#(judging from the costuming and the plane in the background)

[mastersoftheair]

[moeyy-writes]

Challenge Accepted

Spencer Reid x GN!Reader

Warnings: very brief mention of death, friendly banter, Spencer being adorable.

Word Count: 1.1k

A/N: Here’s some more of this adorable man. <3 This fic was buried deep in my drafts, and now it’s finally finished. Yay! 

My Full Master List

You stared down at your book, headphone cords dangling down from yours ears. Of course, on the BAU plane, there was no way you were going to be able to read peacefully, or even listen to music without a crap-ton of background noise.

Nope, not a chance. Your attention was fixed on the playful banter between the disgustingly charming man beside you, and the gorgeous genius seated directly across from you.

“So, you mean to tell me that Pretty Boy can’t get a date? Well, at least that makes two of us,” Derek teased from beside you, his voice booming over the faint music. You tried your hardest to hide a smile as you continued to listen.

“Morgan, don’t tell me you can’t get a date! If you can’t then the rest of the world is out of luck,” Emily droned, seated directly across from him. Derek laughed.

“You mean you’re in the single’s club too, Em?” he chuckled, crossing his arms. She rolled her eyes.

“Being single isn’t a bad thing, Morgan. Some people have other things they’d rather focus on, like a career or hobbies,” Reid defended in a matter-of-fact tone. You couldn’t hide your smile then, but you didn’t look up from your book.

“Hobbies? Those are usually more fun with a partner. You can technically play chess alone, but it’s better with another person, right? More of a challenge?” Reid pursed his lips as he contemplated Morgan’s words.

“That’s true, but there are other hobbies that are best enjoyed alone—”

“Reid, work with me here! I’m just saying that there are a lot of us that would rather take on life with someone by our side. I’m not judging you if that’s not for you.” Derek threw his hand up as if surrendering from the conversation.

Reid sat there for a moment, his gaze flicking over to you as you peered up. You just smiled, acting almost as if you couldn’t hear them. Then, he turned back to Morgan.

“I never said I didn’t want that,” Reid muttered, just loud enough for you to hear him over your music. You furrowed your brow, but didn’t dare look up.

“Oh-ho. Well, now. Pretty boy doesn’t want to play chess alone forever.” Derek smiled smugly. “You’re from Vegas, right Reid? Then, how about be place a bet?” He leaned over the table dividing the seats and grinned. “How about the first one of us to get a date gets fifty bucks? But, it has to be someone we’re genuinely interested in. It can’t be just anyone.” He chuckled to himself. “And, if you can get them to go on a second date, another fifty bucks. Do you accept that challenge, Pretty Boy Genius?” Derek scrunched his nose as he grinned.

Spencer just shrugged and nodded. “Sure.” That was it. No snarky remark, nothing.

You smiled to yourself, thoroughly amused by the show. Then, you peered back down at your book and finally continued to read.

Only one more hour until you were finally home. Your warm bed and endless TV streaming options were calling your name.

You sighed, then closed your book, no longer interested. But, you kept your headphones in, rocking your head back and forth as one of your favorite songs played.

Spencer leaned forward slightly, catching your attention. You glanced up to see your fellow profiler staring directly at you, a smile glazed over his lips.

“Hey, Y/N, tomorrow is Sunday, right?” You glanced down at your phone’s lock screen, which displayed the date.

“Uh, yep. Tomorrow is Sunday. I’m actually looking forward to a day off.” You smiled. “It’s been six days.”

Spencer nodded in agreement. “Up to anything fun on your day off?” You shook your head and chuckled.

“No. At least, not anything you would consider fun. I’ll probably just do some laundry and get lost in a new TV series or something.” You nodded to yourself. The idea actually sounded awesome. You could finally take some time for yourself and not have to think about people dying. “What about you?”

“Well, I actually have tickets to a late night showing of Dr. Who and the Daleks at the old theater downtown. It’s the original 1965 version.” He pursed his lips.

“Tickets? Plural? Who are you going with?” You wiggled your eyebrows as you pulled your headphones out and wrapped them in their case.

“Well, I haven’t really figured that out yet.” He paused, lacing his fingers together and placing his hands onto the table in front of him. “Do you want to come with me? I think there is a costume contest afterward.” His amber gaze locked on yours. You hesitated, then raised your brow.

“Um, sure. That actually sounds really fun. I can’t say I have a costume at the ready, but I’m sure there will be a ton of cool ones there. I can be a judge.” You smiled.

“The show is at eight-thirty. The doors open at eight. Maybe we can get something to eat first?” You froze in your seat, eye locked in Spencer’s. Oh, that’s where this is going.

“Um, Reid, are you asking me on a date?” You cocked an eyebrow. Derek’s gaze snapped over to you, then to Reid.

“Yes, I am.” Spencer smiled hopefully, which was actually a lot more adorable than you could have imagined. Small dimples formed on the edges of his lips, making your heart pound.

You nodded, letting out a long sigh, followed by a sweet smile. “Then, it’s a date.”

“Wait, no! That’s no fair, man! The rules were that it needed to be with someone you’re actually interested i—oh. Oh, okay. I get it now. Okay, okay. Fine, Pretty Boy. You win this round. But, we’ll see if there’s a second date,” Derek poked, glancing over at you. You furrowed your brow, playing dumb, then leaned back in your seat. Challenge or not, you had a date with Spencer, and that’s all the really mattered to you at that moment.

“You walked right into that one, Morgan,” Emily muttered, not peering up from her phone. “And it sounds like you’re out fifty bucks.”

“I’ll get it back, Prentiss. Don’t you worry. I think that young lady at the coffee shop is pretty cute. I’m sure she’d be up to dinner with me this weekend.” You giggled beside your friend, rolling your eyes in sync with Emily. “This challenge isn’t over yet.”

Spencer placed the tip of his shoe gently over yours, coaxing another smile from you. Then, he glanced back over to Derek.

“Challenge accepted.”

Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated! <3

[reunionsdereve]

Tamara Karsavina and Vaslav Nijinsky in the ballet "Les Sylphides," 1909

Les Sylphides is all the decent and somewhat mannered grace, albeit of great style, of classical ballet: twenty-three dancers - and, first among all, the adorable Karsavina - evolve, execute steps, form harmonious groups, while in their midst only Nijinsky flits about.

La Pavlova and Nijinsky by Jules Léon Flandrin, 1909

An avid concert- and theater-goer, Jules Flandrin discovered dance at the premiere of Le Pavillon d'Armide in 1909 at the Théâtre du Châtelet. La Pavlova and Nijinsky was painted following the performance of Les Sylphides by the Ballets Russes on June 2, 1909. Sergei Diaguilev's dance company created a sensation throughout Parisian society, which fell under the spell of the young Russian prodigy, Vaslav Nijinsky. He is accompanied by the prima ballerina Anna Pavlova and the corps de ballet faintly visible in the background.

In this masterly composition, the famous couple appears in the spotlight in the foreground. Nijinsky, "like a black and white butterfly near the sylphs", his long hair worn loose, seems to take flight with a wholly feminine grace. He was the first male dancer to rise "en pointe", a practice that had been reserved for ballerinas. In a letter to his mother dated June 9, 1909, Flandrin shared his impressions: "The energy and good health of these dances are truly admirable and range from Siberian, Hungarian and Neapolitan dances, to the remarkable dances of Les Sylphides, all clad in the white costume of La Taglioni, dancing in the moonlight...". The ballet Les Sylphides was a pure dance performance, with no plot, no subject, but instead a romantic reverie set to the melodious music of Frédéric Chopin. During these Ballets Russes performances, Flandrin sketched the dancers first hand, simplifying the shapes, more like suggestions than precise contours and figures. Thick and lumpy paint, applied in broad touches, pares volumes down to the essential. Spectral light brings out the sketched, suspended bodies, indicated only by a few brushstrokes. The colour blue is used to blend the different planes together. A Marian blue, dear to Flandrin, bathes the étoile couple in a spiritual aura.

The regulars of the great Russian theatres are fine connoisseurs of the subject; they know how to appreciate the lightness of an "élévation", how to count the beats of an "entrechat-six" or the famous "entrechat-dix" that only a Nijinsky can execute; they judge a dancer as much by the number of fouettés she masters as by the grace of her movements or the arabesques she describes as she walks across the stage; they want first-rate dance, and they have it. In the imperial dancing schools, the pupils enter at a very young age, remain interns for several years and are classified according to their aptitudes in the theatrical troupes to which they will belong until the age of thirty-five; after which they have their retirement. As they all receive the same education and work side by side, the troops sometimes offer a homogeneity that cannot be imagined without seeing it for yourself. In Russia, what we find is true classical choreography in which each soloist, each coryphée participates in the overall effect at the same time as he displays his individual value. Another characteristic feature is that the role of the male element is no less important or appreciated than that of the female element; the principal dancers, such as Nijinsky, Volinin, Bulgarow, Leontiew, Rosay are worthy partners of the ballerinas Gheltzer, Karsavina, Fedorova, Rubinstein, etc., etc. They have the same technical perfection, the same sense of humour and the same sense of humour. They have the same technical perfection, the same grace, the same science of eurythmy, of plasticity and of the effects that their art entails; male and female dancers collaborate, with equal rights, in an unparalleled ensemble. The modern preoccupation with harmony, expression and decorative effects has led the Russian school to a significant renovation of character dances, mimicry, and to new research into costumes, groupings and effects of all kinds. The music of these popular dances of Russia and the East gave Russian composers the best of the elements of which their art is composed. The Polovtsian dances of Prince Igor are beautiful enough, from a musical point of view alone, to have been applauded many times at our great Sunday concerts. What will it be like when the appeal of the music is joined by the magic of the frenzied twirlings, the graceful embraces and the languid attitudes! And all the dances of European and Asian Russia, Cossack dances, little Russian dances, Persian dances, are brought together in the surprising Festin, where the entire troupe of soloists and the corps de ballet will appear. MILL CISSAN.

[bamfdaddio]

Giant-Size X-Men Abridged: 1975

The X-Men, those all-new, all-different mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(Giant-Size X-Men #1) - by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum.

“Okay, Dave, we want the new guys to look infinitely cooler than the old guys. Especially Beast. Fuck Beast.”

“Say no more.”

If you were Charles Xavier and you accidentally misplaced your team of misfit mutants (except for Beast, who has graduated to Avengerdom and isn’t even in this book), would you:

Call in a favor with the Avengers or the Fantastic Four to help you out?

Call your ex and ask him and his magnetic powers to come to your rescue?

Cut your losses and move on?

Travel the world to replace your boring wonderbread team with a bunch of spicier, kickassier mutants and forever rock the world?

The answer is obviously D. I am hyperventilating. At the end of this, I have to pick the best new character and I cannot. CANNOT.

See, we have so many options!

Option 1: A creepy adorable blue fuzzball who is hunted and persecuted for the way he looks. He also nearly gets straight up staked by an angry European mob, showing that this new iteration of the X-Men is a few shades darker than the last one. (I also feel that angry mobs happen a lot less in Europe than Marvel think they do, but hey.)

Kurt, baby? You know you can teleport yourself out of becoming a human shishkebab, right?

Option 2: A woman who is too good for you. And for me. For anyone, tbh. She can control the weather and step on me. She starts out as a goddess and it’s the accuratest.

Ororo Munroe is my religion.

Option 3: A Russian tin can man with a sweet, sweet heart. Soft boi in a hard shell.

Also featured as a very early cameo: llyana Rasputin in dashing Soviet fashion.

Option 4: An angry Canadian who has authority issues and claws.

Did you know? Wolverine was originally envisioned as an actual wolverine who was turned into a human being. I think we can all agree that this was the better option.

Option 5: An angry Native American who has authority issues and a very uninspiring power set. (Look, if your ‘super powers’ can feasibly be achieved by plenty of cardio and bringing along a well-trained labradoodle, I’m just not here for it.)

John Proudstar does tell Xavier to go suck a cactus. Ten points to Gryffindor!

This cast is rounded out by some returning faces:

An angry Japanese guy who has authority issues and fire powers.

An Irish ex-thief/also ex-cop with sonic powers.

Why is this group instantly more interesting than the OG5? Well, instead of five vaguely generic teenagers coming from sort of similar backgrounds (upstate New York, wealthy, white), we have a couple of older characters coming with wildly varying histories. Some of them even provide a proper through line for the ways mutants fit into society: Nightcrawler is hated and feared, Storm is revered, Wolverine has been recruited by the government and Colossus lives among humans, presumably hiding his powers.

But why has Charles X gathered all these mutants? Because the X-Men have vanished on this mysterious tropical island! All except for an amnesia-riddled Cyclops, who returned to the mansion to go get help! Even though he’s not sure how he escaped, exactly.

The new X-Men travel off, and in between their introductions and embarking on the plane, Sunfire threatens to leave the team about three times.

Sunfire, my man, you could've just stayed in Japan.

