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musingmycelium · 5 years

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god okay i info dumped on discord bc thats just who i am as a person so i’m cross posting it here in case anyone else is curious about my canon world state. under a read more bc its, uh, maybe a bit of a monster.

i've got a dummy complex worldstate for no reason other than i like to make things difficult for the sake of a good story i guess. for origins my canon warden is an apostate, ellanis tabris who in an 'accident' had his leg crushed and it never recovered, causing it to have stunted growth. he uses a cane to get around and his disability helped hide him in the denerim alienage since apostacy is probably one of if not the most dangerous crime for an elf.

he's only one of three, though. his best friends growing up are noure surana and attie nehrios. noure gets taken to the circle when they're 17 (and ellanis and attie are 15) and comes into play a bit later, while attie is a seamstress and budding red jenny.

as far as origins itself goes ellanis' canon route is deep roads - dalish - haven - redcliff - circle - redcliff. fairly standard stuff up until haven/broken circle tbh. in haven during the guardian's first trial instead of shianni ellanis sees noure (whom the alienage presumed dead when arrested bc it wasn't, ah, a clean arrest) as the ghosty thing and during broken circle ellanis finds noure again and 'conscripts' them into the wardens. really he just takes them with him and destroys their phylactery so they won't be followed. (noure's phylactery is stored in kinloch instead of the spire after their fourth escape attempt since it gave them too much of a head start to make the templars wait to get it) theres a lot of Feelings surrounding connor but other than that ellanis doesn't super change things there either. he does, however, not have any idea about the dr. which is the biggest break i have from canon in dao with the exception of my inclusion of More City Elves. instead of morrigan going to ellanis she, as his best friend, knows he'll refuse to do it and instead goes straight to alistair. morrigan actually never tells ellanis anything about the ritual, ever.

during unrest in the alienage ellanis meets up with attie again, who is already working to clear the slavers out herself, and she falls head over heels for morrigan pretty quickly. fast enough that when morrigan sets out on her 'nobody follow me' thing attie does anyways bc thats just who attie is as a person. and besides she can't stay in denerim now that she's maybe or not killed a nobleman for what happened during the wedding.

and now its awakening time

ellanis meets up with anders for the first time and through him learns a bit more about noure's time in the circle. (noure and anders and karl were lovers for roughly three years before shit hit the fan hard) and fuck canon here because ellanis doesn't have time for this. plus the architect is interesting and yah maybe insane but he's in the place for a little madness. ellanis lets him live and strikes a bargain with him, they share research and any ferelden wardens who prefer to answer their calling not by fighting darkspawn but by potentially furthering the cure are welcomed by the architect. but after awakening ellanis leaves vigils keep in nate's hands and goes on 'offical leave' to work on his own cure..... and to live in antiva with zevran...... lkjkjlkjkjkj

noure, after broken circle and during awakening, goes to nevarra via orlais. it takes them a couple of months to settle but noure finds viuus (yes that viuus) who takes them on as an apprentice of sorts bc he's also in a bit of a jam. it works, sorta, noure learns more spirit based magic and reconnects with a part of themselves the circle tried to beat out of them. it only lasts for about two years, though, because templars find them, one a recent transfer from kinloch and noure isn't exactly a forgettable face. so!

well, its around the same time that anders leaves the wardens for good. and ellanis puts anders in touch with noure. they decide to meet in kirkwall, because rumor has it that's where karl is and thats gonna be the place they need to go first.

attie though, she's just hanging out with morrigan and stirring the pot in orlais as a jenny. she also works with the mage underground and defo either knows or works with briala as a kind of agent. her story is more foggy tho bc i haven't read Super much of TME or played some of witch hunt

da2 comes in and i've Recently, like as of last week i think, decided to swap my canon hawkes. william is now my canon hawke instead of the twins. he's an apostate who's magic is mostly clairvoyancy and a shepherd.. or he was until the blight. bethany dies during the escape and its only the Beginning of the sad times for william.

with his pretty suble magic william makes for a Superb smuggler, and lands the gig with bartrand quickly. he Also, gets a bit of a crush on varric while they're still going around raising money. he takes carver, varric, and isabela with him to the deep roads thinking that keeping his brother close will be safer. and, well, it isn't.

act ii is a bunch of horse shit anyways but william tries to keep out of things until isabela is directly threatened by it and only then steps in seriously. for the most part all of the things which go down with petrice are done with noure and anders. they don't like the qunari being in town either but they, at least, can use the situation to weaken the chantry and by extension the circle. even if its only a bit. during act iii the two of them build up the mage underground and start preparing to take direct action against the circle. william is, still uncertain but he doesn't stop them. his magic has never been a large danger to himself, it's suble enough and under control enough that he's never really had to fear templars. he feared them for his fathers sake, for bethany's sake, but not his own. not really. and well, we know how da2 ends but i hate the retcon of 'hundres of casualties' bithc! where! so no, only the grand cleric and a handful of upper level chantry people where inside when it went up and they deserved it.

ellanis is working on the blight cure during this time and makes it far enough that he and zev are surprised by twins (two girls named adaia and killian) but otherwise ellanis is mostly chillin in antiva

while attie is now definitely working closely with briala both as a jenny and as an agent

and we’re up to dai with my canon quizzy - da'ean lavellan, the clan storykeeper (next in line after his father) who only attends the conclave because idrilla was going to first and they didn't want to loose the clan first. i've got... way more canon deviance in dai than anywhere else bc dai Suxxs but its way too long but basically!

da'ean romances both dorian and the iron bull bc im poly and i said so, idrilla comes to skyhold as magical advisor and she works where morrigan does in the game (tho morrigan still shows up she's not an offical position as much, which suits her and attie just fine). linayel, da'ean's nas'falon (qp) arrives with her and he slots in as an archery trainer.

plus, ellanis is the warden contact instead of the many (some really wild??) canon contacts. leliana tries to contact him to be quizzy but he's travelling and misses it, and when noure contacts him on william's behalf and mentions corypheus (ellanis knows about legacy bc william brought noure and anders along) ellanis puts some pieces together and comes to skyhold. he'd already been working to figure out the weird calling (it is and yet isn't the same as the blight he remembered) so he's already a bit aware of the situation. william doesn't stick around for long, basically just long enough to get confirmation ellanis is on his way. even tho he misses varric this isn't his place

adamant goes down wicked different bc ellanis is the fucking HOF. by this time he's developed his magic enough he can pretty much take down all of the wardens within a good 300 foot range just nearly instantly. (a combination of his blight cure research and his natural entropic aligned magic hohohoho) so he makes it to clarel Fast. instead of falling into the fade ellanis (anyone else remember just fucking punching rifts closed in awakening? lol) works with da'ean to open up the rift in the main courtyard and suck the nightmare into the real world. and then he fuckin annhilates it bc he can

WEWH is also different but this time its bc of attie (and morrigan's different now too bc she's been dragged into things by her wife) briala's at the palace yeah, but now she's also got attie waiting in the wings. instead of getting stuck in place by the quizzy attie is able to manuever things to implicate gaspard and celene alone (mostly bc i hate the blackmail on briala it just doesn't vibe well with her character to me). so instead of the shitty options of 'gaspard rules with briala shadowing him' or 'celene and briala end up back together' its 'celene gets put in place by briala and now briala calls the shots'

idrilla romances solas, and as a dreamer she's sure something is fishy but can't figure out what exactly. (until trespasser that is, when she figures it out at the murals) but she provides a good foil to his asshatry and as offical magical advisor steers the inquisition with morrigan's info about the arbor wilds. she knows the rituals and the magic bc she's first and they make it through far faster than in canon, making a quick alliance with the sentinals and beating samson well before the canon battle area.

(linayel romances cass but their story is still quiet and vague as of yet but linayel mostly remains in skyhold to help train and strategize)

then da'ean kicks corypshits ass soundly becase that fight Sucks Ass.

#oc ramblings #i've been sitting on making a post about this for awhile anyways tb #h #now i've got one hehehehe #my ocs #my worldstate #just so i don't mcfuckin loose this

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douxreviews · 5 years

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Quantum Leap - Season Two Review

"He works in mysterious ways."

While still formulaic, season two is much better than the brief leap-of-the-week season one. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are a lot more comfortable with their roles, and many of the leaps are more interesting and complicated. There are also some intriguing additions to what we know about our main characters and some progress with the arc story — particularly in the premiere and the finale.

What works

Sam is enjoying leaping around and helping people. He doesn't seem to mind that he left his own life behind, although the continuing partial amnesia could be responsible for that.

Another issue they begin to address in season two is what became of Sam's physical body. In season one, the saga sell says that Sam "stepped into the quantum accelerator and vanished." In season two, we're told that Sam's physical body is in a "waiting room" back at the project, and that when he leaps, Al questions whoever just leaped into Sam's body so that he can locate where and when Sam went.

The best episodes of season two are the premiere and the finale.

2.1 "Honeymoon Express (April 27, 1960): I love this episode, mostly because of the cleverness of the twist ending. Al, whom we learn here is an admiral, is testifying before a hostile senate subcommittee responsible for further funding of the Quantum Leap Project, while Sam leaps into a cop who is on his honeymoon. Sam's bride, Diane, is a law student who is preparing for her bar exam.

Although it was mentioned in the season one pilot that God might be responsible for what is happening to Sam, here it is confirmed. Because Sam virtuously avoids hitting the sheets with Diane even though he is attracted to her, he keeps trying to help her study for the bar instead. At the very moment when Sam is ready to give in and make love with Diane, she has a breakthrough, finally grasping a key legal concept that would have made her fail the exam, and Sam leaps out. At that moment, the grumpy male head of the senate subcommittee turns into Diane, thirty years older, and she tells Al that the Quantum Leap funding has been approved. Only Al is aware that anything has changed.

