#San is like Yes... An American Name........... Kevin

[madamedupigeonsalon]

Culture : est ce que Beyonce est la meilleure artiste du 21e siècle ?

Category is … Beyonce ! On peut dire que Beyonce est une artiste qui sait ce qu elle fait parce qu elle arrive toujours à monter de niveau lorsqu’il s agit de sa musique . Son dernier album « Renaissance » est album qui s inspire de la culture Ballroom/ Voguing , crée par des gens queer noir et latino américains, Beyonce rends hommage en s appropriant ce style de musique. Elle a juste envie de montrer une culture qui n est pas souvent célébré et pour cela je lui donne 10/10 !

Son concert est un véritable succès , elle se balade dans le monde entier et fait bouger les masses. Je ne peux que la féliciter pour l engouement qu elle crée à chaque représentation. J ai eu l occasion de la voir une fois dans ma vie et cela m a suffit ! Je vous promets , on a l impression d être en présence d un extraterrestre venu d ailleurs . J ai une théorie qui consiste à penser qu elle est un robot ! Comment fait elle ?

Il faut rappeler qu elle est la chanteuse qui détient le record de Grammys dans l histoire de la musique. C est une chanteuse qui vends beaucoup d albums et qui génère beaucoup de clicks sur internet pour ses clips vidéos .

C est une chanteuse et une business woman. Elle fait de la musique , elle a une ligne de vêtements et elle est maman . Rien que ça ? Et bien , c est déjà pas mal ! Elle a révolutionné la musique et elle n a pas l intention a 40 ans de s arrêter . C est une visionnaire qui a beaucoup travaillé sans relâche pour créer un monde dans laquelle on peut rêver et s amuser .

Oui , pour moi, Beyoncé est la meilleure artiste du 21e siècle . C est vrai qu il y a des grands noms comme Michael Jackson , Aretha Franklin , Ray Charles , Céline Dion, Barbara Streisand , Whitney Houston etc etc …. Qui ont définitivement changer la musique mais Beyonce a juste relève le niveau pour qu il soit intergalactique ! Même les martiens écoutent la musique de Beyonce , c est certain !

Et vous quelles chansons aimez vous de Beyoncé ?

Culture : is Beyonce the best artist of 21st century ?

Category is …Beyonce! You could say that Beyonce is an artist who knows what she's doing because she always manages to step up when it comes to her music. Her latest album "Renaissance" is an album inspired by Ballroom / Voguing culture, created by queer black and Latin American people, Beyonce pays homage by appropriating this style of music. She just wants to show a culture that is not often celebrated and for that I give her 10/10!

Her concert is a real success, she travels around the world and moves the masses. I can only congratulate her for the enthusiasm she creates at each performance. I had the opportunity to see her once in my life and that was enough for me! I promise you, it feels like being in the presence of an alien from elsewhere. I have a theory which consists in thinking that she is a robot! How does she?

It should be remembered that she is the singer who holds the Grammys record in the history of music. She is a singer who sells a lot of albums and who generates a lot of clicks on the internet for her music videos.

She is a singer and a businesswoman. She makes music, she has a clothing line and she is a mom. Just that ? Well, that's not bad! She revolutionized music and she has no intention of stopping at 40. She is a visionary who has worked tirelessly to create a world in which we can dream and have fun.

Yes, for me, Beyoncé is the best artist of the 21st century. It is true that there are big names like Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston etc etc…. Who definitely changed the music but Beyonce just raised the level to make it intergalactic! Even Martians listen to Beyonce's music, that's for sure!

And you what songs do you like by Beyoncé?

Kevin Ngirimcuti

[fauvester]

thanks to @soundwavereporting for encouraging me to Write my Humankaiju Rodorah Truth

Rodan swam into the waking world way past when he usually got up for work. He had a moment of panic, thinking his alarm didn’t go off, but then he remembered – weekend, Saturday morning. He’d been out Friday night, a one-man celebration of finally getting his grades from his Master’s program back, finally.

Tasted sour. His mouth. Gross. He swallowed thickly and cracked his eyes open.

His studio was bleary and bright. Someone must have opened the shades; he had a new basement apartment and liked to keep them closed to deter anyone from looking in.  Hey, he’d gone home from MI with someone, hadn’t he?

Oh, yeah. That explained it. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and squinted, looking up. The other side of his bed was empty, but from behind the hastily erected folding screen that separated it from the living area he could hear someone moving around.

Last night – he’d gotten the email after almost six months of negotiating with the Dean’s office while he was still at work, checking his phone waiting on his COSY to autoresolve (old-ass software they were using. No manches.) He’d actually jumped up and whooped in excitement, which would have been embarrassing if anyone besides Ques was there.

He’d texted Goji and Mothra to see if they wanted to go get something to eat in celebration, but the latter said she had plans and the former rarely had her phone on her and didn’t respond. Anguirus was visiting family, and Rodan wouldn’t stoop to hanging out with Baragon if he was the last guy on Earth.  So he clocked out and went down the street to Monster Island Bar alone.

His lab building was only a couple miles from the center of Monsuta, on the other side of it from the beach. He could get everywhere on foot or on his motorbike.

So with an extra spring in his step he’d locked his bike underneath the streetlamp outside the bar and headed in for a drink.  He hadn’t had a chance to go out since the incident with his old apartment; between the thrill and razor’s edge of fear watching the old place burn to the slow and excruciating process of getting arrested, thrown in a holding cell for a weekend and then told that he was getting let off, he’d been sort of on edge for the past few weeks.

“Relax, ‘dan,” Goji said when she picked him up from the Correctional Facility, clapping a broad hand on his shoulder. “You got off this time when you could’ve been in jail for the rest of your life. People like us don’t get chances like this. Enjoy it.”

He couldn’t, though.  He was still taut as a live wire. How did he slip through the cracks?  He’d had a lapse of judgment. The place he’d lived for years was being sold out from under him to some foreign developers who’d rip it up and turn it into luxury condos and price Monsutans out of it with impunity, and damn it, Rodan wasn’t going to let that happen.

Having access to the chemical components of any commonly used explosive substance was definitely a job bonus at his lab. Not like Ques cared enough to keep inventory of anything.  She was too busy being bitter and feeling sorry for herself.

So his old place had burned – exploded, actually – and Rodan was caught, of course, because who else, and then someone had decided to let him go.

He knew how things worked around here. Someone did him a favor, and now something was expected of him.  He owed someone a debt, someone powerful, and he didn’t like not knowing who it was, or what they might conceivably ask of him.

It just made him jumpy.

So anyways – he’d decided to go out that Friday to loosen up after a very confusing and challenging couple of weeks, throw down a few beers.

He’d got himself the cheapest bottle MI carried, his usual, and nursed it in the middle of the bar as the other patrons trickled in for their usual Friday libations. MI was what Mothra would call ‘homey’; there was pool, if you cared to challenge Battra; the tvs weren’t too loud that you couldn’t hear the 80s music channel; you could sit on the patio if you didn’t mind that the whole place was a wrought-iron tetanus ward waiting to be established.  When Rodan was alone he mostly liked to drink in silence and futz with the candles at the bar. His new basement apartment was an absolute dustpan and he wasn’t in any hurry to get back there.

The bartender’d tapped him on the shoulder and he’d spun around, thinking that he’d fucked something up, but she handed him a glass of something clear and beautifully garnished instead.

“From the guy at the end of the counter,” she said.  “It’s the best we have on shelf.”

He looked, not caring about subtlety. There was a guy at the end of the bar, ensconced in a corner and half in the shadow, leaning against the wall like a shadow himself. He had a phone in his hand, scrolling slowly, and he was looking over at Rodan with a practiced and incredibly precise casualness.  Damn, he was good looking. Not his usual type, given, but tall and sharp and sort of weird looking in the face but in a very Fancy Model way. In the warm electric lights Rodan saw his eyes glint.

And he was looking at Rodan.  With the slightest smile, an it’s-there-if-you-want-it-to-be smile, looking appraisingly, like he was evaluating Rodan and didn’t find him wanting.  He stopped scrolling, clicked off his phone, keeping their eyes locked, and cocked an eyebrow. Are you coming over?

Rodan took a sip.  Expensive tequila. So the guy didn’t just have good taste in clothes. The stranger watched him. Rodan licked his lips, tasting salt and mellow cool alcohol, and then brought the glass a half dozen seats over to sit next to the man who bought it for him.

Rodan, in the present, internally curled up and kicked his feet with glee at the memory. He’d picked up plenty of people at bars back in the day, but he was rusty in that department now. Besides, he was used to being the initiator in those relationships. It felt nice to be attended to, and the guy – Kevin, was it? Kyle? – had attended to him in every conceivable way that evening, and then later that night.

He was Scandanavian, here for work, he hadn’t had a chance to visit the famous beach yet but he was looking forward to it, he liked his drinks on the rocks. He had shoulder-length blond hair but he wore it up; his lips were a little too wide for his aristocratic face but that made it interesting enough to look at.  He had long, slender fingers and he knew how to use them. He had a tattoo of a dragon on his hip. He spoke Spanish, among other languages, and liked classic metal too.

Rodan, in the present, rolled up to sit. No hangover, thankfully, just tired. He reached under the bed and grabbed an undershirt, pulling it on as he stood up and knocked at the screen.  It felt silly, but he didn’t want to intrude if Kevin was still there. God, he hadn’t had a one night stand in a while, this was excrutiating.

“Hey, are you still there?”

A moment. “Your shower doesn’t have a curtain, you know this, yes?”

“Oh, yeah. Haven’t had time to unpack it. Sorry.”

A chuckle. “No, I’m sorry for waking you up so early. My body tells me I’m a morning person, my head doesn’t agree, though.”  God, that accent!  On the other side of the divider, Rodan found Kevin in his little kitchenette. To his embarrassment, his houseguest was washing his dishes, dressed only in Rodan’s almost knee-length sweatpants and his mother’s laundry apron.

“Oh shit, don’t worry about that! I swore I washed them yesterday, you really don’t have to, dude.”

“Not at all, I made pancakes and thought I should clean up afterwards. As a thanks for letting me stay over!” Kevin smiled brightly at him. God, he should really make sure his name was Kevin.

He looked damn good in just Rodan’s sweats and apron.

“Pancakes?”

“And coffee. Your machine was making noises – I found a press, though.”

“Where? Did you take apart my entire kitchen?”

“Ech, I’ve been up for a while. I didn’t want to leave you without seeing you though.  I thought it would be rude.”

“Most people would’ve left a note and dipped. I’m used to it.”

“Well, if you didn’t want to see me, at least now you have pancakes, so it is a net-gain, yes?”

“I didn’t mean it like that!” Rodan assured him. “It’s nice, I mean. I’m glad you stayed. Just not used to decency, I guess. And thanks for the pancakes.”  Kevin dried his hands, finished, and Rodan pulled him against himself by the waistband of his pants. He barely came up to the man’s shoulders.

Rodan looked up and Kevin smiled down at him, then ducked down and gave him a quick, dry kiss that Rodan felt through his whole body like a little sparkly shockwave.  His body remembered last night.

Something on the other side of the room buzzed. Rodan smacked his own ass on instinct even though he wasn’t wearing pants with back pockets and Kevin pulled off his apron and scrambled around to the couch, where he’d left his coat the day before.

He fished his iphone out of his pocket and answered it in an unintelligible language. His tone started light and easy but went flat and businesslike as the conversation went on.  Rodan helped himself to some pancakes, deciding to eat them rolled up with his fingers and dipped in butter as he listened to the waterlike vowels and slurred consonants from the living room.

Kevin hung up, pursing his lips.  “That was my work partner.  I have a conference call in a little bit to prepare for, so I’m going to head out.”

“On a Saturday?”

“It’s still Friday over where those partners are.”

“Huh, wow. Your place is really global, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and growing bigger all the time.” He smiled beatifically and gestured to Rodan’s room.

“Yeah. What did you say you did again?” Rodan asked as Kevin pulled on his clothes.

The Scandanavian smiled at him, snapping his brilliant gold hair into a bun.  “Oh, it’s all very vague. Financial analytics, insurance. Some international shipping. Real estate.”

His tone was light and pleasant but something in the air between them felt suddenly strange and heavy. They looked at each other over the bar of Rodan’s kitchenette, the scientist and the stranger and the chemistry between them.

Kevin stood up, breaking the moment, and gently took Rodan around the waist. “I put my number on your bedside table,” he said.  “I will be here for a few weeks, perhaps; if you’d like to spend some time together, call me.  I’d love to.”

Rodan reached up and traced a thumb over his high cheekbones, the corner of his mouth. His washed-out-blue eyes followed, amused, and Rodan pulled him in for another deeper kiss.

“Okay, fine, I guess I can call you,” he said after they broke apart. “But you’ve set the bar pretty high this time.  I’m going to expect a continental breakfast.”

“Oh, no, next time we are staying with me, where there are shower curtains,” Kevin said, and kissed Rodan on the top of his mssed-up head.  “And I look forward to it.”

Later on, a few miles away, Sander calls his brother back.

“How long does it take to case a place so small?” Richard groans in Danish.

“I didn’t want to be rude,” San says, running his hand over his face where he swore he could still feel Rodan’s thumb. “Besides, he has just moved in, he doesn’t have any useful papers out.  I think Ni will have to find them online.”

“Mmh.” That was Niels, on the conference call.

“He’s an interesting one, though. I think he’ll be worth our time.”

“Ech, I don’t care about that, I just care about how much of a problem he’s going to be for us.”

“If the big construction worker won’t keep him in line, then I can keep him busy,” San responds.  “I think you’d like him. He’s fun.”

“Nobody fun lives in a ground floor apartment,” Ni again.

And then the line devolved into a discussion of the apartment complex on the street over from the one that Rodan had burnt down and San started the car again, heading back for their penthouse downtown.

He felt good about this city, this project.  The last few had left him cold. He wondered if he’d lost his spark for their game - it had felt scarily mechanical.  They’d been going through the motions, town after town, breaking down and rebuilding rotely while checking their watches. But this time…

He thought of the little firestarter, his bright dark eyes and his scarred hands, his quick confident tone and the quiet little noises he made.  Maybe he’d found his spark again.

[whysojiminimnida]

So...you really have Korean friend who is gay? Heh. Please if it’s not too personal can you share what his opinion about jikook too, maybe some moments that stood out to him or just in general what he is saying about them...it is so interesting..

