kogami replied, "I think this guy is the worst criminal since the creation of the Sibyl system. He's a high-level intellectual criminal and is probably fit and in good health, too. He's someone with unique charisma. He rarely kills people with his own hands. He controls other people's minds and influences them. Much like a music conductor, he orchestrates one crime after another." Saiga asked Kogami to define chrisma. "I used it to mean the nature of a hero or a ruler." Saiga said he would give that answer 20 points. Then he gave his answer:

1. The nature of a hero or a prophet; 2. An ability to simply make you feel good when you're around them; and 3. The intelligence to eloquently talk about all sorts of things.

Then, Saiga asked Kogami which of the above elements did the guy he was looking for have. "All of them."

At the Public Safety Office, Masaoka showed the profile of Shibata Yukimori, an elderly man whose identity was used by someone who taught art at Oso Academy.

Another agent added that all the video data had been destroyed and that there was no way to reconstruct his appearance. Both creating a traditional photofit picture and drawing a composite sketch failed.

Kogami asked if Tsunemori found the crash course helpful. Tsunemori replied it helped a lot, then she wondered why Saiga's course was not in the Public Safety Bureau's archive.

Kogami said that was impossible. Saiga's courses were specially set up for Public Safety inspectors. But some of the people who attended the courses had clouded hues and high crime coefficient readings.

Tsunemori was surprised by this.

"Say there's a dark swamp and you can't see the bottom. In order to check the swamp, you have no choice but to jump in. Mr. Saiga is used to it since he's dived in to investigate it so many times. But it's not like all students can come back safely after diving into the swamp. There are gaps in their abilities and simply their suitability, too." "You seem like someone who'd dive deep...and yet come back safely."

"Well...at least the Sibyl system decided that I couldn't come back."

Cut to Maikshima. He was accompanied by his guest, the hunter who killed Rikako, the chairman who appeared in an interview, Senguji Toyohisa.

Senguji smoked with a pipe made of Rikako's bone.

Makishima asked Senguji that since he had overcome aging in his body, "all that's left is your mind?"

Senguji replied, "Yes. You maintain a healthy and sound life by sacrificing other lives. But if people only seek youth for their bodies and lose sight of the means to cultivate their minds, then naturally it will only lead to an increase in the number of living dead. How foolish, don't you think?"

"The energy that comes from thrills. It's a dangerous reward that goes hand in hand with death, huh?"

"That's right. In hunting, the tougher your prey is, the fresher the youth you can gain from it." Senguji replied. "With all that in mind, I think I can arrange for your next prey to be an exquisite one. It's an Enforcer from the Public Safety Bureau (MWPSB). His name is..."

Walking along with Kogami, Tsunemori said checking Saiga's lecture attendees list didn't help much.

"But if Makishima is a living man, he's left a trace somewhere for sure."

As soon as Kogami and Tsunemori entered the office, Ginoza reacted.

"That's because I asked him to," said Tsunemori.

"...making her a latent criminal who strayed from the right path like you?"

"A brat who's confused about anything and everything! Why do you think we have the classifications of Inspectors and Enforcers? It's in order to avoid the risk of having healthy people's Psycho-Pass get clouded by criminal investigations. We use latent criminals, who can never return to society, in our place. That's precisely why you can fulfill your duty while protecting your mind!" Kogami listened without making any objection.

Tsunemori though...

"That's not teamwork! Solving crimes or protecting our own Psycho-pass, which on earth is more important?!" "Do you wanna throw away your career? Are you going to sacrifice everything you've built so far?" "It's..."

"It's certainly true that I'm new. And you are a respectable senior to me, Inspector Ginoza. But please don't forget that we're on equal footing in terms of our rank! I'm managing my coefficient just fine. You may be senior to me, but I'd like you to restrain yourself from questioning my ability at the workplace and in front of the Enforcers!"

Tsunemori was really angry. Ginoza walked off without saying anything.

Facial expressions of enforcers Kunizuka Yayoi, Ginoza and Kogami when Tsunemori talked back.

Tsunemori walked out of the office, Masaoka followed her and talked her out of making a complaint to the Bureau chief.

In a one-on-one conversation, Masaoka told Tsunemori that Ginoza's father was a latent criminal.

"Terrible misunderstandings and rumors about latent criminals were common in [the days when the Sibyl system was just put into operation]. If a family member happened to show a high crime coefficient, that alone caused the rest of the family to be treated as if they were the same. I'm sure he suffered quite a bit. When a detective gets deeply involved in an investigation, in the end, the Sibyl system starts keeping an eye on them just like it does the criminals. Committing a crime or cracking down on crimes. Both sides face the same phenomenon called crime. There's no difference."

"Now there are Enforcers, but before they created that position, there were many detectives who were diagnosed as latent criminals like that. Inspector Ginoza's father was one of them."

"That's why he can't forgive those who run a risk on their own. And yet, Kogami, his former colleague was also...He feels he was betrayed twice. First by his father and then by his colleague. That's why he acts like that towards you."

"Missy, you do have a family and friends too, don't you? If your Psycho-Pass gets clouded, this time, those people will suffer the same hardships Nobuchika did. In order to avoid that, we, Enforcers, are here."

"he used to. But now...he might be oblivious to everything that's not related to that Makishima guy." Cut to Sneguji in a conversation with Makishima. Senguji said he would not capture the target alive.

"It seems that you haven't noticed it yourself, so I'll tell you this. Kogami Shinya...When you speak that name, you look quite amused."

Another version of Ode to Joy was played in the background as this conversation went on.

End of episode 9.

Episode 10 - Methuselah's Game

In the middle of her sleep, Tsunemori was awoken by an alert of an incoming email from her friend Funehara Yuki.

Accompanied by Kogami, Tsunemori went to the site Funahara specified.

Tsunemori felt the place was strange and appeared like a trap. Kogami agreed and said Tsunemori should be the target.

Kogami then requested to be armed and entered the obsolete subway station on his own to check things out, while Tsunemori waited for the back up and guided him underground.

Kogami walked as Tsunemori said via a device that "In the back there..." Interference jammed the message. Kogami walked on nonetheless.

What Tsunemori said was, "In the back there, there's a dead end." And Tsunemori was struck by what she saw.

When the interference stopped, Kogami heard Tsunemori's voice telling him to keep going.

Then, Tsunemori's voice told Kogami to check the train cars.

Some water rushed by, followed by a train. Kogami held onto that train as he tried to communicate with Tsunemori to no avail.

All he heard was

And Tsunemori could not get her message to Kogami either.

Kogami entered the train compartment and saw a girl blindfolded in it. He removed her blindfold, produced his warrant card, and asked the girl who she was. "Funahara Yuki."

On the ground, other members of division one arrived.

"From the smell, it's definitely polluted water mixed with liquid waste. If something like that gets poured on you, you'll be in for a world of hurt." "But Mr. Kogami unmistakably moved ahead beyond that point. In fact, he went even further, going through the wall!" said Tsunemori. Kagari folded his arms and threw a question at Tsunemori with a voice of distrust, "Isn't that a problem with the navigator?" Kunizuka voiced her comment as she checked the surroundings. "The issue might not be with the hardware, but the software. Since this area has been repeatedly redeveloped, you'd never know if the entered data matches the actual condition. "

"Aren't you the only one who got deceived, Inspector Tsunemori?"

"Kogami left your surveillance and his location is lost. In other words, he might've staged this situation from the start to run away." Masaoka chimed in. "Suppose we trust the navigator instead of the map data, do you know in which direction Kogami was headed? Did the signal show any strange movements?"

"Come to think of it...after a while, he suddenly started moving in a straight line really fast. He must be in some vehicle now. Isn't there a subway line around that runs in a north-south direction?" Kunizuka replied, "There is."

"The subway Ginza Line. But it was discontinued sixty years ago."

Kogami asked Funehara if she had any clue what happened and the girl hadn't the faintest idea. She got home from work, took a bath and slept as usual. When she woke up, she was already on this train. Kogami still thought Tsunemori was the target, but then he had second thought. He played Tsunemori's voice and determined it was a fake created from voice samples. "They knew all along that she wouldn't be the one to come to the basement, but someone else instead. "

The train stopped.

An electric hound emerged, Kogami and Funehara had to take the stairways and headed straight to Senguji's hunting ground.

"Things have been going as we planned so far. It seems they're quick to pick up on things, too. The smarter the prey, the more enjoyable the hunt becomes." Said Senguji. "Looks like it will be a worthwhile game to watch from the bleachers." Makishima commented. "Why don't you take part in the hunt for a change?" Senguji probed. "My interest lies in what will transpire during this hunt. So it would be best for me to observe things as a third party."

Kogami inspected the hunting ground, and found a bag with chemical light sticks and bottles in it.

Kogami carried that bag and made use of the chemical light sticks to find their way out. As they walked, Funehara asked if Tsunemori was doing okay with her work. Kogami replied that Tsunemori had faith and intuitively understood what it meant to be a detective.

Funehara continued talking about Tsunemori. And Kogami threw another light stick and heard different sounds. He sensed a trap. and confirmed it with the torch in his hand.

Funehara saw a bag identical to the one Kogami was carrying, and ran to grab it right away. Turned out it was a device that would guide an electric hound right to them.

As the two ran from the hound, Senguji fired at Kogami. He missed.

Kogami told Funehara to stay hiding while he went out to try take down one of the hounds.

He attacked one with a transponder attached to it. That hound struggled and stepped right into a clamp, it then darted to the position of the other trap and was destroyed. Kogami grabbed the transponder and ran.

Senguji fired and missed again.

Kogami ran to Funehara and told her to run with him. The transponder in his hand had battery, he needed to find an antenna to communicate with his colleagues.

Senguji was impressed with Kogami. Then he asked Makishima added in some plot into the game that he wasn't aware of. Makishima started, "When a man faces fear, his soul is tested. What he was born to seek...What he was born to achieve...His true nature will become clear." "Are you trying to mock me?" "It's not just that Kogami guy. I'm interested in you, too. Mr. Senguji. An unforeseen situation...an unexpected turn of events..."

"I know that is the thrill and excitement you've been seeking."

Makishima then pondered if Kogami understood the meaning of this game.

Kogami tried to figure out what was going on. "With you as bait, they lured in Tsunemori. But they knew it would actually be me who came looking for you instead. They factored all that in when setting up this hunt." "It's you who they want to play with, right? I'm just...dammit! I'm just being dragged into this, right?!" "That's right. With regard to you, your role should have been over when your email was sent. And yet...why did they put you on the subway?" "isn't it to make it difficult for you to run away?" On hearing this, Kogami figured out something. "This fox hunt is not just a one-sided game. They are hinting that I've got a chance, too. In other words, I'm being tested. Whether I abandon you during this game or not, I bet it's also one of the keys to winning this game. "

Then, Kogami ordered Funehara to take off her clothes, "If you want to survive, just do as I say." Funehara complied. Then, Kogami asked if Funehara usually coordinated her bra and he asked her to hand those over.

Kogami found the antenna he needed.