Two of my other favorite shows had finales that centered on the existence of God, which didn't make me happy because it felt like a cop out. Not Quantum Leap though, because honestly, the only possible explanation for what is happening to Sam is divine intervention.

The only problem I have with this episode is the multitude of smoochfests. I did like that Sam and Al discussed the moral implications of Sam having sex with Diane, even though she wouldn't have known because she believed Sam was her husband. I also like the implied feminist message that Diane is no one's possession, and that she was destined for great things.

2.22 "M.I.A. (April 1, 1969)": Sam leaps into a San Diego cop. Al tells Sam that the purpose of the leap is to convince a Navy nurse named Beth Calavicci to not give up on her M.I.A. husband, who has been imprisoned in Vietnam for two years. But as it turns out, Sam is there to save the life of another cop, his partner, Roger Skaggs (Jason Beghe).

This episode features an exceptional and moving performance by Dean Stockwell, who ripped my heart out in the last ten minutes. Al is clearly signaling confusion and distress throughout the episode; he describes to Sam the torturous confinement that Beth's husband is experiencing without revealing that it is himself who is enduring it. When Sam guesses correctly that Skaggs is the reason for the leap, not Beth, Al confesses that Beth is his first wife and the love of his life, and when she had him declared dead and remarried, Al never recovered, and his other marriages never worked.

"God" allows Sam a few extra minutes before leaping so that Al can say goodbye to Beth, even though, of course, she can't see or hear him. He tells her how much he loves her, begs her to wait for him when we know she won't, and then they dance to Beth's favorite song. The thing is, what happens with Beth explains everything we need to know about Al, and it turns him from Sam's supportive friend and occasional comic relief into a tragic figure. Susan Diol as Beth Calavicci also does a wonderful job. We can believe she is the love of Al's life, that she is incredibly special to him, and her conflict is so well done. Sam's gentle treatment of Al, even though Al misled him and nearly caused Skaggs' death, is also touching. This episode never fails to make me cry.

The music replacement controversy, particularly regarding the episode "M.I.A."

As I mentioned in my review of season one, when Quantum Leap was initially released on DVD way back when, Universal had neglected to get the rights to a number of the songs featured on the series, simply because it was prohibitively expensive. Changing the music changes the series, and the fans were, to put it mildly, livid about it. Although the music replacement had a serious detrimental effect on "Good Morning, Peoria," the worst offender was "M.I.A." because that final scene where Al says goodbye to Beth is framed by the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" and Ray Charles' "Georgia," two memorable songs that truly cannot be replaced.

Netflix and Amazon have the original version of "M.I.A." Hulu does not. For what it's worth.

Other episodes of note

2.2 "Disco Inferno (April 1, 1976)": Not really notable, but if you're watching Quantum Leap on Hulu or Netflix, you've probably noticed that this episode is missing. I went to the trouble of buying it on Amazon because I'm hung up on that completion thing, and it's not worth it. "Disco Inferno" is about a stuntman who helps his younger brother defy their stuntman father and become a musician. The only important piece of it is that Sam remembers that he has an older brother named Tom who died fighting in Vietnam.

2.4 "What Price Gloria? (October 16, 1961)": This episode is notable because it is the first time that Sam leaps into a woman, so of course it goes the preachy route and is all about sexism. Al is hot for Sam in a woman's body, which I just found uncomfortable. What I liked most was Scott Bakula wearing women's clothing without making too much of a thing about it. It feels like for Bakula, it's just another costume and he's such a good actor that playing a woman doesn't throw him.

2.6 "Good Morning, Peoria (September 9, 1959)": I loved this episode; it was a lot of fun. Maybe it because the stakes were less life and death and more personal. Patricia Richardson does such a great job as Sam's love interest, and the romance actually works this time. It also features a lot of great old music, and Sam pretty much channeling Robin Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam.

Like "Honeymoon Express," the question of Sam having a physical relationship while he is in someone else's body is again addressed. Sam is uncomfortable about romancing Patricia Richardson's character, but he does it anyway and it turns out that it was the right thing to do.

2.8 "Jimmy (October 14, 1964)": Sam leaps into a young, developmentally disabled man who is trying to hold down his first job while encountering bullying and prejudice. The most interesting thing about this one is Sam starts acting differently, clumsily, because he is being treated that way. Possibly a little preachy, but very well done.

2.10 "Catch a Falling Star (May 21, 1979)": Quantum Leap does Man of La Mancha, with the great actor and singer John Cullum as a guest star. This episode is pretty much an excuse to have Scott Bakula sing show tunes onstage and romance his teenage crush music teacher, but there's nothing wrong with that. There was also a deeper meaning when you think about it, because Sam really is like Don Quixote, spending his life rescuing others. Wonderful episode.

2.18 "Pool Hall Blues (September 4, 1954)": Loved this one. Maybe because Sam is so convincing as an adult woman's grandfather (loved the costume). I also loved the laser lines that allowed Sam to be a brilliant pool player.

What doesn't work

I don't usually point out the badness of bad episodes, but these three are truly awful.

2.11 "A Portrait for Troian (February 7, 1971)": We have a haunting, a mysterious lake full of bodies, a vanishing housekeeper and a pointless romance, none of which work. Which is too bad, since it stars Deborah Pratt, who was a writer/producer of the series, the saga sell narrator, and later the voice of Ziggy.

2.16 "Freedom (November 22, 1970)": Another poorly written stinker about an elderly Native American who wants to go home to die. See rule five.

2.17 "Good Night, Dear Heart (November 9, 1957)": This time Sam is a mortician who solves a murder instead of preventing one, which makes absolutely no sense to me. The circumstances of the victim's life and demise are depressing, and it all seems incredibly pointless.

Bits and pieces:

-- "Sea Bride" featured the Queen Mary, which is a tourist attraction in Long Beach, California. I toured it twice and I always enjoy stumbling over stuff that was filmed there.

-- I particularly liked that his second leap into a woman's body ("Another Mother") had nothing to do with sexism; he was there to save his host's son.

-- Famous people: The Beatles and Chubby Checker. In fact, it's the real Chubby Checker, who did a cameo in "Good Morning, Peoria."

-- Notable actors: Lorne Greene (Bonanza), a teenage Kelli Williams (Lie to Me), Robert Duncan MacNeill, Marcia Cross, and Troian Bellisario when she was still a very little girl in "Another Mother."

-- Sam's hair is way too long at first, and is later a good bit shorter. But if he's in someone else's body, can he even get his hair cut? Maybe someone cut Sam's hair in the Waiting Room.

-- Small children and animals can see Al, and genuine psychics can sense his presence. Al's presence affects EMF.

-- Sam creates the Heimlich maneuver.

-- More about Sam: he was a child prodigy, not a surprise, and a concert pianist.

-- More about Al: he was an astronaut. His mother abandoned him when he was a child and his sister was disabled. Al also looks better in red than in green.

-- The cliffhanger endings referencing Sam's next leap still bother me. Especially when we get one that relates to a rerun.

To conclude

I haven't finished my rewatch yet, but "M.I.A." and the two-parter that starts season three are my favorite episodes of the series,

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#Quantum Leap #Sam Beckett #Al Calavicci #Scott Bakula #Dean Stockwell #Quantum Leap Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews #something from the archive

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lightsandlostbells · 6 years

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Skam France 2.4 reaction

Double episode this week! Here is the French take on Ouija, psychics, and potatoes.

Clip 1 - Romain

This is an episode where I’m definitely missing a lot of Norwegian/French context so if I’m missing something, please feel free to elaborate or correct me.

So on the one hand I enjoy the cabin episode, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s great to get a break from the main drama and just see the girls interacting and having fun together. But is it really necessary for a remake? From my non-Norwegian perspective, I thought the cabin episode/Easter special was a spooky mystery as a nod to Norway’s tradition of reading/watching crime stories around Easter, as well as structuring an episode with our main characters when they would have been off school. It seems like it was very culturally relevant to airing at that time, in that place? Of course non-Norwegian viewers also enjoy the cabin episode even without the context, but we were not the target audience for the show.

I mean, there’s not a lot in the cabin episode that’s vital to the main storyline of the season or that can’t be transported to other clips. Really only the potato conversation between Noora and Vilde seems like something that needs to stick. Everything else - Noora getting texts from William, Vilde talking and speculating about William, Eva talking about Jonas still being into her, talk of Isak’s sexuality - has already been covered or could easily be condensed or added to another scene. Like they could have fit this into Saturday clip where the girls are sleeping over at someone’s house and end up using a Ouija board, if they wanted to include that, and a Sunday clip where they’re hanging out and Manon and Daphne talk about potatoes.

IDK, I’m not saying this is bad - again I enjoy the concept of the episode - and I know the episodes have to be like <20 minutes so it might be easier to make a cabin episode than to cram the relevant parts into the rest of episode 5.

Anyway, at least this is scenic and the girls are cute. Hat game exceptionally strong.

Lol, I have no problem with bringing Kasper (Romain) into the show but if they hook up him and Alex, I’ll be kinda bummed. Of course bi girls can be with boys, but I’ve not liked how they’ve ignored her bisexuality at times when it would be relevant to the story. Plus we already have multiple on-screen het relationships and hookups and no f/f ones through any of the Skam remakes other than Alex’s one line about Clara; if they have a female character who’s into girls, I want them to finally deliver on that, you know?