I do. Kevin from Itaewon is a real person. I have known him for about 25 years. He grew up with his Korean parents here in America (hence his American name - I will not use his Korean name here). And yes - Kevin is gay. He came out to me about seven years ago. That means that I knew this guy and considered him a good friend for OVER A DECADE BEFORE HE CAME OUT. That's an important point, kids. Being Korean and gay is not the same as being Western and gay. It's just not. We like to speak on culture but the best way I can describe it to you is that even in close friendships some things are not assumed or discussed for YEARS. Being open like Holland is highly unusual. People know. People aren't less gay there. There is still a strong network - but it looks more like the New York or San Francisco of the 1960s-1980s than it does like anything we have in the US or UK. Okay? So in talking about the Jeon-Parks in particular, Kevin had this to say: "I think they're very lucky. They have friends who understand and their company seems to be okay with them. Their co-workers seem to also be supportive or also part of the community. From what we know here vs. what you guys (in the US) are told, we know that their private relationship is clear, it just isn't discussed. That's a Western thing, thinking it's okay to just talk about your private life. We don't do that here." So I go, because I am a voyeuristic little snotrag: "What you're telling me is that everybody been knew and nobody's saying shit." He says: "Be a lady for five seconds, I beg you. But yes, you voyeuristic little snotrag." OKAY THEN BITCH DAMN. He loves me. I'm adorable. Kev is also practically a whole Namjoon of a person, really. BUT HE CONTINUES: "So maybe there's hope. Some of us think that if one couple can come out publicly that would change things here but that is too much to ask of anyone. The ramifications would be huge. So maybe it's better if they stay like they are until things change a little more." SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE KIDS IN THE BACK. I've been telling y'all this for months. They will not come out in public maybe ever. That doesn't make them less real. Here have some cute pics I stole off the internet:

[confuchan]

I posted 286 times in 2022

That's 286 more posts than 2021!

24 posts created (8%)

262 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@/dontflailmenow

@/woozi

@/bitchlessdino

@/jeonwonwoo

@/milfgyuu

I tagged 281 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#svt gifs - 93 posts

#svt pics - 37 posts

#dividers - 32 posts

#random svt post - 22 posts

#tbz gifs - 15 posts

#tbz pics - 15 posts

#random relatable posts - 12 posts

#random misc. posts - 11 posts

#random writing posts - 10 posts

#hope tagged - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 77 characters

#lowkey didnt know it was eric the first like 3 times i saw it in compilations

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

About Me

Name: Hope (not my real name but has meaning between me & my mom so i went w/ it)

She/Her

Age: I'm an '01 liner

Fun facts about me:

I love writing✍ & reading📖

Music is everything to me, same as writing & reading is🎼🎶

I have a tendency to be more shy/introverted, mostly around new people...and second guess myself alot (things i say or do)

"I'm a socially awkward social butterfly" ~Kevin Moon🌙

I'm typically very open about everything...idk why but I just am

I have a slight tendency to be oblivious (if I annoy or upset you pls tell me, I don't ever mean to be, I'm genuinely just unaware)

I have a ½Corgi ½Australian-shepherd dog Theo i got as a puppy, & a ½Corgi ½Dachshund dog Coco i got first as an older rescue (maybe I'll post pics eventually)

I'm 5' 10" & I despise it(/j?) bc almost everyone i went to school w/ was always shorter than me. (& yes there were jokes made)

I was born on Christmas Eve so i was called a 'christmas eve baby' growing up by EVERY teacher/grown-up🎄

I like craft stuff & art (only really good @ drawing/charcoal/oil pastels)🎨

First Kpop Group: Got7

Ult Groups atm: The Boyz, Seventeen, Ateez, Stray Kids (I do also have interest in & at one point was more invested in others, ex. NCT, GOT7, TXT, Enhypen, etc.)

Biases / Wreckers in each group: (this is not every group, but the top 15)

TBZ - Kevin, Sunwoo / Q, Jacob, (& Hyunjun)

SVT - Dino, Mingyu, S. Coups / Wonwoo, Hoshi

ATZ - San / Wooyoung, Seonghwa

SKZ - BangChan, Han / Felix, I.N.

NCT - Haechan, Taeyong, Xiaojun, Sungchan / YangYang, Jaemin, Kun, Yuta, Jeno

TXT - Yeonjun / Soobin

Enhypen - Jake, Sunghoon / Jay

Monsta X - I.M, Kihyun / Jooheon, Shownu (& Wonho)

SF9 - Rowoon, Youngbin / Zuho, Jaeyoon, Hwiyoung

GOT7 - Mark, JB / Jinyoung, Youngjae

Astro - Jinjin, Moonbin / Rocky, Eunwoo

Infinite - L, Woohyun / Sungyeol, Dongwoo???

See the full post

4 notes - Posted October 6, 2022

#4

Ok...I'm not alright after this edit😣😍

Credit to user in vid (top left)

6 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

#3

Tagged By - @/sugarcherriess

Favorite Color - Pink & Blue

Currently Reading - All My Love (j. ww) by @pepperonidk & Sweet Night (k. mg) by @wooahaes

Last Song - T1 x Raiden, The Boyz 'Last Man Standing' or The Boyz 'Christmassy'

Last Series - watching multiple bc they all have new seasons (DC's Stargirl, Kung Fu reboot, All American, DC's Titans)

Last Movie - 20th Century Girl, Enola Holmes 2, The School For Good & Evil

Currently Working On - Svt Dino college au

TBZ Kevin house cleaner(?)/s2f2L au

SVT or TBZ(?) assistant s2f2L au

Tagging - @/twogyuu @/bitchlessdino @/momobani @/biaswreckingfics @/leejungchans @/wooahaes @/pepperonidk

(if you wanna do it but aren’t tagged then consider yourself TAGGED 🫵🏼 and also if u dont wanna then consider yourself untagged 👉🏼👈🏼)

7 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

#2

Thanks @/twogyuu for tagging me🤗 I love sharing music w/people too!

Tag game: Put your playlist on shuffle, list 10 songs, and then tag 10 people.

1. Flower - Seventeen

2. Trauma - Seventeen (Hip hop unit)

3. Now Or Never - SF9

4. Vicious - Sabrina Carpenter

5. Here Comes Trouble - Neoni

6. Bo Bo Chocolat - Everglow

7. Thnks fr th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy

8. Circus - Stray Kids

9. Don't Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers ft. Daya

10. Merry Bad Ending - The Boyz

Still dont really know 10 ppl but let's try anyway...

(if you wanna do it but aren’t tagged then consider yourself TAGGED 🫵🏼 and also if u dont wanna then consider yourself untagged 👉🏼👈🏼)

@/sugarcherriess @/bitchlessdino @/momobani @/leejungchans @/biaswreckingfics @/dontflailmenow @/noempathyy @/wooahaes

17 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Seventeen Recs (updated: dec. 2, 2022)

Warnings usually left by authors at beginning of each

My warnings just in case (I hope these make sense): ⤵

♨ - contains nsfw in story         🔞 - just nsfw

See the full post

244 notes - Posted October 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[corpse-of-bandersnatch]

That's the whole interview with Jeff by Nicole Iskra, in which they also talked about him shaving of his chest hair. It was published in the Moviestar 05/2001 (the interview, not the chest hair).

I won't translate everything word for word, but if you wish a closer translation of a special topic/question, let me know and I try my best. (Also I apologize for the bad quality of the middle part of the scanned magazine).

PARALLAX – Madness from the Internet

„I was the Incarnation of their worst nightmare!“ - An interview with Jeffrey Combs

Before the interview starts, they introduce the latest movie Jeff was in back then, which is Parallax aka FearDotCom (almost the complete first column describes the Plot). Parts of it where shot in Luxembourg, which is also the Place where the interviewer meets Mr. Combs.

They meet in front of the Inter-Continental Hotel. Mr. Combs is PISSED, because the breakfast in the Hotel was awful (slimy fried egg) and the staff was rude (someone came in his room without knocking or apologizing, while he was sitting on his bed, only wearing a T-Shirt and Shorts).

They walk into the City of Luxembourg and Jeff's wondering about the many colourful life-sized cow sculptures, that you can find everywhere in town (quote: „Is this supposed to be art?!“).

He's searching for a souvenir for his wife, but in in his opinion, all of the dresses are outdated and their colours terrible. The interviewer teaches him the very important rule „Grün und Blau schmückt die Sau“.

They decide to eat in a Burger Restaurant called „Maybe not Bob's“, where he orders chicken wings with french fries and a coke (quote: „like a real American“).

Jeff speaks about the results of his genealogical research: Originally, his family came from Devon in England, but settled 1619 in Jamestown (Virginia) to work for Virginian Tobacco Co.

1. Question: The first question is about the renaming of FearDotCom to Parallax (reason being uncertainty about who owns the name). It follows more describing of the movie’s plot, this time from Mr. Combs himself.

His friend Bill Malone directed Parallax/FDC and offered Jeff the role, because they already worked together in Haunted Hill and Perversions of Science.

2. Question: You got along so well with Peter Jackson while filming The Frighteners. Will you at least get a Cameo in Lord of the Rings, even if it's only as Orc Nr. 260?

JC: That's the one Orc, that survived, right? (laughs). Nah seriously, I didn't get a role, unfortunately. I auditioned, , but the problem was the british accent. I can imitate it, but when you're surrounded by actors like Ian McKellen and Ian Holm, it's really not hard to tell who's a „real  Briton“ and who's not.

3. Question: Did your latest movie before Parallax/FDT – The Attic Expeditions –  had it's premiere in America yet?

JC: No, not yet. The world premiere was a couple of weeks ago here in Luxembourg and it was also shown on Festivals in Edinburgh and Amsterdam. Sadly, they didn't show it on the film festival in Brussel.

I'm really enthused by The attic Expeditions, because it's interesting, not linear, not logical, with few horror elements, but the horror is mostly psychological. It's like a dream in a nightmare on a trip. The longer you watch the movie, the less you know, what's real, it's a really complex movie, especially by american standards.

4. Question: In retrospect, would you call your role as Herbert West a curse?

JC: (sighs) Somehow, it's a curse and a blessing at the same time. Thanks to the role, I was branded as „Horror actor“ in Hollywood. After Deep Space Nine I was branded as „Horror- and Sci Fi- actor“. Movie people love to categorize you. On the other hand, the role of Herbert West opened up a lot of possibilities for me.

5. Question: 10 Years ago you told a funny story at a convention in New York, about sth. that happened while filming From Beyond. Could you maybe tell it again for the Moviestar readers?

JC: You mean the one with the children?

MS: Exactly!

JC: (grins) Well, we were already filming for a month – so I've been in this horrible make-up for 30 days already, with this awful head piece that looked like a red dog dick. I looked worse than Quasimodo! That's why I ate mostly in my dressing room. One day, they shot a commercial with a bunch of 4-year-old children in mushroom costumes on the same soundstage. We met in the hallway and as soon as those poor, innocent children saw me, all hell has broken loose. I was the incarnation of their worst nightmare, they screamed and ran to their mothers, who wanted to lynch me on the spot. So now it was me, who ran away.

But that's how it is, when you have a lot to do with make-up and masks and stuff like this. Not long ago, I was strapped to a cross made out of tubes, my throat was „cut“, there was blood all over me. And sometimes, when you're hanging there long enough, the crew just forgets that you're there, because for them, you just turned into a part of the set. Until you give a signal: „Umm sorry, guys, could you..maybe..“ - „Oh yeah sure, sorry Jeff, sorry..“

6. Question: (you might already know this one from this post): After that scene in From Beyond, in which you get eaten by this worm, your chest is as smooth as that of a baby – did they shave off your chest fur?

Jeff: Yes! (laughs)

MS: Did you do it yourself?

Jeff: Yes and I learnt something very important: Never use a normal razor blade, an electric razor is way better and safer and it doesn’t itch as badly, when the hair grows back. I had to shave my chest for a theater role once as well. I was 26 or so and played an 18-year-old.

7. Question: Do you still play in theatres regulary?

JC: No, not in the past couple of years, though theatre is very dear to my heart. Back in the days, I loved to play in theatres – living like a gypsy, 8 weeks in San Diego, and somewhere else afterwards. But that's not how I want to live today, now that I have a family. I don't like to leave my two little girls for several weeks, plus an engagement in a theatre isn't really helpful financially. I earn the same money in 1 week of shooting a movie as I do in 4-5 months of theatre work.

8. Question: I read that Woody Allen pays every actor 5.000 Dollar, because in his opinion, no one is worth 20 Million Dollar, neither beginner nor Superstar. What do you think about the explosive growth of fees nowadays?

JC: I do think that you should take the money, that the market offers you. But somebody, who earns 20 Millions per movie should share at least a million with their not so lucky co-actors.  No, seriously, it's not that easy to make a living. A friend of mine got a job, where he plays the brother of Kevin Costner. When I asked him, if he gets payed well, he shook his head and said, that he only gets tariff plus 10%. Tariff is the lowest wage possible, that was defined by union. My friend had the choice to either work with Costner or don't. And as an actor you always hope that a movie like this becomes a success and maybe improves your chances in Hollywood.

MS: Thank you for making so much time for us!

[allywritesmanythings]

Secret Voight (J. Halstead) S2 Part 3

Summary: With the team now knowing you are Voight's daughter. That's one problem down but Voight still doesn't know about you and Jay. Unless he already knows.

Words: 2.4k

Requested: yes/no

Warning or A/N: I got tried of saying the I.T guy so I named him Lane. Lmao. Also, is it called the lobby or the office where the team discuss the cases in Intelligence? I'm so blonde when it comes to that. Please leave comments!

It's been a few days since Jay had told you about Ben Corson and Jay was at your apartment. He was going through it again. You looked at Jay and sighed. "Babe, you can't have this vendetta get you in trouble,"

     He looked at you with such sadness that it broke your spirit. "That trouble will be well worth it, if that freak would finally get what he deserves,"

      You just sighed and pulled Jay over to you. Jay wrapped his arms around your waist and buried his head into the crook of your neck. You don't know how long you two were like this until you heard a knock on the door. Jay didn't move from where he was. "Are you expecting someone?"

     You shook your head no. "No, but I still got to go answer the door,"

      Jay sighed and moved.  You laughed at him and moved to answer the door. When you opened the door, you saw that it was Justin. "Justin?"

       He smiled at you. "Hey sis,"

      You stood at the doorway looking at him weird. "What are you doing here? It's almost midnight,"

      He looked behind me and at Jay as the cough was right behind the door. "I could ask Mr. Halstead the same,"

     You pushed Justin a little backwards so you could walk out into the hall and shut the door. "We are working on a case and I didn't realize it got late. Now why are you here?"

     He simply shrugged. "Bye sis,"

     You looked at his retreating figure in pure confusion.

     ---

     You were in a hospital the next day with Voight and Dawson cause Burgess and Atwater brought a female there after showing erratic behavior due to drugs. She also took Kevin down with ease. They walked out of a room when you guys had barely walked into the hospital. Voight looked at Burgess and Atwater. "What do we got?"

    Burgess looked at Voight. "A white female, just got out surgery,"

    You looked at Kevin with a smirk. "Heard white female took you down,"

     Kevin wasn't amused. "Whatever she was on, she had the ability of ten men,"

    Burgess handed Antonio a plane ticket. "No, I.D.  All she had on her was a plane ticket. She landed at O'Harw this morning from Cabo San Lucas,"

     Antonio looked at the ticket, then back to Burgess. "Just how much concern was on her?"

     Burgess without missing a beat. "Not on her. Inside her. They found 30 balloons in her stomach,"

    You three exchanged looked before a doctor leads you into the female's room. "Normally, when the cops bring in screamers, we just give them a Haldol cocktail and send them off to detox, but thus one started convulsing and I knew right away this was different,"

    Antonio walked to where the balloons were. "Welcome to Chicago, the distribution center of the Midwest,"

     The doctor nodded at Antonio then back at us once more. "We removed 29 condoms full of concern, thought she swallowed 30. One broke open and started to dissolve in her stomach. The drug leaked into her bloodstream, causing her psychosis, so I ordered an emergency surgery. Never ceases to amaze me what people do for money,"

    You sighed and nodded. "Sometimes, people don't think they have another choice,"

    The doctor nodded and moved on to the next topic. "I tested the residue on the broke balloon. It's 89 percent pure. That's the highest grade I've ever seen,"

    Antonio was still looking at the balloons. "All these balloons must be 50K street value,"

     Voight looked at him and nodded. "Easy,"

     You looked over at the girl. "So is the Cartel getting smart and using the All-American type?"