On the ground, Ginoza was laying out his plan for agents to go in and, based on the premise that cymatic scan couldn't be fooled, ordered Kogami be shot with a dominator as soon as he was spotted so as to see his true intention. If Kogami didn't intent to run away, he coefficient would stay the same and he would be paralyzed; but if he did try to run away, the eliminator mode would be activated and he would be killed. Tsunemori protested, pointed out that Kogami was his friend. Ginoza coldly said, "If Kogami ends up dying, the fault will lie on you due to your poor supervision."

"If you had Kogami under control, this wouldn't have had to happen. How do you feel about someone dying because of your own incompetence?"

Masaoka stepped in, grabbed Ginoza by the collar of his jacket, hoisted him, and asked

Then Masaoka tossed Ginoza aside.

Kogami made contact and told the team his location.

The team went in.

Tsunemori's thought as she ran inside, "Mr. Kogami, please let us make it in time."

End of episode 10

Comment Episode nine: The scene in which Tsunemori talked back to Ginoza was an important moment of growth for this character, taking into consideration that Japan would probably remain a male-dominant society at the time when this anime took place, in like almost a hundred years from now, Tsunemori, as a woman, a junior Inspector, showed her courage, determination in a vocal way that surprised Kunizuka, Kogami and annoyed Goinza. And it is the most memorable part of this episode for me. Another thing worth noting was that Masaoka referred to Ginoza by using his given name, Nobuchika. Given that addressing someone by their given name is a sign of closeness, this would be an implicit indication that the relationship between Masaoka and Ginoza was close.

Episode ten: The episode's title carries that name that became synonymous with longevity, so this episode was like a quest for longevity, and the one who craved it the most was Senguji. And Makishima changed the hunting game, turning it into a duet between Senguji and Kogami. Despite mounting disadvantages, Kogami managed to take down one electric hound and found a way to make contact with his colleagues.

A side note for Ginoza, a person keenly aware that his career was at stake, he tried hard not to be influenced by emotions. But in this episode his judgment was clearly clouded by feelings: his distrust of and disappointment in Kogami and his contempt of Tsunemori, and he spoke in a way that was coldhearted, mean, and as Masaoka put it, sinister. But then, on a second thought, Ginoza found himself in a situation that he needed to act tough or people would not take him seriously. He was not happy with it and when Tsunemori protested by saying that Kogami was his friend, Ginoza exploded. He needed to take it out and Tsunemori provided the perfect vent.

#psycho pass

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ryanmeft · 4 years

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2019 in Film, Part 1

We’re closing out the decade with one of the best years for film I can remember. There was so much great stuff in 2019 that it got me back to writing reviews after I had given them up as a hopeless endeavor in an age of polarized opinions. We had A-list actors turning in top-notch work about deteriorating relationships and alternate histories of Hollywood. We had forgotten or controversial actors---Antonio Banderas, Sienna Miller, Adam Sandler, Paul Walter Hauser, among others---proving they deserved to be A-list. We had great new films from the likes of The Safdie Brothers, Robert Eggers, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Pedro Almodovar and more. It wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Clint Eastwood did his best to undermine his own filmmaking with sexist and anti-press leanings. Disney continued to gobble up everything it could, threatening the future of legitimate filmmaking and the theatre business. And some excellent creators turned in movies that, well, didn’t meet the hype. But what year is perfect? Below, a compendium of every 2019 film I saw, and my absolutely correct opinion on each one. This covers films through the letter G, and I’ll be posting H-N and O-Z shortly. I’ll also be updating these lists as I add new reviews and see more movies, since I live in the arse end of nowhere and there’s still a lot I haven’t seen. Enjoy.

21 Bridges: 3 Stars

-A throwback to the relatively stripped down cops-and-criminals thrillers of the 90’s, this tightly made and well acted tale of corruption will appeal to anyone who remembers the likes of The Fugitive.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/urvdfx2

Ad Astra: 3 Stars

-A toothless finale and a weak role for Tommy Lee Jones can’t derail the quality of Brad Pitt’s performance, one where most of the character is developed inside his head.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/whkonyy

The Aeronauts: 2 Stars

-This attempt to emulate the adventure epics of the Golden Age of Hollywood features spectacular sights and two great actors doing their best, but falters when developing an interesting story or drawing us into their struggle for survival. Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/tce4ps6

The Aftermath: 1 Star

-Lifeless, listless and generally not knowing what it wants to be, the movie switches back and forth from serious post-war thriller to cheesy erotic novel, and fails at both.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/vjfefuq

Ash is Purest White: 4 Stars

-A patient poem of life, which leads you to believe it will be one thing---a crime drama about small time street hoods in a dying industrial town---and instead becomes a quiet ode to personal perseverance. One of the year’s best films.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: 3 Stars

-Tom Hanks is ephemeral as the children’s icon with the recently resurgent reputation, and Matthew Rhys and Chris Cooper are effective as the estranged, battling father and son who Rogers helps to heal. The definitive statement on Rogers is last year’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? This movie is mostly a fantasy drama revolving around Rogers’ ethos, with minimal insight into the man.

Alita: Battle Angel: 2 1/2 Stars

-Featuring stunning technology, good performances (especially from Mahershala Ali and Rose Salazar) and an incredibly weak script co-written by James Cameron, this is the kind of movie that would absolutely kill if you got a better screenplay to go with it. Hopefully they get a second try.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/qnl3ggd

American Woman: 3 1/2 Stars

Sienna Miller has flown under most stardom’s radar, and here in this small film no one saw gets one of the year’s best performances. She’s an irresponsible mother who has to learn to grow up after her daughter’s disappearance, but that is mere plot. The key is the sympathy the film has for the problems of people we wouldn’t ordinarily cheer on.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/uz7x67z

Avengers: Endgame: 3 Stars

-Fan service through and through, Endgame delivers every thrill you could possibly want with few real surprises, but also leaves you wondering where the MCU could possibly go from here.

Birds of Passage: 4 Stars

-A fictionalized look at the rise of the drug trade in Colombia, this Godfather-like film traces the fall of indigenous cultures to the lure of international criminal activity with a steady hand and a de-emphasis on overt violence.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/ww8m98v

Blinded by the Light: 3 Stars

-You really do gotta be a Springsteen fan, but if you are, this one is ready to make you smile and cheer. You may forget it after you leave the theatre, but then, it has already done its job.

Booksmart: 3 1/2 Stars

-Olivia Wilde continues the rehabilitation of the once trashy teen comedy, making a movie about alienation and identity that can stand alongside films like The Duff, Eighth Grade and Edge of Seventeen. It may not break any new ground, but it is so relatable and so funny it doesn’t really have to.

Brightburn: 1 1/2 Stars

-A for effort, F for execution. There’s blood to be wrung from the “What if Superman were evil?” stone, but instead of taking the concept and giving us a unique take-off of the world’s most well known superhero, the movie is content to repeat the famous origin story, weakly flipped to the horror genre.

Brittany Runs a Marathon: 3 Stars

-It isn’t without its cliches, but it’s nice to see a good film like this which doesn’t lionize impossibly perfect looking people as the only ones who can realize a dream. Jillian Bell is both off-putting and likable, a rare trick. Currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

By the Grace of God: 4 Stars

-Frances Ozon’s dispassionate, drama-lite look at three men taking on a skin-crawlingly vile abusive priest is impossible to look away from, even when characters are simply discussing their lives. Ozon makes ordinary life lived with trauma almost as tense for the audience as for those living it.

Captain Marvel: 3 Stars

-When people say the MCU movies are factory-produced, this one could be Exhibit A. It does almost nothing wrong and takes almost no risks, leaving a movie that’s fun while you’re watching it and forgotten as soon as you’re not. Bonus points for Annette Bening playing a murderous A.I.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/sw8247t

Captive State: 1 Star

-An intriguing sci-fi premise with a lifeless script, the potential for interesting twists and turns is neutered by a lack of narrative flare.

Cats: 1 Star

-The kind of movie that makes you want to shower afterwards.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/tzjx5v8

The Current War: 2 1/2 Stars

-More flash than substance, which in an odd way makes it a suitable treatment of the very publicity-minded battle between Edison and Westinghouse. Overall, it feels more like an educational video or a History Channel special, but there are things worth the trip, like the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/urewluk

The Dead Don’t Die: 0 Stars

-Jim Jarmusch has made some of the finest films I’ve ever seen and some of the worst. This unfunny, painfully obvious satire is firmly in the latter camp.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/w8bafdl

Doctor Sleep: 3 1/2 Stars

-An absolutely delicious villain coupled with overall strong performances and engaging, old-school filmmaking result in one of the better of the many Stephen King adaptations.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/sns6nhh

Dora and the Lost City of Gold: 3 1/2 Stars

-It takes a show meant to educate young kids about languages and turns it into a genuinely funny, exciting and engaging adventure movie that pulls of an “All-ages Indiana Jones” vibe shockingly well. One of the few movies that actually needs a sequel.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/t7tzyxq

Dumbo: 3 Stars

-The original is outdated enough that for once a Disney remake doesn’t feel like a cash grab, and Tim Burton turns in a beautiful movie with a great villain (who, strangely enough, is an obvious stand-in for Walt himself).

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/wnkkvuz

Fast Color: 3 Stars

-A decidedly different superhero movie that scuttles itself a bit with its own franchise ambitions, but the first two acts deliver a serious story focusing on things superhero movies rarely touch on: addiction, abandonment, forgiveness and parenthood.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/sgytshn

Ford v Ferrari: 3 Stars

-Two hours of the movie is bog-standard biopic stuff elevated by Damon and Bale’s performances. The last third is an incredibly thrilling, no-special-effects race scene that will get the blood pumping even if you don’t give one whit about race cars.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters: 2 Stars

-An improved emphasis on visuals helps this one be better than its predecessor, but that ain’t saying a whole helluva lot.

Full Review: https://tinyurl.com/vcuhc44

The Good Liar: 2 Stars

-A strange mix of obvious twists and spoilers you couldn’t possibly see coming, the movie feels like it both plays fair and cheats with the audience. It’s a lurid potboiler elevated considerably by the immense talents of Mirren and McKellan, who are playing well below their weight class here.

Gloria Bell: 3 Stars

-Julianne Moore turns in a lovable, relatable performance in a movie that doesn’t otherwise differentiate itself much from the divorced-people-finding-their-life-again sub-genre of feel good movie.

Greta: 2 1/2 Stars

-The sleazy thrills of seeing Isabelle Huppert, one of the best of actresses, playing an unhinged psycho stalker is worth the price of admission, but the film itself doesn’t do enough to stand out from the thriller pack.

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mattbrothersscriptwriter · 4 years

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My Top 20 Films of 2019 - Part One

I’m back and prising open this tomb of a blog like I’m Lara bloody Croft, let’s do this thing.

2019 was a huge year for movies and thanks in part to my ever obsessive Letterboxd account, i chalked up 150 total 2019 movies seen, which is... too many. Thanks again in part to the rise of Netflix originals, broader theatrical releases and a handful of festival showings (Sundance London, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Frightfest etc), I saw as much as I could. STILL some I didn’t catch (Rocketman, Shazam... Cats...) but as always, for my full breakdown, jump over to my Letterboxd ranking here - https://letterboxd.com/matt_bro/list/films-of-the-year-2019/

20. The Death of Dick Long

I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this, partly because it’s from one half of the ‘Daniels’ duo, who made the equally expectation-defying Swiss Army Man and also because I saw it at Sundance London back when there was no poster, trailer and barely a logline. Some vague word of mouth from Sundance proper was about it. And that’s how I’d recommend seeing it - as blind as you can - as it’s many surprises are unlike anything I’ve really seen before.