Important to note is that none of these mutants mesh well yet and, when they approach the island, Cyclops decides to pull a Fred and he splits up the team - precisely among the fault lines. Interestingly, none of these duos really get along: Sunfire, Wolverine and Thunderbird all have grumpy loner personalities, meaning they don’t play well with others. Sunfire manages to aggravate Kurt, who is possibly the easiest to get along with out of them all, and Wolverine, hilariously, has a really hard time with Bashee’s sonic shouting when Sean flies him down. But even Colossus and Storm, who will later end up one of the more powerful X-friendships, are unfamiliar, ill at ease in each other’s presence.

Anyway, odd shit keeps happening. The Blackbird Strato-Jet vanishes. Cyclops and Thunderbird deal with some stringly-strangly vines; Wolverine and Banshee fight with a giant crab, Colossus and Storm are threatened by a living avalanche and Sunfire and Nightcrawler get swarmed by ferocious birds. After these various altercations, each duo notices this huge temple (which wasn’t there before), almost as if some unseen force is leading them towards it.

At the temple, the new team reunites and there, they find the lost X-Men! And Angel promptly berates them for falling into this trap, because…

Who's been messing up everything? It was Krakoa all along!

Krakoa is a mutant island that feeds off of mutant energies and it released Cyclops because it thought it would bring back more mutant snacks. (Which evidently worked, seeing how Scott brought back Kurt and Piotr.)

The X-Men release the X-Men and together, they band together in awesome (and sometimes confusing) artwork to fight Krakoa.

Look, Angel's doing his best, okay?

In the end, mostly thanks to powerhouse Lorna, they launch the island INTO SPACE. And in the aftermath, Warren asks an important question:

Split into two teams/books and become instantly iconic? No? Not for another twenty years?

Best new character: Don’t make me do this.

Fine.

Okay. So, I don´t think I can judge these characters without taking into account what will happen to them in the future, so I won´t even try. While I love Wolverine and Colossus, two of my ever-favorites are Storm and Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler, because he represents the best of humanity: even though it would be so easy for him to hate mankind because of their prejudice and their hatred, he always chooses kindness, faith and optimism. Storm, because she is a queen and will become one of the most complex and well-written comic book superheroes: a goddess, a thief, a leader and one of the best female power fantasies ever.

I choose her. I always choose her.

Ugliest costume: None. I do want to note just how well the costumes are designed here: Storm’s tiara-and-cloak outfit is still iconic and Nightcrawler’s and Colossus’ looks are so good that they are still being used, decades later. Hats off to Cockrum.

What to read: This. It’s just good. The new team is leagues better than the old one and the twist that the villain is Krakoa holds up. Sure, it’s all still a little wordy and nobody ever bothers explaining what’s up with Sunfire wanting to leave every second, but it’s an excellent reboot and a milestone issue.

[sytycdinternational]

Eurovision 2021 pre-show ranking #26 - #1

I know the rehearsals are already out but I’m not gonna take them into account for this ranking since I might as well just do a ranking of the actual broadcasted live performances then. Ideally the following songs would be part of my dream final on Saturday. #39-#25

26. VICTORIA - Growing Up Is Getting Old - Bulgaria 🇧🇬: I begrudgingly accept Victoria's decision choosing this over "imaginary friend" (she seemed to have visible troubles singing it live after all) but gosh, it’s kind of hard for me to warm up to this. "imaginary friend" figuratively moved me to another plane of existence. I do think this song has the perfect set up for some amazing staging. (2020/2021)

25. Blind Channel - Dark Side - Finland 🇫🇮: Yesss Finland, give me that darkness. I wish I could unhear the lyrics tho because it’s teetering pretty close to edge territory. Okay, I guess it has crossed that threshold long ago, but still, rock songs are a rarity on this show that I will cherish no matter their flaws. (2020/2021)

24. Hurricane - LOCO LOCO - Serbia 🇷🇸: They’ve come to slay like a tropical weather phenomenon. I can already see the shreds of their fellow competitors lining their path. (2020/2021)

23. Blas Cantó - Voy A Quedarme - Spain 🇪🇸: It took a tone-downed, more intimate acoustic version for  this me to connect with this song, but somehow it managed to flip a  switch and now I get incredibly emotional even when I listen to the  official version. I’d definitely prefer the acoustic version to be performed on the actual show though. (2020/2021)

22. Jeangu Macrooy - Birth Of A New Age - The Netherlands 🇳🇱: The lyrics feel refreshingly meaningful. It fills me with real warmth and good vibes as a whole. (2020/2021)

21. Anxhela Peristeri - Karma - Albania 🇦🇱: Albania is bringing drama and I’m living for it. Very effective revamp to make the song more memorable. (2020/2021)

20. Samanta Tina - The Moon is Rising - Latvia 🇱🇻: What’s up with that dreadful “eh EH eh EH” background track?? It’s driving me up the wall. Still, I’m floored by Samanta’s powerful vocals. It’s a pity the final misses the actual blood moon occurence, the lunar ecplise on May 26 by a few days. Oh well, it’s not like it can be seen from Europe this time anyway. (2020/2021)

19. The Roop - Discoteque - Lithuania 🇱🇹: The Roop really took their song from last year and turned it dark and in order to balance it out they changed the colors of their outfits to bright yellow. During all this some of the hypnotic qualities of “On Fire” was lost but the new song is still lots of quirky fun. (2020/2021)

18. Ana Soklič - Amen - Slovenia 🇸🇮: Simply glorious. What a woman, what a voice. The way the song develops is bombastic. (2020/2021)

17. Natalia Gordienko - SUGAR - Moldova 🇲🇩: The refrain and the rest of the song sound so mismatched to me lol. Still, the contrast between the bright sugary visuals and somewhat darkish, even sinister tone of the music is doing it for me. (2020/2021)

16. Montaigne - Technicolour - Australia 🇦🇺:  I can’t stand “Don’t Break Me”, so Montaigne doing a 180 degree turn  was well appreciated. This sounds sooo difficult to sing so total props  for that. Hope she nails it during the liveshows. (2020/2021)

15. Lesley Roy - Maps - Ireland 🇮🇪: This gives me enough energy to travel the Irish plains all on my own. Gosh, I miss travelling. (2020/2021)

14. The Black Mamba - Love Is On My Side - Portugal 🇵🇹: Never got the hype  for “Dancing in the Stars“, so if Portugal had to send a song in English  I’m glad it ended up being this one. I love Tatanka’s raspy voice and  the song just oozes style as a whole. I was surprised how bittersweet the lyrics actually are after listening more closely and that makes me like it even more. (2020/2021)

13. Måneskin - Zitti E Buoni - Italy 🇮🇹: F*CK ME UP. I have high hopes for you, Italy. Also  I’m totally over the fact that Irama was not able to perform live on  San Remo this year due to Covid-related issues and thus surrendered any  realistic chances of "La genesi del tuo colore" taking the win and  competing on ESC, I swear I am *sobs* (2020/2021)

12. Daði og Gagnamagnið - 10 Years - Iceland 🇮🇸: That bait and switch at the start kills me. I also unironically like this a lot more than “Think About Things”. (2020/2021)

11. Manizha - Russian Woman - Russia 🇷🇺:  Are my ears deceiving me? A Russian entry that is NOT an inoffensive  pop ballad in English playing it totally safe? I guess Little Big for  2020 was not an anomaly after all. I LOVE the traditional-sounding  chanting used for the chorus and the energy is infectious. (2020/2021)

10. Efendi - Mata Hari - Azerbaijan 🇦🇿: Another entry, another banger. I love her harsh pronounciation of the lyrics. (2020/2021)

9. Destiny - Je Me Casse - Malta 🇲🇹: Talk about a glow-up from last year. Malta is absolutely bringing the funk and the sass. (2020/2021)

8. Vasil - Here I Stand - North Macedonia 🇲🇰:  This song is FEELINGS and I totally feel it! Ugh, I’m such a softie for  heartfelt, breaking-down-your-emotional-walls-type of songs. (2020/2021)

7. Eden Alene - Set Me Free - Israel 🇮🇱:  The revamp catapulted this song from the very bottom of my list to this  spot. It’s little things like the inflection after “on my own” among  others that make this song such a joy to listen to. So many little  details to explore. (2020/2021)

6. Elena Tsagrinou - El Diablo - Cyprus 🇨🇾:  Another year, another powerhouse of a song by Cyprus. This is my favorite by far out of the last few years though, even surpassing  “Fuego”, judging alone by the song itself. The drop literally takes my breath away. (2020/2021)

5. Albina - Tick-Tock - Croatia 🇭🇷: Who knew Croatia would deliver the catchiest beat this year? (2020/2021)

4. Stefania - Last Dance - Greece 🇬🇷:  Say hello to Dua Lipa “Physical”’s long-lost sister. And just like the  former I have the latter playing non-stop. I have yet to get sick of it.  It gets me so pumped up, I love it. (2020/2021)

3. Gjon's Tears - Tout l’Univers - Switzerland 🇨🇭: Sensitive.  Sublime. Majestic. It was like witnessing the ocean at high and low  tide. At one moment deceivingly calm, the next I’m swept away by a  riptide of thundering sounds and delicious falsetto. (2020/2021)

2. Go_A - SHUM - Ukraine 🇺🇦: I literally spasmed out in ecstatic bliss when I first listened to this. I think it was some kind of combination of Kateryna's piercing vocals that strike right through my hear, the intoxicating ethnic elements and droning bass, all delivered at an ever increasing speed that drove me into a literal ethno-rave-fuelled frenzy. (2020/2021)

1. Barbara Pravi - Voilà - France 🇫🇷: The first time I saw Barbara’s national final performance I was transfixed. I was clinging to every word escaping her lips, my heart almost stopping at each moment my ears weren't filled with her angelic voice. I was flooded with all kinds of emotions, particularly with an existential longing for something I couldn’t possibly describe.  Excellent use of monochrome lighting and costumes as well which I’m sure was supposed to emulate the feeling of black-and-white films of the past. (2020/2021)

Predicting the results:

Qualifiers #1 Semi-Final:

Australia

Azerbaijan

Cyprus

Israel 

Lithuania

Malta

Norway

Russia 

Sweden

Ukraine

Belgium

Croatia

Ireland

North Macedonia

Romania

Slovenia 

Qualifiers #2 Semi-Final:

Albania 

Bulgaria

Finland 

Greece

Iceland 

Portugal

San Marino

Serbia

Switzerland

Austria 

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Georgia 

Latvia

Moldova 

Poland

[mishinashen]

Italian Woman Standing Holding a Jug, Italienne debout tenant une cruche by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

Even though Corot himself stated that he had ‘but one aim in life and that is to paint landscapes’, he considered the figure paintings to be his most intimate works and kept the majority of them in his studio in his personal collection. His meditative models are, in Pierre Georges words, ‘the image of his dreams in the midst of his memories’ (P. Georges and A.-M. Lecoq, La peinture dans la peinture, exh. cat., Paris, 1982-1983, p. 185). Reverie becomes a leitmotif in Corot’s figure paintings, and it perhaps reveals more about the artist’s character than the landscapes. Although generous and jovial to those who knew him, the pensive expressions of Corot’s figure paintings suggest a more sensitive and melancholy soul.

During the 19th century, Corot’s figure paintings were largely overlooked as the artist chose to only exhibit four of these during his lifetime. Yet even in his landscapes the painting of the human figure was of fundamental importance in providing the action sentimentale which he considered, following the principles of de Valenciennes, to be an essential ingredient in the conception of the poetic landscape. In the 20th century, this critical neglect of his figure paintings has been for the most part reversed, and his remarkable melancholic studies of women have been particularly admired and compared to the work of Vermeer. In 1909, the exhibition of twenty-four figure paintings at the Salon d’Automne permanently altered the way Corot’s achievement in rendering the human, and particularly female, figure was appreciated.

Corot’s first series of Italian models was painted in the winter of 1825-26 during the artist's first visit to Italy. These studies demonstrate the influence of his first teacher, Achille-Etna Michallon, and show the same concern with the capturing of the textures of the fabrics, the same rapidity of execution, and the same preoccupation with the human body and lack of attention to the background. However, although the young artist shows considerable interest in documenting regional costumes, he is even more intrigued by the physical expression, the position of the body and the psychological suggestion of a personality.

In Italienne debout tenant une cruche Corot has chosen to depict his model in near full-length, facing forward and clearly gazing outside of the picture plane. Her arms are stretched out at her sides in an effort to balance the cruche perched atop her head. Her raven black hair and very dark eyes are in striking constrast to her pale skin and this is echoed in the juxtaposition of the deep claret red of her underdress and the creamy white of her apron and collar. Where Michallon would concentrate on accurately capturing the details of the costume, Corot is undoubtedly more interested in capturing the attitude of his subject, and in this case, her overt sensuality.

Indeed, it is in his figure paintings, Corot comes closest to being considered a painter of modern life. The American painter John LaFarge wrote in 1908, 'the extraordinary attainment of Corot in the painting of figures is scarcely understood today even by many of his admirers and most students. And yet the people he represents, and which he represents with the innocence of a Greek, have a quality which has skipped generations of painters' (J. LaFarge, The Higher Life in Art: A Series of Lectures on the Barbizon School of France Inaugurating the Scammon Course at the Art Institute of Chicago, New York, 1908, p. 162).

