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ragingpancake · 3 years

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I Got You

A/N: I watched Echoes the other night and frankly, I just needed to write this. Sort of an unofficial sequel to The Road to Nowhere Leads to Me.

They’re almost back to Atlantis from the mainland when Rodney realizes that maybe something’s a bit off with Sheppard – er… John (and he has to remind himself to start calling Shep—John by his first name because this whole… thing between this is still relatively new and it’s probably not social acceptable for one to refer to one’s boyfriend by last name only). No one would ever really call him chatty, but this level of quietness is almost unsettling, especially when Rodney tries to goad him into some gentle bantering and he’s just not having it. “What’s wrong with you?” He asks finally as the city is just coming into view. “Huh?” Rodney squints, mouth turning down in a frown. “I certainly didn’t stutter, Colonel.” Maybe that’ll get his attention.

He waits a moment, and then two. Nope. Nada. The lights are on but nobody’s home. “… John.”

At that, John lifts a hand and presses the heel of it against one of his eyes, wincing and Rodney notices for the first time how not well the other actually looks. “I’ve just… got this killer headache that won’t go away,” he says and it actually sounds pained in a way that Rodney isn’t quite used to from him. He watches as John squints at the city in the distance. “Maybe I should take over?” For a split second, he thinks John might be considering it before he shakes his head. “Nah, s’alright. I know how much you struggle to fly in a straight line.” There’s the smallest hint of teasing in his voice but Rodney doesn’t rise to the challenge because it’s such a weak attempt on John’s part that he knows he’d absolutely assassinate John with a comeback and where’s the fun in that? “Are you sure? Because, because I’ve been in one of these things when it’s crashed into the water, if you remember correctly, and I really have no intention of repeating that, so if you aren’t feeling well, I’d rather just--.” “Rodney,” John says and now, there’s a trace of a bite to his tone. Wow. Hostile. “Okay, I’m just saying--.” “I know,” John says. “But it’s fine. I’ve got it.” Rodney resigns himself to believing that for about a split second until he glances over again and notices the blood dripping from John’s nose. “John--.” “Dammit, Rodney! I said I’m--.” And whatever lie John was about to tell dies on his lips as he slumps over, head smacking the console. Immediately, Rodney leaps into action, grabbing John before he slips out of the pilot’s chair to ease him down onto the floor, his head lulling to the side sickeningly. “Jumper 1, this is Atlantis, come in. Your course has drastically shifted.” Radek’s voice comes through the comm system in the jumper and Rodney suddenly realizes that no one is, you know, actually piloting. “I need a medical team to the Jumper Bay. Sheppard is down, I repeat, Sheppard is down.” He scrambles into the pilot’s chair and manages to jerk it upwards approximately three point five seconds before the jumper crashes into the ocean. “Rodney?” It’s Elizabeth’s voice now, and she sounds about as worried as Rodney feels. “Carson’s here. What happened?” “Can’t talk now! Trying to fly and not, you know, crash and send us both to our deaths in the horrifically vast ocean. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.” “Rodney!” “Just have them standing by!” He cuts off the comm system and glances down at John who has not yet regained consciousness. “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.” It becomes his mantra as he somehow manages to navigate the jumper back to the city and into the bay. He barely has time to lower the door before a med team is swarming in and before Rodney has a chance to so much as breathe, they’re gone, John with them. There’s a small bit of blood on the floor from where John was laying and Rodney has to work very hard not to throw up. ---- It’s dark in the hallway, save for the faint blue glow emanating from the center of the wall closest to him. He reaches out, hand pressing against it and he can feel the thrum of hurt intensifying, adding to what’s already there in his head. He staggers at the force of it, drops to his knees and presses the heels of his hands against his eyes in an attempt to stave off the pounding of his head. But this isn’t his hurt, he realizes after a moment. It’s hers, and that thought alone is enough to force him back to his feet, hand reaching out to touch that blue light again. This time, he feels an almost burning heat fanning out from the center of his hand as the blue expands and he watches as it begins to creep across the wall, almost as if it’s beckoning him to follow. He’s never been good at following orders and he has the record to prove it, but he finds his feet moving, seemingly of their own accord, allowing the glow to lead him down the darkened hallway for what seems like forever until it stops, finally, at a room he doesn’t quite recognize. “Why am I here?” Because I need your help, she answers

back, the words cool and gentle within his mind. Find me, John Sheppard. Before it’s too late. “Before what’s too late? What are you trying to tell me?” But she’s already receding from his mind and all he’s left with is a light so bright that penetrates the darkness as John opens his eyes. --- Rodney’s there when John finally comes to under the bright lights of the infirmary. “Oh thank God,” he says as he slumps back into the chair, running a hand across his forehead. “Far be it from me to say I told you so, but--.” He doesn’t get a chance to finish before John is sitting up so quickly that it makes Rodney a bit dizzy, kicking the blankets off of his legs. “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” He stands up, pressing a hand to John’s shoulder to ease him back down onto the mattress and Ronon is on the other side of the bed, doing the same. “Where do you think you’re goin’?” The Satedan asks in his natural rumble. “I have to help her,” John says and Rodney suddenly finds himself a bit miffed at that. “Help who?” He asks and if he sounds a little pissy, he thinks he’s probably allowed because you know, he’s the one been sitting at John’s bedside for the last several hours, worried very much about the possibility of brain damage and now that he’s awake, the first thing he mentions is some second rate harlot and--. “The city,” he rasps and he grabs Ronon’s wrist, trying to force it off of him. “Something’s wrong with the city.” “What? The city is fine,” Rodney says, but he’s reaching for his tablet anyway, pulling up the city schematics to scan over quickly, searching for any indication that something was not right. “See?” He says, and he turns the tablet to face John so he can see for himself. “The back up teams cleaned everything up nicely, there’s absolutely nothing that would indicate--.” “Rodney,” he says and there’s an almost wild look in his eyes as he glances up at the scientist, seemingly pleading with him to just listen. “They missed something. There’s something wrong, we have to--.” “Aye,” Carson greets, a smile on his face. “There ya are. Ya had us quite worried there for a bit. I’d still like to run a few scans--.” Rodney tunes him out as he searches John’s face and he supposes that there is a possibility that something was missed. It’s a huge city, many parts that they’ve yet to explore and the Wraith attack had been devastating. He rationalizes that this could also possibly be attributed to some sort of brain injury, what with the bleeding and the passing out and everything but something in John’s eyes gives him pause. Whatever’s brought him to this conclusion, John seems to truly believe that there’s something wrong with their city, with their home and while Rodney isn’t apt to act without actual evidenced based data, he finds that he can’t quite let this go without investigating. “Stop,” he says, holding up a hand to Carson. “We need to go.” “Go? What are ye on about?” Carson asks, clearly annoyed at the interruption. “We still don’ know what caused the bleedin’ an’--.” “Something’s wrong with the city,” Rodney says, echoing John’s previous statement. “We have to go.” Ronon glances at Rodney from across John’s bed and when Rodney gives a barely there nod, Ronon crowds Carson, gently ushering him away. “Sorry, doc.” “Oh, ye can’t be serious! Rodney!” “Can you stand?” Rodney asks John, and he reaches for him, carefully like he’s not sure where it’s okay to touch, especially in public, but John’s hand grabs his wrists and he squeezes gently. “Thank you.” “If you really want to thank me,” Rodney says dryly, “you can do so by not passing out on me again during what is sure to be a long trip around the city. “I’ll do my best,” John answers solemnly and Rodney supposes that’s as good as it gets. --- It’s dark outside, the Lantean sun having set several hours ago. They’ve split up into groups, Ronon and Teyla, Lorne and McMasters, John and Rodney. They’ve had absolutely no luck in finding anything of consequence and Rodney is trying very hard not to lose his temper because he’s

tried to show John on the tablet several times now that everything still shows all is well, but John is insistent. Desperate even, only growing moreso the farther away they get from the heart of the city. “Teyla, Ronon, this is McKay. Anything?” “No, Rodney,” Teyla answers back almost immediately. “It seems as though everything is still working as it should over this way.” “Lorne?” “All good here, doc. I’m gonna suggest we call it, at least for the night. Some of these labs haven’t properly been cleared yet, I’d like to--.” “No,” John says and when Rodney glances over to give him an exasperated glare, he realizes that John’s nose is bleeding again. “John, what are you--!” “This is the hallway,” he tells Rodney, reaching up to wipe the blood away, smearing it to his cheek. “This is… she needs us…” He reaches out and touches the wall and Rodney watches as it pulsates under his hand, a blue glow flickering to life. He’s always known that Atlantis liked John better than she liked anyone else, has seen it in the way rooms light up for him, the effortless way in which John activates all her tech, but this… this is something else. She’s actually communicatingwith him, he knows it. “Three levels above the east pier,” Rodney says into his comm. “Teyla—” “We are already on our way,” and over the radio, Rodney can hear the heavy footfalls of their feet against the floor. Rodney doesn’t realize that John has walked away, not at first, until he turns to see the glow halfway down the hall, barely illuminating John’s figure as it guides him further into the darkness. Rodney follows, and suddenly, John stops outside of a door. “Is this it?” Rodney asks, but he already knows the answer to the question. He slides his hand over the crystal, but the door doesn’t budge, not that Rodney expected it to. “Okay,” he says, and his voice is gentle now, perhaps more gentle than it’s ever been, but there’s something about the pinched look on John’s face that honestly, truly worries him. It reminds him of how he looked on the jumper, right before he, you know, passed out. He checks his tablet, but he knows it’s a moot point because the city is off-line down here, which is why they never knew there was a problem. The sensors just don’t reach this far, but he thinks he should be able to still get the door open. “John,” Rodney says, and there’s no response. “John.” But John seems not to hear him as he reaches for the door, fingers gripping the edge as he tries, desperately, to pull it open. “Oh, oh. Yes.” Rodney puts the tablet down carefully and he moves to the other side, glancing at John to follow his lead and as John pulls again, the noise that escapes him sends a shiver down Rodney’s spine. He screams as the door finally slides open and now, Rodney notices the blood trickling out of John’s ear, just in time to grab John as he crumples, guiding him to the floor. “Rodney!” Teyla’s voice echoes down the hallway, and Rodney calls back, voice nearing on hystericalas he situates himself below John to pillow his head on his lap. “Here! We’re here!” Ronon comes into view first, gun aimed, followed quickly by Teyla. “We heard screaming, what—John?” “It’s Atlantis!” Rodney says, “She’s using John to communicate, there’s something--.” Ronon needs to hear no more as he slips through the opened door and a second later, there’s the sound of laser fire. Rodney’s petting over John gently, shaking him gently, pleading with him to wake up but it’s to no avail. Teyla has disappeared inside of the room that John brought them to and Rodney risks a fraction of a moment to lean down, letting his lips brush against John’s forehead. “Please, please, please wake up.” John resolutely does not. --- “Did we do it?” He’s somewhere quiet and he’s alone, but he can feel her around him, leaving him warm and comforted, reminding him very much of being wrapped up in his mother’s embrace when he was seven and had the flu. He remembers that because before coming to Atlantis, it was the last time he felt well and

truly loved because she’d died less than three weeks later. You did, and he closes his eyes, letting her warmth wash over him. The pain is gone, both his and hers, he realizes and there’s a feeling of contriteness that settles inside of him, like she’s saying she’s sorry and he guesses she means for basically hijacking his mind. But, as unsettling as it should be, he finds that he’s always known she was there, really. The gentle thrumming, the quiet humming of her power he feels tucked away somewhere in the back of his mind. She wasn’t trying to hurt him, he knows. It’s not just his found family that cares for him, not just Rodney… but her too. There will be no lasting damage, she promises him and the warmth begins to recede, just a bit. To either you or me. But please tell Doctor McKay not to be too angry with me. The darkness is fading now with her and he’s not really sure why she thinks Rodney would be upset with her. He tries to ask, but the feeling of a gentle hand in his hair, a quiet murmuring of voices, breaks through and John closes his eyes, letting it guide him out of the dark. Thank you once again, John Sheppard. You saved us all. --- “—still don’t understand how we didn’t know it was here,” Elizabeth says and Rodney has to fight not to roll his eyes because they’ve been over this, he’s explained it ad nauseum. “The life signs detector is tied in directly with the city’s power grid,” he says exasperatedly and he thinks about reaching for his tablet as a nice visual aide but somewhere along the way, his hand had settled into John’s hair and it’s so soft that he kind of doesn’t want to pull it away. He doesn’t know if it brings John any comfort, but it brings him some, feeling the warmth of the other under his hand and damn if he’ll let anyone take that away from him. Even at the sake of his own sanity for having to go through this again. “That part of the city still doesn’t get any power. No power means it can’t communicate with us. We never would’ve known.” “… never would’ve known what?” The raspy voice from the bed asks and Rodney very nearly topples out of his chair as he yanks his hand back, gaping down at John, and “oh, thank god!” “Wraith,” Ronon says by way of explanation, like it’s the most natural thing in the world and Rodney supposes maybe it is. After all, at least for right now, it’s the Wraith that’s proved to be their biggest pain in the ass. “Technically, a Wraith transmitter,” Rodney corrects and he can’t quite tear his eyes away. “The Wraith was.. well, indisposed, as it was. How are you feeling?” “What d’y’mean ‘indisposed’?” “It blew itself up when it realized that the room was heavily shielded and that the beacon couldn’t get through,” Ronon says and Rodney glares at him, because he’sthe one who likes to do all the explaining, thank you very much. “Blew a hole in the wall almost the size of a jumper.” “Yes, well,” Rodney says, steering the conversation back, “somehow, there was some sort of a fail safe built into the city’s infrastructure. There was a kind of a force field where the wall used to be, not unlike that of the cells, but with no power, it wouldn’t have held much longer. When it failed, that thing would’ve sent our coordinates to every Wraith hive ship in the galaxy and well, the ruse would’ve been up. But enough about that, how are you feeling?” “Kinda like I got hit by a truck,” John says and he shifts on the bed to sit up a bit more. “The transmitter’s been taken care of?” “Blasted into almost as many pieces as the Wraith,” Ronon says proudly and Teyla squeezes his arm gently. “We are very glad that you are awake, John,” she says diplomatically, “but perhaps it would be best if we let you rest?” “Whaddya mean? That’s all he’s been doing,” Ronon scoffs, but Teyla tugs at his arm anyway, bless her. “Come,” she says. “Elizabeth, perhaps I could help you in your office, go over the schedule for the teams set to search the rest of the city?” And whatever look she shares with Elizabeth has her nodding, turning to give them both a

smile. “Of course, thank you Teyla,” she says and she reaches out for John, squeezing his arm gently. “Good to have you back with us, John.” John lifts a hand in response as everyone filters out, leaving him and Rodney alone. “You’re an idiot,” Rodney says, just because it’s expected of him, has become part of their standard routine whenever John lands himself in the infirmary. “For what?” “Oh, I don’t know, for letting a sentient city scramble your brains.” “She said she’s sorry, you know,” John says and Rodney rolls his eyes. “Of course she did. And when did we decide that she was a sheafter all? I suppose it makes sense, what with the way women across twogalaxies fawn over you, the famous Colonel Kirk.” “It’s okay to be jealous, Rodney.” “Excuse me? I am not jealous! I just think it’s a little funny that--.” “She even said she hopes you’re not too mad at her,” John interrupts. “What? Why would she care about that?” “I dunno,” he shrugs and he lays back against the pillow, closing his eyes. “Guess she knows how important you are to me. Probably wouldn’t wanna get in your bad graces…” He still can’t get used to this, this… thing. Where they care about each other, but have finally matured enough emotionally to say it out loud. “Yes well,” Rodney sniffs, and settles his hand back against John’s hair, “I’ll forgive her this time. But you tell that harlot--!” “Rodney,” John groans, “she said she’s sorry.” “Alright, alright,” he says and he leans forward, maybe a bit hesitantly, before he presses his lips against John’s. “I’m just… glad you’re okay.” “Yeah,” John agrees. “Me too, buddy. Now how about less talking and more hair petting?” Frankly, there’s nowhere else Rodney would rather be. “Go back to sleep, dummy.” “With pleasure.”