It’s a triumph of carefully balanced tone and pitch perfect black humour. Essentially a Fargo-esque tale of two idiot hillbillys who get involved in the mysterious, titular death of their friend Dick Long (played in a cameo by director Daniel Scheinert), things slowly unravel as they realise that in reality, covering your tracks and getting away with a crime is, actually, pretty damn unlikely. The tension that mounts as hidden truths inevitably begin to come to light can rival any straight thriller and the humour always comes from a place of character. But the genius comes in the film’s ability to maintain said tone with a straight face once a very specific spoiler comes to light. It’s deliberately absurdist but you still find yourself swerving from laughing at it to being wholly invested at the sincere pathos and tragi-comedy on display. The film, for all it’s surreal trappings, never punches down at it’s characters, treating them as flawed and vulnerable as any of us, and the leads Michael Abbott Jr and Andre Hyland remain a wholly tragic and relatable pair - against all odds.

19. The Farewell

Lulu Wang’s immensely crowd pleasing indie sensation manages to be many things - a witty comedy, an ode to family, an examination of another culture’s traditions and a character study of the American-Asian experience. Like most really great movies, it’s universal appeal comes from it’s specificity - telling a unique story based in a human truth that taps into themes we can all relate to: alienation from one’s own family, feeling like you don’t belong, truth and honesty within our closest relationships and our own mortality. Or more specifically still; how we would want to face death should we be fortunate/unfortunate enough to know that is is coming.

Awkwafina really is a revelation here, showing off her dramatic chops with a heartfelt performance that utilises her strengths as a funny everywoman and as a tortured individual trying to understand not only her own relatives but herself as well. The whole cast are equally impressive, especially Chen Han and Aoi Mizuhara as the clueless couple getting married and of course, Zhao Shuzhen as Nai Nai - delivering a touching portrayal of a grandmotherly figure we can all recognise. Definitely one of the most moving films of the year for me, it’s a marvel that never succumbs to easy schmaltz or signposted resolutions.

18. Pain and Glory

I’m a big admirer of Pedro Almodovar’s body of work, having studied him since college but I’d be hard pressed to say I was a proper fan. I went into this off the back of it’s buzz and came out more profoundly moved than I first predicted. This very self reflective piece tackles a lot of Almodovar staples - Spain throughout the decades, the pain of love, film-making, mothers! - but is so strongly rooted in a career best Antonion Banderas, here playing a thinly veiled and somewhat fictionalised version of Almodovar himself.

Like The Farewell, it is deeply personal but incredibly universal, dealing with life long regrets and suppressed trauma and memory. Cruz the Muse is back in magnetic form and the tenderness in both the flashbacks and present day make for a surprisingly comforting watch about an awful lot of self-examination. It also cannot be understated how strong Banderas is here, possibly the most human I’ve ever seen the man known for playing gun toting mariachis, sword wielding masked heroes and... sword wielding, um... cats. It’s possibly his most mature and unflashy role in years but he reminds us why he’s such a consistent and evergreen movie star ten times over here.

17. Dolemite Is My Name

Eddie Murphy is back baby! This was hands down one of the most joyful and life affirming films this year, so much so that I’m gutted I didn’t see it in a packed cinema instead of on Netflix. Still, it’s a huge win for the streamer. Before now, it’s been easy enough to write off a ‘Netflix’ movie as one of three things - the modern equivalent of going ‘straight to video’, a blank check passion project for a headline grabbing filmmaker (Noah Baumbach, the Coen Brothers, Martin Scorsese) or a big blatant push for awards glory (Roma). But this breaks through and hits the sweet spot, being the sort of mid-budget biopic the studios used to put out, a comeback vehicle for one of our most missed stars and as a straight up killer piece of film making all round.

From the writers of Ed Wood and the director of Hustle and Flow, Murphy stars as Rudy Ray Moore, a true over-the-hill underdog who stubbornly chases his dreams of reaching stardom as a middle aged man, who refuses to be put down in the face of mass criticism and overwhelming odds. It’s an empowerment story about pursuing what you believe in and saying fuck you to the haters. It understands that the only judge you need to answer to is yourself. It’s a testament to the power of a minority voice, in finding the unstoppable force who will fight to be seen - not just by his peers but by society at large.

I’m a sucker for films about a group of people stretched outside of their natural talents who strive to create something that wasn’t there before. Whether it’s Ed Wood or The Disaster Artist, Brigbsy Bear or Bowfinger - these movies never fail to strike a chord with me. I think championing a belief in yourself, often in the face of huge pessimism or swarms of naysayers, is so incredibly important and seeing these central figures who probably shouldn’t have succeeded, manage to do so, is so touching. The scene in the limo when they read the shitty reviews of their movie and all take a moment to arrive at the conclusion of ‘fuck them, we made a movie, it’s ours’ is an antidote to everybad review any creative endeavour may end up receiving. If it’s important to you, that’s all that matters but like all art, even if you reach one person and affect their life for the better, then it’s all been worth it.

Shining a light on the rise of Blaxploitation also helps to champion an era of outsider art that reflected the lives of millions and gave many more than chance to see themselves represented on screen as their OWN heroes and not just reductive stereotypes. Plus... Snipes is also back baby! Cripes it’s Snipes!

16. Monos

What a gargantuan feat this film is. Shooting in some of the most inhospitable locations ever seen, this tense, survivalist story of a band of young soldiers slowly imploding whilst they guard an American hostage is elemental and animalistic - a 21st century Lord of the Flies for sure.

Moises Arias is unrecognisable here as the eventual alpha Bigfoot. A former Disney star, he is most fondly remembered by me as the polar opposite Biaggio in one of my other favourite films of the decade, The Kings of Summer. The rest of the cast are fantastic too, from the captured Dr Watson (Julianne Nicholson) to the morally torn Rambo (Sofia Buenaventura). With some of the most breathtaking cinematography of the year to yet another stunning Mica Levi score, this feels like a lost Herzog masterpiece from the 70s. In other words, the kind of impossible thriller that you see all too rarely these days.

15. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Any new Tarantino is a cause for celebration, especially as he approaches his long-threatened ‘final’ 10th movie. I’m a massive western guy so I’d been loving his detour into the genre through both Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight but was definitely looking forward to his depiction of 1960s Hollywood. And Tarantino being Tarantino, the western influences manage to find their way into most, if not all, of his filmography.

OUATIH certainly ended up a divisive piece. Too much of an aimless character hangout for some, not enough dramatic bite for others. I was initially left a bit cold myself, knowing I’d enjoyed what I’d seen but wondering if it would go up or down in my estimations upon a second viewing. While that second viewing still hasn’t taken place yet, I tend to believe it will be even more favourable knowing where it’s all heading. I’m in the camp that loved where this film ended up and thought it stuck the landing wonderfully and in DiCaprio and Pitt, the film found a truly dynamic and compelling central friendship fuelled by two A-listers back on A-list form. The two veterans instantly deliver some of their best work in years (DiCaprio is 10x more alive here than he was in his Oscar winning turn in The Revenant) and 2019 would go on to be Pitt’s year, alongside Ad Astra. Margot Robbie is luminous in her limited screentime and while some were disappointed she wasn’t more of a major player, he Tate is arguably the lynchpin of the whole piece. Perhaps more as a symbol than a person, sure, but the scene where she gets to witness the joy her big screen clowning brings others (complete with tactfully judged real life Tate footage) is magic.

At first glance, this could seem like QT regressing somewhat but there are moments in here that stand out as some of his best work, from DiCaprio’s stroppy meltdown to Pitt’s visit to Spahn Ranch to the whole bloody climax. If it ends up being the odd duck of his filmography (Four Rooms aside) then it will end up all the more interesting and I am already captivated.

14. Stan & Ollie

Easily the most underrated film of the year in my eyes, I sort of understand most people’s dismissal of this charming biopic as grey pound fodder and even I admit that it falls into a sub-genre quickly approaching cliche: ageing Golden Age Hollywood movie stars have one last stab at fame and redemption by reviving a stage act in the UK - see also Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool and Judy. But this is so sweetly put together in every sense and manages to transcend the biopic trappings to create a more loving portrait of two old friends accepting that they love each other. It’s about male, platonic love and that in itself is rare enough.

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly are incredible as Laurel and Hardy respectively, both disappearing into the roles completely. Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda provide brilliant comic support as their two very mismatched wives. The decision to focus on the duo’s later years, rather than to speed chronologically through their early days and movie making prime (glimpsed in the opening flashback) means that the film is free to draw pathos from a life long lived. There are mere hints at the history between them; chasms of time that hold so much importance yet are left to us (and to the actors) to speculate about, to draw from and to imagine. The performances are so strong that you can feel the weight of their professional careers in a sideways glance or a barbed retort or an exasperated sigh. It’s so much more interesting and allows practically the whole film to feed off this feeling that their entire lives are about to reach an impasse that we’re about to witness. This is the emotional resolution to the story of Laurel and Hardy and it’s wonderful to know that this is how it went down in real life too - that two lifelong colleagues couldn’t see how much they meant to each other until it was all about to come to an end.

Ultimately, it’s a story of loyalty and friendship in the face of a fast approaching curtain call. It’s bittersweet and truly sad, watching these two iconic titans perform to tiny crowds and hopelessly chase the dream of a comeback they both know, deep down, is long dead. It also contains two of the most tear-jerking scenes of the year: the very public bust up after one of their shows (”You loved Laurel and Hardy... but you never loved me”) and the ‘turn’ in the climax that wrong footed me so suddenly, despite it’s arguable foreshadowing, that I was almost immediately weeping. A truly touching British film of the highest calibre, it’s much more affecting that you might believe.

13. The Favourite

How does it feel like a million years since I saw this? Man, 2019 was long! Yorgos Lanthimos’ biggest hit yet, this is full of wild, punk energy and gives the period piece a real anarchic streak. Easily the best three hander in years, the ever evolving dynamic between Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone (hot off an Oscar win) and QUEEN Olivia Coleman (heading directly into an Oscar win) is a joy to watch. The dialogue is biting, the visuals sumptuous and the debauched attitude running through it makes it a wicked fun time. It’s influence is already being felt too - just check out that teaser trailer for the new Emma!

12. The Art of Self Defense

Unfairly shafted to VOD, I caught Riley Stern’s follow up to the ace Faults on the big screen whilst in Edinburgh, along with a fellow filmmaker and we had an absolute blast. Playing like a capital D dark comedy mash up of Fight Club and The Foot Fist Way if directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Jesse Eisenberg utilises his weedy, beta male persona into an effective portrayal of a guy sick of being shit on in life, who takes up karate lessons after a traumatic mugging and slowly descends into a cult-like world of aggressive toxic masculinity.

It’s a fantastic satire of perceived manliness, with some of the funniest stuff I’ve seen all year instantly flipping into something completely shocking. It’s another great showcase for Imogen Poots, who seems to be most often caught playing students despite being in her 30s (looking at you, Black Christmas) but it’s Alessandro Nivola who utterly owns this movie as the intimidating dojo leader; a truly twisted creation that, in a just world, would be generating some serious awards buzz. Mark my words now that by the time the Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark lands later in 2020, we’ll suddenly all be talking about him.