       Antonio picked up one of the balloons with a pen. "They're full of air pockets,"

Voight just looked at it and sighed. "Cartel wouldn't be that careless. We need to question her. How long before she wakes up?"

     The doctor shrugged. "Two. Maybe three hours,"

      Voight looked to Dawson. "Alright, see if Lane can contact the TEAM at O'Hare. See if we can get an ID on this girl,"

      You had been back to Intelligence doing recon after finding out the girl in the hospital is Amber Morris. She took a red eye from Cabo this morning. There were four other tickets purchased on Amber's credit card. Antonio also saw her and her friend get off the plane.  Jay walked up to the board and pointed at it. ,"Alright, so our girl in the E.R is Amber Morris. Amber and her three friends here, are all undergrads at Central Chicago University.

      You nodded and sat down at your desk."We checked Amber's Facebook. There are pictures of them living it up in Cabo San Lucas, not just from this previous trip. Amber's been down there twice km the last three months,"  

    Antonio looked at you then back to the board. "First time, she did the run by herself, and the next she recruited her friends,"

    Voight walked into the room. "We all got to assume that all these girls are mules and swallowed the same balloons packed with coke,"

     Lane walked up into Intelligence right after Voight did. "You guys, I ran those girls' addresses and they all three live on campus,"

    Antonio took no less than a second to process it. "We gotta move,"

    When you arrived to the campus, you couldn't find the girls, but Voight found the R.A handcuffed and bleeding. She told Voight that two white males came did and did this to her. Antonio walked outside and immediately hears a scream. He attempted to follow in the direction it came from but instead of finding the girls, he was almost run over by the kidnappers.  

     ***

You and Jay are now in the hospital room talking to Amber, who had just woken up and you had told her what happened. "I can't believe I'm here,"

    She didn't know why she was here? You held back down your annoyance and walked over to her. "Well, you are, Amber and whoever you were smuggling for just kidnapped your friends. So, if you don't give up who it was and we find your friends dead, you're going to be facing narcotics-induced homicide all by your lonesome,"

     She looked at you and was hesitant. "I can't,"

    You could actually smack this girl right now. You opened your mouth to talk again, but Jay beat you to it. Jay was leaning against the white board watching you doing your things which have honestly been kind of hot. "Are you not listening? You are lucky, we found you. Now, all you're gonna have is a scar on your stomach but your friends, they're likely O.D and wind up in some alley. If that happens, I promise you, you won't forgive yourself,"

      She was still hesitant. "I loved him,"

      You rolled your eyes. "The guy who used you for this, doesn't love you,"

       She looked at you for a while before answering. "I did it once, and it was fine. Then he promised my friends five grand each to go. It was my boyfriend and his brother"

     **

    You walked into the waiting room to meet Antonio and Voight. "We are putting out an investigative alert on a Sean and Brendan Collins,"

     Jay nodded and looked at his notepad. "They're the dealers we are looking for. Sean's the boyfriend. Amber says they hang out at a tattoo shop called Underground Ink. That's where they are slinging the dope,"

     You were at Intellegence digging for some dirt on the brothers while Ruzek and Al were staking out the tattoo shop. Voight looked at the pictures of the brothers and then back to us. "The Collins brothers are known thugs from Bridgeport. Both have records for armed robbery and aggravated battery,"

      Jay added and added on. "They've graduated to drug smuggling using naive college girls,"

     You stood up from your desk and stood in front of it. "Had uniforms check their IKAs. They're in the wind,"

    Lane walked up the stairs and into the room. "DMV came back that Brendan owns a black van,"

    Antonio walked up to us. "I'm assuming, that these brothers are using throwaway phones now that they know Amber is being arrested,"

     Voight sat there thinking for a minute before he started to walk away. "Alright, keep digging. Get me any known associates,"

     After a while, you got a tip on the van and the team goes and chases after it but when you tried to box the car in, the van was hit and Brenden died on impact. As soon as you got back to Intellegence, you got a text from Justin which said that he needed to meet. So you were meeting with Justin while Jay and Voight were going higher on the family chain. Justin walked up to you while you were leaning on your car. "Does Dad know?"

     You looked at him confused. "Know what?"

     He gives me the don't play dumb look. "You and Halstead,"

     "I have no idea what you mean by that,"

     Justin rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Its so obvious that you two have something going on. I mean why was he at your house so late?"

    "Like I said last night, we were working on a case and we didn't realize it for so late,"

     Justin just looked at you. "I totally believe that,"

     You choose to ingore that and realize he was at work. "Why aren't you at work?"

    Justin looked annoying when I asked that. "I left my I.D so I just rescheduled it. Its not like it's a carrer,"

     You sighed. "Justin, Dad stuck his neck out for you, all you could do is show up and act like you appericate it,"

     "I'll clock in, in a little while. Make him happy. Don't worry about it. I got some other stuff in the making,"

     Justin started walking away when you saw a car start up. You looked at the car and it just screamed bad news. "Why don't I drive you home,"

    Justin shakes his head. "Nah I got it. He's just a old friend. I'll be home beofre curfew,"

     ---

Voight had found out where Sean shouldve been at but when we busted in the only person we found but Megan Benson but she was dead and cut open. We walked out of the building, Voight shook his head. "Girl was only 19. Still in school?"

Jay looked at Voight. "Why only one? Where's the other two?"

"We aren't dealing with pros. Collins got squeamish and took off,"

The Medical Examiner walked up to us, took a glance at all of us, but directed her information towards Voight. "Whoever cut her open, cut into the balloons and destroyed most of the cocaine,"

Voight thanked her and he got a texted that made him look worrisome. He look at us. "Talk to Lane and see if he's got anything for you. I got some business to take care off,"

We were in Intellegence, trying to find anything that was connect or could help us on the case, when Lane walked in there. Ruzek and Al were stalking out the tattoo shop still. "I was able to obtain subscriber info for all calls from Brendan's phone that you found in the van. Only two numbers. Frist, to Sean's phone but long since dead but I managed to find track in a dumpster on Ashland. Second, six calls to this guy, Ryan Porter.

Jay quickly typed in Ryan Porter in the database and printed of a picture and multiple copies of his sheet, gave them to everyone and taped the picture up. "Ryan Porter. Male, white, 26. Long sheet for poession,"

You looked down at the paper. "Worked as a paramedic for three different ambulances companies, fired from all three,"

Dawson was the next one to talk. "I know that M.O. Ten-to-one, Porter is a play doctor. Busted a few when I worked Vice. EMT's who worked for private ambulance company is. They barely make 19 bucks anhour. So, the ones who wanna make extra cash sometimes provide under the table services like patching up criminals. Forward Porter's picture to Olinsky asap,"

On the way to the tattoo shop, Al comes over the radio saying that Sean and Porter ads af the shop with what looks like the two girls. By the time, you get there the suspects were already down and taking care of by Al, Burgess, Atwater and Ruzek. One of the girls was cut open but Ruzek stormed in before they did anything else and the other girl wasnt touched.

It had been a few hours after the team caught Sean and saved the two girls, you were at your house when you heard someone knock on your door. "Y/N,"

You heard your dad call your name on the other side of the door. You walked over to the door and opened it. "What's up, Dad?"

Your dad pushed up the door and walked into the living room. "Come on in,"

Your dad stopped in the middle of the living room and looked at you. "I got a called for Justin's supervisor at the CTA. Said he never showed,"

"Yeah. He said he forgot his I.D and he rescheduled it,"

Voight nodded and handed you a file, you reached for it and looked in it. "The cell I gave him, I've been monitoring it. He was in Statesville with Justin. Joe Catalano. Ever mentioned him?"

You shook your head. "No, but I'll talk to him,"

Voight looked at you and you got confused. "What?"

"Something your brother said,"

"That is?"

Voight ignored your question and looked in your bedroom and bathrooms. "Uhm excuse you?"

"Are you and Halstead together?"

That question had you mind racing. "What? No?"

"Justin said that he was over late last night,"

"Yeah we were working on a case and it got late. It tends to happen,"

"He said it looked like you guys were doing something,"

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the door. "You can leave now if you're gonna believe the kid that constantly lied to you and not the kid that hardly ever lied,"

"I believe you,"

"Whatever, I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow,"

Voight nodded and walked out the door. You shut the door and walked over to the window and watched your dad drive out of the driveway. "You can come out,"

You turned around as Jay comes out of the closet. "Im going to kill him,"

[tessatechaitea]

Justice League International #7 (1987)

Kevin Maguire not really trying looks an awful lot like John Romita Jr at his best.

Ah! It feels good to be back! Taking a crack at John Romita Jr while he's just sitting there not doing anything particularly wrong. Just going about his business pretending to be a comic book artist! I don't know what John Romita's politics are but I bet he now agrees with Donald Trump on one thing: naming your kid after you is a huge fucking mistake. Was all that previous nonsense poisonous, vile, and toxic? I suppose one could argue the point. But I'd also guess that somebody arguing that point has never seen John Romita Jr's art. Or perhaps they have seen it and like it because they have a terribly underdeveloped sense of aesthetics. Otherwise nobody would argue with me at all! They'd just read the previous poisonous, vile, toxic nonsense and nod their heads in agreement while pausing for a second to snort a line of Adderall. Fine, I'm sorry, JRJR! Obviously you're an artist! Drawing squinty people with block heads and weird noses holding geometric guns without a single curve on them absolutely falls under the definition of art! Although I draw the line at accepting that Rob Liefeld is an artist. That's a bridge too far! What the fuck does that even mean, "a bridge too far"? It must be a term bombers in WWII used, right? "What the fuck do you mean, carpet bomb Dresden?! If we fly past the Geralthauskopfplatz Bridge, we're definitely getting scrawked by anti-aircraft flak, you bingehart!" Did that sound like an authentic American bomber pilot from the 40s? It's not like Catch-22 is my favorite book or something. Wait. Catch-22 is my favorite book. I guess I'm just no good at written impressions. I assure you it sounds exactly what you'd expect from an American pilot in the Forties if you heard me do the impression live. Also, this is probably the last month of my life where I'll be able to say, "Catch-22 is my favorite book." Because I'm over 500 pages into Gravity's Rainbow and it's just as fucking amazing as everybody who has pretended to read it says it is. This issue begins with Guy Gardner regaining consciousness after having been violently assaulted by his employer.

Why was the mouse glowing green?!

In my memory, Guy Gardner's change from dickhole to sweetest guy on the team came after Batman punched his lights out. But apparently that isn't the case. It's possible this new whack on the head is the cause or maybe it's something a bit later. I bet an editorial mandate came down which said they couldn't have Guy suffer serious head trauma from Batman punching him. So they had to add this new scene where Guy basically gives himself the head trauma that results in a catastrophic change in personality. The Justice League didn't quite finish destroying The Gray Man last issue so that story gets resolved pretty quickly this issue. Doctor Fate transported him to the Realms of Order where a big blob of Order disintegrates him. Which is what he ultimately wanted. It's what we all ultimately want. It's just you don't know that you want it until you've lived long enough for all the wonder to be bled out of life. That's why he's the Gray Man! Some people think life's too short but at 49, I'm beginning to suspect that it's way too fucking long.

This comic book passes the Reverse Bechdel Test: "Any story that has only one woman in it and every scene she's in, she's treated like a sexual object."

With The Gray Man out of the way, it's time to get to the important part of the story: turning the Justice League of America into Justice League International! I wonder how many people this change pissed off in the 80s? Fucking globalist woke elite bubble bullshit! People talk in derogatory terms about the coastal bubbles but they absolutely shouldn't. I won't disagree that I grew up in a totally different environment in the San Francisco Bay Area than people who grew up in the Midwest. A bubble? Sure. But it was a fucking good thing. I was recently showing the Non-Certified Spouse some of the station breaks from local stations in the late 70s and early 80s out of San Francisco and she was amazed at the representative shorts these stations presented, especially KTVU's "Bits and Pieces." Sure, there were the ones about ethics and morality humorously presented with a horse and bulldog puppet. But there were also the ones that showed different ethnicities and their lives, often ending with "I'm proud to be a Chinese American!" or "I'm proud to be a Black American!" The one about Japanese Americans even mentioned how Japanese families were put in interment camps during World War II. One was about Italian Americans and instead of Italian history, it just showed Italian art and various activities of people in the Italian community. One of the Japanese American shorts just had a Japanese American kid having to explain how he was tired of answering questions about being Japanese in America because he was fourth generation and just American as anybody else. But I guess that kind of commie pinko hogwash is why I'm a big fat America hating socialist! As I was saying before my politics politely interrupted (my politics interrupting impolitely would look like this: Trump voters should be forced to shit in their own mouths for all eternity), the main thrust of this story is to set up Justice League International. Judging by the cover, that means hiring some guy with a bucket on his head from Russia and Captain Atom, another white American male.

Ah yes! The introduction of the best character of the series: Big Barda!

Big Barda might not be on the team but at least there's another female character. Sure, Doctor Light was sort of on the team for three pages. And pretty soon, Fire and Ice will join. But it's mostly just been poor Black Canary having to put up with Booster and Blue Beetle's jokes about banging her. Max and J'onn discuss the United Nations possibly backing the Justice League while Superman talks respectfully with President Reagan. What a mistake! The biggest do-gooder on the planet normalizing fucking Ronald Reagan! He should be scolding him with a liberal smattering of Kryptonian tsk-tsks! That's when a Kryptonian gives you a little burst of heat vision every time you deny the AIDS crisis or invoke the spectre of Welfare Queens or destroy the economy by lowering the top marginal tax rates pretending that the money saved will trickle down to everyone instead of fat corporate cats simply keeping all the extra for bonuses and investors. Fuck that guy. I'm so mad now!

Of all the digs they could have taken with Reagan, they poke fun of his dementia?! Christ, Giffen and DeMatteis.

Hal Jordan drops by headquarters to give Guy a good talking-to but Guy doesn't need it because he's suffered a traumatic head injury on top of his brain damage alongside Batman's sucker punch to the face and now he's Mister Sweetbeans. And because he's acting so nice, nobody gives a shit that this is actually a medical emergency. Backing Maxwell Lord is a computer satellite in space. Is it Brother Eye already?! Are they already working together in 1987?! Or is it just some alien gizmo from the Millennium bullshit coming up? I don't remember! Heck, this Maxwell Lord might even be a Manhunter! Anyway, the satellite begins destroying shit on Earth with a giant heat beam. The Justice League, having nearly nobody who can do anything about it, doesn't call Superman to fix the problem. Instead, they decide to spend precious hours borrowing a space shuttle from STAR Labs to launch them into space to battle the space station. Also, they leave Guy Gardner back at headquarters on monitor duty. Because who needs the guy with experience battling in space with a ring that can protect every other member of the League while in space? Also the ring is the greatest weapon in the universe. So, you know, sideline that guy, right?