Even one of the foremost artists of the Impressionist movement, Edgar Degas, expressed his admiration for Corot’s rendering of the human form. Degas, who, when asked to agree that Corot knew how to draw a tree, replied, 'Yes, indeed...and I think he is even finer in his figures' (Moreau-Nélaton in A. Robaut, op. cit. 1905, vol. 1, p. 336). Corot’s figural works resonated with the artists of the Impressionist movement and beyond, and his young women’s haunting visages found expression in the figurative and abstract work of Picasso, who became interested in Corot in the 1910s, making a free copy of one of his figure portraits.

This work, most likely executed in his studio upon his return from his first trip to Italy when he was just starting out on his journey as an artist, remained in his studio his entire life and was not sold until after his death. Corot considered his small portraits and figure studies to be very personal objects, and he would rarely part with them. It is in these renditions, that we see a different side of an artist known primarily for his landscapes – we see a glimpse into his soul. Even this early in his long and productive career, Corot has essentially shattered the narrative in favor of a purely painterly execution. Corot painted ‘for the pleasure of painting, for the joy of capturing on canvas a lovely dark gaze or harmonizing the white blouse with the yellow of a sleeve or the red of a skirt’ (É. Moreau-Nélaton, ‘Les figures de Corot,’ L’Art et les artistes, 2 December 1905, pp. 178-179). The young artist is experimenting with the concept of rendering the human figure directly, and the painterly depiction of his model becomes an end unto itself. By not placing his model into any historical, narrative or topological context Corot makes a leap into modernity that will be seized upon by the artists of the Impressionist and Modern movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries such as Édouard Manet. Much of the power of this intimate painting is embedded in the directness and intensity of her gaze, which is that is a very real woman and not an idealized ‘type’, which creates the unusual intimacy found within this extraordinary painting.

In 1896, 21 years after Corot’s death, André Michel wrote, ‘If one could place on one side of a gallery the ‘official’ compositions that Corot painted in his first years – following the rules and for submission to the Salon to be judged by his masters and the public – and on the other side the small studies he made on his own…one would be struck by the deep differences between them. He seems as constrained and forced in the one group as he is spontaneous, original and charming in the other’ (A. Michel, Notes sur l’art moderne (peinture): Corot, Ingres, Millet, Eug. Delacroix, Raffet, Meisonnier, Puvis de Chavannes. À travers les Salons. Paris, 1896, p. 14).

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x05-- The Gang Goes to War

under the cut

This episode starts with Caleb and I don’t totally hate it. This means the writers are doing a good job with him so far. I’m surprised I feel that way considering I loathe the plot he’s here for. 

This is the first case heavy episode in ages and I have more thoughts on the fact that somehow the space from 6x19 has become military court than I do on the case. As always, that’s not to say it’s bad (tbh, this case was the exact right blend of simple and captivating it reminded me of old school TGW). It’s just to say I have literally nothing to add.

Lucca’s off to visit Bianca. She is still extremely uncomfortable with very wealthy people. 

Oh, a mention of babysitting! Kind of sad I’m surprised. 

I forgot to mention that this ep is on the shorter side, almost network length. Woo! 

Lucca describes her life as “I have a toddler. I’m trying to make partner.” Remember how last season either Lucca or Rosalyn (or MAIA hhahahahhahahaahahhahaahahahhahahahaahahhaahhaah) were going to be made partner and that plot just vanished?

Lucca says that of work, family, fitness, friends, and sleep, the three she’s chosen are work, family, and sleep. I believe it. Though we’ve seen Lucca exercise probably more than most TGF characters? But that was before she had a baby. 

If you leave your phone on while you’re on a plane and someone places a voice call would your phone actually ring? 

Marissa TOTALLY has a crush on Caleb.

Oh, a Francesca mention AND a mention of Lucca and Marissa being friends?! The continuity fairy likes me today!!!!!!!! 

Caleb threatens to quit (I think he knows he wouldn’t be taken up on that offer) unless Mr. Firth lets him take a month for this case. Come on, Caleb. This is TV lawyering. This case will take two costume changes and you know it! Months are a thing for real lawyers. 

Diane and Adrian aren’t in their offices, so when Firth finds a partner to assist on the military case (I do not understand why this is a thing he is doing in the first place, but alright), it’s Liz. How conveniently awkward!

(Adrian just isn’t in this episode-- he is apparently at a conference in New York-- and Diane is barely in it, and I’m fine with that. LET LIZ AND LUCCA SHINE!) 

(Liz and Lucca are my faves, if that wasn’t obvious.) 

Awkward awkward awkward, fucking your boss is very awkward. I hate everything about this plot in theory and yet somehow like Liz, Caleb, and maybe even the idea of Liz and Caleb, but every time I think about the boss/employee dynamic my only thought is: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liz’s divorce! Continuity fairy has blessed me again!

I do really like Caleb. 

I somehow almost turned that last thought into a rant about Maia and I’m not gonna do that to y’all in this Maia-free season.

Rich people are getting away with more shit in Julius’s court. He’s resigned to it, until he meets his alter-ego from the play again. I get that they want to use this device to show why he’d change his mind so suddenly but omfg please don’t remind me of the last episode. 

My first thought was “maybe that long ass episode was even longer and this is a cut scene” but Julius seems to be wearing a different tie in this scene than he was before. Oof.

JUDGE KUHN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Judge Kuhn. I think I said this last week but it isn’t often we get truly good, considered characters who want the best and actually take fair steps to see it happen. Judge Kuhn is great. 

And so is the actress playing her. Her expression as the seat shrinks-- which is some Kingsian bullshit-- makes the joke work. 

This episode relies a lot on that device Jane the Virgin loved where back to back scenes will be linked by a theme or a word. In this case, Julius and Liz/Caleb are both dealing with continuances. Yay for structure, even a simple case related structure!

“A sofa would have blown up here”... I can’t, y’all. “A conference table would have blown up here”. Is this a joke about coronavirus or a real need for more graphics or both? I lean towards it being a joke, but before I say that lemme play these credits side by side with last week’s… 

Okay so there are differences. Last week there was an aerial view of a wine bottle exploding while this week there’s a second one in the background. They replaced an exploding coffee set with the sofa text. There are some other differences too. But not enough to convince me they didn’t have footage they could have used. So I think it’s a joke.

Welcome back, season two Diane. I missed you, ya weirdo! 

(But like actually Diane is staring out the window at a bird, not doing anything or responding to questions. Why so weird?!)

Now that Diane isn’t hunting down answers on 618, she has “nothing to do.” Oh, suddenly no one in the world is in need of pro-bono assistance? Sure! 

Continuity on the SWATting, too! 

AND A WILL REFERENCE.This episode may be nothing special but it sure is endearing. 

Diane explains that Judge Kuhn is tough but fair and Will ended up liking her. That’s a pretty good summary.

Diane spots the woman who she dreamed was Weinstein’s lawyer in a meeting, drawing dots. Guess that’s one of the drawbacks of having windows everywhere. She chases her up the stairs to STRL and asks if they know each other because, and I quote, “I had a dream and you were in it. You were Weinstein’s lawyer.” HOW FUCKING WEIRD ARE YOU TRYING TO BE, DIANE? Are you microdosing again?! (This feels so season two.)

Props to this lady (do we know her name? Has it been said on the show) for taking that weird-ass comment in stride and joking she probably didn’t do very well. She needs a favor-- she has a case in front of Judge Cain and wants Diane to sit with her.

Diane asks about the dots. Apparently this lady draws-- and counts!-- dots. Hundreds of thousands of them. During meetings. Because it’s calming and nothing matters. See?! Season two! 

Lucca does get a little bit of work to do on vacation-- Bianca wants to buy the resort.

Case stuff happens.

Someone explain to me what the fuck this bright neon lighting in the office late at night is all about. Why is it so bright?! Why do the colors change!? Am I just supposed to accept this?! I suppose it’s no weirder than a woman who draws dots instead of taking notes-- and admits to it-- but WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

I know there is supposed to be some sort of parallel between the case having an element about disobeying your superior and the Liz/Caleb dynamic, but as you will recall, I hate everything about the boss/employee plot AND find it incredibly boring so if you would like to see analysis of that parallel… I’m not your gal. 

Oh look I can see the office bathroom of Willicia sexytimes in Liz’s office

My god this lighting is distracting. 

It sounds to me like Caleb is in the legal field for idealistic reasons. I can’t get a sense of if wanting the country to stay the same is liberal or conservative or admirable or misguided but it’s definitely something. (I have a feeling he means “stay the same” as in “return to 2016” though.) 

Since she has not been in the military, Liz worries out loud that she hasn’t lived much of a life. This leads to flirting and intimacy and another hookup. Bleh.

Creeper from Kurt’s office comes to visit Julius and compliments him while basically telling him to keep quiet and be corrupt. He promises Julius the chance to move up the ladder and implies Julius should rule in favor of some rich donor. 

Julius, who, like all characters on this show and maybe just people in general, does NOT like being told what to do, promptly does the opposite. And he feels really, really, really good about doing the right thing. 

Case stuff happens.

Lucca now gets invited to play poker with a bunch of millionaires and celebrities. Lucca is highly uncomfortable. The names of the celebs are bleeped which is… not as clever as I think it was meant to be.

Also I’d be uncomfortable in this situation too. I’m just ready for this plotline to go somewhere beyond “Lucca is uncomfortable with rich people”.

Recapping goes fast when most of the show is case stuff.

In another throwback, Diane (lit by the weird lighting) is watching what looks like a parody of SNL allowing 45 to host? Or maybe it’s just some unfunny bit that goes on too long? Odd target for a parody at this point in time.

Whatever the point, it prompts Diane to start drawing dots of her own. 

Lucca’s luck at the poker game is fantastic. Bianca encourages Lucca to keep her winnings-- she wouldn’t give back a stuffed animal or goldfish won with someone else’s money at a carnival, would she? 

Case stuff, now involving 45, happens. This is a missing season two episode, I swear. 

Wow lol those establishing shots and stock footage do NOT convince me that Lucca lives in Chicago. Nor do they convince me that anyone involved with the show has visited Chicago.

Case stuff happens! 

Another Lucca and Marissa scene! Lucca asks what to do about her poker winnings. Marissa says Lucca should keep the money because Bianca doesn’t need it-- get Bianca a gift if she feels guilty. 

Diane sits next to the seemingly nameless lawyer and they compare their dots. Unfortunately for Diane, the case she’s decided to sit in on as a favor? It’s another case in front of Julius, and it also gets 618’d. How convenient for the plot! When Julius doesn’t go for it, Diane is intrigued and reenergized. She boldly goes to Julius’s chambers to suggest trading info about 618.

No matter how many times I write “618” in the context of Memo 618 I still think 618 = Loser Edit. 

Case stuff happens! It’s good for Caleb and Liz! 

MALCOLM GETS MENTIONED BY NAME! CONTINUITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Caleb and Liz continue the tradition of using meals as code for sex and now I have to watch them kiss. Pass.

Lucca gets Bianca a gift of a goldfish and a giant stuffed bear (a reference to their earlier convo about carnivals). Cute, but I still don’t quite get where this plot is going.

There’s a “Skye and Moon” logo on the plane. I wonder if that is the name of Bianca’s cosmetics empire.

Oh, it’s over. This episode was perfectly fine. Nothing challenging, nothing innovative, but a solid and enjoyable outing closer in length to the average TGW ep than the average TGF one. After last week’s long-ass episode, this is really all I wanted/needed. 

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.13 (Come Fly With Me)

Lizzie and Miranda are decked out in sixties-inspired fashion

- The episode opens to a 1960′s Rat Pack song playing in the background, courtesy of Gordo. He is starting to get into the whole old-school Las Vegas ‘lounge-style’ culture and this doesn’t seem to really bother his friends because Gordo has always been the kind of person to stay away from current trends. 

- For example, as Lizzie mentioned, when everybody in school was into rollerblading, he opted to unicycle instead. It sounds to me like he is doing all of this for the sake of being different. I think we should just be who we want to be and do the things we like regardless of it being on trend or not. 

- Gordo asks Lizzie if she could pick up a Rat Pack music CD for him after school because he has an appointment with his podiatrist. She reluctantly agrees and before leaving, she advises him to take it easy on the whole Rat Pack thing. 

Getting into Rat Pack

Vince, a one-time character I presume

- After collecting the CD on Gordo’s behalf, a kid named Vince on the school bus snatches it from Lizzie’s hand and makes fun of her and Miranda for absolutely no reason. If you’re going to make fun of someone, you might as well do it right but Vince is just atrocious at it lol. 

- Out of nowhere, Ethan Craft comes to the rescue and intimidates Vince to give the CD back to Lizzie. Because of that, Lizzie crushes on Ethan once again. I thought two episodes ago in Episode 1.11, Ethan was going to leave Miranda during their marriage project presentation because he was being manipulated by Kate. And now she still likes him? I guess they can’t fault Ethan for being an airhead.