11. Us

Another one that feels about three years old already, Jordan Peele’s Get Out follow up finds him with free reign to really get crazy (”you wanna get crazy?”) as he uses his blank check on another bitingly original horror social satire. Leaning a bit more heavily into both the straight up genre elements AND the often-times confusing social allegories, Us is a cabin in the woods slasher that evolves into a Twilight Zone ‘what-if’ scenario before going all out with it’s underlying metaphor.

The results can occasionally be mixed but the sheer ambition on display here is invigorating and it’s captivating to sit back and let a writer/director present something to you as unique and multifaceted as this. His love for horror fuels a tense plot that constantly looks to re-shuffle the stakes every twenty minutes, Lupita Nyong’o is mindbogglingly good as two very different versions of ‘one’ character and Elisabeth Moss is the supporting standout of choice, making 2019 her year with this alongside the brilliant Her Smell... (let’s not mention The Kitchen).

COMING UP - a Canadian stuntman, a wheel of knives, space baboons and every superhero ever

#top 20 #films of the year #films of 2019 #20-11 #the death of dick long #the farewell #pain and glory #dolemite is my name #monos #once upon a time in hollywood #stan & ollie #the favourite #the art of self-defense #us

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Fange Venture Deeper Into The Dankness With Caustic Third Album

~By Clément Helvete~

Originating from Rennes (Bretagne), French noisemakers FANGE managed to become a force to be reckoned with in just a handful of years, and one of France’s most recognizable band, both sonically and visually. Fange expertly blends influences to deliver a downpour of decibels. By combining sludge and crust punk influenced riffs with unsettling electronic/noise parts and loads of feedback, the band created a very personal sound from their very first release. The themes have been pretty consistent throughout the band’s six-year run, i.e. complementing dark, grueling music with filthy looking artwork and creepy-crawly thingies.

Fange’s new album, 'Punir' (2019), is the successor to 2016’s Purge and 2017’s Pourrissoir. It was released on Throatruiner records, Fange’s long-time partner in crime and vocalist Matthias Jungbluth’s brainchild. Recorded and mixed by Cyrille Gachet (Year of No Light, Chaos Echoes) and mastered by Brad Boatright (Yob, Nails) Punir is a 37-minute exercise in mind-blowing brutality.

The artwork was done by Benjamin Moreau, guitarist and founder of the band, and bass player of the late occult doom combo Huata. It is no surprise that Fange decided to keep full creative control of the artwork as it was established as an essential aspect of the band’s identity from the very beginning. The overall color tones stay in the vein of the previous two releases (red and black), there is still plenty of guts and gore to go around, and the result is just as eye-catching and intriguing as every single cover put out by the band. The use of bold black lines, which has become a staple of Benjamin Moreau’s visual style, and the cover’s hand drawn feeling announces that we’re about to listen to some ferocious and unbridled music. I personally own the LP version, and the whole thing is truly gorgeous. Moreover, the back of the LP sleeve features a wall of Sunn amps and cabs that will make gearheads shudder in anticipation.

Punir by FANGE

If you’re already familiar with Fange’s discography, the very first thing you’ll notice with Punir is that the band’s sound has changed a bit and has become even more abysmal. Imagine Pourrissoir on steroids. This change comes primarily from the presence of a bass player, namely Antoine Perron, for the very first time on a Fange record. Apparently the band didn’t want this new asset to go to waste and decided to put a serious emphasis on the lows. If you’re listening to Punir with bassy headphones or speakers, it might actually get tiring after a while. On the other hand, Fange isn’t exactly known for pulling their punches, so it’s fair to assume that it was a deliberate choice in order to add to the oppressive feeling of Punir.

The album starts off with "Ceinturon." After a short intro riff, the guitar launches into a Swedish buzzsaw-infused, death metal riff accompanied by a thundering rhythm section and vocals as thick and harsh as volcano smoke. The whole track is an ode to savagery and a great introduction to what is to come. The guitars crush everything that stands in their way, while Matthias alternates between beastly screams and haunting vocals. Alexandre Jadi’s first album appearance as Fange’s drummer is amazingly powerful, fast and relentless, yet subtle when necessary. Rarely have I been so glad to not be drum kit, because this one is taking a severe beating. The whole album flows really well and takes you through a mind-bending journey like a bad acid trip. Punir can be described as a controlled blend of crushing violence with hints of finesse, or as the band put it “ignorant music for the educated man.”

Fange has no problem going from eerie soundscapes to pummeling parts completely seamlessly. Nothing ever feels clumsy or forced, which can be challenging when combining such diverse influences. The variations in the vocal ranges are always spot on and add a unique feel to the songs. The guitar work is actually quite thoughtful. Dissonant melodies are used to create atmosphere and add contrast, thus highlighting the heavy and aggressive parts. The bass provides a sturdy foundation to the tracks and is a welcome addition to the band’s sound. The icing on the cake is the incredibly rich drumming style of Alexandre Jadi. Words really cannot do it justice, just listen to Punir and you’ll understand. Every single member of Fange is an essential cog in a well-oiled machine, which results in a very well balanced and solid album.

Photo by Gael Hervé c/o The Heavy Chronicles

The influence of early Swedish death metal is a lot more prominent on Punir than it was on previous albums (apart for the heavy use of the Boss HM-2 distortion pedal, which has been Fange’s signature sound from the very beginning), which is a great thing in my book. I was very curious to hear what direction Fange would take after their previous album, as it is one of these bands that manage to evolve in a completely logical, yet surprising, way with each release. Punir doesn’t disappoint, and it is quite obvious that Fange is very comfortable with its identity and confident with its sound. The band retains its noisy/electronic tendencies ("Opinel," "Maintien de l’Ordre," "Second Soleil") and sludgy, D-beat roots ("Chien de Sang," "Il Reconnaîtra les Siens") while adding new influences and perfecting its craft.

Punir stays under the 40-minute mark as it was clearly not intended to be a long, dragging experience but more as an extremely intense, short burst of energy. Overall this album is undeniably a pleasant surprise and a great success. Oddly enough, I would even say that it might be the band’s most accessible release to this day, although Purge remains my personal favorite. A lot more mature and controlled than its predecessor, Punir is the rightful continuation of Fange’s discography and a well-crafted piece to add to the band’s monument. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Punir rear its ugly head around the corner when comes the time of 2019 album of the year lists.

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#D&S Reviews #Fange #Rennes #France #Sludge #Noise #Death Metal #Clem Helvete #Doomed & Stoned

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5-star-songs · 7 years

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Weekend Rant: My FIOO X5II

I post a blurb a day here, Monday through Friday, but from time to time I might post something music-related but not song-specific on a Saturday or Sunday. The occasion for this one: my love for my new mp3 player.

Maybe it’s odd that a guy who spent ten years helping build and evolve Rhapsody, and then the next four doing the same for Google Play, even has an mp3 player. My Android + the music streaming subscription service of my choice should serve all my needs, especially since Google Play lets me store 50,000 of my own songs on their servers, and mix and match them with everything else in their catalog.

But my phone’s battery is a precious resource I must conserve, and I spend too much time flying or driving long distances with no internet connection. And I prefer having access to my entire music collection at those times, rather than whatever subset of it I remembered to save for offline listening before the trip began.

For years, that meant carrying a 160GB iPod classic with me wherever I went. But Apple discontinued that a while back, and even before they did my collection had exceeded its capacity (roughly 31,000 songs), which meant that every new record I added to it required deleting an old one. And that caused me physical and emotional distress, every time.

So when my iPod started showing signs it was on the verge of failing for good, I began hunting around for a replacement. Which led me to my new favorite possession, the Fiio X5 2nd gen pictured above.

Fiio’s a Chinese company that makes, among other things, surprisingly affordable, audiophile-quality digital audio players. That means all the elements inside the player have been selected and engineered to appeal to people with picky tastes and expensive headphones and lossless audio files who like to fiddle endlessly with EQ settings.

While I own and appreciate well-designed amplifiers and speakers, I’m not really an audiophile. I can reliably tell the difference between a WAV file and a 192kbps mp3 of the same song, but bump that mp3 up to 320kbps and I can’t tell you which one’s which anymore. I believe there are people who can notice the difference (Neil Young is most definitely one of them), but I’m also pretty sure they’re less than 5% of the population, and I am not among them.

So the X5ii’s real appeal to me is its storage capacity: rather than the outdated hard drive of my old iPod, this Fiio holds two micro sd cards of whatever capacity you choose -- both of mine are 200GB at the moment, meaning this thing already holds more than twice what that iPod did, but as technology advances and 512GB cards become more affordable, I can expand it further, if and when I need to. So, while I don’t personally need my entire collection in any of the lossless formats Fiio supports, I do plan on upgrading all of those 120 and 192kbps mp3s I ripped or acquired in the aughts.

The X5ii has a similar form factor to an iPod, including a scroll wheel, but because Fiio is a small company the bulk of their resources are apparently focused on the hardware, not the software, leaving a few trade-offs for iPod users to get accustomed to. Most significantly, since the X5ii doesn’t come with any media management software, you have to update the device manually -- that means dragging and dropping any new songs directly onto the device via your computer, and that means taking some time, if you haven’t already, to organize your collection in a logical folder structure so what’s on your device can be compared at a glance to what’s on your computer, and swapped back and forth most easily.

Once you’ve got the music you want on the device, you’ll find that navigating within your collection takes longer compared to an iPod, and the UI feels like it was designed by nerds for other nerds, rather than by nerds for their parents. If, like me, you have thousands of artists in your collection, and feel like playing a specific album by someone in the middle of the alphabet (as pictured above), it’s going to take you a minute or more of spinning that wheel before the music’s playing. I do the bulk of my listening by putting my entire collection, or some large subset of it, on shuffle play, so I don’t really mind the lag.

(Addendum, 3/12/17: I started minding the lag, a lot. My breaking point came last month, on a flight, while trying to write up “Waterloo Sunset.” It took me so goddamn long to navigate to the track I wound up timing it: one minute and thirty-four seconds. That felt unacceptable, so I came up with a better solution: I re-arranged my filing system so that there’s a separate folder for each letter of the alphabet on simcard #1, and artists are filed in the appropriate folder like they might be in a record store (except, since it’s a digital age, Bruce Springsteen goes in B, not S, etc.). This change improved the navigation experience dramatically: I can now have “Waterloo Sunset” playing twenty-three seconds after wishing it, or more than four times faster than before.)

There’s only one thing I consider a serious degradation of my old iPod experience: my X5ii hates external playlists. Just getting one onto the device is probably too daunting for the average consumer: you have to export the playlist from your media manager, open it in Notepad, and do a universal find-and-replace operation so that all the paths to your tracks on your computer (ie: C:/Users/Tim/Music/Magnetic Fields/Love at the Bottom of the Sea) get switched over to the paths on your device (ie: TF1:/Magnetic Fields/Love at the Bottom of the Sea). (Or, as of 3/21: TF1:/M/Magnetic Fields/Love at the Bottom of the Sea.)