At least they found a guy to play Romain who looks like he could be a spirit. I buy it.

Clip 2 - Everyone is tired of hearing about Charles

Alex giving us the guitar playing that we lacked last episode! ❤️ I love her big sparkly sweater.

Uh, that’s a straight-up Michael Myers mask. Alex, why does your grandmother have that?

Alex being 200% done with talk of Charles … relatable.

Imane and the girls teasing Daphne about hooking up with Romain was a good bit.

“We can’t talk about feminism without talking about men’s role in it” - Mmmm … I disagree … but that’s just my opinion lmao.

Oh Daphne,making it awkward between her and Imane when their dynamic was so cute just now.

Poor Alex, going from excited to exasperated in an instant when Daphne immediately decides she can use the Ouija board to ask about Charles. She thought she would be free for five minutes...

I love that she made the board herself though!

Lol, you can’t tell me that all of the other girls wouldn’t immediately get up with Imane and go to bed as well to avoid more Charles discussion.

Clip 3 - Ouija

This is a fun scene but kinda random. For instance, Alex had flirted with Lucas before but I’m not sure why it would be on her mind now… in the other scene Vilde and Eva led up to it by asking about guys, so Chris did the same. … and kinda not sure why she doesn’t think he could be gay considering she (unlike Chris) knows about the porn on his phone. Hoping she still has a chance, I guess? (Or well, I guess her thing about it being nonsense could be her thinking he must be bi rather than gay since he’s with Sarah, but that’s not really implied.)

But I do like Manon asking about Romain and Daphne, that whole bit of teasing is fun (and you could interpret it as her wanting Daphne to move on. Though who doesn’t at this point, really.)

Emma feels less put out about the Yann situation in general than Eva was even though less time has passed between the Emma/Yann breakup. I’m not sure what to think of that. I mean, good for her, I guess?

I do really like the staging/setup of this scene, with the girls sitting around the table with the lights. That set a spooky spiritual atmosphere.

Clip 4 - Breakfast

God DAMN I would be so sick of hearing about Charles by this point. I feel Emma’s intense boredom.

I love Daphne’s fantasy about Charles coming to her in a dream like he’s in a ‘90s music video, though.

It’s pretty interesting to see how little changes in terms of what the director chooses to show can have an effect on the messages we register from a TV show. One thing Skam France needs to improve is being very, very hyper aware of those little things.

For instance, in the original we get a shot of Vilde’s sparse plate and we get a shot of Noora noticing how little Vilde is eating. Without spelling it out for us (such as Noora saying, “Vilde, there’s not much on your plate, why don’t you take some more food?”) we can connect the dots as to why Noora offers her the bun. That’s just basic cinematic language, we almost take it for granted. Here we don’t see Daphne’s plate or how much is on it, we don’t see Manon looking at Daphne’s plate with any kind of concerned expression. So when she offers Daphne the bread, there’s no clear connection within this scene for us to think Manon is worried about Daphne not eating. And because of that, when Daphne goes off on her gluten allergy, it comes across less as an excuse for her not eating, and could be just her rambling and making huge leaps much like she is about Charles, whereas with Vilde we can definitely pick it out as her trying to deflect questions about her not eating.

Clip 5 - Potatoes

The taxidermied animals are a nice touch for a spooky cabin, I must say.

I love that Alex decided Daphne will be the one to attack Romain, Alex will hide behind her, and Emma will hide behind Alex. Solid plan.

The potato scene is one where I don’t know how I would feel about it if I had not seen the original version.

The way it was acted and paced was not nearly as effective, in my opinion. What I adore about that scene is that how subtly the situation is handled. Noora doesn’t confront Vilde directly about her eating disorder; does it in a gentle way, one that will get through to Vilde (I love that the mention of antioxidants helping fight cancer is OK, but antioxidants helping against old skin is what really gets Vilde’s attention, and was a smart move on Noora’s part). Part of it is the pacing. I know we sometimes knock Noora’s slow delivery, but in this scene the unhurried pace absolutely works. Because Noora’s words are so slowly and calmly delivered, you can see them getting through to Vilde. You can see her turning over all these details about nutrition. All of the pauses between dialogue contain the information sinking into Vilde’s mind. And the pacing also emphasizes the extreme vulnerability of this conversation, how very careful Noora’s approach is, how Vilde maybe (possibly) (probably) realizes what’s going on and isn’t arguing or putting up resistance like she did when Noora was more direct about it at the end of S1, how despite Noora doing most of the talking, this still feels like a conversation between them.

This version of the scene … it’s not bad and I can imagine it working, but it’s so hurriedly paced that it feels like Manon is talking at Daphne, it’s not a two-way conversation, and I don’t feel that what Manon’s saying is getting through to Daphne at the same level.

That Romain reveal, though? Excellent.

Clip 6 - “Romain” revealed

The girls are very cute huddled together and I’m liking their dialogue. It does feel more rushed though, like it’s very enjoyable but they’re flying through it just because it was in the original. Like the line about “my hijab will protect us” is very random when Imane doesn’t tie in the hijab to her psychic powers during her explanation.

Alex and Imane hugging and kissing after the reveal! ❤️

Lol they cut out Emma talking about how some of the Ouija must have been real because of Yann having feelings for her, and the irony of her saying that when Manon is getting a text from Charles about Yann hooking up with someone else. They’re downplaying that arc a lot, tbh.

I see Manon’s little smile at that text. Whatever I feel about Charles, that’s a smooth as hell text.

General Comments:

Aside from my nitpicks and wondering if this episode is at all necessary in the French version, I did have a lot of fun with this episode. The girl squad dynamic continues to be a strength of Skam France, and there was lots of cute banter and friendship. Alex in particular got many moments to shine.

As much as I love lesbian Daphne, if they’re not going that route, I would kinda be down for her hooking up with Romain in the finale, in place of Alex. You know. As a fun fling. Get her mind off Charles. Alex can find a nice girl to smooch.

Here are some English-language articles about Norwegian Easter traditions, especially the crime stories, that gave me some context on the original episode.

http://relocation.no/expat-communities/expat-resource-articles/easter-in-norway/

https://www.thelocal.no/20180329/bloody-easter-the-origins-of-norwegian-holiday-crime-fiction

https://www.visitnorway.com/media/news-from-norway/norways-mysterious-easter-tradition/

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#skamfr reactions

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pkmntrainergreyze · 6 years

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PKMN ROMS (Josh Dun X Reader)

(B/n): Boy version of your name, if you don't have one just pick a boy's name. (I'm pretty sure Josh doesn't play that much but eh, ask 2AM me)

short almost abandoned drafts: 1/?

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Your point of view

Josh gave me a ROM for Pokemon Red. He told me he made it special just for me. I decided to finally download a gameboy advanced emulator at my smartphone just to see what he has in stored.

The starting screen of Pokemon Red, nothing too out of place, it was Charizard on the screen screeching out some flamethrower moves. I chuckled. This reminds me of when we were children. We would play with out first copy of PKMN RED and he'd call the rival "Butt" but he was nice enough to leave his game name "Green" and our main character's name is still "Red"

I smiled when I started the game, it was the very same Professor Oak, but very different line of text. It's to be expected from him honestly, this could be a haunted game or a creepypasta one for all I know.

Prof Oak: Hello love.

Prof Oak: Eyo, it's J-Dun. Unless you want Prof Oak to call you love from the start

I chuckled and pressed A once more, intrigued.

Prof Oak: Anyways, I'd love it if you finish this game sunshine.

Prof Oak: Oaky dokie, pick your starter. And no, you don't get to change your name.

Prof Oak: (Y/n) is a nice name, your game Persona "(B/n)" isn't

I swear Josh truly put a lot of time and effort on this one. Which is sweet. (B/n) is the name I would choose whenever the character had to be a male one, and Josh always make jokes about me having that name from my life before (Y/n).

I picked Bulbasaur as my starter, like we both did before. I chuckled again when I saw Prof Oak say: "Saw that one coming". Bulbasaur is my favorite starter pokemon and his is Charmander, we'd often debate about the very best at all cost. We'd bring out facts about the manga and the game whenever just to prove our opinions right. (sorry if your fav is Charmander/Squirtle)

"Anyways, here's your rival... guess who it isss?" I couldn't really imagine Professor Oak saying anything nearly as trippy as that one.

"It's me!" The silhouette of my rival wasn't like Green's or Gary's, it was different, so I'm guessing it's personalized as well. I tapped on A button again and it had that evolving pokemon effects on it.

I knew it.

It was a pixelated Joshua William Dun. Wearing his very own merchandise like a shameless marketing manager and his right hand into a peace sign.

Josh: Hey sunshine!

Josh: And I choose Charmander, so, even though I'm meant to fail this battle I'd totally still challenge you

And thus, the battle began. It was like the original game, only the text and the sprite was different. The back sprite didn't showed Red, rather, it looked just like me. It got my short hair and other details, no wonder why I love him.

Josh: Aww, I thought you'd forget how to play Pokemon by now. Just kidding

You won Twenty-One Pokedollars.

--------------------------------------

It's been two days since I've been playing this game. It's early Saturday morning. Josh's been enthusiastic whenever I report my experience with the game. Either I talk about how Brendon's the first gym leader and how Patrick's got Bill's role, he even looked so geeky whenever he talks about how Tyler matches with the Ghost Gym Leader.

Sooner, I defeated the final gym leader in vividian city, which was of course, Josh, following the original Green Battle there. I was about to take my walk on another route, to the rather exciting run at the notorious Victory Road.