#mcshep #sga fic #fandom: sga #john sheppard #rodney mckay #john sheppard whump #sentient!atlants #post the siege #unofficial sequel #stargate atlantis #sga #john sheppard/rodney mckay

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atlantis-scribe · 3 years

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AU-gust 2021 ( Day 7 )

Beekeper

(in which John is the sober companion of an eccentric genius & Rodney is Denver PD's consulting detective who sometimes talks to his bees)

It's only with slight hesitation that John makes his way to the rooftop.

"Captain Weir just called."

Rodney's standing in front of the colorful ladderback chairs that Ronon gave him a few weeks ago for his first year of sobriety. His sling is still intact, which is a surprise to John. Maybe it's because the guy's too busy looking at the bees through a gigantic magnifying glass to fiddle with it. For an ambidextrous, McKay's too particular about having both limbs available to him at any given time.

"She wanted to give us an update about Malkshur," John adds, parking himself beside Rodney to see what all the fuss is about. "Thanks to the recording of your conversation back at the hospital, the police know that she admitted to using Lord Bynarr to kill the Sokaris. The evidence has her lawyers sweating bullets, so they're being very careful right now."

That gets him a soft, distracted hum before Rodney says, "And the money?"

"The Netuan dollars she bought have been frozen, pending further investigation."

Apparently, that's the end of the shop talk because Rodney doesn't add anything else, doesn't issue any more questions. He continues to devote all of his attention to the bees, like they hold all the answers John knows Rodney has spent a lifetime trying to chase.

Part of John wants to keep rambling anyway, to give a blow-by-blow account of the whole thing, at least the parts Rodney’s missed while he was faking a relapse to set a trap for his ex-girlfriend who is actually an international terrorist. It's against John’s nature, but standing here, in the middle of the rooftop, is giving him the urge to fill the silence that Jolinar Malkshur's betrayal has left in her wake. Makes him want to piece together the broken fragments of the man Rodney used to be when he’d met and fallen in love with the perfect illusion that was Samantha Carter.

"They're almost here."

John looks up to find Rodney giving him a quick, sideways glance. "Who?"

"Do you recall the rare bee that was sent to me as a gift for proving that Perna Hoff had been poisoned?" He waits for John's nod before he continues. "Osmia avoseta, which is its own species and by all accounts should not be able to reproduce with other bees."

He uses his free arm to wave at the display in front of them.

"And yet, nature is infinitely wily."

There's not much to look at for an untrained eye, but John remembers the bee Rodney's talking about just fine. "So our little solitary bee got another bee pregnant?"

John knows his oversimplification will annoy Rodney, but the only reaction he gets is a brief quirk of lips. "Quite so," Rodney tells him. "They should be reclassified as an entirely new species, and as the one responsible for its discovery, the privilege of naming this creature falls to me."

With the magnifying glass, John can see a different bee wriggling its way out, this one undeniably distinct from the others.

"Allow me to introduce you to Euglassia sheppardina."

John whips his head so fast, for a moment his vision blurs. "Wait. You named a bee after me?"

Rodney doesn't answer, but this time the quirk is now a small grin.

"Huh." A long moment passes before John looks away to bend and peer into the glass. "You named a bee after me."

#*waves at any elementapeeps in this house* hi!#a little indulgent AU because #where would i be if it weren't for CBS Elementary #stargate atlantis #rodney mckay #john sheppard #mcshep #my fic #fic: AU gust #AU_gust #AU_gust_2021 #my post

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crowdvscritic · 3 years

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round up // MARCH + APRIL 21

March and April were a whirlwind of vaccines and awards shows! A full year after we starting staying at home, the end of this weird chapter in recent history seems like it might finally be coming to a close, and this pop culture awards season—typically a time full of fun and glamour—captured our moment weirdly well. (Emphasis on the weird.) This month’s recommendations is filled with more Critic Picks than usual, so without further delay, let’s dive right in...

March + April Crowd-Pleasers

Double Feature — 2018 Action Thrillers: Bad Times at the El Royale + Den of Thieves

In Bad Times at the El Royale (Crowd: 9/10, // Critic: 8/10), Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, and Dakota Johnson are staying at a motel on the California-Nevada state line full of money, murder, and mystery. In Den of Thieves (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6.5/10), Gerard Butler takes on some of the best bank robbers in the world. Whether you like your action with a dose of mystery or the thrills of plot twists, these will fit the bill.

Double Feature — ‘80s Comedies: Caddyshack (1980) + Splash (1984)

In the mood for pure silliness? Take your pick between a mermaid and a gopher! Five years before The Little Mermaid, Tom Hanks fell for Daryl Hannah’s blonde hair and scaly tail, and John Candy was his goofy brother in Splash (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10). And four years before Ghostbusters, Bill Murray was the goof on a golf course full of funny people like Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Ted Knight in Caddyshack (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10).

Double Feature — 1980s Coming-of-Age Films Starring Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, and Challenging Brother Relationships That Influenced Stranger Things: Stand by Me (1986) + The Lost Boys (1987)

Believe it or not, I had no idea these two ‘80s classics had so much in common when I chose to watch them back-to-back. In Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Stand by Me (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10), four kids (Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, River Phoenix, and Wil Wheaton) are following train tracks to find a missing body. In The Lost Boys (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10), Corey Haim and Jason Patric move to a small California town and discover it’s full of ‘80s movie star cameos and…vampires? One is a thoughtful coming-of-age story and one is just bonkers, but both are a great time.

Spaceman by Nick Jonas (2021)

My love for the Jonas Brothers is well-documented, so instead of going down the rabbit hole I started digging at 15, I’ll talk about how Nick Jonas’s latest solo album will likely appeal to a wider audience than just the fans of the brothers’ bombastic pop records. It’s full of catchy tunes you’ll play on repeat and an R&B-influenced album experience about the loneliness we’ve experienced in the last year and how we try to make long-term relationships work.

Ted Lasso (2020- )

I love stories about nice people crushing cruelty and cynicism with relentless kindness, and Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is the warmest, most dedicated leader this side of Leslie Knope. Be sure to catch up on these witty and sweet 10 episodes before season 2 drops later this summer.

Double Feature — Tony Scott Action Flicks: Enemy of the State (1998) + The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

Tony Scott’s movies have got explosions and excitement in spades. I love a good man-on-the-run movie, and in Enemy of the State (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), Will Smith is running through the streets of D.C. after getting evidence of a politician’s (Jon Voight) part in a murder. I also love a tense story set in a confined space, which is what Denzel Washington is dealing with in The Taking of Pelham 123 (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 7/10) after a hammy John Travolta takes a New York subway train hostage.

Double Feature — Baseball Movies: The Natural (1984) + Trouble With the Curve (2012)

Sue me—I love baseball movies. Robert Redford plays a fictional all-time great in the early days of the MLB in The Natural (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10), and Clint Eastwood plays a fictional all-time great scout in his late career in Trouble With the Curve (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7.5/10). If you love baseball or actors like Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, and Justin Timberlake, these movies are just right here waiting for you.

youtube

Nate Bargatze: The Greatest Average American (2021)

Sue me—I enjoy Netflix standup comedy specials that are safe enough to watch with your whole family. That’s exactly the crowd I laughed with over Easter weekend, and while the trailer captures Bargatze’s relaxed vibe, it doesn’t capture how funny he really is.

The Mighty Ducks (1992)

I thought somewhere in my childhood I’d seen at least one of The Mighty Ducks movies, but after watching all three, I think my memories must’ve come from previews on the VHS tapes for other Disney movies I watched over and over again. The original still holds up as an grown-ups, which is why even my parents got sucked in to this family movie while just passing through the living room. Bonus for ‘80s movies lovers: Emilio Estevez is basically continuing Andrew Clark’s story from The Breakfast Club as an adult. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

Double Feature — New, Dumb Action on Streaming: Godzilla vs. Kong + Thunder Force (2021)

If you want something intelligent, go ahead and skip to the next recommendation, but if you’re looking for something stupid fun, these are ready for you on HBO Max and Netflix. Thunder Force (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 6/10) follows Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer as they train to become superheroes who take on superhuman sociopaths wreaking havoc on Chicago, and alongside Jason Bateman, they do it with a lot of laughs. Godzilla vs. Kong (Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 5/10) is, um, exactly what it sounds like, so I’ll skip a plot summary and just say it’s exactly what you want from this kind of movie. #TeamKong

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

All you need to know is Russell Crowe is an outlaw, and Christian Bale is the guy who’s got to get him on the train to prison. I also watched the 1957 version, which is also a solid watch if you love classic Westerns. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

Marvel’s newest series isn’t nearly as inventive as WandaVision, and it may not land every beat, but it’s worth a watch for the fun new gadgets, Sebastian Stan’s dry joke delivery, and its exploration into themes of what makes a hero and what governments owe their citizens. It’s a pretty satisfying entry in the MCU canon, but I’d also recommend re-watching Captain America: Winter Soldier and Civil War—the canon is getting expansive, and it’s getting trickier every year to keep up with all the backstory.

March + April Critic Picks

Best of 2020 Picks

As per usual, the months leading up to the Oscars becomes a binge period for potential Oscar nominees. In March and April, I watched many of the films that made my Top 20 of 2020, including Boys State, The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Let Them All Talk, Minari, Nomadland, On the Rocks, One Night in Miami…, Promising Young Woman, Soul, and Sound of Metal. You can read how I ranked them on my list for ZekeFilm, plus reviews of The Father, Minari, Promising Young Woman, and Soul.

Bonus: If you loved On the Rocks, don’t miss this feature and beautiful photography starring Sofia Coppola, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Rashida Jones for W Magazine.

Stranger Than Fiction (2006)

What would you do if you started hearing a voice who narrated your every thought and move? If you’re Will Ferrell, you’ll seek out a literary professor (Dustin Hoffman), fall in love (with Maggie Gyllenhaal), and track down the voice (Emma Thompson) who’s making ominous predictions about your future. Stranger Than Fiction is funny thought-provoking, and an unusual but welcome role for Ferrell. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

All the Royal Family News

Speaking of stranger than fiction, it’s been a busy few months for the Royal Family. We’ve celebrated 95th birthday of Queen Elizabeth, the 3rd birthday of Prince Louis, and the 10th anniversary of Will and Kate’s marriage. We also lost Prince Philip, and we watched the drama of Harry and Meaghan’s interview with Oprah. No matter what happens to their Crown, I don’t think we’ll ever get over our fascination with the Windsor family. A few pieces worth reading from the last few months:

“In Meghan and Harry’s Interview, Two TV Worlds Collided,” Vulture.com

“The Queen’s Man: Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Dies,” TIME.com

“Obituary: HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,” BBC.com

Goodfellas (1990)

One of my film opinions that makes me feel like a phony is that Martin Scorsese just isn’t my cup of tea. He’s brilliant, but his films tend to be long and dark, two qualities that are never my first choice…and somehow Goodfellas still worked for me? Maybe it was the TV edit graciously toning down the violence or maybe it was that Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci were firing on all cylinders, but for some reason this ‘90s classic didn’t suck the joy out of my evening like Scorsese often does. (Bonus: For a Martin Scorsese/Robert De Niro I don’t really recommend, head to the last section of this Round Up.)

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Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (2021)

Her voice has only matured, so Taylor Swift revisiting her old albums is like upgrading a blast to the past. Plus, the six new tracks make me feel like 15 crushing on that boy in Spanish class again, and her Grammys performance (just before her third Album of the Year win) was magical and folklore-tastic.

Double Feature — ‘60s Action Classics: The Guns of Navarone (1961) + Planet of the Apes (1968)

The Guns of Navarone (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) follows Gregory Peck and David Niven as they destroy Nazi weapons in the Mediterranean. Planet of the Apes (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) follows Charlton Heston as he attempts to escape from, well, a planet full of apes. The pacing of ‘60s films doesn’t always hold up, but that’s not the case with this pair. Both are still full of suspense, and you can’t go wrong hanging with casts like these.

Let Him Go (2020)

Kevin Costner and Diane Lane play a farming couple who unexpectedly help raise a boy who lost his biological father—sound familiar? But instead of a superhero origin story, they’re part of a thrilling Western with performances nuanced (Costner and Lane) and showy (Lesley Manville). If I’d watched this before completing my Best of 2020 piece, it likely would’ve been on my list. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

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The Oscars

I’m a ride-or-die fan of the Academy Awards, but I’ll admit even I found this year’s ceremony odd. Instead of focusing on what wasn’t so hot, I’ll recommend a few moments you don’t want to miss:

Emerald Fennell giving a shout-out to Saved by the Bell

Daniel Kaluuya acknowledging his parents’ sex life during his acceptance speech (??)

Yuh-Jung Yoon flirting with Brad Pitt and acknowledging she’s just “luckier” than her fellow nominees

Glenn Close dancing to…”Da Butt”?

You can also read about the historic wins and nominations from this year’s Oscar class and why the Golden Globes were an even stranger production weeks earlier.

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Trailer-palooza!

Movies are on their way back, y’all! I’m counting down the days until I can get back to a theatre, and even if some of these movies are duds, I’m planning to see all of them on a big screen if possible:

Those Who Wish Me Dead (May 14)

Cruella (May 28)

In the Heights (June 11)

Space Jam 2 (July 16)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 3)

West Side Story (December 10)

Also in March + April…

To add to the Oscars love, you can listen to a conversation about what we learn about family, community, and society in some of the year’s biggest nominees on the Uncommon Voices podcast. I join regular hosts Michael and Kenneth in this episode, and I recommend all of their thoughtful discussions on their “What’s Streaming” episodes.

I’ve previously recommended the Do You Like Apples weekly newsletter, so I’m proud to share I contributed twice in March! I wrote about Love and Basketball, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and one of my all-time favorite Julia Roberts rom-coms, Notting Hill. (I also tied to win their Oscars pool, but I suppose that’s less exciting for you than me.)