It's possible this was in the era where Superman couldn't survive in space either, really. But then that's even more incentive to get fucking Guy Gardner up there with them!

The Justice League manages to stop the satellite's destruction but mostly only because it was a huge set-up so every nation could see them save the world. Everybody wants them defending the planet now so the United Nations agrees to back them with one condition: two new members, one to pacify the U.S. and one to pacify the U.S.S.R.

I've read a lot of ridiculous things in comic books but Rocket Red's power levels being nearly equal to Captain Atom's might be the most ridiculous.

I love how Captain Atom's power level is 9+ but Rocket Red's power level is 8.43 instead of 8+. I guess the accuracy of whatever system they're using breaks down over 9. Captain Marvel quits the team and Batman steps down as leader so J'onn can lead. And that's about it, I guess! The issue ends with some kind of flim-flam about how its the 80s and we've become a global world and boundaries just don't work anymore and superheroes are cool as shit. I guess it's inspirational or something. There's still just one woman on the team though. Justice League International #7 Rating: B. Seven issues in and the Justice League has defeated two villains who weren't actual threats to anybody. They were just scams to get the Justice League some press. They also beat up and killed an old guy who was just frustrated with the boredom that came with the immortality the Lords of Order forced on him. So all in all, they're nearly as terrible as the New Titans who practically only ever battled relatives while putting the residents of New York City in danger every time.

[station-19-series4eps4]

Watch Station 19 (Season 4 Episode 4) : Full Episodes

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Genre : Action & Adventure, Drama Air Date : 2020-12-10 Network : ABC Casts : Stefania Spampinato, Boris Kodjoe, Jay Hayden, Barrett Doss, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Jason George, Grey Damon, Danielle Savre Guest Star : Kevin McKidd, Carlos Miranda, Lachlan Buchanan Director : Bethany Rooney Writer : Brian Anthony

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Sipnosis

The team responds to a difficult domestic dispute involving a pregnant woman. Meanwhile, Travis struggles to deal with a family crisis, and Maya and Carina’s relationship continues to grow.

Storyline

Follow a group of heroic firefighters at Seattle Fire Station 19 - from captain to newest recruit - as they risk their lives and hearts both in the line of duty and off the clock. These brave men and women are like family, literally and figuratively, and together they put their own lives in jeopardy as first responders to save the lives of others.

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This brings me around to discussing us, a film release of the Christian religio us faith-based . As almost customary, Hollywood usually generates two (maybe three) films of this variety movies within their yearly theatrical release lineup, with the releases usually being around spring us and / or fall respectfully. I didn’t hear much when this movie was initially aounced (probably got buried underneath all of the popular movies news on the newsfeed). My first actual glimpse of the movie was when the film’s movie trailer premiered, which looked somewhat interesting if you ask me. Yes, it looked the movie was goa be the typical “faith-based” vibe, but it was going to be directed by the Erwin Brothers, who directed I COULD Only Imagine (a film that I did so like). Plus, the trailer for I Still Believe premiered for quite some us, so I continued seeing it most of us when I visited my local cinema. You can sort of say that it was a bit “engrained in my brain”. Thus, I was a lttle bit keen on seeing it. Fortunately, I was able to see it before the COVID-9 outbreak closed the movie theaters down (saw it during its opening night), but, because of work scheduling, I haven’t had the us to do my review for it…. as yet. And what did I think of it? Well, it was pretty “meh”. While its heart is certainly in the proper place and quite sincere, us is a little too preachy and unbalanced within its narrative execution and character developments. The religious message is plainly there, but takes way too many detours and not focusing on certain aspects that weigh the feature’s presentation.

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✌ FINAL THOUGHTS ✌ The power of faith, love, and affinity for take center stage in Jeremy Camp’s life story in the movie I Still Believe. Directors Andrew and Jon Erwin (the Erwin Brothers) examine the life span and The War with Grandpas of Jeremy Camp’s life story; pin-pointing his early life along with his relationship Melissa Heing because they battle hardships and their enduring love for one another through difficult. While the movie’s intent and thematic message of a person’s faith through troublen is indeed palpable plus the likeable mThe War with Grandpaical performances, the film certainly strules to look for a cinematic footing in its execution, including a sluish pace, fragmented pieces, predicable plot beats, too preachy / cheesy dialogue moments, over utilized religion overtones, and mismanagement of many of its secondary /supporting characters. If you ask me, this movie was somewhere between okay and “meh”. It had been definitely a Christian faith-based movie endeavor Bookmark this web site (from begin to finish) and definitely had its moments, nonetheless it failed to resonate with me; struling to locate a proper balance in its undertaking. Personally, regardless of the story, it could’ve been better. My recommendation for this movie is an “iffy choice” at best as some should (nothing wrong with that), while others will not and dismiss it altogether. Whatever your stance on religion faith-based flicks, stands as more of a cautionary tale of sorts; demonstrating how a poignant and heartfelt story of real-life drama could be problematic when translating it to a cinematic endeavor. For me personally, I believe in Jeremy Camp’s story / message, but not so much the feature.

[newagesispage]

                                                            OCTOBER                2020

PAGE RIB

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

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VOTE!!!!

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

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Joaquin and Rooney had a baby that they named River.

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Real Time has been renewed thru 2022.

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

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Shep Smith is back with Just the Facts on CNBC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Why does anyone listen to Christie or Rudy??

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Go Stevie Wonder!!!

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Dax Sheppard went off the wagon for a while.

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A Giant Gundom? Really?

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

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

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The Metropolitan Opera has cancelled the whole season.

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Happy Doomscrolling

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Can dogs be trained to detect the coronavirus?

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

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

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

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

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Ellen is selling off $10 mil in art.

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61% say we should abolish the electoral college.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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America has no memories. –Wallace Shawn

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

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

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

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

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

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Niecy Nash wed Jessica Betts.

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

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Conan is looking hot with his grown out hair.

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

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Vet’s crisis line: 1-800-273-8255

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

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

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

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

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Tommy Chong does not seem too happy with Joe Rogan.

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

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

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

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

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38 million Americans live in poverty.

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

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

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Everybody is talking about Cottage Core.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Doc Martin will end after its 10th season.

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Kelly Clarkson is being sued by her management firm.

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Pope Francis refused to meet with Mike Pompeo.

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

[trendingtattoo]

20 Biggest Tattoo Shops In The World

The world is full of tattoo enthusiasts today. People across the world are getting tattoos for several different reasons, from personal to fashion statements. Well, whatever the reason may be for getting a tattoo, here in this post we are sharing with you 20 biggest tattoo shops in the World.

Have a look!

1. Fortune Tattoo

Fortune Tattoo Studio is located in Portland, OR (US). This tattoo shop is one of the biggest tattoo shops in the world. The studio was started by Ms. Mikki in the year 2010 on April 1st. The founder and owner of Fortune Tattoo, Ms. Mikki has been featured in many renowned magazines, including Tätowier Magazine and Skin & Ink. Fortune Tattoo is a very well respected and well-known tattoo shop in Portland.

2. The Tattoo Temple

Another very famous and one of the biggest tattoo shops in the world is The Tattoo Temple. This tattoo studio is in the city of Hong Kong, China. The tattoo studio in Lan Kwai Fong, was founded by Joey Pang in the year 2006 with partnership with Chris Anderson, her husband, and father of her two sons (had parted ways). Joey is famous for her brush-stroke technique of tattooing, which is developed all by herself and the technique very much resembles elements of traditional Chinese calligraphy. Her tattoos have been featured on CBS, CNN, and The Travel Channel.

3. Tin Tin Tatouages

Tin Tin Tatouages is a very well-known tattoo shop in Saint-Georges, Paris, France. The name of the shop is after the owner and tattoo artist Tin Tin, who started this studio in the year 1999. Tin Tin is a renowned tattoo artist who has been tattooing for more than three decades now. His work has also been featured in various famous magazines, like GQ and Elle. Besides, his tattoos are also featured in advertisements for Givenchy perfume, and on celebrities like Philippe Starck and Marc Jacobs.

4. Caio Tattoo

Caio Tattoo Studio is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in a very beautiful location between the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The owner of Caio’s shop is Caio himself. He has been tattooing for the past four decades now. He started tattooing without machines, yes, manually. Caio used to tattoo when it was considered the art for bandits.

5. Boston Tattoo Company

Boston Tattoo Company is a very young tattoo shop, as it was opened in the year 2010 in the city of Boston, MA (US). The shop was started by Jason Zube, who won the “Best of Boston” readers’ poll by The Boston Phoenix 2011. Just in one year’s span he could gather both immense name and fame for himself. Zube is a renowned tattoo artist, he is known world-wide for his extraordinary talent and stunning tattoo designs.

Also See:

Best Tattoo Artists From All Over The World

6. Angel Art Tattoo Studio

Angel Art Tattoo Studio is situated in the city of Bangkok, Thailand. Angel Art Tattoo Studio was started by Mr. Tung, who is one of the most popular tattoo artists in Bangkok. He is famous for his free-hand tattoo designs which are drawn right onto the skin rather than on paper. His designs are unique and original and are very much loved world-wide.

7. Last Rites

Last Rites was opened by Paul Booth. He is very–well known for his dark, surreal horror work. Paul Booth is considered one of the pioneers and innovators of the black and gray tattoo style. Last Rites offers a one-of-a-kind tattoo experience to its clients.

8. Saved Tattoo

Saved Tattoo is a very famous tattoo studio formed by Scott Campbell in the year 2005. This studio is in the city of Brooklyn, NY, US. The studio is very famous in NY and its clientele includes famous celebrities, Sting, Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Robert Downey Jr.

9. Inkline Studio

Inkline Studio is a very famous tattoo studio in NY, US. Opened by Anil Gupta, a tattoo legend who is famous for his amazing tattoo designs. Moreover, you need to take an appointment very well in advance as a tattoo appointment with Anil Gupta can take even a year’s wait. Anil is a brilliant tattoo artist who always comes up with original ideas and can customize any tattoo for uniqueness.

10. Black and Blue Tattoo

Established in the year 1996, Black and Blue Tattoo studio is in San Francisco, CA, US. The studio was started by Germany-born Idexa Stern. Idexa, who specializes in “black work, scientific imagery, geometric patterns, and organically inspired designs,” was named 2009 and 2010 Best Tattoo Artist in the Bay Area in the San Francisco Bay Guardian‘s “Best of the Bay” Readers Poll. Apart from this, her work has also been featured in Black Tattoo Art and Tattoo World. She is a wonderful tattoo artist, whose work and studio both are famous world-wide.

11. Celebrity Ink Tattoo

Another very famous tattoo studio in the world is – Celebrity Ink Tattoo. The studio is located on the very beautiful island of Phuket, Thailand. The studio is run by Australians with a team of 31 Thai tattoo artists. This shop follows very high standards of cleanliness. The ones who come for tattoos here have to remove their shoes and sanitize their hands before they enter into the studio. They get their equipment along with ink imported from the U.S.A. It is one of the best tattoo studios in the world and very famous for its high quality work.

12. Toronto Ink

As the name says it all, this studio is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is one of the most famous tattoo studios in the world. This tattoo studio was started by Mark Prata in the year 2006. Prata is a very famous tattoo artist and TV reality artist, who has been featured on MTV Live in 2007 and was a tattoo designer for the A&E TV series “Breakout Kings”. Prata is not only famous, but also a respected tattoo artist.

13. Daredevil Tattoo

Daredevil Tattoo was started by Brad Fink, and Michelle Myles in partnership. This tattoo studio is situated in NY, US, it also has an onsite museum. Daredevil Tattoo Studio has a team of eight professional artists, including the owners. The Daredevil’s Tattooists are specialized in multiple styles, like, Japanese, traditional American, and black and gray. If you are planning to get a tattoo by any of the co-owners, then you will have to plan ahead of time.

14. Shanghai Tattoo

Shanghai Tattoo studio is a very well-known tattoo shop in Shanghai, China. The studio follows western standards of Hygiene, Disposable needles, cartridges, etc. are imported. Shanghai Tattoo studio has some of Shanghai’s most talented tattoo artists. The team of artists is expert in all styles of Tattoos from portrait realistic, black and grey, Asian traditional, American traditional, Neo-traditional, Dot works etc. The studio was started in the year 2007 by Zhuo Dan Ting, popularly known as the Queen of Tattoo in China. Shanghai Tattoo designs have been featured in many media, including Shanghai Daily, CNN GO, Adidas commercials, Inked Magazine, and Sueddeutsche.de.

15. Mana’o Tattoo Studio

Mana’o Tattoo Studio situated in the city of Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia. It is the studio-home of Manu Farrarons, the owner and one of the most famous Tahitian tattoo artists. He is very famous for his traditional Polynesian tattoo designs. In the years 2011, he was even named as the Best Tribal Tattoo Artist at the Ink n Iron International Tattoo Festival in Long Beach, CA.

16. Six Feet Under

Six Feet Under is a tattoo studio that is located in California, US. This tattoo shop is formed by tattoo artist and TV personality Corey Miller. Corey began tattooing at the age of 15. Besides Corey, other artists include Henry Powell, Obid Compran, Neil Wilson, and Kevin Childs. Corey is a very famous tattoo artist with a worldwide reputation. Six Feet Under is famous for its versatile tattoo designs world-wide.

17. Into You

Another wonderful tattoo studio is Into You. It is located in the city of London, England. The studio was established in 1993. It is the first custom tattoo shop that was established in London. The studio is owned by Alex Binnie, who is popular for his large-scale tribal tattoo designs. His work is also featured in Henk Schiffmacher’s “1000 Tattoos.”

18. Monkey Fist Tattoo

Monkey Fist Tattoo is situated in Denver, CO, US. The studio was started in the year 2010 by Ortavio Griego, popularly known as OG. OG is famous for his various styles like Asian, new school, traditional, custom work, and black and gray. OG is famously known as the tattooer to the stars, as he has worked on Will Parks, Demaryius Thomas, Aqib Talib, Darius Kigo, Zaire Anderson, Brandon Marshall, Shaquil Barrett and too many other NFL stars and athletes.

19. High Voltage Tattoo

Located in the city of Hollywood, CA, US, High Voltage Tattoo studio was established by Katherine Von Drachenberg, popularly known as Kat Von D. The studio is also known as “Kat Von D’s High Voltage Tattoo.” Kat opened this studio in the year 2010. Her stint as a tattoo artist on “LA Ink” earned her a name in the tattoo world. She held a Guinness World Record for the most tattoos given by one person in a 24-hour period at 400.

20. Aliens Tattoo

Aliens Tattoo is located in the city of Mumbai, India. This tattoo studio was formed by very famous celebrity tattoo artist Sunny Bhanushali. Sunny is a self-taught tattoo artist in Mumbai. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Applications from the University of Mumbai and evolved from basic sketcher to a professional charcoal painter to mastering digital art. Started in the year 2011, Aliens Tattoo is one of the fastest growing chain of tattoo studios world-wide. The studio is famous for providing top-of-the-class tattoo designs and tattoo services to tattoo enthusiasts. So far many sports stars, including Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have got their tattoos etched from Aliens Tattoo!