Animated Lizzie looks really cute in this sort of Mad Men inspired outfit

- Ethan then starts listening to the Rat Pack CD on his music player (or boom box?) and he actually really enjoys it. Lizzie and Miranda, obviously smitten by Ethan’s liking to Gordo’s CD pretends to act like they actually listen to this style of music and they agree to meet up later to hook Ethan up with more Rat Pack music. 

- At school, Lizzie and Miranda start talking to Gordo in a similar way to how he was talking to them at the beginning of this episode. He feels flattered by them wanting to know more about his interests in Rat Pack and is willing to teach them more about the culture. We also get a funny bit where Miranda points out to Gordo that he blinks his eyes a lot. 

The more you try to not think about blinking, the more you actually blink your eyes. Facts.

Meet Matt’s Best Friend, Lanny

*Please note my review of Matt’s plot-line this episode is compiled into this section.

I’m a little scared of Lanny and so are Sam and Jo

- We cut to the backyard of the Mcguire home where Matt and his silent friend, Lanny are playing netball. They are trying to set the record for the longest netball rally but they are struggling to even be close to beating the current record. So is this all happening when Lizzie’s in school? Shouldn’t Matt and Lanny be in school as well? I shouldn’t think too much about this lol. 

- Lanny telepathically lets Matt know they should try to attempt another world record and Matt starts consulting the World Records book to see what they can do. We then get a montage of them attempting to set a number of different world records and of course, they fail miserably. I don’t even want to get into the specifics of what they were doing in this montage but at least ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child was playing in the background. 

- In the second half of the episode, Matt is about to give up on trying to set his own world record after 38 attempts. Jo, brilliant as always, comes up with an idea to trick Matt and Lanny into believing they set their own record for ‘Most Consecutive Failed Attempts’. Matt is very excited about this and they go out to celebrate by getting some ice cream.

Lanny likes Pumpkin flavored ice cream by the way

Stop Trying to Make Rat Pack Happen!

How can you not fall for that smile?

- At the school cafeteria, Gordo notices that some people are starting to dress similarly to him and he hopes that Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t turn his interests in 1960′s Rat Pack into another fad at school. Ethan then pops up next to them and he compliments Gordo’s shirt. Lizzie uses this opportunity to invite him to shop with them at this store called ‘Anteater’ (weird name for a store but okay) so that he can get the same type of clothes Gordo’s wearing. Gordo isn’t thrilled about all of this. 

- Presumably a day later, it seems like the Rat Pack trend had caught the eye of the entire school because everybody is dressed like they are in the sixties. Even Kate Sanders is embracing this trend and she goes up to Lizzie and Miranda and compliments them both for making Gordo’s interest in ‘lounge-style’ culture a thing at school. 

How tall is Kate? She is so much taller than Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda. 

- She’s being awfully nice to them and that’s because she needs their help to organize this month’s dance and make it Rat Pack themed. Lizzie and Miranda are very excited about the prospect of being able to help plan their school dance and they both agree to help Kate out. 

- As Kate leaves, Lizzie asks Gordo if they could use his Las Vegas posters as decorations but he doesn’t want to help them because he just doesn’t like the fact that his Rat Pack interests are becoming popular in school. I mean, I do get where Gordo is coming from; I think nobody would actually really like Rat Pack music unless it’s considered trendy. But he needs to not take everything so seriously. Trends do come and go. 

Gordo is having a mini Crisis

Lizzie’s expressions are gold here when Gordo is talking to her about his World War II plane model given to him by his aunt.

- At Gordo’s house (I think this is the first time Lizzie is shown to be in his house), Lizzie mentions to Gordo how everyone at school is excited about the upcoming Rat Pack themed dance. Gordo reveals to her his interest in Rat Pack is gone and he is now into WW2 style airplanes.

- He also lets her know that he doesn’t like it that everybody is now into Rat Pack and that Kate Sanders has turned this whole thing into a “mindless fad” because she doesn’t know the difference between a ‘ding dong’ and a ‘Ring-A-Ding-Ding’. Lizzie feels bad about ruining his hobby. Don’t feel bad Lizzie; Gordo just needs to wait it out.

Planning the ‘Lounging Around’ School Dance

- Kate is holding a meeting with her fellow school dance committee members to plan out Friday’s dance. She entrusts Lizzie to get a list of songs to be played by the DJ and she entrusts Miranda to prepare a list of criteria for the judges to look out for when assessing outfits for the costume contest. And she wants all of this by the next day. 

- Lizzie and Miranda panic and are desperate to ask Gordo for help. Can’t they consult the school computers and library or something? Didn’t they also exist back in 2001 as well?

I’m sure the wardrobe department had a fun time dressing the girls up back then

- They find Gordo playing with his WW2 plane outside and ask him for help but he just isn’t willing to help them this time around because as we all know, he doesn’t like how Lizzie and Miranda played a part in making his Rat Pack hobby a major fad. 

- I touched on this earlier; Gordo has a point in saying that everyone in school now likes Rat Pack only because it is the biggest thing currently. But Lizzie and Miranda also made a good point in saying people are allowed to like whatever they want, regardless of how they came to know about Rat Pack and Frank Sinatra and the sort. 

Time for the School Dance

“Let’s like dance, Ethan”. Kate is just too funny

- We are then taken to their school dance and I have to say, Kate and company did a really good job organising the event. The venue is well decorated and everybody looks amazing in their sixties-inspired outfits. However, Lizzie and Miranda doesn’t seem to be enjoying themselves because Gordo isn’t there with them. 

Best friends gotta stick together

- Luckily for them, Gordo pops up and makes a grand entry into the auditorium, complete with an amazing suit and a suave attitude to match. Gordo admits to them that he shouldn’t force himself to do things just to be different and Lizzie tells him they’re lucky to have someone like Gordo who doesn’t care about what people think about his hobbies. 

- In the end, everything is resolved and the episode ends with a cute trio dance:

That’s all folks

Overall Thoughts

- What I got most out of watching this episode is the idea of seasonal trends and how easy it is for people to catch onto them just because everyone else is. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you actually like those trends. And being different for the sake of being different is something we shouldn’t really hold on to either. 

- Gordo definitely shone in this episode. I really felt his frustration towards everyone who suddenly jumped on his hobby bandwagon and made it a ‘mindless fad’ as he puts it. Good job on the actor’s (Adam Lamberg) part. Miranda and Lizzie also have very identical plot-lines this episode, although Lizzie did more in this episode than Miranda. I think it’s hard for the character of Miranda to really shine in an episode unless she’s one of the main focuses, you know? But that’s just me.

- After having an impressive plot-line last episode, Matt’s plot-line with his parents this time around has gone back to being weightless and goofy. At least we get to see Lanny in person for the first time. 

[wackygoofball]

What represent Brienne's dressing robe during latest scene? We see Brienne dressed as a woman, quite and confident... but in black ... black not blue! And furs bed with Brienne remember me the old scene with Bran / direwolf / Catelyn Stark... so sad...

Well, my guess is good as anyone’s, I suppose, anon, but it is known that Wacky loves to ramble - especially about costumes. Since it is a longer post, I will put it below the cut:

Colors are always a tricky thing because depending on the culture you take from, they may signify very different things (in some cultures, white is the color of mourning, in others it’s black, etc.). However, since the costume design is done by the wonderful Michele Clapton, we can at least go from the British context here for some ideas.

To my mind, there are four interpretative planes on which I can see this operate (others may certainly find more and/or better ones, but those are the ones that come to my mind:

1) I suppose the straightforward associations of the color black in this context are mourning, death, endings, and sadness already pre-mediated in the dress before the two even say the words and Jaime rides off. She basically *is* wearing a mourning dress for the loss she is about to suffer (if not for long… I remain certain of that). It makes her standing there alone all the more heartbreaking. She merges with the background, she becomes visually more and more one with the darkness of the night. In that same vein, it creates a very stark contrast to Gwen’s naturally pale complexion, which puts even more focus on her face (whites and blacks have the greatest contrast in the color scale).

* Side note: Also note the texture of the dress. It’s roughspun and thick. It’s a tough fabric that stays very much in place and does move around a lot. Since it is very thick, it signifies protection (against the cold), too.

2) It’s a neat way of establishing visual connections between the two right in that scene and in connection to earlier scenes. Black has been a dominating color for both lately. Jaime, upon riding North, takes up a black cloak he repeatedly wears, even in that episode. Brienne also features a dark coat edging on black.

It’s been the predominant color of the North. I think that may also be some level hidden inside particularly for Brienne who’s gotten quite cozy up in the North even though her *identity* bears the color blue. She is *not* a Northerner and her time with Sansa is actually long since up, if only she finally found an impetus to make that step… oh wait! ;) And yet again, that perfectly mirrors her with Jaime whose ultimate landing place is not Winterfell either. Winterfell was about getting them together, but it’s not mean to be the place where they ultimately stay together. This black unity was a comfort they enjoyed while it lasted, but it was only ever there for a time because both their houses, both their colors, both their duties are calling.

In some shots during the goodbye scene, Jaime’s red leather jacket also appears almost black due to the darkness of the night.

See how they almost look like they are one piece color-wise? They are building a visual unity not just through the physical touch, not just by her cupping his cheeks or him rubbing his (black!) glove against her wrist for comfort. They are creating a visual unity in that darkest hour. In this shot in particular, it’s even hard to tell where one part of clothing begins and another ends.

It can also be regarded as a neat callback to their lovemaking scene. The tunics they wore were either *really* dark gray or just plain black. Be it as it may, the *look* black in those shots.

Jaime and Brienne wore different style tunics, but the shirts were still harmonizing, creating unity even before they dared to physically touch and undress in that chamber. In that way, the color black, even before the goodbye already pre-mediated visually what was about to go down. This callback to their unity may be one of the big hints here already.

3) Black is not just the color of mourning in Western culture. It is also a color that signifies status and authority. Judges wear black robes, referees have black clothes oftentimes. I have noted elsewhere that I was mesmerized by how regal and lady-like she looked in that dress. Gwen knows how to carry a dress, so that certainly added to it, but it really has something dignifying about itself, teh simple cut just fitting perfectly and all. Let’s not forget that Jaime and Brienne are basically still some of the few actual adults in the room, considering that we have a bunch of young adults calling global shots. I think that may also be a hint because this is a *mature* Brienne of Tarth we are seeing, we are seeing her carry herself with dignity and authority. If a spec of mine turns out to be true, then that posiitions her at last as a lady about to take charge *in her own right* rather than continuing to play bodyguard for a teenager who has others who can take good care of her in her stead.

4) Black is the color of mystery, of the unknown. Part of the reason why a lot of people are afraid in the dark is because we don’t typically see what’s in the dark, a fear that was deeply embedded into our system because of our ancestors who had to fear to be eaten by wild animals that sneaked up on them in the middle of the night. Evidently, that’s not what’s happening in that scene, but black still has something mystifying. It leaves you in the open. And I think that is also the big giveaway with regards to the misdirection I believe they are seeding here. His leaving is a mystery *to her*, she reckons the reason but her heart cannot comprehend it (also due to a lack of information, which is the figurative equivalent of *leaving her in the dark* about certain things, including the threat on his life thanks to Bronn and Cersei posing a threat by extension therefore).

So. Why black, you asked, anon. I think there are many reasons why. It fits the aesthetic of the overall scenes, creates visual unity and calls back to earlier moments of unity and closeness, it pre-mediates the sadness and grief we are about to witness for them both while at the same time showing that there is a connecting matter between them.

I think part of the big message for Brienne’s black dress lies on the color (see above) but also the fact that it is a dress. Beside the callback to Ned and Cat parting ways, we see here Brienne at a very vulnerable moment. She appears to him after she laid her feminity bare before him and started to embrace it. She holds herself (because of the cold), only to receive a massive blow to the femininity she finally allowed herself to be part of her life. That is what makes this moment even more heartbreaking than it is because of Gwen and Nik acting the living shit out of that scene and perfectly illustrate the vulnerability Brienne is feeling and the pain Jaime is feeling for saying those things and leaving now, even if it is with almost utmost certainty in an effor to protect her from further harm.

As to your question about the furs… interesting thought. I never really thought about Bran’s bed and the furs, because it just seemed to me that furs were simply the kind of thing to find on a bed in the Northern regions due to the cold.

Buuuut interesting thought, really.

If we compare the shot of Bran’s re-awakening after the fall…

We see fur, we see Ned killing Lady, and then Bran opening his eyes. Also interesting how Ned’s clothes seem to fit in rather neatly here.

While the order’s switched up a bit, we also have shot of furs, guy brooding, about to make a tough choice, and then someone awakening.

INTERESTING.

I don’t know what to make of that, I really don’t, but I find it VERY interesting. So thank you for that observation, anon. Mayhaps the visual callback to Bran we’ve been waiting for? The foreshadowing that Bran had his hands in Jaime’s leaving? So many possibilities with that little robotic guy. Ugh.

Anyway, those are my two cents, maybe three.