Although, I found something... rather odd.

I was just about to walk past the flat world view when I realized the patch of the flowers formed the letter "W"

I walked towards it more.

It was beautiful.

I walked even farther and saw "I" the. double "L", I was about to think of it as another geeky movie reference but then it was different.

It was heartwarming.

"WILL YOU MARRY ME?"

By the end of the horizontal road, it was Josh's sprite, kneeling. One knee touched the ground and the other was high enough to touch his pixellated chin.

I pressed A and there was no lines of text. Just a choice.

Yes

What else could I possibly pick?

"YES, A MILLION TIMES YES JOSH!"

I dashed back to bed, seeing his sleeping form awoken and ascended at my sudden outburst but he was pinned back to bed.

"Oh, you finished the game yet?"

"Is that your priority? Me finishing the game and not hearing my answer?" I joked as I pressed myself against him into a tight hug.

"Yes, frick yeah. I love you so much. I could literally marry you in a Gameboy Advance and still love you just as much" Josh smiled like a Cheshire cat when he heard my reply as he jumped off the bed, with his batman pajamas on, and lifted my to the air. The cheerful laughs filled the room as we dance too awkwardly for anyone to cringe at the sight, but we don't care.

"I can't find another woman that'll accept me more than you do, thank God I have you. I love you so much" Josh said after he stopped wiggling me around like a gummy worm, he rested his head in my neck as his arms were just around my waist. I feel so young today.

"Love you too, and I'll say that as many times as I want"

#josh dun #josh dun imagines #twenty one pilots #twenty one pilots imagine

7 notes · View notes

littleartistthoughts · 5 years

Text

Romeo x Juliet

Sooo. Sometime during my middle school years, I was on the AMV side of YouTube. I stumbled across an AMV of the anime, Romeo x Juliet, to the background song: “Romeo and Juliet.” Out of curiosity, I searched up the anime, and I found it on YouTube. I think I watched the final scenes of the last episode first, without any context. I guess I was interested enough to start from the beginning.

And I became obsessed. By obsessed, I mean, seriously, seriously, obsessed. I fell in love with everything -- the main characters, the music, the world. The romance was touching, the story was impacting, and it was just perfect. I cried sooo hard. It became one of those things that touched me so much to the point I thought about it for weeks and weeks. I searched up AMV’s and fanart and scoured the Wikipedia page over and over, so eager to have more.

I even tried to burn the entire series on DVD because I wanted to watch it whenever I wanted (so I had to learn how to burn a DVD, though I don’t think I ever actually succeeded). Eventually, though, by some luck, I found the DVD at Best Buy, and my dad bought it for me.

I shared it with my friends. I sent them all home to watch it, and I felt overjoyed when they came back to school the next day saying they binged it and cried and loved it. We became something of a fan club. Lol.

Then time went on and I thought of it less and less, though I was always fond of the memory of watching it. I remembered it as a sad, beautiful anime that I loved so much. Actually, it impacted me so much that I’m borrowing some elements of the story for my own works. To this day, I reference the show when I’m wondering about the design of my own fantasy universes.

These days, I’m slowly molding my Sol Verynda universe. I’ve been doing that for about four years now. I keep changing things or developing them further. Sometimes, I run out of inspiration. I’m still dragging details out of the world where I can find them. Sometimes you just need a giant push.

I don’t remember the reason, but sometime during this past week or the last, Romeo x Juliet popped into my mind. I think I was just reminiscing the story. And then I decided to just watch it. You know. For the heck of it.

So for the first time in a very, very long time, I watched the series.

I’m a lot older now and more mature than I was in middle school, which means there’s a lot more that I can understand now. That means I’m also a lot more cynical now. And critical. And the devil’s always on my shoulder. Plus this raging depression that just won’t go away is in my mind. So I re-watched the anime through a different lens.

Still me, but a different version.

I watched the series over the course of a few days (busy with school and work). I decided to watch it in Dub because that’s the original way I watched it, and I wanted to recapture that feeling I got when I watched before. Even though my sister gave me such a hard time about it. Like, seriously. She came into my room and slapped my phone out of my hands because she was so disgusted. I retaliated.

I like the Dub also because the script is so lovely in English. They incorporate some Shakespearian speak (I learned later that it’s really called iambic pentameter). So the characters sometimes speak like it’s the 14th or something century, and it’s pleasant to hear. I also just really like hearing them speak poetically in an American accent.

Buuuut, I caved out of curiosity. I searched the Subbed version on YouTube and watched a few minutes of the first episode, just to see the difference. And, well. I get it. The show was made specifically for Japanese, and so that version is actually very fitting. Buuut, I still continued on with the dub. I’m thinking now, though, that I’m going to rewatch the show in the Subbed version sometime soon. It’ll be like seeing the story again, but with a different feel. So, yeah.

Anywayyyy, so the story. The show takes liberties with the adaptation. I’ve never read the original play, but we all know how it goes. And I think I watched Romeo + Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio, so I had an idea. In the original, Romeo belongs to the Montague family and Juliet belongs to the Capulets. Their families hate each other, but they fall in love anyway. After a string of events, Romeo and Juliet die together, and the family conflict is resolved by this tragedy.

In the anime, Romeo’s father, Leontes Montague, murders every member of the Capulet family so he can take over the city, Neo Verona, as ruler. Only Juliet, who was rescued by her family’s loyalists, escapes. She’s two years old. Fourteen years later, Montague is the tyrannical king of the city, and Juliet is forced into hiding. She disguises herself as a boy, named Odin, though she was never told the reason why she had to do so.

Montague is on the hunt to find her. In his tyranny, he allows his guards to torment the citizens. And so Juliet, disguised as a man, takes on the persona of the Red Whirlwind to defend the people.

Eventually, Juliet winds up at the palace, dressed as a girl, for the Rose Ball. And she and Romeo meet. And it’s a love at first sight moment.

Later, Juliet finally learns of her heritage, and her world becomes chaotic.

One thing I didn’t realize when I was younger was just how much of a sweetheart Romeo is. He lived a rough life in the palace. His father was emotionally and physically abusive. His mother left him to join a convent (though she deeply regretted leaving him). He was alone at the palace except for his best friend, Benvolio, and his Dragon Steed (basically, flying pegasus), Cielo. Despite that, he had a big heart. He was nothing like his father. He genuinely was a good person.

And Juliet just deserved so much better. The girl could never catch a break. She and Romeo had similar temperaments. She was really sweet and considerate with a good, forgiving heart. But she was also this badass swordsman secret vigilante who was a fearless leader and fought for justice. We see her character develop over the course of the series. She slowly matures after all her mistakes. And in the end she’s the one to save the world.

The love shared between these two is really the driving force of the story. It’s the reason the two fought so hard to create a world of love instead of hatred. Instead of revenge, Juliet’s focus was on freedom and happiness. Without Romeo, she might have actually killed Montague and gone with the route of hatred.

The series did get a little cheesy and naive sometimes, I felt while watching. That’s the cynical adult in me. However, the show doesn’t hesitate to admit that. For example, when Romeo’s trying to motivate a group of exiles to cultivate a dead land, his words do seem childish and idealistic. And several inmates point that out. But they do eventually try.

I don’t know. To me, it’s a reminder that the idealism of children is so powerful. Adults don’t have that same spirit. A lot of us are always worried about the bad outcomes of things. We’re always tired. We’re so used to seeing bad things that we become cynical. But kids aren’t so used to it yet, so they still have these grand hopes.

It can be a disadvantage, of course, such as when Juliet jumped into an opportunity out of her naivety, just to see her loyalists fall.

But, still. We get characters like William (a caricature of Shakespeare himself), who is so childish and idealistic and perpetually inspired.

When I was in middle school, I hadn’t yet experienced a real relationship. So it was fun to imagine what it would be like. Watching Romeo and Juliet’s relationship blossom gave me such a warm, fluttery feeling. You know. I wanted a romance like that.

Re-watching it, post-heartbreak from my FL and other “romantic” endeavors, I view love a lot differently now. Honestly, I haven’t felt fondly about it for a long time. I’ve come to a point where I almost detest it. I detest boys and the hurt they can cause me. It’s hard to imagine myself in a good, loving, idealistic relationship again after all the guys I’ve encountered.

Well. My heart is still too broken for a new love, but I still felt my heartstrings pulled by the anime. Maybe it’s too soon to tell, but I think my opinion has shifted a bit. I forgot, really, how amazing romantic love can be. How consuming. Even when I’m not a part of it, just seeing it unfold is so precious. It makes me feel all warm and happy inside. And inspired to write.

Anyway.

One other thing that I’m really noticing now that I just didn’t before is the symbolism. That scene where Romeo asked Juliet (without knowing she was present) what flower she would prefer for a garden, she answered with a “rose.” I remember feeling confused. The entire series, the white iris was the symbol of their relationship. But why would she answer a rose?

Well. The iris is on the Capulet family crest, and the rose is on the Montague family crest. Juliet was saying she wanted him.

Also, Leontes Montague entered the family by becoming a ward, and then poisoning his way to the top. Also, his father is a Capulet, meaning Romeo and Juliet are distant cousins. Oof.

Also, I know more about art and architecture now thanks to Art History courses. So seeing all the reliefs and structures in the series was astounding. Seriously. Astounding. There’s this constant image of a goddess with angel’s wings in prayer. It appears in statues, reliefs, statuettes, paintings, etc. There was a goddess statue at the fountain where Romeo and Juliet first met.