It was a busy couple of months on SO IT’S A SHOW! New logo, new email list, new Instagram, and a host of new episodes about a flop of a Madonna flick, a Swedish children’s TV show, an urban legend turned into a horror movie, one of the best films about journalism ever, and a Martin Scorsese movie about a real boxer.

Most of what I wrote for ZekeFilm in March and April was mentioned in Best of 2020 recommendations…except for The Nest, a film that couldn’t figure out what genre it wanted to be.

Photo credits: Nick Jonas, Royal Family. All others IMDb.com.

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imalifegen89 · 3 years

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A Legacy Left Behind - Chapter - 5 - The Gemmond Incident

Part 5 - Final

Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain - Colorado

As promised, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell had shown up with SG-1, which had included himself, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, and Dr. Daniel Jackson. Sam Carter had not been available since she had been called away to the Daedalus for an urgent matter. Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka had both shown up in her place to specifically study the two downed crafts and find a solution to free the trapped Gemmondians. SG-3, SG-8, and SG-9 had accompanied the Colonel in order to disperse around the city and help with the clean-up and whatever other tasks the citizens were in need of help with. Dr. Sandy Van Denson and Dr. Ian Carmichael along with three other medical staff had also shown up, bringing along the promised medical assistance for the traumatized Gemmondians.

Sheppard and the team had been upgraded to local celebrity levels and almost all of the people there in the city had wanted to catch a glimpse of the Tau'ri who had managed to successfully wipe out the Wraith. The locals had insisted on the feast they had somehow managed to prepare despite everything and made the SG-11 the guests of honor. The team had stayed for a few minutes, enjoyed a few local cuisines, and taken their leave in quiet relief when Mitchell and the other teams had finally shown up to take over.

..........

"Fucking hell! Hearing about all this crap in the briefing and looking at nasty photos is one thing. But this, man - this is something else." Danny's voice was equal parts awe, fear, and incredulity.

"So, this telepathic attack basically had a domino effect on these creatures. Powerful as they are when they are mentally connected to each other, it can also be a major weakness. Too bad only the ATA gene carriers have this ability," Adam Noshimuri sounded wistful. He was fascinated by the footage they were all now going through of the day's operation.

SEALs always went on ops with recording apparatus as a part of their standard kit. SG-11 had permission to keep this particular Special-Operator-trait for their operations, in keeping with the Navy standards, and it came in handy. They could always study the ops footage later to get more information and also it could be used to educate other teams whenever they went through something like this. Only a few of the team had body cams that day since they had been going to a party. But they had managed to team up to maximize the coverage and now they had mostly complete footage of the entire operation.

They had all gone for their post-Gate-Hop medical checkups once they had returned to the mountain. As promised, Colonel Mitchell had retrieved the rest of the SG-11 from the village near the jungle and they had returned to the mountain about 20 minutes later. They all had reunited in the infirmary during their medical checkups. Sheppard, Lorne, and Danny had garnered extra attention - the first two because of their dealings with the Wraith and Danny for getting partially stunned. But they had all been cleared without needing to spend the day in the infirmary once the doctors had been satisfied. They had all had early dinners in the mess hall and the two pilots had retired to the quarters since they had both been still suffering from headaches. The rest of the team had gathered in one of the smaller recreational rooms to go through the footage and get their AARs (After Action Reports) done for the debriefing the next day. They had already gone through the cam feeds from Steve, Bates, and Vega and now knew what each team had faced. They had exchanged praises, criticisms, and good-natured ribbing while watching different areas of footage with fascination. Now they were all at the part from the cam Lorne had been wearing.

"Yeah, that's the thing. These guys are rare enough as it is. When the Wraith find out about this, they’re going to start hunting them. The gene carriers are a real threat to Wraith. All they have to do is ask the Goa'uld to take care of the gene carriers while they deal with the non-gene carriers. We’re going to have to try and keep this stuff under wraps as long as we can," said Vega, after they had all finished watching the feed.

"Keep what under wraps?" asked Sheppard at the end of a huge yawn. He was leaning against the door of the rec room and was wearing a black t-shirt, loose sweats, and a pair of slippers. He still looked half asleep and Steve wondered what had made the man wake up and come looking for them.

"Ah, sleeping beauty, come take a seat. We were just talking about your horror show," said Danny, with his usual lack of tact.

They were using the TV screen in the room to watch the feeds and a few laptops and PDAs were scattered on the stool in front of them. Steve, Adam, and Kono were sitting on the long couch, Danny, Bates, and Vega had claimed sofas and Cadman was settled between Higgins' stretched-out legs on the floor. Sheppard pushed off from the door frame and walked into the room eyeing the seating arrangement. Then he huffed and went to settle on Steve's lap, who let out a quiet laugh and moved to accommodate the burden. John wriggled and shifted until he was sitting comfortably, resting sideways on Steve's chest with his head on Steve's shoulder, and let his long legs dangle off the armrest of their side of the couch. Steve wrapped his arms around the sleep-warmed body on his lap and closed his eyes. Then John looked at Danny expectantly. Danny keyed a few commands on the laptop closest to him and started the feed from Lorne's cam for John to have a look.

Steve felt him tensing up the moment John saw himself on the screen. It occurred to Steve then, that this was the first time John had seen himself going through the 'online experience.' The other time he had been alone and when he was discovered, he was already back to normal. Steve rubbed his back, offering silent comfort.

"Wow! That's... um... disturbing. My eyes - they look creepy - I look creepy..." said John. He was thoroughly disturbed at witnessing his physical transformation.

"I don't know brah, I was once involved in a raid at a meth factory. I've seen creepier-looking dudes running around, believe me," said Kono matter-of-factly from the middle of the sofa.

"And I know for a fact that you are a complete lunatic. One, because I've seen you fly and have had the misfortune to fly with you several times. Two, you are dating the other lunatic you are sitting on. So this little drama is nothing. I wasn't even that surprised," said Danny, his hand slicing away at the space in front of him, emphasizing his point. John and Steve both sent identical glares at Danny who just upped the wattage of his shit-eating grin.

John could clearly see the easy acceptance from his team of his rather weird ability, and That made it much easier for him to accept the fact himself. (He did remember how Lorne had looked during the change. Okay - he had looked like he was high on something - but not a full-on-mutant like John, though.)

"So the point we were discussing was, to keep this bit of intel from falling into the claws of the Wraith because that would lead to those fuckers declaring open-season on gene-carriers," said Bates, with a grimace. The others nodded in response.

"Dr. Carson is working on artificial gene therapy. He says his serum would have a 75% chance at activating junk DNA in a non-gene carrier to become ATA positive. I actually helped him to find some information he needed from the Alteran archives back in Antarctica. The way things are going, we are going to need him to deliver soon, so that we'll have enough people to deal with these assholes," said John thoughtfully, his mind drifting back to discussions he had with the Scottish doctor during his visits to the Defense Outpost in Antarctica.

"Yeah, and let's not forget the Snake-Heads. At least we have some sort of warning system against the Wraith. But the Goa'uld - do we even have a way of identifying them in advance?” The question was from Steve. he still had his eyes closed, enjoying the proximity to John.

"There are some medical scans that can spot them. Other than that, the Jaffa and some of the previous hosts, like Vala and Carter can sense them. Of course, the Tok'ra would know. But that's about it I think," said Cadman, remembering the facts from Daniel Jackson's lectures.

"Yeah, they've been quiet enough on earth for what, closer to two months now? But busy stirring trouble in other worlds? Whatever they are planning, we are not going to like it much when it happens. I really can do without these times of suspense, you know?" said Vega.

"I know it's tempting fate, but I do agree. By the way, did you guys hear? The word is, that the big boss is going to show up tomorrow. Probably for our briefing. He usually shows up when things are really going to get sent up the creek without paddles," informed Cadman conspiratorially.

"What big boss?" asked Sheppard at the same time Steve asked, "Where do you even hear this stuff from anyway, hah?"

"Oh, I've got my sources, Mr. Major, Mr. Lieutenant Commander," said Cadman, grinning from ear to ear.

"Awesome. Better get our paperwork and shit together then, yeah?" suggested Bates and grabbed the PDA closest to him.

Sheppard slid off the comfortable lap he was sitting on and settled on the floor between the Commander’s legs, then grabbed two PDAs - one for himself and one for Steve. They all then got busy with their respective reports on the day's events.

..........

Early next morning, Sheppard was sitting inside the Jumper helping the Air Force Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter to extract the data pertaining to their jaunt in Gemmond. He was transferring the flight records, blueprints of the Darts and Wraith Dart Carrier, all details about hull compositions, weapons, and other data, the scans and the footage the Jumper had managed to capture to Carter's PDA. When the data transfer finished, Samantha Carter went away, letting Sheppard know that they'd be called in for the debrief later on.

He knew that Kono and Steve had also prepared a comprehensible version from all the cam feeds they had on themselves during the mission as well. They had all submitted their detailed AARs to the SGC server already and were now waiting to be called to the briefing room for a Q&A session with the General and whoever else was present.

The summons came via Sergeant Harriman who came to fetch the SG-11 team leaders, Sheppard and McGarrett, into the main Briefing Room just after breakfast.

Briefing Room, SGC, Cheyenne Mountain - Colorado

Entering the Briefing Room, Sheppard experienced a feeling of déjà vu, since the atmosphere held the same intensity as his first briefing at the same place, several weeks ago.

This time there were more participants. Even in his BDUs, the bald Major General had an imposing presence. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill was sitting to his right and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell was to his left. Next to O'Neill were Dr. Daniel Jackson and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter with Teal'c sitting beside Mitchell. Dr. Rodney McKay was also present, busily typing on the laptop in front of him while munching on what looked like a blueberry muffin. Dr. Zelenka was sitting next to him trying hard to look like he had absolutely no association with McKay. SG-11 leaders had the seats on the opposite side of the big conference table, facing everyone, completing the assembly. There were two projector screens, on opposite sides, so no one had to twist their necks to see the feeds or any other data that was projected onto the screens. They also had their own PDAs or laptops with them, so they had ready access to anything they needed at any moment.

"General, you wanted to meet the trouble magnets. Well, here they are. The team leaders of SG-11." General O'Neill made an unorthodox introduction as they both entered the room and gathered in front of the conference table.

"You shouldn't complain much O'Neill, when you were the one who was bugging me for a group of special operators in your ranks. Now you've got some, and if they’re bringing extra workload for you, well, you've got no one else to blame," said General Hammond pleasantly.

"You know, it was more like Marshall's wish, come to think of it," O'Neill informed General Hammond. Colonel Marshall Sumner who was at the Earth Alpha site on an inspection, was not there to defend himself.

General Hammond shook his head in amusement, already much used to General O'Neill's eccentric ways, and turned to address SG-11." Anyway, gentlemen, it's a pleasure to finally meet you two. I have seen your personal files and the files of everyone in your team, of course, but I always like to meet trouble magnets in person, whenever I can manage. Please sit and make yourselves comfortable. We’re going to be here for a while," he informed the Major and the Lt. Commander.

"Major Sheppard, if you can please give a brief report of what took place in Gemmond?" he looked to Sheppard once they were seated.

Sheppard recounted the mission as ordered. He started from the point where they had to force the connection to Gemmond via the Jumper's DHD and detailed their entry to the hot zone. Then he briefly described the recon they conducted and the subsequent entry to the Wraith Carrier. Then he recounted the rescue operations and the entanglement with Wraith. He then summarized blowing up the ship, how they split up to accompany the Gemmondians and how the rest of them returned to the gate to report back to SGC, followed by the handover to Lt. Colonel Mitchell who showed up to take over the clean up. Once he finished, General Hammond turned to Mitchell.

"Lt. Colonel Mitchell, will you tell us what happened next?"

"Yes Sir. I went to Gemmond with SG-1, SG-3, SG-8, and SG-9. SG-3 was sent with the medical staff to the city to provide medical help and SG-8 went with them to help with the clean-up. I dropped off the Doctors McKay and Zelenka at the Dart crash sites along with Teal'c and SG-9 and took the Jumper to orbit to run a scan in near space. There were no other Wraith Spaceships in the vicinity. Then I returned to the city and stayed there to coordinate with the city council. I also spoke to some of those travelers who were taking refuge in Gemmond. They were from Holdus, Aegis, some even from Charos. They all had similar stories about this 'Culling', as they called it. It seems that this started about two weeks ago and there seem to be few other worlds targeted as well. So far they've been avoiding the technologically advanced planets though," continued Mitchell. "Then I took a trip to the village near the jungle where the rescued Gemmondians gathered with a couple of medical staff. They were all okay and being taken care of by the Nasyans. We spent the whole day in the city and the clean-up was rather quick, seeing as SG-11 got there pretty quickly and the Wraith didn't have much time for a larger attack. Then I collected the Doctors from where they were camping near crash sites and returned to the mountain for the debrief."

The General then turned his attention towards the two scientists;

"So Dr. McKay, Dr. Zelenka - any luck extracting the people stuck in those Darts?" he asked.

"Hmm, we've scanned those two Wraith Darts and found a way to connect with their interfaces. Basically, we’ve gone over the controls that dematerialize people, store their information, and then rematerialize them again when commanded to. It's a very complex process and requires a lot of power. Now, the Dart I scanned has five life signs and Radek's one has eight life signs. But according to the power readings we've got, those darts don't have enough power to rematerialize people on their own. But we can hook up a Naquadah generator into each of them and give a bit of extra oomph to restart the controls and activate the beam. Sort of like jump-starting a car battery." Rodney looked quite proud at having managed a properly dumbed-down report for the academically challenged.

"Ano, Rodney, we discussed this. There is a chance that those generators might not be the best way to restart those controls. You mustn't forget the biological components in those Darts - they are not like normal batteries that we can jump-start." Dr. Radek Zelenka pushed his spectacles further up his nose and reminded Rodney.

"I know, but if we regulate the levels and write a subroutine to abort if it gets over the power levels we need, it'd be fine." Rodney turned to face the Czech scientist and gestured with his muffin.

"A subroutine that we need to translate to match the coding on the interface. Yes, yes! It might work. But then we need..." Zelenka had already started typing something fast and McKay was leaning over to watch his screen.

"Ah, wait, there," he interrupted and the Czech said something unintelligible in his own language, still typing away. Now Rodney had abandoned his muffin and was also busy on his PDA while talking to Zelenka about code.

The two scientists had forgotten about the rest of the assembly and were completely immersed in their planning, typing, and conversing in increasingly complex scientific jargon. General Hammond let it continue for a while and then decided to interrupt when the scientists showed no signs of returning to the briefing. Out of all of them, only Carter seemed to be able to follow the dialog between them with an amused look on her face.

"As riveting as it is to be listening to you two gentlemen, can you please tell us whether this venture is possible or not? We really don't need to know the exact process," Hammond asked them both with great patience.

"Yes, General. We can do this. Maybe by tomorrow evening, we should be done. We will need a Naquadah generator though," said McKay, without looking up or without stopping his typing.

"Jack, can you accommodate that?" asked the Major General.