So, these are the biggest tattoo studios in the world. Thanks for reading! I hope you loved the list!

Happy Tattooing…. ☺ ☺

[afaimscorner]

Sorry, but no definitly not the 90s!!

So thanks to “Crisis on Infinite Earths” I saw a lot of people making references to “Superman Returns” and “Smallville” of late. Sadly a decent amount of them has no idea when this stuff happpened. And I should not take this personally, but ....

Everytime I see someonce claiming that “Smallville” or “Superman Returns” happened in the 90s I feel a ever growing need to yell at them: “I am not that old!”

So: I AM NOT THAT OLD!  IT’S THE 2000s! GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!

I know you are all babies with no sense for when what happend, so let an old person tell you the facts.

FYI, “Smallville” aired between 2001 and 2011. It ended only a season before “Arrow” came on. “Superman Returns” hit the cinemas in 2006, which was only 13 years ago! The movie got produced during “Smallvilles” tenure on TV, which is why the people behind the script set down with the writers of the show, so they would not end up telling the same story by accident (yes, back then Warner wasn’t as crazy as today, and people working from the same source actually talked to each other because they thought that would be a good idea).

How do I know all of this, you may ask. Well, obviously because I am ancient and was around and mentally aware back then. Also I did read genre-mags, I was informed. So I knew about “Smallville” long before I saw it, but my first episode was actually pretty memorable, cause I saw it in the US.

We made a school trip to the states during an exchange programm, and spend a month or so on an American High School. To put this in context: It almost didn’t happen. We were scheduled for a autum trip, but 9/11 changed it all. Then Anthrax happend, and we flew anyway, however not to San Franciso, because appareantly we were all Nazis and not welcome, so we went to L.A. instead. This was february 2002. My guest father got me to watch “Smallville” with him. “Bascially it’s about Clark Kent, when he was still a boy.” I was a first season freak-of-the-week-episode, and I think it was the one with Shawn Ashmore, but I might be wrong about this (however the date would be right - see kiddies, this is the internet, if you are unsure about something, you can just google it, and find out that the Shawn Ashmore-Episode of “Smallville” Season 1 actually aired in February 2002). So I pretty vividly remember the circumstances around this one.

I also do remember the circumstances around “Superman Returns”. “X-2″ was great movie with a pseudo-cliffhangar, Jean Grey was dead, but maybe not, we knew she was going to go Dark Phoenix in “X-Men 3″. But than Bryan Singer pulled from the third part, in favour of fullfilling his childhood dream to make a Superman-flick. And he took James Marsden with him, which is why Cyclops is killed be Phoenix in “The Last Stand”. And which is why “X-Men: The Last Stand” got inflicted on us they way it was. Me and many of my generation will never forgive Bryan Singer for that one. “Superman Returns” wasn’t even that great, either. It started the ill-fated trend of modern technologie in old-fashioned settings. Which was okay for that particular movie, but never did make much sense anywhere else. Also, to be honest, I thought the movie was rather boring. I saw it at least twice, maybe even three times, but I can’t tell you the plot. Lex Luthor, played by Kevin Spacey, had a gigantic drill and dug up something for some reason - or something like this. On the bright side: James Marsdens character didn’t die, it was the first time we a saw a super baby anywhere (Clark didn’t know it was his), and the movie gave us the best modern-day Superman/Clark Kent - wonderful Brandon Routh, who made us happy as Ray Palmer in the Arrowverse since Arrow Season 3 since then.

So, now that you have some cultural and historical context: Please, remember, that “Smallville” und “Superman Returns” were very much products of the 2000s not the 90s.

In the name of Brandon, Tom, Erica, Michael and all the others, I beg you: Don’t make us older than we really are!

[wellhalesbells]

I see you reblogging some comic stuff an I was wondering if you have a favorite comic or favorite character or ship?

this ask is from so long ago but [DEEP BREATH IN] i’m finally going to answer it, nonny.  finally.  i kept wanting to read a little bit farther in my comics stack because.... maybe i’ll like that and will regret not having recced it, i just hafta--get--to it, see?  and, honestly, i’m still there BUT, come on, i’ll never be caught up because that would mean comics would just have to stop coming out and i would be sad forever if that happened, SO

i’m not even going to pretend like i can narrow this down to one comic.  (one ship?  sure, that’s spideypool.  one character?  sure, that’s the merc with a mouth, the regenerating degenerate, wade motherfucking wilson.  but one comic?!)  there is just straight-up too much out there to make a definitive ‘yes, this is it, this is THE ONE ™ ’ statement.  instead, uh, let’s break this shit down, yeah?  (super special secret bonus round, will note all lgbt+ rep and standalone comics.)  in no particular order, here the frig it goes!

HORROR

infidel, by pornsak pichetshote and aaron campbell.  in case you haven’t seen this on every 2018 best list ever, here it is.  and, yeah, it was good.  a muslim-american main character living in a haunted apartment building where the entities feed off the xenophobia of its occupants.  if that’s not a fucking modern horror story i don’t know what is.

spread, by justin jordan and kyle strahm.  THIS IS ONE OF MY NEW AND ALREADY ALL-TIME FAVORITES.  what an awesomely weird and epic story.  the spread is an uncontrollable, unstoppable monster-making force that humanity accidentally unleashed by digging too deep.  it infects everything it touches and basically all of humanity is running from quarantine to quarantine just hoping for the best.  and speaking of hope.... she’s a baby, rescued by no, and the only thing that’s ever been able to stop the spread.  also, no’s gay?  and i just DID NOT see that coming.  it seems like it’s going to be such a formulaic, bro-y story about the action hero who kisses the face off his girl (her name’s molly and she’s batshit insane and amazing) and instead, nope, it is not that at all.  lgbt+ main characters.

the black monday murders, by jonathan hickman and tomm coker.  hate capitalism?  think all the rich and powerful are evil, soul-sucking monsters?  [obnoxious, low-budget commercial sound effects] MAN, HAVE I GOT THE SERIES FOR YOU.

the beauty, by jeremy haun and jason a. hurley.  i just started this recently but so far, oh my good golly gosh, i looove it.  a sexually transmitted disease that makes you conventionally gorgeous.... at least before it explodies you.  [wide, creepy smile]  the art is gorgeous, the characters are aces and i am very, very pleased so far.  lgbt+ minor characters.

the great divide, by ben fisher and adam markiewicz.  this?  was a COOL idea.  the execution stumbled a bit but, gosh, was it neat.  it’s post-apocalyptic where touching another person will literally kill.... one of you.  the survivor then absorbs the memories of the person who dies, taking on a ‘rider.’  some people collect them, some people go mad, some form a bond, all have the side effect of dyslexia.  like i said, neat as all get out.  lgbt+ minor-ish/main-ish character.  standalone.

revival, by tim seely and mike norton.  a rural town in wisconsin experiences ‘miracle day,’ where the dead rise again.... except, they were kinda already mourned and buried and this is really just fucking up the status quo.

the woods, by james tynion iv and michael dialynas.  a high school gets picked up and plopped down in an entirely new, and wickedly hostile universe.  it’s all survival and alliances and seeing what you’re really made of when it comes down to it.  lgbt+ main characters. 

clean room, by gail simone and jon davis-hunt.  a cult, a journalist and a clean room walk into a bar...

anya’s ghost, by vera brosgol.  you think it’ll be a cute story of a girl and her ghost.  HA HA THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS AT ALL, OKAY.

FANTASY

rumble, by john arcudi and james harren.  SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD, SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD, SCARECROW WARRIOR GOD!!!  okay, first off, the art in this?  pushes every friggin’ button i’ve got, and many i did not know i had.  second, this book is so fucking fun.  it’s mythology that’s balls to the wall ridiculous, funny, and features a main character whose life motto is basically: ‘do i have to?’  infinitely relatable and then some.

heathen, by natasha alterici and rachel deering.  UGH, ONE OF MY FAVORITES.  the art is just horribly, horrendously gorgeous and it’s LESBIAN VIKING MYTHOLOGY, OKAY.  OKAYYYY???   lgbt+ main characters.

the wicked + the divine, by kieron gillen and jamie mckelvie.  one of my favorite ever series right here.  it’s a hella cool concept (gods reincarnating as humans every twelve years, and burning up their hosts in two), whip-smart and if you’ve ever met a human being who likes a pun more than kieron gillen i defy you to produce them.  lgbt+ main and minor characters.

batgirl, by gail simone and adrian sayaf and vicente cifuentes.  you know how people rave about gail simone?  there’s a reason people rave about gail simone.  honestly, i’ve never had much interest in babs.  i don’t tend to go for superheroes who don’t kill and i have even less interest in ‘the killing joke’ story line and i am convinced only gail simone could’ve done the recovery on that and she did a GLORIOUS job of it.

red hood and the outlaws, by scott lobdell and dexter soy.  (ignoring recent - and annoying - developments), this is my favorite of all the rebirths dc did.  scott lobdell is the only writer to have gotten the idea down of: okay, we’re starting over, i assume you don’t know anything but i also assume there are a bajillion people reading who know everything, and hit the perfect medium between those two things.  so if you want to start a jason todd run, you legitimately can here, and get all the found family, badassery, batman-teasing enjoyment there is to be had.

iceman, by sina grace and robert gill (covers by kevin wada).  classic super-heroing here and bobby’s first solo title.  he’s figuring out coming out while fighting (and flirting) with baddies.  sina really gets his humor and how truly wonder-awful it is!  lgbt+ main character.

spider-man/deadpool, by joe kelly and ed mcguinness.  watch those names there, those are your guys right there, period.  they looked at the void of a spider-man/deadpool series and filled it with absolutely everything you could possibly want for the pair (sans a hardcore make-out sesh, though they did get a few variant covers with some puckered up lips in there!)

limbo, by dan watters and caspar wijngaard.  a fusion of 80s aesthetics, voodoo elements and a noir tone.  just some remarkably cool shit in this.  the ending, for me, left something to be desired but it was more than worth it to see worship via mixtapes.  standalone.

hawkeye: kate bishop, by kelly thompson and leonardo romero.  kate bishop is, apparently???, a super impossible character for a lot of writers.  kelly thompson is not one of them.  kelly thompson is my favorite kate bishop writer, actually, and the fact that she is ever not writing her is a gd travesty.

the unbeatable squirrel girl, by ryan north and erica henderson.  honestly, i’m so tempted to just stick this under ‘contemporary,’ because it really does just feel very... normal.  doreen’s navigating college, new friendships, and y’know... the squirrely-ness.  this had every opportunity to suck and instead it’s funny as heck, never takes itself too seriously, and is just pure good-hearted entertainment through and through.

wolf, by ales kot and matt taylor.  a paranormal detective and the-possible-antichrist go on a road trip.  people hated this comic and i don’t know how you can hate a comic that has a character called freddy chtonic who has tentacles for a mouth??? 

ms. marvel, by g. willow wilson and adrian alphona.  hi, you read ms. marvel because the world is a garbage fire and people are terrible and your cynicism is at an all time high and then kamala khan waltzes in and reminds you people generally want to help each other and the world improves when we work together and that thing optimists feel?  you’ll feel that for as long as you’ve got the pages open and that’s a magical thing.  lgbt+ minor character.

monstress, by marjorie m. liu and sana takeda.  psychic links with monsters, matriarchal societies, magic and witchery, half-human/half-animal (and other ratios) characters, all through a steampunk lens.  what’s not to like about that??

inhuman, by charles soule.  i love this series, i love the idea of being a total average joe/joanne, getting smacked in the face by a cloud of mist and suddenly having to figure out how to live basically a whole new life.  also, if you don’t fall madly in love with dante pertuz, i don’t even know what to tell you, my dude.

heart in a box, by kelly thompson and meredith mcclaren.  break-ups suck, but only because of that whole pesky broken heart thing, right?  so emma gives hers away.  problem solved, no?  standalone.

i kill giants, by joe kelly and j.m. ken niimura.  i didn’t cry my eyes out or anything.  did not.  standalone.

sex criminals, by matt fraction and chip zdarsky.  having sex = stopping time, which leads suzie and jon to the only logical conclusion: let’s rob some banks!

hawkeye, by matt fraction and david aja.  honestly there are a lot of other artist combos in this run but the only ones that are worthwhile are the ones that have fraction and aja’s names on them - sorry not sorry.

SCIENCE FICTION

black bolt, by saladin ahmed and christian ward.  saladin revived this character one hundred million percent.  there is absolutely a reason this was parading around all over ‘best’ lists when it was released.  it really, really did the damn thing.

saga, by brian k. vaughan and fiona staples.  this is the comic you recommend to people who don’t even like comics because it is that good.  like, my dad - who hadn’t read a comic since he was a pre-teen, eagerly awaits each new trade.  the world-building, the characters, the care put into every single solitary bit of all the things?  unparalleled.  lgbt+ minor characters.

frostbite, by joshua williamson and jason shawn alexander.  a post-apocalyptic story that has humanity dying from a plague that literally freezes you from the inside out.  very neat, very cold, very readable.  standalone.

descender, by jeff lemire and dustin nguyen.  this had a rough start, for me, with the main character of the first trade being tim-21, an android who is literally incapable of having the depth to be a lead BUT that does not last through to the next trade, thank god.  lots of space and found family and world-building in this to be had!  but you know how people rave about jeff lemire?  there’s a reason people rave about jeff lemire.

paper girls, by brian k. vaughan and cliff chiang.  the 80s and time travel and lifelong friendships.  it’s brian k. vaughan, you know it’s good, okay?  why do i even have to sell you here, man?  lgbt+ main characters.

injection, by warren ellis and declan shalvey.  this is another one on my list that started out a little rough but really appealed to me later on.  there was just a lot to absorb in that first trade but, once you’ve got it, the ride gets way, way smoother.   lgbt+ main and minor characters.

black science, by rick remender and matteo scalera.  this was a rocky start, because the main character is such an asshole but in a way where he can’t see he’s an asshole, he’s just a tortured genius who’s superior to all of you, don’t you know? but i am so glad i persevered because if that’s the set up?  the rest of the series is knocking him back down.  super scientist grant mckay finds a way to access the eververse, every possible reality the universe has on offer, and that’s really what causes every single problem that follows.  hard to cause the apocalypse and be an arrogant prick, ya know?

CONTEMPORARY

giant days, by john allison and lissa treiman.  this series is so funny and smart and warm.  these girls are so kind to each other and relatable and failing at adulting regularly and often and i love reading about them.  lgbt+ main character.

lumberjanes, by noelle stevenson and grace ellis and brooke a. allen.  this is funny and ridiculous and kind and cool and all other awesome adjectives and you should read it, fact.  lgbt+ main characters.

my brother’s husband, by gengoroh tagame and anne ishii (translator).  this is such a sweet story about acceptance and family tbh.   lgbt+ main character.

fence, by c. s. pacat and johanna the mad.  i mean... i need to see nicholas and seiji hook-up, i need that, stat.  stat means now!   lgbt+ main characters.