In the end, we learned this goddess is a symbol of Escalus, the grand tree that serves as a life force to the continent.

If anything, I really really really wish there was a prequel or something that went into the history of the Capulet family and the tree of Escalus. There were so many unanswered questions. Like, why was Neo Verona floating over the sky the whole time? How? Why did Escalus keep it afloat? Why did the Capulet family have to be the one to make sacrifices? Why the girls? Who was Ophelia, really? What’s the history? When they fell from the sky, did they just rejoin the larger world? They mention Christian and Greek mythos, so how do they know about it? They say Escalus is the patron goddess of Neo Verona, so are there others?

Sadly, we might never find out. But it’s all still very interesting.

Neo Verona is a living, breathing world. It’s a fantasy world that we fall in love with.

All the side characters make us care for saving the world, and Juliet mentions this, too. She decides her sacrifice would be worth it if it meant her loved ones would get to live. And we agree, too, because we come to love all the minor characters. Every single one. Even though we don’t want her to die.

Watching it this time around, I also started to understand Montague, and admire him as a villain. He’s layered. He’s vicious. He’s ruthless. He’s a little insane. He was never loved (he says this in his final moments). His mother died when he was young. He told Romeo he deeply cared for him, which I kind of believe. In a twisted way, I believe he did love him. I believe he also loved Romeo’s mother, Portia. When he visited her, he started by saying she could have lived in luxury with him if she didn’t leave.

Montague also seemed to genuinely care for Escalus. For some reason. Maybe he didn’t want to the world to end with him in it. He seemed to be searching for a genuine solution to the problem.

Anytime Montague was on screen, he was riveting. Truly terrifying. Charming with some, like Hermoine and other lady nobility. But murderous. And a swordsman. Underneath it all, all his heinous acts, he just wanted love. In the end, he died in Juliet’s arms.

The mythos of the world was incredible as well. I’m a sucker for fantasy, and the show really runs with all my favorite things. Prophecy. Ancient things. Sacrifice. Enhanced nature.

I haven’t watched anime in a long time. Honestly, I sort of shunned it from my mind when “Asian things” became more and more shameful. Well, that thinking is shameful. Because anime is truly beautiful. It captures humans in a different way. Anime knows how to do romance. It knows how to build tension and longing, it knows how to invest the audience. Every anime I ever watched has hooked me to the romance (something American TV can’t ever do with me).

I just love the tone of anime. The wittiness, the playful scenes, the heavy moods, the characters and their attitudes. It’s all entirely distinct. I don’t know why, but it really gets you wanting. Plus the expressiveness of 2D animation that can do absolute wonders.

I’m a really big fan of Game of Thrones, don’t get me wrong, and maybe the show just butchered the story, but for a while I just wanted to make a story similar in spirit to Thrones. You know. The realism. The darkness. The unfairness.

But I forgot that you can make your own worlds with fiction. And your own rules. Life is life. It’ll always be unfair and tragically beautiful, and there are lovely stories to capture that. But then there are those stories that are an abstraction of reality, like Romeo x Juliet. Not totally realistic, but spellbinding. You’re thrown into this world, and you just want to be a part of it. For a while, you can escape the real world and join this one.

It gets one inspired about living in a different world.

So while realism is great, fiction and world-building are just so much more fun. And impactful. And creative. And magical. And fan-service isn’t a bad thing.

I cried during the final episode, once right after Romeo died, and again during the Epilogue. Everyone who lived got a happy ending, and I was so sad and happy seeing them all enjoying life. After all the darkness that they went through, they all ended up living in the bright, joyous world that Romeo and Juliet dreamed of.

That’s fucking inspiring. To the max. A little cheesy, but in a way that feels so earned and so right.

So anyway, I’m glad I decided to rewatch it. I was in my early teens when I last watched it, and now I’m 21. Oh, and the decade is ending. Seems fitting. Maybe it’ll help me set the tone for the next decade, which I hope will be one of creativity. And maybe some romance. Maybe. Maybe it’ll have that attitude.

It’s still one of my favorite stories of all time, and I’m definitely going to rewatch it again in the future. Next time will probably be soon. I have to spend some time recovering from the emotional roller coaster that I went through. Maybe next month. I’ll watch it in Sub, the way it was meant to be, I guess. And I’ll see the difference. And I’ll probably write another post about how I felt about it.

Until the next time.

#121119

0 notes

packernet · 5 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://www.packernet.com/blog/2019/07/27/training-camp-day-2/

Training Camp Day 2

Packers Notes

Here are today's roster moves: Signed: *RB Corey Grant. *DL Olive Sagapolu. Cut: *DL Eric Cotton. Packers roster back at the 90-man limit. https://t.co/zifSnYDDHK

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) July 26, 2019

Pretty quiet start today. Lots of drill work & jog throughs. Some players who looked sharp in receiving drills: Darrius Shepherd Jace Sternberger Robert Tonyan Davante Adams Boyle was also very accurate in receiver drills. Kizer has not had a strong start to camp at all.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

During 1st and 10 period, offense ran 15 plays and 11 of them were runs. QBs were in shotgun just twice.

— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) July 26, 2019

Oh that was sick. Fake a sweep to MVS and threw a backside slant to Davante in the vacated space. I enjoyed.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

Rodgers, Kizer, Wilkins was QB rotation earlier. Rodgers, Boyle, Wilkins now.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Saw a lot of 21 personnel in yesterday’s install. Today, the inverse. Lots of 12 personnel for #Packers with Robert Tonyan getting a good helping of first-team reps.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

Offense can’t get lined up and needs to call a timeout. Really tough showing for the offense so far, defense is dominating. Kizer with the 2s in this session as he fires to Sternberger who gets up field nicely. Defense stuffs Tre Carson.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

And that’s it. 2 hours, 12 minutes pic.twitter.com/exmiCqDa4O

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Matt LaFleur speaks to the media following Friday's #PackersCamp practice 🎥 https://t.co/kMlZoiZHy1

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 26, 2019

LaFleur never considered moving practice indoors today with rain: “Last time I checked, this is football. And I’m sure we’re going to be playing in elements up here in Green Bay.” Unless there’s an injury risk, LaFleur says practice stays outdoors.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

LaFleur says Brian Gutekunst had his eye on RB Corey Grant, but #Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett helped recruit Grant over some other options. Hackett was around Grant in Jacksonville. “I know he’s really, really fast,” LaFleur said if Grant.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

Somehow I forgot Oren Burks on this list and Za’Darius Smith deserves mention too! https://t.co/zNkAgUczdh

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Day 2 work.#PackersCamp pic.twitter.com/jq8TOA0QTQ

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 26, 2019

Injuries

Josh Jackson, Darnell Savage, Mason Crosby, Greg Roberts not practicing for second straight day.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

And Brown is back on the field already https://t.co/KLExpgWATi

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) July 26, 2019

#Packers LB Kendall Donnerson left the practice field. Grabbed his left leg during special teams work.

— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) July 26, 2019

#Packers HC Matt LaFleur on today’s injuries: Kendall Donnerson did tweak a hamstring.

— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) July 26, 2019

Fadol Brown with a big time run stuff against Dexter Williams. That was a flash play for Fadol. Next play guess who shoots in the backfield again… Fadol Brown. Carrying over from a good showing in OTAs. Randy Ramsey down and trying to walk it off.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Sagapolu said he’s not totally healthy from the injury (torn rotator cuff) that ended his college career. Thinks he’s about 85%.

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2019

Aaron Rodgers

Sweet back shoulder throw from Rodgers to EQ over Alexander. Nice sky from EQ

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

King picks off Rodgers on errant pass to Adams.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

More team work: Rodgers to Allison on a quick pass, nice route from 81, super quick throw from 12. Fake jet to MVS – Davante cooks King – easy money from 12. Davante doing Davante things. King continues to struggle with in breakers. Rodgers to Baylis who fumbles but recovers.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Outstanding timing throw from Rodgers to Adams in team. Thrown well before Adams made his break, dropped into a hole in the zone. Money.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

DeShone Kizer

Kizer hits EQ on a DEEP post and the offense goes nuts. Qb2 threw a dime.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

Just an insane throw by Rodgers with ridiculous touch & anticipation to Adams vs. King. Nobody in the league is stopping that play, completely boss level stuff from both. PBU & sticky coverage by Tramon on G-Mo. Alex Light great job on Gary. Kizer finds EQ who explodes up field

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Tim Boyle

Dime from Boyle to Jawill but Jawill drops the over the shoulder catch. Jawill had his man beat. After the great reps from Burks he gets beat by Malcolm Johnson but almost ends up with a pick after the throw wasn’t handled by Johnson.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Boyle quick throw outside to T-Davis. Boyle continues to get a ton of of work with the 2’s ahead of DeShone Kizer. Boyle seems to have a legit shot at QB2. Fadol Brown having a freaking day. Just would have sacked Boyle who fired deep post to J’Mon anyway but it’s off target.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Tim Boyle wirh a ridiculous starter level throw to hit Davante Adams for a big gain. Fantastic anticipation and Adams made a great adjustment and catch. It is ridiculous how much the game has shown down for Adams. Boyle w/ another huge anticipation throw to a sliding Kumerow!