"Yeah, I'm sure we have one or two of those lying around here, somewhere," General Jack O'Neil replied, looking pointedly at Sergeant Harriman who confirmed with a firm nod.

"Well, then," started General Hammond, but was interrupted by Dr. Zelenka. "Can we be excused? We need to clean this up and get a proper program before we need to return to the planet."

"Yes, please. You may both take your leaves, doctors." A rather relieved General excused the pair without further delay. They both got up with their PDAs and left the room, bickering about the code and power levels.

"Commander, I was informed you have the footage of the entire operation?" he then inquired of McGarrett, who confirmed. "Now, Jack, I think this is something we should get all our Gate teams to start practicing. There is always one team or another who runs into something unexpected whenever they conduct Gate operations." He turned to the General.

"Yeah, I agree. But there is a concern, you know? What with the IOA and all their crap about respecting the privacy of the natives and such. SG-11 has a bit of leeway on this because they are a joint ops team and we had agreed to keep up their SEAL standards. So all their Gate missions go under Special-Operations per that agreement with the Navy. I think it's about time we took a long hard look at those pesky civilian regulations, especially since it's starting to look like trouble's brewing," said Jack O'Neill, for once looking completely serious.

"Hmm, I have a meeting with the IOA in a few days. I'll speak to the President as well before I meet with them. The chances are that we are going to have to raise the threat levels and will have to change some protocols accordingly, very soon," replied the General. He was already thinking about reaching out to the other races with advanced technologies and capabilities the earth had connections with; about this latest threat and ways to defend against it.

He then turned to Samantha Carter. "Carter, I'd like to review that footage now please."

Lt. Colonel Carter projected the video onto the screens on either side while Harriman dimmed the lights in the conference room. For the next 90 minutes or so, the entire conference room was quiet except for the sounds coming from the footage of the mission.

General O'Neill took it upon himself to break the thick silence that had descended in the Briefing Room at the end of the mission footage. "You know, I remember I sent SG-6 last year to Gemmond for the harvest celebrations. They brought back cake - really nice cake - and even nicer wine," he said wistfully, and then turned to where Sergeant Harriman was seated. "Walter, remind me next year when the time comes around, yeah?"

"Of course, General," the Sergeant replied with an equally serious air.

"That was an excellent bit of soldiering. My compliments to your team. Well done." General Hammond said. He was extremely impressed with the way the team handled the situation. He had harbored some concerns about how well they could mesh a SEAL team with an SGC team and this incident proved that it could be done quite seamlessly. He could see that each and every member brought a unique and impressive skill set to the team.

"Jack, I need a copy of this footage and all other data collected in a summarized report so I can present this to the president and the IOA. I might call an extra-planetary meeting to discuss this too. So be ready. And keep me posted if you get news from other planets on any encounters like this," He informed O'Neill. "So far, is there anything on the surveillance on those satellites and the Goa'uld activity?" he inquired.

"Nothing, but I believe this explains why they are waiting for the Wraith to stock up on supplies before starting whatever they are planning on. I have a feeling this might include an armada or two of alien fleets by the way things are going," said Jack O'Neill thoughtfully.

"The work on Prometheus is nearly completed. She will undergo her space trials in the next month, bringing our fleet to six. We shall see if we can persuade our allies to contribute as well. This information might just be what we need to apply that persuasion," General Hammond reflected. "All right people, thank you for your time. I will be in touch." He stood up, bringing the briefing to an end.

With that, everyone stood up as General George Hammond took his leave.

..........

It had been two days since the meeting with Major General George Hammond and SG-11 had just returned from a training session at the Alpha site, off-world. They had completed the medical checkups, cleaned themselves up, and were seated around a long table enjoying their dinner in the mess hall when Steve's phone started ringing.

The call came from a landline bearing a Hawaiian prefix. "Is this Mr. Steven McGarrett?" The voice was female. Steve winced at the 'Mr.' involuntarily, not used to being addressed as such.

"Yes, that's me. Who is this?" he asked.

"Sir, my name is Diana Curtis and I'm calling from Honolulu General Hospital. You’re listed as the next of kin for Captain John McGarrett. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday when he suffered a heart attack. Sir, his condition is stable for now. But we'd like you to be here and visit him if it is at all possible?” The professional no-nonsense voice delivered the news in such a calm manner, it took Steve a few seconds to register what the woman was saying and the seriousness of the situation.

"WHAT?" he barked into the phone, when he had recovered from the shock. The team sitting around him all stopped what they were doing and stared at Steve.

"Mr. McGarrett, please calm down. Your father's condition is stable for the moment. He was brought to the hospital on time. Are you able to make it here safely as soon as possible? Is there anyone who could bring you here?" The hospital admin on the line tried to placate the very agitated SEAL.

"Uh? Yes, yes. I'm not in Hawaii at the moment. But yes, I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for calling and letting me know," Steve collected himself enough to reply. His mind was still reeling at the shocking news he had just received. He had called his old man only two days ago and he had sounded fine on the phone - even happier at the fact that Steve was stationed somewhere in the mainland and could call home more or less on a regular basis.

"You’re welcome sir," the voice said crisply and disconnected the call. Steve stared at the phone in his hand dumbly, his mind refusing to cooperate and start being useful for the moment.

"Steve, what was that all about?" The touch on his arm and the concerned face of John - which was quite close to his - brought him back from the stupor he had got lost in. Steve stared at him for a moment and then found the words to reply.

"That was the Honolulu General. My dad, he's in the hospital, he had a heart attack," Steve said in a dull tone, still not able to believe that it was real. He felt John's grip tighten around his arm at the revelation.

"What? When? How?" Questions bombarded him incredulously. Steve took a couple of deep breaths in an attempt to bring his turbulent mind into some semblance of control and deal with the situation.

"I don't know, but I need to go there now," he said decisively, standing up.

"Hey, Steve, hey, they didn't say it's bad, did they? Just don't go by yourself." John was also standing with him and he realized John was holding him by the shoulders, shaking him slightly. He grabbed onto John automatically, his presence so close to him, helping Steve to ground himself. He concentrated on what John was saying to him and could hear the regret in his voice at not being able to go with Steve. They were the team leaders of SG-11 and one had to be at the mountain if the other was going to be unavailable.

"Don't worry man, I'll go with him," Danny was also standing up and looking worried. He also looked determined to follow the SEAL home no matter what Steve had to say about it.

"I need to go pack a bag, and yeah, Danny, you can come with," said Steve, starting to mentally list the things he needed to do in order to get moving.

"I'll help," Kono volunteered.

"Let me talk to Walter and contact Peterson AFB - there might be a transport or something going that way. It'd be quicker," Sheppard suggested, and was already moving towards the elevator to go to level 27. "I'll come back and see you in your quarters," he threw back over his shoulder as he entered the elevator.

"Shit, I need to apply for leave," said Steve, watching John disappear into the lift.

"Don't stress Commander, we'll take care of it." Bates patted him on the back and Cadman nodded along. "We will apply on behalf of you two. This is an emergency. So it'll be fine," said Vega. Then she and Bates both took off towards the HR offices to handle the paperwork for their Commander's emergency leave.

"Thanks, guys," Steve shouted after them. And then he hurried towards his own quarters with the rest of his team tagging along. He already had a duffel packed for emergencies and only needed to add a few more things. He tried calling his dad’s friend but the call went to voicemail. He figured that he could try contacting them once he reached the hospital. He wouldn't even think about calling his sister until he had the chance to see his father and knew more about his condition.

..........

Within 20 minutes, Steve and Danny were both waiting by the exit at Cheyenne mountain for the vehicle that had been signed off for them to be delivered to Peterson AFB. Walter had made the arrangements. There was an army cargo plane making a training run to Hickam and he had managed to arrange transport for the two SEALs with it. They'd make their own way back after the visit to the hospital.

"Steve, listen, it's gonna be alright. You hear me? It'll be fine! Your dad's a tough guy, he'll be fine." Sheppard was holding his face in his hands and Steve found himself nodding along to the assurances pouring out of his boyfriend. Then John kissed him softly on the lips and Steve sighed, leaning into the comfort. He rested his forehead on John's and wished with all his heart to wake up and realize that this was all just a bad dream.

"And don't forget to call, yeah?" John implored as he straightened and very reluctantly let go of Steve.

"Sure John, I'll call," He promised as the SUV came to a stop in front of them. He and Danny both got in and seated themselves. He then gave a short wave to John who was still standing there by the exit watching them leave. Steve hoped what John had told him would be true, that his dad would be able to make it through. He was not ready to lose his only remaining parent. ‘God please, not again! Not so soon...' His mind was repeating the mantra as Steve let out a weary sigh and closed his eyes.

#fanfiction series #stargate atlantis #steve mcgarrett #john sheppard #ao3fic #cross over #hawaii five 0 #stargate #fiction #my writing #writers on tumblr #bamf!John Sheppard

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fand0mfancies · 4 years

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Came across this on Tumblr a few days ago, it amused me for a couple of hours or more, filling it in, while watching QI.

Fandom Questions

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?

Star Trek: Voyager, I suppose at least for reading. Started writing with Stargate SG-1.

2. What is your latest fandom?

I dip in and out of lots of fandoms on and off, the most recent ‘pick up’ is Ballam from Eastenders, I don’t watch soaps, but Robron and Ballam both appear a good bit on my tumblr, so I eventually gave in to checking them out via fic and youtube – thank god for youtube, lol! I still don’t watch soaps, but I watch those storylines!

3. What is the best fandom you’ve ever been involved in?

Gosh, that’s... actually no that’s really easy. Primeval. For anyone not familiar, it’s a ‘silly little dinosaur show’ produced in the UK. It had 4 short seasons, with a somewhat revolving main cast – although they managed to keep 3 of them through all 4 seasons – but the fandom was/is amazing. I made life long friends through the fandom and even though I don’t write much any more I still read some and still talk with those people.

4. Do you regret getting involved in any fandoms?

I would say no. I can’t say every fandom has always been amazing – ship wars anyone! – but mostly fandom has been a very positive experience in my life.

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for?

How long have you got... in genuinely no particular order (basically as they came to me) Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Trek (TNG, DS9, Voy, Ent & Reboot Movies), Marvel, Kingsman, Person of Interest, Due South, Quantum Leap, Firefly, Buffy/Angel verse, Harry Potter, The Sentinel, Torchwood(/Doctor Who), Hawaii Five-0, Shadowhunters, Sherlock, Primeval, Emmerdale (Robron), NCIS, CSI (Vegas, NY & Miami), White Collar, Empire Records, Bull, Diagnosis Murder, MacGyver (the original), 1-800-Missing, CHAOS, Without a Trace, M*A*S*H, Charmed, Queer as Folk (US), Will & Grace, Bring it On, Nash Bridges, Magnificent 7 (TV series), House, Babylon 5 – I think I got them all... a few of those were one time only deals, but a lot of them have more (anywhere from 2-52 (or more still!) ranging from 100 word drabbles, to thousands of words – hey I’ve been writing fic for 21 years... you tend to amass a lot of fandoms...

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

Oh geez, here we go, lol! Okay...

Stargate SG-1: Jack O’Neill/Daniel Jackson

Stargate Atlantis: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard

Star Trek: Elim Garak/Julian Bashir, Chakotay/Tom Paris, Jonathan Archer/Malcolm Reed, James Kirk/Spock – I don’t particularly have an ‘otp’ in TNG, the couple I’ve written were Picard/Data, I’ve also dabbled reading Data/Gordi)

Marvel: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Kingsman: Harry Hart/Eggsy Unwin

Person of Interest: Harold Finch/John Reese

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray K

Quantum Leap: Sam/Al

Firefly: Malcolm Reynolds/Simon Tam

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Giles, Angel/Spike, Xander/Spike, Willow/Tara

Harry Potter: Harry/Draco, Harry/Hermione, Harry/Hermione/Draco

The Sentinel: Jim/Blair

Torchwood: Jack/Ianto

Hawaii Five-O: Steve/Danno

Shadowhunters: Magnus/Alec

Sherlock: Sherlock/John, Mycroft/Lestrade

Primeval: Nick Cutter/Stephen Hart, James Lester/Hilary Becker Emmerdale: Robert Sugden/Aaron Dingle

NCIS: Gibbs/DiNozzo CSI: Nick Stokes/David Hodges, Mac/Danny, Horatio/Speed White Collar: Neal/Peter/Elizabeth

Empire Records: Joe/Lucas

Bull: Benny/Jason

Diagnosis Murder: Steve/Jesse

I’ve left a few out where I don’t have particular OTPs

7. List your NoTPs from each fandom you’ve been in.

Here we go again... lol!

Stargate SG-1: Jack/Sam, I just... no. I’ve read a few where it’s a background or secondary pairing, but it always makes me wince a bit. I’ve read a few with Sam/Daniel as a secondary pairing that didn’t make me react that way and I’ve read Sam with other characters, but Jack/Sam just is a nope for me.

Stargate Atlantis: McKay/Keller – no, just no. that was horrible. She treated him like... awfully, trying to change him to suit her, just... no.

Marvel: Contentious, but Tony/Pepper, also Peter Parker/Tony Stark. Maybe because I saw the movies before I ever looked at the comics, but meh.

Due South: Benton Fraser/Ray V – again, contentious, but honestly I think Ray V was kind of a shit friend to Fraser.

Firefly: Anything with Jayne. No really, I just can not stand the character. I spent most of the series wanting to punch him in the face and sometimes you get characters you love to hate, but I just hated him.

Buffy/Angel Verse: Buffy/Spike, Willow/Kennedy

Harry Potter: Ron/Hermione, Ron/Harry, Harry/Ginny... basically, Ron and Ginny should just be loveless hermits who live by themselves. Ok, no, that isn’t fair... but as much as Ron was Harry’s first friend, he was selfish and bitter and Ginny/Harry just... never sat right with me. Ron literally says she spent ‘all summer talking about’ Harry, when she’d met him for all of three seconds. She didn’t know him. It always felt like she fell more in love with the *idea* of Harry Potter, than Harry Potter himself.

Sherlock: Sherlock/Molly, he’d eat her for breakfast. Serious, she’d never survive him.

Primeval: Oliver Leek and anyway. Arg. Creepy little dude is creepy and evil.

NCIS: Ziva/DiNozzo – ugh, just no.

Again, I’ve left out ones where I don’t have particular NoTPs

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom?

Tumblr, god damned bitches posting gifs of pretty boys falling in love, roped me in!

9. What are the best things about your current fandom?

I dabble in several fandoms at once... but if we go by ‘most recently picked up’ as ‘current’ we’re talking Ballum, which hey, it’s always fun to have an actual canon pairing be my OTP, that’s rare for me, lol.

10. Is there a fandom you read fic from but don’t write in?

Well (so far) I haven’t written any Ballum. (I say so far, because I’m a realist, lol). I rarely read in fandoms and not end up writing in them at some point. Although I have probably dabbled in a few I’ve not written for, but if I read it with any sort of consistency, I mostly end up writing it. I am weak!