WEB/INDEPENDENT COMICS

long exposure, by kam heyward.  so mitch and jonas are my absolute faves and i love them to death and the author is so kind in that they actually put this up in print on indyplanet so i can read it the way i, personally, love to read comics (and - bonus! - support them with the monies).  lgbt+ main characters.

modern dread, by pat shand and ryan fassett (editors).  i’ve been trying to find more better horror comics lately so i’ve been kind of half-heartedly stumbling through kickstarter on the hunt and this was SUCH a great find.  it’s an anthology but more cleverly done than any other kickstarter anthology i’ve read, with a main story line that seamlessly strings together the would-be-disjointed ones.  this was really thoughtfully put together and really well done!  standalone.

heartstopper, by alice oseman.  a very sweet story about two high school-aged boys becoming fast friends, playing rugby and falling in love.  the two characters are mentioned as an aside in the author’s book, solitaire, and she became so invested in them that she wrote their backstory as a free webcomic.   lgbt+ main characters.

the pale, by jay fabares.  JUST started this (like, just a day or so ago) but i’m enjoying it so far!

hotblood!, by toril orlesky.  i mean... is it a webcomic about a centaur falling in love with his boss?  it just might be.  did i get a bound edition through a kickstarter campaign?  maybe.  maybe i did that.  who’s to say?   lgbt+ main characters.

the bay, by bbz.  life on mars through the lens of three young professionals who form an odd but lasting friendship.  lgbt+ main characters.

hard drive, by artroan.  is it a nsfw comic about a dude and a robot?  .... it might be a nsfw comic about a dude and a robot.  [coughs]   lgbt+ main characters.

seen nothing yet, by tess stone.  a nsfw comic about two amateur ghost hunters.  can’t imagine why i might be interested in that [coughs]   lgbt+ main characters.

captain imani and the cosmic chase, by lin darrow and alex assan.  i mean did i want a starship captain who can’t help but lust after the smuggler he’s chasing.  i mean, maybe i did.  maybe.   lgbt+ main characters.

taproot, by keezy young.  ghost falls in love with boy, boy falls in love with ghost, AND THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.  lgbt+ main characters.

always raining here, by bell and hazel.  just two boys falling in lurve.  lgbt+ main characters.

[gaybitchloki]

in which loki makes mistakes

In retrospect, the fact that American colleges would have American parties at their American fraternities should not be as surprising as it is, and yet Loki’s already-low expectations are somehow only shattered further when he crosses the beer-spattered threshold into the house of ΣΚΥΛΑ or whatever it was called. The theme is something fittingly asinine — Hawaiian safari, or Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter, or some other hot-weather excuse for the women to wear literal fishnets as wrap dresses and for the men to wear visors and cut-off shorts — and normally, Loki would rather quite literally die than attend something of this calibre, but reclusive international student beggars cannot be choosers, and a party is a party.

However, while Loki may have lost his dignity the very first time he attended a frat party (barely a week ago, practically his first stop upon deplaning at Logan International), he still maintains his pride, and so he has come in disguise: between the face-swallowing dark sunglasses, the pale green satiny vest, and the ambiguously sporty baseball cap on his head, he is entirely unrecognizable. The sunglasses also afford him the luxury of observing freely, one of the many reasons he frequently chooses to adorn himself with a pair even when indoors, and so his expression behind said sunglasses (which cost approximately as much as a half-semester at this university) is one of unadulterated disdain as he beholds the utter hedonism occurring before him.

No wonder Thor would choose such a place to attend. Just the inadvertent thought of his name makes Loki’s lip curl instinctively, but before he can let that blossom into a full-on sneer, he heads for what appears to be the kitchen so as to procure some alcohol.

Yes, Thor is here somewhere. Not here, literally, not at this party, but somewhere on this campus. Presumably, he has friends, paramours, confidantes, and he’s forgotten entirely about Loki, just as Loki wanted. This place is perfect for him; it is loud, obnoxious, a shameless display of brainlessness and wanton pleasure, and while Loki would never decry wanton pleasure, it is the brainlessness with which he takes issue. In the living room, he can see someone being used as a human target for Nerf gun practice, and on the front lawn, there had been a young man wearing a full-body alligator costume, with cut-outs over his nipples. Truly the peak of intellectualism and community organization, or whatever nonsense fraternities attempt to say in self-defense when criticized.

Loki is faced with several options: Mystery Punch (Pink), bagged wine (red), Mystery Punch 2 (orange), and beer (beige). He decides on Mystery Punch 2, thinking all the while that he should really make some connections with the theater community on-campus. They probably have absinthe at their parties. Which reminds Loki that he needs to add himself to the campus occult society’s listhost, and he pulls out his phone to do just that as he sips his Mystery Punch 2 and begins heading out of the kitchen again to see what else there is to do.

He walks into a wall.

The wall smells appallingly, devastatingly familiar and something near Loki’s anterior cruciate ligament trembles. No. Not here, not now, this can’t be happening. He didn’t even tell Thor where he’d applied, let alone where he’d gotten into or was going; he’d instructed Odin and Frigga to do the same, and they’d never questioned him. His intention had been to avoid Thor for the next four years, as impossible as that now seemed, not to run face-first into him while wearing a seafoam-green vest at a frat party.

Thor’s hands, of course they’re Thor’s hands, come up to grip Loki by the shoulders and steady him. Loki can barely even see — he’s pressed quite snugly against Thor’s chest — but he knows it’s him. Only Thor would wear khaki hot pants and a tits-out tank top and make it look haute couture instead of trashy. It’s appalling. Loki, breath stuck in his throat and half his drink spilled down Thor’s front, instinctively pushes Thor’s hands off of him and stumbles backwards. He hasn’t seen him in— fuck, it’s been more than a year at this point, but Thor looks nothing like how he did the last time Loki saw him face-to-face. That tragic, sad-eyed smile and “If that’s what you really want, brother” expression is entirely gone, replaced with drunken good-natured mirth, and Loki feels sick.

“Easy there,” Thor booms, reaching out to touch Loki again. He doesn’t recognize him. Either he’s really spectacularly drunk or Loki’s disguise is just that good; in all honesty, it’s probably both. Loki is so stunned by this realization that he doesn’t push Thor away this time, which only makes the stupid smile on Thor’s awful face spread. “You alright?”

Loki nods, careful to keep his head tilted down just so, not wanting Thor to look at him too closely. This turns out to be a bad move, since Thor leans in to follow him, ducking down to catch his eye.

“Have I seen you before?” Thor asks, something like wonder in his tone, and Loki shakes his head very minutely.

“Don’t think so,” Loki mumbles, American accent convincing enough, especially since Thor’s drunk. “Sorry.”

“Wish I had,” Thor says, which is the most confusing thing Loki’s ever heard, but then Thor’s making everything worse by leaning in closer, something very strange in his smile. Loki’s seen it before, but not directed at him, only ever from a distance, and— “I’m Thor, what’s your name?”

Loki’s brain goes blank. “…Kevin,” he says.

“Kevin,” Thor repeats as though it’s the best thing he’s ever heard. “What a beautiful name.”

Is it? What it is is a difficult name to pronounce with an American accent when one is Norwegian, but it’s too late to take it back. Loki nods faintly again and lifts his drink to his mouth, hoping Thor will leave him alone so Loki can make his escape. This is another bad move, since it reminds Thor that Loki had spilled his drink all over him, but instead of saying something about how now his shirt was ruined, he takes Loki’s cup from him and pushes his way through the kitchen to get Loki a refill. As he goes, girls practically fall over themselves to smile at him and guys clap him on the shoulder or back and Thor greets each one of them with equal effusiveness and equal warmth, but the one he comes back to is Loki, a full cup in hand. “Here,” he says, returning it to him. Loki hadn’t moved a muscle since Thor had turned away, too stunned to do otherwise. Thor is smiling at him like that again, eyes warm, eyelashes downcast, and Loki takes a small sip of his drink (the fucking dumbass had poured him a top-up of Mystery Punch 1, not 2, and the flavor combination is dreadful) for lack of anything better to do.

“Thanks,” Loki says, and tries to leave.

Thor’s faster than him, though, a hitherto unsuspected ability that emerges only when he’s drunk, and catches Loki around the shoulders, leaning in to try and see him closer. “You look very familiar,” he declares, and Loki shakes his head once again, remembering to slip his phone into his pocket before Thor can notice any identifying features about it (such as the 24k gold inlay around the home button and the engraving of the Laufeysen family crest on the back).

Loki shrugs, figuring Kevin is a mousy type that isn’t used to receiving attention from huge godlike fraternity brothers at parties. “Dunno why.”

“You have a very charming speaking voice,” Thor continues, and Loki bites the inside of his cheek in self-reprimand; evidently, his American accent hasn’t passed muster. “Where are you from? California? Illinois? Mis-si-ssi-ppi?” He over-enunciates each syllable, and Loki knows that all he’s doing is showing off how many states he knows, so he pays it no particular attention.

That being said, Thor is expecting an answer, and Loki panics and says, “Minnesota,” yet another word difficult to pronounce sans accent.

“Minnesota,” Thor repeats thoughtfully. His arm is still around Loki’s shoulders, weighing heavily on Loki’s slender frame. “I am from Norway. Du er veldig søt!”

Loki realizes very abruptly what’s going on and chokes on the sip of Mystery Punch Swirl he’d just taken. While he splutters, Thor coos over him and pats him with an impossibly gentle, impossibly huge hand on the back. Thor is flirting with him, with his own adopted brother, long-lost and prodigal and all kinds of wicked, and were Thor to see Kevin with his sunglasses and hat and vest off he’d likely be so disappointed and ashamed, and yet Loki does not unmask himself, does not reveal that he knows exactly what Thor just said, he just stays where he is. “Um, what?” he says, mouth moving before his brain can catch up. Kevin took French in high school, not anything Scandinavian, so there’s no reason for him to speak Norwegian.

“Ah, nothing,” Thor says, that secretive, warm smile taking over his features again. One of his hands starts coming up and heading for Loki’s sunglasses, and Loki shies away very quickly, making Thor make a mournful, questioning noise. “I wish to see you, Kevin! You really do look very familiar.”

“We haven’t met before,” Loki mumbles, taking a quick sip of punch. “And my eyes are, like, super dilated right now, it’s bright as fuhck in here.”

It works. Thor straightens up once more but makes no move to leave Loki’s side. “What do you study, Kevin?”

Kevin is a maths major, so Loki says, “Maths,” then remembers that Americans don’t pluralize mathematics and quickly continues, “…’s what I’m studying.”

“Fascinating,” Thor says, seeming genuinely fascinated. “Is this your first time here? Shall I give you a tour?”

“Okay,” Loki says before he can stop himself. Maybe he’ll transfer to Harvard and never have to deal with this again; he’ll begin an application tomorrow morning, first thing. For now, he abandons his drink on a kitchen counter and lets Thor tug him along through the sweaty masses of partygoers.

“Have you ever been to Norway?” Thor is asking as they go, somehow managing to make time to smile at everyone who smiles at him as they pass. Loki keeps his head down, eyes fixed on the swell of Thor’s bicep. “It’s such a beautiful place, you’d really love it. I’m from Oslo— well, near Oslo, but it’s near enough that it may as well be.”

American college has rotted Thor’s brain. Prior to coming here, he’d have never associated Bærum with Oslo, and Loki huffs quietly to himself under his breath as he follows after him. “No,” he says, since Thor had asked a question. Kevin isn’t very well-travelled, after all.

“Oh, you simply must go, you’ll love it,” Thor says, drunk enough to repeat himself and flirt with his brother. “This is the living room!”

Loki could see that for himself perfectly well without Thor’s narration. “Oh,” he says.

“Kevin,” Thor says, suddenly altogether too close, his voice dropping lower in both pitch and volume. “Is it so loud in here. Can we go somewhere quieter to talk? You seem to have so many interesting things to say.”

That catches Loki and Kevin both off-guard. He’s seen Thor flirtatious, of course, he’s thought of practically nothing else for the past five or six or ten years, but he’d somehow expected more of him, not the standard douchebag lines. How disappointing. How bland. Thor should be embarrassed, honestly, that his flirting is so weak, so easy to see through, and— “Okay,” Loki’s mouth says before Loki’s brain can run away with this any further, and Thor’s smile lights up his whole body with its force and brilliance as he tugs Loki down the hall to ‘somewhere quieter.’

“This is the media room,” Thor introduces, sounding absurdly proud of a space with whose creation he presumably had nothing to do.

Loki looks around. It’s a decently-sized space with two decently-sized televisions currently being used for a racing game, but Thor isn’t leading him over to play, he’s walking them both to a couch of dubious character and sitting down, sprawling out, thighs spread and leaving Loki barely any room to sit next to him. Loki’s narrow, though, so he makes it work, sliding in by his side and trying to get comfortable. He hasn’t sat this close to Thor in years, if ever, and certainly not ever in this context, Thor so warm and affectionate and undeniably romantically interested.

“What do you think?” Thor asks. Loki’s visceral reaction to the sincerity in his voice isn’t one he can help, but he can disguise it, turning his face away to conceal the way his mouth twists bitterly as if he’s looking around to better see the space.

“It’s cool,” Loki says. His voice sounds less Kevin-esque in the quieter room, so he’ll have to keep talking to a minimum. Somehow, though, he’s starting to get the sense that Thor isn’t all that interested in talking, since Thor is moving closer already, and Loki can feel his eyes on him like a prickle on the back of his neck.

“Kevin,” Thor says, softer, lower still, and Loki turns to look at him. Thor lifts a hand as if to take Loki’s hat off, then thinks better of it and settles his hand on the side of Loki’s neck. A shiver runs down Loki’s spine, unbidden, unexpected. He should stop this. He should tell Thor— he should take off his glasses— or he could just leave, that’d be easier, get up from this couch and go straight out the door and not look back— he can’t move, he’s helpless, he’s wanted this too badly and for too long and finally, finally Thor is talking to him and looking at him like Loki’s always wanted for him to and Loki, selfish, cruel Loki, can’t do anything to stop him. “Jeg vil gjerne kysse deg.”

Loki’s stomach flips over and he almost moves forward to close what little distance remains between them, but he hesitates, remembers that Kevin wouldn’t understand. “What?” he breathes, eyes darting down to Thor’s mouth, his mouth which is so soft, which is so kind, which deserves better than this.

“I want to—”

Before Thor can even finish speaking Loki has straddled his lap and claimed him, arms winding around his broad, strong shoulders, his mouth pressing to Thor’s with all the sharpness and cruelty he is best known for. Thor makes a surprised noise and melts, meets him there, his hands taking Loki by the waist. Even though Thor is drunk, he kisses back hard, not letting Loki take any more ground than he already has; it’s a clash of teeth and tongues, hot gasps of air the only thing between them when Loki turns his head the other way and kisses him deeper.

Care goes out the window, and Loki fumbles to take off his sunglasses and baseball hat so there won’t be anything in the way, nothing at all, nothing disrupting his one and only chance to have Thor in his grasp like this. He is kissing Thor wholly, deeply, licking into his mouth and biting on his lip and dragging his fingers through Thor’s hair, kissing him like he’s dying for it, like he’s been starving for it, and he has. Thor will never know the extent to which he has. For some reason, though, Thor is kissing him back the exact same way, his grip tightening on Loki’s waist to drag him closer in his lap and a strong arm finally winding around his back to keep him there.