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Manny Wilkins

Manny Wilkins gets three reps. Two handoffs and a bootleg where he throws high to a wide open Tonyan for an incompletion. Tough way to live trying to make a team.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Wilkins climbs the pocket and delivers a nice pass to Moore on a crosser #Packers

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) July 26, 2019

Davante Adams

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

MVS

Feel like the WR competition is just getting started, but right now Marquez Valdez-Scantling is pretty clearly ahead of EQ St. Brown as the second perimeter WR across Davante Adams. (Geronimo Allison in the slot.) Will that continue the next five weeks? Way too early to know.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

Outstanding timing throw from Rodgers to Adams in team. Thrown well before Adams made his break, dropped into a hole in the zone. Money.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Geronimo

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Sweet back shoulder throw from Rodgers to EQ over Alexander. Nice sky from EQ

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Kizer hits EQ on a DEEP post and the offense goes nuts. Qb2 threw a dime.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Trevor Davis

Trevor Davis just went up and got one against Kevin King in 1-on-1s. Will be interesting to see whether he can do enough at WR to make the 53 man and be the Packers’ main returner.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

Trevor Davis on jet sweep with Jimmy Graham leading excellent blocking.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Jaire Alexander, Trevor Davis and Tramon Williams back returning punts. #Packers

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2019

Jake Kumerow

Some 1x1s. Kumerow beats Will Redmond. M. Lewis beats Preston Smith easy. Vitale runs a nice angle rte in Crawford A. Jones beats Blake on a wheel!!! Grant gets best of Bolton Oren Burks wirh great coverage on Jamaal Williams and then another rep w/ an amazing pick vs. Jones!!

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Aaron Rodgers to @WarhawkFootball Jake Kumerow. Catch. The #Packers crowd cheers LOUD.

— Lily Zhao (@LilySZhao) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

J’Mon Moore

Manny Wilkins with a very nice post throw to J’Mon who had separation, makes a move in the open field and makes a huge play. Best play by J’Mon In camp so far. Sullivan almost picks Boyle on a slant. Ball was bobbled a few times, good play by Chandon.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Jawill Davis

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Aaron Jones

Jones made a sweet over the shoulder catch on his rep. Going to be a weapon in the passing game. https://t.co/djygPIXEez

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Packers No. 1 RB Aaron Jones: “I feel like I’m slept on a little bit, but I’ve been an underdog my whole life.” pic.twitter.com/TzRzFevlOD

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

Cool tidbit from Packers RB Aaron Jones today: He worked on his hands this offseason in El Paso, Texas by having high school QBs throw to him, and sometimes purposely throw bad passes. He took them to the movies afterward a couple times as a thank you for helping him.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

Jamaal Williams

Raven Greene fills his gap well and shuts down Jamaal Williams. Williams just not very elusive in the open field. Tim Boyle with an attempted deep back shoulder to J’Mon but Ka’dar has sticky coverage and breaks it up nicely. One rookie to keep an eye on.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Dexter Williams

Dexter Williams is back after dropping out with an illness yesterday #Packers

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) July 26, 2019

Aaron with a bomb to MVS but Jaire was ALL over it. Breaks it up and almost comes down with a 1-handed pick. Dexter Williams cuts back nicely before he ran into Rashan Gary who was on the edge waiting for him. Nice run by Williams.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Corey Grant

Packers add former Jaguars running back, who has 38 games of NFL experience. Roster now back at 90. https://t.co/nLpi0H5UF8

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) July 26, 2019

The #Jaguars RB Corey Grant is a top tier #RAS athlete and was @PFF's highest rated RB this week. pic.twitter.com/lI6oRGt63j

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) August 15, 2017

Jersey number for the newest #Packers running back Corey Grant. pic.twitter.com/CedIohTIwj

— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) July 26, 2019

As was evident from today’s attendance list … pic.twitter.com/4RbTPk2n73

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Corey Grant shows off that 4.28 speed as he bursts to the outside for what would have been a big gainer. Jet sweep to Trevor Davis works very well for a gain of 15-20 to the outside left. Montravius Adams stuffs Jamaal Williams for a loss.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Vitale

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Jimmy Graham

Trevor Davis on jet sweep with Jimmy Graham leading excellent blocking.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Marcedes Lewis

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Jace Sternberger

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Robert Tonyan

Robert Tonyan gets first TE rep in team period today. He’s getting a real chance to not just make the roster, but contribute.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

Saw a lot of 21 personnel in yesterday’s install. Today, the inverse. Lots of 12 personnel for #Packers with Robert Tonyan getting a good helping of first-team reps.

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

Evan Baylis

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Malcolm Johnson

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Pharoah McKeveer

When they came up with the word “lumbering” to describe the movement of a human being, they had Pharoah McKever in mind…

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Bakhtiari

One on one defensive line vs offensive line Good initial push by Z but Bakhtiari stymies him. Linsley beats Montravius, strong anchor. Clark beats Turner off the line but Turner recovers perfectly. Next rep Turner dominates Clark. Bulaga takes care of Preston.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Bulaga

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Spriggs

Fackrell with a little pressure vs Light. Keke loses rep 1, better rep 2. Patrick gets the best of Lancaster twice. Jenkins and Looney with a good battle 2x. Gary is so damn good. Spriggs no chance. 👀👀👀 Spriggs does better rep 2 but Gary powers through it.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Alex Light

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Billy Turner

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Lucas Patrick

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Corey Linsley

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Kenny Clark

Aaron stops to tie his shoe before the snap and then Kenny Clark stuffs Jones. Defense ahead of offense again today so far! Kizer a bomb to EQ for a touchdown on his first rep. He missed EQ yesterday, comes back with a dime today. Big play. EQ won deep for the 2nd day in a row.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

💪💥💪💥@KCBoutThatLife @Montravius1TGE pic.twitter.com/rNPcxEnT3X

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Another huddle and an intense last session upcoming. The defense is hype. Here we go!!! Music is blaring. Rollout play one. Preston all over it. Rodgers gets it out to Mercedes incomplete but looks like he was held. Ka’Dar in wirh the ones!!! Clark and Burks stuff Jones!

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Dean Lowry

Team time: Lowry with a big time run stuff on Aaron Jones. Toss to Jones and Blake shoots through for a stop. Quick tempo from call in the huddle to the line but it was just an attempt to draw the de offsides, no dice. Za’Darius shoots through the line for a would be sack.

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Montravius Adams

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Tyler Lancaster

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Eric Cotton

Cotton is indeed the corresponding move. Packers announce his release. https://t.co/kMBYUmlYMS

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

Kingsley Keke

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Fadol Brown

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Olive Sagapolu

#Packers have signed DL Olive Sagapolu, per his agent.

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 26, 2019

A new arrival at Packers camp: former Badgers DT Olive Sagapolu. pic.twitter.com/GmlB2l26JA

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) July 26, 2019

Wisconsin Badgers nose tackle Olive Sagapolu, who weighs 336 pounds, does a standing backflip on the beach pic.twitter.com/UMiUWbih8m

— Disco Sports (@DiscoSports) May 23, 2018

As was evident from today’s attendance list … pic.twitter.com/4RbTPk2n73

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Sagapolu said he’s not totally healthy from the injury (torn rotator cuff) that ended his college career. Thinks he’s about 85%.

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2019

EDGE

Zadarius Smith

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

I don’t know what’s going to happen when the pads come on, but Zadarius Smith is CONSTANTLY in the backfield during team drills.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Preston Smith

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Rashan Gary

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Kyler Fackrell

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Reggie Gilbert

False start by de Beer. Offense 😬😬😬 Boyle quick pass to Shepherd. Reggie Gilbert gets around de Beer for a would be sack and that does it for practice!

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Blake Martinez

Fresh off his INT in team red-zone yesterday, Blake Martinez back working in coverage drills #Packers pic.twitter.com/0DngEIY6dz

— Wes Hodkiewicz (@WesHod) July 26, 2019

Eagle-eyes @rothchris says Martinez gets the strip on Baylis.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

Oren Burks

OB with a great coverage rep against Jones. INT.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

I want to really, really re-emphasize the coverage by Oren Burks. He looked fantastic in both reps. Stuck with Jones on a double move in the open field, jammed him, undercut the route and made a super athletic pick. Huge play for him. https://t.co/NPGWFq4j2E

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Here's that play, for those curious. pic.twitter.com/1XkDI2GXWL

— Olivia Reiner (@ReinerOlivia) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Ty Summers

Semi-interesting note: Bolton is definitely running ahead of Summers as of now.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

Curtis Bolton

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Semi-interesting note: Bolton is definitely running ahead of Summers as of now.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

Jaire Alexander

Sweet back shoulder throw from Rodgers to EQ over Alexander. Nice sky from EQ

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Rodgers heaves one deep to MVS who is blanketed by Alexander, who knocks it away. Should have been picked.

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Jaire Alexander, Trevor Davis and Tramon Williams back returning punts. #Packers

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2019

Kevin King

Trevor Davis just went up and got one against Kevin King in 1-on-1s. Will be interesting to see whether he can do enough at WR to make the 53 man and be the Packers’ main returner.

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2019

King picks off Rodgers on errant pass to Adams.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Tramon Williams

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Jaire Alexander, Trevor Davis and Tramon Williams back returning punts. #Packers

— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) July 26, 2019

Ka’dar Hollman

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Tony Brown

Kizer hits EQ on a bomb over Tony Brown in his first throw in team work

— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) July 26, 2019

Will Redmond

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Chandon Sullivan

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Adrian Amos

Amos makes a really nice play in coverage vs. Adams. So technically sound.

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

Raven Green

— Andy Herman (@SconnieSports) July 26, 2019

Special Teams

JK Scott

That JK Scott can sure kick the hell out of a football. #analysis

— Ross Uglem (@RossUglem) July 26, 2019

With my abacus handy, I has Scott with 56.5 average and 4.44 of hang time on 11 punts.