Ship Questions for your Current Fandom

11. Who is your current OTP?

Okay, so that list above, just basically go with that. While I do drop in and hour of fandoms and some I certainly read in more than others, I do tend to go back to fandoms... If we were talking about what I’m mostly focused on writing atm... Steve/Tony, Mycroft/Lestrade, Harry/Draco and Robron are ones I’m currently working on most.

12. Who is your current OT3?

I’m not currently writing anything that’s OT3 with any real focus. I have a couple of Neal/Peter/Elizabeth WiPs that I will at some point finish, but they aren’t a big focus just now. I did recently read a fabulous Neal/Peter/Elizabeth fic that’s been on my tbr list for ages.

13. Any NoTPs?

Just... see above, lol!

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Harry Hart/Merlin, those two are Bro’s until the end and I will fight you on this. Also, Eggsy/Roxy! OMG they are such a BroTP! And Tony/Pepper/Rhodey – I may no like Tony/Pepper as a pairing, but I love them as best friends and of course, our Rhodes, because again, I will fight you on this, they are awesome and Tony needs his best friends!

15. Is there an obscure ship which you love?

I’m not sure there is. I suppose I’ve read a few fics for some random pairings over the years, but nothing that’s made me really ship-ship them. I like Clint Barton/Bucky Barnes, after seeing it as a secondary pairing in a Steve/Tony fic, but I’ve seen that pop up a few times since, so maybe it won’t stay obscure for long!

16. Are their any popular ships in your fandom which you dislike?

Jack/Sam, Tony/Pepper, Ron/Hermione, Harry/Ginny, Buffy/Spike – they all seem to be het pairings, oops. But I am mostly a slash fic reader/writer, so I suppose that’s not too surprising.

17. Who was your first OTP and are they still your favourite?

Jack/Daniel from Stargate SG-1. I still love them. I still read them, although it has been a while since I’ve written them on their own (I have got some SG-1/SGA x-overs where they feature)

18. What ship have you written the most about?

I’m genuinely not sure... without going and counting (and I’m not going any counting!) I’d guess Jack/Daniel, McKay/Sheppard, Jack/Ianto and Steve/Danno.

19. Is there a ship which you wished you could get behind, but you just don’t feel them?

No, not that I can think off. I either like it or not. I do occasionally feel bad for not reading a fic if it’s an author I really like, but I don’t read that fandom or pairing, but nothing specific.

20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?

Robron and Ballum, lol. I do not do soaps!

Author Questions

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?

Stargate SG-1, Jack/Daniel, a story called The Dare, The Disaster, The Almost Happy Ending, And The Very Happy Ending – it was awful. Don’t go looking, lol!

22. Is there anything you regret writing?

Don’t we all? No, I wouldn’t specifically say so. There are certainly fics, especially older ones, I wish I could have written better, but nothing I’d go, ugh I should never have done that.

23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.

Uh... honestly that’s really hard. I... um... yeah, I don’t know, really. I wrote a nice little flower one in POI that I felt worked rather beautifully. The Language of Flowers. An I wrote an SGA fic for NaNo a few years ago, called A Different Life, but it’s not online, because I didn’t finish it yet and I knew I wasn’t going to finish it any time soon, so I didn’t feel it was fair to leave it up unfinished (there is a reason I don’t read WiP fics and I don’t post them either, because I know how much I hate unfinished WiPs) Edit: After writing this I reminded myself of a POI fic I wrote called Hours of Separation – It’s a Harold/John break up story that I always intended to write a sequel too where I ‘fixed’ them, but I just couldn’t do it. I broke them a little too well. But I really love it actually.

24. What fic do you desperately need to rewrite or edit?

The afore mentioned A Different Life needs to be edited and finished, lol! Also a Primeval fic with the working title Crypt Keeper (don’t ask) that I worked myself into a bit of a corner on and I figure out how to fix it, but I haven’t done it yet, so it’s still needs fixing and finishing, lol!

25. What’s your most popular fanfic?

I haven’t the foggiest.

26. How do you come up with your fanfic titles?

Sometimes, really easily, a quote, a line from the fic, a song title... other times it’s like pulling teeth, hence working titles on things like ‘crypt keeper’ which is a reference to one scene near the very start and has no actual hint of the plot, lol!

27. What do you hate more: Coming up with titles or writing summaries?

Oh the titles. Summaries you can just copy a few lines from the fic if you are desperate, if you had to post ‘untitled mcshep fic #67’ people would get cranky, lol, hell I’d get cranky!

28. If someone were to draw a piece of fanart for your story, which story would it be and what would the picture be of?

Oh... I... huh. I mean who wouldn’t love fanart for their stories? Any of them honestly! But if I had to choose just one... I guess something in my Animal Instinct verse, which is Primeval (although I always intended to write other fandoms in the verse) where some people transform into animals, based on their ‘spirit animal’ and some art of the characters with their spirit animal form would be awesome.

29. Do you have a beta reader? Why/Why not?

Sometimes, look if you’ve read this far, you know I write in a lot of fandoms, lol. In some fandoms it’s easier than others to find beta readers. Also, sometimes if it’s just something short, I won’t bother. But I do try for my longer fics.

30. What inspires you to write?

That old adage, if you want to read it, sometimes you just have to write it? Spite? Boredom? Honestly sometimes I just have ideas I have to get out of my brain and it’s write or go mad(der)

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?

That it inspired them to write something.

32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?

Sometimes, sometimes I find it distracting when writing because I end up singing along and forgetting what I’m writing, lol! I do sometimes get inspiration from songs, I guess mostly from the lyrics, but no particular band or genre – although I listen to a lot of country music!

33. Do you write oneshots, multi-chapter fics or huuuuuge epics?

Little from column a, little from column b... littler still from column c...

34. What’s the word count on your longest fic?

Around 60k, I think.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I have. Primeval had/has a week drabble challenge, mostly when I’ve written drabbles it’s been for a challenge, with a specific prompt.

36. What’s your favourite genre to write?

Uh... I mean, my fandoms really span the genres, but I guess sci-fi or crime are probably my favourites.

37. First person or third person - what do you write in and why?

Third mostly, I have occasionally written in first person, if it felt like the fic needed it.

38. Do you use established canon characters or do you create OCs?

Little from column a, little from column b... it depends on the fandom and the story. Sometimes you just need more characters, mostly they are minor roles, I don’t tend to write much established character/oc fic

39. What is your greatest strength as a writer?

Ability to convince myself people will want to read it, lol! No actually to be honest, I love to know people read and like my stuff, but I gave up a long time ago on trying to ‘please’ people with what I write. I write what I want to read.

40. What do you struggle the most with in your writing?

Focus. The problem with 21 years of fandom history, is well... 21 years of fandom history. A lot of fandoms, a lot of pairings and as I say, I never really ‘leave’ a fandom, I just drop in and out and sometimes that means I’ll write on something consistently for weeks or months and then end up getting distracted by another fandom again and not touch it for weeks or months again. Hence, I don’t post WiP fics, because I know I’m easily distracted and don’t want anyone to suffer my lack of focus but me.

Fanfiction Questions

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

I don’t read WiP fics, so yeah... but 5 I’ve recently read in different fandoms that I’ve really enjoyed

Turns Out, I Have a Rose Garden by betheflame (Steve Rogers/Tony Stark)

Lucky by china_shop (Neal Caffery/Peter Burke/Elizabeth Burke)

Colors by Quesarasara (Sherlock/John)

Betrayal by Blackghost7 (Gibbs/DiNozzo)

Matchmaker (Part 1 of the Marmalade Series) by HastaLux, Mottlemoth (Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade)

42. List and link to 5 fanfiction authors who are amazing:

See now this is hard, because... ahh so many...

FredBassett – Primeval author, her Stephen/Ryan series is epic and brilliant and endless

https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett

Keira Marcos – I know other people will have said her, I don’t care. I love all her stuff, across all the fandoms she writes in

http://keiramarcos.com/

theapplepielifestyle – her Steve/Tony is amazing. Hands down some of the best I’ve ever read. I will fight you on this.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/theappleppielifestyle/pseuds/theappleppielifestyle

JillyJames – her Tony DiNozzo is a real life grown up... exactly as he should be considered given he’s a goddamn federal agent!

https://jillyjames.com/

missbecky – I’ve read pretty much all her Steve/Tony and Harry/Eggsy and it’s awesome.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky

Honestly, I could have listed so many more, but, I’m being good!

43. Is there anyone in your fandom who really inspires you?

Everyone. The thing is, fandom at it’s best is like crack, the more you get, the more you want. The writing, the gifs, the art... it feeds you and makes you want to make more of it, because more of it needs to exist and if that means you need to do it yourself, so be it!

44. What ship do you feel needs more attention?

ALL OF THEM!

45. What is your all time favourite fanfic?

Oh hell no, not even, I can not. It took me an hour to narrow down 5 authors, I can not narrow down one fanfic!

46. If someone was to read one of your fanfics, which fic would you recommend to them and why?

I mean, it depends on what they like... probably the Hour of Separation I mentioned above, if they like the fandom/pairing, or my Animal Instinct stuff.

47. Archive Of Our Own, Fanfiction.net or Tumblr - where do you prefer to post and why?

Archive of our Own. I haven’t touched ff.net in *years* since they started getting super restrictive about what you could post. I do occasionally post stuff to tumblr, but mostly I now post to AO3. I did have my own site and I’ve yet to upload a lot of stuff to AO3 – one of these... months... that will be a project – but it’s amazing. Seriously, having been in fandom 20+ years, going from having to search all over a million different places and now it’s all in one place, where we’re honestly, spoiled and protected. The kids now have no idea how crazy impossible that once seemed.

48. Do you leave reviews when you read fanfiction? Why/Why not?

Yes, but not as often as I should. I love AO3s kudos button, so I can sort of say ‘hey I enjoyed this’ without having to comment, because I sort of hate leaving comments just going ‘hey I enjoyed this’ because I always feel like I should say more, like, oh I enjoyed this specific thing, which yes is an unnecessary hang-up, but there ya go.

49. Do you care if people comment/reblog your writing? Why/why not?

Of course it’s nice to get comments, kudos, reblogs etc. I’m not as attached to them now as I was when I was younger, because I learned along the way that it was more important that I like what I’m writing than that other people do, but it’s still nice to know that something I’ve created is enjoyed.

50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?

I went looking for Star Trek Voyager stuff online, pics etc, waaaaaaay back when! And I came across fanfiction entirely by accident... and I read some – het stuff mostly, then I started watching Stargate SG-1, went looking for fanfiction for that, but was not on board with Jack/Sam, found Jack/Daniel went ‘huh really? That’s weird’ read it... and yeah... 21 years later... lol!

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!

Ship Wars. No seriously, just don’t. Like, who the actual fuck cares. I like my ship, you like your ship. I don’t care if it’s canon or not. I don’t care if it’s popular or not. I don’t read my NoTPs, but I’d never dream of telling someone else not too. Yes I think they are terrible, bad, no good pairings, but that’s *my* opinion. Don’t try to change my mind and I won’t try to change yours. I avoid them like the actual plague. If someone starts that shit around me, I will shut it right down. You are a dick. Go to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200.

#fandom life #fandom

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aunti-christ-ine · 4 years

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What can I say but ...

#FloridaMan ✟

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/03/30/tampa-church-holds-packed-service-draws-warning-from-sheriffs-office/ • • •

The pastor of a Tampa megachurch who held two services on Sunday for scores of worshipers was arrested Monday for violating a county order requiring residents to stay at home to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, co-founder of the River at Tampa Bay Church, turned himself in to the Hernando County jail and was booked on Hillsborough charges of unlawful assembly and violating quarantine orders during a public health emergency, jail records show.

He was booked into the jail at 2:20 p.m., records show. He was freed about 40 minutes later after posting $500 bail.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office warned Howard-Browne through his attorneys church leaders not to put the congregation at risk of contracting and spreading the virus by holding services at his church, Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a Monday news conference announcing that he had obtained a warrant for Howard-Browne’s arrest.

The Sheriff’s Office had received an anonymous tip that Howard-Browne was inviting the congregation to attend, even providing bus service to the church, Chronister said.

Howard-Browne refused to heed the warnings and held two large services on Sunday. A live stream on the church’s Facebook page showed congregants gathered for its Sunday morning “Main Event” service, many standing shoulder to shoulder while the church band played.

“Because of the reckless disregard of public safety and after repeated requests and warnings, I worked with our state attorney, Andrew Warren, to obtain a warrant for unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules, both of which are second degree misdemeanors,” Chronister said. “Our goal here is not to stop anyone from worshiping, but the safety and well-being of our community must always come first."

Warren then took to the lectern and quoted the Bible.

“I’d remind the good pastor of Mark 12.31, which said there’s no more important commandment than to love thy neighbor as thyself,” Warren said. “Loving your neighbors is protecting them, not jeopardizing their health by exposing them to this deadly virus.”

Chronister said Howard-Browne lives in Hernando County and was expected to turn himself in to he Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, where Hillsborough deputies were waiting. The pastor later did just that. Otherwise, Chronister said, deputies would have tracked him down.

The county’s order, which took effect Friday, requires gatherings, including those held by faith-based organizations, be fewer than 10 people to limit the spread of COVID-19, the illness caused by coronavirus. The order also requires residents to stay at home unless they are getting food or medicine, exercising or doing essential work that cannot be performed at home.

State law allows the order to be enforced as a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a maximum fine of $500 or both. Hillsborough officials have said the penalties for non-compliance would likely begin with warnings and fines.

Howard-Browne addressed the issue during the 3½-hour livestream of the Sunday morning service, which started with nearly an hour of music performed by the church band.

“No plague shall come nigh thy dwelling, no weapon formed against them," he said at the start of the sermon, quoting Bible scripture. The crowd cheered and applauded. In some places, congregants appeared to be standing and sitting with an empty chair between them.

“Of course, we’ve got what they call social distancing in here in this room and there’s people in other places and whatever, but we’re glad you came today,” he said.

Church officials did not immediately respond to phone and Facebook messages from the Tampa Bay Times Monday morning.

Later in the morning, Howard-Browne tweeted that the news media was “stirring up religious bigotry and hate” and claimed the church was shot at Sunday night.

That claim is unfounded, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said, noting that deputies were stationed at the church all night.

“I know that they’re trying to beat me up, you know, having the church operational, but we are not a non-essential service,” Rodney Howard-Browne said at the start of the Sunday morning sermon. He claimed the church is “covered by the law."

“Not only the right of free speech but the right to peaceful assembly and to practice what we believe,” he said. “Suddenly we are demonized because we believe God heals, that the Lord sets people free, and they make us out to be some sort of kooks.”

Hillsborough County Commissioner Pat Kemp tweeted Sunday that “many people” had contacted her about the service and that she had been in touch with Chronister.

In a statement released on March 18, church leaders signaled they considered church an essential service like police and fire departments and hospitals.

“We feel that it is very important, at this time, that we keep our doors open for anyone who needs prayer or ministry and to make ourselves available to minister hope and healing and comfort to them,” the statement said. “We believe God‘s Word to us, which says to trust Him and to not be fearful but to have faith in Him.”