[generouslyfreeearthquake]

According to Value of Observance emerald green prom dress_)8[8udgs

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News top stories daily news hot topics Hershey beer, sassafras sickness, demolition mystery: News from around our 50 states

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News top stories daily news hot topics Alabama

Birmingham: A girl previously charged with voter fraud has been appointed to a county elections board by Gov. Kay Ivey. Files outlets say Ivey appointed 79-twelve months-outdated Rosie Lyles to the Hale County Board of Registrars on Friday. Lyles was charged with four counts of voter fraud in 2007 and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor of possession of a cast instrument. Ivey press secretary Gina Maiola says the governor didn’t know relating to the conviction and hadn’t performed a background check earlier than the appointment. She says background assessments aren’t traditional for such appointments. Secretary of Convey John Merrill, the drawl’s top election legit, says his put of enterprise is investigating the appointment. He says it seems Lyles can aid as registrar, nonetheless, as her conviction wasn’t a prison.

News top stories daily news hot topics Alaska

Fairbanks: The drawl Division of Education has launched an on-line instrument aimed at providing families the ability to evaluate recordsdata from public colleges. The Fairbanks Day-to-day Files-Miner reports the instrument is is called The Compass: A Book to Alaska’s Public Colleges. Education Commissioner Michael Johnson says its reason is to show conceal recordsdata to families in an participating and precious way. The on-line portal lets users take a college and peek recordsdata substances about it. Johnson says the position offers folks a probability to review colleges across the drawl. “Here is suitable the start up. We want to proceed working on the on-line position,” Johnson says. The division will replace recordsdata as it receives original recordsdata and could presumably per chance well review suggestions to be taught the way in which the portal will be formed.

News top stories daily news hot topics Arizona

Phoenix: A child javelina is making improvements to after a jaunt on a small-access toll road. The Arizona Division of Public Safety says the younger javelina was indubitably one of two that brought web page traffic on Convey Route 51 to a standstill Monday afternoon. DPS officers inform a total lot of troopers tried to spherical up the animals, that had been on the northbound lanes. Trooper Martin Sotelo managed to wrangle one javelina. The diversified ran off and eluded snatch. The rescued javelina was transported to Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale for clinical treatment. Javelina, which judge like wild boar, are native to barren space environments.

News top stories daily news hot topics Arkansas

Tiny Rock: United States Metal Corp. is shopping a minority stake in an Arkansas-based metallic firm for $700 million. Huge River Metal launched Tuesday that it had entered into an agreement with the Pittsburgh-based company. Below the agreement, U.S. Metal will preserve a 49.9% ownership passion in Huge River Metal and could presumably per chance well preserve an technique to originate the final 50.1% interior the next four years. Huge River Metal began operations at its $1.3 billion mill in Osceola in 2017 and final twelve months launched a selection of the ability that will add 500 original jobs. The plant was Arkansas’ first “superproject” beneath a 2004 constitutional modification that allowed the drawl to borrow money to reduction lure foremost employers.

News top stories daily news hot topics California

San Francisco: The mayor has suggested division heads they'll no longer investigate the doable ties of city contractors to the Nationwide Rifle Association, prompting the gun-rights crew to account for victory in its ongoing fight with the liberal city. Mayor London Breed issued the advisory Sept. 23, about a weeks after the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution labeling the NRA a “home terrorist group” and calling on town to make a decision steps to evaluate doable ties between its contractors and the group. In a memo cowritten by town attorney, Breed wrote that the board can most effective enact original contracting requirements by ordinance. Resolutions have not any appropriate weight. William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA, acknowledged Tuesday that the memo is a “determined concession” to a lawsuit filed in federal court docket against town according to the resolution.

News top stories daily news hot topics Colorado

Denver: A native man has agreed to make a decision with federal officers after convincing investors to give him tens of thousands and thousands of bucks in a cattle and marijuana Ponzi scheme. The Denver Submit reports that Imprint Ray agreed to make a decision with the U.S. Securities and Replace Commission to total the agency’s fraud investigation. Authorities inform Ray channeled better than $140 million to repay prior investors and his personal clinical bills, personal flights and herd of show conceal cattle from 2014 to March. Federal authorities inform Ray consented to having his sources frozen, but he didn’t acknowledge any wrongdoing within the settlement. Authorities inform the industry Universal Herbs was in deep debt, and detailed descriptions of the cattle and feedlots were mostly lies.

News top stories daily news hot topics Connecticut

Windsor Locks: A World Battle II-abilities airplane with 13 folks aboard crashed and burned at the Hartford airport after encountering mechanical concern on takeoff Wednesday, killing seven. The four-engine, propeller-driven B-17 bomber struggled to construct up into the air and slammed into a repairs constructing at Bradley Global Airport because the pilots circled aid for a touchdown, officers and witnesses acknowledged. Some of the essential survivors of the shatter were severely injured, authorities acknowledged. One particular person on the floor was moreover injury, and a firefighter eager on the response suffered a minor injury. The classic bomber – moreover is called a Flying Fortress, indubitably one of the crucial crucial renowned Allied planes of World Battle II – was used to make a decision historical previous buffs and airplane enthusiasts on immediate flights, all the way in which thru which they could presumably per chance well accumulate up and stroll across the loud and windy interior.

News top stories daily news hot topics Delaware

Dover: Highmark Blue Substandard Blue Protect of Delaware says it’ll lower its charges on the Cheap Care Act marketplace by almost 20%, marking the foremost time charges beget dropped after years of regular will increase. Decreased premiums will be funded by thousands and thousands of drawl and federal bucks, alongside with a tiny fee taken from all industrial insurers. The fee reduction comes as a drawl say showed the cost of month-to-month marketplace premiums doubled from 2014 to 2018, causing thousands of residents to descend coverage and insurers to descend out. Highmark is the superb insurer left. Insurance coverage Commissioner Trinidad Navarro moreover credits Delaware’s newly authorized reinsurance program with serving to lower charges. This arrangement will duvet some costly ACA enrollees’ clinical claims.

News top stories daily news hot topics District of Columbia

Washington: Court records inform Total Foods customers helped detain a man accused of filming beneath the skirt of a 13-twelve months-outdated lady standing in a retailer checkout line. Citing D.C. Superior Court records, news outlets say Daniel Izquierdo, 25, was spotted standing “on the total close” to the girl in March. Files inform a conception seen Izquierdo perceived to be filming beneath the girl’s costume and commenced yelling, main customers to detain him until police arrived. Files inform he refused to let police peek any video on his cell phone. Police Chief Peter Newsham acknowledged at a news convention Tuesday that officers acquired search warrants and, with the FBI’s help, learned the upskirting video, alongside side movies of 34 diversified girls folk. Izquierdo was arrested Monday on voyeurism bills.

News top stories daily news hot topics Florida

Miami: A South Florida eco-gallop park is internet hosting a Chinese lantern competition for the comfort of the twelve months. A Jungle Island news originate says it’s opening Luminosa to the public this Saturday. The 18-acre park, positioned on an island between downtown Miami and Miami Seaside, has partnered with Zigong Lantern Group and China Lantern Global to style a nighttime jungle stuffed with big illuminated lanterns made of vivid silk by Chinese artisans. Luminosa capabilities lanterns formed into animals, vegetation and iconic Miami destinations. Larger than 1 million LED lights are used within the appeal. Luminosa will bolt from 5 to 10 p.m. each day until Jan. 8. Fashioned grownup admission is $35.

News top stories daily news hot topics Georgia

Atlanta: A federal address on Tuesday hasty blocked Georgia’s restrictive original abortion law from taking make, following the lead of diversified judges who beget blocked the same measures in diversified states. The law signed in Can also by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp bans abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” is show conceal, with some restricted exceptions. Cardiac exercise also will likely be detected by ultrasound as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, earlier than many girls folk designate they’re ready for, according to a appropriate field. The law had been scheduled to develop to be enforceable Jan. 1. Attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights in June filed a constitutional field to the law on behalf of Georgia abortion suppliers and an advocacy crew.

News top stories daily news hot topics Hawaii

Honolulu: A park pattern mission has been delayed following the discovery of a doable artifact on the grounds. Mayor Kirk Caldwell halted the mission at Waimanalo Bay Seaside Park on Tuesday while officers stay up for added recordsdata from the Convey Historic Preservation Division and the Oahu Island Burial Council. The discovery of an artifact of historical cost could presumably per chance well extend a $1.43 million pattern at the Oahu park, commonly is called Sherwood Woodland. The deliberate development of a multipurpose self-discipline, 11-stall parking zone and playground has sparked demonstrations and a lawsuit to block the enchancment. Experts determined the article is “basalt of a lava dike.” The burial council is scheduled to discuss the article at its Oct. 9 meeting.

News top stories daily news hot topics Idaho

Boise: Federal officers notion to spherical up almost the total wild horses in a south-central Idaho wild horse space so the inhabitants also will likely be brought down and maintained at about 50 horses. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management acknowledged Tuesday that it has authorized an environmental evaluation that capabilities the exercise of fertility administration on 25 female horses that can presumably per chance well also be launched aid into the wild. The agency estimates the inhabitants at the Saylor Creek Herd Management Space, about 15 miles south of Glenns Ferry, will be about 170 horses by summer season 2020. The agency says if the roundup occurs then, it expects to grab about 150 horses the exercise of a bait and water lure. Horses no longer returned to the wild would be ready for the agency’s adoption program. It’s no longer determined when the roundup could presumably per chance well happen.

News top stories daily news hot topics Illinois

Chicago: Town will utilize $2.7 million to assign certain that extra residents are incorporated within the 2020 census. It’s an effort Mayor Lori Lightfoot says is driven in natty section by an effort to fight fright created by the Trump administration’s immigration raids. At a news convention Tuesday, Lightfoot launched what she says is the superb quantity of funding Chicago has ever dedicated to the census. She says despite a U.S. Supreme Court resolution to block the Trump administration’s push as a way to add a citizenship question to the census originate, instruct linger amongst immigrants and refugees that it is no longer stable to come aid ahead to be counted. Lightfoot moreover says a suitable census is obligatory because for every particular person no longer counted, town stands to lose $1,400 per particular person per twelve months.

News top stories daily news hot topics Indiana

Indianapolis: The Indianapolis Zoo reached a deal final month with the proprietor of the weak GM stamping plant position to originate dozens of acres that will enable the zoo to assign better within the upcoming years. Ambrose Property Group donated 10 acres of land, and the Indianapolis Zoo sold one more 161/2 acres of situation from the weak GM plant position, according to a Wednesday news originate from the zoo. Later Wednesday, town despatched a letter to Ambrose threatening to exercise well-liked domain to make a decision ownership of the comfort of the enchancment position except Ambrose reaches a deal to promote to town. In a switch that insecure officers, Ambrose launched Friday that it plans to promote the position after better than a twelve months of preparations and an total bunch of thousands of bucks of infrastructure improvements made by town.

News top stories daily news hot topics Iowa

Des Moines: The drawl will terminate its 2019 fiscal twelve months with a surplus of better than $289 million in its identical outdated fund, but Republican political leaders had been cautious about discussing the put the money could presumably per chance moreover very effectively be spent. Gov. Kim Reynolds says it’s a reflection of a shiny economy, alongside with in a assertion Monday that the drawl ought to be “mindful of the industrial headwinds in our agricultural economy and be ready for no subject the future could presumably per chance well preserve.” Farmers are facing a advanced twelve months with alternate disruptions consequently of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and insurance policies that beget injury corn and soybean markets, presumably chopping into drawl earnings tax income. The fiscal twelve months resulted in June, however the drawl posted its final budget figures at the terminate of September.

News top stories daily news hot topics Kansas

Topeka: Gov. Laura Kelly is discounting Republican calls to rescind a policy requiring out-of-drawl on-line businesses to amass sales taxes on transactions in Kansas and remit the tax to the drawl. On Monday, Attorney Frequent Derek Schmidt issued a nonbinding notion that Kelly’s administration did no longer beget the suitable authority to impose the policy, which some consultants acknowledged is the nation’s most aggressive policy for accumulating drawl and native taxes on on-line sales. House and Senate GOP leaders then demanded Kelly descend the policy, which the Kansas Division of Earnings issued in August. The tax collections were scheduled to make a decision make Tuesday. The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Kelly says the policy reflects existing drawl law and would promote tax fairness.

News top stories daily news hot topics Kentucky

Frankfort: Gov. Matt Bevin wants college students to celebrate a holiday Oct. 3 – and he isn’t talking about Imply Girls Day. This Thursday, Bevin wants kids to lift the Holy Scripture to class and decide section in “Bring Your Bible to College Day,” an annual match that encourages college students of all ages to make a decision the non secular text into the school room. “I'd aid you, please, don’t appropriate lift your Bible to college, but be taught your Bible. Bring it, allotment it with others. Whenever you beget an additional Bible, lift it and allotment it with any individual who doesn’t beget one, who presumably has by no manner be taught this e book,” Bevin acknowledged Tuesday in a video posted on social media. “Bring Your Bible to College Day” is backed by Variety out the Family, a nationwide Christian group that has many times come beneath fireplace.