— Bill Huber (@PackerReport) July 26, 2019

#Packers punter JK Scot got 11 reps vs. rush. Had the wind at his back, and used it well: 48 yards, 4.05 seconds hang 38, 3.80 62, 4.46 60, 4.86 60, 4.65 51, 4.02 63, 4.46 55, 4.58 61, 4.80 62, 4.38 59, 4.58 Avg: 56, 4.42

— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) July 26, 2019

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wildflower8281 · 5 years

Text

Welcome to Miami

You’ve seen more in 5 days in Miami than Pete & I have seen in one year!

Coconut Grove: My Sister’s Place

I recently had the opportunity to visit my sister, Erin and her boyfriend, Pete in their amazing place in Miami. This was the first time I’d visited them since they lived down there. The 3 of us had the weekend together and then I had Monday-Wednesday to explore the city on my own, while they went to work. (They are currently in Hawaii now, so don’t feel too bad!)

During our weekend together, we did all things #relax: pool time, patio time (they have an amazing view), and of course amazing eats, most of them waterfront:

1 Hotel Miami Beach, Planthouse: brunch with a view of the ocean

Rusty Pelican: dinner on Key Biscayne, waterfront, view of Miami skyline

Lulu’s: Coconut Grove’s lovely downtown spot for brunch and people watching

Berries in the Grove: walkable local joint where we watched the Kentucky Derby!

Havana Harry's: authentic Cuban cuisine!

Doc B’s: downtown Coral Gables, fantastic all around, amazing guac

Coconut Grove is a sweet section of town, mostly with a residential feel, but also right next to the train and Route 1, both of which get you anywhere. Erin & Pete lived car-free in Phila and they remain car-free in Miami. It’s pretty awesome and very doable! Our trio had a blast together eating, relaxing and reconnecting - I can’t wait to return!

(This was a quick post, so I’m bunching the pics together, #sorrynotsorry)

Monday: Little Havana

I had rented a car for my explorations from Monday through Wednesday. I’m not afraid to drive in new places or cities, thanks to being thrown into NY City as a nun and learning it on my own with a GPS! Nothing really scares me after that: If you can cruise in NYC, then you can cruise anywhere! (I’ve also driven a 12 passenger van on the left side of the road in Guyana, so there’s that. #ssvm #nunlife #missionaryadventures)

Anyway, of course my first desire when thinking of exploring Miami would be to

visit Little Havana! It was only a 15 minute drive from Coconut Grove! The neighborhood is actually 3 square miles, most of it residential, so I just parked on a side street and made my way up to Calle Ocho, which is the main street of Little Havana.

The only part of Cuban culture I’ve ever been close to was Maria Cruz. She was a teacher at the church I worked for in Spanish Harlem, San Pablo. She had grown up in Cuba and lived there during the terrible times of Fidel Castro. She taught religion secretly and remembered what it was like to not have access to sugar. She lived there during the scarce and scary times & always had stories to tell. Then, she came to New York. I remember she would occasionally bring us (the nuns who worked in the CCD office) Cuban coffee, in those tiny NY cups and it was the richest, yummiest coffee I’d ever had! That was the closest to Cuban culture I ever got, until now.

My first goal was to find a cuban bakery or coffee shop and score some coffee & sweet breads or cookies to go along, then to sit and just people watch. Luckily, as I rounded the corner of Calle 8, I stumbled upon just that and ordered un cafe cubano and some I-don’t-know-what-they-are-called yummy cuban cookies. I took my treats down the street, seeking a bench to chill on, which I promptly found at Domino Park. Domino Park is just what it sounds like - a dozen or so tables, filled with locals (mostly men) playing dominos, laughing, drinking their cafes and chatting. It was a hub of bustle and I sat right down and enjoyed the scene! One of my favorite things to do while traveling is to find the local hubs, sit and just watch the people. I like to blend in (if possible), remain unnoticed and just observe humanity. It’s fascinating. I made eye contact with various of the players (old enough to be my grandparents,) smiled and I think they appreciated that I just quietly came in and sat down. There were loads of other tourists who came in charging with their cameras, hovering around the tables snapping photos, as if these folks were statues or something. It felt weird to me and I appreciated just being on the sidelines, enjoying my cafe & cookies, just watching.

From the park, I just wandered up and down Calle 8, snapping pictures of everything colorful, vibrant and interesting - which is basically everything in Little Havana. From the trash cans with Cuban art on them, to the wall tiles, street murals and picturesque cafes and walkways. I’m not really a shopper, so I skipped all the souvenir stores (although many looked like they had fun stuff!) and always consider my photos the best captures of my experience that I get to take with me for free. I love shooting new places, capturing scenes, art, and interesting corners or angles that people may not notice. So I spend the next 2 hours doing just that and it made me very happy. I also scored a second cafe cubano, because why not?

I’m not one to educate on history or culture, but Cuba does have an interesting, terrible and unique history behind all the colorful culture and rich coffees. I’ve read about it and learned first hand from Maria Cruz. It’s worth a look-up, whether or not you ever visit Little Havana or Cuba. (Same goes for any culture/country - who were the native peoples, what is their true history, whose land am I on, etc. )

Tuesday: Miami Beach Botanical Garden; South Miami Beach; Matheson Hammock Park

There are at least 5 amazing gardens one can visit in the Miami area, but the Miami Beach Botanical Garden is free! I drove the interesting highways over to Miami Beach and parked in the lot for a whopping $2/hour.

I was expecting the Gardens to be the size of the one here in Phoenix, which could easily take 2 hours to wander through. The Miami Beach Botanical Garden was probably only about ⅓ the size, but reconciled the lack of acreage with rich, lush, tropical radiance! They had a pond with fish, turtles and frogs! A Japanese style garden, a labyrinth you can walk through, various fountains peacefully cascading water and everything in bloom, green and refreshing. Just walking around was like breathing healing air.

I spent about an hour there and still had time on my car to spare, so I was like, “OK, what am I near right now? Where can I explore?” Turned out I was a 15 minute walk from South Beach, aka: the Ocean, so I headed east! Walking towards the beach, I heard dozens of languages, most of them totally unfamiliar to me, like from Eastern Europe and Asia for sure. Pretty neat.

The beach was calm, free (take notes, NJ) and very blue!! I walked to the water, sat in the sand and enjoyed the moment. I didn’t have a bathing suit on, so I just walked in to my ankles, but the water was refreshing. I would have jumped in, but I still had things to do that day and didn’t want #wetbuttcarseat.

I made my way home just in time for the afternoon shower to land. Afternoon showers are a thing in Miami during the rainy season. They usually pass in 1-2 hours, which this one did. Enough time for me to eat lunch and read a bit.

My next stop was the Old Cutler Trail, which I had read was great for biking or walking along. It was 13 miles in total, but one could start wherever and just meander. Well, I found the start of the trail in a gorgeous, historic neighborhood, but it seemed much more ideal for biking. I didn’t just want to walk in a neighborhood, so I kept driving along Old Culter just to see what I might find. This is just how I roll.

Shortly, I saw a sign for Matheson Hammock Park, aiming toward the bay, so I followed that sign. For $5, I could drive in and explore the bay area, swim and relax. It was shortly after the storm, so the place was pretty empty except for me, some lifeguards wandering around and the sunshine. Palm trees, calm beaches, a view of the Miami skyline. I explored the beach pretty intensely and witnessed all kinds of crab life happening right at the waters edge, and quite literally under my feet! It was a very lively shoreline! I watched the crab and critter bustle for quite some time! I relaxed on the picnic tables and watched the water, felt the breezes, just took in this secluded place I happened to find. I felt lucky!

Wednesday: Ancient Spanish Monastery

On my last day in Miami, I ventured to North Miami where the Ancient Spanish Monastery was situated. I guess, Dear Reader, you’ve figured by now that I’m not one to just lay on the beach for 3 days straight! Don’t get me wrong, I love the ocean, but if I have the opportunity to explore a new city, I dive in! I love any reason to wander, take pictures, see something new. So, prior to my trip, I of course researched and selected a few main sites to visit, one of them being this Monastery that just looked gorgeous. I love old buildings, things that feel European and old, and of course there is my ever-affinity to anything related to #monasticlife! Well, this monastery would prove much more interesting than I anticipated!

History from Spanish Monastery:

“Construction of the Monastery of St. Bernard de Clairvaux was begun in the year 1133 AD near Segovia, Spain. Cistercian monks occupied the Monastery for nearly 700 years. After a social revolution in the 1830's, the Monastery’s Cloisters were seized, sold, and converted into a granary and stable.

In 1925, William Randolph Hearst purchased the Cloisters and the Monastery's outbuildings. The structures were dismantled stone by stone, bound with protective hay, packed in more than 11,000 wooden crates, numbered for identification and shipped to the United States. Soon after the shipment arrived, Hearst's financial problems forced most of his collection to be sold at auction. The massive crates remained in a warehouse in Brooklyn, New York, for 26 years. One year after Hearst’s' death in 1952, they were purchased by two entrepreneurs for use as a tourist attraction. It took 19 months to put the Monastery back together. In 1953 Time magazine called it ‘the biggest jigsaw puzzle in history.’

In 1964, Colonel Robert Pentland, Jr, who was a multimillionaire banker, philanthropist and benefactor of many Episcopal churches, purchased the Cloisters and presented them to the Bishop of Florida. Today the parish Church of St. Bernard de Clairvaux is an active and growing congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida.”