The statement said the church “is doing, and will do, everything in our power to support the efforts of our wider community by cleaning and sanitizing surfaces and take any other recommended measures to protect our people and keep them healthy and safe.”

“If anyone is either not feeling well or would prefer to take the precaution of remaining at home for their own health, we encourage them to do that and to continue to watch the services online,” the statement said.

Chronister said his legal staff and even members of his command staff, including Chief Deputy Donna Chief Deputy Donna Lusczynski, went to the church on Sunday to try to meet with Howard-Browne to explain that attending church in person is not an essential exemption under the order.

“It was that important to try to emphasize the education phase of this safer at home order,” he said.

Howard-Browne did not make himself available but church leaders and legal staff said they were refusing to cancel the Sunday evening service.

“Shame on this pastor, their legal staff and the leaders of this church for forcing us to do our job," Chronister said. "That’s not what we wanted to do during a declared state of emergency.”

Warren said it’s “unfortunate” that Howard-Browne is “hiding behind the First Amendment.”

“For one, it’s absolutely clear that emergency orders like this are constitutional and valid,” Warren said. “Second of all, leaders of our faith community across this country have embraced the importance of social distancing.”

To drive that point home, Warren and Chronister had Bishop Thomas Scott of the 34th Street Church of God in Tampa talk about how his church has temporarily halted services at the sanctuary, opting instead to stream them on line.

“The Bible instructs us to obey the laws of the land,” Scott said.

In a public Facebook post on March 23, Howard-Browne’s wife and church co-founder Adonica Howard-Browne said the country’s founders “were intimately familiar with pandemics, viruses and plagues, yet they did not allow any to suspend our Constitutional liberties.”

“Not one word in the Constitution about plagues or pandemics to exempt the government from any of our Bill of Rights,” the post says. “Why do our current courts allow it? Because the public is asleep at the wheel. Think the pandemic threatens to kills us all? A review of the data shows the pandemic is more panic than plague."

As of Monday, COVID-19 was responsible for more than 2,500 deaths in the United States, 63 of them in Florida, according to Johns Hopkins University and the Florida Department of Health.

Born in South Africa, the Harold-Brownes and their three children moved to the United States in 1987 and founded The River at Tampa Bay in 1996, according to the church website and Facebook page. They also founded Revival Ministries International, the River Bible Institute, River School of Worship, and the River School of Government. The church campus is off Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, near Interstate 75.

‣ https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/03/30/tampa-church-holds-packed-service-draws-warning-from-sheriffs-office/

#Florida Man #preacher #COVID-19 #facebook #constitution #bill of rights #Coronavirus #god #religion #idiocy #danger #kooks #social distancing #plague #bible

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marat · 5 years

Text

Notes on the 1997 Revival of 1776

Or at least the Lincoln Center Recording of it Added Dialogue After the cane fight scene: JA: “Mr. Dickinson, there’s a question I’ve been fairly itching to ask you. Why?” JD: “Why what, Mr. Adams?” JA: “Why are you here, Dickinson? Why have you elected to sit in this congress?” JD: “To serve the people, of course. To do colonial business that cannot wait two or three months for a reply from London. Look, I am the first to admit there are problems with our relationship with the crown, Mr. Adams, problems no sensible man could possibly deny. Problem better solved by our parliament, not England’s. BUT these problems cry out for cooperation, Mr. Adams, not separation. Democracy, yes, but not at the price of independence.”

Before Yours, Yours, Yours: JA: “I miss you and the children. More than words can say. Most times pondering your faces brings me peace, but... not tonight. I’m very lonely, Abigail...” During He Plays the Violin: BF: “Oh John, you can dance!” JA: “Not everyone’s from Philadelphia, Franklin.” Notes on Costuming

Lots of black this time around. John Adams was all in black, Jefferson was dressed in black with a red waistcoat. Both Dickinson and Rutledge looked like they were wearing black but on closer inspection, it was matching deep purple. Richard Henry Lee was in his usual orange overcoat but had a black waistcoat in this production. Wilson was dressed all in green and was a total pretty boy.

The Courier’s clothing was... singed? And he left a trail of smoke wherever he went, causing the members of Congress to cough and fan themselves whenever he went in.

Dickinson had the same hairstyle as movie Adams and he was very slick and kinda scary.

Notes on Choreography Lees of Old Virginia

The one thing that really stood out to me was that, when John was sitting on the bench by himself, Richard climbed onto it, stepping over him, and John’s head got stuck under his coat. But Mr. Adams

For the first bit, they don’t use the feather and Jefferson shoves Sherman into Adams. Then Adams shoves Sherman into a chair. And shoves him back down every time he gets up. Adams hi-fives Livingston when he says he’s having a kid.

He Plays the Violin

John is a lot more awkward and nervous before he dances with her, and it’s really cute. Also like, A+ for the period-accurate dancing. They like, gavotted.

Cool Cool Considerate Men

It’s a lot more... cozy? Than it was in the movie. Dickinson is sitting on a table and all his boys are gathered around him listening to him sing. After they say “Emblazoned on our banner is ‘Keep Cool’” They all just kinda laugh about it. Dickinson actually said things in a sane and lucid manner. On one of the last verses, they’re slamming their canes against the ground at the end of each line. By the end, where they’re all going, ‘We cool...’ over and over again, it’s like a whole couple octaves higher than the OBC or movie. It’s like no one in this cast is a baritone. It’s lovely.

Molasses to Rum

This guy isn’t a baritone either, but he’s constantly wavering between incredibly excited and terrifying. Also, instead of the table, he stands on a chair with one foot on the back of it and I was terrified he was gonna tip over.

Notes on Scenery

The stage was able to spin and the back wall was a half-circle, with the statehouse on the inside and other scenes on the outside. When they changed the dates all the lights would go out except for the one on the calendar, which was a cool idea but towards the end, the audience would clap every time the lights went out because they thought it was over.

Random Things I Noticed

When Hancock calls out to Jefferson to talk about the weather and he isn’t paying attention, Franklin calls out “Tommy!” to try and wake him up.

Adams yells a lot more like, “Not Englishmen Dickinson, AMMERRICAAAANS” and “FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIIIFE WILSOOON TAKE A CHAANCE”

They pronounced McKean “McKane,” which is more historically accurate but it sounded weird.

Thomson was... different. He somehow sounded more like an auctioneer than the OBC one. Like, “GEOrgia. *cough* GEOrgia.”

In the scene where Caesar Rodney Fucking Dies, Dickinson is actually, like, compassionate this time around? He gets him a chair and helps him up and looks genuinely concerned. Refreshing. Jefferson comforts Adams afterward.

Witherspoon just kinda walks in. Stands in silence for like 30 seconds. Then finally says something.

Jefferson is somehow sassier this time around. Much less soft spoken. “Will you be a patriot? Or a lover?” “A Loveeeerrrrrrrrrrrr” and “Oh, someday you simply MUST tell me how you did it!” Also he picks Martha up bridal style and kicks open the doors to his bedroom. Also he has a really thick Southern accent. “The rait tuh be free comes from nachuh.”

Hopkins waves his hat around in the air to volunteer for going to New Brunswick.

Adams has like... a breakdown after the south walks out.

Thomson could like... actually sing in this version. Except he said “Mr. James Dickinson.” You win some you lose some.

They brought back Richard Henry Lee for the vote.

Dickinson holds Wilson while Wilson tells him he’s voting yea.

After delivering his last dispatch the courier just takes off his hat and stands in the center of the room and stares at them all in silence for a while.

They actually had all the major characters sign, including Richard Henry Lee and James Wilson.

All in all, it was super good. I actually kinda liked this Dickinson more than the movie Dickinson. Everyone was sort of... effeminate? And it was really great. 10/10

#1776 #1776 musical #1776 revival #long post

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myhahnestopinion · 5 years

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THE AARONS 2018 - Best Film

I watched 102 films from 2018, which met my personal goal, broke my personal record, and won another competition between myself and my good friend. 102 seems like a proper purview to declare these entries my favorite films of the year, the crème de la crème, the top 10% of the top 100%. Here are the Aarons for Best Film:

#10. Roma

“Intimate” is a good word to describe Roma. A passion project for director Alfonso Cuarón, Roma was inspired by his own childhood nanny and his mother, and filmed in his native Mexico. The film depicts the tumultuous breakdown of social relationships within the country’s history, but keeps the focus on the dissolution and reformation of familial bonds. “Intimate” is indeed a good word to describe Cuarón’s deeply moving film, but “intricate” just might be better. Roma is never short of gorgeous for every single shot in the movie, every bit of staging and every camera-pan planned down to the tiniest background detail, making each the breath-taking black-and-white painting of a true auteur. It perhaps would be best experienced on the big screen, but credit to Netflix for funding such a personal, profound film, which means, if you’re looking to watch one of the best films of last year, you don’t have to roam very far.

#9. Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson should stop filming movies. To clarify, Wes Anderson should stop filming movies in live-action, as the stop-motion medium is where his visual panache, off-beat humor, and oddball characters most brightly shine. Isle of Dogs, like a best friend for man, puts a smile on one’s face that never departs throughout its stylish adventure, even in the most unexpectedly dark moments of its animated dog-eat-dog world. While concerns over its depiction of Japanese culture are worth discussing, its impeccable voice cast, including Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Murry, deadpanning their way through its gorgeously hand-crafted sequences makes for a doggone good time at the movies.

#8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Certainly the most unconventional choice for me this year, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s placement on this list is not the product of some nihilistic capitulation to chaos theory; in fact, it is thoughtfulness that made the movie stand out to me so much. An encouragement for empathy, a validation of the value of all living creatures, and a condemnation of cupidity, wrapped up in big-budget special effect sequences and culminating in a Gothic-Horror influenced haunted house set piece, the latest sequel in the series hit all the right sensibilities for me with a combination I never thought possible and a blockbuster boldness that recalls why The Last Jedi became my favorite Star Wars. While others may look upon this movie and see a fallen franchise, I see a king’s ransom of cinematic riches that means the world to me.

#7. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

The Mission: Impossible franchise was last seen on this list in the very first Aarons for Rogue Nation, an action film so masterfully crafted that one can’t help but be ecstatic at the series’ decision to shift from a rotating set of action directors to the singular efforts of director Christopher McQuarrie. Indeed, McQuarrie just may have outdone his prior masterpiece with the jaw-dropping Fallout, whose spectacular set pieces, shot with confidence and flourish and bolstered by the crazed energy of star Tom Cruise, blows every other blockbuster this year, and perhaps since Rogue Nation, out of the water. Fallout not only manages the impressive feat of making a sixth franchise entry feel tense and unpredictable, but also finds new emotional heights to strengthen its thrills through Ethan Hunt’s uncompromising drive to save everyone. It’s an explosive experience, whose only potential fallout is the impossible task McQuarrie has set for himself for surpassing it in his next two confirmed installments.

#6. Black Panther

Black Panther was nothing short of a phenomenon, even among the movie-going domination of its larger cinematic universe, and rightfully so. The worldbuilding, taking inspiration from real-life African cultures and heightened by fun futuristic technology, is so elaborate, and its supporting cast (including Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, and Danai Gurira) so well-defined that Black Panther feels like a universe in its own right, even as it deftly weaves through the larger Marvel world. The film’s true power comes from how it breaks the mold, from its unforgettable villain who is not just a physical, but philosophical, foe to the hero, through its nuanced tackling of socio-political stances, to, of course, the impact of its increased representation. In vision, in stature, and, yes, in box office, Black Panther is king.

#5. First Reformed

First Reformed’s methodical pacing and meticulous framing, both evocative of its reflection on faith, slowly melt away to reveal a film that’s darker and more disruptive than one is initially led to believe. Similar to director Paul Schrader’s other written work Taxi Driver, First Reformed’s examination of existential questions and the descent into extremism is harrowing; unlike that other work, it is perhaps also hopeful. Ethan Hawke’s soulful performance gives extra gravitas to the film’s contention of hope and despair and its interweaving of contemporary issues with long-standing questions, thematic material that lingers in the mind long after its stunning final moments. Shot in awe-inspiring Academy ratio, First Reformed’s masterfulness cannot be improved upon, even as one cannot wait for the team of Paul Schrader and Ethan Hawke to re-form for their next collaborative effort.

#4. Love, Simon

Love, Simon’s placement on this list perhaps cannot be properly explained in prose, only in the unintelligible garble of the uncontrollable emotions that it elicits. It’s a flooring of feelings, of sadness, of fear, of nervousness, of hope, of happiness, that no movie has produced in me since The Perks of Being a Wallflower, one of my top 5 favorite films. The soundtrack is lively and the characters’ charming, but Love, Simon becomes a peak coming-of-age movie by perfectly capturing the uncertainty of a young crush and the joy of young love. It’s calming comfort food in all the right ways, sure to be rewatched nearly as often as the aforementioned Perks, which is why Love, Simon is a film loved by Aaron.

#3. A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place was a silent surprise, both in the way it slowly built up curiosity and critical acclaim, and in the way its stillness stands in sharp contrast to any other movie-going experience of recent memory. It’s sublime in its simplicity as a lean and mean horror thrill ride tied to the beating heart of a tender family drama, and stylish in its scares as an unexpectedly impressive directorial debut for John Krasinski. The film’s risks, including its harsh opening, its reliance on non-verbal dialogue, and its fist-pumping (and shotgun-pumping) closing moments, come with great reward that elevate it to an instant horror classic. A Quiet Place’s tension and tenderhearted moments may stun the audience into silence, but I will not be quiet about its placement near the top of this list!

#2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Sony’s incessant need to exploit their Spider-Man franchise is chock full of bad ideas. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, as illustrated by the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs adaptation, the 21 Jump Street film franchise, and The Lego Movie, are very good at turning bad ideas into masterpieces. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse takes that Lego Movie enthusiasm and spins it into another irreverent and self-referential screenplay, crammed full of jokes that draw from all the oddities of its venerable franchise, while also never losing sight of the hero’s journey of Miles Morales at its core. Credit, of course, is also due to directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsay, and Rodney Rothman, who brought that screenplay to life with amazing animation that combines stunning hand-drawn and CGI work to mimic the film’s comic book origins. It’s beautiful, boisterous, and features John Mulaney as a talking cartoon pig. Amped up by a killer soundtrack, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is such a crowning creative achievement that one can’t wait for Sony to get back into the franchise for a second verse.

AND THE BEST FILM OF 2018 IS...

#1. Eighth Grade

Eighth Grade is horrible. No, not the movie Eighth Grade; that should be evident by its place as my favorite film of the year. Eighth grade, the year in school, is horrible and we all know it. Bo Burnham, the musical comedian who makes his screenwriting and directing debut with this movie, especially knows it. It’s a time of anxiety, insecurity, uncertainty, a time of pursuing increased agency but still being constrained by the limitations of youth. A time where it feels like no one understands what you’re going through. Except when you find a movie like Eighth Grade, that channels all that mess into an disconcertingly perfect bout of pity and insight that exposes the comical and affirming nature of all of it. And yet, while Eighth Grade deftly portrays those universal experiences, it remains uniquely and powerfully tied to its particular era, understanding the ways in which mass communication, the endless information of the internet, and the failings of modern society have provoked the latest cycle of those anxieties in unprecedented ways. Eighth Grade’s empathy and its hilarity will likely make it a mainstay for the modern generation, and puts it at the top of its class for the year 2018.