That I could handle easily enough. Unfortunately, it turns out that even though the X5ii can hold tens of thousands of songs, it can’t handle a playlist with more than ~3,000 tracks at a time. Attempting to play one uses up too much RAM, and the device freezes. That was a major bummer, since the playlists I rely on most are anywhere from ~5,000 songs (“4 and 5 Star Soul”) to ~24,000 songs (“4 and 5 Star Everything”).

I tried to deal with this by splitting up my massive playlists into smaller ones, and rotating through them. But that was unsatisfying, because it meant one of the eight “4 and 5 Star Everything” playlists was all songs that started with H, so I wound up hearing a bunch of songs about hearts in a row. Note to all musicians (including myself): you can stop writing songs about hearts, and how they break, and how to heal them. It’s been done.

There was one other solution, which I was hesitant to try, and even more hesitant to admit to actually going through with, because it’s kind of insane. But it’s also why I’m posting about this on 5 Star Songs, as will become clear in a moment.

For reasons I don’t quite understand, my X5ii can easily handle a playlist with tens of thousands of tracks if it’s made directly on the device. So, I could replicate my “4 and 5 Star Everything” playlist by clicking the device’s “favorite” icon 24,760 times (doing so actually required 74,280 clicks, because you have to click once to reveal the icon, click a second time to select it, and then click a third time to move on to the next song you want to flag).

This seemed nuts. But, if it’s not already obvious, I really like my music, and I’m really particular about how I listen to it. And I loved everything else about my X5ii. If I could just favorite those 24,760 songs I already knew I liked best, keeping that Favorites playlist updated as I added new music would be much simpler than constantly exporting, editing and saving Notepad files.

So, um, I did it. Took me a week -- turns out it’s something you can do each evening while binge watching Horace and Pete. And though I’m a little embarrassed about it (and my wife is completely bewildered by my compulsion), I’m quite glad I did. For one thing, I now have the perfect portable device, capable of powering the highest quality headphones while carrying the sum total of all music I’ve collected over the past forty-odd years.

For another, it made me commune with that collection in a manner that turns out to be much more immersive and satisfying than scanning the spines of LPs or CDs stored on shelves. Over the course of a week, I stared at every album cover briefly, and made note of each song title, learning things I’d never realized along the way (for instance: Mavis Staples covered one of my favorite George Soule songs; also: the list of things bands have written odes to waiting for or on (A Friend, The Guns, Superman) is pretty funny when considered in a row).

So, that’s why the header at the top of this Tumblr recently switched from saying, “My iPod has 31,302 songs…” to “My mp3 player has 36,374 songs...” The number, which had stalled for years as I had to banish songs that had commited no crime beyond earning a mere 3 stars, can now start growing again. And that makes me so happy, I don’t mind it took me clicking buttons almost 75,000 times. I will always be an obsessive idiot when it comes to music.

There are far worse ways to muddle through life.

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instantdeerlover · 4 years

Text

Delivery & A Movie Celebrate Black History And Culture In NYC added to Google Docs

Delivery & A Movie Celebrate Black History And Culture In NYC

There are only so many moments throughout history that create a window for long overdue change. Thanks to the hard work of protesters and activists over decades and generations, now is one of them. One way to celebrate and support the Black community right now (and consistently in the future) is by learning from Black activists, listening to Black stories, and spending your dollars at Black-owned businesses. That’s why we put together a list of movies and documentaries that celebrate Black history and culture, and paired each one with a Black-owned restaurant in NYC that’s open for takeout right now.

Don’t let your learning stop at this guide. Follow accounts like Color Of Change, The Dream Defenders, We Are Your Voice, Gal-Dem, and others to learn more about these issues. This is just one way in which you can support the Black community right now - along with donating to local and national organizations dedicated to fighting for racial justice.

Featured In The Ultimate NYC Delivery & Takeout Guide See all our guides THE SPOTS Noah Devereaux Sylvia's Restaurant $ $ $ $ Southern in Harlem $$$$ 328 Malcolm X Blvd 7.0 /10

Movie Pairing: The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix)

“If you’re unfamiliar with Marsha P. Johnson, activists in this documentary describe her as the ‘Rosa Parks of the LGBTQ movement.’ She was a key leader of the Stonewall Riots, a two-day series of demonstrations at the Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn in 1969 - a movement that evolved into what we now know as The Pride Parade. Along with Sylvia Riveria and many other trans people of color, Marsha P. Johnson paved the way for present-day activists to push for legislation like the Supreme Court ruling, which made it illegal to fire someone for being LGBTQ+ in the U.S. Victoria Cruz, a contemporary of Marsha P. Johnson, shares personal accounts from this legendary moment in history through in this stunning documentary.” -ND

Order: Harlem Style Fried Chicken and Waffles from Sylvia’s

Extra Virgin $ $ $ $ American , Seafood , Mediterranean in West Village $$$$ 259 W 4th St 7.8 /10

Movie Pairing: If Beale Street Could Talk (Hulu)

“James Baldwin only needs to use about four words to make me cry. So it makes sense that a Barry Jenkins directed movie based on Baldwin’s 1974 novel _If Beale Street Could Talk_produces the same weepy-beautiful result. This movie is about the immovable love of two Black teenagers in Harlem in the ’70s. You’ll know it from the very first scene when Tish (played by Kiki Layne) visits her love Fonny (Stephan James) in prison after he’s been wrongfully arrested for a crime he did not commit in downtown Manhattan. Tish says in a voiceover, “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass.” This line is especially painful because, as much as Tish hopes others won’t experience this same feeling, we know so many people have.” -HA

Order: Spicy shrimp tacos and flourless chocolate cake from Extra Virgin in the West Village (near where Fonny and Tish go on a big date).

Maxine On The Boulevard $$$$ 11333 Farmers Blvd

Movie Pairing: Get Out (Hulu)

“In Jordan Peele’s 2017 Get Out, he confronts those who say they “don’t see race,” or, “I would have voted for Obama for a third term if I could have,” but end up other-ing people of color in detrimental, though not always overt, ways. In this case, lead Daniel Kaluuya as Chris gets trapped at his white girlfriend’s family estate where they [spoiler alert] hypnotize him in hopes of transplanting their blind, elderly gallerist friend’s brain into his seeing and able body. Whether Get Out is a comedy, horror film, or something else entirely is beside the point. This somehow hilarious look at contemporary racism probes a hazier form of bigotry.” -AS

Order: Fish and Chips from Maxine On The Boulevard

Mikey Likes It Mikey Likes It Ice Cream $$$$ 199 Avenue A

Movie Pairing: American Son (Netflix)

“American Son is probably one of the most powerful performances of Kerry Washington’s career. I say that because she performed it for three months on Broadway before Netflix decided to create the film version. On the surface, it’s a story about a mother and a father who spend a night at a Florida police precinct while trying to find their missing son. But as tensions rise, themes of race, gender, parenting, and policing come to the forefront. Whether you miss Scandal or want to learn more about how American families suffer from the issue of racial bias within our country’s police force, this is a great watch.” -ND

Order: “Southern Hospitality” Butter Pecan Ice Cream from Mikey Likes It

Pony Bistro $$$$ 2375 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd

Movie Pairing: The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (Hulu)

“In the late ’60s and early ’70s, several bowl cut-flaunting Swedish journalists filmed a series of interviews with some of the most influential leaders of the Black Power movement, as well as scenes from everyday life in Harlem, Brooklyn, and Oakland. As outsiders, these Swedes wanted to better understand how Black folks lived in America at the time. That footage was later found and edited into a series of nine different stories, each paired with voiceover commentary from artists like Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, Sonia Sanchez, Questlove, and Harry Belafonte. By the end of the documentary, you’ll realize there is no better word for what you’re witnessing than a “mixtape.” Even though each story is distinct, they all become contextually informed by what precedes and follows. In case you haven’t spent enough time getting to know the minds of Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Louis Farrakhan, let this treasure trove of lost footage be a way in.” - HA

Order: Create a mixtape-esque meal from Ponty Bistro in Harlem. We see no reason a crepe with nutella and banana shouldn’t go nicely with some poulet yassa and a lobster BLT.

Milk & Pull $$$$ 778 Seneca Ave

Movie Pairing: Tangerine (Hulu) “It’s Christmas Eve in LA, and Sin-Dee is looking for clients. When it comes to her attention that her pimp boyfriend hasn’t been faithful, she and her best friend Alexandra set out to seek revenge. At its heart, Tangerine is a hysterical and touching buddy comedy, but I can’t think of any other buddy comedies starring Black trans sex workers. The film, which was shot entirely on an iPhone 5S, covers a different kind of glamorous Hollywood than we’re used to. It’s subversive, hilarious, and the final, tense scene in a donut shop where everyone spills each other’s tea will probably make you really want a donut.” - AS

Order: Donuts from Milk And Pull

Noah Devereaux Sisters $ $ $ $ American in Clinton Hill $$$$ 900 Fulton St. 7.7 /10

Movie Pairing: Foxy Brown (Prime)

“Foxy Brown might be the most famous Blaxploitation film of all time, and it’s all thanks to Pam Grier. If you’re not familiar, the term “Blaxploitation” refers to a ’70s film genre that includes movies about black people who aren’t afraid to go after what they want by any means necessary. This film follows Foxy, played by Pam Grier, on her road to avenge the killing of her lover. No one had ever seen a black woman as captivating and tenacious as Grier on the big screen, which is why Foxy Brown made her an icon of the genre. If this film isn’t on your list of ‘100 Things To Watch Before You Die,’ add it now.” -ND

Order: Mac & Cheese from Sisters

Noah Devereaux Bunna Cafe $ $ $ $ Ethiopian in Bushwick $$$$ 1084 Flushing Ave 8.2 /10

Movie Pairing: Love & Basketball (Prime)

“I don’t know how else to say this, but watching Love & Basketball on Vh1 was a seminal part of my sexual awakening, and I hope it was part of yours too. This was one of the first movies where I saw a female lead character run sh*t with fervor, while still being considered attractive by a hot man (upon reflection, I now understand that’s what happens when women direct movies). If you missed out on this early 2000s classic, all you really need to know is that there’s an iconic scene where the two characters play one-on-one strip-basketball in a USC dorm room and Monica says, “all is fair in love and basketball.” Major swoon.” -HA

Order: An Ethiopian feast for two from Bunna Cafe, even if it’s really just for one. When you’re in the presence of a movie with this much tension, you should only eat food with your hands.

Field Trip Fieldtrip $$$$ 109 Malcolm X Blvd

Movie Pairing: Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (Hulu)

“Few people have ever spoken as poetically and radically about the black experience in America as Toni Morrison. The Nobel Prize- winning storyteller published her first book in 1970, while occupying her position as the first black woman editor in fiction at Random House, but she didn’t stop there. As this documentary gets across, her influence on the world extends well into the 20th century and will continue to change lives for generations. Before her passing in 2019, she helped create this documentary about her life, in which she narrates her own story, including juicy details about her work with activist Angela Davis during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.” -ND

Order: Fried Fish Bowl and Dragon Fruit Lemonade from Field Trip

The Bergen $$$$ 1299 Bergen St

Movie Pairing: 13th (Netflix)

“Are you a white person with a Netflix account you may or may not pay for? Me too. Have you spent many hours watching British Bakeoff and the new season of Dating Around? Me too. Let’s make a pact to pause those shows and watch Ava Duvernay’s 2016 documentary 13th - even if you’ve already seen it. This film is a required 101 on the causes and effects of the mass incarceration of Black people, and an excellent explanation of how the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery mostly privileges white people with Netflix accounts they may or may not pay for.” -HA

Order: Something to gorge on during the whole movie, like fries and wings from The Bergen in Crown Heights.