Loki knows he needs to stop this, needs to stop himself, but he’s incapable. Nothing remains but Thor’s mouth, the hot slip of his tongue, his golden skin under Loki’s palms, pulse beating hard when Loki presses a thumb under his jaw to keep his head tilted up. When Loki bites at him and pulls back, Thor hisses a low breath and pulls Loki in again, going in practically tongue-first for a kiss that leaves Loki shuddering, reduced to a thing that wants Thor, hungry for the weight of Thor’s body against his own. Thor wants him, too, and the certainty of it is blinding, making Loki gasp against Thor’s mouth. Thor echoes him with a low, throaty noise that’s almost animal, and Loki’s dizzy, losing it completely, and if he doesn’t stop now, he never will, and there’ll be no going back after that.

What can it be but a testament to how deeply Loki loves Thor that he stops himself then? The amount of effort it takes is one that Loki hadn’t known himself capable of producing. He wants, he needs, but he knows Thor wouldn’t want this. If he did, he wouldn’t want it like this. Loki loves him more than he is selfish, and he pushes Thor away, gasping, “I have to go, I’m sorry.”

“Wha— Kevin,” Thor says, breathless and dismayed. Loki shakes his head, hair falling over his face, and slips out of his tight grasp and out of his lap. Thor starts to sit up, starts to reach out for him, but his hand freezes in mid-air and in the split second before Loki turns to go, he sees a hint of recognition on Thor’s face in his darkened blue eyes, above his red wet mouth.

Loki flees. Thor doesn’t go after him, and Loki doesn’t look back over his shoulder. On his way out of the room, Loki bumps shoulders with some square-faced dirty blond guy who looks very confused, but Loki doesn’t have time to do damage control on everyone who might have seen his face; he just needs to get out of there.

Compared to the heavy, humid air inside the frat house, the early September chill comes as a much-needed shock to Loki’s system, and he stands on the lawn for a brief moment to inhale deep lungfuls of it before pulling out his phone and heading down the block, waiting to call an UberBlack until he’s a safe distance away from the house and there’ll be no chance of Thor coming after him.

What has he done? How could he do that? And yet he’s still not sure if he regrets it or not, considering it was his only chance and, more likely than not, Thor will never find out. Even if Thor finds out Loki’s here, he still wouldn’t believe Loki would go to a frat party in disguise and make out with him, since the concept of Loki going to a frat party is utterly alien as it is. Loki saw no one he knew, and his face was hidden to Thor for the entirety of the affair save for the last moment, but Thor will likely attribute the brief glimpse of Loki’s face to something like wishful thinking. Loki will burn this vest, and he left the hat and glasses there with Thor. There will be nothing tying him to this event or this night, and Thor will never have to find out.

Loki cries in the Uber back to his dorm. The driver, an immensely wrinkled old man whom the Uber app had described merely as ‘Stan,’ politely says nothing, but when Loki starts stepping out of the car upon arrival, he says, in his wrinkly old voice, “Chin up, kid. It’ll work itself out. These things usually do.”

Loki sniffs, neither grateful nor ungrateful, closes the door behind himself, and goes up to his cold and impersonal dorm room to collapse into fitful, dreamless sleep. He’ll deal with this never, he decides. Thor will never find out, and Loki will never tell him, and they’ll likely never see each other again, and that’ll be that. Either way, it won’t go anywhere. There’s no chance of them looking for apartments together, or kissing passionately on top of a table in a library study room, and certainly not of them taking all of Thor’s dreadful friends to summer with them back home in Norway. No chance of any of that at all. It ends here.

[pamphletstoinspire]

A Padre Pio Inspirational Story __________

“Let us always keep before our eyes the fact that here on earth we are on a battlefield and that in paradise we shall receive the crown of victory; that this is a testing-ground and the prize will be awarded up above; that we are now in a land of exile while our true homeland is Heaven to which we must continually aspire.” – St. Pio of Pietrelcina __________

Memories of Padre Pio

Joe Peluso was an American soldier who was stationed in Italy during World War II. One day he received a letter from his mother and she told him that there was a holy priest named Padre Pio living in Italy. She did not know what part of Italy he lived in but she wanted Joe to find out and to visit him. Joe asked the military chaplain on the base if he knew anything about Padre Pio. The military chaplain started laughing and pointed to the mountain that was directly in front of them. “Padre Pio lives right on that mountain,” he said to Joe. Curiosity got the better of him and Joe decided to make the short trip to see him. It was October 6, 1944.

Padre Pio loved the visits of the American soldiers and always greeted them cordially. His counsel to the soldiers was unique. He used simple and childlike words when talking to them and giving them advice. Sometimes he would pat them on the head in a paternal way and simply say, “Be a good boy.”

Over the next ten months, Joe was able to visit Padre Pio many times and they became very close. Often he was invited to eat with the Capuchins at the monastery. While everyone else enjoyed their food, Joe noticed that Padre Pio simply pushed his food around on the plate. His daily intake of food would only fill the cup of his hand. He once said, “I need very little of this world’s goods. I need just a little bit of food, a little sleep and few possessions.”

It was Padre Pio’s habit to give each visitor a religious medal when they came to the monastery. Because of the war, religious medals and rosaries became scarce and almost impossible to acquire. Padre Pio felt very bad that his supply of medals was exhausted and he had none to give his visitors. Mary Pyle and Joe talked about it and Joe wanted to help. He decided to take the 220-mile trip from his military base to Rome to try to obtain the medals. Padre Pio and Padre Pio’s brother Michael both gave him letters to deliver to their sister, Sister Pia. She was a nun of the Order of St. Bridget and lived in the Brigittine Convent in Rome.

When he arrived in Rome, something prompted him to follow a road leading up a hill. As he drove up the hill, he saw a large sign, Cloistered Motherhouse of the Benedictine Nuns. Joe remembered that the St. Benedict medals were a favorite of Padre Pio. Joe knocked on the door and the nuns were extremely happy to give him a large supply of medals for Padre Pio.

Once Padre Pio asked Joe to select a name for his guardian angel. “Pick a name for your guardian angel and call him by that name always,” Padre Pio said to Joe. “When you send him to me, he will come instantly.”

One day Joe asked Padre Pio if he would accept him as his spiritual child. Padre Pio readily agreed. Then he asked him if he would accept his wife as his spiritual child and he agreed as well. Realizing the wonderful opportunity, he then asked Padre Pio if he would accept his daughter. Joe’s aunts and uncles then came into his mind. Somehow, the way the conversation was going struck both of them as funny. Joe and Padre Pio began to laugh. They laughed so hard that tears were rolling down their faces.

Suddenly Padre Pio became very serious and said to Joe, “Joe, when the war is over and you return to the United States, tell the American people, that for those who would like me to be their spiritual father, my answer is yes. I accept all Americans as my spiritual children. I only have two requirements — that they lead very good Catholic lives and that they regularly receive the sacraments. And please, tell them never to embarrass me in front of Jesus and Mary. You must tell them, Joe.”

Joe felt that it was an impossible request. He lived in a very small town in Pennsylvania. He was not an important person. He did not know many people. How could he tell all of America what Padre Pio had asked him to? Nevertheless, when he returned to the U.S. he tried to do what was asked of him. He made a slide show presentation of Padre Pio’s life and over the years he showed it to thousands of people. Joe died in 1996, after having spent 50 years sharing the message of Padre Pio with more people than he could have ever imagined.

“Remember, I accompany you always and everywhere.” – St. Pio of Pietrelcina ______________________________

A Letter from Padre Pio to Padre Benedetto

Padre Pio wrote the following letter to his spiritual director, Padre Benedetto Nardella, concerning a vision he had regarding World War I. This divine visitation seemed to signal the approach of peace.

“In one of the visits I had from Jesus recently, I asked Him more insistently to have pity on the unfortunate nations so sorely tried by the misfortune of war and to let His justice give place at last to His mercy. Strange to say, He made no reply except a sign with His hand which meant, ‘Slowly, slowly’ . . . What on earth does this mean, dear Father? I myself cannot tell you. However, I can tell you this, that whenever I had spoken to the Lord previously about the war, He gave me no sign that I can recall, but always kept complete silence . . . Does it mean that He himself means to intervene to calm this worldwide upheaval? May He be pleased to do so without delay.” – Letters I, December 19, 1917 ______________________________

Maria Pompilio who was one of Padre Pio’s spiritual daughters, left this testimony.

“At the end of Padre Pio’s Mass one morning toward the end of 1919, a number of people gathered around Padre Pio. By my side was a man who looked fixedly at Padre Pio. He said breathlessly, “Oh God, it is him, truly him. I am not mistaken.” The man began crying and fell to his knees. He said, “Padre Pio, thank you for saving me from death! Thank you!” Padre Pio put his hands on the man’s head and said, “You must not thank me, my son. Thank our Lord and the Virgin of Graces.” They spoke together in an undertone for a few minutes. Padre Pio then went to the choir to pray.

Several men who were nearby questioned the man about the words that Padre Pio had spoken to him. I was also present and the man told us the following story: “I was a Captain in the infantry, and one day on the battlefield, during a terrible hour of fighting, a little distance away from me, I saw a delicate, pale friar with beautiful, expressive eyes. He was not dressed as a chaplain but as a simple friar and he hurriedly and gently called to me saying, “Captain, move away from that place. Come to me quickly.” I ran toward him and had not even reached him when, in the place where I had previously stood, a grenade exploded, opening up a pit. If I had been there, my body would have been blown into the air in shreds. I wanted to thank the little friar who had called me, but he was no longer there. He had disappeared without my realizing it and even though I looked around for him I never saw him again.

On the same day that my life was saved, another person told me that a beautiful monk had saved him from death as well. Other soldiers at the Italian base said they had seen a friar among them who looked toward Heaven and prayed. One of these soldiers said that the priest who had been on the battlefield was Padre Pio who lived in San Giovanni Rotondo. I wanted to come here and see if he was the friar who had saved me as his face remained imprinted in my mind. Now I know that it was him. You can imagine what gratitude I feel toward this holy priest. I am happy to have been able to thank him personally and to kiss his hand.” – Maria Pompilio ______________________________

My name is Jim Cunningham. I was born in 1924 and was in the military during World War II, stationed in Foggia, Italy. I was assigned to a photo reconnaissance squadron and I heard about Padre Pio from the townspeople in Foggia. One day I decided to visit him so I took two other G I’s with me and drove a military jeep up the mountain to the monastery. It was in 1945 and I was twenty-one years old. I attended his Mass and felt very fortunate as all of the soldiers that were present were invited to sit right up on the altar, very close to Padre Pio. I was able to clearly see the wounds on his hands. Seeing his devotion at Mass was a very moving experience. He celebrated Mass in such a way that I was able to comprehend the sacredness of the Mass. His whole being inspired me.

Padre Pio was a very humble man and at the same time he was open and friendly. I had learned that Padre Pio liked grapefruit juice, so on my second visit to San Giovanni Rotondo I brought some juice. I was able to go to San Giovanni three times to see Padre Pio.

Mary Pyle, Padre Pio’s secretary, invited me to lunch at her home. She told me that she had come to Italy from the U.S. just for a visit. Shortly after she met Padre Pio, she decided to stay permanently. Her esteem for him was such that she had a great desire to be near him. She stayed in San Giovanni Rotondo for the rest of her life. Mary’s life was one of complete dedication to Padre Pio. She helped him in so many ways.

Meeting Padre Pio and attending his Mass truly changed my life. It was a great blessing. I have never met anyone in my life who had such a great devotion to God. On a number of occasions I have been invited to church groups to speak about Padre Pio. Today I am 82 years old. Many years have gone by, but my wife and I still feel his presence with us. It is overwhelming. ______________________________

Father Joseph Pius Martin – who assisted Padre Pio for a number of years, received the following testimony from Kevin Patrick Fitzpatrick.

Kevin Patrick Fitzpatrick who worked in Manchester, England in 1947 became acquainted with a man who had been a soldier in the British Army during World War II. During their advance against the German Army, this soldier and the others in his company came to the area of San Giovanni Rotondo. For some days British artillery had been firing into the areas surrounding the friary, but to their amazement none of the shells were exploding. When British Intelligence officers questioned the local Italian people, they were told that this was not to be wondered at since a very holy priest, Padre Pio lived at the friary.

One of the British Army officers was staying at the friary. One night he heard a voice constantly calling out. He went to investigate to see where the sound was coming from. When he came to the door of Padre Pio’s cell, he heard Padre Pio praying the Glory Be to the Father. He repeated the prayer slowly, over and over again. The soldier was deeply edified. ______________________________

A Grace in Time of War

My brother was serving in the army and had been sent to Viet Nam. Every night our family prayed for his safe return. I carried Padre Pio’s photo with me and prayed to him often for my brother. I felt Padre Pio’s presence with me and shortly after that, my brother wrote to say he would be coming home. When he did come home, he was a different person. After that terrible war he became more quiet and serious. We never asked questions about his experiences and he never spoke much about it. He did mention one experience which seemed very peculiar to him. He said that one day his company was sent ahead of the others to check for the Viet Cong. They were looking through the bush with their guns, when suddenly all of the soldiers smelled the fragrance of roses. They kept saying “Where are the rose bushes? It sure smells good out here.” They never did find the rosebushes and were sent back to camp. Another company was sent out to inspect the same territory. How tragic to say that the company was ambushed and not one survived the attack. According to the calculations, the Viet Cong had been there lurking in the bush all along, when my brother and the others in his company were in that area. But for some strange reason, they were not attacked and they very easily could have been. I know it was Padre Pio who saved my brother’s life. – I. Ahmadzai ______________________________

A Letter from Padre Pio to Padre Agostino

“We are passing through a solemn hour. Up to the present we have not been involved in this grievous war which has now gone on for a year . . . We must all cooperate for the common good and make God’s mercy propitious to us in this difficult time, by humble and fervent prayer and by the amendment of our lives.

We must not be down-hearted, dear Father, or lack the filial confidence we owe to our God just because He appears to be angry with us. If it is to come to pass again today that he looked around at them with anger ( Mark 3:5) let us fully understand this. God still loves us, He is still merciful toward us. His looking around with anger, Father, is the language of His sorrowful love; this is the expression which comes from His sorrowing heart at the sight of our wickedness. These are the artifices to which His mercy resorts in order to stop us on our way to perdition. . . .” – Letters I, May 31, 1915

[defensefilms]

Fox Sports Apologize For Their Opinions Of Giannis

The build up to game 6 of the NBA finals has brought with it some interesting analysis and a lot of it was really self-analysis on the part of the television analysts and the media attempting a kind of mea culpa regarding their perceptions of one of the best players in the league.

Fox Sports has spent most of the day questioning their perceptions of Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, starting with Nick Wright. 

To Nick’s credit he brought up some very great points about how most stars that accomplish what Giannis has accomplished get far more open and gushing praise and far more respect from the media and current players.

All this goes back to comments James Harden made a year ago regarding Giannis, to the effect of “I can’t just be seven feet tall and dunk the basketball. I gotta have skill”. The obvious implication being that Giannis doesn’t have skill which was utterly ridiculous and down right untrue when Harden said it and has been prove to be even more ridiculous now.

Indeed Nick Wright is 100% on the money here. Any NBA star that wins 2 back to back MVP’s and a Defensive Player Of The Year award to boot, would be regarded as the unquestioned best two-way player in the league.