The photos show how beautifully restored this place is, in addition to it being basically another botanical gardens. There was a labyrinth on the grounds one could wander through and rows of perfectly planted, vibrant flowers. Moving through the Monastery was like being in a different epoch. Knowing that generations of monks silently moved through the corridors, ate in the refrectory and lived religious life within those stones was pretty amazing. Worth the visit, if you geek-out on this stuff like I do. Plus, a gorgeous place to take pictures!

En Fin

My adventure in Miami was fabulous and now I want to move there. Seriously, the green and the water, the tropical vibe got me. While I love the desert and all Phoenix has been to me, Miami felt like my next move. Next move, like give me a year or so to get my biz going, then tropics here I come! Not to mention, my brilliant sister & her fab partner Pete live there. Miami felt real good.

Te veo, Miami, te veo. Ya pronto.

#miami #tropical #littlehavana #coconutgrove #tropics #miamivibe #adventuresinmiami #explorer #girlswhotravel #missionaryadventure #nunlife #sisters #ponderings

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madferliam · 7 years

Text

Liam Gallagher interview: 'Noel is a potato. He dresses like Gary Barlow'

Original Source: The Telegraph By: Andrew Perry Date: 1 October 2016

In a secluded corner of Highgate’s Café Rouge, Liam Gallagher is acting like a man half his age. And he looks the part: enviably bronzed from a recent holiday in Majorca, and irrepressibly Tigger-ish in manner, it’s hard to believe that he recently turned 44.

After three troubled years out of the game, British rock’s one true icon from the ’90s is visibly revelling in the limelight cast upon him by a new film about his first band, Oasis. Called Supersonic, it’s a timely reminder of how this garrulous, magnetic Mancunian was once a pop saviour.

Today, he’s bang on time for our 10am summit – unthinkable in 1994, unless actually on his way to bed, gin and tonic in hand – and in buoyant mood, having kicked off his day at 5.30 with a seven-mile run on Hampstead Heath.

As Supersonic electrifyingly shows, when Gallagher first surfaced as a cocky twentysomething back in the mid-’90s, Britain was crying out for what he calls a “chin-out” rock frontman, after years of American grunge, acid house and shoegazing.

The stirring two-hour movie, which was put together by the team behind the award-winning documentaries, Amy and Senna, charts Oasis’s meteoric rise from dreary Manchester, to the cusp of world domination. It culminates with their two epochal shows at Knebworth in ’96, before a staggering combined audience of a quarter of a million people.

Gallagher describes the film as “euphoric and lovely”, accurately adding, “The majority of it’s comedy gold, man!” Certainly, their escapades on their first visit to Los Angeles, where they over-indulge in potent American narcotics, and then end up playing different songs at the same time onstage, will have viewers reeling in the aisles.

Liam does admit, however, that parts of it are, for him, “emotional – seeing us all together, starting off young, not knowing where we’d end up.” He pauses, clenching his teeth. “And then the way it ends – with me and our kid”.

“Our kid” is Liam-speak for his elder brother, Noel, with whom he has an infamously tempestuous relationship.

I first met the Gallaghers in summer ’94, at the BBC’s studios in Elstree, where Oasis were performing Live Forever, on Top Of The Pops. That day, they were non-stop entertainment, excitable about their whirlwind success. From a journalist’s point of view, there were rich pickings in the contrast between Liam, the lairy, impetuous frontman, and Noel, the thoughtful, acerbic tunesmith, who, the movie reveals, had always kept his emotional core well guarded, after suffering physical abuse from their father in early childhood.

As one insider remarks in the movie, “Noel has a lot of buttons to press, and Liam has a lot of fingers”. On this front, and every other, Supersonic is bang on the money.

“Those times were great, man, and dead fast,” Liam recalls, as we relive them together. As Oasis’s star ascended, the aftershows became big, wilder and more extravagant, with the likes of Madonna, Bono and George Michael turning up to bask in their reflected glory. I’ll always remember one bleary night in a Manchester hotel room with Liam, Robbie Williams and the movie actress Amanda Donohoe, which spiralled on until well after sunrise.

“It was just like one big, long night out,” Liam affirms “like going to loads of different parties one after another, for the first two and a half years. You never had any time to sit and think about it. I didn’t want to be on TV talking about it. I didn’t want to be on holiday with me feet up. I wanted to be f---ing there, singing them tunes, ’aving it, and then afterwards getting off me tits and trying to blow me head to pieces.” This was the essence of Liam in his “mad for it” majesty. As such, Oasis were a completely different animal from the other so-called Britpop bands they were lumped in with. “Blur, Menswear and all them,” he says, derisorily, “we didn’t dress like them. Their music was all jolly and wa-heeey [waves his arms around in a silly manner]. Our music was more serious, straightforward, classic.”

He says he never had stage fright, even as the audiences got bigger.

“Knebworth was easy, man,” he maintains. “I was only scared when it was empty. Then you thought, 'F---ing hell, a bit big, this, innit?’”

That weekend, I interviewed Noel on site. The crowds were unimaginable, unnavigable, but they bellowed Oasis’s anthems in one mass choir, so they reputedly could be heard in neighbouring counties.

Noel was predictably upbeat after the first show. “We thought we were big when we played Earls Court, then Maine Road,” he said. “But last night… Now I know what big means. All you can do is sit and laugh at it.” He went on to confide that he’d had Mick Hucknall thrown out of their family enclosure. “He was pissing me off,” he reasoned, “I didn’t want to look at his head.”

I share with Liam my memory of Noel strolling into an empty compound right behind the stage – one little guy whose magical songwriting had convened this imponderable throng of 125,000 people beyond the fence.

“He’s the Ronnie Corbett of rock!” Liam roars, referring to his brother’s diminutive stature, which hadn’t been my meaning. After Knebworth, the Gallaghers’ sibling disagreements turned into a never-ending scrap, resulting in cancelled tours, declining fortunes, and, eventually, a bitter parting of ways in 2009.

So, Supersonic concludes at Knebworth, presenting a fabulously empowering rags-to-riches tale, mostly narrated by the disembodied voices of Liam and Noel. Each reputedly reminisced for around 20 hours, often with something verging on mutual affection, though never in the same room together. Here in Café Rouge, it soon becomes clear that no hatchets have been buried.

“Noel’s far too busy to promote the film,” Liam bristles. “Apparently, he’s doing a fun album, and he’s living in the now, and he’s too f---ing busy to be going down the nostalgic route. Which is funny, because it was his management who decided to make the film.

"But he won’t be at the premiere, and he’ll come back with some quick remark, like, 'Oh, I’ve no need to be doing this, but that’s all Liam’s got’.” He thumps the table angrily. “Well, I’m doing it, because I’m not leaving it to them cowboys to do a film about my f---ing thing.”

The tirade goes on. Noel “is a potato”. He “dresses like Gary Barlow”. He “stirred up” the final argument in ’09, “because he wanted to go solo.” Noel indeed soon got up and running with his own band, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and quickly established himself as an arena headliner, with a set mixing Oasis and solo hits. In interviews, he often states that he simply doesn’t need the aggro of an Oasis reunion.

“Anyway,” Liam adds, “his missus, Sara McDonald, won’t let him get that band back together. She wears the trousers, mate." Liam suggests that a further difficulty lies in the fact that half of the songs were written about Meg Mathews, Noel’s first wife.

Ouch, I say. Talking that way will hardly accelerate a reconciliation, let alone a reunion.

“The olive branch has been put out many times, and he’s blanked it,” Liam fumes. It’s a shame we can’t bury the hatchet, but it’s not like I’m messing with the brakes on his car, or he’s putting my windows through. It’s just banter, isn’t it, until one of us grows up.

“It is a shame. I don’t see his kids, he doesn’t see my kids, and it hurts my mum, and all that tackle. It’s all very childish and ridiculous, but there you go. I’m quite enjoying it, actually.” There’s a long pause. Liam taps a teaspoon on the rim of his empty macchiato cup.

“So yeah,” he concludes, “here we are now, twenty years later, bored out of our f---ing minds. The party is well and truly over!”

You’d never know it from talking to him, but Liam Gallagher has had a rough ride since 2009. From the ashes of Oasis, he immediately started Beady Eye, but, he concedes, “people couldn’t grasp me being in another band”, so he had to call time on it in ’13.

Around that time, his second marriage, to All Saints singer Nicole Appleton, ended abruptly, after it came to light that he’d fathered a child by an American tabloid journalist – he also two sons, one by Appleton, and one by his first wife, Patsy Kensit.

“The stuff that happened was my own doing,” he admits today, unusually contrite. “S--- happens, and I apologise. I’ve hurt a lot of people, but that’s life. I’m in a good place with my two kids, the divorce is all done, and we move on.”

He’d never use a touchy-feely word like “rebuilding”, but that’s what the Oasis hell-raiser has been doing of late. A few weeks ago, he signed his first solo deal with Warners, for an album he’s been co-writing and demoing with a raft of unnamed helpers.

“I guess it’s the last chance to dance, know what I mean?” he shrugs. “There’ll be some rock 'n’ roll bangers on there, but also some softer, John Lennon-y things. That’s who I am. You know, I can’t cook. I f---ing refuse to cook. All I can do is, do what I do.”

Even pre-release, however, Supersonic has already sparked another wave of demand for an Oasis reunion. Will it ever happen?

“At the moment, it’s a bazillion light years away,” their iconic singer summarises, as we say au revoir. “I’d love to, but obviously – it’s down to Ronnie Corbett, innit.”

#interview #liam gallagher #2016 #oasis #the telegraph #supersonic #documentary

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