Ode to Babel $ $ $ $ Prospect Heights $$$$ 772 Dean St

Movie Pairing: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Prime)

“It would be a mistake to ignore the impact of The Black Panther Party on American culture. And with all of the myths surrounding their legacy, I found this documentary to be an extremely thorough deep dive into what really happened in the early 1970s when this anti-capitalist organization expanded to 68 cities across the U.S., providing social welfare programs like free breakfast for children and community health clinics. All while making a mark in the fashion world with their militant uniform - a black leather jacket, black beret, and dark sunglasses - which Beyonce references in her 2016 Super Bowl performance.” -ND

Order: Sorrel Not Sorry Bottled Cocktail (with Mezcal, Hibiscus, and Lemon) from Ode To Babel

via The Infatuation Feed https://www.theinfatuation.com/new-york/guides/black-owned-restaurants-nyc-movie-and-dinner Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://trello.com/userhuongsen

Created June 20, 2020 at 02:42AM /huong sen View Google Doc Nhà hàng Hương Sen chuyên buffet hải sản cao cấp✅ Tổ chức tiệc cưới✅ Hội nghị, hội thảo✅ Tiệc lưu động✅ Sự kiện mang tầm cỡ quốc gia 52 Phố Miếu Đầm, Mễ Trì, Nam Từ Liêm, Hà Nội http://huongsen.vn/ 0904988999 http://huongsen.vn/to-chuc-tiec-hoi-nghi/ https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xa6sRugRZk4MDSyctcqusGYBv1lXYkrF

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cristoph00cdc · 5 years

Video

Ode to JOY TV & Carmen TV VIA ZOOMER

Taoiseach-Prime Minister of Ireland. Leo Varadkar Ireland Headquarters Government Buildings Merrion Street Dublin 2 D02 R583 Ireland CC-President -Michael D. Higgins Aras an Uachtarain Phoenix Park Dublin 8 Ireland CC:Department executive: Niall Burgess, Secretary General Simon Coveney, TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Anne Anderson (Ambassador) Iveagh House, 80 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, D02 VY53 CC: An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt agus Comhionannais The Department of Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan, TD, Minister for Justice and Equality 51 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, D02 HK52 Officeholder: David Stanton (Minister) Department executive: Aidan O'Driscoll, Secretary General Embassy Of Ireland Embassy in Kuala Lumpur Address: Ireland House, The AmpWalk, No 218, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, WP Kuala Lumpur, 50450 Kuala Lumpur FBI John Schachnovsky US. Embassy Bangkok 120-22 Wireless Road, Bangkok, Thailand 10330 Tel: +66-2-205-4000 SEVERE WARNING OF INTERNATIONAL THREAT TO SECURITY. I AM UNFORTUNATELY A PERSON OF - A TARGET OF SUCH A HATE CRIME. AND OF INTERNATIONAL THREAT TO SECURITY. CANADA - MALAYSIA IN THEIR INSISTENCE TO MURDER ME - CREATED A TOXIC TIME BOMB IN MY BODY. ALIVE I CAN BE QUARANTINED AND PLACED ON LIFE SUPPORT. DEAD - I AM A CARRIES OF THE MALAYSIAN PLAGUE - DEADLY UPON DEATH AND EXPOSED TO THE ENVIRONMENT POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING. SO THAT MEANS UPON MY DEATH MY BODY - WILL HAVE TO BE DESTROYED. AND AT THAT TIME - THE CRIMINALS WHO CREATED THIS HAVE TO BE INCARCERATED FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. DR.HEDY FRY WILL HAVE TO HAVE HER MEDICAL LICENCE RESCINDED - AND SERVE A LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND THE REVOKING OF HER CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP. ALL THE CAST OF CHARACTERS- SEVERE PENALTIES- SO NOW DOES THE $500,000,000. PRICE TAG MAKE SENSE. AS I WILL MORE THAN LIKELY DIE FROM THIS - THE COURT CASE MUST CONTINUE POST MORTEM. AND AS THERE SO MUCH BUREAUCRACY FOR ME TO SUFFER THROUGH WITHOUT ONCE RECEIVING MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE TOXIC PATHOGENS USED TO KILL ME - CHCKL REFUSED -DENIED AND DELETED ALL DOCUMENTS THAT I SENT TO THEM - AS DID DR.HEDY FRY - AS DID ALL “ADVOCATES” THAT CANADA USED HAS A RUSE. THE LAWYERS- ALL FUNDED BY THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT ALL SUPPORTING WHITE GENOCIDE. AS FOR MALAYSIA. AT THIS JUNCTURE - THE MOST CRIMINAL - THE CURRENT PRIME MINSTER - THE CHIEF OF MALAYSIAN POLICE - AND THE CAST OF CHARACTERS AT COCOBAY RESORT PORT DICKSON- ITS RENTAL AGENTS AND ALL THAT SUPPORTED MY DEATH AT THEIR HANDS. AND THE DOCTORS IN THE MOST DANGEROUS MEDICAL SYSTEM IN THE WORLD. • Syndrome pulmonaire à hantavirus étendu. •F La fièvre hémorragique avec syndrome rénal s'est effondrée. •F La fièvre de Lassa s'est effondrée. •⦁ La leptospirose s'est effondrée. (EPIDEMIC DE MALAISIE) •Ch La chorio-méningite lymphocytaire (LCM) s'est effondrée. •F La fièvre hémorragique d’Omsk s’est effondrée. •⦁ La peste s'est effondrée. •Bite Morsure de rat La fièvre s'est effondrée. •VIRUS DE L'IMMUNION DEFECIENCE HUMAINE •SYNDROME D'IMMUNION DEFECIENCE ACQUISE https://writerswrite000.wordpress.com/2019/06/01/how-the-canadian-consulates-murders-canadians-who-are-attacked-abroad-a-cautionary-tale-of-havoc-madness-malfeasance-2/ https://writerswrite000.wordpress.com/2019/05/25/long-live-the-king-kevin-oleary/ Defence Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence "G2" Stiúrthóireacht na Faisnéise McKee Barracks, Dublin 7 Station Road, Newbridge, County Kildare Simon Coveney, TD, Minister for Defence Paul Kehoe, TD, Minister of State at the Department of Defence 12px Lieutenant General Conor O'Boyle Chief of Staff of Defence Forces Ireland 12px Colonel Joseph Mulligan[1], Director of Military Intelligence ("D J2 CC; FBI Headquarters 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 (202) 324-3000 INTERPOL General Secretariat 200, quai Charles de Gaulle 69006 Lyon https://youtu.be/5XMPUlGMPqI https://youtu.be/uSPbzV1FJrw https://youtu.be/7x8v-eIKoFI https://youtu.be/xsgtbef3TJc ALL FILES RELATED TO CHRISTOPHER DE CAERMICAHEL REQUEST FOR POLITICAL REFUGEE STATUS FROM CANADA DATED JUNE 5TH 2019 ALL FILES TO ASSIST IN - GAINING LEGAL PROTECTION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA - ITS AGENTS - ITS AGENCIES - RESTRAINING ORDERS AGAINST INCLUDING ALL OTHER CHARGES AS DIRECTED BY THE COURTS. THE RCMP - THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA - JUSTIN TRUDEAU - DR.HEDY FRY CHC-KL JUDITH ST.GEORGE MARC-OLIVER JEAN GAR PARDY THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND THEIR OFFICE THE CONSULAR SERVICES OF CANADA SOS CANADA ALL RELATED PARLIAMENTARY CONTACTS INVOLVED IN OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND ALLOWED FOR WHITE GENOCIDE AND POLITICAL AMBIGUITY - I AM NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH HORRIFIC HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES MURDER ATTEMPTED MURDER MANSLAUGHTER ATTEMPTED MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES FOR WHITE GENOCIDE AS DECLARED BY PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU -FOLLOWED THROUGH BY HIS MINISTERS & MINISTRIES ANDREW SCHEER PIERRE POILIVERE MICHELLE REMPEL THE CHC-BKK DONICA POTTER ETAL CHC-BBK THE LIST IS EXTENSIVE AS ARE THE CRIMES AGAINST CHRISTOPHER DE CAERMICHAEL. I WAS INFECTED WITH LEPTOSPIROSS WEIL’S DISESE AND A VIRTUAL SMORGASBORD OF DEATH. I HAVE NO IDEA OF HOW TO WRITE THIS DOCUMENT BUT ASK THAT YOU ASSIST ME PLEASE. i have no real idea of how to document this has a summary - as there are so many details. within the next few weeks maybe 90 days - i am dead . The history of this ordeal - must be known - as Canada is actively seeking the death of innocent Canadian citizens - while abroad are viciously attacked.. and eventually die. Canada claims we are not Canadian enough to save and Trudeau has a fatios against any and all European Canadian migrants. Sure it sounds crazy but that is Trudeau- Bat shit Insane and worse as the politicians involved are also influenced and support this Canadian Madness - even Political neophyte Kevin O'Leary ? I dont stand a chance at living and the only proof that this was murder - are my desperate pleas. Dead men tell no tales. Now i sent the files to Kevin O'Leary - Shark Tank fame - as he is Canadian and Irish and I had hoped that he would assist me in getting my case heard and free me from dying at the hands of Canada. But NO! Canadian Politics are brutal- deadly -- not directed at the people but strictly to Politics. So killing me - is an option- a reality. Even with Kevin O'leary ? I have sent my petition and notified everyone but Crickets - The whose who of Canadian Politics- The UK - USA - but somehow they decided I must die - ? So many details are in my blogs - V-blogs - and the event history is told and retold ad infinitum- ad nauseam ad mortem But as my body is the evidence and as all are suppressing this information. I am forced to publicize all this.. in fact as they are treating me as a 0 person - i thought pitch shark tank executives this deal . As all this is Pro-bono -and Lawyers are the Only way through - and I set the Injuries - at $500,000,000. 00 a huge amount of $. But with such an international disaster taking place. Everything I have written about is accurate and its suppressed. By Malaysia - By Canada and by Canadians - even Kevin O'Leary. Plus obviously - I dont need all that $. But as I am fatally injured -and have no idea how long I have to live - if I am too survive - at all - I will need years of therapy, that will cost a ton of money as it will forced to be experimental - as my body has become a petri dish of infection- so to recover - and as well as never return to Canada. in so doing I have to also find a new country to live in. I thought Ireland and possibly use the funds to fund so many philanthropic organizations - that require funding - and with all the cre -cre in the world - people do not need help - i am so tired -exhausted beyond belief. nights-days - became years - and death lingered. Everything that has occurred to me - is a Crime- Everything that has happened as placed me on deaths door. And everyone i have contacted as increased the danger of this experience. Canada and Canadians appear to be a ruthless breed - especially the Politicians. So please assist. I do not have long to live and with all the shenanigans? I am exhausted - bereft - harmed within-an inch of death with suffering so huge - I literally am burnt alive by this assault. This was what i was assaulted with- and from that day on wards - January 13th 2017 - i have fought for my life. USING temporary body hacks to try and cope. Which all fail -as the infections - have hybridized - so I have no idea what I am fighting. I am very weak - my muscles are gone - my arms and legs are spindles - i have gone blind - many times - my corneas were burnt - my heart damaged - i am lame and my hands are becoming claw like. Plus Cancer has started to form . THE ATTEMPT TO LEAVE MALAYSIA BY LAND AS I CANNOT FLY - COMMERCIAL CAN CAUSE A BRAIN BLEED THAT MAY MAKE ME UNCONSCIOUS. I HAVE BEEN BED RIDDEN - SINCE THE ORDEAL JANUARY 13 TH. 2017. WHILE CHC-KL HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DISCREDIT ME AND TO SEEK MY DEATH - DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES - SO BEFORE I DIE - I AM MAKING SURE THAT THIS CANADIAN - NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH- EUROPEAN CANADIAN(WHITE GENOCIDE) IS ACCORDING TO TRUDEAU - NOT ACCESSIBLE TO CANADA. THEREFORE I MUST NOT LIVE. AS MY PASSPORT IS THE ONLY LEGAL DOCUMENT THAT MAY MEAN ANYTHING ? THOUGH AS NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH ? NOT SURE - BUT THEN MY LEGAL ARGUMENT IS WELL ESTABLISHED IN THESE DOCUMENTS- AND AS CANADA HAS GONE ROGUE - KILLING INNOCENT CANADIANS--WHILE SUPPRESSING THE EXTRAORDINARY DANGER OF MALAYSIA. THE CHC-KL IS A VERY DELINQUENT - DISTURBED - ENTITY - INCAPABLE OF TELLING THE TRUTH. WATCH THEM LAWYER UP TO KILL ME FASTER - WHAT A SHAME CANADA DETERIORATED INTO A VICIOUS TRUDEAU-IAN HELL HOLE THE BLOGS WILL BRING YOU UP TO DATE - THE VIDEOS SHOW ME - ILL - DYING AND BEGGING FOR HELP.I EVEN APPLIED TO IRELAND FOR REFUGEE STATUS - AS NOW AS CANADA AS ALSO STATED THAT DEATHS BY MEDICAL MALPRACTICE IS 30,000.00 AND THAT WAS THE REASON I HAD TO SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION WORLDWIDE - THE FIRST BILLS WERE 100,000.00 TO REBUILD MY JAW AFTER CANADA - BUTCHERED IT - LEADING TO A PLETHORA OF HEALTH ISSUES - DUE TO THE SEVERE DAMAGE - NOW THIS - CANADA HAS GONE BERSERK? WELL MY DEAD BODY - THESE DOCUMENTS - THESE CONTACTS ARE ALL THAT I HAVE TO PROVE I WAS ALIVE - AS CANADA WOULD HAVE SUPPRESSED ALL THIS. NOW IT CANT. WELL IT CAN - BUT I AM NOT THE FIRST VICTIM HERE IN MALAYSIA - JUST THE ONE THAT DIED BY CANADA - MALAYSIAN HANDS = MURDER = MANSLAUGHTER - MALFEASANCE= MY DEATH - https://www.change.org/p/human-rights-campaign-free-a-canadian-trapped-in-malaysia https://writerswrite000.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/canadian-applying-for-urgent-asylum-canadas-deadly-kings-preoragative/ https://thebookof25.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/a-morte-pela-viral-persistente-leptospirose-humana-na-malasia/ thebookof25.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/the-plague-cocobay-resort-leptospirosis-diseases-port-dickson-malaysia-2017-coco-bay-resort/ https://thecanadiandebacle.wordpress.com/2018/08/23/the-great-canadian-debacle-circa-2018/ FBI New York Press Office Phone number(212) 384-2100 FBI -26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY 10278, USA 1 212-384-1000 Office of Public Affairs Phone number(202) 514-2007/TDD (202)514-1888 @NewYorkFBI Bangkok, Thailand American Embassy: 011-66-2-205-4000 Nations covered: Laos, Myanmar, Thailand Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia American Embassy: 011-603-2168-5000 My father at his death was an American Citizen and I did turn to the American Embassy in KL only to receive Their MIDDLE finger.. That Ambassador is a beast of a liar. U.S. Department of Justice Justice Management Division 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Room 1111 Washington, DC 20530