News top stories daily news hot topics Louisiana

Shreveport: A planning committee in Caddo Parish has suggested atmosphere aside up to $500,000 to switch a Confederate monument. Files outlets say the Prolonged Vary Planning/Special Projects Committee of the Caddo Parish Commission made the resolution at a gathering Monday. The corpulent commission is expected to vote on the proposal in early December. The monument stands out of doorways the Caddo Parish Courthouse in Shreveport. Parish attorney Donna Frazier wrote to the United Daughters of the Confederacy in unhurried August asserting the crew had 90 days to make a decision the monument. In a assertion and letter launched Monday, the UDC acknowledged Frazier hadn’t replied to a Sept. 5 letter from attorney Arthur Carmondy asserting the 90-day observe is invalid. Frazier suggested the Shreveport Times she replied to the letter Monday.

News top stories daily news hot topics Maine

Portland: The University of Maine Machine says it’s going to duvet the corpulent designate of tuition and charges for better than 1,200 people of the drawl’s graduating excessive college classes next twelve months. The device made the announcement Wednesday as section of its “Maine Values You” outreach program. Machine Chancellor Dannel Malloy says the provide is proof the drawl’s public universities “can proudly provide Maine college students unmatched affordability” and access to elevated education. Machine spokesman Daniel Demeritt says college students will be chosen according to better than one metric and could presumably per chance well first must conform to for financial aid. The drawl coated 1,142 college students this twelve months. Demeritt says the coverage of tuition will be on hand at UMaine campuses across the drawl.

News top stories daily news hot topics Maryland

Baltimore: Property records show conceal weak Mayor Catherine Pugh, who resigned in Can also, has sold her house for only half its assessed cost. The Baltimore Solar reports records show conceal she sold indubitably one of her two Ashburton homes for $75,000 to Boaz Replacement Strength and Technologies LLC in July. Property records listing the house’s assessed cost as $187,700. Pugh resigned in Can also beneath tension amid a flurry of investigations into whether she organized bulk sales of her self-published kids’s books to hide an total bunch of thousands of bucks in kickbacks. She’s quiet being investigated at the drawl and federal level. Pugh listed the house as her main address but lived at a diversified Ashburton house.

News top stories daily news hot topics Massachusetts

Boston: A federal address has cleared Harvard University of discriminating against Asian American applicants in a ruling that was seen as a essential victory for supporters of affirmative action. In a closely watched lawsuit, a crew known as Students for Gorgeous Admissions accused the Ivy League college of deliberately – and illegally – maintaining down the need of Asian Individuals authorized in account for to eradicate a certain racial steadiness on campus. U.S. District Reflect Allison D. Burroughs, nonetheless, dominated that Harvard’s admissions route of is “no longer best possible” but passes constitutional muster. She acknowledged there could be “no proof of any racial animus in anyway” and no proof that any admission resolution was “negatively stricken by Asian American identity.”

News top stories daily news hot topics Michigan

Detroit: Police are taking a judge into who demolished a house that a drawl lawmaker and her nonprofit crew were planning to rehab for a needy family. Detroit police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood acknowledged Tuesday that the case is being investigated as malicious destruction of property. Mayor Mike Duggan’s put of enterprise acknowledged recordsdata shows the house on Minock in northwest Detroit was torn down on or around Sept. 20 but was no longer on a listing of properties slated for demolition and was no longer within the pipeline in preparation to be razed. Democratic Procure. Sherry Homosexual-Dagnogo has acknowledged the house was torn down without observe to her or her nonprofit crew, Coalition to Integrate Technology and Education. The property was purchased final twelve months for $1,000 from the Detroit Land Monetary institution Authority.

News top stories daily news hot topics Minnesota

Duluth: Some midwives are warning that the drawl’s unregulated midwifery practices pose a hazard to moms and babies as house births upward push. Minnesota Public Radio Files reports that the drawl in 2000 recorded two deliberate house births. In 2018, that number jumped to 721. Minnesota and Utah are the sole states that don’t require midwives to assign a license to lift babies. Licensed house birth midwives must assign their Certified Real Midwife credential from the drawl Board of Clinical Prepare. Tavniah Betts, an authorized midwife, says being licensed advantages families and midwives by providing access to submitting complaints. Tracey Lapointe, an unlicensed midwife and the president of the Minnesota Midwifery Guild, says requiring licensing would diminish the availability of midwives while question is rising.

News top stories daily news hot topics Mississippi

Jackson: The U.S. Justice Division says a sheriff fired an employee because he needed to be gone on protection force duty for prolonged classes. Coahoma County Sheriff Charles Jones says the employee was fired for “insubordination,” no longer for taking protection force plod away. The division filed a civil lawsuit Monday against Coahoma County. It says Jason M. Sims Jr. of Batesville is within the Navy Reserve and teaches management classes at Citadel Knox, Kentucky. The suit says Sims began working for the sheriff’s division in 2014 and suggested his bosses he would decide to make a decision protection force plod away. It says the sheriff’s put of enterprise “demonstrated hostility” to that in 2016, then fired him in 2018. Jones says he’s “100% confident” the firing was unrelated to Sims’ protection force provider.

News top stories daily news hot topics Missouri

St. Louis: An inmate was finished Tuesday for killing a man in 1996 in a string of violence that incorporated a total lot of diversified crimes, despite issues that the prisoner’s rare clinical situation would place off a unpleasant deadly injection. Russell Bucklew was put to death at the drawl detention center in Bonne Terre. It was Missouri’s first execution since January 2017. Bucklew had twice previously been interior hours of execution, most effective to beget the U.S. Supreme Court grant final-minute reprieves over issues that he could presumably per chance well undergo all the way in which thru the execution route of. He had a situation known as cavernous hemangioma and had blood-stuffed tumors in his head, neck and throat. He breathed with reduction from a tracheostomy tube. His attorneys acknowledged a throat tumor could presumably per chance well burst, causing him to choke and die painfully and in violation of the constitutional guarantee against cruel and irregular punishment.

News top stories daily news hot topics Montana

Helena: A address is desirous relating to the U.S. government’s question to throw out a lawsuit by two girls folk who inform they were illegally questioned by border agents for 40 minutes for talking Spanish in a comfort retailer. U.S. District Reflect Brian Morris was scheduled to hear motions to push aside the lawsuit filed by Ana Suda and Martha “Mimi” Hernandez on Wednesday. They are saying U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Paul O’Neill detained them in a parking zone in Havre final twelve months in violation of constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizures. They are asking Morris to block the agency from detaining anybody according to flee, accent or language alone and to award them an unspecified quantity for damages. Attorneys for the agency inform that it has sovereign immunity against injury claims and that the girls folk are unlikely to be stopped all another time.

News top stories daily news hot topics Nebraska

Bellevue: An Air Power colonel says he and diversified officers are paying close attention to resident complaints about residing conditions and repairs at off-atrocious, privatized housing for personnel at Offutt Air Power Grisly appropriate south of Omaha. Col. Gavin Marks, commander of the 55th Hover at Offutt, suggested residents Tuesday at a city hall meeting at a Bellevue college that he’s organize a original hotline to address complaints. The Omaha World-Herald reports native complaints about mold, shoddy development, boring repairs and avenue problems at the Rising Search neighborhood west of the atrocious echo these from diversified bases. At Offutt, inspectors learned 96 homes with what inspectors described as “effectively being and safety” violations, comparable to mold or lead paint. The leasing manager says the total violations had been rectified.

News top stories daily news hot topics Nevada

Carson Metropolis: Convey policymakers beget launched plans to procure possible legislation that can presumably per chance conform to California in allowing drawl college athletes to assign money from endorsement offers. The Las Vegas Overview-Journal reports the Legislature does no longer meet all another time until February 2021, and Democratic drawl Sen. Yvanna Cancela says a formal proposal has no longer yet been created and is quiet within the analysis route of as she seems for “a proposal that fits Nevada.” Cancela says the California invoice is forcing diversified states to resolve out guidelines on how to compete with its recruitment practices. The Mountain West Conference didn’t reply to requests for commentary. A NCAA assertion says authorized guidelines from diversified states would no longer level the playing self-discipline.

News top stories daily news hot topics Current Hampshire

Harmony: Gov. Chris Sununu has made one more take for the drawl’s poet laureate, about a months after he deserted his final desire following rising criticism of the man’s work and the way in which he was chosen. Sununu deliberate to nominate Alexandria Peary, of Londonderry, to be the next poet laureate, at Wednesday’s Govt Council meeting. She’s written six books, alongside with “Adjust Bird Alt Delete.” Her most standard e book, “The Water Draft,” is to be published this month. Even though he by no manner formally nominated him, Sununu firstly chose Daniel Thomas Moran, a retired dentist and weak poet laureate of Suffolk County, Current York, whom some acknowledged wasn’t qualified. The surfacing of a sexually suggestive poem Moran wrote about weak Secretary of Convey Condoleezza Rice most effective intensified the criticism.

News top stories daily news hot topics Current Jersey

Trenton: A federal address has agreed to block the drawl’s most standard political donor disclosure law according to a lawsuit brought by a judge tank founded by the Koch brothers. U.S. District Reflect Brian Martinotti granted the injunction Wednesday. Individuals for Prosperity challenged the original law, which required political organizations and some nonprofits to advise all spending over $3,000, up from $1,600. The law moreover mandated that contributors giving better than $10,000 would be disclosed. The crew acknowledged the law was unconstitutional on its face and could presumably per chance well extinguish organizations. The drawl argued the invoice was aimed at showing who was “pulling the strings” in politics. A spokesman for Attorney Frequent Gurbir Grewal acknowledged the drawl is reviewing the resolution.

News top stories daily news hot topics Current Mexico

Albuquerque: A tiny lizard learned amongst the dunes straddling Current Mexico and West Texas in indubitably one of the crucial nation’s richest oil basins is at the heart of a appropriate complaint filed Tuesday. Environmentalists want the U.S. government as a way to add the dunes sagebrush lizard to the endangered species listing as section of a fight that stretches aid to the Bush and Obama administrations and could presumably per chance well have an effect on section of the multibillion-buck energy alternate within the Permian Basin. The Center for Natural Variety and Defenders of Wildlife filed the complaint in federal court docket in Washington. It follows a itemizing petition that the groups submitted in Can also 2018. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Carrier had 90 days to judge the petition and provoke a review of the species if vital, however the groups inform the agency failed to make a decision action.

News top stories daily news hot topics Current York

Woodstock: The Woodstock Film Competition this twelve months will feature an look by actor Matt Dillon. The 20-twelve months-outdated annual competition runs Wednesday thru Sunday within the Hudson Valley cities of Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Kingston, Saugerties and Rosendale. This twelve months the match will showcase better than 50 capabilities from across the realm, immediate motion photographs, panels and are residing performances. Films being proven this week encompass Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Memoir” and “Portrait of a Girl on Hearth,” which acquired superb screenplay at the Cannes Film Competition. Dillon is to make a decision section in a matter-and-resolution session Saturday.

News top stories daily news hot topics North Carolina

Mount Holly: A truck meeting firm has launched this can lay off 900 workers between two Freightliner vegetation within the drawl within the upcoming weeks. Daimler Trucks North America, the parent firm of Freightliner, confirmed Tuesday that about 450 workers would lose their jobs at the manufacturing plant in Mount Holly, and one more 450 would be laid off at Rowan County’s Cleveland plant by Oct. 14. Daimler acknowledged in a assertion the layoffs come because the truck market returns to identical outdated phases after a twelve months of legend sales. Mount Holly employee Robin Jenkins suggested the Gaston Gazette some workers are scared because they don’t judge they’ll be receiving severance, though diversified workers acknowledged they’re used to the “cyclical nature” of truck constructing.

News top stories daily news hot topics North Dakota

Bismarck: The proposed presidential library for Theodore Roosevelt in western North Dakota now has a CEO. The board of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum voted Tuesday to appoint Edward F. O’Keefe to manual the group. Gov. Doug Burgum calls O’Keefe “the acceptable particular person” to make a decision the proposed library “to the next level.” O’Keefe is a North Dakota native who's writing a e book on Roosevelt, who spent better than three years within the drawl within the 1880s. Burgum has made the library a top precedence of his administration. Convey legislators in April authorized $50 million to operate the library, but that ought to be matched by $100 million in personal money. O’Keefe will join Burgum and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt alongside side Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer on a tour of Medora on Thursday.

News top stories daily news hot topics Ohio

Nelsonville: The federal government says it acquired no bids all the way in which thru a aggressive rent sale for coal beneath about 430 acres of Wayne Nationwide Woodland. The Bureau of Land Management-Jap States launched the implications of ultimate week’s offering on Tuesday. Leases enthusiastic seven tracts in Perry and Morgan counties that have an estimated 1.4 million a kind of subsurface mineable federal coal. The sale came according to a rent application by CCU Coal and Construction, previously Westmoreland Coal Co., which already operates an adjoining privately owned underground coal mine. However the bureau acknowledged no one advise on the leases. Officials acknowledged the public will be notified if an additional question is ever made to give aggressive leases for the tracts.

News top stories daily news hot topics Oklahoma

Oklahoma Metropolis: A address made a $107 million miscalculation when he ordered user merchandise big Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million to reduction perfect up the drawl’s opioid crisis, attorneys for the firm argue in a court docket submitting. The firm moreover is asking for a superb buy within the judgment according to pretrial settlements totaling $355 million that the drawl reached with Oxycontin-maker Purdue Pharma and Israeli-owned Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. The firm has separately appealed the court docket’s ruling to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, arguing that Cleveland County District Reflect Thad Balkman’s ruling was an unparalleled interpretation of the drawl’s public nuisance law. A spokesman for Attorney Frequent Mike Hunter declined to commentary on the submitting.