It’s a false narrative and James Harden coming to the Nets overweight and unable to help Kevin Durant win a series against the Giannis and the Bucks. Harden didn’t face nearly enough backlash for that.

However the guy that should have caught the most heat during the Nick Wright segment in question, was his co-host Brandon Marshall, who has repeatedly said over the last two year that Giannis’ lack of shooting skill would prevent him from being in the position that he’s in now.

He’s clearly looking like one of the worst analysts on tv right now because of this and you have to wonder how these guys can get paid to be wrong. It’s one thing to hedge your bets on a players succeeding but it’s a whole other thing to bet on a player’s failure and that’s what a lot of these guys in sports media do. 

Brandon Marshall is the beneficiary of a tv sports media culture that doesn’t pay you to be right they pay you to be on time. The way it should work is that guys lose money for getting it this wrong but that would be meritocracy and the media want meritocracy for athletes but nor for themselves.

These NBA playoffs have reminded me of the 2019 NBA playoffs, not because of Giannis but because once again you have a team and a star player in the Finals that the media would have not chosen if they were to have their preference.

The media are shamelessly pushing for big market teams to make the finals and some of it is jut job preference. Stephen A Smith has said many times that he would rather have to travel to Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago than Toronto, San Antonio or Milwaukee. Most of the media would rather be in big cities.

The problem is that it’s not supposed to matter what they want. It has nothing to do with the game, the sport or anything else for that matter. 

Just Do Your Job!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of it is a style of play thing with Giannis and people thinking that Steph Curry is more fun to watch which is the dumbest thing ever. 

 Some of it of it is the belief in analytics and 3-point shooting being the defining factor separating elite players from the rest, which is clearly false. The Suns in this series have proven the limitations of 3-point shooting and the Warriors in 2019 were still capable of big shooting nights but the Raptors were just better.

I have one question for those that think Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, James Harden, Kyrie Irving and any other player who favors flashy plays and ankle breakers, “How many of those guys have ever carried their teams to a championship?”.

Kyrie Irving was instrumental in the Cavs 2016 win but he was not the best player on that team. 

Steph Curry in 2015, was not named Finals MVP and the team he played against had injuries, and before you point out Giannis and the Bucks injury luck this year, remember that Giannis also came back from the nasty knee-bending injury that looked for sure, as if it would end his season. Any other player comes back from an injury like that within mere days, the way Giannis did would have stories written comparing him to Willis Reed. 

By the way, American media tried to say that the Bucks would be better with Giannis off the court, because now the other Bucks can be more aggressive, which is ridiculous. The Hawks were without Trae Young and when he came back he was hobbled, these are not difficult things to point out given that it was just a few weeks ago but can you imagine another star being talked about in this way. 

Yesterday, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd spent the entire day backtracking on things he had said about Giannis over the last two years. As always Colin just pretended all of his old takes don’t exist and he explains that away as “adapting to changing information” as opposes to it being that he was always wrong.

Completely undermines things Colin said a year ago during an interview with Doug Gottlieb, another known hater of small market teams.

The meat and potatoes of this is that the media should stop trying to tell us what people like and what they like and just report what actually happens on the court.

The idea that fans are less interested in a Suns-Bucks finals series and that the game’s biggest stars (LeBron, Durant, Curry) not being present at this time of year is hurting the NBA is absolute hogwash. More than that though it shouldn’t matter as far as the audience is concerned.

The other layer of this is media commentators, like Jason Whitlock who believe that the decline in the NBA’s rating is due to them supporting Trayvon Martin and movements like Black Lives Matter, like a way of punishing a corporation for not being indifferent towards racism or racist behaviour. 

It is absolutely astonishing how little these guys actually know about the wider world. If I lose 1 million local viewers and I gain 3 million international viewers have I really lost ground? Does math matter? Are your sources/metrics for keeping up with the rating a true reflection of ALL your total viewership or are you still using the old Neilsen ratings because you’re boomers, and there is no other country except  America considered in the metric?

A combination of cord-cutting, new media, streaming and all other manner of things means that the NBA is better off embracing the idea of this being a global sport. Adam Silver understands this better than the talking heads on TV. 

I cannot with this nonsense.

It struck me while writing this that usually at this time of the year, there are soundbites and callouts and subtle digs being thrown about in post game press conferences. Chris Paul tried some of that after game 5 when he said that “everybody expects Giannis to miss free throws”. I’ve been respectful towards Chris Paul even though this sereis has given me every bit of ammunition not to be. 

I’ll only say this; Giannis has led his team from down 2-0 and the whole time, he’s been missing free throws but what does that say about the guys that gave up the 2-3 lead. What does that say about a guy that has given up multiple series leads?

Game 6 awaits tonight and yes, people are doing what they always do at this time of the year and the media vultures are already taking pieces of flesh out of Chris Paul. The talk in the media is that Chris Paul losing would hurt his legacy. I don’t agree but every year it’s got to be someone and this year it might CP3.

As For Giannis and further adding to how the media relate to the guy, is that his press conferences have no sound bites. There’s no calling someone trash or saying that “that’s a bad shot” or  “claiming that the series is over” or that “they can’t guard him”, even if the last two of those things may in fact be true. 

He has handled the media with kid gloves and in turn there is a stability and calmness about the Bucks. 

For one thing, Giannis has completely challenged and flipped the media’s expectations of what a star player can be in this league. Long may he reign.

It’s a new day as far as the NBA media goes and if you’re not adapted, you’re dying.

[outvoo]

Interview with Chef Tu David Phu

OutVoo Interview with Chef Tu David Phu

 Conducted by Ian Ippolito & Merced Gonzalez (part 1)

Today we are talking with Chef Tu David Phu, a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef and one of Oakland’s very own celebrities.  Since Oakland is where OutVoo was born, we are thrilled that Chef Phu is a fan of our app:

“I love it!  I feel it’s the best thing on the market right now that I’ve encountered.  The usability of it is so straightforward, so simple.  It’s cutting through all the crap.”

So how do you know Denise, the owner of Tay Ho, where we first met you? I was connected to Denise through Minh Tsai of Hodo (formerly Hodo Soy Beanery) when I was there for Tofu Classes.  Denise reached out for feedback on Tay Ho so Minh and I went for dinner to check it out. We said, “Wait a minute, this is amazing, what do you need feedback on?”  I told her to do her thing, feel confident and keep serving the food her Mom was cooking.  The rice crepes, the bun xao and all the soups.  I told her to talk to people and be herself.  Tay Ho started blowing up and at the time Chef’s Feed reached out to me to pick three dining establishments that represent Oakland.  I happened to pick Tay Ho with Denise, Drip Line with Nora and Pho Ga Huong Que with Leslie.  It just happened to be three ethnic women and I think that speaks to who Oakland is and what Oakland is.  And Tay Ho is exactly like a Saigon cafe would be.  

We were just at AlaMar ... Chef Nelson!  

Yes, we got to meet him!  We invited him to the OutVoo launch party and he was very supportive and kind. He’s the nicest, nicest, most amazing person.  And the ladies love him by the way - all my cousins, all my sisters!

And I’m sure some of the guys! There you go!

And May [Nelson’s wife] is definitely running the place! I love May!

We had a great time with Leslie Sbrocco & Liam Mayclem - Visit Oakland put on such a lovely event.  We know you were just there, tell us about it.   I launched my Oakland dining series Chefs Hawker Center at AlaMar.  It was amazing. I teamed up with Chef Nelson for the first night and for the second night I did an Asian Islander concept.  We had Hawaiian music and Reggae playing.  We had Chris Yang of ‘aina, which is Chinese-Hawaiian from Hawaii.  He was an alumni of Chris Cosentino’s Encanto camp from way back in the day.  Shawn Naputi of Prubechu in the Mission.  He does Guam Cuisine.  The food is amazing.  It has so many similarities to Filipino and Singaporean cuisine.  Braised in coconut milk, the use of soy, the use of fish sauce, the use of spice, the use of ash - it’s so crazy.

We didn’t get to experience An.  Tell us what made you decide to do that particular pop-up?   That’s a great question.  I have been professionally cooking for about 14 years - wow I’m old! I felt like I was exceptional at cooking.  I’ve cooked in a few of the world’s top ten, Daniel being one of them, both in NY and the West Coast.  I’ve been a sous Chef at two Michelin star restaurants.  I felt like I was a great cook, but not a great Chef.  I was cooking with a palette that I didn’t understand.  This is not reflective of any other Chefs that cook cuisines outside of their culture.  But for me the palette that my mother cooked for me really resonated with me.  That’s how I found delicious.  I remember having issues in my early culinary career because I would season the food always toward the way my mom taught me.  What delicious was and is.  That translated throughout the years.  I’ve always had trouble understanding and feeling the soul of a dish like pot-au-feu.  I felt like it was done good but I never, at least for myself, I never felt like it was done excellent.  I didn’t know with those ingredients and that palette together, what was perfection, how far max could I take those ingredients.  It was good, it was good, no doubt, but personally assessing myself and being my own worst critic, I felt like there was a disconnect.  It didn’t speak to my soul.  Within all that, after 12 years of cooking, I wanted to re-visit and connect to the food that spoke to my soul, which was the food that my mother cooked.  And to make it more complicated I’m Vietnamese American.  Vietnamese is many cultures.  And depending on your province one culture would be more highlighted than the other which, then in turn would reflect how you cook.  That’s one big factor.  The second factor is that my family is from an Island and that means we ate all seafood.  So my challenge was that I wanted to cook my mom’s food which was heavily seafood but Westerners didn’t identify with the kind of food my mom cooked or the kind of food I cook as Vietnamese.  Isn’t that interesting?  Because our Island is so far south and so seafood dominant it is more closely reflective of Cambodia.  So the dishes that I had growing up only resonated within my family and not other Vietnamese Americans that I knew.  And the stimulating part is that I had to dig into that, understand it, research it.  To be fair there isn’t any American literature on this topic so I had to do my own research and piece things together.  I spoke to my family, then traveled and curated my own cultural family story to explain to diners what the hell they’re eating.  In a very indirect way to defend my stance to say that I am cooking Vietnamese food.  

Do people get it?  I’m sure it took some explaining. As opposed to kicking people out?  I’m sensitive! (laughter) It took a lot of learning lessons.  In the beginning, in the very beginning there are a lot of skeptics.  People who were skeptical.  Specifically Vietnamese Americans, and I don’t take that as an insult.  I just took that as feedback as I needed to tell my story and/or I needed to tell my story better.  So I took it as a challenge.  That’s how my dinners evolved into this story telling event.  It wasn’t a gimmick to be cool or increase sales.  I just wanted to share myself in what I viewed wholeheartedly and spiritually as delicious from what my mother cooked for me.  

You’ve said that the Pop Up allowed you to get out and meet the people that were eating your food and to tell your story.  So people were coming for the entire experience. Definitely, that is exactly what it was.  And along with that, as the series progressed and the dining experience progressed throughout the weeks and months I would have these very public encounters with food and I’d have a public encounter with the diners.  

One of the first things I had trouble with was access to seaweed.  On the island we eat a ton of seaweed.  We use it in our desserts, we use it as a gelling agent.  It’s everywhere on our island, and I just remember eating it on my travels to Vietnam.  Along with that my mom would bring it back and we’d have it in our pantry and use it in, like, a stir fry. I couldn’t find anything at the store that even closely resembled the seaweed that I had growing up.  The seaweed was only brought over and meant to be distributed to the Japanese and the Chinese communities.  There was no demand for it from the Vietnamese community.  I don’t think anybody did that on purpose it’s just a smaller population and that conversation never came up.  So I was on a search to get seaweed and I heard that there was a bunch of local seaweed that people grow, that grows here in California.  One thing led to another and I got connected to a gentleman named Kevin Kelley.  He is a winemaker, his wine company is called Salinia Wine - this is free advertising for Kevin (laugh)!  SF Gate called him a master at Cabernet Sauvignon.  He makes small batches.  Dude is amazing!  He has a commercial license and he dives for and harvests sea palm. He used the sea palm to make a bitter that he uses as an alternative to Campari.  I heard through the grapevine he was doing this and I contacted him through industry friends, “Hey I’m looking for these varietals of seaweeds, do they grow here in California?” For the next year and a half I would meet up with him four times out of the year during the summer months to go harvest seaweed.  It’s grown to the point where I was able to introduce him to a local seafood vendor, Water 2 Table Fish Co., and he sells to them.  We even got to name the varietals.    

It just shows how one thing leads to another.  Within that experience of my journey to get access to the seaweed my parents used to feed me, the kind that I had back in the old country.  From there other stories evolved.  I tell people that story while I’m serving them the seaweed that I harvested that week.  They can understand not just culturally but the beauty of what is on their plate.

Tell us how excited you were to be San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chef 2017! It’s very humbling.  I count my blessings everyday.  I feel like the work I attempt to do, I don’t aim to try to get accolades, that is an after thought, but the fact that I got San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chef was amazing.  I was so appreciative.  Especially from a person like Paolo Lucchesi. He’s a young, energetic, motivated individual who wants to correct the social system with his skill set - which is writing about food.  We’ll be talking about Paolo Lucchesi two decades from now.  It’s such a huge compliment for him to dub me a rising star Chef.  Amongst other amazing things that he’s said about me he said I was a trendsetter.  If I can be a trendsetter in any sense I hope to inspire other Chefs to go down the same path that I have where they’re not just cooking food to be cool but cooking food to tell a story.  

Did he share his reasoning for picking you? The same reasons that inspire me to cook are the same reasons that I got the Rising Star Chef .  Mainly Paolo Lucchesi said that he really champions the fact that I am cooking purposefully.  My story telling isn’t just to attract and entertain but it’s to inform and educate. Whether it’s sustainability, culture or social justice.  I champion women a lot.  As opposed to accrediting the amazing men that I’ve worked with in the industry a lot of my passions, skills and techniques have been derived from mothers and aunties that haven’t been championed in Michelin star, testosterone, very chauvinistic kitchens.  I was raised by women and I’m very appreciative about that.  I’m heterosexual but I find myself embracing my femininity and I don’t feel like there is anything wrong with that.  I’ve always been soft spoken.  I felt that I was hazed because of that in these male dominated kitchens.  Trust me, I get down! That’s why I got this (Shows “Yes Chef” tattoo)!  If you want a yes chef, I’ll give you a yes chef.  As a young man you get angry and try to figure out your emotions. As I got more mature I started to understand more about myself.  I started to learn and truly understand what inspired me and where I felt my work needed to be accredited to.  

It’s the same thing in the LGBTQ community as well.  A lot of my friends that I’ve worked with in the industry are LGBTQ. And I find that in the kitchens, as well as in the news and media, that there is an anti-LGBTQ culture.   And for those on National TV, and especially if you’re ethnic, of color or maybe even religious, no matter what color you are, those play huge factors in being able to announce it publicly.

This is what I’m challenging all my peers, colleagues, friends and community on. Think about how you support your friend that’s of a different color, a different sexual orientation, a woman, whatever. If they’re of a different minority group and they’re being discriminated against, it’s 20 times more powerful if you stood up for them as opposed to them standing up for themselves.  I just think it speaks volumes.

Stay tuned for part 2 when we discuss Oakland’s culinary renaissance and Top Chef!

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