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tendance-news · 6 years

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JACKSON, Miss. — The president is coming to America’s poorest, blackest state to open a civil rights museum on Saturday, and people in the neighborhoods surrounding that gleaming tribute to the past would rather have Donald Trump visit their present.

“It’s hostile now, more hostile than in a long, long time,” said Pete McElroy, who employs three men at the auto repair shop that has been his family’s business for three generations. “People almost boast about it: ‘We got our man in the White House, and this is the way the ball’s going to roll now.’ ”

Three miles from the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, over rutted roads, past littered lots, abandoned houses, and shuttered plants and warehouses, McElroy, 69, and other black residents of this struggling capital city say that after nearly a year of the Trump presidency, they have a definitive answer to the question candidate Trump posed when he spoke at a rally in Jackson in August last year.

“What do you have to lose?” Trump asked, making a quixotic and ultimately failed bid for black votes to a nearly all-white crowd.

“We’re losing a lot,” McElroy said here this week. “Losing Obamacare. Where are people going to go? Losing money. He’s making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Mostly, we’re losing respect. No way you can evade that. The way he speaks, the racists feel like they can say anything they want to us.”

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) — an early and avid supporter of Trump’s — had invited the president to attend the opening months ago, but few here thought he would actually come. Except for crises such as hurricanes and oil spills, no president had set foot in small, poor, reliably Republican Mississippi for more than a decade.

The Black Empowerment exhibit at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Trump’s down-to-the-wire decision to attend the opening seemed to change everything. Suddenly, the focus shifted from the elderly Mississippians who had stood up to police and merchants and employers to demand their rights half a century ago. The president with a knack for dominating conversation had succeeded again. In the local news, at beauty salons and auto repair shops, even in the halls of the new museum, the talk was now about Trump: Why was he coming? What would he say? Would celebration morph into protest and controversy?

[Trump should skip Civil Rights Museum opening, NAACP says]

On Thursday, Rep. John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat who is one of the last surviving leaders of the civil rights movement, canceled his commitment to give the keynote address at the opening. Lewis, who had refused to attend Trump’s inauguration because he considered him an illegitimate president, joined with Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) in announcing that they will not attend because Trump is coming.

“President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum,” they said in a statement.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called their decision “unfortunate,” adding that Trump “hopes others will join him in recognizing that the movement was about removing barriers and unifying Americans of all backgrounds.”

On the cusp of the divisive Senate election in neighboring Alabama, Trump has triggered a frenzy of preparation and trepidation. On Thursday, Secret Service agents and state and local police combed every corner of the downtown site where Trump will join aging veterans of the civil rights movement and local politicians for the opening of two museums — one on the state’s history, the other a strikingly challenging look at the cruelties of race from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Along the streets of Jackson, even people who had no idea that a civil rights museum had just been built with $90 million in state money knew that Trump was coming.

[In Mississippi, a racist’s rifle tells a chilling story. But will Trump overshadow it?]

“It’s okay he’s coming, but they should take him to the ’hood,” said Quinton King, a 22-year-old mechanic at a tire shop on Martin Luther King Drive. “Let him see we living paycheck to paycheck, can’t get no credit card. It’s like they’re trying to keep everything for themselves up there, and here, we ain’t got nothing. Tell Trump to look around — houses abandoned, streets with holes, power lines hanging down in the street.”

A mural of Freedom Riders’ mug shots at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

King had not heard of any new museum in town. “Not really my style,” he said. And he saw no reason to learn about the people who had risked their lives to win him the right to vote and to live where he pleased. “We didn’t touch on any history real heavy in school,” King said. “It was all about trying to get you to pass the exit test.”

But although there are no plans for Trump to see any of Jackson beyond the museum, even a quick breeze through its galleries will confront him with a view of American history more complicated than the simple message sent by his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

“I Question America,” reads the banner over one of the museum’s galleries. A panel headlined “Savage Beating” depicts how police in the 1960s, “charged with enforcing the law, instead often brutalized black Mississippians.”

The museum presents a searing catalogue of bombings, small daily terrors, grinding humiliations, and rousing odes to the power of community organizing. Five towering black monoliths list the names of those who were lynched — more than in any other state — along with the purported rationale for their deaths: “lawlessness,” even “mistaken identity.”

[Trump replies ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’ to tweet about his attacks on African American]

It is purposely a challenging view of a time that no one would want to go back to, said Katie Blount, director of the state Department of Archives and History, which built the museum. “You can’t understand anything about Mississippi or the nation today without understanding this history,” she said.

Mississippians are divided about whether Trump should have been invited to the opening. Some of his supporters, thrilled by news of a presidential visit, have announced plans to attend the opening, which has some veterans of the civil rights movement worrying that celebration might change into confrontation.

Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

Marshall Ramsey, the cartoonist for the local newspaper, the Clarion-Ledger, tweeted his hope that Trump won’t say, as he did after the white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville in August, that “you also had some very fine people on both sides.”

“It’s unfortunate that this president, who has created a climate of racial insensitivity and has embraced white supremacists, would choose to use this celebration of civil rights heroes as a photo op,” said Derrick Johnson, who recently moved from head of the Mississippi NAACP to the presidency of the national organization. “There’s just profound disappointment and sadness that after all these years, Mississippi is finally recognizing the heroes of the movement and this president chooses to be a distraction and an affront.”

Some blacks in Jackson see the museum, however, not as a reconciliation but as another in a long series of slights. “I won’t ever set foot in it,” said Burrell Brooks, a taxi driver who views the museum as an effort by whites to excuse the crimes of the past and the inequalities of the present.

“It’s getting worse, not better, not just for black Americans but for poor whites, too,” Brooks said. “You see the Confederate banner back up, the whole Confederate monuments thing. This country is going back to more segregation, and a museum makes people think that’s all history, that’s all fixed.”

[In feud with John Lewis, Donald Trump attacked ‘one of the most respected people in America’]

The first thing many African Americans in Jackson mention about the museum is the admission price, which is $8. “They charge us to see our own history,” Brooks said.

“Don’t holler about Trump coming,” said Dorothy Benford, 75, a retired teacher who as a young college student worked with civil rights activists in Jackson. “Let him come. Maybe he’ll learn something. If you’re going to holler, holler about the fee, making black people pay to see our own people kidnapped, hung, beaten, killed. Holler about what we have to lose — medical care, day care. Holler about the racist things people are saying about blacks that you did not hear before Trump.”

Former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour (R), one of the most fervent advocates for the civil rights museum, rejects the idea that Trump has unleashed a new era of racial confrontation. “I don’t hear that,” he said. “The vast majority of Mississippians — black, white, red or yellow — think our state has made as much progress or more than any other state in the last 50 years.”

Even if Trump hasn’t exactly been a symbol of racial reconciliation, he said, “it’s good for our state that the president, whoever he is, is tipping his hat to Mississippi, coming here knowing that there are things in this museum that we do not want to see repeated. The purpose of this museum was to be honest, open, to be candid about things that were indefensible.”