News top stories daily news hot topics Oregon

Salem: Authorities suspect the extraordinary deaths and mutilations of 5 bulls were precipitated by humans, but they have not any leads. The deaths of the bulls buy mutilations of livestock across the West and Midwest within the 1970s that struck fright in rural areas. A weak FBI agent who headed an investigation acknowledged there was no indication that one thing diversified than traditional animal predators were boring the mutilations. Within the weeks for the reason that needless bulls were learned over a total lot of days in July, the Harney County Sheriff’s Situation of enterprise has acquired calls and emails with hypothesis about what, or who, could presumably per chance moreover very effectively be responsible. Colby Marshall, vp of the ranch that owned the bulls, says he suspects a cult is boring the killings. Ranch fingers had been suggested to gallop in pairs and to switch armed.

News top stories daily news hot topics Pennsylvania

Pottsville: Quickly on tap: a original brew featuring Yuengling’s almost 200-twelve months-outdated porter recipe and Hershey’s chocolate. The two Pennsylvania companies are teaming up on a restricted-edition beer known as Yuengling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter. The chocolate-infused brew will be on hand on tap starting in mid-October at bars, restaurants and diversified venues in 13 states. It’s the foremost collaboration for Pottsville-based Yuengling, America’s oldest working brewery. The firm says the beer can beget “effectively off chocolate notes” and recommends pairing it with barbecued and smoked meats, cheeses and cakes. The brew was in pattern for nearly a twelve months. Yuengling expects it to final until February.

News top stories daily news hot topics Rhode Island

North Windfall: Town has constructed a public safety complex the exercise of its allotment from a settlement with Google. The Windfall Journal reports the $27 million, 58,000-sq.-foot constructing now houses the North Windfall police and fireplace departments. Rhode Island’s allotment of the 2012 settlement, about $230 million, is being dispensed to police departments, the attorney identical outdated’s put of enterprise and the Nationwide Guard. An investigation uncovered Google’s feature within the on-line sale of non-FDA-authorized prescription treatment. The complex recommendations a court docket, offices, dispatch center, training space, bunk rooms, crime laboratory, emergency operations center and cell block.

News top stories daily news hot topics South Carolina

Columbia: A weak member of the board that oversees drawl highways will utilize seven months in detention center for attempting to rent a prostitute appropriate hours after he acquired probation for admitting he tried to derail an FBI investigation by destroying proof. John Hardee, 72, was sentenced Wednesday after a psychiatrist hired by his attorney suggested a peaceful originate of dementia could presumably per chance well beget led him to text what became out to be an undercover deputy offering $40 for a intercourse act. Hardee moreover asked for mercy, asserting he has been with hideous criminals and heard sinful language used all the way in which thru his time in jail since his August arrest, according to media outlets. As he handed down the sentence, U.S. Reflect Terry Wooten suggested Hardee he hoped the weak legit learned his lesson this time and identified even with the dementia diagnosis, the psychiatrist quiet testified Hardee knew appropriate from injurious.

News top stories daily news hot topics South Dakota

Sioux Falls: A crew of truckers plans a “boring roll” express within the drawl Thursday. Organizer Jeremy Johnson says the demonstration of a line of semi-vans using at diminished plod will loop around Sioux Falls and proceed on to Pierre. He says the crew can beget a “boring roll” on Interstates 29, 229 and 90. The express is a native response to a trucker demonstration deliberate in Washington, D.C., to express federal legislation alongside with proposals to limit truck plod, assign better the minimal personal liability that truckers must lift, and mandate safety gear to preserve vehicles from sliding beneath vans. The line of vans will force about 50 mph interior Sioux Falls city limits and force about 60 mph out of doorways city limits.

News top stories daily news hot topics Tennessee

Nashville: The Tennessee Division of Agriculture says a disease that kills sassafras bushes has been detected in Dickson and Bernard Law 1st viscount montgomery of alamein counties. The division is advising residents to be searching for signs of laurel wilt disease. They encompass browning of leaves, leaf loss and staining within the internal bark. Folks who suspect their bushes could presumably per chance moreover very effectively be diseased must quiet contact the drawl Division of Forestry. Laurel wilt is a fungal disease transmitted by the wood-unimaginative redbay ambrosia beetle. It'll have an effect on a range of vegetation, alongside with sassafras and spicebush. Convey Forester David Arnold says in a news originate that sassafras and spicebush are crucial ecological species in Tennessee. He says the disease is “one more unpleasant example of an invasive pest impacting our forests.”

News top stories daily news hot topics Texas

Dallas: The U.S. government has awarded three contracts rate better than $812.6 million for development of about 65 miles of original border wall alongside the lower Rio Grande in South Texas. In a assertion issued Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Navy Corps of Engineers acknowledged the contracts were awarded Sunday to two contractors. The wall projects are to encompass metallic bollard partitions of 18 to 30 toes in peak, all-climate roads, lighting fixtures, safety cameras and diversified abilities in 19 separate segments in Starr, Hidalgo and Cameron counties. The assertion acknowledged the partitions will plod up, starting early next twelve months, the put none now exist but no longer in areas prohibited beneath the CBP’s 2019 appropriation. The sphere is the CBP’s busiest, accounting for about 40% of its immigrant apprehensions.

News top stories daily news hot topics Utah

Provo: Gov. Gary Herbert has rescinded an emergency drought account for nearly a twelve months after it went into make. The Day-to-day Herald reports that chronic rain and snowstorm this twelve months beget gradually put an terminate to statewide severe drought conditions. Nearly 99% of Utah was experiencing no longer lower than moderate drought final twelve months when the governor declared a drawl of emergency in October 2018. Herbert acknowledged it was affecting agribusiness, livestock production and flowers and fauna habitats. However with a change within the climate this twelve months, no space of the drawl has severe drought conditions, and the U.S. Drought Video show shows parts facing moderate drought beget dropped to 15%. Grand of that space is within the southern section of the drawl, which has had a barely aloof monsoon season.

News top stories daily news hot topics Vermont

Barre: The drawl Company of Transportation has launched a original instrument that will reduction bus riders song the position of buses and their arrival times as effectively as search bus routes and prevents. The agency launched Tuesday that the Transit app, which is able to be downloaded to cellphones without cost, shows the actual-time bus region on any transit route working in Vermont. Barbara Donovan, the agency’s public transit program manager, says that “our riders deserve this predictability and exact-time recordsdata.” The agency says the app moreover has capabilities for commute planning, navigation, notifications for bus provider disruptions, and departure and extinguish reminders.

News top stories daily news hot topics Virginia

West Level: A excessive college trainer who was fired for refusing to exercise a transgender student’s original pronouns has filed a lawsuit. The Washington Submit reports Peter Vlaming is suing West Level Public Colleges, out of doorways Richmond. Vlaming says his rights to discuss freely and exercise his religion were violated. The suit states that Vlaming “sincerely believes that relating to a female as a male by the exercise of an objectively male pronoun is telling a lie.” The French trainer was fired in December . He had suggested superiors at West Level High College that his religion kept away from him from the exercise of male pronouns for a student who had suggested the faculty of his transition all the way in which thru the summer season.

News top stories daily news hot topics Washington

Mount Vernon: Convey land officers beget authorized a land switch to reduction conservation groups give protection to recreation areas on Blanchard Mountain. The Skagit-Valley Herald reports that the drawl Board of Natural Sources granted the approval Tuesday for the 2.5-sq.-mile space is called the Blanchard Core, which comprises in style trails, campgrounds and lakes. Land officers inform the switch would be paid for with $10 million allocated by the Legislature in 2018 to develop to be a drawl pure space. The switch would be completed by striking sections of the Blanchard Core into the Frequent College Trust program, then paying this technique the $9.2 million cost of timber on that land. Officials inform the $626,000 cost of the land would be used to eradicate original forest lands every other put within the drawl.

News top stories daily news hot topics West Virginia

Morgantown: The U.S. Division of Strength has awarded $5 million to the Water Analysis Institute at West Virginia University for its rare earth restoration mission. The mission comprises constructing a facility at a original acid mine drainage treatment plant reach Mount Storm. Uncommon earth parts come from acid mine drainage sludge and are used to energy things comparable to smartphones and the U.S. missile steerage device. The institute will partner with the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection’s Situation of enterprise of Special Reclamation, Rockwell Automation and TenCate Corp. within the mission. About 15,000 a kind of rare earth parts are used once a year within the U.S., which imports almost all of them. A bench scale pilot plant was opened in 2018 on WVU’s campus to examine the feasibility of extraction and refining abilities.

News top stories daily news hot topics Wisconsin

Madison: A particular person convicted of rape and homicide when he was a teen whose memoir was documented within the 2015 Netflix series “Making a Assassin” asked the governor for a pardon or commutation of his lifestyles detention center sentence Wednesday. The question from Brendan Dassey came as his advocates launched yet one more strive to free him, this time out of doorways the court docket device. His most standard charm was no longer conception about by the U.S. Supreme Court. Dassey’s potentialities of getting a pardon from Gov. Tony Evers seem far off. “I am writing to ask for a pardon because I am innocent and want to switch house,” Dassey acknowledged in a handwritten show conceal to Evers that accompanied his application. Dassey moreover listed things he enjoys, alongside with Pokemon and hamburgers, and drew a pair of hearts with the observe “hugs” in one and “treasure” within the diversified.

News top stories daily news hot topics Wyoming

Jackson: Convey flowers and fauna officers beget launched a detailed notion for review to scale aid elk and bison feeding days by 50%. Jackson Gap Files & Book reports the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Carrier officially launched the draft “step-down” notion Monday. Wildlife officers inform the notion was supposed to lower elk numbers and assign the animals extra reliant on native vegetation, alongside with recommendations to wean the animals off alfalfa. Officials inform the notion tiny print feeding the elk later and ending the alfalfa handouts earlier to plan fewer elk to feedgrounds on the Nationwide Elk Refuge north of Jackson. Officials inform the notion isn't any longer open to being altered thru the most standard public review route of, but an accompanying environmental review is. Decrease-off date for feedback are consequently of the refuge by Oct. 30.

From USA TODAY Community and wire reports

Read or Share this memoir: https://www.usatoday.com/memoir/news/50-states/2019/10/03/hershey-beer-sassafras-illness-demolition-thriller-news-around-states/40237133/

[darkpotatorises]

Diary of Soul #2

Hello. Today is Friday 31st of July, the wretched year of 2020 It’s been 2 days since my first and last “Journal entry” I spent them catching up with IDW’s run of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As you could notice from my posts. It was so good that it felt like I was posting every damn page. From art style to newly introduced characters, the chemistry between Turtles and them…. It almost gives hope of unconditional socialization being possible somewhere out there…. In a fictional universe. Socialization that was engineered by a tragic accident of a mutagen bomb exploding  on a large political gathering that caused all new mutated humans to stick together……….. But still.. :D Needless to say it made me go through lists of all TMNT related games, even though I was confident I played everything good (and most of bad stuff) that was associated with the green crew, I noticed one title I never heard of before. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Manhattan Missions. An MS-DOS game, stamped by Konami. Judging by what I’ve seen, it’s one of the rare games that draws inspiration from comics directly, rather than any piece of media that was popular at that moment. Although art style seems weird in a bad way… And you can move only in one sidescroller plane of existence (left or right).. it has some sort of magnetic uniqueness that will make me try it out as soon as I track It down…. It’s name was awfully familiar to now renowned PlatinumGames title from 2016, Mutants of Manhattan, which was the last noticeable full fledge outing of the lean mean green machine unless you count their cameo in Injustice 2 which was the highlight of the whole game in my opinion after the sour taste new costume mechanic left in my mouth… It’s not like they had the wrong idea from the get-go, The game was suppose to have more iconic looks for each hero but that was ultimately scrapped in favor of generic costume pieces, along with all the sexy costumes and fan service for characters they were absolutely appropriate for…. I mean come on, rule 34 is still a thing. Cut those guys some slack. They already have their hands full of sexualizing the characters that don’t have anything sexy in their background…  You might as well give ‘em Harley and Catwoman that they expect to see. Sheesh Anyways, back to Mutants of Manhattan… It seemed like every star aligned for this tile and yet  no one’s talking about it… Well not in a positive way. Out of all reviews, one guy with an eyebrow rising title immediately stood out.  “ Your Oppinion is Wrong: TMNT Mutants in Manhattan review” by GhenryPerez. I whole heartedly agreed with every point he made there as I haven’t recognized it as a bad game first time I played and I was certainly itching to replay it again…. It’s a recurring motive of society I began to recognize not too long ago. If a game gets a bad criticism, or even worse, bad score on scale of 1 to 10, 1 to 100 or 1 to 12 (if you’re French)… The game is instantly entirely dismissed as a botched job with no redeeming qualities. Which most certainly isn’t the case here. It has a wonderful art style, amazing boss battles, interesting combat mechanics, fair difficulty that you can surpass only by mastering the already mentioned mechanics, and my favorite part, All 4 turtles are on the screen at all times, regardless if you’re playing alone or online…. Online I say because, there’s no any sort of couch/split screen co-op…. Which is one of the few let downs I had about the game… The other noticeable one being  a bit empty environment and repetition of same locations. There’s always something different about them, time of the day, objective etc. But it’s still the same location you already seen and been through…. But the most important thing is that this game is fun. Sure, they haven’t recorded enough lines for turtles, and they can get boring over the time, but I dare you to get to the last boss and not feel satisfaction after you finally beat it… It feels like a turtle game, it plays goo and that’s all that matters to me. It’s a game I thought of first after my comic binge (along with 2003 shows tie-in Battle Nexus), even though my favorite is still the NES one, Manhattan Project… Man…hattan…. Guess you know the winning formula for making a TMNT game now. Just put Manhattan in its title. Now I know I would cover 90’s in my next post but lets keep it as a contingency plan for days we don’t have anything to talk about. See ya in the next one. Now excuse me, i’m gonna go try to setup the 2003 game to work on my streaming bucket.