NEXT UP: THE 2018 AARONS FOR WORST FILM!

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ferrybaker0-blog · 5 years

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Glitter, glam, grit

Driving down the Sunset Strip in the 1970s could be hazardous to your health. The dozens of balconies lining the Continental Hyatt House were often populated with visiting rock stars, including The Who, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin. Like overstimulated toddlers, these men ran riot over the hotel.

Zeppelin band members rode a motorcycle up and down the halls, Jim Morrison hung off a 10th-floor balcony like a monkey, and orgies were an almost nightly occurrence. Oblivious to the people below, Keith Richards and Keith Moon supposedly threw TVs off the balcony, while John Bonham pelted cars with water balloons and champagne bottles.

Hotel staff had a remarkably lenient attitude toward these rock ‘n’ roll antics.

“One night we got crazy and threw a chair out the window,” Neal Doughty, REO Speedwagon pianist, told Michael Walker, author of Laurel Canyon. “Ten seconds later we got a call from the desk. All they said was, ‘Did you at least look first?’”

The Sunset Strip of the 1970s was miles away from the whimsical peace and love of the mid-1960s. The new scene was grittier, tougher, and more jaded, with a hard-edged glamour befitting the times.

In the late ’60s and early ’70s, a new spate of clubs and musical venues opened that would define the Strip for the next two decades.

These included the rock ‘n’ roll venue Gazzarri’s, where Van Halen got its start, and the Comedy Store, which opened in 1972 at Ciro’s old home. Soon, the kooky and shrewd Mitzi Shore would be playing den mother to a group of comic geniuses, including Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, and, later, Sam Kinison, and Andrew Dice Clay. In 1973, the upscale Roxy Theatre opened, backed by music industry heavyweights David Geffen, Elliot Roberts, and Lou Adler.

The venerable Whisky continued to rock, being the gold standard for new acts starting out on the Strip. Then there was the brief reign of Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco (first at 8171 Sunset and later at 7561 Sunset), which opened in 1972.

“The three pioneers of the Sunset Strip during the ’70s and ’80s were Bill Gazzarri, Mario Maglieri, and of course Rodney Bingenheimer, who was a very popular disc jockey on KROQ,” Sunset Strip historian and resident Alison Martino says. “He introduced bands to Los Angeles that would never have gotten their start without him.”

Through his popular radio show and the English Disco, the soft-spoken, starry-eyed Bingenheimer, known as the “Mayor of the Sunset Strip,” would bring glam and glitter rock to Los Angeles.

He would introduce the Strip to the wonders of David Bowie—and later Iggy Pop, Blondie, and New Wave acts. Inside the Disco, legendary groupies like Lori Maddox, Pamela Des Barres, and Sable Starr danced in sequin pants and halter tops, attempting to get the attention of rockers like Rod Stewart or Robert Plant. In November 1973, writer Richard Cromelin reported in the Los Angeles Times:

Once inside, everybody’s a star. The social rules are simple but rigid: All you want to hear is how fabulous you look, so you tell them how fabulous they look. You talk about how bored you are, coming here night after night, but that there’s no place else to go. If you’re not jaded, there’s something wrong. It’s good to come in very messed up on some kind of pills every once in a while, and weekend nights usually see at least one elaborate, tearful fight or breakdown.

The Disco, which included regulars like The Runaways’ Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie, even enticed the King himself to find out what all the fuss was about. “Elvis Presley came in, and they I.D. him,” Martino recalls. “And he actually left his license at the front while he went in and hung out for a while… he left his license there—I think Rodney still has it.”

The scene was just as intense over at The Rainbow, a mock Tudor-style Italian restaurant with a dance floor upstairs. Opened in 1972 by Whisky impresarios Mario Maglieri and Elmer Valentine, it was financed by a group including Lou Adler and press agent Bob Gibson. The Rainbow served as what Walker calls a “round table of LA’s rock elite.” It was soon a popular hangout for the likes of John Belushi, Elton John, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon.

But not everyone was impressed with the rarified air of the Rainbow. “It is a hellish place, desperate and crowded and it means you aren’t satisfied with your friends if you have to drink with them at the Rainbow,” writer and socialite Eve Babitz wrote in Eve’s Hollywood. “It’s no fun.”

After the clubs had closed for the night, the stars and their paramours decamped to hotels like Chateau Marmont and the Continental Hyatt House, which earned its nickname as the “Riot House” with its balcony antics alone.

According to Walker, teenage waifs like Morgana Welch, part of a pack of groupies known as the “LA Queens,” spent their days in the coffee shop of the Hyatt House, waiting for their rock gods to check-in and check them out. Today, the Hyatt House is the Andaz West Hollywood. It’s still a hotel, but it’s missing its most defining feature. “When the Andaz took it over, they took out the balconies,” Martino says. “That was probably smart!”

During the ’70s, the Strip musical scene evolved from rock and glam to punk. With the dawn of the 1980s, a new musical genre was germinating on the Strip—glam metal—which would soon take over the clubs on Sunset and charts across America.

In 1981, three young punks named Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, and Nikki Sixx (who had spent part of his itinerant childhood living in the Strip’s Sunset Tower) moved into a house at 1124 North Clark Street, directly above the Strip. As members of the band Motley Crue, they were making a name for themselves on the Strip, while living in a filthy house, swarming with roaches and vermin, which became party central for the likes of David Lee Roth. Neil recalled the scene in the band’s autobiography The Dirt:

We played the Whisky, half the crowd would come back to our house and drink and do blow, smack, Percodan, quaaludes, and whatever else we could get for free… There would be members of punk-scene remnants like 45 Grave and the Circle Jerks coming to our almost nightly parties while guys in metal newborns like Ratt and W.A.S.P. spilled out into the courtyard and the street. Girls would arrive in shifts. One would be climbing out the window while another was coming in the door.

It was while playing at the Whisky one night that Motley Crue was discovered after a record scout noticed hundreds of kids waiting in line, clad in tight leather with high teased hair. The Crue was soon one of the biggest bands in America and the new kings of the Sunset Strip. “We’d get drunk, do crazy amounts of cocaine and walk the circuit in stiletto heels, stumbling all over the place,” Neil wrote. “The Sunset Strip was a cesspool of depravity.”

With the success of other hair bands like W.A.S.P., The L.A. Guns, and, later, Faster Pussycat and Poison, the Strip was soon teeming with aspiring glam rock stars and their adoring fans. Strip record stores like Licorice Pizza and Tower Records became important social gathering places for stars and teenage star-gazers alike.

“Tower Records… was where everybody went to get their records,” Martino says. “Everybody from Elton John to David Bowie to Van Halen, they were all in Tower Records. I saw all of them there, buying their own records. I remember seeing Valerie Bertinelli with her mother at Tower Records the week that ‘Jump!’ came out. They used to have on the wall all the number one singles. I remember she went up to the cover of the ‘Jump!’ 45 and turned it around to see Eddie’s face and left it that way.”

According to Martino, both Axl Rose and Slash did their time working at Tower Records before Guns N’ Roses took off, and they weren’t the only ones. “Every musician and struggling band worked at Tower Records,” she recalls. “It looked like a metal band when you walked in. The employees all looked like members of Motley Crue! They all had their own bands, and you would walk in and buy records, and they would hand you their band’s flyer and put it in your bag.”

The advertising continued into the Tower parking lot, another popular hangout. “You’d walk out from buying your records, and flyers were all over your cars—all metal bands,” Martino says. “They’re valuable now those fliers, but back then you either threw them away, or you just drove off with them on your car, and they flew off.”

Slash, Steven Adler, and Izzy Stradlin backstage before a sold out show at the Roxy in 1986.

Getty Images

The Strip followed the trends of the decade. “The ’70s were gritty,” Martino says. “Then the ’80s got very decadent.” Tattoo parlors were everywhere; Motley Crue loved their tattoo artist from Sunset Strip Tattoo so much, they brought him on tour.

On the weekends, the Strip was crowded with teenagers cruising up and down its 1.7 miles. “Headbangers would all go up and walk from Gazzarri’s. They’d walk up and down and up and down. It was like a party on the street. The ’60s was the hippie movement,” Martino says, laughing. “This was the hair band movement!”

Poison frontman Bret Michaels told Rolling Stone about the first time he and his Pennsylvania bandmates caught sight of the fabled stretch of Sunset. “When we finally pulled onto the Strip it was, ‘Holy shit!’” he recalled. “We’re driving past the Rainbow, Gazzarri’s, the Roxy, the Whisky, and there’s gotta be, like, 100,000 people walking around. And they all look like they’re in a band. For a bunch of small-town guys, that’s a lot to take in.”

Over at the venerable Rainbow, the scene had gone from the rock ‘n’ roll elite to a scene of glam metal stars and strivers. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee remembered:

When the clubs began to close, we’d go to the Rainbow. The place was set up like a circle, with the coolest rockers and richest deviants sitting at the center tables. Guys had to be twenty-one to come into the club, but girls could be eighteen. The guys would sit at their regular spots and the girls would walk around the ring until they were called over to someone’s empty chair... Afterward, everyone would spill out into the parking lot: Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, would be hanging upside down from a tree screaming while junkies tried to score dope and everyone else tried to scam on girls.

No open space on the Strip was safe from the mayhem. “I saw so many people f*** on the lawns behind Gazzarri’s that I actually got bored of watching and started to throw empty beer cans at them,” Ratt frontman Stephen Pearcy wrote in his autobiography Sex, Drugs, Ratt & Roll: My Life in Rock.

“We’d get drunk, do crazy amounts of cocaine and walk the circuit in stiletto heels, stumbling all over the place,” Motley Crue’s lead singer wrote in the band’s biography. “The Sunset Strip was a cesspool of depravity.”

There was also violence. Hot-headed and fueled by cocaine and alcohol, rock stars like the Motley Crue guys frequently got in brutal fights in both Strip clubs and parking lots. Amid all this madness, West Hollywood, and therefore the Sunset Strip, finally became a town.

“In 1984, a coalition of gay men, Russian Jews and the elderly, spurred by the imminent expiration of L.A. County’s rent control protections, successfully held a vote to officially incorporate the area as the City of West Hollywood, electing a city council with an openly gay majority and immediately passing a series of rent control measures to protect its longtime citizens,” according to the city of West Hollywood.

The era of glam metal would be the last gasp of lawlessness on the Sunset Strip. While the tragic 1982 drug overdose of John Belushi at Chateau Marmont had done little to pause the debauchery, the advent of the grunge movement and the senseless overdose of River Phoenix in front of The Viper Room in 1993 seemed to signal the end of an era.

Over the past 30 years, the Strip has become increasingly staid and upscale as rents have gone up and big business has taken over.

“I’m afraid it’s just becoming hotel row,” Martino says. “I’m very nervous about the future of Sunset Strip. I grew up off Sunset Strip. I still live off Sunset Strip. There are many ghosts on this boulevard. And I will not go anywhere. I’ll still be here. But I don’t go as often as I used to. There’s really not a destination. On a Friday night in the 1980s it was: ‘What do you want to do?’ ‘Let’s go to the Strip!’ I don’t think anybody does that today.”

Source: https://la.curbed.com/2019/3/21/18270439/sunset-strip-motley-crue-the-roxy

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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noramoya · 5 years

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* Above is the photo of the e-mail from wade robson to somebody named Francois, on May 21st, 2011 .

PART TWO OF:

LINDA-RAVEN WOODS’

02/28/2019 ARTICLE

•”Why did he lie, claiming under oath he had no knowledge of the Jackson estate in 2013 when, in fact, it is on record that he met with John Branca to discuss the Cirque gig in 2011?”

•”Why do they claim that Robson’s and Safechuck’s stories are completely independent of each other, when the reality is that both have been represented by the same attorneys since 2014?”

•”Why is Safechuck allowed to blatantly lie in the film about Jackson contacting him to defend him in 2005, when attorneys involved in the case have specifically stated that the decision was made that Safechuck’s testimony would not be needed, and that Jackson would not have been allowed to personally contact potential witnesses?”

“Why did early press releases attempt to hide the identities of the two men in question, even though Jackson’s family, the Estate, and fans who had followed this developing story for seven years had absolutely no doubt who the two men in question were?

The obvious answer was a well-planned strategy to “blind side” by preventing these entities (particularly Jackson’s family and Estate) from having time to prepare an adequate response or counter strategy.”

“When the first letter from the Estate to HBO went unheeded, the Estate followed through on its threat and filed a one hundred million-dollar lawsuit against HBO. In that letter, there was mention of a man named Victor Gutierrez who has long been associated with Jackson’s name and has long been suspected as a “source” for the allegations made against Michael Jackson.

The story goes that Gutierrez, a Chilean reporter who came to Hollywood in the mid 1980’s envisioning himself as an investigative reporter, infiltrated a number of NAMBLA meetings (and even gained membership). It was reportedly at these clandestine meetings that Gutierrez heard whispers about certain celebrities suspected of being “in the closet” pedophiles. The alleged goal of NAMBLA was to “out” these celebrities in a desperate attempt to “normalize” their cause.

But there was an issue, since often these names were circulated about with no concrete proof. Rumors and innuendoes were enough. Michael Jackson was one such name that popped up, largely because at the time Jackson was cultivating his “Kid Power” image. Those within NAMBLA’s ranks who were responsible for starting and spreading those rumors failed to take into account that “Kid Power” was part of a two-fold PR plan for Jackson:

1- Because he truly and genuinely believed in the ability of children to heal the world, and

2- As someone who himself had been scarred by childhood stardom, he sought to “give back” by empowering and serving as a positive role model for children in the industry, as noted by his long-time friend and supporter Corey Feldman”. (see videos bellow):

https://youtu.be/u-rtftB-7qs

https://youtu.be/MbwWvyAq5TM

“Those who speak glibly of Michael Jackson’s “obsession” with children fail to note the very fundamental, root causes of that seeming obsession, which seemed to spring deeply from his own pain and an innate desire to protect children from being exploited in the entertainment industry, by the same evil forces that had exploited him. This, and nothing more, appeared to be the source of those rumors. But of all the names mentioned, Gutierrez apparently only took one under his belt to investigate further — Michael Jackson.

It is known fact that Gutierrez actually knew and consulted with Evan Chandler, at just about the same time that Chandler was growing disgruntled with Jackson’s lack of “cooperation” in funding his projects and had grown increasingly jealous of Jackson’s relationship with his ex-wife June, son Jordan, and daughter Lily.”

https://youtu.be/gyStgEsv7Lg

“There has also been a long suspected link between Victor Gutierrez and Rodney Allen, a Canadian man who was eventually busted for running an underage male prostitution ring in Toronto, and who was caught actually coaching his boys how to make up convincing lies about being molested by Michael Jackson. His scheme was revealed when he wrote a series of letters to Diane Dimond at Hard Copy, signed from the boy, and the follow-up investigation led to the boy confessing everything.”

https://youtu.be/fiJBQcfTcSo

“This story is important, as it reveals the lengths that individuals would go to, in order to make up stories about Jackson, where no story existed. This is, in essence, exactly how the cottage industry of making up stories about being abused by Michael Jackson has continued to thrive. Backed with this kind of knowledge, one can hardly blame his fans for speaking out against what is perceived as an obvious vendetta, or for being skeptical when such new “claims” arise.”