Jackson’s longest-serving city councilman, Kenneth Stokes, isn’t buying that. He drives through his center-city ward and pronounces that he will never enter the museum. “It’s a statement of white control of history,” he said. “In the blackest state in the United States of America, you don’t have one black elected official statewide. Look at these houses, gutted, falling down, it’s like it’s a hundred years ago. How can you have a museum that says this is in the past? It’s not a museum for poor black people, not if they’re charging that high fee. It’s for whites to make themselves feel better.”

[For Trump, fighting with athletes is a political sport]

Inside the museum, Blount, who is white, nods. She has heard these doubts many times, and she doesn’t expect blacks who are skeptical about state power to embrace the museum right away. “We are a state agency and so was the Sovereignty Commission,” which Mississippi created in 1956 to do battle with federal efforts to integrate schools and voting rolls. Only the reality of the museum can chip away at its critics’ objections, she said.

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City Councilman Kenneth Stokes outside City Hall in Jackson, Miss. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

A harsh voice shouts, “Get off the sidewalk. Don’t you know your place?” A visitor at the museum has crossed a line on the gallery floor, triggering a recorded reminder of the racial hierarchy that was codified in law and deed in Jim Crow Mississippi in the years before the civil rights movement.

Two miles away from the museum, as Priscilla Sterling recalled, a tense white man cornered her daughter on a street in Jackson. “Would you ever date a skinhead?” he asked, and it’s 2017 and she doesn’t know what she can say.

“White men following me, intimidating my daughter — this is the craziest time I’ve ever seen,” said Sterling, 49, a Jackson resident and a cousin of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after a white woman accused him of flirting with her at her family’s grocery store.

“I used to say I could never have lived in the 1950s or ’60s, that I couldn’t have taken the pressure,” Sterling said. “Now it’s 2017 and I’ve had people follow me and threaten me with vitriol. It’s vitriol like I never heard before Trump.”

#IFTTT #Blogger

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hollywoodjuliorivas · 7 years

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Inspired Life The priest who healed orphans with poetry By Joan Chrissos April 3 Spencer Reece with some of the girls at Our Little Roses, the home in San Pedro Sula, Honduras started by Diana Frade. Photo by Diana Frade Spencer Reece had gone to Honduras to learn Spanish after a crisis at work. Reece, an acclaimed poet who later became an Episcopal priest, had been working as a chaplain at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut in 2009 when a teenage boy was rushed into the ER late at night. Stabbed 25 times, the boy died at 6 the following morning, another gang-war casualty. Reece had tried as best he could to comfort the mother, but she spoke only Spanish. Reece, a Midwesterner who in a previous incarnation sold wingtips and windowpane suits at Brooks Brothers, spoke only English. Reece called Leo Frade, the Episcopal bishop of Miami. At the time, the Diocese of Southeast Florida, led by Frade, was sponsoring Reece at Yale Divinity School. How could he became fluent in Spanish, Reece asked Frade. “He immediately said, ‘I have just the place for you,’’’ recalled Reece, who prior to seminary had been an assistant manager at the Brooks Brothers in Palm Beach Gardens. Frade, who came to Miami in 2000 after serving 17 years as the Bishop of Honduras, filled him in on Our Little Roses, a home and school for abused and abandoned girls in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a city where children bathe in brown, fetid river water and scavenge for scraps at the city dump. Reece spent the summer of 2010 in a Spanish-language immersion program at the home. His contact with the girls was scant — until the night before he was to leave. Climbing the concrete steps to his guest room, he found one of the girls standing beside his door. ‘“What are you doing here?’ I asked her,” he said. “We heard you are leaving tomorrow,’’ Reece recalled the girl responding. “It took me by surprise, as I didn’t know they knew I was there. She turned to me and said, ‘No nos olvides.’ Don’t forget us.’’ Spencer teaching poetry to the students at Holy Family Bilingual School at Our Little Roses in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Photo by Mary Jane Zapp “Those three words changed the course of everything,’’ Reece said. “I went into my room, closed the door and cried.’’ Reece returned, and the moving story of his time at the orphanage is the subject of a new documentary, “Voices Beyond the Wall: Twelve Love Poems from the Murder Capital of the World,’’ which will be shown April 5 at George Mason University in Fairfax. After the film, Reece will talk about his experience. (San Pedro Sula is now generally ranked second for the world’s highest per capita murder rate, behind Caracas, Venezuela.) Reece, now 53, applied for a Fulbright Scholarship so he could spend a year teaching poetry to the girls, using the lines of meters and verse to help them excavate the layers of emotional scars left behind after their parents abandoned them. “The whole thing didn’t look very good on paper,’’ Reece said of his Fulbright application. “I hadn’t taught before, I wasn’t a priest that long, and I hardly spoke Spanish. “But poetry was what I knew,’’ he added. “It gave me a place where I could find solace, feel that I was loved.” Reece turned to poetry as a teen coming to terms with being gay in the late 1970s, made even more traumatic after the suicide of a close friend who was also gay. “He was teased on the bus, an hour-long bus ride, kicked, punched, called a faggot, blood coming out of his mouth,” he said. “He got off the bus, put a rope around his neck in his parents’ basement and hung himself.” Six years later, when Reece was 22 and about to graduate from Wesleyan University, his aunt called him to tell him his cousin had been murdered, dragged to the river in St. Augustine, Fla., and drowned. He later learned it may have been an anti-gay hate crime. Those events had a profound impact on Reece, who twice attempted to take his own life and turned to the bottle. “It was an arc of almost 30 years of work in church basements and coffeepots,’’ Reece said of his 12-step programs and therapists. “It took a long time to get to the top of the church steps.’’ Literature was his lifeline. Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.’’ J.D. Salinger’s “Catcher in the Rye.’’ Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus.’’ He read. He wrote. Reece’s poem, “The Clerk’s Tale,’’ detailing his days at Brooks Brothers — “I am thirty-three and working in an expensive clothier, selling suits to men I call “Sir.’’ — was published in the New Yorker, on the back page of the June 16, 2003, edition. The award-winning poem later became the title of his debut poetry collection in 2004, which was followed by a second volume, “The Road to Emmaus,” in 2014. Reece was selected as a Fulbright Scholar and returned to Honduras in 2012 with a film crew. While he planned to publish the girls’ poems — “Counting Time Like People Count Stars” (Tia Chucha Press), the 24-poem anthology is coming out in the fall — he knew poetry alone would not tell the stories of the girls. The film, which was directed by Brad Coley and lists James Franco as executive producer, follows Reece in his year-long quest to open the girls to poetry. He threw out the textbook and homed in on 20 poems he knew by heart, eventually building to a line-by-line call and response with the girls. Among the poems: An anonymous ode from Terezin Concentration Camp. W.H. Auden’s “The More Loving One.” Emily Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?’’ “They walked out the room at the end of the semester and had the poems in their head,” Reece said. “And no one could ever take that away from them.’’ And the girls kept a poetry journal. The girls’ own poems, guided by Reece and set to music in the film, aren’t easy to listen to. “Little Red Hot Lips,’’ written by Ana Ruth, who with her twin sister, Ana Cecilia, arrived at Our Little Roses as a toddler and penned the poem at 16, gives a glimpse outside the walled sanctuary of the home and school. Little Red Hot Lips went away, la la! Oft to her beloved grand mama. She knew nothing about life at all, nothing about anything outside the wall. The poems speak of being left behind, poems like “I Will Be A Happy Girl,’’ written by Leily, a shy, bespectacled 17-year-old at the time. When I was six I saw my parents a few times between one and four in the afternoon. I forgot their names. When I look up at the sky I do not wonder about them, is how the poem begins. The poems don’t sugarcoat the rage, the rage of knowing your family has deserted you that rips through the body like a wild river. Every week, every day, every hour, every minute and every second that I pass without my family it feels like a knife trying to get inside a rock, wrote Aylin, then 15, in “Counting.” I am the knife and the rock is my life. By the poem’s end, Aylin, who came to Our Little Roses as a 5-year-old with her three older sisters, arrives at forgiveness, a biblical teaching many never arrive at in life: When I graduate from college and when I am finally somebody in this world, God, I will go straight to Mexico where my mother lives and I will stare at her like I stare at the stars and with a voice that cracks like thunder I will say: I FORGIVE YOU. To Richard Blanco, the poet who spoke at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration and who taught the girls in Honduras for a week at Reece’s behest, that’s the power of poetry. Poet Richard Blanco teaches a workshop to the girls of Our Little Roses in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Photo by Mary Jane Zapp “Poetry makes us pause, makes us reflect, makes us come to resolutions,’’ Blanco said. It’s also the power of Our Little Roses, founded nearly 30 years ago by Diana Frade, a Kansas native who owned an apparel business in Honduras. While living in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, she discovered a boys’ home and school started by five local Episcopalians. Why wasn’t anyone doing anything for the girl child? she asked. Since 1988, Frade, who later married the Miami bishop, and her team have shepherded hundreds of girls at Our Little Roses. At any given time, the home cares care for as many as 76 girls, from infants to college students. Early on, Frade started a bilingual school with one preschool classroom. Today, Holy Family Bilingual School has nearly 250 students, from preschool to high school, educating the girls and children in the community. The Class of 2013 was the first high school graduating class. The school also runs a Spanish immersion program for language students. Through a network of Episcopal churches across the United States — Christ Church in Alexandria has been a longtime supporter — the girls have been mentored, financially sponsored and encouraged to believe they can accomplish anything. Jensy, who came to the home as a 9-year-old after her mother contracted AIDS, is a dentist today who teaches at the university dental school and runs a dental practice on the posh side of town. Jessica graduated from law school a few years back, the program’s first lawyer. Heather, who earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, is getting an MBA at a university in Wales. And there are scores of teachers, businesswomen and entrepreneurs who have broken the cycle. Reece has witnessed these transformations. The documentary details the impact he had on them — “To Sir With Love,” Honduran-style. Perhaps more telling, though, is the impact the girls have had on him. A few days before he left, he talked to Tania, one of the girls featured in the film. Tania came to Our Little Roses as a 4-year-old, badly abused. “Here was the girl with the most unspeakable story, who they found in a well with a rock around her neck, who met with me at the end of my time,’’ Reece says. “It didn’t matter that I was this unconventional gay poet who had spent time in a mental hospital [suicidal thoughts], who was estranged from his parents for 10 years, who had experienced the ravages of alcoholism. Inspired Life newsletter Weekly inspiration to improve your life. Sign up “All these things she listened to. After she heard them, she said, ‘It makes sense to me now why God brought you here. It’s because you understand us.’’’ Reece paused as he told the story. “That was a pivotal moment in my own life,’’ he said. “I felt ordained, anointed, and Tania was my priest.’’ Joan Chrissos is a journalist with the Miami Herald who is a longtime volunteer at Our Little Roses through St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Coral Gables, Fla. What: Screening of documentary, “Voices Beyond The Wall: Twelve Love Poems From The Murder Capital Of The World,” and discussion with Spencer Reece after the film When: 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 5 Where: Research Hall, Room 163, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive Fairfax Va. Cost: Free: Contact:: http://fams.gmu.edu/events/6525[fams.gmu.edu] To order a copy of the poetry anthology, “Counting Time Like People Count Stars,” email [email protected]

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