[rzproduction]

AFK_ from Tyler Hynes on Vimeo.

Director Writer Producer TYLER HYNES Producer Jonathan Bronfman William Woods Co Producer Cassandra DePetrillo Frank Gugliuzzi Executive Producer Jordan Walker Production Manager Cassandra DePetrillo Cinematographer Christian Bielz Composer The Newton Brothers Editor Chris Murphy Original Song “Body Double” Pilot Priest cast CYRUS Tyler Hynes ED Rob Stewart OMAR Xhemi Agaj SU (chinese Man) Tony Ning ALEKSANDER (Swedish Boy) Sam Barringer CHING (Chinese BOY) Lucas Ten BETTY (MOTHER on Plane) Nicole St. Martin SADIE (Daughter On Plane) Sadie Munroe CARA (Girl in Condo #1) Masa Lizdek SARA (Girl In Condo #2) Nicole Fournier STEWARDESS Ashley Awde IRAN INFORCER #1 Nigel Ryan IRAN ENFORCER #2 Nick Pulver Andrews FBI AGENT Craig Nelson Costume Designer Jessica Albano Hair & Make Up Monica Burton Assistant Sarah Bergman Casting Director Millie Tom Background Casting Katelyn Cursio Post Production Audio post production sound design and mixing Lance Schibler Imprint Music Audio Post Production Co-Ordinator: Corinne Murray Relish Assistant Editor Michael Barker VFX ThoughtForm Digital Ken Wan Jacky Wan Color Grade Alter Ego Cem Ozkilicci Keyart & Credits Elite Visions Robert Baek Crew 1st AC Jay Jay Callan 1st AC Eva Percewicz 2nd AC Vashkor Zia Gaffer Danny Luizinho Key Grips Spencer Johnston Swings Sam Harding Devin Mylar Alex Poutiainen Sound Recordist Brad Higham Production Designer Frank Gugliuzzi Motorcycle Owner/Stunts Darryl Rastorp Production Assistants Ryan Steinberg Maxine Vendrig BACKGROUND ACTORS Aleesha Sodha Cory Cooper Jesse Cortina Dave Ruth Jordan LaCroix Allen Zarnett Jennifer Stone Dallas Chorley Craig Nelson Wei Chen Alfred Liu Special Thanks Michael Levine Hynes Family Anthony Scott Burns Miles Jay Ian Purchase Caitlin Sadler Copley Judge Peter Cullingford Alter Ego Imprint Music Relish

[geekade]

A Series of Unfortunate Spoilers - A Fierce and Formidable Fool

Welcome back reader. It’s odd that you are still here, since there must be much more pleasant things to read, but I won’t argue with you since I’m the one doing the writing. Episodes five and six bring us to our third guardian, who, we will soon find out, will be just as helpless as the past adults in the series. At the end of the Reptile Room episodes, Jacqueline made it seem as if Josephine Anwhistle will be an adequate and able guardian. Sadly, things have changed since the death of her husband, Ike. Josephine now is terrified of basically everything. Knocking on doors gives you splinters, using the telephone will electrocute you, cooking on the stove will make the house blow up; her irrational fears go on and on. However, she is not afraid to live in a house which teeters 300 feet above Lake Lachrymose, though she is terrified of the lake as well, since her husband was devoured by the Lachrymose leeches. Still, she willingly chooses to live in this house rather than face her biggest fear: realtors.

Despite Aunt Josephine’s unending fears, as well as her obsession with grammar, a lack of proper heating in her home, and age-inappropriate gifts for the children, the Baudelaires hope to make the best out of a not-so-perfect situation. To be fair, at least Count Olaf is not there, they have proper beds, and Josephine genuinely cares about the children. Violet reminds them that things could be much worse and they should try to enjoy their time here.

Happiness never lasts in the lives of the Baudelaire children, and we all knew that things would not stay calm for long. While Klaus was hoping to get answers out of Aunt Josephine, instead they get more misfortune. Viewers witness the arrival of Count Olaf before he dons his costume of the week. Sadly, the Baudelaires do not accompany Aunt Josephine on her trip to the market, so they aren’t there to recognize notorious man and steer her away from him. Instead, they remain at home where, to make matters worse, they find out only minimal information about their parents from Aunt Josephine’s library.

The owner of the Anxious Clown reveals the involvement of the Snicket family and the secret organization, giving the narrator much more purpose in the show than originally thought. Foolishly, the restaurant owner also discloses information to Olaf about the Baudelaires’ whereabouts and puts Josephine in his direct line of fire. Poor Josephine, once such a fierce and formidable woman, is duped by Olaf’s latest disguise, Captain Sham, whose name speaks for itself.

Somehow, Olaf manages to woo Josephine and she is smitten (I’m not one to judge the girl’s taste, but come on, that hat is tacky.) When Aunt Josephine brings Captain Sham/Count Olaf back to her home, the Baudelaires identify him immediately and accuse him of once again attempting to steal their fortune. The Baudelaires are still young and their experiences have been so traumatic. They have yet to learn that they should not immediately call out Count Olaf when they recognize him, since the adults never believe them. (Maybe we’ll see some more sneaky action in the next set of episodes?) Predictably, Aunt Josephine does not believe the children and goes on her date with Captain Sham, leaving viewers screaming at their TV screens not to trust him.

Worried for their aunt and unable to do much, the children await her return. Morning arrives with no sign of Aunt Josephine. Instead, they hear a horrific crash and see evidence that Aunt Josephine has apparently jumped out the window of her library (The Wide Window), leaving a suicide note riddled with typos and grammatical errors, which is very out of character for her.

Episode six starts off with Klaus rereading Aunt Josephine’s note. He can’t get over the sheer number of errors she made and is skeptical of her death, while Violet is stuck more in the denial stage of grief. The only benefit of having Aunt Josephine out of the picture, (or window, if I may), is that now the Baudelaires can call Mr. Poe. (Because that will be so helpful!) While Poe doesn’t seem to be a fan of Captain Sham, he also does not believe the children, as is the norm. Granted, it is impressive that Count Olaf was able to disguise his leg as a wooden peg. The note that Aunt Josephine left stated that the children were to be placed in the care of Captain Sham, but Mr. Poe isn’t about to let that happen, at least not without excessive (and conveniently time-consuming) paperwork.

Seeing an opportunity to escape Olaf’s clutches, the Baudelaires decide to create a distraction in the Anxious Clown. Due to their rushed exit, the children do not have time to eat their cheerful cheeseburgers and discover the secret message on their plates, hidden by the waiter (who we saw earlier with Olaf), which we can only assume is from the V.F.D. But they also have the waiter to thank for the idea of using an allergic reaction as a distraction to cover their escape. Seizing the moment, Violet has her siblings eat peppermints and the three of them must excuse themselves from the table.

Rushing back to Aunt Josephine’s house in the early stages of a hurricane, which is set to hit Lake Lachrymose that evening, Klaus has time to decipher her supposed suicide note. With the help of the grammar and spelling books that fill Aunt Josephine’s library, Klaus is able to uncover the truth: Josephine didn’t jump out the window, she ran away to Curdled Cave, way across Lake Lachrymose. With Aunt Josephine’s house now ruined, having toppled off the cliff it precariously clung to, the Baudelaires set out to rescue their guardian. They “borrow” a sailboat, traverse the waters of Lake Lachrymose in the midst of the hurricane, and make it to Curdled Cave. It is important to note now that the Lachrymose leeches are not your typical, blood-sucking leeches. If they smell food on your body, they will consume you alive!

Within the cave, the children find Aunt Josephine. She is ecstatic to see them, since she has run out of provisions. She explains that Olaf scared her so much that she ran away, per his instructions, rather than stay and be a responsible guardian. (Good thing these kids are getting better at taking care of themselves.) Aunt Josephine thinks the children are there to move into the cave and stay with her, rather than to rescue her (not that she really needed rescuing, since she left on her own free will). Klaus, however, is able to convince her to leave, since Curdled Cave is for sale and nothing in this world is more frightening to Josephine than REALTORS!

On the way back from Curdled Cave, Aunt Josephine is able to share some memories she has of the Baudelaire parents. They used to create and share secret messages, giving the audience a hint about the spyglass that Klaus had at one point. As things are with this series, their bonding experience with Aunt Josephine is cut short but none other than the Lachrymose leeches! The Baudelaires hadn’t eaten in hours and knew they were safe, but Aunt Josephine had eaten a banana 45 minutes before they left (less than the recommended hour). At first, the leeches appear to be of little threat to the boat until they join forces. (Leeches: Stronger Together!) The boat becomes cracked and begins to sink. Everyone is terrified, but Josephine is at her wits end!

Hope is not lost though! None other than Captain Sham comes to the rescue! Only it’s less of a rescue and more part of his scheme, since he takes the children aboard his ship and pushes Josephine into the waters. (If only the plane carrying their parents above them had gotten there sooner!) While another guardian perishes before their eyes, the Baudelaires are yet again in the clutches of Captain Sham. Mr. Poe is still not seeing past his ridiculous disguise, so Sunny has no choice but to bite through the prop peg leg, revealing Sham’s true identity. Now Poe gets it!

In the chaos that ensues, Olaf escapes yet again, while Mr. Poe attempts to call the police. The orphans, realizing that the adults are of no help to them, leave the town on their own, hitchhiking in the back of a pickup truck heading toward Lucky Smell Lumbermill, which they had seen much earlier in the background of a photo of their parents with Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine. With hopes of uncovering some of their family’s secrets, the children leave Poe in a frantic state.

Good luck Baudelaires! We’ll see you next week!

[rzproduction]

AFK_SHORT FILM from Tyler Hynes on Vimeo.

Director Writer Producer TYLER HYNES Producer Jonathan Bronfman William Woods Co Producer Cassandra DePetrillo Frank Gugliuzzi Executive Producer Jordan Walker Production Manager Cassandra DePetrillo Cinematographer Christian Bielz Composer The Newton Brothers Editor Chris Murphy Original Song “Body Double” Pilot Priest cast CYRUS Tyler Hynes ED Rob Stewart OMAR Xhemi Agaj SU (chinese Man) Tony Ning ALEKSANDER (Swedish Boy) Sam Barringer CHING (Chinese BOY) Lucas Ten BETTY (MOTHER on Plane) Nicole St. Martin SADIE (Daughter On Plane) Sadie Munroe CARA (Girl in Condo #1) Masa Lizdek SARA (Girl In Condo #2) Nicole Fournier STEWARDESS Ashley Awde IRAN INFORCER #1 Nigel Ryan IRAN ENFORCER #2 Nick Pulver Andrews FBI AGENT Craig Nelson Costume Designer Jessica Albano Hair & Make Up Monica Burton Assistant Sarah Bergman Casting Director Millie Tom Background Casting Katelyn Cursio Post Production Audio post production sound design and mixing Lance Schibler Imprint Music Audio Post Production Co-Ordinator: Corinne Murray Relish Assistant Editor Michael Barker VFX ThoughtForm Digital Ken Wan Jacky Wan Color Grade Alter Ego Cem Ozkilicci Keyart & Credits Elite Visions Robert Baek Crew 1st AC Jay Jay Callan 1st AC Eva Percewicz 2nd AC Vashkor Zia Gaffer Danny Luizinho Key Grips Spencer Johnston Swings Sam Harding Devin Mylar Alex Poutiainen Sound Recordist Brad Higham Production Designer Frank Gugliuzzi Motorcycle Owner/Stunts Darryl Rastorp Production Assistants Ryan Steinberg Maxine Vendrig BACKGROUND ACTORS Aleesha Sodha Cory Cooper Jesse Cortina Dave Ruth Jordan LaCroix Allen Zarnett Jennifer Stone Dallas Chorley Craig Nelson Wei Chen Alfred Liu Special Thanks Michael Levine Hynes Family Anthony Scott Burns Miles Jay Ian Purchase Caitlin Sadler Copley Judge Peter Cullingford Alter Ego Imprint Music Relish