“In 1995, the same year that Hard Copy unveiled the scam in Toronto, Victor Gutierrez struck again, this time appearing on Hard Copy himself to claim he knew of the existence of a video tape that allegedly showed Jackson abusing one of his own nephews. However, when pressed, he was forced to reveal that he had no such tape in his possession. This did not stop Diane Dimond, however, from going on KABC-AM radio talk show to promote the tape, even though she had never actually seen any such tape and only had Gutierrez’s word that it existed.

Jermaine Jackson’s ex-wife Margaret Maldonado recalled getting a phone call about the alleged tape in her book Jackson Family Values:

”I received a telephone call from a writer named Ruth Robinson. I had known Ruth for quite a while and respected her integrity. It made what she had to tell me all the more difficult to hear. “I wanted to warn you, Margaret,” she said. “There’s a story going around that there is a videotape of Michael molesting one of your sons, and that you have the tape.” If anyone else had said those words, I would have hung up the phone. Given the long relationship I had with Ruth, however, I gave her the courtesy of a response. I told her that it wasn’t true, of course, and that I wanted the story stopped in its tracks. She had been in contact with someone who worked at the National Enquirer who had alerted her that a story was being written for that paper. Ruth cross-connected me with the woman, and I vehemently denied the story. Moreover, I told her that if the story ran, I would own the National Enquirer before the lawsuits I brought were finished. To its credit, the National Enquirer never ran the piece. ”Hard Copy,” however, decided it would. “Hard Copy” correspondent Diane Dimond had reported that authorities were reopening the child molestation case against Michael. She had also made the allegations on L.A. radio station KABC-AM on a morning talk show hosted by Roger Barkley and Ken Minyard. Dimond’s claims were based on the word of a freelance writer named Victor Gutierrez. The story was an outrageous lie. Not one part of it was true. I’d never met the man. There was no tape. Michael never paid me for my silence. He had never molested Jeremy. Period.” — Margaret Maldonado, “Jackson Family Values”.

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jess-rewatches-sga · 5 years

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Season 1: Episode 9 (Home)

NOTE: Spoilers ahead.

Buckle up. I have a lot of thoughts about this one:

0:40 - Rodney is such an excited little nerd. <3

1:10 - Is that actually the definition of fog? #genuinequestion

1:19 - I wonder how long they had been wearing the hazmat gear?

2:00 - John and Rodney banter for the win! :)

3:40 - hahaha everyone is ganging up on Rodney!

4:40 - Dang. John looks fine when he leans on things.

5:15 - “840 years” haha omg this little scene is both hilarious and completely precious. I love Rodney and John’s friendship! <3

6:15 - That is a different book than the one John was reading in the episode where Jinto gets lost. So much for that whole 1 personal item thing?

7:38 - Is this why some people ship Shep/Weir? I mean I kind of see the flirting but I’m not a fan of it.

8:42 - What happened to Teyla’s hair? I swear it was 6 inches longer in the last episode.

10:30 - WALTER!! <3

11:00 - Well that seems awfully convenient. Seems sketchy guys. Don’t trust it.

11:36 - So in this scene, it looks like Elizabeth is the only one who went through the gate, but in the next scene Rodney AND Weir are talking to Hammond.

13:00 - Hint #2 that this isn’t really Earth - Hammond is not that dense. He’s a reasonable guy. He wouldn’t be so indifferent about the Wraith.

13:50 - Hint #3 - Sheppard has a black mark on his record. Hammond wouldn’t be that nice to him. Respectful? Yes. Welcoming and kind? No.

15:15 - Oh snap. I forgot about this Simon guy. Not a fan. This whole reunion is cringy.

16:05 - Ewww... Rodney that’s been in your couch for months!! Don’t eat that you animal!!

16:21 - Is Rodney watching Outer Limits or the Twilight Zone? Either way super eerie.

16:25 - Hint #4 - That right there is a Rodney fantasy. That girl is a freaking model.

16:52 - hahaha John is such a typical guy who hates shopping! <3 I would love to read a fic about him and Teyla shopping together. Imagine the whining. <3

17:10 - John knows what’s up.

17:50 - Ugh. Not this Simon guy again. Something about him just creeps me out.

19:30 - Now Elizabeth knows something is wrong too.

20:00 - hahaha wtf is Rodney wearing?!? OMG.

20:38 - So Rodney’s current address isn’t in Canada? How else would Elizabeth get to his place so fast?

21:18 - It was an Outer Limits episode.

22:08 - I don’t like fake Hammond. He’s kind of cold.

22:41 - “I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Then who were you expecting to see Hammond? You were sitting alone in a conference room in full dress uniform!!

23:30 - WALTER!! <3

23:40 - Rodney is wearing a white coat! <3 So adorable.

24:00 - Aww poor Ford. :(

25:10 - Elizabeth you don’t mean that. Sheppard is invaluable to Atlantis. He should’ve stayed with you in Atlantis.

25:19 - OMG. Sheppard is such a dork. That bachelor pad is so extra. The first hint that Sheppard might’ve come from money.

26:15 - I don’t like Sheppard’s bachelor pad. I just see him as the kind of guy who doesn’t have many personal possessions and this bachelor pad seems to contradict that. Seems out of character to me. At least Sheppard seems to be ill-at-ease in the place.

27:37 - Why does Elizabeth keep meeting General Hammond in a casual pink T-shirt? Shouldn’t she be dressed a little more formally? Not super formal but like not a basic T-shirt?

28:45 - Now we know something is wrong. Sheppard definitely has not talked to Hammond about this bile.

29:15 - Mitch and Dex coming to John’s front door always breaks my heart. Such a bittersweet moment, even if you don’t know who they are Sheppard’s reaction to them is heartbreaking.

30:16 - Now Elizabeth is suddenly wearing a different outfit when she’s talking to Rodney? Must be fake Elizabeth from Rodney's hallucination.

30:34 - Am I the only one who has never understood the tank joke? Seriously what on earth does that even mean?!?

31:15 - Sheppard looks close to having a mental breakdown. :(

31:33 - Now Elizabeth is back in the pink T. Rodney is back in the white coat. So real Elizabeth and fake Rodney.

32:15 - Even Teyla looks uncomfortable with this whole “party at Sheppard’s” thing.

32:30 - Aww Sheppard’s friends died in Afganistan. :( Poor John. :(

32:40 - OMG. Rodney destroying a ZedPM is just heartbreaking. He’s so upset and he knows something is seriously wrong. Poor guy.

33:10 - John’s sixth-grade teacher is there!! hahaha omg.

33:30 - John, sweetheart, no. Don’t shoot the imposters. Yikes.

33:40 - The fact that the episode is switching between character arcs so rapidly is really increasing my anxiety about this situation.

35:30 - Ahhhh the truth. Creepy fog guys.

35:40 - “I’m talking about the beer I had.” hahaha perfect line to reduce some tension.

35:55 - Awww John is super competent and smart. :) The aliens know it.

36:25 - Dang. These aliens are cold.

38:20 - I would love to know if John and Rodney ever continued that conversation. The one where Rodney asks John about the dead people he saw.

39:30 - John’s little speech here is wonderful. <3

I love this episode. I’m a sucker for characterization and I love how this episode dives into the backstory of some of the main characters.

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tocinephile · 5 years

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The Morning After - Oscars 2019 Edition

My favourite photo from the 91st Academy Awards

My two favourite moments from last night’s Oscars are better represent in audio, those being Olivia Coleman’s speech when she won Best Actress over the heavily favoured Glenn Close, and when Rayka Zehtabchi exclaimed “I can’t believe a film on menstruation won an Oscar!”

It was fun keeping up with everyone’s reactions and remarks during the awards, and chiming in with many of my own even though I do, as always, find the speed of twitter a little breakneck. Also friends and colleagues who, knowing that I’m a big movie buff, came by or message me to discuss last night’s show. At times we got animated enough that random passerbys and company VPs felt the need to chime in, which is the best gathering of the minds possible in my world.

Here’s a list of the winners and what I thought of each recipient:

Best Picture

“Black Panther” “BlacKkKlansman” “Bohemian Rhapsody” “The Favourite” “Green Book” (WINNER) “Roma” “A Star Is Born” “Vice”

While not entirely classy of Spike Lee to turn his back when Green Book was announced, he was able to joke about it later that every time a film about driving was pit against his own film, he would lose to it (Do the Right Thing lost to Driving Miss Daisy) My silver lining was knowing that TIFF audiences picked yet another Best Picture winner. We do have quite a track record, don’t we? I really thought the Academy was going to make a different type of history in diversity by awarding a foreign film (Roma) with Best Picture. Or at least Black Panther, that would’ve been cool too.

Director

Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman” Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War” Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite” Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma” (WINNER) Adam McKay, “Vice”

I agree with this win.

Lead Actress

Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma” Glenn Close, “The Wife” Olivia Colman, “The Favourite” (WINNER) Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born” Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

I was ecstatic to have guessed wrong in my Oscar picks for this category. Both Olivia Coleman and Glenn Close were such strong contenders (as was Melissa McCarthy). Glenn Close carried her film, Olivia Coleman elevated her already very good movie to another level.

Lead Actor

Christian Bale, “Vice” Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born” Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate” Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (WINNER) Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

It’s nice that Rami Malek won, and I guessed he would. But I think Christian Bale was still better.

Original Song

“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA “I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice (WINNER) “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

I don’t think any other song legitimately had a chance.

Original Score

“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard “Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson (WINNER) “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell “Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat “Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

One last time I’ll say this: Where was First Man? After not seeing it on the list I really had no one to root for.

Adapted Screenplay

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen , Ethan Coen “BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee (WINNER) “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins “A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters

I think a writing Oscar is an excellent award for Spike Lee to win. I’m rarely familiar with the original story vs its adaptation, therefore it’s hard to say who did the best job of adapting their source material. That said, any way you slice it, BlacKkKlansman was a great script.

Original Screenplay

“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader “Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly (WINNER) “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón “Vice,” Adam McKay

While I put my money on Green Book, I can’t fathom why anyone would think it’s a better script than The Favourite nor Vice (I didn’t see First Reformed, and I think Roma is at least on par with Green Book) Destroyer was an original script right? I’m personally disappointed it wasn’t up for any writing awards.

Live Action Short Film

“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe “Fauve,” Jeremy Comte “Marguerite,” Marianne Farley “Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen “Skin,” Guy Nattiv (WINNER)

I didn’t watch any of the shorts this year.

Visual Effects

“Avengers: Infinity War” “Christopher Robin” “First Man” (WINNER) “Ready Player One” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”

Again, please to be wrong in this category. If anything I would have said First Man stood out more in audio achievement, but visual effects were also excellent and I’m glad the film got at least one Oscar because it is such a fine technical achievement.

Documentary Short Subject

“Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins “End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman “Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald “A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry “Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi (WINNER)

Amazing acceptance speech. I want to see this now.

Animated Short

“Animal Behaviour,” Alison Snowden, David Fine “Bao,” Domee Shi (WINNER) “Late Afternoon,” Louise Bagnall “One Small Step,” Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas “Weekends,” Trevor Jimenez

Also a fine, inspiring acceptance speech by Domee Shi. I didn’t see any other shorts but I did watch Bao several times over and my Torontonian pride swelled when it won. Growing up Asian, there’s a lot of embedded humour in this short as well, the husband character is still my absolute favourite.

Animated Feature

“Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird “Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson “Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman (WINNER)

I really gotta see this movie.

Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, “Green Book” (WINNER) Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman” Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born” Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

As expected. Though Richard E Grant is still my favourite, anyone catch his interview with Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet? And how he’s besties with Melissa McCarthy now? Love it.

Film Editing

“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown “Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman (WINNER) “Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito “The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis “Vice,” Hank Corwin

Fixing up a film in editing doesn’t warrant it as best edited film of the year! I cannot believe Bohemain Rhapsody won in this category. Especially again films such as The Favourite and Vice, the former’s editing has a hand in shaping its visual mastery, the latter is entirely built from the art of editing. What the hell?

Foreign Language Film

“Capernaum” (Lebanon) “Cold War” (Poland) “Never Look Away” (Germany) “Roma” (Mexico) (WINNER) “Shoplifters” (Japan)

Capernaum was still better ;)

Sound Mixing

“Black Panther,” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali (WINNER) “First Man,” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis “Roma,” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García “A Star Is Born,” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

-and-

Sound Editing

“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker “Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst (WINNER) “First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan “A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl “Roma,” Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay

Just because a film is about music doesn’t automatically qualify it for best sound! Have all the Academy voters gone out of their mind??? If you’re gonna go by that misguided logic then at least give it to A Star is Born. It’s been a day and I still can’t fathom how anyone could think the sound editing of Bohemian Rhapsody is better than First Man, A Quiet Place, and Roma!

Cinematography

“Cold War,” Lukasz Zal “The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan “Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón (WINNER) “A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique

This was a pretty stacked category and Alfonso Cuaron did make a beautiful looking film. I don’t know if it was more striking that Cold War or The Favourite, but all in all he did deserve the win.

Production Design

“Black Panther,” Hannah Beachler (WINNER) “First Man,” Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas “The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton “Mary Poppins Returns,” John Myhre, Gordon Sim “Roma,” Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez

Fine. At least it wasn’t Roma, and I get that more often than not the period film usually wins it, so it’s cool to shake it up. The Favourite is still my fav.

Costume Design

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres “Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter (WINNER) “The Favourite,” Sandy Powell “Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell “Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne

Again, I like The Favourite more.

Makeup and Hairstyling

“Border,” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer “Mary Queen of Scots,” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks “Vice,” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney (WINNER)

I’d have been surprised if anyone else won.

Documentary Feature

“Free Solo,” Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (WINNER) “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross “Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu “Of Fathers and Sons,” Talal Derki “RBG,” Betsy West, Julie Cohen

:) That’s the one I picked.

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, “Vice” Marina de Tavira, “Roma” Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk” (WINNER) Emma Stone, “The Favourite” Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

I preferred Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone’s performances. Amy Adams even.

So, that’s it for awards season 2019. I did pitiful in my predictions this year because I was way off on the technical awards, not to mention some big ones too like Best Picture.

I’ll wrap it up by recommending that you watch First Man (with a good sound set up as it is superb technical, has a great score, and supporting actress Claire Foy), Destroyer (for its story and Nicole Kidman), The Hate U Give (that delivers a much stronger message than Green Book ever will), and Beautiful Boy (where supporting actor Timothee Chalamet actually has a sizable role).

#Oscars 2019 #oscars

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